Lesson 5 Revelation 5

                                                                   Revelation 5

Revelation chapter 5 carries on the same scene as chapter 4. There is no need for a break between chapters. While  the twenty-four elders, in praise and worship, are prostrating themselves before Him who sat upon the throne,  John saw, “In the midst of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals” (Rev.5:1).

The Greek does not use the preposition en, as “in” the hand, but the preposition epi, “upon the hand.” The scroll is held out upon the open palm of the hand. It is held out to anyone worthy to open the seals and look upon the contents.

In those days, parchment scrolls were used for official documents. Usually the scroll was written on one side. Then the scroll was rolled up and sealed so the contents were unseen and unknown while sealed. This was an unusual scroll, as John could see that it was written on the backside. Of course, naturally, it would be written on the inside as well. Perhaps because there was much to be made known on this scroll, the scroll was sealed in an unusual way. There were seven seals on this scroll.  We remember that, in Scripture, “seven” is the number of “completion.”

John did not say how the seals were placed on the scroll. The seals would permit only one section of the scroll to be seen at a time. In Revelation chapter 6, John will see the order of the events of the trial which is the Day of the Lord.

The Day of the Lord is laid out in order, from the going forth of the man of sin until the Second Coming of Christ Jesus to earth as the first six seals are broken. Then chapter 7 is a parenthetical vision of the 144,000 of the tribes of Israel selected for their ministry of preaching the gospel of the Kingdom during the seven year trial, and a second vision of the Gentile peoples to come out of the Great Tribulation.

When the seventh seal is broken, the whole scroll is laid open and John is given to see more details of the events that will be taking place upon earth during the trial which is to test the whole earth (Rev.3:10). John is given details but not in a chronological order. Parenthetical visions are interspersed throughout the Revelation for explanation.

John does not give any description of the One holding out the scroll to be taken by the One who is worthy to take the scroll and to break the seals and disclose the contents of the scroll. Then John saw “a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the scroll, and to loose its seals?’ And no man in heaven, nor on the earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the scroll, neither to look on it” (Rev.5:2-3).

The word “strong” or “mighty” shows the angel was a personage of importance and authority. He has a proclamation and he makes it with a loud voice, a “mega” voice like a megaphone. The proclamation was made in heaven, and upon earth and under the earth, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and loose the seals?”

It is not a matter of authority but of worth. It is a question of worthiness. Who is qualified as worthy? Anyone in heaven? In heaven are the angels who stayed faithful to their Creator. Mighty beings, among them are Michael the archangel and Gabriel (see Dan.9:20-23; 10:1-21; 12:1; Lk.1:26-38; Jude 9).

We need to remember that John is taken far into the future, that he might be given the revelation of Jesus Christ in the end times. At that future time Jesus’ kingdom of priests, whom He loosed from their sins in His blood, have been caught up to heaven (Rev.1:5-6). They have been raised out from the dead and are clothed in their bodies like unto Jesus’ body of glory. Crowned with the glory, they are enthroned with Him. John sees them in the throne scene in heaven. Their home, the New Jerusalem above, has not yet come down into the heavenlies, where they will live with their Husband, the Lamb, who loved them and gave Himself for them.

The created heavens are below the heaven where God dwells and they are above the atmosphere surrounding the earth, the air to be breathed into flesh bodies. It is in these heavenlies that the prince of the power of the air operates with his principalities and powers (Eph.1:21; 2:2; 6:12). It is not until the middle of the seventh and final week of this age that Satan and his angels will be cast out of the heavens to earth, to finish his warfare (Rev.12:7-17).

The heavens will be cleansed of all defilement in a regeneration, that the New Jerusalem, the home of the Lamb’s Wife, may be centered there over the New Jerusalem below, rebuilt on a cleansed, regenerate earth (2 Pet.3:7-14; Is.4:2-6; 65:17-25; 66:22-24).

The mighty angel himself did not step forward. He disqualified himself. None in heaven stepped forward. Was there anyone upon earth? Any earth-dweller saving the earth? No, not anyone. What of the underworld, Hades, where all of the powerful kings of the world kingdoms have gone?  (Is.14:9-10). No, no one qualified as worthy comes forward to take the scroll.

If the scroll is not opened, the contents will not be known. John has been called up to heaven to be shown the things which shall be here upon earth after the Church, over which Christ is the Head, is caught up to heaven to be enthroned with her Lord. If the seals are not loosed, the contents of the scroll will remain unseen.

