The Book of Revelation: Part 11

Revelation 5:1-7 (BSB)

We are in week 11 of our sermon series on the Book of Revelation, or, as it states at the beginning: This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. In other words, this is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. So far, we’ve learned that this book was written by a man named John, who seems to be the Apostle John, and that he has been writing down an account of what was revealed to him in a series of visions. We’ve already looked at the first, in which Jesus dictated to John seven different letters to seven different churches. And now we’re in chapter 5, where John shares even more of his second vision, which began with a glimpse into the throne room of God.

Today, we are only looking at the first seven verses of this chapter. Let’s read them, and then we’ll go back through them, one verse at a time. Revelation 5:1-7 says:

1 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. 

2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”

3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it. 

4 And I began to weep bitterly, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside it.

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.”

6 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. 

7 And He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated on the throne.

As we are discovering, there is a lot to unpack in each of these verses. But before we do, I want to pause for a moment to think about these visions John describes, because, as we’ll see as we go through this whole book, there are many different ways of interpreting the things John sees. In this section, for example, there is a lot of debate about whether what John sees is real or is symbolic imaginary. In Benson’s Commentary on Revelation 4, he quotes from somebody named “Doddridge” who wrote: “though it is possible that aerial scenes might, by divine or angelic power, have been formed, I think it much more probable that all that passed was purely in the imagination of St. John. This will keep us, in our interpretation, clear of a thousand difficulties, not to say absurdities, which would follow from a contrary supposition, namely, that there is in heaven an animal in the form of a lamb, to represent Christ, and that there are such living creatures as here described; and that God himself appears in a human form.”

I think I understand what Doddridge is saying, and I agree that we shouldn’t necessarily think that Jesus is physically in the form of a lamb in Heaven. But I disagree with the idea that everything John is seeing is all in his imagination.

First, we must remember that this is a vision given to John directly by the Lord, so what John sees and writes down should be understood as a revelation from God. That doesn’t mean that every detail should be interpreted literally, but it means the vision itself is 100% real and what God is revealing is true.

That’s also why I don’t think John is merely using a literary device and didn’t even have a vision, as some modern scholars have suggested. I think John really did see and hear all that he has been describing and will continue to describe—after all, he makes it very clear that he is “in the Spirit” and is hearing and seeing these things happen.

But with that in mind, we should also remember that what he’s seeing and hearing is a vision of what will happen in the future. Jesus said earlier in Revelation 1:19 that John is to write down “the things you have seen, the things that are, and the things that will happen after this” but it doesn’t mean that when these things happen, they will appear exactly as John has seen them in this vision. As we’ll see, there is a lot of imagery that seems to be symbolic rather than literal.

So, for example, this vision doesn’t necessarily mean that Jesus is literally in the physical form of a lamb in the throne room of Heaven. But unlike Doddridge, I also wouldn’t say that, if there were an actual lamb in Heaven, it would simply be “an animal in the form of a lamb, to represent Christ.” If Jesus wants to reveal Himself as a lamb, then it would be Jesus transformed into an actual lamb. That’s not out of the realm of possibility. Jesus can do anything He wants to do.

So, to be clear, I think that all these things we see through John’s description should be accepted as accurate as to what he truly saw, but at the same time, we should remember that it could be symbolic imagery. And while we have no way of knowing which things are literal and which are symbolic, we can make some logical guesses based on Scripture.

For example, in Revelation 1:16, John says that when Jesus first appeared to him, Jesus “held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth.” While I think John saw that vision, I don’t think Jesus physically has a double-edged sword in His mouth. I think that vision is communicating to us that the Word of God, which is what Jesus speaks, is as Hebrews 4:12 states: it is sharper than any double-edged sword. The image of the sword helps us understand that what Jesus speaks is authoritative and powerful.

I think this is the way we should approach these scenes John will describe as we go through Revelation: we take John’s vision as a direct revelation from God, while also paying close attention to the symbolic imagery God is using to communicate its meaning. 

So, let’s go through this vision again and really examine it. Verse 1 says, “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.” 

This is very similar to what Ezekiel 2:9-10 says that Ezekiel saw: “Then I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it. When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.” But Ezekiel was told to eat the scroll he was given, so he did. He ate it because he was given words of a prophecy that he was going to speak.

John is not given the scroll, nor told to eat it. This scroll was “sealed with seven seals.” It’s something different. And we see in verse 2, John adds, “And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’”

Here, there is no description of the angel, so we have no way of knowing what the angel looked like, just like we don’t really know what the “One seated on the throne” looks like beyond what John said earlier: that the One “looked like jasper and carnelian.”

But it seems that this “mighty angel” is not one of the four living creatures, or John would have said so. This angel loudly asks: “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”

Then verse 3 says, “But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look inside it.” 

The text doesn’t say that it was silent at this point. It doesn’t even say that no one stepped forward or volunteered, although I think it’s safe to say those things could be assumed from the text. But this statement, that there was no one—no created being, either alive or dead—who could open the scroll or look inside it, reminds me of the verse in Ezekiel 22:30 that says, “I searched for a man among them to repair the wall and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, so that I should not destroy it. But I found no one.” No one could be found who was worthy to open the scroll.

