February 8, 2017
Revelation 7:9-12
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
Today we will finish our study of Revelation Praise! from Revelation 7:9-12 – the great seven-fold passage of praise! Studying this one verse can help change our prayer life, helping us offer more praise to God!
…behold, a great multitude, which no one could number, of all nations,
tribes, peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne and…the Lamb,
clothed with white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying
with a loud voice…“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb!” And all the angels…and the elders and the four living
creatures…fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying,
“Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom, thanksgiving and honor and
power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
‘Seven-fold praise’ I have been calling it, but we started yesterday with an eighth part, “Amen!…Amen.” (verse 12). This just means that the praise being given between the two Amens is offered in sincerity and truth! We then covered the first three praises of this featured Scripture, so lets go on to the final four.
• “…thanksgiving…” (Greek, εὐχαριστία) – Strong defines this word as “…gratitude; actually grateful language (to God, as an act of worship)…” The Bible says some interesting things about thanksgiving toward God:
✞ Psalm 69:30 – “I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify Him with thanksgiving.” (See also Psalm 95:2; 100:4; 116:17 – and many other Old Testament Scriptures emphasizing thanksgiving as a vital part of the believer’s life!).
✞ Ephesians 5:20 – Paul tells us that we should be “…giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ….” Here he is emphasizing “…for all things…”!
✞ Philippians 4:6 (International Standard Version) – “Never worry about anything. Instead, in every situation let your petitions be made known to God through prayers and requests, with thanksgiving.” Thanksgiving to God should always be part of our prayers!
✞ I Thessalonians 5:18 – “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” And here, Paul emphasizes “In everything…”!
There are so many more passages of Scripture that emphasize giving God thanks! We can’t begin to cover them all! I encourage you to do your own study on thanksgiving.
• “…and honor…” (Greek, τιμή) – as applied to praising God, it is holding Him in the highest degree of esteem or dignity (according to Strong’s Greek Dictionary). Here is how Paul applies giving God honor in his opening benediction to Timothy in I Timothy 1:17: “Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.”
• “…and power…” (Greek, δύναμις) – Dunamis is where we got our words for dynamite and dynamo. The first is a flash of power! The second is power produced and released continually! God has both – in His being and under His control! The physical manifestations of such power are alluded to in Hebrews 1:2 and 3. Speaking of Jesus Christ, the writer says, “…through whom He [God] made the worlds…[and Jesus is] upholding all things by the word of His power.”
✞ The first mention obviously refers to creation! “Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light.” This was an instantaneous flash of God’s power through Jesus Christ! (See John 1:1; Colossians 1:16).
✞ The second mention infers Christ’s ongoing power of sustaining of all creation! (See Colossians 1:17).
But for God – and His power demonstrated through His Son Jesus Christ – nothing would have ever existed, nothing would exist now, and nothing would exist in the future! Praising God for His power in this seven-fold praise acknowledges this fact.
• “…and might…” (Greek, ἰσχύς) – This refers to God’s forcefulness, according to Strong. As I see it, Jesus does not often use His might, His forcefulness in lives of mankind. For instance, in Revelation 3:20 the Lord says, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in….” He comes in when invited! As a matter of fact, in the famous painting by Warner Sallman (based on Revelation 3:20), “Christ at Heart’s Door”, there is no handle on the outside of the door upon which Jesus is knocking! It can only be opened by the person on the inside!
But there are other times when the Lord uses His might and forcefulness, and just bowls over any opposition! Such was the case in John 18:6 (International Standard Version) for the soldiers who came to arrest Him in the Garden of Gethsemane: “When Jesus told them, ‘I AM,’ they backed away and fell to the ground.” And He also knocked Saul of Tarsus off his ‘high horse’ on the Damascus Road! (See Acts 9:3, 4).
• “…be to our God forever and ever. Amen.” – Yes, we should give God such praise as did these in heaven! The next time you go to prayer, read Revelation 7:12, and incorporate such seven-fold Revelation Praise! into your time before Him!