‘Many angels around the throne-- ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands’ (Revelation 5:12). Can anyone really imagine that? And, how about the sound this many beings make? Do the math, and see that it works out to 100 million angels, at least! (A multitude of angels is likewise shown in this 15th Century masterpiece work of art, Assumption of the Virgin, by Francesco Botticini, in which he envisioned three hierarchies and nine orders of angels.) To say this scene would rock your world, visually and audibly, is an understatement, and John the beloved apostle was just beginning to receive the vision that God wanted him to convey to others. Witnessing this in person was a unique and undoubtedly overwhelming episode for John; perhaps it was so surreal that it was difficult for him to believe, frankly, for it was a heavenly vision from the Creator that was meant to encapsulate the meaning and culmination of all life. John’s vision is drawn to the focal point of all human existence -- someone called the Lamb. “Worthy Is the Lamb”, this multitude shouted, as they responded to another group and urged on yet a third group of beings. If this Lamb is in the spotlight, how should I respond? That’s what makes the angels’ song meaningful, showing me to how I can respond appropriately. It’s a scene we might think of as a 1st Century happening, as well as a future event. But, the song can be sung today, too, allowing us to weave between past, present, and future verbs to see, hear, and respond to John’s vision.
This angelic song, which was adapted to music by Don Wyrtzen in 1973, is really one of three parts, something like a call-response song. ‘Worthy Is the Lamb’ seems to be both a response and a call song, because it is interspersed between two other songs. John heard a new song about the Lamb’s worthy state sung by four living creatures and a group of 24 elders (5:9-10), and that evidently inspired this vast army of angels to respond with their own worthy ode to the Lamb (v.12). Can you imagine the echo, amplified beyond heaven itself, so that a third group -- every creature in heaven and on earth, under the earth, and in the sea (5:13) -- was called to reply with their own words of reverence for the Lamb? The three-part song began in heaven, and was so magnificent and thunderous, that it created a wave of singing everywhere by everyone. That’s synergy, of a Divine origin. We cannot talk to these angels, nor to their cohorts in the first and third chorus groups, so what would we be able to say about their motives for singing, except that it was and will be worship. Their eyes were on the Lamb, this animal that sounds harmless enough. One might think so without the further description that John provides. This Lamb was one that was sacrificed, so there’s probably evidence of wounds and blood, and yet this Lamb wasn’t and is not dead today. It is definitely different, with seven horns and seven eyes to represent Godly spirits sent into all of the earth. And, He does something very noteworthy, an act that apparently sparks all of this music: He retrieved a scroll, as the One uniquely capable of breaking it open and revealing its contents. And then, the next 17 chapters of John’s Revelation unfold in all of their apocalyptic grandeur.
So, Don Wyrtzen and the rest of us are called to join in as part of that third group who’ve heard the angel army’s song fall upon our ears from heaven. Will anyone be able to ignore this, like when Jesus comes with a loud command (1 Thessalonians 4:16-17)? It’s early in John’s vision, before humans are judged, so will all who’ve ever lived, including both those who acknowledge God as Lord and those who do not, be part of the group that’s in this third chorus? Maybe I cannot say that with certainty, but He must want me to be sure of this: I can choose to join in; I don’t have to be left out of His kingdom. I want to be on the same side as all of those angels singing ‘Worthy’. From what John says, the resonance of their singing will likely be noticed like nothing else ever has been. Perhaps it will be as undeniable as the sun that rises and spreads its rays, whether I want them or not. Prepared or not, this worthy song will be sung to the Lamb. Ready?
See information on the adapter/music writer: Don Wyrtzen | Hymnary.org
Read here about Call and Response music: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Call_and_response_(music)
See here for information on the image of the angels: File:Francesco Botticini - The Assumption of the Virgin.jpg - Wikimedia Commons. This work is in the public domain in its country of origin and other countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 100 years or fewer. {{PD-1996}} – public domain in its source country on January 1, 1996 and in the United States.
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