Revelation 5:1-14--The Scroll and the Lamb

Revelation 5
English Standard Version

The Scroll and the Lamb
5 Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”

6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,

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

11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”

13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”

14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.

---

So far, we have not clearly identified whehter it is the Father or the Son who was sitting on the throne in chapter 4, but now we see that it is the Father who sits there and is holding a scroll that is written on both sides and is sealed with seven seals (this would be a very important t document and given its position in the right hand of  one who sits on the throne, John would like to know what it is and what is contained in it).  Remember that the right hand is symbolic of the power and authority of the king--it is the hand in which he would usually hold his scepter and it is on that side that his most trusted advisor would sit or stand (our phrase right-hand man comes from this).  We can only guess at this point that this is something like the title deed to all of creation (since it has been mentioned several times now that the one who sits on the throne is the Creator of all things and that was the source of the doxology right before this vision, so they are probably connected thoughts).  Scrolls were sealed so that only its intended recipient would open it and read its contents.  In this case, the question is asked in heaven and on earth and under the earth, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?" John saw that no man or angel or demon or any other created thing in heaven or on earth or under the earth was found worthy, and he began to weep.

One of the 24 elders stopped what he was doing (offering praise to the One on the throne day and night) to comfort John and to tell him to take heart because the Lion of the Tribe of Judah and the Root of David has conquered and is therefore worthy to open the scroll and look inside it.  The scene shifts and where we were promised a Lion, we see instead a Lamb who was slain from before the foundations of the world.  The Lamb had seven horns (fullness of strength, power, and authority--remember Matthew 28, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me...").  He also has seven eyes showing us that He sees and knows all (7 is not only the number of God and holiness, but also completeness and perfection).  He also has the sevenfold Spirit of God that was sent out into the earth.  He sent the Holy Spirit to us and now the Spirit has returned to Him which I assume means that what we are seeing in this passage is after the Rapture of the Church--while generally outlined by "things that are, things that are not yet (but coming soon), and things that are yet to come (in the very last days and after time has ceased), the book of Revelation is not totally linear.  Sometimes John needs to see things out of order so that he will be encouraged that the present and future trieals and tribulations are not the focus of the story.  We are about to see the corronation of Christ and this is the moment we have been waiting for--at least since the Ascenscion, maybe since the Davidic Covenant, or maybe even farther back than that if we understood that Jesus was to be the better Moses (see Deuteronomy 18), the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant in Genesis 12:3, the better Noah and the better Ark (Genesis 6-9) and the one to reverse the Curse of Sin and Death as our Second and Better Adam (Genesis 3 and Roamsns 5).  Though we have all these breadcrumbs to follow through Scripture, it would seem that John was largely unaware of the identity of this Lion and Lamb conqueror, even though John was Jesus' best friend here on earth.

When the Lamb took His seat on the throne, the four living creatures and the 24 elders immediately started singing the same doxology to Him that they had been singing to the Father, giving Him glory that was only due to God.  That should answer any objections to anyone who says, "The Bible never says that Jesus is God."  It says it quite clearly, and this is one of those places.  The doxology builds though as now we are not only praising the Father for the creation, but we are praising the Son for both the creation for the substitutionary atonement that He provided to redeem and ransom His people--the people of God--from every tribe, tongue and nation.  He has made them into the kingdom of priests that we have been waiting for since Exodus 19 (maybe since Genesis ​14 if we understand the identity, or at least symbolism, or Melchizedek--the King of Salem who has no ancestory and is greater than all the other kings and who is a priest (seemingly high priest at that time) to the God of Heaven (the LORD) and who is worshiped with tithes and offerings and the partkaing of bread and wine.  Both the books of Psalms and Hebrews point back to this figure in history as being Messianic (either as a foreshadowing or prophetic type of what was to come, the prophetic antitype, or that He was a preincarnate appearance of Christ.  Even Melchizedek's name means "King of Righteousnesss").  Again, God left breadcumbs all throughout the Bible for us to follow that we should not be surprised that this has been planned since before the beginning.  The day has always been coming and will be coming sono when the Son will acend to the throne and that day will be a day of salvation for Him people and a day of wrath and judgment for His enemies.

​Again, the doxology builds,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”

Now to the Lamb who was slain, we ascribe:
1) Power
2) Wealth
3) Wisdom
4) Might
5) Honor
6) Glory and 
7) Blessing

both now and forevermore.  This is the sevenfold doxology that I have been talking about, and the fullness of the doxology is not revealed until the Lamb who was slain is revealed and takes the thone.  All the living creatures will agree with "Amen" (though they cannot sing of the salvation they received because the salvation He brought was only for mankind, they will give their agreement that this reason to give Him all the glroy and honor and praise).  The 24 elders will continue to bow down in worship, and we'll see later that the angels of heaven marvel at this because they do not undestand the mystery of the salvation of God's Elect.  They have seen it, but they don't really understand it.  It is a wonderous mystery to them.