John began to weep profusely “because no man was found worthy to open and to read the scroll, neither to look on it” (Rev.5:4). John gave way to the natural expression of the great emotion of disappointment of not seeing that which had been promised to him, that which he had eagerly anticipated seeing.

It must be remembered that John is yet in his mortal body. He has not died. He has been caught up in the Spirit (Rev.4:1-2). John has memories of having been on the Mount of Olives with Jesus before His crucifixion. There on the Mount he had heard Jesus teach of the things concerning the Day of the Lord. And also after Jesus’ resurrection, Jesus spent forty days with His disciples teaching them and opening up the meaning of the Old Testament Scriptures written by Moses and the prophets and also the things concerning the Kingdom to come upon the earth (Lk.24:25-27, 44-48; Ac.1:1-3).

John’s weeping was of short duration. It was soon turned to joy as one of the elders said to John, “Weep not.” The elder, a member of the Body of Christ, knows who is worthy to open the seals and show what is written on the scroll. “Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll, and to loose its seven seals” (Rev.5:5).

How did the elder know who was worthy? We must keep remembering that John was seeing far into the future, after the Church had already been caught up to heaven. How does the elder know? While the elder was alive in his mortal body, he had read the book of Revelation that John had written. John, alive in his mortal body, had not yet written of the things he was about to see.

The “Lion of the tribe of Judah,” the King of the Jews; the “Root of David,” the sure mercies of David, He is worthy. He is the only Person worthy to take the scroll from the open hand of His Father on the throne and to open the seals. And John saw Him do so, as he said, “I beheld and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four living beings, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and Seven Eyes, which are the Seven Spirits, [or the Seven-fold Spirit] of God sent forth into all the earth. And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne” (Rev.5:6-7).

The Son had arisen from His seat and went and stood before His Father. He stood, not as the Lion, but in the role which had given Him His worth to open the seals. He stood as “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (Jn.1:29).

On the Isle of Patmos John had seen a very glorious vision of Jesus in His role as the Judge (Rev.1). After John had written the letters to the seven assemblies in Asia, he had been brought to heaven and entered the throne scene. There, first John saw Jesus on the throne as the King, in all of His glory and majesty, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Now John sees His Master, the One who loved Him.

Upon earth, John had beheld Jesus as the only begotten of the Father (Jn.1:14). John had spent four years upon earth with the Lamb to whom he had been introduced by John the Baptist (Jn.1:29). He had seen a preview of metamorphosis of  the earthly body of the Son of Man on the Mount of Transfiguration (Mt.17:1-8; Mk.9:1-8; Lk.9:27-36). At the Cross, John had stood and watched as the cruel nails were pounded into the flesh of the One so dear to him. He had seen with his own eyes and had touched with his own hands the body of glory (1 Jn.1:1-2). Now before the Father is the Lion of the tribe of Judah in all of His majestic glory, standing as the Lamb having been slain.

Jesus of Nazareth, the only begotten Son of God, conceived in the flesh of the Life of the Father, the only perfectly obedient Son of God, who had been sitting on the Father’s right hand on the highest throne of the universe, had stood up to take the scroll.

Three things qualify Jesus as worthy to open the scroll and to loose the seals. The first thing that qualifies one as worthy to open the scroll is that he must be from the tribe of Judah, as prophesied by Jacob on his deathbed. God promised the royal scepter, the king’s rod of authority, “will not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet until Shiloh comes. Unto Him shall be the gathering of the people [of Israel]” (Gen.49:10).

As we may remember from our lesson on Revelation chapter 4, “Shiloh” has the meaning, “of Him to whom the scepter belongs.” Jesus is Shiloh. To Israel belongs all of the Old Testament promises concerning the earthly kingdom of this world. The King must come from the tribe of Judah. The one worthy to open the scroll must come from the tribe of Judah. It is significant that the authority to open the scroll is in the hands of the conquering King who is worthy. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The Lion cannot be separated from the tribe of Judah, the royal tribe, through whom comes the Heir to the throne of Israel.

The second thing that qualifies one as worthy to open the scroll is that He must be of the Root of David. The tribe of Judah cannot be separated from the House of David. The Covenant of Life and blessing is established in the House of David (2 Sam.7:4-17; see also Rev.22:16).

