13. The Scroll, The Search and the Savior

Revelation 5:1-7 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. 4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

In chapter 4, John is "caught up" into Heaven.  When he arrives there, he sees God Himself sitting on a glorious throne.

In the midst of this awesome scene, we also see that Heaven is filled with the praises.  

Heaven understands what the Lord is about to do and the inhabitants of that city praise the Lord for His glory, His power and for His creation.  

The worship described in Revelation 4–5 is preparation for the wrath described in Revelation 6–19

A heavenly perspective - It seems that John is taken to Heaven to give him a heavenly perspective concerning what is about to happen on the earth.  

From an earthly perspective, this world appears to be out of control today: war, disease, crime, wickedness, ungodliness, etc.  

But, when you understand that God is on His throne; and when you understand that He is in control; and when you think that He is working out a perfect, eternal, good plan, then it all falls into place.  

(show backside picture) A beautiful tapestry looks like a mess of tangled strings and fiber when it is viewed from the backside; 

(show frontside picture) but when it is viewed from above, the pattern becomes very clear.

When the events of this earth are viewed from a purely earthly perspective, they can cause fear, doubt and confusion.  

But, when all the events of history are viewed through the eyes of Heaven, everything makes sense!

      Chapter five finds us in the same throne room in Heaven.  

Praise has ceased and heavenly business is about to be transacted, 

and we are going to see it all as it’s played out.

      We are about to see that, in Heaven, Jesus is the central Figure.  I believe that Heaven will be wonderful there will be a street of gold, walls of jasper, gates of pearl, more glory than you and I can imagine.  

I believe it will be great to see Abraham, Moses, Paul, and friends and family.  

But, the main attraction of Heaven will be Jesus Himself.  

      This passage sets the stage for the judgments that will come during the Tribulation. 

I.   WE SEE THE SCROLL

Now v1 calls it a book, but not a book like you and I think.  

It is actually a scroll. Same word is translated scroll in Rev. 6:14.

A. What is This Scroll? – As we read the text the meaning of the scroll becomes clear. 

A doubly inscribed scroll would resemble a Roman contract deed, with the contents written in detail inside and summarized briefly outside, then sealed with seven seals.

If it’s a contract then what contract is it?

1st , it has something to do with unworthy “man”, v2-4. 

2nd, it has something to do with the “earth”. 

In Rev 6, the seals begin to be opened and the contents of the scroll are read.  It is earth during the Tribulation Period. 

3rd, it seems that this scroll has something to do with “redemption”.  

When Jesus takes this scroll, He is praised for His redemptive work, Rev. 5:9-10.

      This is a contract concerning the redemption of man and the earth.  

The earth was involved in the fall of man in Gen 3:17. 

The earth was cursed and Satan became the prince over earth. But God was alway had a contract a Covenent to take back what has been lost. 

In Rom 8 Creation groans   When God finished His creation, it was a good creation (Gen. 1:31), but today it is a groaning. 

There is suffering and death and pain, all of which is, of course, the result of Adam’s sin(Gen. 3:17). It is not the fault of creation. 

Paul compared this groaning to a woman in travail or child birth. There is pain, but the pain will end when the child is delivered. One day creation will be delivered, and the groaning creation will become a glorious creation. 

As believers we shouldn’t focus on the sufferings of today; but on the glory of tomorrow.

Redemption is the act of saving something lost or in error.  

Everything God does and has ever done is related to His redemptive work.

In the OT time period, three things could be redeemed.

1.  A Slave could be redeemed – If a master lost a servant, he could pay a redemption price.  (Jesus came to die on the cross for us.  We have been “bought with a price”, 1 Cor. 6:19-20.)

2.  A Wife could be redeemed – If a woman was left as a widow with no male children, a close kinsman of her dead husband could redeem her, Like in Ruth, Boaz redeemed her  

3.  Land could be redeemed – If a man lost the land he had been given as an inheritance, he could buy his property back by paying a redemption price. 

In Jer. 32.  Jeremiah’s uncle had lost a piece of property. Jeremiah’s cousin comes to him when he is in prison and he asks Jeremiah to buy back the property.  Jeremiah does this and records the transaction on a scroll and seals it up, v10.

From what I have read, they would record the information related to the redemption on both sides of a scroll.  

On the inside they would write the reason the land was forfeited.  

On the outside they would write the terms of the redemption

What we are witnessing in Rev. 5 is the heavenly version of what men did in OT times.  

If you will notice, the book God holds is written on both sides.  It is written up and sealed just like a deed.

When Jesus died on the cross, He did not just die for us, He also died for a ruined creation, Romans 8:22-23 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. 23 And not only they, but ourselves also, … waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body

II. WE SEE THE SEARCH

For the next few verses, this scroll is front and center in Heaven, as a search is made for one who is worthy to break the seals and read the contents and terms of the scroll.

A.  In v2  An angel asks, “Who is worthy to open the book?”  

“Who is morally fit to read the text of this scroll and to carry out all that is necessary to redeem the earth?”

