Revelation 5:11-12 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!”
The heavenly praise chorus increases exponentially as the angels join with the creatures and elders. The “myriads” (Greek myriades) of angels serves to highlight the unimaginable numbers of angels praising the Lamb. This was a scene that must have boggled John’s mind. This serves to prove the worthiness of the Lamb. The reader of this Revelation must take note. The magnifying descriptions of Jesus continue to increase throughout this document. This may serve as a subtle evangelistic purpose of drawing the readers to Jesus.
The Lamb is worthy of this compelling praise because he was slain. He gave his life for the sins of the world. He loved so much that he laid down his life for us (1 John 3:16). He in obedience trusted the Father with that which is impossible in human eyes: resurrection. As the Lamb, Jesus resolved the penalty of death due all humans for sin (Romans 6:23). He fulfilled the Old Testament sacrificial laws setup as a symbol of the need for repentance and forgiveness.
This loving sacrifice of self made Jesus worthy of power, wealth, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and praise. As the Second Adam, he receives what the first Adam and all who have followed have wrongly desired. Sin distorts these qualities into selfish desires. We desire all of these qualities but do it out of the wrong motives. We end up hurting ourselves and others. Jesus is given these because of his loving sacrifice. With Jesus in us and with us, we do not seek these things for ourselves but we seek to acknowledge these for him. He is the one worthy of these, not us.
For older posts, click here.