Revelation 5:11-13

Revelation 5:11: “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.”

Notice that the angels say these things; they don’t sing them. (I realize that some other translations use the word “sing” here, but they are incorrect.) There are actually no cases anywhere in the Bible where angels sing anything. If the angels do have the ability to sing the Bible never mentions it.

Another thing to notice is the tremendous number of angels that exist. John speaks of 10,000 times 10,000, with thousands of thousands more. This implies that there are many millions, perhaps even billions of angels. It is a very large number. There aren’t just five or six angels.

We should also notice what the angels are not saying. The elders said that Jesus redeemed them by His blood, but the angels don’t say that. The elders said that Jesus made them kings and priests and they would reign on the Earth, but the angels don’t say that. What the angels do say is that Jesus (the Lamb that was slain) was worthy to receive “power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing”. They are praising God, but they are doing it in a different way than the elders are. God’s relationship with the Church is different from His relationship with the angels.

The same can be said for the creatures, which are mentioned in the next verse. Notice what they have to say:

Revelation 5:13: “And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

While they praise God, they don’t say anything about being redeemed. The only group that is praising Jesus for redeeming them are the elders – and that is because the elders (which represents the Church) is the only group that Jesus has redeemed. He died for us; He did not die for anyone else.