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2. The Worship of God by the 24 Elders (Revelation 11:16-18)
REVELATION 11:16-18
16 The twenty-four elders, who sit on their thrones before God’s throne, fell on their faces and worshiped God, 17 saying: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who was; because you have taken your great power, and reigned. 18 The nations were angry, and your wrath came, as did the time for the dead to be judged, and to give your bondservants the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints, and those who fear your name, to the small and the great; and to destroy those who destroy the earth.”
The twelve representatives of the Old, as well as of the New Covenant, sitting encircled around the throne of God, upon hearing the seventh and final trumpet and the victory shout of the mighty heavenly voices were torn from their seats. All those born of the Spirit recognized the decisive significance of this moment. They had waited long for this victory trumpet to sound. The 24 elders bowed themselves low in worship of the almighty Creator of heaven and earth. The angels, having seen an innumerable great flock of painfully afflicted saints, had already in amazement cast themselves down in worship before the holy All-wise and All-knowing God (Revelation 7:11). Now the 24 elders, as a sign of their total surrender to the Lord of the worlds, and of their willful assent to all His judgments, touched their foreheads to the ground. As priest-kings, together with their Lord, they will reign over the worlds that have been set free from Satan (Daniel 7:27; Revelation 5:10; 17:14; 19:14).
In the Garden of Gethsemane the Lord Jesus Christ cast Himself to the ground before His Father, pleading that, if possible, the cup of wrath might pass from Him. In faithful obedience and worship, with vehement prayers and supplications, He held His course through and drank the deadly drink of this cup down to the bitter dregs (Matthew 26:39; Hebrews 5:7-8).
Some Orthodox churches practice until today worship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit during the time of fasting before Easter. Western Churches, however, sit or stand during their worship of God. Few Christians prostrate themselves before God. Most, in fact, have forgotten the fear of God and the dread of His majesty.
Muslims in worship prostrate themselves during their five prescribed prayer times before Allah up to 34 times a day. Each time they touch their forehead to the ground. Some have developed, through continual contact with the prayer carpets, a mark on their foreheads (Sura al-Fath 48:29). The Koran claims this type of worship was already commanded in the Torah and in the Gospel. The worship of the Muslim, however, is fundamentally different from that of Jews and Christians. Allah is no Father, no Son, and no Holy Spirit (Sura al-Ikhlas 112:1-4). Much more, he is a rebellious, proud spirit, who well calls himself Allah, is, however, not God. The worship of Muslims is built upon fear and respect, not upon thankfulness and joy. Allah is no loving God, but a strict law giver, who will judge men by their works.
Buddhists and Hindus, too, show devotion to their gods in worship. But they, likewise, know not the true God, and worship in a false way (John 1:18).
The 24 elders worshiped the true God, the eternal One, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. They recited no assigned liturgy, but praised and extolled their Lord out of the depth of their hearts. They were swept away and overcome by His great power and strength, which He would now rigorously and consequently put into service.
The Hymn of the 24 Elders: The 24 prayer leaders out of the Old and New Covenant began their worship by the giving of thanks to God for His great elementary deeds leading to salvation. Their first act of worship was concentrated on the Creator and on His wonderful creation (Revelation 4:9-11). The second part of their worship was directed towards the Lamb of God and the redemption He had accomplished. They praised God for pardoned sinners purchased with blood and whom He had placed into His service as kings and priests (Revelation 5:8-14). The third act of worship of the 24 elders was directed toward the omnipotent Judge and His righteous judgment (Revelation 11:16-18). The elders praised their Lord for the two back-to-back ages, the age of law, and the age of grace, through which mankind would now be judged. They praised their Lord because of His inevitable victory over all of the forces against God.
The elders spoke to God personally and, in conformity with the previous voices in heaven, called Him “Lord” (Yahweh). With this title they praised the covenant faithfulness of the unchangeable, existent One (Exodus 3:14; Hebrews 13:8), who in the history of His people had visibly intervened with promises and threats, as well as with salvation and punishment. His name is the most important word in the Old Testament and at the same time a central description for Jesus Christ in the New Testament. One of the earliest Christian confessions of faith stated: Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God, the Father (Philippians 2:11; Luke 2:11).
