Good morning and welcome back to the 5MC's 37 part in-depth study of the book of Revelation. Today we will study through chapter number 5 of the 22 total chapters in the book as we continue our journey. It's important to note that if you are just jumping into the study, you can quickly and easily backtrack and catch up on any studies you have missed. Just go to the 5MC.com and search Revelation to find all the studies. I also think it’s important to pause a bit at this juncture to get a broad overview of what is happening in the book.
We saw in chapter one that John was visited by Jesus Christ and instructed to “take dictation” and write down all of the things he was told. Then in chapters 2 and 3 Jesus carefully inspected 7 different churches that existed in that day and judged their state of worship and service to him. There is much to examine and compare within these churches concerning our modern churhces, and yes even our current state as individual followers of Christ, so we studied one church a day for 7 days.
Yesterday in chapter 4 we saw a great scene shift that will continue on into today and chapter 5. We are in the throne room of Heaven and something big is about to happen. When most encounter the scene in the throne room of Heaven they assume that they are dropping in on just another ordinary day in Heaven, but not so. There have been many days in Heaven but this day is different from them all. God is getting ready to judge the Earth and Jesus is about to take the reigns that He was always meant to weild. The entire process we are about to witness really comes back to what we think about God and how we understand Him. Our world today has painted a picture of a wishy washy God that is so bound by love that He can no longer be righteous and holy. We see a modern societal picture of God drawn today that says out of His abundant love He cannot judge. “God would (or could) never do that because He is love..” We will see here in the book of Revelation that God is righteous, holy, and cannot tolerate defiance and rebellion from His creation forever. Eventually there must be judgement on those that openly reject God.
This idea of love over judgement makes me think about when I was young. I would really push the boundaries with my parents. They would say don’t do this and I would almost immediately go do that very thing. It would usually result in a scolding and a threat. “I told you not to do that, don’t do it again.” This might deter me for a few days (or maybe a few hours!) and then I would do the same thing again. This time the defiance would result in something more harsh. Maybe a more intense scolding or maybe a "good long talking to." You would think I would straighten up and fly right after this, yes? But nope, as a young sinner you are a student in the university of boundary control and your parents unfortunately are the professors. Depending on the crime around my house the third offense usually carried a harsh penalty. Why? Because now it had moved from simple infraction into bold disobedience. I knew better, I had been warned, and I had even been shown the correct path several times, but I still chose to disobey. I think we can all personally relate to this scenario and we know when we are disobedient. You can feel it. So, when it comes to God and the people He made, why do we think that He is any different in dealing with our blatant disobedience towards Him?
What we are seeing unfold before our eyes is God reacting to a people that have been warned, corrected, rebuked, spanked, put in time out, grounded, and punished time after time after time after time. How long does God deal with a stiff-necked, rebellious, arrogant people that embrace a life of sin directly against Him? The answer to that question is Revelation. No one knows when these events will take place but there will be a time, as we’re clearly told here, when God will get tired of saying, “stop doing that.” Yes, God is love and yes God is full of mercy and grace, but He is also a Heavenly Father that is righteous and cannot deny His own name and His own promises of perfect righteousness. He will have a day of judgement. But praise God, He made a way that all mankind can avoid the judgement we find here in Revelation. And it all revolves around the central figure of this book, and every other book in the Bible. He is the central figure of the Old Testament and He is the central figure of the New Testament. Jesus Christ. If you want to reduce your entire life, that is, all of your decisions, all of your triumphs and heartbreaks, all of your successes and failures, it all comes down to one simple little decision. What are you going to do with Jesus? You see, God sent Jesus here to make a way for those that believe in Him to avoid this final judgment. But folks, it’s God’s way or the highway. Jesus says in John 14:6, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” For any and all that call upon the name of the Lord, they will be saved. And then, for those saved by Christ, chapters 4-22 of the book of Revelation changes dramatically. God will judge the world because He is Holy, but all that matters is...what did you do with Jesus?
Let’s dig right in and tackle chapter 5 of Revelation.
5:1-2 – “Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
The verse starts with ‘then’ which connects chapter 5 with chapter 4. We are continuing our scene in the throne room of Heaven from chapter 4. Notice John again says “I saw.” John is a firsthand witness to these events. The One seated on the throne is God the Father, one third of the Holy Trinity. In His right hand He holds a scroll with writing on both sides and 7 seals. Folks, this scroll is the last straw. God has been loving and patient with the world for ages, but this scroll will begin His wrath upon those who reject Salvation through His Son. A scroll is either parchment, papyrus, or animal skin that is rolled from both ends into the middle. We’re told that this scroll had writing on both sides and that it was sealed with 7 seals. In the Roman Empire all wills and last testaments had to be sealed 7 times to be official. But that’s not the reason for the 7 seals here, the number 7 in God’s Word is the number of completion. We have already seen the number seven countless times and we’re only in chapter 5 of 22. We’ll see in the next few verses that Jesus has several ‘sevens’ associated with His appearance as the lamb. The mighty angel here is not named, but is apparently very strong and holds a great place of prominence in God’s throne room. (A side note about angels being named…only three angels are ever named in God’s Word: Michael, Gabriel, and satan.) In order to open the scroll and read what it says the seals must be broken. Since this scroll is the most important scroll that will ever be opened, it cannot be opened by just anybody, but only by someone that is truly worthy. The angel asks just that very question. Who is worthy to open the most important scroll that has or ever will exist?
5:3-4 - But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it. And I began to weep bitterly, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside it.”
