DAY 348
WORTHY
IS THE LAMB
Joel and Revelation 5
“Little is known of Joel, although his concern for Judah and
Jerusalem suggests he ministered in Judah. Joel told of a locust plague that
had struck Israel and which, he said, foreshadowed the “Day of the Lord.” The
day of the Lord was a time greatly anticipated by the Israelites because they
believed that God would then judge the nations and restore Israel to her former
glory. Yet, said Joel, God would punish not only the nations, but unfaithful
Israel as well. Joel urged everyone to repent, and told of a day when God would
“pour out His Spirit on all flesh (2:28). That day arrived on the first
Christian Pentecost (Acts 2:17). While the date of the book is uncertain (ninth
to sixth century BC) its message is valid for all times.” [From ESV Bible.]
Chapter 5 today of Revelation is a classic example for how I
at times can get so drawn into the figurative language to end up confused. If
you stop and think about it for a moment, chapter 5 says that John sees a
person sitting upon the throne with a scroll. Yes it is a fancy scroll (sealed
with seven stars). He also says no one can open it, and for some reason this
causes him to weep loudly, that is, until the Lamb appears. Then notice what
happens when the Lamb appears, “…I heard around the throne …the voice of many
angels, numbering myriads and myriads, thousands of thousands, saying with a
loud voice “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain…And I heard every creature
in heaven and earth and under the earth, and in the sea, and all that is in
them saying…
The point of chapter 5 is to again take your breath away. We
got this in chapter 1, and the point of the drama of chapter 1 was for us to
understand not just the message of chapters 2 and 3, but just who was offering
it to us—God himself and He had/has a message for his “Church in the world.”
And yesterday and today we are again drawn into a dramatic scene. I imagine it
is as if I am in a theater, with a huge stage, and this dramatic throne…it is
both grand and confusing…and then out of nowhere I begin to see angels, and
people, and all sorts of creatures…and it is loud…really loud…and it is not
just noise…it is praise…amid the confusion one thing is clear…all the created
worLd…heaven and earth…are praising the Lamb who is worthy.
The closing chorus, the final piece of music sung in Handel’s
Messiah, is this verse from
revelation. You can listen to it below through a link. It is magnificent. Our
Cathedral just offered this concert three nights ago. There we were, in a grand
cathedral, with the High Altar behind the angelic and powerful voices of the
choir filling the space. We sing the Messiah in the Cathedral because the Altar area of the Cathedral is in many ways our
human attempt to recreate the very throne of God. If you listen to the link
below you will notice many things. The piece is seven minutes long and it ends with a long Great Amen. In fact the Great Amen is three and one-half minutes of the seven! The Great
Amen is a long series of singing amen, over and over. I was swept up in that
moment, praying that the very Spirit of God would fill not only the Cathedral,
but fill the hearts of all who were present in this earthly sacred cathedral. For
me, while the Halleluiah chorus of Messiah
is splendid, it is this chorus, the chorus of Worthy is the Lamb that brings
me to tears, and I with the choir add my Amen.
So we close today with all this action, still wondering about
the scroll, it will come soon, but today, take a moment and sense the
magnificent grandeur of this throne scene with the Lamb…for Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain, Amen.
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