Here before the throne is the Son who has the key of David, the One who opens and no man can shut, the One who shuts and no man can open (Rev.3:7). David is the son of God through Christ Jesus. David believed in the righteousness of God through faith in the coming Anointed Son of God, to be born of the incorruptible Seed of the Word of God, a born again son of God (see 2 Sam.7:18-29; 1 Pet.1:13-25; Jn.3:3-15).

Jesus is the son of David according to the flesh (Lk.1:32-33; Ac.2:30). Mary, the chosen virgin, was of the House of David and of the tribe of Judah. Through the seed of her father, Mary was a descendant from the tribe of Judah. The Lion to come through the line of Judah came through a descendant of David’s son, Nathan, Heli, the father of Mary (compare Mt.1:6, 16 with Lk.3:23, 31).

One day Jesus silenced the rulers of the Jews with a simple question (see Mt.22:41-46; Mk.12:35-37; Lk.20:41-44). He took them to the first verse of Psalm 110. Psalm 110 is the psalm of the King-Priest in His victory over His enemies. The psalm begins with David saying, “The Lord said unto My Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Your enemies Your footstool.” Jesus’ question, “If David then calls Him [the King-Priest] Lord, how is He his son?”

How indeed? David’s son must be born of a virgin in David’s line. He must be Immanuel [God with us] (see Is.7:14; 9:6-7; Mt.1:18-23). “And no man was able to answer [Jesus] a word.” The Jews did not choose to believe the obvious, but “neither dared any man from that day forth ask [Jesus] any more questions” (Mt.22:46).

The third thing to qualify one as worthy to open the seals was that he must be the Lamb of God, slain to take away the sins of the world. The King of the Jews was born to die (Jn.12:23-32). He came as the Passover, the Lamb under whose blood one is made safe from the Destroyer. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world (Jn.1:29). He is the Propitiation, not only for our sins, but also for the sins of the whole world (1 Jn.2:2).

The Holy Spirit, who was inspiring the words of the Revelation, does not use the ordinary Greek word for “lamb” here. The ordinary word for “lamb” is amnos, but the word used in Revelation 5:6 is arnion, a diminutive, “a little lamb.”  It is used here in the sense of “a belittled Lamb,” rejected by His own people and by all mankind. He was delivered up by His own people and crucified by the Romans, though no fault could be found in Him (see Is.53:2-12; Ac.13:27-28).

In John’s vision, Jesus had just risen from the highest throne of the universe, where He had been sitting century after century, waiting for His Father’s time to destroy His enemies. He had stood up to take the scroll. There He stood with the marks of Calvary yet in the body of glory, as evidence of the Lamb, belittled and slain. In His hands and feet and side, the evidence of the One acceptable Sacrifice to save His creation.

The Lion and the Lamb are the same Person of Christ Jesus, the Word become flesh, to bring Life and Light down to earth for mankind. The Lion is the King-Priest and the Lamb is the Redeemer-Deliverer. The Lamb had been slain before the foundation of the World (see 1 Pet.1:19-21; Rev.13:8). The Sacrifice had been acceptable to the Father, even before time began, but all must be worked out upon earth in time.

All is being worked out in time. In the fullness of time, God sent His only begotten Son, His beloved Son, the only Son of God en-lifed by the Father for conception of a human body (Gal.4:4; Lk.1:26-38). The only begotten God-Man, the One Mediator between God and Man, the Man, Christ Jesus, the only One a fellow with God and a fellow with man (1 Tim.2:3-6).

Jesus, the Word become flesh, came delighting to do the will of His Father (Jn.1:1-4; 8:28-29). Delighting to be the one perfectly obedient Son of God, He came to do the will of the Father, that the Father might have an acceptable Gift to offer man for reconciliation (Rom.5:17-21; 2 Cor.9:15; Eph.2:4-10). That the Father might have an acceptable Offering of Sacrifice concerning sin and death, Jesus came to lay down His life a ransom for the many who sinned (Mt.20:28; Mk.10:45). His obedience would be unto death, even the death of the Cross (Phil.2:5-8).

It is the Lamb who has seven horns. “Horns” are a recognized symbol of “power.” “Seven” being the number of “complete,” the Lamb has complete power. The Lamb has the power of the Seven-fold Spirit of the Lord, and the Lamb has the complete seeing of the Spirit.

In the book of Revelation, the Holy Spirit is not spoken of in His personal unity, but in His seven-fold variety, as seen in verse 2 of Isaiah chapter 11. We may also remember this from having covered it when we studied Jesus’ message to the assembly in Sardis (Rev.3:1).

