hotcoffee
New Member
Revelation 5:7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8 And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
Revelation 5:10 Some manuscripts they reign
Jesus took the scroll from God, His Father. Let's look at that for a moment.
Look back at John 1:1-5. When God created everything, Jesus was by His side. While God was ruling everything in the Old Testament, Jesus was by His side. When this scroll was written, Jesus must have been by His Side.
In verse 8 the rest of the people as well as the four beasts fell down and worshiped Jesus. This is the first time we've seen God allow anyone to worship anyone or anything but Him. The fact that God allows this.... says so much.
We're going to see the bowls again in Revelation 8. We're going to learn a whole lot more about the "prayers of God's people". The term is used a dozen more times in Revelation.
In verse 9, the original Greek word used for the English word "slain" was sphazein. According one of the commentaries I read, it means "slaughtered". It implies a violent and merciless death. Jesus didn't just live a life with the humans and then go up to Heaven. Jesus was murdered by humans, hung on a cross. It was all for us.
In the same verse, the original Greek word used for the English word "purchased" was agorazein. That's the word for buying someone out of bondage.
The phrase "persons from every tribe and language and people and nation" is said to include the gentiles as well as the Jews.
