Revelation 5:7-10
Revelation 5:7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
Revelation 5:10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."
5:7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne.
As I said before, this is Jesus, the Lamb, taking the book from His own self, because He is the Right Hand of God. When He takes the book and unrolls the scroll, the events written within will happen.
The Lamb contains seven eyes and seven horns. The seven horns speak of complete power and the seven eyes or Spirits sent forth means He will rule over all the earth in the complete fullness of God.
5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four [and] twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having everyone of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
All Christendom will bow before the Lamb. We read that every knee will bow and every tongue confesses to God, Romans 14:11.
It is a real comfort to know that every prayer that we ever prayed is stored in heaven
3. Saints = the Greek says literally, "the holy ones." This term occurs thirteen times in the Revelation (5:8, 8:3, 4; 11:18; 13:7, 10; 14:12; 16:6; 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:8; 20:9). This is clearly John’s term of choice to designate those who belong with Jesus Christ throughout the ages. Notice the different descriptions:
a. Their prayers are collected and held in heaven, 5:8, 8:3.
b. They are rewarded by God, 11:18.
c. They are the object of Satan/Antichrist’s persecution, 13:8.
d. They persevere and remain faithful during persecution, 13:10, 14:12.
e. They are the object the world’s persecution, 16:6.
f. They are the object of "the great harlot’s" persecution, 17:6.
g. They rejoice over God’s punishment of the harlot, 18:20.
h. They are between the designated kill of the harlot, 18:24.
i. Their righteous deeds are the dress of the wife of the Lamb, 19:8.
j. They live in Jerusalem during the 1000 year kingdom, 20:9.
This term is used of Israelites in Daniel 7:21-22, 25, 27 and 8:24. They are depicted as the object of Antichrist’s persecution and God’s benevolence. At the time of Daniel’s writing, saints referred to only those of Israel. This point has been seized on by pretribulationists who insist that the term saint be limited to those of Israel in the Revelation. Pretribulationists reason that the church will have been raptured to heaven before Revelation 5 occurs. It is argued that those persecuted by Satan/Antichrist during Daniel’s Seventieth Week will not be part of the "bride of Christ" because the church age ends at the Rapture, which pretribbers argue most occur before Daniel Seventieth Week begins.
This whole line of reasoning is fundamentally flawed. While Daniel 7 and 8 can correctly be limited to Jews at the time of writing, whether the term saints as used in Revelation can be extended to include New Testament believers must be left to exegesis, not theological presuppositions. The term saints or holy ones is used throughout the New Testament to refer to an individual believer, a small group or the entire body of Christ. (Notice: Acts 9:13, 32, 41; Rom 8:27; 12:13; 15:26; 16:2, 15; 1 Cor 6:1-2; 14:33; 2 Cor 1:1; 13:12; Eph 1:15; 3:18; 4:12; 5:3; 6:18; Phil 4:22; Col 1:4; 1 Tim 5:10; Philem 5, 7; Heb 6:10; 13:24; Jude 3).
Revelation 5:9-10
And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for (1)You were slain, and (2) purchased for God with Your blood (3) men from (4) every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made (5) them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and (6) they will reign on the earth."
1. You were slain (sphazein) = shows the basis on which the Lamb is worthy to open the seals. The Lamb is worthy because of three things He did. First, literally the Greek says, "You were slaughtered…" This Greek verb infers a violent and merciless death (Louw-Nida, § 20.72). This term is used to describe the Lord’s death in chapters five and thirteen. It is used of believers in Revelation 6:9 and 18:24. The fact that the term is used to describe both the deaths of the Lord and believers show that the mode of death is not showed. While the death of the Lord resulted from crucifixion, clearly the death of all believers are not the result of crucifixion. It is used to describe the actions of Cain against his brother in 1 John 3:12. Cain killed his brother by cutting him.
2. (You) purchased (agorazein) = is the Greek verb used throughout the New Testament to designate the activity of the Lord in His death for sinners. The term means, in a figurative sense, "to cause the release of someone by paying a price." Here, the price was the Lord’s life.
3. Men = the reader will notice that this word appears in italics in the NASB. This shows that the word does not appear in the original Greek. The reason this word is inserted is because the Greek does not contain an object of the verb. This is not reflected correctly in the King James Bible. However, the sense of the text demands that an object be inserted to make the sense complete. It is common sense that God purchased men (and women, boys and girls) with the death of the Lord.
4. Tribe and tongue and people and nation = these four ethnic units cumulatively emphasize the universality of the group purchased by the Lord’s death. It is important to recognize that a group of individuals was purchased.
5. You have made them to be a kingdom = this is the third and final action describing the Lord’s work that establishes His worthiness to break the seals. He made them. This act was done at the time the purchase was made. This helps all believers understand their position in Christ. We were bought before we were born and established as a kingdom. This is good news for the broken of our world. We are a kingdom and we are priests of God.
6. They will reign on the earth = this is the final and ultimate outcome of the Lord’s work at death. The undisputed "they" and "them" in the original Greek of verse 10 demand that the objects of verse 9 be objective in nature. This means that the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders do not include themselves in the list of those purchased by the blood of the Lamb.
Notice that the locale of the saints' reign will be the earth. This would strongly argue against an amillennial interpretation of the book of Revelation, which sees the reign of the saints restricted to heaven.
Revelation 5:7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.
Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
Revelation 5:9 And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,
Revelation 5:10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."
5:7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on the throne.
As I said before, this is Jesus, the Lamb, taking the book from His own self, because He is the Right Hand of God. When He takes the book and unrolls the scroll, the events written within will happen.
The Lamb contains seven eyes and seven horns. The seven horns speak of complete power and the seven eyes or Spirits sent forth means He will rule over all the earth in the complete fullness of God.
5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four [and] twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having everyone of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
All Christendom will bow before the Lamb. We read that every knee will bow and every tongue confesses to God, Romans 14:11.
It is a real comfort to know that every prayer that we ever prayed is stored in heaven
3. Saints = the Greek says literally, "the holy ones." This term occurs thirteen times in the Revelation (5:8, 8:3, 4; 11:18; 13:7, 10; 14:12; 16:6; 17:6; 18:20, 24; 19:8; 20:9). This is clearly John’s term of choice to designate those who belong with Jesus Christ throughout the ages. Notice the different descriptions:
a. Their prayers are collected and held in heaven, 5:8, 8:3.
b. They are rewarded by God, 11:18.
c. They are the object of Satan/Antichrist’s persecution, 13:8.
d. They persevere and remain faithful during persecution, 13:10, 14:12.
e. They are the object the world’s persecution, 16:6.
f. They are the object of "the great harlot’s" persecution, 17:6.
g. They rejoice over God’s punishment of the harlot, 18:20.
h. They are between the designated kill of the harlot, 18:24.
i. Their righteous deeds are the dress of the wife of the Lamb, 19:8.
j. They live in Jerusalem during the 1000 year kingdom, 20:9.
This term is used of Israelites in Daniel 7:21-22, 25, 27 and 8:24. They are depicted as the object of Antichrist’s persecution and God’s benevolence. At the time of Daniel’s writing, saints referred to only those of Israel. This point has been seized on by pretribulationists who insist that the term saint be limited to those of Israel in the Revelation. Pretribulationists reason that the church will have been raptured to heaven before Revelation 5 occurs. It is argued that those persecuted by Satan/Antichrist during Daniel’s Seventieth Week will not be part of the "bride of Christ" because the church age ends at the Rapture, which pretribbers argue most occur before Daniel Seventieth Week begins.
This whole line of reasoning is fundamentally flawed. While Daniel 7 and 8 can correctly be limited to Jews at the time of writing, whether the term saints as used in Revelation can be extended to include New Testament believers must be left to exegesis, not theological presuppositions. The term saints or holy ones is used throughout the New Testament to refer to an individual believer, a small group or the entire body of Christ. (Notice: Acts 9:13, 32, 41; Rom 8:27; 12:13; 15:26; 16:2, 15; 1 Cor 6:1-2; 14:33; 2 Cor 1:1; 13:12; Eph 1:15; 3:18; 4:12; 5:3; 6:18; Phil 4:22; Col 1:4; 1 Tim 5:10; Philem 5, 7; Heb 6:10; 13:24; Jude 3).
Revelation 5:9-10
And they sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for (1)You were slain, and (2) purchased for God with Your blood (3) men from (4) every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made (5) them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and (6) they will reign on the earth."
1. You were slain (sphazein) = shows the basis on which the Lamb is worthy to open the seals. The Lamb is worthy because of three things He did. First, literally the Greek says, "You were slaughtered…" This Greek verb infers a violent and merciless death (Louw-Nida, § 20.72). This term is used to describe the Lord’s death in chapters five and thirteen. It is used of believers in Revelation 6:9 and 18:24. The fact that the term is used to describe both the deaths of the Lord and believers show that the mode of death is not showed. While the death of the Lord resulted from crucifixion, clearly the death of all believers are not the result of crucifixion. It is used to describe the actions of Cain against his brother in 1 John 3:12. Cain killed his brother by cutting him.
2. (You) purchased (agorazein) = is the Greek verb used throughout the New Testament to designate the activity of the Lord in His death for sinners. The term means, in a figurative sense, "to cause the release of someone by paying a price." Here, the price was the Lord’s life.
3. Men = the reader will notice that this word appears in italics in the NASB. This shows that the word does not appear in the original Greek. The reason this word is inserted is because the Greek does not contain an object of the verb. This is not reflected correctly in the King James Bible. However, the sense of the text demands that an object be inserted to make the sense complete. It is common sense that God purchased men (and women, boys and girls) with the death of the Lord.
4. Tribe and tongue and people and nation = these four ethnic units cumulatively emphasize the universality of the group purchased by the Lord’s death. It is important to recognize that a group of individuals was purchased.
5. You have made them to be a kingdom = this is the third and final action describing the Lord’s work that establishes His worthiness to break the seals. He made them. This act was done at the time the purchase was made. This helps all believers understand their position in Christ. We were bought before we were born and established as a kingdom. This is good news for the broken of our world. We are a kingdom and we are priests of God.
6. They will reign on the earth = this is the final and ultimate outcome of the Lord’s work at death. The undisputed "they" and "them" in the original Greek of verse 10 demand that the objects of verse 9 be objective in nature. This means that the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders do not include themselves in the list of those purchased by the blood of the Lamb.
Notice that the locale of the saints' reign will be the earth. This would strongly argue against an amillennial interpretation of the book of Revelation, which sees the reign of the saints restricted to heaven.
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