Which is why John’s response to this is to cry. Verse 4 says, “And I began to weep bitterly, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or look inside it.”

Some scholars think that John wept because he thought he wouldn’t get to see the contents of the scroll, but I think that John wept because he was grieved because he knew how very unworthy he was. It reminds me of Isaiah’s response to the vision he saw of Heaven. When the prophet Isaiah sees the throne room of Heaven and he sees the seraphim saying “Holy, Holy, Holy,” and he sees the Lord seated on the throne, his response to this is to cry out, and I think we can infer that he is near weeping. For in Isaiah 6:5, he says, “Then I said: Woe is me, for I am ruined, because I am a man of unclean lips dwelling among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of Hosts.”

I think that is why John weeps—he knows how very unworthy he is to open the scroll.

But then, verse 5 tells us what happens. It says, “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 twenty-four elders surrounding the throne—dressed in white, with golden crowns on their heads—tells John not to cry, because Someone can open the scroll. The elder doesn’t call Jesus by name, but it’s clear that’s who the elder is referring to. Instead of saying Jesus, the elder calls Jesus by two different names. Let’s look at both names.

The first is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. This is not just a title for Him; it’s Jesus’ lineage. But, surprisingly to me, this is the only Bible verse that specifically calls Jesus by this title. Jesus was physically descended from the tribe of Judah. The name comes from Genesis 49:9, when Jacob blesses his sons and says of Judah, “Judah is a young lion—my son, you return from the prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness, who dares to rouse him?”

Second, Jesus is called the Root of David. In Isaiah 11:1, we see a similar title for Him. It says, “Then a shoot will spring up from the stump of Jesse, and a Branch from his roots will bear fruit.” And again, in Isaiah 11:10, which says, “On that day the Root of Jesse will stand as a banner for the peoples. The nations will seek Him, and His place of rest will be glorious.”

But Jesus is more than just an offspring of David’s family. In Matthew 22:42-46, we see a conversation that Jesus had with some Pharisees. It says:  

“’What do you think about the Christ, whose son is He?’

They said to Him, ‘The son of David.’

He said to them, ‘Then how does David in the Spirit call Him “Lord,” saying, “THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, “SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I PUT YOUR ENEMIES BENEATH YOUR FEET”? If David then calls Him “Lord,” how is He his son?’ No one was able to answer Him a word, nor did anyone dare from that day on to ask Him another question.”

That tells us that Jesus is both a branch of David and the root of David; He’s David’s Son and David’s Lord. And in that same way, He is not just a lion; He is both the Lion and the Lamb. For look at what verse 6 says: “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.”

It’s not a lion who steps forward to open the scroll—it is a lamb. So, this could mean that Jesus is sometimes in the form of a lamb in Heaven, or this could merely be a part of John’s vision and the lamb is symbolic. For sure, John seeing Jesus in the form of a lamb tells us that Jesus is indeed, “the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world,” as John 1:19 tells us. John the Baptist had made that prophetic declaration when he first saw Him.

But the other things we must note is that John doesn’t say he saw a large, adult sheep. According to HELPS Word-studies, the word for lamb is the Greek word arníon, and it is “the diminutive of arḗn, ‘a sheep’–properly, a young lamb, ‘a little lamb.’”

John saw a little lamb, and it had marks from where it was slain. This, of course, should remind us of the marks that Jesus wears on His body from His death on the Cross. When Jesus appeared to the disciples after His resurrection, they were able to see the nail holes that held Him to the Cross.

We also should note where the Lamb is in position. The Lamb is now “standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders.” In the Greek, it says, “in the midst of the throne and the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders.” I’m not sure if that means the Lamb was standing on the throne, or just in the middle of everything, and either beside or in front of the throne. In Ellicott’s Commentary, he says, “The position of the Lamb is described from the seer’s point of view: the Lamb is not on the throne, but in the middle front of it, and so apparently between the living creatures, and in the midst of the circle formed by the twenty-four elders.”

But what is striking to me about this scene is also something else Ellicott points out. He says, “The Evangelist is told of the Lion which will open the seals: he looks, and lo, it is a Lamb!”

As I had mentioned, Jesus is both the Lion and the Lamb. I think understanding this is actually vital to our faith. And while knowing that Jesus is the promised Messiah—knowing that He is the very Son of God, fully God and fully man—is paramount above all things, if we think of Jesus as only a lion or as only a lamb, I think we misunderstand Who Jesus really is.

If we only think of Jesus as the mighty Lion of Judah, we might picture only His great authority and strength. We might only think of His swift and terrible judgment that He promises to bring on those who do not repent and follow Him. We see hints of this Lion in some of the letters to the churches. For example, in Revelation 3:3, in the letter to the church of Sardis, He tells them, “If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.” We can easily imagine a lion, silent and swift, pouncing on someone asleep. But if we only think of Him like that, we might only fear Him or speak of Him as vengeful and unloving.

