Daily Devotional • December 19
A Reading from Revelation 5:1-14
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
8 Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
Meditation
What did John see in his great vision? His images collide in our minds: a young ram, its chest stained with blood, sacrificed—yet standing alive in the circle of worshipping elders. How can a lamb have seven eyes and a crown of seven horns? Did it take the scroll with a hoof? Did the fantastic images shimmer into each other and blend with John’s vision of Jesus with a face like the sun and the voice of many waters?
The Lamb’s sacrificial death has “ransomed for God saints from every tribe and language and people and nation,” sing the elders, offering fragrant incense-prayers. To an apostle sentenced to hard labor on Patmos, with many of his friends martyred, such an enormous expansion of Christ followers would have seemed as fantastic as a talking lamb with seven horns and seven eyes.
John wrote, “I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, singing, “To the One seated on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” Handel’s version is wonderful, but even the Mormon Tabernacle choir cannot call on all the creatures of the earth and sea to join in praise.
John’s vision is of the future, not the present. Yet we can know, as first century Christians could not, that today approximately one third of the world’s population identifies as Christian, and the gospel has been preached in thousands of languages. We could tell John how artists, musicians, poets, and architects have glorified the Lamb, two thousand years and counting. Though the vision is not yet, may it inspire us daily to join “with angels, and archangels and all the company of heaven”—and the earth and its creatures—in joyfully praising our Saviour.
Dr. Grace Sears is past president of the Order of the Daughters of the King, and editor of its magazine, The Royal Cross.
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Daily Devotional Cycle of Prayer
Today we pray for: