Revelation Chapter 5

VERSE 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.”

THEN I LOOKED:

For the fourth time in this chapter (5:1, 2, 6) John directs our attention elsewhere. Now he is looking forward to the time when his last sentence (5:10 —“they will reign upon the earth”) will be true.

Verses 11-13 are NOT part of the scene at the beginning of the age. They refer to the peaceable kingdom. This is clearly demonstrated by Verse 13 which WAS NOT TRUE at the beginning of the age. It is not even YET true. Thus, this standard phrase for re-focus (AND I LOOKED) again proves a reliable tool in interpretation.

AND I HEARD THE VOICE OF MANY ANGELS: The VOICE is singular; the proclaimers are plural. Thus all are saying the same thing.

A side note: There are three benedictions in this chapter. (Verses 9 & 10, Verse 12, and Verse 13.)

The first is at the beginning of the Gospel Age acknowledging the worthiness of the Lamb to open the seals throughout the age.

The second benediction, the VOICE OF MANY ANGELS, is probably an announcement which will occur at the beginning of the peaceable kingdom —much like the announcement of the angels to the shepherds at the birth of Jesus.

The final benediction is the RESPONSE of all creation to the announcement —a sort of fulfillment of the prophecy of Isa. 25:9.

“And it will be said in that day: “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for Him, and He will save us. This is the Lord; we have waited for Him; we will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.”

These angels are probably the spiritual hosts —literally angels. Verse 13 takes in things on the earth.

AROUND THE THRONE: See note on 4:4. The phrase seems to represent delegated authority. Angels (as appointed MESSENGERS) are, indeed, delegates of God. In this case, their charge is to deliver the stunning news of the new King.

AND THE NUMBER OF THEM:

The phrase in the Greek is “myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.” In Greek, MYRIADS equals 10,000. Thus we have in excess of 100,000,000. We thus have SOME clue about the size of the heavenly host —roughly ½ the population of the U.S.A. Why is this generalized, non-specific number given here? Probably this is a way of saying that regardless of the multitude of spirit beings, they are ALL OF ONE MIND in agreement with the great proclamation they are making. It is saying that the entire universe has awaited this glorious moment!” (New Albany Notes on Revelation)

As it is explained in The Keys of Revelation

“The “angels” round about the throne include the entire heavenly host—all the holy angels on the various planes of being in spirit nature. The number of angels here rendered in the Authorized Version as “ten thousand times ten thousand” is incorrect. It should be translated as “myriads of myriads,” that is, “ten thousands [plural] times ten thousands [plural], and thousands of thousands.”

If this same number is expressed another way as “tens of thousands times tens of thousands, and thousands of thousands,” it can then be more clearly seen that the total number must exceed 100 million but be less than 10 billion. The limits of this divine equation are thus positively stated. Why does the Holy Spirit express the matter in this fashion?

The phraseology indicates a huge but indefinite number.

In addition to the immensity of this number, another clue that the term “angels” refers to the angelic host, and not to the Church of Christ or the Great Company class, is that the Church class is not pictured as having arrived on the scene yet. If this were a portrayal of the glorified Bride of Christ in the future, the “angels” (here spoken of) would be in the throne, and not “round about the throne.”

“The numbers given above, were not designed to give an accurate absolute number, but were designed to give the sense of an unlimited number of angels. The number of angels that God has at his command, to carry out his will, is more or less unlimited. We see a similar description in Daniel 7:10.

“A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened.” (NAU)

VERSE 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!”

“Many of the descriptions that applied originally to Jehovah can now be applied to our Lord Jesus. If we look in Rev 7:12, we find a similar reference, describing the attributes of the heavenly Father, contrasted to that of the son’s.

“Saying: “Amen! Praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength be to our God for ever and ever. Amen!”

The only difference that we see between the two is that the Father has “thanks” rather than “riches”, in the salutation regarding him. We aren’t sure, but we suggest, that God doesn’t have thanks because who would HE give thanks to since He is the one doing the saving and is not the one being saved.

SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE: It is beyond the scope of our imaginations as to how loud a voice will in joy proclaim the ascendancy of the Lamb and his priests (Rev 5:10).

The remainder of this verse cannot be made better by commenting on it! However, a few points of analysis might prove helpful:

POWER… (MIGHT): The difference between these words is somewhat subtle. This benediction and the one in the following verse use three Greek words for various kinds of power.

Dunamis (from which we get dynamics, dynamo, etc.) is the “POWER” the Lamb receives. This is inherent power —something like the TALENT a person possesses which enables him to lead.

Ischusis is the “MIGHT” which the Lamb receives. This word means personal strength. Seemingly, it refers to the actual ability to put those talents into operation.