The Holy Spirit  is, first of all, the Spirit of the Lord [Jehovah], the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. He is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and might, knowledge and fear of the Lord.

He is the Spirit of wisdom, the wisdom from above to end confusion. “The wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy” (Jas.3:17). Wisdom is power for sanctification and for self-control.

He is the Spirit of understanding. There is none that understands, no, not one. There is no fear of God before their eyes (Ps.14:1-3; 36:1; Rom.3:11-18). Yet understanding is needed for a sound mind. We must get understanding from the Spirit of Christ. Proverbs 4:7 tells us: “Wisdom is the principal thing; get wisdom; and with all your getting, get understanding.” It is the Spirit that enlightens the eyes of the understanding as to the will of God (1 Cor.2:9-16; Jn.16:7-15).

The Spirit of counsel is needed for freedom from sin and self, for the fruit of holiness (Rom.6:22). “The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the thoughts of His heart to all generations” (Ps.33:11; see Prov.19:21). It is through the light of the knowledge of the glory of God that He counsels us.

The counsel of might or strength. “He gives power to the faint; and to those who have no might He increases strength” (Is.40:29). Paul’s prayer for the Colossians and for all sons of God: “That you might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to the glorious power [of the Spirit of Christ], unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness” (Col.1:10-11).

The Spirit of knowledge is given for one to see and to know. A wise man is strong; yea, a man of knowledge increases strength” (Prov.24:5). “Knowledge is easy unto him that understands” (Prov.14:6b).

The Spirit of the fear of the Lord. The fear of the Lord is a reverential awe, that one not be high-minded (Rom.11:20). “A wise man fears, and departs from evil” (Prov.14:16a). “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Prov.9:10). And “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge” (Prov.1:7a). “In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence” ... “The fear of the Lord is a fountain of Life, to depart from the snares of death” (Prov.14:26-27).

If any man does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is none of His. If the Spirit of Christ dwells in you, you are no longer in the flesh. You are in the Spirit (Rom.8:9b). Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, freedom to behold the glory of Christ. The Spirit of Truth will guide one into all truth (see Jn.15:26-27; 16:7-15). You shall know the truth, and the truth will free you. You shall know the Son and be free indeed (Jn.8:34-36). Christ is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption (1 Cor.1:30). In Him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col.2:2-3).

As we behold “as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, [we] are changed into the same image from glory to glory, from the Spirit of the Lord” (2 Cor.3:18). And as one keeps on beholding the glory of the Lord, a great reverence begins to fill the heart, bringing a desire to grow in this grace which has been bestowed upon us and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

God the Son - Deity - had the choice to become the Servant of God the Father. The Servant would be birthed in a mortal body of flesh - a God-Man - a birthed Son of God and Son of Man. The Father would give the Son to have Life in Himself through the Spirit (see Jn.5:17-32). A human mother would provide His humanity, a body of flesh and blood, mortal (Lk.1:26-38). Jesus was sent in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin, to condemn sin in the flesh (Rom.8:3).

The Son of Man was given the power to put away sin once for all (Rom.6:9-10; Heb.1:1-3; 9:22-28; 1 Pet.3:18). He had the power of sacrifice. He had the power to lay down the life of His body and the power to take it up again (Jn.10:17-18). The Son of Man had the power of substitution. He had the power to unite man to Himself and the power to take man into death and burial, and He had the power to raise the body up alive out from the dead (Rom.6:3-13; Jn.6:37-40). The Son of Man had power over all of man’s enemies.

There must be victory over sin and death for the flesh beings of man. Man must be given an exodus out of the flesh to become a righteous being. That would take death. There must be victory over the world system. That would take delivering man from his former manner of life. That too would take death. There must be victory over the adversary, the old serpent, called the Devil and Satan (Jn.12:31-32). That would necessitate casting him out of this world and destroying his world. That would take resurrection (1 Cor.15:54-57).

The Son of Man was sent to His own people, the Jews. “In Him was Life; and the Life was the Light of men.” “His own did not receive Him. But as many as did receive Him, to them He gave the authority to become the children of God, to those that believe into His name” (Jn.1:4, 11-12).

Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, as prophesied in the Jews’ own Scriptures (Mic.5:2; see also Mt.2:1). Jesus’ birth was registered at the temple in Jerusalem. According to the Law of Cleansing, two doves were sacrificed, though no cleansing was needed for this Son begotten of the Father God (Lk.2:21-24).

