Heaven on Earth: Relationship between Book of Revelation and Orthodox Liturgy;

1. Heaven on
EarthBook of Revelation and Orthodox
Liturgy

2. Introduction
• Worship in book (24 Times ‘to worship’)
• The first (1:3) and the last (22:6) chapters
imply a liturgical setting
• Numerous hymns
• Inspired by early Christian liturgy

3. Introduction
• Theme of book: Continue to worship the
one seated on throne and the slain lamb
even in spite of trials. Christ will return
soon and execute judgement.

4. Liturgy is lifting up
• Revelation: apocalypsis – “unveiling”
(uncovering)
• Anaphora: “Lifting up or offering”; used to
refer to veil that covers the Eucharistic
elements
• In the Liturgy we are being lifted up to
heaven.
• Revelation 4:1 (Revelation 11:12). St John
asked to “come up here”

5. Liturgy is lifting up
• The celebrant, extending and elevating his
hands, says aloud:
Upward, where Christ sits on the right
hand of God the Father, let our thoughts,
minds and hearts be at this hour.
• People: They are with the Lord God.
• Colossians 3:1
• Holy Qurbana is offered on the heavenly
altar –

6. Liturgy is lifting up
• “that, in holiness, we may stand before
Your holy altar and piously offer You
sacrifices on Your spiritual altar.” (Sedro)
• “ I may be worthy to enter into Your holy
and sanctifying Holy of Holies, “ (Prayer as
priest washes hands)
• “We give thanks to You, O Lord, for the
abundance of Your mercy, by which we
have been made worthy to partake of Your
heavenly table.” – (Prayer of Thanksgiving
after Holy Communion.)

7. Worshipers
• In the Spirit:
• Rev. 1:10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day”
• Rev 4:2 “Immediately I was in the Spirit”
• Eucharist in spirit
• “The Holy Spirit comes on the ‘last and great day’ of Pentecost. He
manifests the world to come. He inaugurates the Kingdom. He
always takes us beyond. To be in the Spirit means to be in heaven,
for the Kingdom of God is ‘joy and peace in the Holy Spirit.’ And thus
in the Eucharist it is He who seals and confirms our ascension into
heaven, who transforms the Church into the body of Christ and –
therefore-manifests the elements of our offering as communion in
the Holy Spirit.” (Schmemman)
• “This means that as the church on earth gathers, the Spirit breaks
into our world and sweeps us into the kingdom that is, even now,
coming down from heaven.” Martyn Cowan

8. Worshipers
• Royal Priesthood:
• Revelation 1:6 “Made us into a kingdom of priests” (Exodus 19:6; 1
Peter 2:9)
• Revelation 5: 10 “You have made them to be a kingdom and priests
to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
• Revelation 20:6 “The second death has no power over them, but
they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a
thousand years.”
• “ All are members of the "royal priesthood" because only the
priesthood can partake of the things of the altar, and all are called to
receive the mystery of the Body and Blood of Christ the "things of
the altar" in Holy Communion.” – Archbishop Lazar Puhalo
(http://www.pravmir.com/article_511.html)

9. Worship of the One Seated on
the Throne and Slain Lamb
• Rev. 4 & 5 give us model of Worship
• The one seated on the throne - Rev 4:11 – You are worthy
• The slain lamb. Rev 5:12 “Worthy is the lamb”
• “who sits on the Throne and the lamb” (Rev 5:13; 7:10; 7:15-17)
• Holy Qurbana is the sacrifice of the lamb
• “O pure and spotless Lamb, Who offered Himself an acceptable
offering to His Father for the redemption and expiation of the whole
world, make us worthy to offer ourselves to You a living sacrifice that
is well-pleasing to You after the manner of Your sacrifice on our
behalf, O Christ our God, forever.” (Hoothomo of Preparatory
service’s 1st part)
• Rejection of worship of Angel / Messenger – Rev. 19:10 & Rev. 22:9

10. Worship of the One Seated on
the Throne and Slain Lamb
• "He offered Himself for us, Victim and Sacrifice, and Priest as well, and
'Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.' When did He do this?
When He made His own Body food and His own Blood drink for His disciples;
for this much is clear enough to anyone, that a sheep cannot be eaten by a
man unless its being eaten be preceded by its being slaughtered. This giving
of His own Body to His disciples for eating clearly indicates that the sacrifice
of the Lamb has now been completed." St Gregory of Nyssa -"Orations and
Sermons"
• "I wish to add something that is plainly awe-inspiring, but do not be
astonished or upset. This Sacrifice, no matter who offers it, be it Peter or
Paul, is always the same as that which Christ gave His disciples and which
priests now offer: The offering of today is in no way inferior to that which
Christ offered, because it is not men who sanctify the offering of today; it is
the same Christ who sanctified His own. For just as the words which God
spoke are the very same as those which the priest now speaks, so too the
oblation is the very same." St. John Chrysostom, "Homilies on the Second
Epistle to Timothy," 2,4,

11. Worship of the One Seated on
the Throne and Slain Lamb
• The worship is a restatement of the Victory gifted by the Slain Lamb
• Rev 5:9 – “new Song”
• Rev. 7:10 – Salvation belongs
• Rev. 15:3 – “Mighty deeds” of Lord God Almighty
• “The memorial of our Lord, our God and our Savior Jesus Christ and all of
His redemptive dispensations on our behalf; especially the message of the
angel; His birth in the flesh, His baptism in the Jordan River and His fast of
forty days, His voluntary passions and the raising of Him on the Cross, His
life-giving death and His revered burial, His glorious resurrection, His
ascension into heaven and His sitting on the right hand of God the Father. “ –
(prayer in Preparatory service at time of remembering faithful)
• "He, therefore, who approaches the Body and Blood of Christ in commemoration of
Him who died for us and rose again must be free not only from defilement of flesh and
spirit, in order that he may not eat drink unto judgement, but he must actively manifest
the remembrance of Him who died for us and rose again, by being dead to sin, to the
world, and to himself, and alive unto God in Christ Jesus, our Lord." –St Basil the Great
"Concerning Baptism" Book I, Ch. 3.

