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About Jesus Steve Sweetman This Section - Chapter 5 The
Scroll And The Lamb (ch. 5:1-14) Verse
1 shows the picture of one sitting on a throne and in His right hand is a
scroll, or book as some versions read. The
word scroll or book is translated from the Greek word "biblion" where
we derive our English word "Bible."
We must remember that they didn't have nice bound books as we have today.
This was more of a scroll than a book, as we know it.
The
One sitting on the throne in this case is God.
It is not Jesus because in verse 7 we see Jesus taking the scroll from
this One who sits on the throne. This
scroll has writing on both sides of it and is sealed with seven seals.
Normally scrolls in those days only had writing on the inside, not on
both sides as this one has. Why this
scroll has writing on both sides is unknown. What
exactly is written in the scroll is unknown as well, although there has been
many guesses throughout the centuries.
It seems clear to me that what was written in the scroll had
something to do with the events that would take place on the earth and as seen
in the rest of the Book of Revelation. In
the Greco-Roman culture of the days wills were normally written on scrolls and
sealed with seven seals. Maybe this
scroll was God’s will for This
passage is amazing. It shows the
time at the end of this age where Jesus rises from where He is seated.
Remember, Jesus is pictured as sitting at God's right hand, but here He
rises to take the scroll out of God's hands.
The culmination of this age is about to take place and it is initiated by
God. Any time Jesus rises from His
throne something important is about to happen.
I believe if you study Acts 7 and see what unfolds when Stephen is
executed, I believe you will see Jesus rise from His throne to greet Stephen as
he enters heaven. Many
have suggested that this is the same scroll that Daniel saw in Daniel 8:26 and
9:24.
That may be the case, but as yet, I'm not quite sure.
It would not surprise me that it was the same scroll.
Daniel was told to seal the scroll up and here we see that Jesus is
unsealing the scroll. In
verses 2 and 3 we see an angel asks "who is worthy to break the seals and
open the scroll?" No one in the
entire universe could be found worthy enough, and had the universal authority,
to break the seals and read the scroll.
The very thought of having these seals opened, I believe is
important. John would understand
that after all these years of having this scroll sealed up, it should now be
unsealed. It
seems to me that the breaking of the seven seals would release what was written
in the scrolls. This would mean that
the contents of the scroll tells us what is about to take place, both in heaven
and on the earth. The opening of the
scroll would thus bring this age to an end.
This suggests, at least to me at the moment,
that John was transported into the future.
I suppose the other alternative is that he simply saw what would happen
at the end of this age. Verse
4 tells us that John was quite upset and actually wept because no one could open
the scroll. I don’t know if John
knew what was in the scroll or not, but he must have sensed that it was a very
important document to react in such a way. He
must have also understood that the scroll should now be opened.
The text doesn't specifically tell us that this was John's understanding,
but why would John weep if he didn't understand that it was now time to unseal
this all-important scroll? In
verse 5 we see one of the elders tell John that there is actually One who can
open the scroll and He is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Root of David.
Both of these terms speak of Jesus and show us as that Jesus was in fact
the Jewish Messiah. Jesus came
through the lineage of Judah, one of Jacob's sons. See
Genesis 49:8 to 10. This speaks of
Jesus' humanity and is a reminder of the covenant God spoke to Abraham.
The Root of David speaks to Jesus ruling over the earth.
Jesus would sit on David's throne over The
Greek word "rhiza" is translated as Root in verse 5. It means
source or origin. Jesus finds His human origin through the tribe of Again,
I point out the Old Testament Jewish nature seen here in verse 5.
It's all about There
is much controversy over who the elders in this chapter are.
Some say they are angels, but I don't think so because angels are
distinguished from the elders later on in this chapter.
Also, both in this chapter and the last chapter, these elders are seen as
being redeemed and angels have never been redeemed.
Men and women are the only ones who have been redeemed by the blood of
Jesus. Since
we know there are twenty four elders, there has been much debate over who these
elders are. Some Prophetic
Futurists see these elders being representative of the church.
Others see them as being representative of John
most likely was startled by the announcement that someone was found to open the
seals. He turns around, expecting to
see a lion type figure, and yet he sees a Lamb type figure, as if the lamb had
been slain. God’s Lion in this
instance was a Lamb, the Lamb of God who took away the sin of the world.
John said the Lamb looked as if He had been slain.
We know that Jesus will have the marks of the cross on His glorified body
for all of eternity. That will
certainly be a sight to see in the next life.
To see Jesus standing before us with scars on His body will be extremely
humbling. Here
we see yet another portrait of Jesus. This
time He is the Lamb, not the mighty warier we saw back in chapter one.
Jesus is the Lamb of God to those who believe but for those who do not
believe He is the Lion of God. I'd
prefer meeting Jesus as a lamb rather than a lion. Humanity
has the choice; stand before the Lamb or stand before the Lion as the end of
this age. We
thus note that the cross has something to do with what follows.
What follows is the judgment of the world.
It is the Lion Jesus who brings about this judgment.
To me this tells me that the cross is the foundation for the judgment to
come. What people have done with the
cross of Christ determines how they will be judged. Verse
5 also says that "He has triumphed."
The triumph took place on the cross.
Triumph refers to a battle and the cross was a battle in many respects.
So, once again, because of the cross, Jesus is worthy to loose the
judgments upon the earth. That being
said, even though the battle was won on the cross, the realization of this
victory takes place over time and culminates at the end of the thousand year
rule of Christ as we will see later. Verse
6 tells us that the Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes.
John says that the seven eyes were the seven spirits of God, or as we
have already discussed, possible the sevenfold Holy Spirit, as many believe.
That being said, I'm not convinced anymore that these seven sprits aren't
seven special distinct spirits apart from the Holy Spirit.
John doesn’t tell us what the seven horns represent, but most Prophetic
Futurists suggest this to be a picture of strength, authority, and power. In
verses 7 and 8 we see Jesus go to the throne of God and take the scroll out of
the right hand of God. When He does
this, the four creatures and the twenty four elders fall down before the Lamb.
They must have realized what was now happening was very important
and crucial to all of creation. This
must have been one very overwhelming event for them. We
should note from these verses that God the Father is the one sitting on the
throne with the scroll in His hand while Jesus is the one standing in the midst
of the throne who takes the scroll from God the Father.
In the midst of the throne clearly suggests that this throne is not a
throne we would understand in our humanity.
Whatever that throne was like, whether symbolic or literal in some way,
it represents the final authority of God.
Notice
that Jesus takes the scroll from God's right hand.
First of all, the term "right hand" was understood in John's
day to be an idiom that meant the sharing authority with another.
This means that Jesus and the Father share authority with each other.
Also note that God the Father has a right hand.
You might wonder how God can have a right hand when we know that He is a
spirit as we see in John 4:24. Either
what John is seeing is a vision consisting of pictures and portrayals of that
which humans can't see, or else, John is really seeing real things that are
beyond human comprehension. I might
suggest the latter to be true. If
God is Spirit, I question if He has a right hand like ours.
This anthropomorphic language, meaning, God described in human terms so
we can better understand.
John
tells us that the living creatures and elders had two things in their
possession. They each had a harp and
a bowl of incense. Obviously, the
harps were to help them sing. The
bowls represent the prayers of the saints according to John.
Some suggest that the prayers in the bowl are unanswered prayers, or why
would they still be seen in a bowl. I
can understand that, but again, the text doesn't say it.
The
song that these men and creatures sing concerns Jesus being slain which gave Him
the authority to purchase men for God. Men
and women from every tribe and language were brought into the It
is important to note that this verse tells us that from every tribe, every
ethnic people, in every corner of the earth, there will be seen in heaven.
Jesus will have a remnant from every type of people imaginable.
You can count on that. The
last line of the song says that we, the redeemed, will reign on earth.
Many Christians throughout the centuries lived in poverty and submission
to sinful and tyrannical man, but in the days to come, they will reign as kings.
For many Prophetic Futurists this is speaking of ruling with Jesus during
the thousand year rule of Christ on earth. I
also believe that this rule continues on into the new earth as well.
The
new song that is sung is found in verses 9 and 10.
We need to understand who is singing this song.
Verses 8 and 9 say that the four living creatures and the elders are
singing this new song. This is important due to a translation difficulty in
these two verses. The KJV says that
the Lord has redeemed "us" to God.
That would suggest that the elders, and those of "us" they
represent sing this song. That would
mean that the church is in heaven at this point in time, meaning, they've been
raptured before the Tribulation, or so this is what many Futurists believe.
The NIV totally ignores the word "us."
It simply states that Jesus purchased men for God.
If you read the NIV, you might not understand that the men purchased were
the elders who were singing the song. Now
in verse 10, the KJV continues on with the same theme.
It uses the word "us," as if "us" is referring to the
elders, those they represent, and, the four living creatures, are singing the
song. The reason why this is
controversial is because those who like the KJV's rendering believe the church
is in heaven singing this song. Those
who believe the church is still on earth like the NIV version because it seems
to suggest to them that the church is still on earth.
I understand both sides of the issue.
