Revelation 5:1 "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."
Now who is sitting on the throne? God - God the Father - and in His hand He has this book written both on the inside and on the outside.
And I saw - We have started a new chapter but not a new vision. John continues on from the previous chapter, and thus this is still in the throne room of God, and he is now going to give an account of what he saw.
Right hand of him that sat on the throne - The right hand denotes power and authority:
A book written within and on the backside - This is not like the books we have today. In John's day they used long rolls of parchment, that were written on one side and then rolled up around a long stick, with the writing on the inside. Books bound down one edge were not in great use until the second century AD. These rolls of parchment are today called scrolls. The scroll that John sees was written on the outide as well as the inside.
Sealed with seven seals - The number seven denotes completeness and thus shows that this book was perfectly sealed. Therefore no person can open it unless they have the authority to break the seals.
Revelation 5:2-3 "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."
So there was no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth (meaning those who had died), there was no one in the whole universe who was worthy to open this book that God had in His hand. You may well ask what about Mohammed, or Buddha, or Confucius, why if they are gods don't they step up to open the book? But not a soul moved, and then John says...
Revelation 5:4 "And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon."
These words reflect John's intense emotional reaction to the drama now unfolding before his eyes, and John weeps because in that book is contained the whole history of mankind, and John knows that if no man can open it, then there is no hope for mankind.
What is our reaction to the things in God's word that we struggle to find an answer to?
Revelation 5:5 "And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof."
John is told not to weep, which suggests that John was already in tears, he is told to behold, or look for the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Now think about this - why did he say the root of David rather than the offspring of David? Why the root...because before David was, He was. You see it was the fact that it took someone more than human to open this book.
Lion of the tribe of Judah - The lion is a symbol of kingliness, as it is regarded as king of the beasts, leadership, courage, and strength. It was to the tribe of Judah that the royal linage, that is the kingship or leadership, was given.
Judah went by the standard or emblem of a lion. Jesus Christ was born through the linage of Judah.
And it is He that has the strength/power to deal with the enemies of His people, namely Satan and all those that support him. Thus it denotes His Kingship or rulership.
Root of David - In Isaiah 11 we find the following:
This was a Messianic prophecy pointing to Christ, as we see Paul applying this passage...
The root of any plant is what gives the plant its life, sustenance, and strength. The roots of the plant come first before the rest of the plant. Thus in this symbol we have shown the pre-existence of Christ or His deity, for He was before David and was the One that gave David his power, strength and life.
But Christ was also known as the Branch.
Note how many beings the council of peace is between - the Father and Son - only two...
The branch comes after the roots, and we have seen that Christ is of the offspring of David.
So these two symbols show the kingship and deity of Christ, fullness of authority and fullness of power.
Hath prevailed to open the book - Greek "nikaō", "to conquer", "to be victorious". This points directly to Christ's victory in the great controversy with Satan, which is the basis of His right to open the book. Inasmuch as no one else in the entire universe could do this (verse 3), His victory is unique. An angel could not have taken Christ's place, for the basic issue in the great controversy is the integrity of the character of God, which is expressed in His law. Neither angel nor man could have accomplished this vindication, for they themselves are subject to the law. Only Christ, the Son of God, and of whose character the law is an expression, could achieve such a vindication of the divine character.
Revelation 5:6 "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."
John now turns to look at the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, and sees a Lamb looking as if it had been slaughtered. This he saw in the midst of the assembly around the throne of God, standing there in the midst was a lamb looking as if it had been slain - and take note throughout these studies as to how many divine beings we see...is it two or three? This is very important when it comes to the study of the Trinity doctrine.
As it had been slain - John probably sees the Lamb with His death wound still bleeding, as a lamb slain for sacrifice in the sanctuary service. The word "as" indicates that this is a symbol. John is not saying that a slaughtered lamb really stands before the throne of God in heaven. Rather, he is describing what he sees in symbolic vision. The form of the verb translated "had been slain" implies that the act of slaughter had taken place in the past, and that its results remained. Thus though Christ's death is historically in the past, its results for mankind are ever fresh and availing.
Seven is the number of completeness / perfection.
Seven horns - This Lamb had seven horns. A horn is a symbol of power:
Thus the seven horns of the Lamb would indicate that He is perfect in strength.