On the other hand, if we only think of Jesus as the gentle, little Lamb of God, we might picture only His tenderness, mercy, and love. We might only think of His promises to forgive our sins. And while it’s crucial that we remember that Jesus is the Lamb of God, and He is, indeed, as Isaiah 53:7 prophesies about Him: “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth,” if we only think of Him as a lamb, we might only think of Him as meek and mild or speak of Him as being tolerant of sin.

If we think about only one side of His character, we have an incomplete picture of Him. But if we remember that He is both the Lion of Judah and the Lamb, then we get a better picture of His full character. Then we understand both His strength and His humility, His power and His meekness, His authority and His love, His commands and His forgiveness, His unchanging Word and His mercy.

And only if we think of His total character will we have a proper response to Him. Only then will we rightfully humble ourselves in awe of His righteous, mighty power, and also respond with love and thanksgiving for the sacrifice He made by humbling Himself and dying on the cross for our sins.  

Something more to note about this Lamb that John saw is that the Lamb had “seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”

Earlier, we were told that the seven torches of fire represented the seven spirits of God, but now we are told these seven horns and seven eyes also represent the seven spirits of God. And again, we should remember that the number seven represents “completeness.” And these “seven spirits of God” are “sent out into all the earth.”

Alexander MacLaren makes a great point in his commentary on this verse. He says: “The language of the original, for any of you that can consult it, will show you that the word ‘sent’ might be rendered ‘being sent,’ expressive of a continual impartation. Ah! God’s Spirit is not given once in a way and then stops. It is given, not by fits and starts. People talk about ‘revivals,’ as if there were times when the Spirit of God came down more abundantly than at other times upon the world, or upon churches, or upon individuals. It is not so. There are variations in our receptiveness; there are no variations in its steady efflux.”

I think since the time of Pentecost, that statement is true. God is always ready to pour out more of His Spirit on any who will seek more of Him. As Jesus said in Luke 11:13, “So if you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

That tells us that we are to seek more of the Holy Spirit, and to pray for more of the Holy Spirit to be given to us, for God’s Spirit is always being sent out into all the earth. 

Now the next verse might be a little confusing, because the Lamb had already been “in the midst” of the throne, but now, verse 7 says, “And He came and took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated on the throne.” Maybe this throne is quite large, or maybe now the Lamb simply goes over to take the scroll? Some scholars seem to struggle with how to explain that a lamb could take a scroll, and they even explain that maybe there was only a head of a lamb on a human body, or that maybe now the lamb also has hands like the Seraphim and Cherubim have, but I don’t see a problem with a regular lamb taking the scroll. If any lamb was going to pick something up, it would use its mouth, the way any four-legged animal would—they don’t need hands.

How this transpired, or whatever specifics John saw, the important thing not to miss is that the Lamb is Jesus, and it is He who took the scroll from the right hand of the One seated on the throne.

This should remind us of what Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 59:16, which says, “He saw that there was no man; He was amazed that there was no one to intercede. So His own arm brought salvation, and His own righteousness sustained Him.” Just as there was no one else who could bring salvation, there was no one else who was worthy to open the scroll except Jesus.

And what happens next, after the Lamb takes the scroll, deserves its own sermon, so we will pause here until next week. For now, let me share one more thing that MacLaren wrote in a sermon about these verses. He said, “Remember it is the slain Lamb that gives the Spirit. And unless we are looking to that Lamb slain as our hope and confidence, we shall not receive it. A maimed Christianity that has a Christ, but no slain Lamb, has little of His Spirit.”

I would take that a step further and say that a Christianity that does not know Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, doesn’t have any of His Spirit and is not Christianity, for without the belief in Jesus’ death and resurrection, we cannot be a true Christian. We are Christians because of what Jesus—the Lamb of God—did for us on the Cross.

This is what is being unveiled to us in this part of John’s vision: there is only One who is worthy to open the scroll, and He is the Lamb of God. We know His name is Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah, the root of David, David’s Son, yet David’s Lord. He is Jesus Christ, the Messiah, the promised One. And He’s been showing us in this book—and we’ve only just begun to see it—a glimpse of what waits for those who love and follow Him.

Let us continue to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to us through His Word. Today’s message is this: Do you know the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world? Have you made Him your Savior? Do you know that He was slain for your sins? Have you confessed Him as Lord, repented and asked Him to forgive you? If so, let us worship Him in spirit and truth. If not, then simply confess your sins and ask Him to forgive you, so you may turn and follow Him.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, as we think about Your throne above, we are in awe of Your majesty and glory. As we think of Jesus, humbling Himself to become the Lamb that was slain, we bow our hearts in love and thanksgiving. Thank You for making a way for us to join with all those who worship You before Your throne. Help us worship You here on earth, as we wait. Please give us ears to hear and eyes to see so we may follow You all our days. In Jesus, the Lamb’s name, we pray. Amen.