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Bible Notes - Tabernacle Commentaries
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Revelation 5:8
Comments
‘When he taken the book, the four beasts [the cherubim of justice that protect the throne], and the four and twenty elders [believers of all ages] fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps and golden vials full of odours.’ What are the golden vials? It is explained. They are the prayers of saints. Since these four creatures join in the worship, we know they do not represent divinity or divine attributes. As we have seen they are angelic beings. Why do they join with the twenty-four elders in worshipping the Lamb? Although the Scripture describes angels as joined together with the saints in worship (Psalm 148:2; 1 Corinthians 11:10), yet only those who have been personally redeemed from their sin could sing the new song (Revelation 14:3). How can this kind of praise come from any angel? The Scripture explicitly says, ‘For indeed he does not give aid to angels, but he does give aid to the seed of Abraham’ (Hebrews 2:16). They sing about the Lamb who had been slain, even though they have not personally been redeemed, because the works of God in connection with the salvation of lost men and women is the highest revelation of God’s being. They cannot sing as those who have experienced salvation themselves, but they can sing as those who praise God for his grace shown to sinners. The four creatures and the twenty-four elders know the meaning of these things, the former by study of God’s works, the latter by personal experience also. They are so overwhelmed because they see the amazing significance of Christ taking the scroll. The twenty-four elders owe him everything. They would be shut out of heaven forever if he had not taken the scroll. The golden vials held by the twenty-four elders contain the prayers of the saints, because the twenty-four elders stand for and represent the entire people of God. The focus of Old Testament and New Testament believers is on the Lamb. The prayers of the saints are presented to the Lamb because God takes account of them in the unfolding of his plan. They are full of odours, sweet odours, because they are pleasing to God.The elders are all described as having harps. Two other passages in the book describe harps being played (Revelation 14:2; Revelation 15:2), and in both of these, it is the saints who are playing them. Although Revelation is giving us not a literal view of worship in heaven, but a symbolic view – something far more wonderful which transcends earthly worship will be found there – the worship described conforms to the regulations for worship set by David. The harp is one of the instruments appointed by David for temple worship (1 Chronicles 15:16) and several psalms instruct its use (Psalm 33:2; 81:2; 92:3; 98:5).
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Questions
Some want a different reading here. Since the understand the twenty-four elders to be angels not men, they want to remove the personal element from their praise and change the word ‘us’ in verses 9 and 10 to ‘them’. However, the Received Text reading is better because it agrees with Revelation 4:10-11 where these elders are said to cast their crowns before him. It is never said of angels that they possess crowns, but we are told that Christ has made believers to be kings and priests (Revelation 1:6), and this is the title give to the twenty-four elders in Revelation 5:10).
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