<p>5:8 <i>And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints</i>- The living creatures represent the faithful who are set down in the Lamb's throne and the throne of the Father (see on 4:6). But now they fall before the throne. And here the living creatures are differentiated from the &quot;saints&quot;, whose prayers they hold. See on :7 for the idea of a kaleidoscope of images being presented, and the danger of over interpreting these visual forms.</p><p>In 15:2 it is those who overcome the beast who have harps. The living creatures and elders are entities in the Heavenly throne room, representing the believers on earth. Whilst the victory is the Lord's, it has been brought to realization by the prayers of the saints. Chapter 8 emphasizes how the incense of their prayers triggers the events which happen on earth to bring about the Lord's visible return to establish Hs Kingdom. Their bowls of prayer cannot be separated from the seven vials or bowls of judgment which are later poured out on the earth / land; they are poured out as a result of the bowls of prayer offered by the saints. 5:9 will go on to talk of a new song being song. This is to be connected with the offering of incense; we are being invited to behold a reflection of a temple service in Heaven itself. Edersheim describes the offering of incense in the temple as follows, and note his mention of the &quot;new song&quot; being sung afterwards, just as we have here in 5:8,9: &ldquo;As the President gave the word of command which marked that 'the time of incense had come,' the whole multitude of the people without withdrew from the inner court and fell down before the Lord, spreading their hands in silent prayer. It is this most solemn period, when, throughout the vast temple-buildings, deep silence rested on the worshipping multitude, while within the sanctuary itself the priest laid the incense on the golden altar, and the cloud of odours rose up before the Lord, which serves as the image of heavenly things in Revelation (Rev_8:1, Rev_8:3, Rev_8:4). The prayers offered by priests and people at this part of the service are recorded by tradition as follows: 'True it is that Thou art Jehovah, our God and the God of our fathers; our King and the King of our fathers; our Saviour and the Rock of our salvation; our Help and our Deliverer. Thy name is from everlasting, and there is no God beside Thee. A new song did they that were delivered sing to Thy name by the seashore. Together did all praise and own Thee as King, and say, 'Jehovah shall reign who saveth Israel'&rdquo;.</p><p>Revelation describes Angels rushing in response to human prayers, vials of judgment being poured out on earth as a result of the incense of prayer accumulating... this is the power of prayer. If prayer is like incense, we must give Dt. 33:10 RVmg. its full weight- that incense would come up &quot;in your nostrils&quot;. This is how intimately we are invited to see our prayers being received by God; this is the power of prayer. The golden vials full of prayers of Rev. 5:8 become the vials of judgments which are poured out on the land in Rev. 8:5- so close is the connection between the events that mould history, and the incense of prayer.</p>