It adds up in the end
Opening Prayer
Worthy are You, Lord, who left the glories of heaven and came to the lowest place to be sacrificed for us.
Read REVELATION 5:1–14
[1] Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. [2] And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” [3] But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. [4] I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. [5] Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” [6] Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. [7] He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. [8] And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. [9] And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. [10] You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” [11] Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. [12] In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” [13] Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” [14] The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped. Scripture taken from the THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION, NIV Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
How is Jesus pictured? Why?A fascinating aspect of Revelation is the numbers. The four living creatures, the 24 elders and all the sets of seven help us to grasp that there is an underlying order to this book. John is not detailing random wild events: he is laying out God’s plan. We should not hope to understand the numbers as statistics; it’s more fruitful to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal what each of us needs to appreciate right now about these symbolic truths. However we do the sums, the central figure of this chapter is the single Lamb! At the heart of our faith is an eternal wonder. We are shown all of these angels and powers and elders, and none is good enough. And then we see… what? You couldn’t make it up. The eternal God, the only one worthy to reveal and control the destiny of creation, now appears in the form of a small, pathetic, slaughtered creature. Great powers tend to choose a national animal, and they generally go for an imposing one: a bear for Russia, an eagle for the USA. Heaven, if it flew a flag, might have at its center a little slaughtered lamb.
Apply
Commit verse 12 to memory and, along with the angels, repeat this song of praise to God.
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