The term “fear” (in relation to God) can refer to emotions as terror (Revelation 1:17; Revelation 11:11; Revelation 18:10, Revelation 18:15); it can also refer to a profound sense of awe (Revelation 15:4). What triggers this fear is an awareness of who God is. In response to Babylon’s fall, heavenly multitudes had encouraged praise for God because they’d seen the proof that his judgments were true and just (Revelation 19:2). Now “all” God’s servants are meant to see the evidence for themselves—Babylon’s demise—and so share the sense of awe for God that prompts the elders’ prostration and join the chorus of heaven in adoring this God.
5 And from the throne came a voice saying, “Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great.”