Also there are other places where the number seven represents completeness or perfection:
| Seventh Day Sabbath | Exodus 20:9-10 |
| Every seventh year was a sabbatical year | Leviticus 25:4 |
| Seven good and seven famine year in Egypt | Genesis 41 |
| Seven lamps of the Menorah | Exodus 25:37 |
| Seven feats of Israel | Leviticus 23 |
| Seven Priests with seven trumpets circle Jericho seven times | Joshua 6 |
| Daniel's seventy sevens prophecy | Daniel 9:24-27 |
| Seven loaves fed the 4,000, seven baskets left over | Matthew 15:32-39 |
| Seven deacons in the early church | Acts 6:5 |
| Seven "I AM" statements in the gospel of John | John 6:5 |
| Seven elements of the armor of God | Ephesians 6:14-18 |
| Seven churches – Seals – Trumpets – Plagues etc. | Revelation |
| Seven appearances of Angels | Acts |
Seventy times seven - Matthew 18:22 reiterates this still further. The Lord was not giving Peter a mathematical number of times that he should forgive another person, but rather was insisting on limitless forgiveness for a brother's sin.
Showing a symbol of His complete fullness of power, that is His omnipotence, before Christ ascended back to heaven He said...
Seven eyes which are the seven Spirits of God - These eyes are identified as the seven Spirits of God, which is an expression used for His Holy Spirit.
In Revelation 4:5 a different symbol, "seven lamps" is used.
Eyes are a symbol of intelligence and perfect wisdom, thus with this coupled together with the number seven, it would show Christ's complete or perfect wisdom, all-knowing, that is His omniscience. Nothing is hidden from His eyes. These eyes are sent forth to all the earth.
And thus He is intimately aquainted with everything that happens, everywhere.
About this Lamb in verse six, now we find something that is very interesting, because in scripture, in the original Greek, the word for lamb is "amnos", but not in this case, here the word is "arnion" - there is only one other place in scripture where this word is used and this is where Jesus is talking to Peter, after the resurrection, at the sea of Galilee, and Peter had denied his Lord three times, and it was there that Jesus in John 21:15-17 tells Peter to feed His lambs, in verse 15, and this is the only other place that this word for lambs "arnion" is used. That word in Greek actually means little pet lamb - why would Jesus use such a term as little pet lamb, and standing there before the throne of God was a little pet lamb as though it had been slain - there is great symbolism there. Remember at the Passover the Jews were told to get a lamb. Let's see what the scripture has to say about this.
So they had to do this on the 10th day of the month. They would have to get a lamb and bring it back to the house, and they were to keep it there at the house. While it was at the house it would become like a pet, the children would play with it, and so when the time came that they would have to take that lamb and offer it as a sacrifice four days later on the 14th, they could not do so without any feeling, so that it would help them realise the value of the sacrifice that was being made on their behalf.
You can almost hear the Jewish children crying; "no, don't, don't kill it!" There had to be some feeling, some emotion, they had to feel like they were giving up something valuable. And this is what John sees in the throne room – a little pet Lamb – the Son of God – bleeding as though it had been slain. This was the sacrifice that was made for you and for me.
So amidst all the elders, the four living creatures, the Angels and all the majesty, all the glory, all that's going on, in this vision of John's he sees in the middle of it all this little Lamb. And only this little lamb is worthy to open the book held by the hand of God - not another soul in the entire universe moves forward, only this little Lamb of God.
Revelation 5:7 "And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne."
Jesus thus comes and takes the book from the Father's right hand, who was sitting upon the throne. This is the focal point of Revelation chapters 4 and 5, that Christ, by taking the book from the hand of God, does what no other being in the universe can do. This action is symbolic of His victory over evil.
This little Lamb comes and takes the book out of the hand of God, and this is where our salvation is, because only He, the Lamb of God, earned the right to step up to the Father and take that book from His hand, because He is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, He is the King, and not only is He the King, He is our Brother, He came and took upon Himself humanity and became one with us, to bear humanity throughout eternity. Nobody else has ever done that, only the Lamb. He became like one of us and paid the ransom and died, that you and I might live. Who else has done that for us? Who else can claim to be one with God, equal with the Father, and yet willing to lay down His life so that you and I might live? The only one is the Lamb of God.
