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The Lamb is Praised Together with Him Who Sits
on the Throne (verses 13 and 14)
Verses 13 and 14: “And every creature which is in
heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the
sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
‘Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him Who sits on
the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!’ 14 Then
the four living creatures said, ‘Amen!’ And the
twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him Who lives forever
and ever.”
The scene doesn’t necessarily expand
here. John has the vision of the four creatures, the
twenty-four elders, and this innumerable host of angels.
It’s not to suggest that he was able to see the whole
creation, but it would seem that he is able to
hear from the whole creation, because that is what
would seem to be taken in by verse 13.
Nothing, it would seem, would be left out.
Everything, everything beyond what has already
been described, everything on the earth,
everything under the earth; everything
on the sea and everything in the
sea; everything in the
heavens—EVERYTHING gives praise. Everything
uttered praise to the Lamb and to God the Father
on that occasion.
One can only imagine what the old apostle might
have heard. This is reminiscent of Psalm
148, the entirety of creation giving praise to
God:
Psalm
148
1
Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD from the heavens;
Praise Him in the heights!
2
Praise Him, all His angels;
Praise Him, all His hosts!
3
Praise Him, sun and moon;
Praise Him, all you stars of light!
4
Praise Him, you heavens of heavens,
And you waters above the heavens!
5 Let
them praise the Name of the LORD,
For He commanded and they were created.
6 He
also established them forever and ever;
He made a decree which shall not pass away.
7
Praise the LORD from the earth,
You great sea creatures and all the depths;
8 Fire
and hail, snow and clouds;
Stormy wind, fulfilling His Word;
9
Mountains and all hills;
Fruitful trees and all cedars;
10 Beasts and
all cattle;
Creeping things and flying fowl;
11 Kings of
the earth and all peoples;
Princes and all judges of the earth;
12 Both young
men and maidens;
Old men and children.
13 Let them
praise the Name of the LORD,
For His Name alone is exalted;
His glory is above the earth and heaven.
14 And He has
exalted the horn of His people,
The praise of all His saints—
Of the children of Israel,
A people near to Him.
Praise the LORD!
That is, indeed, what John views in this
heavenly scene. God is to be given honor; He is to be given
praise; He is to be given dominion over all things.
In Verse 14, there not much
left to be said except “Amen!” or “be it
so.” The redeemed fall down and worship, paying homage
due God and His Lamb. Total and complete praise has now been
offered to the supreme Godhead. The throne
rules!
Let me share with you a summary of that section,
which I thought was expressed very well from one of the
commentators that I read on Revelation. He
says this: “In offering praise and paying homage
befitting infinite Deity, to God on His throne, the quartet of
living creatures sing the song of His absolute
perfection—Holy, Almighty, Eternal. The chorus of
elders praise Him in the song of creation, for by His Will they
were, and are, created. An ensemble, consisting of the
quartet, the chorus of elders, join in a song of praise to the Lamb
as the Redeemer, Who purchased men unto God by His blood, proving
Himself worthy to take, and to open the book [scroll]. The
myriad of hosts of angels join the heavenly worshipers with their
seven-fold song of praise to the Lamb. All creation, then,
closes the series of songs with a stirring anthem of praise to God
and the Lamb. The sound dies away with the quartet’s
hearty ‘Amen!’ as a grand
finale to the majestic scene.”
“And the twenty-four elders fell down and
worshiped Him Who lives forever and ever [Revelation
5:14b].”
That’s the vision of John.
That’s what he saw on that occasion. We will move to
Chapter 6, and begin the exciting part of seeing
the seals being opened.
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