The Lord is God! The Hebrew word for “God”, ”Elohim”, stands written 2,600 times in the Old Testament. With “Elohim”, a plural form of the word “Eloah” is used, which can mean that the Triune God is a plurality of Gods! “El” means “power” or “might” (Matthew 26:64). With this name the Bible confesses that God is all powerful. Jesus received from Him all power in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18). The Holy Spirit, too, is the power of God (Acts 1:8). All three Persons are one. The Holy Trinity thus means the bundled power of God in a unity of love, humility and peace.
Although the word “Elohim” already means “strength” and “power”, it was nonetheless important for the 24 elders to be more specific. In their song of praise they used the term “Almighty”, which in the Hebrew is, “El Shaddai”. This title appears first with Abraham, when he, the Bedouin, stood before the Almighty to hear the words which would be the basis for His ethics. “I am Almighty God; walk before me and be blameless” (Genesis 17:1). The Lord God alone is entitled to this attribute. No angel, no devil and no man is almighty. The power of the Almighty is an uplifting, saving, blessing and sanctifying power. It will never decay or fade, but will heal and make productive. The Almighty wants to place His Own life, His Own Spirit, His own power into the justified follower of Christ. The one who continually resists Him, however, has already been judged and destroyed, as if an ant would try and rise up against an elephant. The Lord is the Almighty God. Eight times in the book of Revelation He is described with this title (Revelation 1:8; 4:8; 15:3; 16:7, 14; 19:6, 15; 21:22).
The 24 elders gave further definition to the word “Lord”, by using a name derived from “Yahweh”: You are, who You were! Whoever reads some of the 6,828 verses of the Bible which contain the name “Yahweh”, from the first page of Genesis until the last page of Revelation, can see the same loving, faithful, holy, strict, consoling, helping and forthcoming covenant God being revealed. We should follow the trail of this God in the course of history (Exodus 33:23), by seeing, for example, how He revealed Himself to Moses, who could only respond: “The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering and abounding in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, by no means clearing the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children to the third and fourth generation” (Exodus 34:6-7).
God remains just even towards those who disregard, reject and hate Him, His Word, His salvation, His mercy, or His Son. He will judge them according to their works, and not according to His mercy, which they have refused. Every form of resistance toward the Almighty is, in view of this unavoidable coming judgment, useless. His radiant power will annihilate and put an end to every rebel in the blink of an eye.
The elders in the vision of John did not pray “You are, the One who will come”, for the Lord had already come. The future had already begun. Now there would be no more time, no more patience, no more last chance. The great settling of accounts was in full swing. Judgment of the world had begun with the sounding of the seventh trumpet. The Lord was present to save His church, and, at the same time, to annihilate all anti-God forces.
The elders praised God when they heard the resounding of the last trumpet, because of what they knew: God had deliberately, by means of a final decree, placed His all-pervading power into service and full deployment. The time of patience had come to an end. The life of godless blasphemy, the seduction of billions of people along with their brutal suppression and exploitation, would finally have its end. Now the theocracy of God would begin, that is, His kingly rule! It is not built on money, weapons or a pseudo freedom, but on the Holy Spirit, His love, His truth, His peace and His joy. A new wind begins to blow in the universe. Now it will be seen to that the will of the Father be done on earth, as it is in heaven. In Galilee Jesus had driven out demons with just the movement of His small finger. The Kingdom of God had been present in Him previously. Now, however, the Lord was assuming His office as King and Owner of the world.
The Lord reigns! He is no longer merely the “Coming One”, but now the “Present One”. The irresistible army of angels and the prayers of the saints prepared Him His way.
PRAYER: Patient God, You did not exterminate the disobedient and the deceptive, but You expect from them regret for their evil and sincere repentance. The world became stubborn, corrupt, and willfully aggressive against You, but You revealed Your unlimited power, destroying the corrupt, and crushing the aggressive.
QUESTION:
- Why did God delay revealing His unlimited power?