Revelation 5:8-9 "8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;"
John declares that Christ "has taken" the book. You see when He – Jesus – stepped up and took the book out of the hand of His Father, you find that the elders and the four beasts fall down in praise, because now there is hope. This shows to us that the 24 elders, who minister in the heavenly sanctuary to aid Jesus Christ our High Priest, were redeemed from among men for this purpose. They fall down in adoration and praise, as sinners now redeemed by so great a price.
Here is the hope of the universe – we are saved only through Our Lord Jesus. However, whilst all Heaven rejoices, we are told that on the other side of the coin will be the wicked. What will they be crying out to this Lamb?
Here it does not say from the wrath of the Lion, but from the wrath of the Lamb. How many people are afraid of the Lamb? The majority of the world. These people that we have just read about in Revelation 6 will run from Him because He is the only one that is worthy, He paid the price that they might be saved and they said no, and now they cannot bear to look upon Him.
The golden vials - Greek "phialai", "bowls" or "saucers", the dishes in which offerings were commonly presented. According to Josephus, phialai of incense were placed on the showbread in the sanctuary (Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, vol. iii. 6. 6 [143]).
That the prayers of the saints are contained in golden receptacles may indicate the preciousness with which heaven regards them. The prayers of saints and their possession of "harps" and of incense dishes representing the prayers of saints, suggests that the elders represent Christ's triumphant church on earth, lifting its voice in song and prayer.
Sung a new song - The song was new in the sense that it was entirely different from any sung before. This expression is common in the Old Testament.
Here it is particularly fitting, for it represents the song growing out of a unique experience, salvation through the victory of Jesus Christ. It is the "new song" of those who have a "new name".
When all things are made "new".
Looking further at what singing a new song means, we will consider the 144,000.
They are said to sing a new song. This song is the song of Moses and of the Lamb.
And no one can learn it except for the 144,000. The song of Moses is recorded in the book of Exodus chapter 15, dealing with their deliverance from being boxed in by the mountains on both sides with the Egyptian armies behind, and the Red Sea in front of them. They were facing total annihilation until the Lord delivered them by opening the Red Sea and making a path to the other side. The Egyptians followed, but were drowned as the Lord closed up the sea again. So the song that they sung was a song of their experience and deliverance.
So too it is with the 144,000 at the end of time. It will appear as if these righteous ones are totally boxed in by their enemies and facing total annihilation, but God will deliver them. The reason why they sing the song of the Lamb is that they have sacrificed all of self upon the altar, there is not a piece of their lives that is not surrendered to Christ, self has been crucified. When Christ sacrificed all as the Lamb of God He was going to Calvary as a sacrifice for the human race, and thus the 144,000 have this experience of sacrificing all. So a song is a symbol of an experience gone through.
As Jesus receives the book from the Father, a song is sung by the 24 elders. Now remember that a new song denotes a new experience, and we will now look at the song to see what experience it is.
Worthy to take the book - The heavenly chorus leads out in the recognition that God has been vindicated from the accusations of Satan, through the victory of His Son. The 24 elders, representatives of the saints, who themselves were once captives of evil, appear before the on-looking universe as witnesses to the righteousness and the grace of God.
The first words of the song explain to us why Jesus is worthy to take the book and open it. This is because of His sacrifice of being slain for our sins, and shedding His blood to be able to redeem them (and us), back to God out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; also making them kings and priests.
Before this time Jesus had not been slain or shed His blood to redeem man from sin. The 24 elders had not been taken to heaven through the redemption that was now possible through the blood of Christ. Thus this is a new experience for them and hence the new song.
This now brings us to the question of what this book is.
The book seems to be closely linked to the redeeming of God's people, for the song of redemption goes forward when Christ receives the book. But Christ can only receive this book when He has made redemption sure through the sacrifice and of shedding His blood. But the most important clue is found in verse 1, with the book being written within and on the backside, and then sealed. Before we look at an example of this type of book, we need to look at the “Law of Redemption”. This deals with the redeeming or buying back of inheritances in the land of Israel.
Notice how many times the word redeem/redemption is used.
