Revelation 7:11,12

Revelation 7:11-12. The angels spoken of in these verses must be the same as those at chap. Revelation 5:11, although it may be worthy of notice that the other beings in the neighbourhood of the throne are here arranged in a different order, the ‘living creatures' of chap. Revelation 5:11 there taking precedence of the ‘elders,' while in the words before us the order is reversed. In the one case the throne is looked at from its outer circle to its centre, in the other from its centre to its outer circle. In the first passage also it is not said of the angels that they fell before the throne on their faces. This trait is probably now added because a higher manifestation of God's purposes has been reached. Here, as there, the doxology is sevenfold, but the words and the order differ. The doxology of the angels includes no mention of the Lamb, for angels had not been ‘loosed from their sins in His blood' (chap. Revelation 1:5). The vision thus given is so important that an explanation is subjoined.