Revelation 5:1-14

As we follow Christ, we are challenged in our faith by the godless influences and systems that surround us. This was the struggle for many believers in the secular, godless Roman Empire in Asia Minor and it was true for the Apostle John who was incarcerated on Patmos Island for his service to Christ.

To encourage John to persevere to the end, Christ appeared to him in an exalted, glorified way on Patmos (Rev 1:9-20). He reappeared to John in Rev 4-5, but this time he invited John to see his glory not just on earth but in heaven. In Rev 4, John viewed God’s heavenly throne room and his vision focused on the glory of God the Father on the throne.

Rev 5, though, adds more perspective to the scene of God’s heavenly throne room portrayed in Rev 4. Like an artist sketches a drawing with her pencil, John adds more details to his picture of God’s throne room in Rev 5.

While Rev 5 carries over common elements from Rev 4, such as God on the throne, four angelic creatures, an angelic council of twenty-four members, and songs of praise, it also brings some new themes into focus. These new themes include a special scroll and God the Son, as well as a new “strong” angel, a vast crowd of additional angels, some attention for Earth as well as heaven, and a shift of focus from God’s creation to his redemption.

Let’s take a closer look at what John saw.

The Problem: A Scroll No One Could Open (Rev 5:1-4)

John saw that the right hand of God the Father – who was on the throne of the universe, emanating with a glowing emerald splendor – held a scroll. This scroll was authoritative, comprehensive, and sealed.

Authoritative

Being in God’s right hand indicates a decree or plan that had come from the Father and carried his authority. Yet this detail also indicates that for this plan to occur required someone else to carry it out.

Comprehensive

This decree was comprehensive in what it said because it had been written on both sides of the writing surface. To open this scroll would set into motion whatever it said, yet opening the scroll was prevented by seven wax seals which must be broken first.

Sealed

After scrutinizing the scroll, John was introduced to a new character in the throne room, which he describes as a “strong” (or imposing, mighty) angel. This angel differs from the four unusual angels hovering by the throne and from the council of twenty-four angels  encircling the throne. Apart from being impressive and imposing, John describes it no further other than to say that it announced a question with a great, loud voice.

This angel asked, “Who is worthy (or deserving) to open the scroll and break its seals?” To John’s dismay, no one answered, so he wept excessively. If no one qualified to open this scroll, then how would God’s ultimate plans be fulfilled? Would we follow God and suffer for him so far only to be disappointed, thwarted, and come up short in the end?

The Resolution: A Slaughtered Lamb (Rev 5:5-7)

After John had wept profusely, one of the persons from God’s circle of heavenly counselors ordered him to stop weeping. There was one who qualified to open the scroll and break its seals after all because he had “prevailed.” Because of what he had done, he deserved to open the scroll. Yet who was this person if no angel or human had been able to step forward?

A Lion and a Root

The representative from the angelic council introduced this person with a double description, a twofold title. He was “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” and “the Root of David.”

• Ancient cultures viewed the lion as the “‘king of beasts’, an emblem of strength, majesty, courage, and intellectual excellence.”[1] This particular description also refers to an ancient, Old Testament (OT) prophecy that portrayed the offspring of Judah, one of the patriarch Jacob’s sons and a tribe of Israel, as a lion.
• “Root of David” also refers to an OT prophecy describing the Messiah as a root and sprout that would grow from the stump of King David’s royal line (Isa 11:1, 10).

These descriptions reveal that the one who was worthy to open this scroll and to carry out the completion of God’s plan for all things was not a new player on the world or heavenly stage. He had been firmly rooted in God’s plan for the ages throughout human history and his role as the agent and overseer of completing God’s sovereign plan had been fixed firmly and foretold in God’s past covenants with his people.

One Who Had Overcome

The heavenly councilmember also declared that this person deserved to open the scroll not merely because of his special identity but because of his unparalleled accomplishment – he “had prevailed.” The word prevailed here is the same as the word overcoming in the previous letters to seven churches), connecting our overcoming to his.

