Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 5:8

"And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." — Revelation 5:8 (ASV)

The Lamb’s act calls forth three hymns of praise (vv.9, 12, 13) from the living creatures and elders. John sees them fall down in worship before the Lamb as they had earlier done before the one on the throne (4:10), thus acknowledging the deity of the Lamb. They have “harps,” which are the “lyres” used for the older psalmody (e.g., Pss 33:2; 98:5) but will now be used for the “new song” of praise to the Lamb (v.9; 15:2–3).

The “bowls full of incense” represent the “prayers of the saints” (8:3–4).

Prayer (GK 4666) in this scene is not praise but petition. Why do the saints on earth petition God? In 6:10 the martyrs are seen as calling to God for his judgment on those who killed them, and in 8:3–4 the prayers of the saints are immediately connected with the trumpets of God’s judgment. These prayers, then, are evidently for God’s vindication of the martyred saints. And since v.10 refers to the coming kingdom, it may be that the prayers are petitions for God to judge the world and to extend his kingdom throughout the earth . “Saints” (GK 41) is simply the normal term for the rank and file of Christians, i.e., those set apart for God’s purposes (2 Corinthians 1:1; Revelation 11:18; 13:7, 19; Revelation 19:8; Revelation 22:21).

The fourth seal reveals a rider on a “pale horse.” “Pale” (GK 5952) denotes a yellowish green or the paleness of a sick person in contrast to a healthy appearance. This cadaverous color blends well with the name of the rider —“Death.” It probably refers to the death brought by pestilence, or plague, which often follows famine (cf. Jeremiah 14:12; Ezekiel 5:17, 14:71, Lk 21:11). “Hades [cf. comment on 1:18] was following close behind him [Death].” But how? On foot? On the back of the same horse? On a separate horse? Scripture does not say. The growth of intensity in the judgments goes from the sword (human violence), to famine, to plague, and now to the wild beasts of the earth.

John goes even further. He enumerates each of the twelve tribes and their number: “From the tribe of Judah 12,000 were sealed,” etc. Why was it necessary to provide this detailed enumeration? And why the particular tribal selection? In answering these difficult questions, some facts about the list should be noted. John places Judah first, evidently to emphasize the priority of the messianic King who came from the tribe of Judah (5:5; cf. Hebrews 7:13–14). Nowhere in the tribal listings of the OT except in the space arrangement of the wilderness camp (Numbers 2:3ff.) does Judah come first. This exception may itself be linked with the messianic expectation through Judah (Genesis 49:10; 1 Chronicles 5:2). John’s priority of Judah is comparable to the emphasis placed in Judaism on the tribe of Levi (the priestly tribe). It is significant that John includes Levi among the other tribes, and thus gives no special place to the Levitical order; he places Levi in the comparatively unimportant eighth place. The particular order and names of the tribes as given here by John are unique. The OT has no fewer than twenty variant lists of the tribes, and these lists include anywhere from ten to thirteen tribes, though the number twelve is predominant (cf. Genesis 49; Dt 33; Ezekiel 48). The grouping of twelve may be a way of expressing the corporate identity of the elect people of God as a whole and may be maintained—even artificially at times—to preserve this identity (cf. the “twelfth” apostle chosen when Judas fell [Acts 1:25–26]). John omits Dan (which elsewhere is always included) and Ephraim. In order to maintain the ideal number twelve with these omissions, he must list both Joseph and Manasseh as tribes. This is peculiar because the tribe of Joseph is always mentioned in the other lists by either including Joseph and excluding his two sons, Ephraim and Manasseh (Genesis 49), or vice versa (Ezekiel 48). Moreoever, only when the Levitical priesthood gained more prominence was the tribe of Levi omitted from the lists and replaced by the two sons of Joseph. Various efforts have been made to solve the enigma of John’s list and especially to explain the absence of the tribe of Dan. While no solution is completely satisfactory, the early church held that the Antichrist would arise from the tribe of Dan (this belief may in fact be a pre-Christian Jewish tradition). Furthermore, Dan was associated in the OT with idolatry (1 Kings 12:29–30). This may be the clue. If John sought to expose Christian idolatry and beast worship in his day by excluding Dan from the list of those sealed, it may also be possible to explain, on the same basis, why Manasseh and Joseph were chosen to fill up the sacred number rather than Manasseh and Ephraim, for in the OT Ephraim was also explicitly identified with idolatry (Hosea 4:17). If idolatry is the reason for omitting Dan and Ephraim, the readjustment of the list to include Joseph and Manasseh to complete the twelve can be understood. Since Dan will be reckoned first in the tribal listing of the restored eschatological Jewish community (Ezekiel 48) and John’s list puts Judah first, it may be that John’s listing describes the church, not ethnic Israel. It is important to note that John does not equate the 144,000 with everyone in the tribes. Rather, his repeated use of the preposition “from” (lit., “out of”; GK 1666) in vv.4–8 implies that the sealed were an elect group chosen out of the tribes. If John had the actual Jewish Israel in view, this use of “from” would indicate an election from the whole nation. On the other hand, if he intended to imply something about the church, his language might indicate God’s selecting the true church out “from” the professing church. This thought has already been mentioned (cf. 2:14ff., 20ff.; 3:16ff.) and is supported by Eze 9:4–7, where the seal distinguished the true servants of God from the false ones among the professing people of God. Paul states the same thought: “Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: ‘The Lord knows those who are his,’ and ‘Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness’ ” (2 Timothy 2:19). The description of the judgments under the sixth seal (6:12ff.) ends with the question, “The great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (6:17). John answers this question by implying that only the true servants of God, who are divinely sealed, can be protected from the wrath of God and the Lamb.