Jesus lived out His obedience in His mortal body of the flesh. He lived each day delighting to do the will of the Father and growing in stature and wisdom. For about thirty years He lived that life in obscurity in Galilee of the Gentiles [nations] in the far north of the Promised Land in a little village called Nazareth (Mt.4:12-15).

As Jesus came as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, it was the Passover before Jesus was thirty years old that the Lord God took Jesus to be His Passover Lamb (Lk.3:21-23). Passover was part of the Spring Festival which also included Feast of Unleavened Bread and Feast of Firstfruits. The festival was designed to picture the great event in Jesus’ life where He condemned sin in the flesh and put away sin once for all, and in the death of His mortal body, Jesus overcame death in His resurrection as the Firstfruit of the incorruptible Seed of His mortal body.

For the sons of Israel, Passover was first instituted in Egypt through their redeemer-deliverer, Moses. The Passover to them was a prophetic memorial of the death and resurrection of the coming Redeemer-Savior. We have the record in Exodus 12 (Ex.12:1-28).

The month of Abib, formerly the seventh month on the Jewish calendar, became the first month of the religious calendar concerning the festivals. On the 10^th day of the month, the father took a lamb for the household according to the number of souls in his household. The lamb was to be a male of the first year and the lamb must be without spot or blemish.

The lamb was kept in the household for four days and observed for any spot or blemish. The household became familiar with the lamb and, no doubt, somewhat attached. But on the 14^th day the household lamb must be slain. The whole assembly of Israel, each one, killed their lamb at evening or, literally, “between the two evenings.”

For the Jews, the day began at evening, around 6 p.m. The lamb was to be slain between the evening beginning the day of the 14^th and the evening beginning the day of the 15^th. According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, the lamb  was slain between 3 and 5 p.m.

The blood of the lamb was put on the two side posts and the upper door post of the houses. With the basin at the foot below the upper door post, this made the sign of the Cross. The blood of the death already having taken place for the household, the firstborn was covered and protected from the Destroyer claiming the body of the firstborn. The firstborn of the household lived. Jesus is the Firstborn of God’s household of sons of God (1 Cor.15:20-23). He also is the Lamb of God in whose blood the body of those firstborn in Adam is saved from perishing.

In Jesus’ day, the Passover lamb had to be approved by the priest. God sent the one Passover Lamb whom He approved from heaven. The Father led Jesus to John the Baptist to be approved (Jn.1:29-34). John had been born into the priesthood. As a faithful priest to teach the people the truth and lead them to repentance, John carried out his ministry in the wilderness. At the temple the priests taught that righteousness was through the works of the law performed in the flesh body.

Their prophet Isaiah had admonished, “All of our righteousnesses are as a menstruous cloth” (Is.64:6). Isaiah gave them a graphic illustration of the dead works of the Law. No Life can be expected through man’s works. Man has no power to raise up a forever living body out of the dead (see Jn.3:3-21; 12:23-33). The dead body will return to dust and perish.

In the ceremonial Passover, the lamb was kept four days. The Father God kept His Lamb in the household for four years, that the household of Abraham and David might see Him without spot or blemish, and that they might become acquainted with Him (see 1 Pet.1:18-19; Mt.26:57-66; 7:1-4, 22-24; Mk.14:53-59 Jn.8:46;19:4; Ac.13:27-28; 1 Tim.6:13-16).

Then, after four years of public ministry, on the 14^th of Nisan, Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem. Through the Eternal Spirit, Jesus offered Himself to God without spot or blemish, that He might purge His people from their dead works of the letter of the Law performed in the body of sin and death, with no heart of the inner man for God (see Heb.9:14-15; Mk.7:6-13; 2 Cor.3:6).

Jesus was obedient unto death, even the death of the Cross, that those who would unite themselves to Him in faith could be baptized into His death and, buried with Him in baptism, could be raised up together with Him in the likeness of His resurrection (Rom.6:3-10; Col.2:9-15). Jesus became “sin for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor.5:21).

Moses instructed the sons of Israel, if the household be too little for the lamb, let him invite his neighbor next to his house, that they might take the lamb together (Ex.12:4). The household of Israel is far too little for the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the whole world (Jn.1:29; 1 Jn.2:2). The Gentiles must be invited to partake of the Lamb.

