Verse 4
Who shall not fear, O Lord, and glorify thy name? for thou only art holy; for all the nations shall come and worship before thee; for thy righteous acts have been made manifest.
Who shall not fear the Lord ...? This is a rhetorical question meaning that all people shall indeed fear and honor God.
All nations shall come and worship thee ... Rist criticized this passage as being, "out of harmony with the belief expressed throughout Revelation that the nations shall stubbornly refuse to repent."[29] Such a criticism does not properly construe the meaning. It is everywhere taught in the prophecy that "an innumerable company" will be saved (Revelation 7:9) from "every tribe and tongue and nation and people." It is that company who are meant here. They are the true nations who shall come and worship before the Lord. When God is through with this world, all that remains of it will glorify God. "The Apocalyptist thus declares the absolutely universal recognition of God in the End."[30] "The teaching of the Scriptures is that in the end the whole universe will acknowledge the righteousness of all God's acts and verdicts."[31]
[29] Martin Rist, The Interpreter's Bible, Vol. XII (New York-Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1957), p. 479.
[30] Isbon T. Beckwith, op. cit., p. 675.
[31] R. C. H. Lenski, op. cit., p. 459.
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