A NEW SONG
Revelation 5:8-12 NKJV
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
"You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth."
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice:
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
This is the vision John had of the throne room of God. It does not appear to be a quiet place. There are the winged creatures shouting, 'Holy, holy, holy.' There are the elders falling and casting their crowns before God. And now we have the worship for the Lamb who was slain. The Lamb is Jesus, the Son of God. And the elders and winged creatures have harps and golden bowls filled with the incense, the prayers of the saints. They worship the Lamb with a new song.
Jesus is worthy to take the scroll of God and loose the seals. When the seals are loosed, we get more details in the ensuing chapters. But we do get to hear the song they sang to the Lamb. That He was worthy because He was slain, killed, and has redeemed us to God by His blood. The scriptures frequently mention blood because it is the life of the body. The book of Hebrews says that Jesus entered the holiest places in heaven with His own blood to obtain eternal redemption for us. To redeem means to buy. We have been bought with a price, and that price was Jesus giving His life for us on the cross. Not too long ago, some churches in America abandoned speaking about the blood of Jesus. This included removing the songs that spoke of the blood. The thinking was that it was a bit too much for those seeking God. I have noticed a move back toward the powerful spiritual truth that we have been bought with a price by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. This was the price to pay for our sins.
We have been purchased from every tribe, language, people, and nation. Heaven is going to be the most diverse multicultural place any of us have ever been. So we might as well get rid of any prejudice now and avoid the shock when there are millions probably billions around the throne. The color of our skin will not matter as we worship the One who has made us kings and priests to our God. Some translations read a kingdom of priests. But in any case, we have been born into divine royalty and can stand and worship our God without the sense of guilt or shame. In fact, we will be ruling and reigning with the Lord on the earth during His millennial reign. We have so much to look forward to.
I hope loud does not bother you. John saw angels around the throne, and they numbered ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands. Not sure how many that turns out to be, but it is significant, and they are all saying praises with a loud voice. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain. The Lamb is worthy to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing. That's a wonderful list, and Jesus is worthy to receive all of it. There is going to be an epic amount of praise and worship around the throne of God, and we will be so happy that we are there. Now we need to make sure we take as many as we can with us.
PRAYER
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for buying me out of the dominion of Satan by Your blood. Thank You for making me a royal priest to God. I purpose to worship You here on earth and then worship You there in heaven. What a privilege You have given me!