There on Mount Calvary, lifted up between heaven and earth, was the One Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus. Jesus gave Himself a ransom for all (1 Tim.2:4-6). The opened side sent forth the Water of Life to flow freely to the ends of the earth. The good news of the hope of Life everlasting to be sent out in all directions through the members of the new Body raised up with Christ Jesus and baptized in the Holy Spirit for the power of witness (Ac.1:8).

Before sundown the 14^th the holy body was taken down from the Cross and buried in the virgin tomb, to lie buried through the 15^th of Nisan, the first day of Feast of Unleavened Bread. Sometime after sundown of the 15^th of Nisan, on the 16^th, Firstfruits, the Father raised up Jesus from the dead by His Spirit (Rom.8:11). And the Spirit declared Jesus to be the Son of God in power by the resurrection from the dead (Rom.1:2-4), Jesus having become the Firstfruit of those having fallen asleep, to one day be awakened (1 Cor.15:20-21).

Israel had crucified the Holy One of Israel, but the Father had raised Him from the dead (Ac.2:22-36). The marks of Jesus’ obedience, even unto death, were yet in the body which had been glorified in resurrection (Jn.20:24-27). The evidence of His sacrificial death to be borne throughout eternity.

It is also the Lamb who has the Seven Eyes, which are the Seven-fold Spirit of God. The Sacrifice having been accepted, the Seven-fold Spirit could be sent into all the earth with the good news (see 1 Jn.2:2; 4:9-10). The wound in Jesus’ side was closed up, but out of the wound had poured the blood for cleansing from all unrighteousness (1Jn.1:9). The blood which had put away sin once for all, to loose man from sin, and the Water of Life to overcome death, freely flowing to the ends of the earth through the Seven-fold Spirit of Jesus Christ.

The Lion has prevailed, because the Lord Jesus Christ has come off the Victor with His obedience to the death of the Cross. The power will be put in the hand of the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The Lion will be taking over the throne given to the Lion tribe of the House of David. But first must come the judgment of the world and its false ruler. Now is this world judged and the prince of this world to be cast out (see Jn.12:31). The coming trial of the judgment of retributive justice will take place in God’s timing of the final week of the seventy weeks determined by the Lord God Almighty.

The Lion and the Lamb complement one another. The Lamb is the Savior and Redeemer of His own inheritance. The redemption is considered to be the actual bringing out of the inheritance from under the power of the enemy. The bringing out of the inheritance of Abraham from the state into which it has gotten itself. The inheritance will be received by the Lion for the setting of all things straight again. Once things are set straight, they will never again be disturbed (see Dan.7:13-14; Is.9:6-7). The universe will have been given a final adjustment.

The Lamb came and took the scroll. The Lamb is yet the Servant of Jehovah. There is yet the judgment of this world to be carried out, which includes the god of this world and all the rebels and enemies of God. The judgment has been given into the hands of the Lamb as the Son of Man (Jn.5:29-31).

Come down from heaven as the Son of Man, Jesus personally witnessed the condition of man as He lived among them as a man. Through the experience of being in the world of man, under the thinking sourced in the evil one, Jesus personally witnessed evil for what it is - the lawlessness of man’s heart. He witnessed  mankind deliberately reject the goodness and grace and mercy of His Father God. He saw men despise the wisdom and the freedom of the Father’s will for man. As the Son begotten from the dead, the judgment is committed into the hands of the exalted Lamb of God. The whole earth and everything in it is given into His hands for judgment. It is the Day of the Lord.

The scroll is to be opened and John is to see the contents on the scroll, the things that shall be happening after the Body of Christ has been caught up to be with her Lord. The things are shown from heaven’s viewpoint. The scroll will reveal the climax of human history, the crisis of the Day of the Lord. The scroll will reveal that for which all creation has been waiting all down through the ages, the judgment of this world to be finished with transgressions and sins and to bring in the tremendous event toward which all the history of man and the earth was planned, a Kingdom of righteousness and peace, a Kingdom in which all peoples of the earth are blessed.

What John saw on the scroll is an accurate prophetic account of the order of events by which Christ Jesus will bring all of His creation into the actual inheritance of all Christ Jesus has redeemed in His blood. The fully opened scroll will reveal how all that has been prophesied will be accomplished.

