Revelation 5:7-10 – “And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each one holding a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they *sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation.
You have made them into a kingdom and priests to our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”
When I hear the phrase “third wave” my mind is flooded with images from my past experiences. The first image comes from my teen age years when I spent one summer trying to learn to surf; it was harder than I thought. I remember one of the lessons was the importance of waiting for the right moment which was often the third wave in a set of waves. The next image in my mind was a phrase from the 1990’s that was thrown around in charismatic circles. I am not sure what they were referring to but they said they were entering into a third wave of the Holy Spirit. You could view today’s passage from the picture of three waves of worship. The first wave was the worship of the four beasts and the twenty four elders. Next was the wave of worship of the angels. Finally there was the anticipated third wave which was the entire universe including – the redeemed of the Lord – joining into this ocean of worship of the Lord. This is the very center of the revelation given to John in the book of Revelations, all of creation entered into this supernatural worship. This is what Paul was referring to when he proclaimed, “every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord”.
This worship was followed by the opening of the seven seals on the scroll that had been given to Jesus from the Father. This was what all of the prophets had longed for, the culmination of all things. Mercy and justice were about to meet. The justice of God was about to be poured out on the earth. At the same time the final harvest of the earth would be reaped. This is the age we are entering into, the final moments before the kingdoms of this earth become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ. The Lord is awakening His bride for this moment, we are about to move to center stage.