I believe this was a very dramatic moment in Heaven that had great emphasis, especially on John. I think everybody knew who could open the scroll but in order to prove the power of Jesus Christ, God opens the floor for anybody to try. It’s like the old King Arthur lore of pulling Excalibur from the rock. If you can do it, you’re the king. No one in Heaven, Earth, or even under the Earth could open the scroll. And this includes satan. This seems like a real shot at satan and his demons from God as He seems to say, hey satan, you wanna try? I can almost imagine the perfect silence as they wait for someone to step forward and at least try. But no one does. This affects John greatly and He begins to weep bitterly. The Greek word here for “to bitterly weep” is the same as when Jesus weeps over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) and when Peter weeps after denying Jesus (Luke 22:62) This was a deep wailing of sorrow from John, but it was premature. There of course was one worthy. Just one.
5:5 – “Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
One of the 24 elders of the church that we looked at closely yesterday, tells John to dry it up! (notice the exclamation point) He tells John that One has indeed ‘triumphed’ and He alone can open the scroll. He is the lion of Judah and the root of David. This is of course the Lord Jesus Christ, the king of kings. His "triumph" is over the grave as He died and was raised after three days. The lion of Judah references Gen 49:9-10, “You are a lion’s cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness—who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his.” The root of David references 2 Sam 7:12-13 (the Davidic Covenant) where God tells King David, “When your days are over and you rest with your ancestors, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish His kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of His kingdom forever.” The point? Jesus is the only one worthy to open the scroll.
5:6-7 - “Then I saw a Lamb who appeared to have been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. And He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated on the throne.”
The lamb is Jesus Christ. John 1:29 says, “The next day John (the Baptist) saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” And in Isaiah 53:7, “he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” Jesus is the lamb of God that was pure and innocent. He was sinless. Yet he was slaughtered, hung on cross, murdered. John says the lamb appeared to have been slain. This would reference the marks of the cross left upon Jesus. This lamb had paid the ultimate price. Yet John says the lamb was standing in the center of the throne. Even though the lamb had been slain, He was alive, standing up in an authoritative stance, and just where was He? In the dead center of the throne room of Heaven. The place of prominence. Talk about the grand entry of the king of kings!
We see that the 4 ‘living ones’ that we studied yesterday in chpater 4 are still there and they are surrounding Jesus (the lamb). John observes that the lamb had a few special characteristics. The lamb (Jesus) had 7 horns and 7 eyes. Here we see yet more sevens. When you see a number seven remember that it means complete or perfect. A horn denotes power, so since the lamb had 7 of them, it declares that He has absolute, complete, and perfect power. The eyes are the same. The eye denotes knowledge and awareness, so since He had seven of those as well, it declares that He has perfect knowledge, sees all, and knows all. Jesus is omniscient and omnipresent and is everywhere at once.
The lamb (Jesus) then comes and takes the scroll from God the Father who is still seated on the throne. Now remember carefully, the book of Revelation is real and it will happen, but it is a prophecy, the only book of prophecy in the entire New Testament. Jesus has not taken the scroll yet, but folks, when He does it will be one of the single biggest events in history right behind Jesus walking out of that tomb. When Jesus reaches over and takes that scroll, everything changes. You can kind of think of the scroll as the deed to the Earth. Jesus, was since the beginning, destined to save all manking from their sin and to rule over the Earth forever. When He takes possession of that scroll He will take possession of the Earth, and it will all change for those on it as God's end plan starts.
5:8-10 – “When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. You have made them into a kingdom, priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”
This is a huge event that will take place in Heaven as soon as Jesus takes the scroll. The magnitude of Jesus physically taking the scroll results in immediate worship and praise of Him. The four ‘living ones’ and the 24 elders of the freshly raptured church all fall down before Jesus to worship Him. Each one had a harp (a harp denotes praise) and they were using them to praise Jesus. (this more than likely is where we get the idea that angels float around on clouds and play harps…thanks for the image Bugs Bunny!) They are all also holding golden bowls of incense which we are clearly told hold the prayers of the saints. (The saints are the 24 church elders)
5:11-12 – “Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. In a loud voice they said: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
The magnitude of the event spreads and the choir of praise grows greatly. Now instead of just 28 singing, (the 24 elders and the 4 “living ones”) we are joined by God’s Angels. Have you ever wondered how many angels there are? We get a pretty good idea here. I love the King James translation as it declares there were “thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand.” A Jewish Rabbi did a study and concluded that there was “nine hundred and six thousand millions of ministering angels, that stand constantly before the Lord.” I’m not sure that’s even a number, but it reinforces the idea that God’s angels are too numerous to count. Now this is what I call a choir! As the lamb takes the scroll, the singing of praise will be truly unimaginable. How could it ever get better than this? Keep reading.
5:13-14 – “And I heard every creature in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!” And the four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
So here’s how it can get better. How about every living creature in Heaven, Earth and under the Earth joining in? Wow. I can’t help but think about a Disney movie here as the birds, fish, and animals all join in. What a testament to the tremendous and endless impact of this event. Folks, when Jesus accepts that scroll, every single gear will start to turn. The judgement of teh earth will begin and it will continue throughout the rest of the book of Revelation. Jesus’ last words on the cross were “It is finished” yet here as He opens the scroll His actions say...“it begins.”
Join me tomorrow for chapter 7 as we begin to look at Jesus' opening of the scrolls and what each judgement will unleash upon a Christ-rejecting Earth.
God bless your day and I pray that God richly blesses your time in His Word today!
Photo ~ "Pearl Harbor Monument", Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, USA