It needs to be remembered that the Lion and the Lamb are both connected with Israel. The scroll is to show what course will be taken concerning the Divine action to deliver that which Divine grace has purchased. Israel was given her history in prophecy before it was lived out. It has come to pass as was prophesied and will continue to come to pass as prophesied. Through Moses, to Israel was given to see the beginning of all things. Through the apostle John, to the Church is given to see the consummation of those things. What John saw with his very own eyes he faithfully recorded for us, that we too might have the eyes of our understanding enlightened as to how the great Drama of the Ages will play out in the end. Though the things to be hereafter were symbolized to John, as a Jew, John would have understood the symbols and signs.

The Lamb took the scroll from the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne, but before a single seal is broken, John heard a new song fill heaven with praise. “And when He had taken the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, every one of them having harps, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying, ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every kindred, and language, and people and nation; and have made us unto our God a kingdom of priests, and we shall reign over the earth’” (Rev.5:8-10).

If there is a question as to who the twenty-four elders represent, these verses clear it up. These are singing a song of their own experience of having been redeemed to God by the blood of Jesus. They are of every kindred and language and nation and people. There is only one time in history that there is a recorded One Body of the redeemed of all people and nations. Here the Body of the redeemed are all together in heaven with their Lord.

These are the ones who responded to the call of the gospel of Christ which was sent to the ends of the earth after the ascension of Jesus Christ back to heaven. With Jesus Himself as the High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, Jesus loosed them from their sins in His own blood and made them a kingdom of priests unto God (see Ps.110:4; Heb.5:5-10; 7:11-28; Rev.1:5-6; 1 Pet.2:9-10). They are a royal priesthood and this is their testimony. Every one of them having harps and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. To the Jew, “harps” were a symbol of “victory.” They were used in worship and praise to Jehovah.

Each one in the royal priesthood is an overcomer. Each one having shared in Christ’s victory over sin and death and the world and the evil one. Each one having been glorified in a forever living body shares the complete victory and is giving praise to their Deliverer.

In the order of the Levitical priesthood under the Law given to the sons of Israel, before ministering the sacrifices in the outer court, the priests must wash their hands and feet at the laver (see Ex.30:17-21; 40:30-32). “Hands” speak of “doing,” and “feet” of “the walk or conduct.” The washing of the ceremonial cleansing spoke of the necessity of having been made clean before ministering the holy things of the Lord God. The laver being made from the bronze mirrors of the Israelite women represented self-judgment, thus fitting one for the service of the Lord.

After the ministry of the sacrificial offerings upon the altar of burnt offering, the priest must again cleanse himself and take coals from off the altar of burnt offering and put them in his golden censer to be carried into the holy place and put upon the golden altar before the throne of God behind the veil (Ex.30:1-8; Lev.16:12-13). There the priest offered prayers for God’s people, Israel. With the incense put upon the coals from the burnt offering, the sweet savor of the sacrifice was carried into the holy place and the sweet savor went up with the prayers of the priests for God’s people, Israel.

In the royal priesthood of the Lord Jesus Christ, while His priests were yet in the outer court of the world, each one had been cleansed for their ministry of reconciliation. Each one had been loosed from his sins in the blood of Jesus Christ. Each one cleansed from the defiling of death through having united himself with Jesus in His death and burial and resurrection. Each one made clean to minister the sacrifice of Jesus through the gospel of Christ crucified and buried and risen from the dead. Each one had had the light of the knowledge of the glory of God shined into his heart, that he might minister the truth.

Each one, having received the light of the knowledge of the glory, carried the light in his earthen vessel. He himself having been justified and glorified and made clean was a sweet savor unto God (Eph.5:1-2). Each one carried the sweet savor in his earthen vessel to make known the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Each one a savor of death unto death, and of Life unto Life, that men might hear the gospel of Christ and turn from their darkness to the light and not perish (see 2 Cor.4:4-7; 2:14-17).

In Revelation 5, the priests have finished their ministry of reconciliation. They are in a fixed state of holiness, forever cleansed from all sin and death. In their fixed state of holiness, they have carried the sweet savor into the holiest, right before the throne. In heaven, there is no veil (see Heb.10:19-20). All is holy. Man cannot enter into the Presence of God. Only sons of God, born of the Spirit, can be in His Presence. There in their new vessels of glory [gold] (see Job 23:10), the priests are ready to begin their new ministry of intercession.

All through the Old and New Testaments we have prayers inspired by the Holy Spirit, prayers concerning God’s all comprehensive purpose for His creation. Prayer is a way of entering into God’s purposes, a way of uniting one’s will with the will of God, and of adding one’s own desires to that which God desires, that His will be done.