Notice the question wasn’t,

 “Who is willing to open the book?”  

There have been many men down through the ages that were more than willing, but they were not able.  

More than one ruler has attempted to have dominion over the earth.

Alexander the Great conquered the known world by the time he was 33 and wept because there were no more lands to conquer.  He did not redeem the world!  

Nebuchadnezzar saw himself as the greatest ruler ever.  He was not worthy to take dominion either.  Julius Caesar, Napoleon, Adolph Hitler and scores of others were more than willing to have dominion over the earth, but they were not worthy.

      Soon, the Antichrist will come far closer than any mortal man to ruling the world; but in the end, he will merely ruin it.  He too will prove that he is unworthy to possess the title deed to this planet and to rule over all.

      Thank God, there is One Who is worthy to take the book and to open its seals.  We will discover why He is worthy in just a few minutes.

B.  In v3  no man in heaven, in earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book 

– A search is made throughout the universe for one man who is worthy to take the book and open it up.  They searched Heaven above; Hell beneath and earth in between.  They could find no one worthy to take the book!

      There was no saint in Heaven, not Abraham, Moses, David, or Paul, found worthy.  

Gabriel, Michael and all the angelic host of Heaven were not worthy to take that book.  

No one living on the earth, no king, no president, no ruler, no billionaire, no politician, no scientist, no preacher, no one was worthy to take the book.  

No one in Hell, no demon, no doomed sinner, not even old Satan himself, was worthy to take that book.

      They searched high and low, but no man was found who was even worthy to look upon the book that rested in the hand of Almighty God!

C.  In v4  We See The Results Of This Search “And I wept much”

– When the results of the search are made public John burst into tears! 

      There are 2 words used for weeping in the NT.  

1. in John 11:35, where, “Jesus wept.” at the tomb of His friend  refers to “silent weeping”. 

2. In  Luke 19:41 Where Jesus wept over Jerusalem, refers to “uncontrollable sobbing.”  

(a small child with a little heart is broken or unexpected loss a loved one.)

It is open, uncontrolled weeping!  It is the same word used of John’s weeping 

Why is John weeping? 

John knows what that book represents.  

He knows that if no one can open the book, creation is doomed to feel the effects of sin for eternity.  

III.  WE SEE THE SAVIOR

John is weeping, but one of the elders comes to him and gives him some encouraging news.  …weep not because, while no mere man is worthy, but there is one Who is!       

Notice the elder’s words, “Weep not, behold…”  Then, he points John to Jesus!  

That is the message the church has been preaching for 2,000 years, “Weep not, behold…”  Regardless of the problem, Jesus is the solution!  

Weep not, look to Jesus and He will meet the need!  O What a Savior!

A.  v5  A Conquering Lion – The elder tells John that “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David hath prevailed…”  

1. The title “Lion of the tribe of Judah”, John immediately knows that the elder is referring to the Messiah.  In Gen. 49:8-10, the Jews are promised that a great ruler will arise out of Judah.  Like a lion, He will be powerful, strong, brave, majestic, and He will be a mighty conqueror.

      2. The title “the Root of David”.  This title reflects both the humanity and the deity of the Messiah.  Root of David is the human side of the Messiah.  So, He was a King and He was the linage King of Kings!

      B.  v6  A Crucified Lamb – When John turns around to see this mighty, conquering Lion, he sees a “lamb as it had been slain.”  

1. The word “lamb” Of course, this scene is wrapped up in Jewish symbolism.  With this image of the “little Lamb”, we are reminded of the Passover lamb.  In Exodus 12, the people of Israel were instructed to select a perfect lamb, one without blemish and without spot.  They were to take that lamb into their home and nourish it and care for it for a number of days.  During that time, you know what happened, that little lamb became like a pet lamb to that family.  Then, on the prescribed day, they were take that lamb, kill it, apply its blood to the doorposts of their home, roast its little body and eat it.  When the people did this, they were promised that they would be spared when the Lord came to judge the Egyptians. Don’t you know that it broke the hearts of that little family to kill that pet lamb?

      In that little dead lamb, the Israelites were given a power picture of what the Lord was going to do someday through the Redeemer He was going to send into the world.       

2. The word prevailed It was on the cross that Heaven won the greatest victory of all time and eternity!  

We are told that the Lion-Lamb has “prevailed”.  

“prevailed” means “to carry off the victory”.  

****He  “prevailed” in the wilderness of Temptation, Matt. 4:1-11.  

(Satan thought Jesus would Fall!)

**** He  “prevailed” in the Garden of Gethsemane, Matt. 26:38-44.  

(Satan thought Jesus would Fail!)

**** He  “prevailed” on the cross, John 19:30.  

(Satan thought Jesus was a Fool!)

***** He  “prevailed” when He rose from the dead, Matt. 28:1-8! 

(Satan thought Jesus was Finished, but He wasn’t HE PREVAILED!)