The New Song (Revelation 5:9-10)

The words of this song are not sung by the people of God. Instead it is a song about the people of God, but it is sung by others. The singers are the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, who are two groups of angelic beings. The four living creatures are the cherubim and they appear throughout the Bible. The twenty-four elders are usually found close to the throne of God, which indicates a role of importance is assigned to them. Perhaps they lead the praise because, after they sing, others join in the praise of God.

 

The occasion

The occasion described here is the ascension of Jesus. Elsewhere in the Bible, at the end of Luke and the beginning of Acts, we are told about the start of the Saviour’s journey to heaven. Here his arrival in heaven is described and, given the sense of joy and praise that followed his sitting at the Father’s right hand, we can assume that it was a moment all of heaven had been anticipating because no other could sit there and open the scroll. No doubt, they knew that it would take place, but knowing about it and seeing it happen are different things.

 

This is the second song in which the idea of worthiness is mentioned. The previous occasion is at the close of chapter 4 where again the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders are involved. There, the elders are said to have crowns, which suggests that they have authority, but we are not told more details about that aspect.  We are told though that they praise the Father. The living creatures do so in verse 8: ‘“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’ The elders do so in verse 11: ‘Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.’

 

The second song is not addressed to God the Father. Instead it is sung to Jesus. In verse 9, we are told that it is a new song, which suggests that this was the first time it had been sung. So something new took place in heaven on the occasion of the ascension of Jesus. It was sung because a mighty work had been achieved by Jesus, a work for which he was addressed by the same word that had been sung to the Father – ‘Worthy are you…’

 

As we consider the words of the song, we can see that it is also a prophecy because some of the details mentioned in it had not yet happened at the time of the first singing. People from every nation had not yet experienced the benefits of the ransom paid by Jesus. Nevertheless, the angelic singers knew that since Jesus had been slain, the outcome was certain, and therefore they rejoiced in anticipation of the wonderful results that were going to occur throughout history. Heaven, we may say, was looking forward to gospel success.

 

The ordeal of the Redeemer

The description of Jesus being slain highlights many important truths and here are five of them. First, it reveals that he is human. He is also divine, but his divine nature cannot be slain. This is a reminder that Jesus became a real man. Second, he died a violent death, and we know that his death was caused by crucifixion when he died at Calvary. Third, his death was a form of purchase because it is described as a ransom, a deliverance price. Fourth, his death was a form of personal payment made by him. Fifth, the intention of his death was to obtain a people for God, and they would come from different people groups throughout the world.

 

The outcome for the redeemed

The words of the song describe the redemption as an accomplished fact even although the consequences of the death of Jesus have not all occurred yet. When we read the words, they are in the past tense. Yet we know, for example, that many of the redeemed have not yet been converted. We could say that the song is a prophecy of what would happen or that it is a picture of what would take place. However way we look at the words of the song, they describe the outcome of the Saviour’s work of redemption and state that three things will mark the redeemed.

 

First, they will be gathered from different places. Indeed, they will come from everywhere. The song becomes specific and detailed about their locations. Whatever country or region we wish to think about, we can say that some of the redeemed will come from there eventually. This has been the case since Jesus ascended. This is the activity in which he has been engaged in since then, and it is the activity in which he is always successful.

 

Second, they share one blessing. Although there are many differences between them as to their nationality and background, they all have one thing in common which is that they responded to the gospel which told them about the work of the Saviour. They heard the story of his coming into the world and of him living a perfect life in thought, word and deed. And they heard about his dying on the cross as a substitute for sinners, of him enduring the wrath of God against sin, so that people like them could be saved. They heard about his incredible resurrection and his amazing ascension to heaven and how he reigns in order to bring salvation to sinners. And they heard about his future return which held out great prospects for them.

 

Third, they are given a new status. They are now the people of God. It does not matter which nation or people group they came from. Some came from Rome, the centre of power, or from Greece, the centre of culture, or from Jerusalem, with its divinely-given religious rituals. The majority in the early days were pagans, worshipping idols. Some were free, some were slaves; some were rich, some were poor; some were educated, some were illiterate; some were old, some were young. It did not matter what their background was after they became the people of God. They now possessed this amazing status. Once they were not a people, instead they were disunited among various peoples. Having become Christians, they became one people, the people of God.

 

The offices of the redeemed

The angelic worshippers continue to address the Saviour. They had praised him for what he had done for them as unconverted sinners – he had ransomed them. Now the angelic worshippers praise him for what he will do for those sinners when they become Christians, and the worshippers mention two blessings. First, he will make them a kingdom and, second, he will make them priests.

 

What ideas come into our minds when we think of a kingdom? One idea is that of space, of how far it is spread. Where is this kingdom of the redeemed to be found? One answer is that it is everywhere in the sense of the way the membership is described in the previous lines of this song. Connected, to the idea of space is that of time – how long will the kingdom last? It will last for ever, although there will be stages in its development. What it looks like now is not the way it will look after the resurrection of the saints.

