Revelation 5 - The Scroll and the Lamb

 

Revelation 5 - The Scroll and the Lamb

John, whose spirit is still in heaven, saw God carrying a scroll written on both sides, sealed with seven seals on his right hand. An angel asked “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” (v2) But no one in heaven or earth was able to open the scroll, and John weep loudly as nobody was worthy to open the seal. (v4)

Traditionally, under Roman law, wills were sealed with seven seals, each from a witness to the validity of the will. William Barclay believe that the content of the scroll was “God’s will, his final settlement of the affairs of the universe.”  

One of the elder told John to stop weeping, and said "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.” (v5) John saw a Lamb standing in the midst of them. He appeared to have been slain, and had seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out to all the earth. 

"Lion of the tribe of Judah" was used to refer to the Messiah in Genesis 49:9-10, Isaiah 31:4, and Hosea 11:10. The "Root of David" also refers to the Messiah, found in Isaiah 11:10.  The Lamb represents Jesus Christ, and it bore the marks of slaughter, i.e. from Jesus's torture and crucifixion. The seven horns symbolizes Jesus' power and omnipotent; lastly the seven eyes or seven spirits are often interpreted as the Holy Spirit in its sevenfold ministry, as mentioned in Isaiah 11:2-3. (See Q&A)

The Lamb went and took the scroll from God. The cherubim and the elders fell down before the lamb, each holding a harp and golden bowls of incense which are the prayers of the saints. (v7,8) 

Illustration Only
In Psalm 141:2, it said: "Let my prayer be set before You as incense, the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice. Incense has a pleasing aroma, it ascends to heaven, and it needs fire before it is of any use." God treasures our prayers as an incense with pleasing aroma, and the incense was symbolically kept in golden bowls that the elders represent for their people. However, the elders do not mediate for us, for that is the role of Jesus Christ (1 Tim 2:5). This verse does not justify the Catholic practice of praying to the saints as their intercessor. 

The Cherubim and Elders fell down before God, and the Elders each have a harp and they sang a new song: 

“Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation,  and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth.” (v9,10)

This song is probably sang by the Elders only, and not the Cherubim, for only the humans were redeemed by Christ's blood. John then saw the thousands of thousands angels joining in, saying: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!” (v11,12)  If we take the number that John said literally, there are more than a million angels there. No matter what, we can assume there are too many angels for John to count.

Then the third part of the praise exploded with all the creation in heaven, on earth, under the earth and the sea added their voice and said: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!” (v13) The four living creatures said "Amen" and the elders fell down and worshiped. (v14)

The ambience must be amazing, the chorus grew louder as more and more souls and creatures join in the praise of Jesus Christ, acknowledging that He is the only one worthy to open the seals and read the scroll, because he was the one who saved all of us with his blood. We should join the chorus now until we sing it in heaven soon!


Q&A

1. What are the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 11:2-3?

a) The Spirit of the Lord: This represents the total authority, rule, and essence of God.

b) The Spirit of Wisdom: This gives the ability to discern a situation, understand the right course of action, and carry out that action with skill.

c) The Spirit of Understanding: This provides a thorough acquaintance with the ways of God and expertise in the practice of God’s works.

d) The Spirit of Counsel: This allows for the giving of right advice to others and the ability to correctly instruct and advise others.

e) The Spirit of Might: This refers to the strength, boldness, intensity, energy, power, authority, and resources of God.

f) The Spirit of Knowledge: This is the understanding and recognition of God and His ways.

h) The Spirit of Fear of the Lord: This is a deep respect and reverence for God.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Revelation Overview

Image
I. Background a) Author and When It Was Written The book of Revelation was written by Apostle John, son of Zebedee, when he was exiled to the island of Patmos (Ch 1:9) by the Romans for his teaching of the Gospel. John was said to be born in 6 AD, and died in 100 AD at age of 94. He was one of the "inner circle" of Jesus's disciples. The other in the inner circle were Peter and James.  The year that John wrote Revelation was controversial. Some said is the 40's AD, others said in the 90's AD. Most people also believe that John wrote Revelation just before he died. If he wrote it when he was 90 years old, then it should be around 96 AD.  I wonder what will we be doing when we are 90 years old! b) What is the basic message? Revelation basically describe the 7 years of tribulation, starting with warnings and praise to the 7 churches, and ending with the coming of Jesus, where He will reign for 1000 years. After that, God will create a new heaven (universe) and earth,
Read more

Revelation 11: Two Witnesses and Seventh Trumpet

Image
Revelation 11: Two Witnesses and Seventh Trumpet  v1-2: The Temple during Tribulation John was given a measuring rod and told to measure the temple of God and the altar, and to count the number of worshipers there. He is to exclude the courtyard outside the temple, which has been given to the nations whom will trample the city for 42 months. (v1-2) This temple does not exist today. The second temple built by the Jews after being freed from Babylon, and renovated and expanded by King Herod. However the Romans destroyed in during a Jewish rebellion in 70 AD. Today, only a wall remains where the Jews visit to pray.  The temple mentioned by John is not the temple that was measured in Ezekiel 40 as well, for that is the final temple that was built by Jesus after his return. Therefore, John is referring to a temple that was built before or at the beginning of the 7 year tribulation. This is the temple where the antichrist will proclaim himself as god:  “He will oppose and will exalt himself
Read more

Revelation 13: The Antichrist and the False Prophet

Image
Revelation 13: The Antichrist and the False Prophet  v1-10: The Antichrist As mentioned in the blog for Revelation 12,  NIV said "The dragon a stood on the shore of the sea. And I saw a beast coming out of the sea." that seems to indicate that the "dragon" is a different creature than the "beast."  Many translations follows the NIV choice.  In NKJ however, it says: "Then I stood on the sand of the sea. And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea." (v1a), meaning that John was the one at the shore.   It does not mention the dragon at all.   Apparently different manuscripts used different words here and translations had been using different manuscripts.  The "dragon" in NIV, refers to Satan, which was mentioned last chapter. The "beast" from the sea refers to the anti-Christ. The “sea” is often used to symbolize “peoples, multitudes, nations, and tongues.”  It emphasize that this "beast" is a human.  The anti-Christ ha
Read more