Bird's-eye view
This passage presents the immediate aftermath of the Lamb taking the scroll. The central question of the cosmos, "Who is worthy to execute God's sovereign decree for history?", has just been answered. The response is an explosion of worship in the throne room of heaven. This is not sentimental adoration; it is a formal, liturgical, and deeply theological recognition of Christ's unique qualification. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, representing all of creation and all of God's redeemed people respectively, fall before the Lamb. Their worship is centered on one historical event: the crucifixion. The Lamb is worthy not despite His slaughter, but precisely because of it. His death was a victorious act of purchasing a people for God from every corner of the earth. This act of redemption has resulted in the creation of a new humanity, a kingdom of priests, destined to reign upon the earth. This is the new song of the new covenant, and it is the anthem of a victorious, global, and historical faith.
In short, these three verses contain the engine of the entire Christian mission. They reveal the basis of our worship (the cross), the content of our prayers (the incense), the scope of our mission (all nations), our identity in Christ (a kingdom of priests), and our ultimate destiny (to reign on the earth). This is the foundational charter for a world-conquering gospel.
Outline
- 1. The Response to the Worthy Lamb (Rev 5:8-10)
- a. The Posture of Worship: Prostration (Rev 5:8a)
- b. The Instruments of Worship: Harps and Incense (Rev 5:8b)
- c. The Content of Worship: The New Song (Rev 5:9a)
- d. The Reason for Worship: Redemption Through Blood (Rev 5:9b)
- e. The Result of Worship: A Royal Priesthood Reigning on Earth (Rev 5:10)
Context In Revelation
Revelation 5 is the hinge upon which the entire book turns. Chapter 4 gives us a majestic vision of God the Father on His throne, the sovereign Creator worshipped by all. But at the beginning of chapter 5, a crisis is introduced: God holds a scroll, sealed with seven seals, which contains His plan for judgment and redemption. A mighty angel asks the ultimate question: "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?" The answer is a deafening silence. No one in heaven or on earth is found worthy. This creates a moment of cosmic despair, and John weeps bitterly. The problem is that no mere creature can be trusted to execute God's perfect plan. Then, one of the elders announces the solution: the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed. But when John looks, he sees not a conquering lion, but a Lamb, looking as though it had been slain. This Lamb takes the scroll, and it is at this precise moment that our passage begins. The worship that erupts here is the answer to the crisis. The Lamb is worthy, and the rest of the book of Revelation, beginning with the opening of the seals in chapter 6, is the unfolding of the contents of that scroll by that Lamb.
Key Issues
- The Centrality of the Atonement
- The Nature of True Worship
- The Meaning of the "New Song"
- The Relationship Between Prayer and God's Plan
- The Global Scope of the Gospel
- The Identity of Believers as a Kingdom and Priests
- Postmillennial Eschatology: Reigning "Upon the Earth"
The Anthem of Redemption
The silence of the universe has just been broken. The crisis of worthiness has been resolved. The Lion who is a Lamb has taken the scroll. What happens next is determinative for everything that follows. The response is not quiet contemplation or polite applause. It is an immediate, full-bodied, liturgical collapse. Heaven falls on its face. This is crucial. The authority to direct human history, to bring all things to their appointed end, belongs to the crucified and risen Christ, and the only proper response to this reality is worship. The song they sing is not a generic hymn about God's greatness, but a specific song with a specific reason. It is the new song, and the lyrics are all about blood, purchase, redemption, and dominion. This is the theme music for the kingdom of God.
Verse by Verse Commentary
8 And when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
The action is instantaneous. The moment the Lamb takes the scroll, worship erupts. The four living creatures, representing the fullness of creation, and the twenty-four elders, representing the entire people of God (12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles of the Church), fall prostrate. This is the posture of absolute submission and adoration. Notice before whom they fall: before the Lamb. The slain Lamb is the object of divine worship, a clear statement of His deity. They come equipped for their service. The harps represent praise and music, the artistic expression of joy and adoration. The golden bowls of incense are explicitly identified for us: they are the prayers of the saints. This is a staggering thought. The prayers of God's people on earth ascend to His very throne room as a sweet-smelling aroma, a pleasing offering. They are not lost in the ether; they are collected in golden bowls and are part of the heavenly liturgy. Our prayers are woven into the very administration of God's plan, which the Lamb is about to unleash.
9 And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy are You to take the scroll and to open its seals, because You were slain and purchased for God with Your blood people from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.
This is the song of the new covenant. The old songs celebrated God's deliverance in the Exodus, but this is a new song because it celebrates a greater, final deliverance. The central lyric is the declaration of Christ's worthiness. And the basis of that worthiness is stated with stark clarity: because You were slain. His authority to rule is not based on raw power, but on His sacrificial death. He is worthy to judge the world because He was judged for the world. He is worthy to conquer because He conquered by being slain. His death was not a tragedy; it was a transaction. He purchased for God with Your blood. This is the language of the marketplace, of redemption. The price was His own life, and the purchase was a people. And look at the scope of this people: from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. This is not the salvation of an ethnic group, but the creation of a new humanity drawn from the entirety of the old, fallen humanity. This is the death knell for all forms of racism and ethnocentrism within the church. The gospel is universally offered, and it will be universally successful in gathering the elect from every corner of the globe.
10 And You made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”
The song concludes by stating the result of Christ's purchase. What did He make this redeemed people into? He made them a kingdom and priests. This language is drawn directly from God's promise to Israel at Sinai (Ex. 19:6). They are a kingdom, meaning they are a unified body of people under a king, Jesus Christ. They are a socio-political reality. And they are priests, meaning they have direct access to God and have the task of mediating His grace and truth to the world. This is the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. And what is the destiny of this royal priesthood? They will reign upon the earth. This is not a promise to be airlifted out of a doomed planet. It is a promise of dominion. The future tense here should be understood as a confident expectation that begins now and culminates in the future. The saints, through the power of the gospel and in submission to their King, are to exercise a reigning influence over the entire earth. The meek shall inherit the earth, not escape from it. This verse is a foundational text for a robust, optimistic, and world-engaging eschatology. History is not going to hell in a handbasket; it is being subdued by the kingdom of priests purchased by the blood of the Lamb.
Application
This vision of heavenly worship must reform our earthly worship. First, our worship must be relentlessly Christ-centered, and not just Christ-centered, but cross-centered. The highest theme of heaven is the substitutionary atonement of the Lamb. Is that the highest theme of our songs, our sermons, and our prayers? If not, we are out of tune with heaven.
Second, we must take our prayers seriously. They are not futile cries into the void. They are gathered as incense in golden bowls before the throne. Prayer is a real participation in the unfolding of God's kingdom. When we pray "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven," we are asking for what this passage describes, and those prayers are part of the means God uses to bring it about.
Finally, this passage must shape our mission and our eschatology. The mission is global. Christ has purchased men from every nation, and we are tasked with discipling those nations. And the goal is victory. We are a kingdom of priests who will reign on the earth. This should kill all defeatism and escapism in the church. We are not fighting a losing battle, waiting for a cosmic evacuation. We are on the winning side of history, and our task is to live as the royal priests we have been made, extending the reign of our King into every sphere of life, confident that the whole earth will one day be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.