Revelation 5, Pt 1

In Revelation 4, we have seen the THRONE of God in heaven. The One who sits on the throne is glorious. He is seated there as the universes’ SOVEREIGN on His throne. Before His throne there was like a sea of glass, no turbulent waters where the devil and his minions are threatening evil and harm...all is calm because the One on the Throne reigns in absolute sovereignty. And around the throne, we see 24 thrones and closer in we see 4 living creatures and the scene is one of WORSHIP...ceaseless, God-centered worship.

Let’s listen in on that worship:

Revelation 4:9-11

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created.”

Tonight we move into REVELATION 5 and a new figure emerges in this chapter...THE LION/LAMB...and what a picture John presents of this One!

FIRST, our attention is directed to the right hand, the hand of authority, of the One seated on the throne...

1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 

In His hand there is a scroll. There is some disagreement as to whether this is a book (a bound codex) or a scroll. ESV chooses to translate it “scroll.” 

NOTE that it is written within and on the back...on the outside of the scroll. And across the end or ends of the scroll are SEVEN SEALS. 

Many have pointed out that this description fits that of a ROMAN WILL. A Roman will had to be witnessed and sealed by 7 witnesses...sometimes what was IN the will was summarized by writing on the outside of the scroll.

In order for such a will to be UNSEALED, the death of the Testator, the one who died and left the will, has to take place.

Obviously this fits the whole picture we see here in Rev 5 very well, as we will see.

IMPORTANT QUESTION: what is IN the scroll? Based on what follows the opening of the seals on the scroll in ch 6 & following, the contents of the scroll have to do with God’s plan to bring final judgment and redemption to the earth.

So as God sits on His throne, He holds this scroll with the final judgment and redemption of His people on it...

NOTE: what will happen has ALREADY been written down...this should encourage God’s people that there is absolutely NO UNCERTAINTY about the end times...about the sureness of God’s judgment on the wicked...about HIS TRIUMPH...

BUT FOR A TIME (undetermined), there SEEMS TO BE SOME uncertainty about the scroll and its contents taking place...

2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 

3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 

John sees a mighty angel proclaiming: WHO IS WORTHY to open the scroll and break its seals?

Ie: who is worthy (able) to take the scroll and open it so that God’s plan for the end of the ages can proceed?

BUT...

NO ONE WAS ABLE...WAS WORTHY...no one in all creation, even those on the thrones or the 4 living creatures...

They cried Holy, Holy, Holy, but this required one who was Himself HOLY, HOLY, HOLY...

And notice how John RESPONDS to this...

4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 

So for a time, it seems, there are 2 sounds in Heaven: the mighty angel’s proclaiming, “Who is worthy” and John’s weeping at no one being found in all creation that was worthy to open the scroll...

If God’s plan CANNOT be “opened” to take place, if His justice and judgment cannot take place and evil can go on...and on...and on...and if His redemption and salvation cannot be completed...

This is an intolerable, inconceivable view of the future...and totally inconsistent with the picture of heaven we have seen thus far...

HOWEVER...

5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

...Another voice is heard...one of the 24 elders speaks and tells John to stop weeping...WHY? ONE who is WORTHY HAS STEPPED FORTH!

His identity of this Worthy One starts here in v5...

He is, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” this title comes from the prophecy of Jacob as he was dying in Egypt in 

Genesis 49:9-10

9 Judah is a lion's cub;

from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

He stooped down; he crouched as a lion

and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?

10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,

until tribute comes to him;

and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

This One from the tribe of Judah is also prophesied in Micah 5:2 and referred to in Hebrews 7:14

-Numbers 23:24 refers to Israel and a lion who destroys his enemies...

So this LION is One who is RULER and one who DESTROYS HIS ENEMIES...

THEN...

“The Root of David” Isaiah 11:1-10: 

1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.

2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,

the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

the Spirit of counsel and might,

the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.

3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.

He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

or decide disputes by what his ears hear,

4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,

and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

This Lion with Ruling Power and Root of David that will fulfill the prophecy to David of His descendant who would sit on His throne forever HAS CONQUERED...

HE HAS CONQUERED AND HE IS THEREFORE WORTHY TO OPEN THE SCROLL AND ITS SEVEN SEALS...

But HOW has He conquered? Look at v6:

6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 

Now this One the elder has mentioned to John comes into view:

-He is now closer to the One on the Throne than the living creatures or the elders...

-But John sees a LAMB standing...He is Lion, the ruler, who is a LAMB.

-This LAMB is as though it had been slain or... “as slain”, ie a sacrificed Lamb, the “Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (John 1:29), the Son of God sacrificed on the cross...

How has the LION conquered? As the Lamb. By His death! And John sees Him there in heaven, in symbolic vision, with the marks of His death still visible.

-and...as He stands there “as slain”...WITH SEVEN HORNS: horns symbolic of STRENGTH...seven horns telling us this LAMB has perfect or fullness of strength, ie He is OMNIPOTENT! (And is therefore DEITY)

-and with SEVEN EYES, which are the SEVEN SPIRITS of God sent out into all the earth...

-seven eyes = fullness of sight or knowledge, therefore OMNISCIENT and SEVEN SPIRITS, as we saw in Rev 1:4, the perfect spirit, the Holy Spirit.

NOTE: here in this scene is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit...

Here is a picture of Christ as the Lamb who has conquered through His death, who stands at the Throne of His Father in Heaven, omnipotent and omniscient, DEITY, and who is therefore, by His death WORTHY to take the scroll...

7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.

And HE ALONE being found as WORTHY or ABLE, he goes AND takes the scroll (again indicating DEITY) from the hand of Him seated on the throne.