I'm leaning towards the KJV way of thinking at this moment, but again, I
could be wrong and in a future time could lean the other way. Part
of the problem in translating verses 9 and 10 is because the Greek manuscripts
are not in agreement in this matter. Depending
on what manuscripts one uses in his translation will determine what is
translated. Also, one's theology
might take precedent in the translation as well.
We
should not forget who the four living creatures are singing this song to.
You can take or leave what I'm about to say because I can't say it as a
dogmatic fact. We know that
eventually all creation will be restored. If
you read Romans 8:18 to 22 you note that all creation is now groaning in a
measure of agony, waiting for the day of their restoration.
If the twenty four elders represent the redeemed men and women of the
earth, I'm wondering if the four living creatures don't represent the animals on
the earth who are waiting for their restoration as Paul seems to imply in Romans
8. All that being said, as I said in
Revelation 4, most commentators believe the four living creatures are some kind
of angelic being, and thus represent angels.
Verse
10 states that Jesus has made the saved saints "a kingdom and
priests." Some suggest that
this should be "a kingdom of priests."
I suggest the word "kingdom" be used here because it seems to
best fit the translation from the Greek. Those
who prefer the word "kings" preach, and many times to an unhealthy
extreme, that Christians are both kings and priests.
Since we are kings, they promote what I call the unbiblical doctrine of
wealth and prosperity. I personally
don't see Christians as being kings in this present age.
I do see us as being a kingdom of priests.
That is to say, we are the agent between sinners and God.
We will be kings after Jesus comes back to earth and we rule with Him.
The
opening of these seals must be a great and mighty event because the angels join
in by singing as well. The number of
these angels according to John is thousand upon thousands, and ten thousand
times ten thousand. This is clearly
a large number of angels. This is
also the number of two thirds of the angels, since one third followed Satan in
his rebellion. This clearly tells us
that the angelic world is one very huge world.
I suggest that there is much more to the angelic world than what we know
of from the Bible. The Bible only
tells us what we need to know for God's present purpose for us and this planet. I
believe the numbering of these angels should not be taken literally and exactly
here. Like the Old Testament terms
"sand of the sea," and "stars in the sky," as applied to These
angels sing about the Lamb being worthy because He was slain.
These lyrics are similar to that of the four living creatures and the
elders, but with no mention of redemption and being bought with His blood.
Angels aren’t redeemed as mankind is. The
singing doesn’t stop with the addition of the angels.
John, in verse 13, says that every creature in Heaven, on earth, under
the earth, and on and in the sea were singing as well.
This tells me that everyone was singing and proclaiming the Lordship of
Jesus. Their songs gave praise to
the One who sits on the throne. He
is worthy of praise, glory and honour for ever and ever. The
text clearly says here that every creature, whether in heaven, on earth, or in
the sea, give praise to Jesus. This
might well support what I've just said a couple paragraphs back.
If you understand these creatures to include animals that give praise to
Jesus, then animals are in heaven. It doesn't mean they have been redeemed,
simply restored to their original state. On
the other hand, many understand the word "creatures" to refer to human
creatures. At
this pint I insert part of an article I wrote about animals in heaven.
Revelation 5:13 says that every creature in heaven, on the earth, under
the earth, and in the sea worship the Lord.
The Greek word translated as "creature" into English is "ktisma'.
This simply means "created thing".
Therefore, every thing that God created is worshipping in heaven
according to this verse. This would
include animals. If we are to take
this verse literally, it would also include other parts of God's creation apart
from human and animal life.
We
should note that the word creature is often used in Revelation in connection
with the four living creatures in heaven. Every
created thing would obviously include these four living creatures, but it's
clear that they are not the only created thing being spoken of here in
Revelation 5:13.
I
think this verse pretty plainly speaks of animals worshipping the Lord along
with all other created things. Does
this mean there are animals, or, the souls of animals in heaven?
For further information about the souls of animals you can read my
article entitled "Do
Animals Have Souls"?
The
setting for Revelation 5 is clearly in heaven.
I could be wrong, but it thus appears to me that there are at least the
souls of animals in heaven who are worshipping the Lord here.
At
the end of the book of Revelation we see the new earth.
I strongly believe there will be animals on the new earth, and, if they
worship in heaven, I'm sure in their own way they will worship the Lord on the
new earth.
I
can't say how animals worship. Jesus
alluded to the fact that stones could possibly cry out in worship to God in Luke
19:40. If stones could to this, I'm
sure animals can as well.
This
event reminds me of what Paul says in Philippians 2:10 and 11.
All mankind will bow their knees and confess that Jesus is Lord.
This was one fantastic worship service here in Revelation 5.
It's simply beyond our imagination.
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