12. Cosmic Liturgy
• Liturgy that includes the entire creation both
seen and unseen are worshipping the Creator.
Part of the created order such as sun, moon,
stars, animals and trees along with the celestial
order are worshipping the one true God.

13. Cosmic Liturgy
• Heavenly Temple
• Worship on earth based on worship in heaven
(Hebrews 8:5; Exodus 25:40)
• Christ depicted as High priest: Rev 1:12-14
• Ark of Covenant : Rev. 11:19 – (just before
woman of Rev. 12 who has been identified as St
Mary)
• Rev 4 : 4 Living Creatures, 24 elders
• 4 Beings sing “Holy Holy” to which 24 Elders
Respond

14. Cosmic Liturgy
• Rev 5:11 –“ And I looked, and I heard the voices of many
angels encircled around the throne, and of the living
beings and of the elders, and the number of them was
myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands.”
• The celebrant stretches out his hands and says aloud:
• With the thousands of thousands and the myriads of
myriads of fiery hosts who stand before You and
unceasingly glorify You, may we also be worthy to praise
You thrice, crying out and saying:
• People: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty; heaven and
earth are full of His glories. Hosanna in the highest.
Blessed is He Who came and will come in the Name of
the Lord. Hosanna in the highest.
• (Bar Salibi)

15. Cosmic Liturgy
• Heavenly vocabulary:
– Amen(7:12) and
– Halleluiah (The only place in the NT where the "alleluia" is found
is in Rev.19:1, 3-4,6. This Hebrew liturgical word, which means
"praise the LORD," is found throughout the Psalms.);
– Pantocrator (Almighty) (Rev 1:8; 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7) and
– axios (Worthy)

16. Cosmic Liturgy
1. Throne
2. White Robe
Image of the garment of incorruptibility given at baptism.
Acolytes surplice represent that.
3. Incense is part of this cosmic liturgy
“prayers of God’s people” (Rev 5:8; Rev 8:4)
Psalm 141:2
Our incense rises to God’s temple
“Even now, O Lord, accept, with this sweet savor of incense, the
praise of our mouths and the thanksgiving of our tongues,” (In
Preparatory rites as incense is offered over elements)

17. Communion of Saints
In this Cosmic Liturgy the church on earth joins the church in
heaven (Rev. 7)
24 elders
Martyrs who are under the altar.
They are always before God.
They are wearing crowns

18. Worship is an anticipation of end of
times
• “On the brink of the age to come.” (Fr Andrew Louth,
“Space, Time and Liturgy”)
• “The Eucharist has so often been explained with reference to the gifts
alone: what ‘happens’ to bread and wine, and why and when it
happens! But we must understand that what ‘happens’ to bread and
wine happens because something has, first of all, happened to us, to
the Church. It is because we have ‘constituted’ the Church, and this
means we have followed Christ in His ascension; because He has
accepted us at His table in the Kingdom; because, in terms of
theology, we have entered the Eschaton, and are now standing
beyond time and space; it is because all this has first happened to us
that something will happened to bread and wine.” (Schmemman, p.
37)

19. Eucharist is the marriage feast of the
lamb
• Rev 19:9 "Blessed are those who are invited to the
marriage supper of the Lamb."
• “The entire Liturgy is an epiphany or manifestation of God’s Kingdom
on earth. The priest begins the service with a proclamation, “Blessed
is the Kingdom of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit:
now and ever and unto ages of ages,” which declares that the
assembly is now participating in the worship of Heaven. The Church
is raised to the life of the Kingdom as her members gather to glorify
and commune with the Holy Trinity. Jesus Christ often used the
image of a wedding feast or banquet for the Kingdom of God. The
Divine Liturgy makes present the Wedding Feast of the Lamb
described in the Book of Revelation.” Philip LeMasters

20. Eucharist is the marriage feast of the
lamb
• “May the Divine Liturgy be for us always our entrance into the Kingdom of
God, our participation in the Marriage Feast of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus
Christ, as envisaged by the beloved apostle John in the Book of Revelation.”
by the Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America.
• “Let all of you then enter into the joy of our Lord... The Table is richly laden.
All of you, fare sumptuously on it; enjoy the banquet of faith! (St. John
Chrysostom, Homily on the Lord’s Resurrection)
• “And they nourished the faithful with Christ's body and blood at the
eucharistic meal that anticipates the marriage supper of Christ, the Lamb of
God, in God's coming kingdom at the end of the ages.” – Fr Thomas Hopko
• Eating of the tree of life (Rev. 2:7) and partaking of the hidden manna
(Rev.2:17), or tasting of the bread from heaven (John6:31; Heb.9:4) is linked
with the spiritual food (1Cor.10:3) of the Eucharist.

21. Conclusion
• Book of Revelation teaches us about true
worship.
• Many of the OT symbols of worship (priesthood,
incense, etc.) became more powerful symbols of
the true worship of the slain Lamb and the one
seated on the throne.
• Our task is to enter into the Kingdom of God
through our Liturgy to be strengthened to be
faithful witnesses.