Kratosis is the “DOMINION” which the Lamb receives in Verse 13. We use this word in English as a suffix —“…cracy” —as in Aristocracy, Democracy, etc.

It is the power of rulership. Hence, DOMINION is a very good translation.

Compare this benediction with Dan 7:14 and Psa 2:7, 8.

“It should be noted that this accolade of Verse 12 to our dear Redeemer was made after his resurrection, at the time of his ascension to heaven forty days later . . . but before he exercised this power in any way. At this time Jesus had just proven his worthiness to receive such power, honor, and glory. Moreover, this portion of the drama took place prior to the breaking of the seals of the book. The fact that the Lamb was freshly slain furnishes an additional clue as to the time this acclamation was given. The powers and prerogatives had been bestowed upon Jesus, but he had not fully exercised them yet.”

VERSE 13 “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!”

This verse takes us down to the end of the millennial age, in which everyone will come to recognize Christ, and bend the knee to him. (Phil 2:9-11)

“The wording of this verse might seem to contradict the time setting as previously explained (Verse 11) unless it is understood that this picture projects beyond the initial proclamation given to Jesus, showing that ultimately all will praise God and Jesus. This “grand hallelujah chorus” will take place at the end of the Millennial Age.

At that time every heavenly and every earthly creature will join in the praise; and the “sea,” the hitherto in-between and undecided class, will have been eliminated either by their going over to the Lord (Exod. 32:26; Josh. 24:15; Matt. 25:31–46) or by their going into Second Death (Rev. 21:1, 8). In the final picture, every person will be either all for the Lord or not for the Lord; each one will either become a part of the “new heavens” and the “new earth” or become extinct (2 Pet. 3:13).

It should be noted that the Lamb and the Father, the One sitting on the throne, are being acclaimed here, and not the Bride. This verse, therefore, projects ahead, down to the end of the Millennial Age, in order to show that eventually everybody then living will join in the chorus of praise which began at the time of Jesus’ ascension. Although included in other pictures, the Church is not specifically shown here. It is the worthiness of God and of Jesus that is being emphasized.

Earlier, in Verse 11, only the holy angels (“many angels”) pronounced Jesus worthy. Later, here in Verse 13, “EVERY creature . . . in heaven” gives praise, demonstrating that the latter is a future portrayal which will occur after the judgment of the fallen angels and the destruction of those proven to be incorrigible (Matt. 8:28,29; 1 Cor. 6:3; Jude 6). The Keys of Revelation

AND EVERY CREATURE (EVERY CREATED THING): all creation (intelligent beings)

WHICH IS IN HEAVEN: This must refer to the “new heavens” rather than the old since the old would never make the following benediction.

These new heavens would consist of the Church, the Great Multitude, the Ancient Worthies —all the ruler-ship parties of the new order. Compare Isa 2:1-4.

AND ON THE EARTH: the “new earth wherein dwells righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:13). Like the heavens, the OLD earth would never agree to the following benediction.

AND UNDER THE EARTH AND SUCH AS ARE IN THE SEA:

The sea class (the restless masses of mankind) is the last to pass away because it represents a class which has never had roots and which needs time to establish itself comfortably —thus becoming part of the new “earth” class. Nevertheless, BEFORE it has fully rooted itself, it can appreciate and acknowledge its comfortability with the new King. Eventually their instability will vanish, and they, as a class, will no longer exist. (Rev 20:13 and 21:1)

Another interesting prophecy which sheds some light on those IN THE SEA is Isa 33:17-24. If we are thinking specifically about those IN the sea, rather than the sea itself, Isaiah suggests that no one will any longer be able to plunder the sea class.

AND ALL (THINGS) THAT ARE IN THEM: The best translation seems to include the word “things.” We have, at the beginning of the verse, dealt with beings (“every created thing.”) “Things” here at the end of the sentence probably represent those inanimate forces under the control of intelligent beings. That is, not only will BEINGS willingly give into the new order, but they will direct all their resources toward acknowledging that new order.

Again, the remainder of this verse is not enhanced by comment! Do note, however, that the world finally understands the part that BOTH Father AND Son play in the arrangement.

VERSE 14 “Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.”

“The four living creatures, wisdom, justice, love, and power, are all satisfied with the turn of events. Because of the blood of the lamb, wisdom and justice will now be able to turn aside from blocking the way to life. Love and power will no longer be stopped from uplifting mankind, but will be able to accomplish God’s plan of salvation. The 24 elders that represent the scriptures of God are now satisfied with Christ who was chosen to open the seals on the scroll. For that reason, we see that they are all satisfied and they worship both God and the Lamb, who made it possible.”

Thus we conclude the Introduction to the Seven Seals and will in our next post proceed on to the Introduction to the Seven Trumpets.