Revelation 5:11 Commentary and Bible Study

Heaven is completely taken up with the worship of the Lamb. He is the focal point of every being in heaven because in him is seen the greatest wonder possible, the being and character of God. The number of angels joining in with the four beasts and the twenty-four elders is ten thousand time ten thousand, the highest possible number, and thousands of thousands which indicates that a precise number is not intended. In these two chapters, Revelation 4 and 5, we find visions concerning the church age, and they lift our gaze upwards to the rule and the sovereignty and the power of Almighty God. That is the bath, as it were, the preparation we need to make us fit to study the revelations which follow in the book. Worship is the great delight and chief occupation of the hosts of heaven, and they are instructed to worship the incarnate Son of God. ‘When he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him’ (Hebrews 1:6). They cannot speak of personal redemption for they have never known sin, but they can worship God for what he has done for mankind. The Scriptures tell us how they learn from Christ’s redeeming work what they could never otherwise know about God. Remarkable though this is, and even though they dwell in the presence of God in heaven, yet such is the nature of God that his being is inscrutable unless he chooses to reveal himself. It is through his works that he is revealed. The angels therefore give the closest possible attention to these works and examine them with the utmost diligence. In God’s response to sin and evil, his most glorious attributes are seen. Their immense intelligence and holiness allow them an appreciation of God’s works that is far keener than that of any believer on earth. They worship in total agreement, with one voice. But this is a vision of the church in heaven. The creatures and the elders and the angels join in worship together because there is no greater occupation that they can engage in.As heaven witnessed the crucifixion, it is amazed when it considers the Almighty God before whom the angels veil their faces. When it saw that he allowed himself to be manhandled by proud, arrogant human beings, who mocked his glory and yet were not instantly destroyed. Heaven is staggered that the Son of God should allow himself to receive such treatment. Was his glory not irreparably damaged by this? How could he recover his honour when it had been so laid in the dust? Yet the angels cannot deny that God has allowed this, approved it, and eternally planned it. What will happen next? They stand transfixed by the sight, yet confident that God cannot be mistaken and wondering what amazing results will follow. Now a new attribute never seen before has been unveiled. His matchless humility to bear shame and injustice for a time, could never be seen in heaven where every angel holds him in the highest esteem. Having been received back into heaven as the incarnate Son of God and Son of Man, the angels adore him all the more, for qualities that could never have dared to think about before. While he hung on the cross they perhaps held their breath at what for a time seemed like an incoherent and blasphemous event. Now they understand and marvel, seeing the end result of all this. Yes, it has achieved what they could never have conceived – the salvation of sinful men and women from an eternal doom.‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain…’. More worthy than even they understood before. Worthy in the estimation of the Father. Worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honour and glory and blessing. The list is long and breaks the norms of what is appropriate for an English sentence, but the angels wish to leave out no mark of recognition. As God the Son, he has forever possessed all these perfections forever, but as the Son of Man, he receives these things in time, and has now ascended back to heaven. This will be his state for evermore.