Revelation 5:14 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

NIV: The four living creatures said, 'Amen,' and the elders fell down and worshiped.

NASB: And the four living creatures were saying, 'Amen.' And the elders fell down and worshiped.

CSB: The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

NLT: And the four living beings said, 'Amen!' And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.

KJV: And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.

NKJV: Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.

John has witnessed the twenty-four elders (Revelation 4:4) and a massive horde of angels (Revelation 5:11) singing praises to Jesus and to God the Father. Upon hearing this universal ascription of praise to the Lamb, the four living creatures voiced their agreement by saying "Amen!" which literally means "so be it!". The elders added their agreement by falling down and worshiping. The bursts of praise began with the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, and it is fitting that it concluded with them.

The response of the living creatures and the elders, to the worthiness of the Lamb, is a lesson which can enhance our worship. We can acknowledge the Lord's right to receive our worship and we can humble ourselves before Him in awe and adoration. We can accept the psalmist's invitation to "come into [the LORD's] presence with thanksgiving," and "make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise! For the LORD is a great God, and a great King above all gods" (Psalm 95:2–3). Perhaps, what is truly astonishing is the fact that God seeks our worship (John 4:23), but we must worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:24).

Revelation 5:11–14 concludes the heavenly scenes the apostle John viewed after being invited to enter heaven (Revelation 4:1). Tribulation judgments come next in chapters 6—16. This passage contains a crescendo of angels ascribing praise to the Lamb. Their praise draws universal agreement and an appropriate response from the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, earlier described as attending God around His throne.

Revelation 5 tells us John saw a scroll in God's right hand. The scroll had writing in it and on its back. Also, the scroll was sealed with seven seals. A search uncovered no one who was worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. However, one of the elders told John that Jesus could open the scroll, as the only one with the legal and moral right to do so. When Jesus accepted the scroll, universal praise in heaven and on earth rose to Jesus. He alone was found worthy to open the scroll because, as God's Lamb, He had shed His blood for all mankind.

Jesus commanded John to write ''the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.'' The first three chapters of Revelation contained those things which ''were'' and ''are,'' at the time John wrote. Chapters 2 and 3 provided the contents of Jesus' letters to seven churches. Chapter 4 begins the largest and last section of Revelation, regarding events yet to take place when John wrote (Revelation 1:19). John introduced God seated upon His throne, with twenty-four elders and four angelic creatures nearby. Chapter 5 focuses on a scroll containing God's judgments on sin, and a search for someone to open it. Only Jesus is worthy to open it. When Jesus receives the scroll from God, He receives praise from every creature in heaven and on earth.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''