A Slaughtered Lamb Standing

At this point, John looked more closely at this heavenly scene and he saw another character whom he described as a Lamb who had been slaughtered violently. (“Slain” here means something more than just ‘killed’ but expresses a violent, bloody death.”)

This description of Christ as a lamb is a major theme and significant detail in Revelation as it appears 29 times throughout the book, including 4 times in this chapter. In an ironic twist, his description as a lion appears only once, which at first would seem to be the more appropriate description for such a majestic and powerful figure pouring our out judgment on the world and bringing God’s universal kingdom plans to completion.

Though this Lamb appeared to have been slain, it was no longer dead. It had died and its death had brought about lasting implications, but this Lamb was standing. The word lamb also specifies a young lamb, not an adult one, which indicates a long and bright future ahead for God’s all-encompassing plan. Finally, this lamb was standing at the center of God’s heavenly throne room, placing him at the epicenter of worship and praise.

The seven horns indicate dominance, power, and royalty and the seven eyes refer to the Holy Spirit as we already learned in previous lessons (Rev 1:4; 3:4; 4:5; Zech 3:9; 4:10).

Though this Lamb had died, he had prevailed over death presumably through his resurrection, since now he is standing alive at the center of God’s throne room. With this incredible accomplishment complete, he had overcome opposition to God’s eternal plans to the greatest degree and was therefore able to step forward and open the scroll.

The Reason: His Redemption of People to God (Rev 5:8-10)

When Christ, the Lamb, stepped forward to receive the scroll from the Father’s hand, something happened.

Worshiping the Lamb

The four unusual angelic creatures nearest the throne and the twenty-four council members surrounding the throne immediately fell down to worship the Lamb.

The council members worshipped him with stringed, instrumental music. They also presented golden bowls full of aromatic incense which represented something invisible – the prayers of God’s people (“the saints”). That Christ wanted John to see this as part of the vision indicates that the prayers of God’s people make a significant difference.

When we pray, “Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt 6:10), we don’t often feel as though this happens and we don’t often see much progress. Yet rest assured, the cries of God’s people for deliverance and peace are delivered securely to God’s heavenly throne room and will be answered in the end. Revelation is a majestic, awe-inspiring peek ahead at how these prayers will be answered.

We should also observe the significance of the fact that these angels worshipped the Lamb at all. Later in Revelation, for instance, John fell down to worship an angel only to be strongly rebuffed and warned to only worship God  (Rev 19:10; 22:8-9). We also know that it is inappropriate to worship another human being. So, for these heavenly council members to worship the Lamb reveals that he, though not the Father, is God.

A New Song

These angelic creatures sang “a new song,” which most likely refers to a new kind of song suited for the culmination of God’s plan. It’s a song for a new era and a new phase in the establishment of God’s kingdom. This song emphasizes three important themes.

• First, the song emphasizes the sacrificial, redemptive work of Christ by drawing attention to his violent, bloody death. This major factor echoes what John recorded John the Baptist as announcing about Christ to begin his public ministry: “John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!’” (John 1:29). See the progression? Rev 4 emphasizes the majesty of God the Father because he created the world, then Rev 5 emphasizes the worthiness of God the Son because he redeemed the world. He bought back and brought back what God had created.
• Second, the angelic worship emphasized the universal scope of Christ’s redemptive achievements. Though his identity and mission was rooted in God’s covenants with Israel, it encompassed every tribe, tongue, people, and nation in the history of the world. This fact echoes what Christ said to Nicodemus, that God loved the world so much that he sent his only begotten Son that whoever believers in him would not perish (John 3:16).
• Third, the angelic worship emphasized the inclusion of God’s people in carrying out his ultimate plan for the world. Not only did he redeem us back to a close relationship with God, but he also restored our original mandate to govern and rule over his creation. Kings emphasizes our role as delegated political figures and priests emphasizes our role as delegated spiritual figures in God’s ultimate kingdom. “We shall reign on the earth” is the first clear allusion in Revelation to the coming millennial (1,000-yr.) reign of Christ and our delegated, intermediary roles in it (see Rev 20:4).

