Revelation 7:11Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Behold, one Church of men and angels! For then the angels will serve together with men, though they formerly seemed fearful even to men equal to the angels, as we know from Daniel. According to some holy fathers, they are visible in bodies proper to them. Others think they are not subject to the threefold measurement of length, breadth, and height, as bodies generally are. Therefore they appear to us not in their own nature, but by assuming a form and appearance according to God’s will. Their standing around the cherubim and the elders signifies the height of honor for those who are glorified under the number of the elders.

And they cried out: Salvation belongs to our God and to the Lamb. They confessed that salvation was with them, since they had been saved from the destruction of the world by being sealed as servants of God. When they gave thanks, the ranks serving in heaven, together with the elders, answered Amen and approved what had been said. Then the divine angels offer their own praise to God, glorifying Him with a sevenfold honor. As was explained above, this signifies the unending angelic praise, for seven is the number of perfection.

With a great voice, great zeal, and unceasing supplication they confess that the Father and the Son reign on the throne, that is, in the Church, and that the Holy Spirit reigns together with Them equally. For the order of the words here is this: our God and the Lamb sit on the throne of salvation.

In the Gospel something similar is written: “that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent” (Jn 17:3). This is the same as saying: that they may know that You and Jesus Christ whom You have sent are the One True God.

For by one throne is signified the authority of one nature. By the separate name of the Lamb is signified the distinction of the Father and the Son. Likewise, when the one Holy Spirit is named, the Father and the Son must also be understood.

That is, these are the people who, despite the sinful bonds that have bound them and prevent them from coming to Him, our Savior, with perfect repentance, despise all the strength of those sinful fetters. They force themselves to break their bonds. Such people appear before the face of God made whiter than snow by His grace. "Come," says the Lord, "though your sins be like scarlet, I will make them white as snow" (Isa 1:18). Thus the holy seer of mysteries, John the Theologian, once saw such people in white garments, that is, garments of justification. They had palms in their hands as a sign of victory, and they sang to God the wondrous song, Alleluia. No one could imitate the beauty of their singing.

Men who formerly feared the single voice of heavenly messengers, losing their strength and courage and falling in stupor on their faces (cf. Dan 10:8), now form one flock together with the angels. They see what the human eye had not seen before, and hear what the human ear had never heard. Amen, placed at the beginning, announces that truth will be spoken. At the end, it confirms the immutability of this truth and serves as its unbreakable seal.