 

Another idea that comes from the thought of a kingdom is that of subjects. God’s people are called many things, depending on the aspect of grace that is being considered. They are called sons because they are family members; they are called disciples because they are learners. What is a good word to describe the redeemed since they have been purchased by the King? ‘Subjects’ fits them because they serve the King of the kingdom.

 

Because the kingdom has a King, it means that he will provide laws for them to obey and Jesus has done that in his Word. He will arrange for order and structure in his kingdom and again his Word explains how that takes place through those he gives certain positions by which they serve him. As the King he arranges for the defence of his kingdom. In contrast to earthly kingdoms where the subjects protect the king, in this kingdom the King protects all his subjects from all their enemies. And as King, he enlarges his kingdom through immigrants who come from another world and enrol in his kingdom when they trust in him after hearing the gospel. 

 

It really is an amazing kingdom that those redeemed people inhabit. There is not another kingdom like it anywhere. It is full of ransomed rebels who delight to serve the King who paid the penalty of their sins and set them free from those chains that bound them. If they could have done, they would have joined in the song of the heavenly choir.

 

The ransomed are not only members of the kingdom, they are also priests, every one of them. What do priests do? They offer sacrifices. The singers say that they are priests to God, so they offer sacrifices to him. Recall that the choir praise Jesus for bringing this about. He has equipped them for this role. What sacrifices do they offer? They don’t offer sacrifices for sin in an atoning sense. But they offer themselves to God as living sacrifices, dedicated to promoting his glory wherever they are. They offer the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving, delighting to acknowledge the wonderful way that his grace came to them and rescued them from their sins. After being ransomed by Jesus, the redeemed then praise their way through life. They live out the words of Psalm 107:1-3: ‘Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever! Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom he has redeemed from trouble and gathered in from the lands, from the east and from the west, from the north and from the south.’

 

Priests also make intercession on behalf of others. They pray for the subjects of the kingdom, some of whom they know, and some that they don’t know. They can pray for some of them specifically, and they can pray others of them in a general way. And their prayers are heard by God, even although they do not know what he will do. Moreover, they pray for those outside the kingdom, both for society and for salvation. In 1 Timothy 2:1-6, Paul connects the ideas of prayer, ransom and quietness when he says: ‘First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Saviour, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.’

 

It is good to be a subject of the King and it is good to be a priest of the King. But we should observe the focus on togetherness that is found in those two blessings. They function together as subjects expressing their loyalty to the King and they function together as they praise and pray as the priests of God. I suppose we are meant to see it from two viewpoints, as it were – from our viewpoint and from God’s viewpoint. What does God see when he looks at his redeemed people? What does he see that his exalted Son has done for them? God sees them as his kingdom and as his worshippers, and he is pleased with what they have become, even although those of them on earth are not yet perfect.

 

The occupation of the redeemed

What will the redeemed yet be doing? The heavenly choir change their tense in verse 10 and instead of singing about the current blessings of the ransomed, they sing about the future activities of those Jesus died to save and who he brought into the kingdom. They will reign on the earth. The song cannot mean that they reign now over the earth because they are all going to do it at the same time. Since all the redeemed will not be together until the last one has been brought in, this activity must be future. Another reason why the reign cannot be now is because the earth in its present state is not a fit place for these perfect kings to reign. They need a better world, because if it is this world they would be reigning over rebels.

 

What can be said about this line of the angelic song? Three things briefly. First, it is a reward from Jesus. He had promised the overcomers in one of the seven churches that they would sit on his throne. Their faithfulness did not merit this reward, but it is the reward that Jesus will graciously give to them. They will reign with him for ever and ever.

 

Second, it is a restoration of what Adam lost when he fell in the Garden of Eden from his role as king of the earth. If he had not fallen, he and his seed would have reigned over the earth endlessly. In the future, the last Adam, Jesus, and his seed will reign for ever over the earth. Indeed, they will reign on the earth. Of course, the restoration is better than the original because the King is divine and human, and not merely human, and its environment is eternally secure for its rulers.

 

Third, the prospect led the heavenly singers to rejoice in anticipation. The arrival of Jesus in heaven to reign is the guarantee that the new world will yet come. No doubt, this new song is still being sung very joyfully.

 

Application

A first application concerns what we say when we worship the Lord. Do we celebrate the matters found in this heavenly song? Do we think of the sufferings of the Redeemer, the status of the redeemed (members of a kingdom), the service of the redeemed (priests) and the future glory of the redeemed (kings)? Each of them highlights the grace of Jesus. He suffered for us, we are in his kingdom, we serve through his enabling, and he will reign with us as well as over us.

 

A second application is for us to ask ourselves if we belong to the redeemed, to those gathered from all over the world through the gospel. We have heard the gospel, but have we all embraced it? Think of what you will get if you ignore the gospel (wrath) and what you will miss out on if you ignore it (grace in this world and glory in the next).