The prayers of these saints are symbolized as incense. They bear the sweet savor of Christ. Under the Ceremonial Law, the “incense” was a type of “the fragrance of God’s birthed Son, Jesus, the Redeemer-Deliverer. Though He came in the likeness of sinful flesh, in Him was no sin. He did no sin. He knew no sin. He was holy and harmless and undefiled, to be sacrificed a sweet savor unto God (1 Jn.3:5; 1 Pet.2:22; 2 Cor.5:21; Heb.7:26).

Specific instructions were given to the priests as to how to make this holy fragrance. They were forbidden to make it for themselves. It was to be to them holy for the Lord (Ex.30:34-37). Exodus 30:38 reads, “Whosoever shall make like unto that, to smell thereto, shall even be cut off from his people.”

Thus was pictured to Israel that there was only one way to carry the fragrance of Christ Jesus. No one could make the fragrance of the God-Man. One must believe into Him and be united to Him through His redemption to carry the sweet savor of Christ.

The first prayer of a sinner, who would become a saint and a true son of God, is one of supplication, that he might be acceptable in God’s sight. Having purified his soul through obedience to the truth of the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ, one is born of the incorruptible Seed, the Word of God. Having been raised up together with Him, flesh of His flesh and bone of His bone, one carries the fragrance of the one perfectly obedient birthed Son of God, and now may be in the Presence of God. The prayers of the saints in heaven are prayers of praise and thanksgiving to the One who shared His Life with them.

In Revelation 5, the saints have been caught up to heaven shortly before the trial on earth begins. When the trial ends, God’s will will be done on earth as it is in heaven. The ministry of the intercession of the royal priesthood begins during the trial. First, together with their Lord, they will be making intercession for the Tribulation saints.

And they sing a new song. United, with one voice, they sing praise to the Lamb. “Sing” is in the present tense, denoting continuous, unceasing worship in heaven. All to the praise of His glory. Upon earth, as Paul had exhorted them, they spoke to themselves in “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in [their] heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Eph.5:19-20).

Gathered together from all over the world, now for the first time, they are united to sing together. They sing a song of praise to the Lamb for His glorious work of redemption. Only the members of the Body of Christ, the true Church, will have this song as a personal testimony of their experience.

There is nothing of self-praise or of self-worth in this song. The only reference to self is in relation to the work of Christ Jesus. All praise is for the worthiness of the Redeemer who was slain, that they might live forever. He has redeemed them through His blood. “Redeemed” here has the meaning of “purchase.” Each one has been bought with a price (1 Cor.6:19-20; 7:23). Through His blood, Jesus Christ has ransomed them out of ever kindred and people and nation upon earth, that He might have His own household of sons of God.

Then John beheld, and heard “the voice of many angels round about the throne and the living beings and the elders, and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands” (Rev.5:11). The praise went out in ever widening circles.

The number of the angels: Hundreds of millions, and millions of millions. A number inconceivable to the mind of man. These are the angels Jesus could have called on in His betrayal and arrest (Mt.26:53). These are the angels who had never experienced redemption, but who had watched the redemption of man being carried out upon earth (1 Pet.1:12). There is great rejoicing in heaven over one lost sinner on the earth who repents and returns to the Father God. There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repents (Lk.15:7, 10).

The living beings round about and in the midst of the throne lead the worship. The twenty-four elders prostrate themselves and sing a song of redemption, their personal testimony. Then the angels join in with a seven-fold doxology. The angels do not sing, they shout: ‘Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and  riches, and the wisdom, and the strength, and the honor, and the glory, and the blessing” (Rev.5:12).

Every particular of the doxology of praise has the definite article, “the.”” Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive the power. But also worthy is the Lamb to receive the riches. And the “riches” are not limited to spiritual riches, but rather denoting all the fullness of God. And worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive the wisdom, and the strength, and the honor, and the glory, and the blessing.

And finally, in heaven, with the four living beings and the priesthood of Christ and the angels of God, all creation enters into praise for the Lamb. “And every creature that is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them,” John heard saying, “‘Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto Him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.’ And the four living beings said, ‘Amen.’ And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him that lives forever and ever” (Rev.5:13-14).

This ends our lesson on Revelation 5. In chapter 6 we will see the first six seals on the scroll opened, one after another in succession, giving an overview of the Day of Lord, the trial to come upon all the world. With the opening of the seals, we are introduced to an unnamed personage appearing on different colored horses. For the identity of this unnamed rider, we need to take a look at Daniel chapter 7.