The Response: Unrestrained, Universal, Endless Praise (Rev 5:11-14)

After taking in this worship around the throne, an even more enthralling scene occurred.

Widening Angelic Praise

A countless multitude (like millions and billions) of angels burst onto the scene with the effect of expanding the spotlight to a vast amphitheater around the throne filled with uncountable choirs joining the four creatures and twenty-four councilmembers in unison.

The song this massive choir sang once again emphasized how Christ was worthy to open the scroll because of his violent but victorious death that redeemed us. Then the choir lists a series of seven things that he deserves to receive: power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing. Without analyzing each of these qualities on their own, it is sufficient to say that this outburst of praise makes clear that Christ deserves to have all good resources at his disposal in carrying out God’s perfect plan for the ages.

Universal, Terrestrial Praise

Now, as if this praise by what seems to be the entire realm of heavenly angels were not enough (and it is not), John observed an even wider circle of praise that included every terrestrial creature from the skies, land, underground, or seas (this would appear to include all terrestrial life, so animals not just humans). This demonstrates the completeness of the Lamb’s conquest and his redemption of not only human beings but the restoration of all creation to the Father’s original and eternal plan.

It’s important to note that these creatures acknowledge the deity of the Father and the Son. At some point or another, this majestic scene of praise concluded when the four angelic creatures exclaimed, “Amen!” meaning “so be it” or “let it be done!” At this point, the twenty-four council members fell down to worship the Lamb once more.

Following this cycle of praise, the Lamb will begin to open the scroll and dramatic things will occur on Earth, but we will save that for a later lesson. What matters here is that we acknowledge beforehand that whatever occurs when he opens the scroll, he alone – as the Lamb who had been slaughtered violently and had risen from the dead – has earned the right to do so, no matter how awful or terrible the things that happen may seem to be.

Key Takeaways

As we see and savor the scene of Christ at the center of God’s heavenly throne room, we should marvel at God’s majesty and bow before his sovereignty. We should also do these things with Christ in mind.

We should rest assured that God hears our prayers.

The golden bowls of incense in this heavenly scene don’t actually contain our prayers but they portray our prayers. Through this detail in the vision Christ wanted John to know that our prayers, though unseen, are a crucial factor in carrying out God’s plan for the ages. We pray for that day when all wrongs are made right and God’s kingdom becomes sight and when it comes, our prayers will be intimately and intricately involved. Don’t grow weary when your prayers for God’s intervention seem unanswered or delayed. They will be answered in the end when Christ steps forward to complete God’s plan.

We should revel in Christ’s redemption.

The truth of redemption should never grow old or be relegated in our minds to some dusty, dry doctrine books on the closet shelves. The violent, sacrificial death of Christ on the cross for our sins and his victorious resurrection that follows fuel the most majestic, resounding praise in the heavenly realm and in the future of this world. More than any sports championship, political election, or military victory celebration, Christ’s redemption of people like us from the kingdom of Satan back into the kingdom of God should amaze and astound us to no end and should influence the thoughts, decisions, and priorities of our lives. And yes, this truth should stimulate loud, heartfelt worship when you gather together on Sundays with your church.

We should place all we have at his disposal.

As the countless creatures of heaven and earth will someday exclaim, Christ deserves to have every good resource at his disposal. Since he has bought us back from the slave market of sin and given us a crucial place in God’s kingdom, we should hand over our entire lives to him and the advancement of his kingdom. Have you done this? Have you offered him your strength, your wealth, and your wisdom and skills? Or have you only given him part of what you have and who you are instead? He is worthy to receive everything we have and are, so we should give him our all, leveraging the totality of our lives for the advance and expansion of his kingdom.

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[1] Paige Patterson, Revelation, ed. E. Ray Clendenen, vol. 39, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman and Homan, 2012), 165.