If a person had sold their land because of their poverty, it was able to be redeemed or bought back by what is called a kinsman, if the person did not have enough money to do so himself. Thus the land would be restored to him through a relation of his. But if there was none to redeem the land/inheritance, it would automatically be returned at the end of the Jubilee, i.e. the end of fifty years. A good example of this is found in Jeremiah 32, it also sheds light on what the sealed book is:
Jeremiah here was asked to buy the parcel of land as it was his right to redeem it. Notice how they recorded the transaction. There were 2 books, one that was written and left open, the other was an exact copy but rolled up and sealed. These contained the title deeds to the redeemed inheritance. Weemse, commenting on this system, says the following;
From this we can see that the scroll, containing the title deeds to the lost inheritance, was written within, rolled up, then sealed and written on the backside, just as the book in chapter 5 is. Undoubtedly this book in chapter 5 is the title deeds to the lost inheritance through man's rebellion.
We quote the following from "An Exposition of Revelation 5" by Austin P. Cooke, pages 13-15:
Revelation 5:10 "And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth."
What a marvellous verse. This little Lamb has not only paid our sacrifice but has made us kings and priests unto His God. It does not say we might become kings and priests, it says He makes us kings and priests. How wonderful that you and I can have such a saviour. This is the very heart of salvation, the very heart of the gospel, the fact that our salvation is not dependent upon our ability; it's dependent upon the Lamb who was slain and paid the price for us, it's our acceptance of Him. What a redeemer we have. Nothing we can do makes us a child of God except accepting Christ, no more than me going out and sitting in the garage makes me a car – it's not what we do, it's what Christ has done for us and continues to do, day by day.
But how do we become priests?
We see that the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, who were to be a peculiar treasure, a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. This was on condition of bringing forth the fruits of obedience. However, they continued to break the covenant that was made and were finally rejected as being God's chosen people.
We see that this covenant has been transferred and now applies to the Christian church. Those that have accepted salvation through Jesus Christ now become priests and offer up spiritual sacrifices; the continual sacrifice of self, prayer, and thanksgiving, etc.
Revelation 5:11 "And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;"
We cannot even imagine that number, but try to envisage when we hear them sing with all the redeemed in praise to God. Ten thousand times ten thousand is 100 million, and this number exceeds even that, it is innumerable. Thus God is vindicated before the angels who have not fully understood, since the first accusations of Satan in heaven, His action in banishing Satan and saving men.
Revelation 5:12 "Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."
All this was given to Him, to Jesus, because He was able to redeem us, and we need to take time every day to praise God, not just for what He has done for us and what He continues to do for us – we should do this – but praise to God is giving Him worship because He is worthy, because of His attributes and what He has done, for His glory, honour and power. There is nothing higher that we can give him except our worship and praise. Because He is our redeemer.
The angels of heaven, the four beasts, and the elders round about the throne are giving praise and worship to the Lamb, Jesus Christ. For it is He that is worthy to open the book because of the infinite sacrifice that He paid to do so. As Peter said under inspiration of the Holy Spirit;
It is He that is worthy to receive power, riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory, and blessing; for He is the Lamb that was slain.
Revelation 5:13 "And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever."
How many beings should receive our worship? Two – God the Father and His Son, the Lamb that was slain.
Every creature - That is, every created being. The chorus swells and in response to the cries of praise from the hosts of heaven, all creation joins in adoration of the Father and the Son. Christ is victor and the character of God is vindicated before the whole universe – in heaven, and on the earth. From the standpoint of ancient cosmology, heaven, earth, under the earth and sea constitute the entire universe. All creation will finally recognize the righteousness of God.
The fact that the Lamb is adored here on the same basis as the Father implies their equality.
Revelation 5:14 "And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever."
We need to dwell on these things, on the tremendous sacrifice of God and His Son. We need to become intimately acquainted with the Lamb of God that was slain, that we might live. So this fourfold anthem ultimately finds its fulfilment when the earth is restored to perfect harmony with the rest of the universe.
Notice that this is a twofold worship - to the Father that sits upon the throne and to the Lamb, Jesus Christ. They both receive the same worship and praise. Thus this shows their equality, that Christ is just as truly God, through His inheritance as the Son, as is the Father. They are equally divine.
The reaction of worship from all is one that is not forced, it comes voluntarily from the response of what Christ has done, from His worthiness – it should be the same with us. Words cannot express the greatness and beauty of the plan of salvation, the infinite sacrifice that Christ has paid. Our worship to Him should be one of loving response for what He has done for us.
What must it be like to be there? To be and to dwell with the Father and His beloved Son.