(Part 4)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 10/22/2017
As I’m sure you’re all aware by now, we are four weeks into this exciting adventure through the magnificent and often mysterious book of Revelation. While many see Revelation as an intimidating enigma to be ignored entirely, I see it as a thrilling drama pulsing with mystery and intrigue. And when we understand the setting, style and symbolism of Revelation, we can unlock its mysteries and enjoy its blessings as God intended.
Last week, in Revelation 4, John stepped through a doorway into the throne room of heaven. Inside, John experiences a vision of intense glory and awe and wonder and majesty. He sees the Sovereign God of creation wrapped in dazzling light seated on His throne. He sees the Holy Spirit symbolized by flaming torches. He sees the saints of both the new and old covenant, represented by twenty-four elders laying their crowns before the throne. And finally, he witnesses the four living creatures singing night and day: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty.” Every detail of this scene—the Sovereign, the Spirit, the Saints, and the Singers—emphasizes and enhances one central theme: the majesty and magnificence of God.
But as we sort through the splendor and spectacle of this scene, we notice that something—or rather, Someone—is missing. Surely, John and his readers expected to see Jesus sitting in a place of honor in heaven’s throne room. If you were wondering the same thing, don’t worry. In Revelation 5, John’s vision continues and Jesus… well, Jesus knows how to make an entrance.
If you have a Bible or an app on your phone open up to Revelation 5. This next chapter picks up immediately where chapter 4 left off, continuing John’s vision in the throne room of heaven and shinning a spotlight once again on the superstar of Revelation—Jesus Christ. Before Jesus takes center stage, however, John’s attention is captured by the intriguing and enigmatic sealed scroll.
• THE SEALED SCROLL
Suddenly tension begins to build within the throne room, as John writes:
Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it. Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. (Revelation 5:1-4 NLT).
This sealed scroll and its contents have been the subject of much confusion and curiosity. The scroll has two peculiarities. Both of which help us to understand the contents.
First, John notices that the scroll is “sealed with seven seals.” For centuries important documents were sealed with melted wax. Before the wax hardened, a ring or metal stamp bearing an insignia was pressed into it. The seal served to identify the sender and protect the contents from tampering. The fact the scroll is sealed with seven seals likely indicates the seriousness and significance of the contents.
It also suggests that this scroll contains God’s judgement against Jerusalem. As we see in the following chapters, the breaking of each seal unleashes another wave of wrath and woe upon the earth (land). This sequence is then repeated by the sounding of seven trumpets and the pouring of seven bowls.
The idea of a seven-fold judgement comes from God’s warning to the Israelites: “If after all this you will not listen to me, I will punish you for your sins seven times over” (Leviticus 26:18 NIV). This theme is repeated multiple times especially in Leviticus (26:21, 24, 28). So the seven seals point toward this seven-fold judgement of God. But the seven seals are just the first oddity.
Furthermore, John notices that the scroll had “writing on the inside and outside.” The method of producing papyrus scrolls makes this very unusual. The inside of the papyrus plant was sliced thin and joined in vertical strips. Then a second layer was laid horizontally over the first layer. The two layers were glued together, pressed flat and, once the paper dried, it was sanded for smoothness. Ordinarily, scribes only wrote on one side of the scroll because it was difficult to write on the side with the vertical grain. The fact that this scroll contained writing on both sides points toward the fullness and finality of the message—nothing is left out.
It also hints toward the contents of the scroll. Remember that the imagery of Revelation draws heavily from the Old Testament. This particular image comes from the prophet Ezekiel. In his own apocalyptic vision, Ezekiel writes, “Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe” (Ezekiel 2:9-10 NIV).
Like John, Ezekiel saw a scroll written on the front and back full of anguish and affliction. Strangely, God then tells him, “eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel” (Ezekiel 3:1 NIV). Again, we’ll see this same imagery later on in Revelation. But Ezekiel consuming this scroll full of lament and mourning and woe, indicated that he would be God’s spokesperson to the people of Israel. Ezekiel preached in 593 B.C., prophesying that the city of Jerusalem and it’s precious Temple would soon fall at the hands of the Babylonian army. But the Israelites were too stubborn and sinful to take Ezekiel seriously. And so, in 586 B.C. Jerusalem fell and the first Temple was destroyed.
Revelation borrows this imagery from Ezekiel because the very same thing is about to happen again. In just a few short years—years marked by war, famine and death—the mighty Roman army would surround Jerusalem, demolish the city, massacre its citizens, and decimate its Temple.
However, none this will happen unless someone can break the seals and open the scroll and no one who is worthy to make such an earth-shattering judgment can be found anywhere in heaven or on earth. John is so heartbroken that he begins to weep and wail bitterly. John wept because he knew that if the scroll remained sealed, evil would continue unabated and there would be no future for God’s people. But that’s when he sees the slain Savior!
• THE SLAIN SAVIOR
Just when it seemed all hope was lost, one of the twenty-four elders says to John, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals” (Revelation 5:4 NLT).
John looks up, expecting to see a lion, but instead says: “Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.” (Revelation 5:6-7). I told you Jesus knows how to make an entrance, didn’t I?
Jesus is called a Lion but appears as a Lamb. The truth is—He’s both.
A lion is a powerful and imposing animal.
A first grader stood up in front of his class to give his speech, “What I Want To Be When I Grow Up.” He said, “I’m going to be a lion tamer and have lots of fierce lions. I’ll walk into the cage and they will roar.” He paused for a moment, thinking through what he just said, then added, “But of course I’ll have my Mommy with me.”
This imagery of a ferocious lion actually comes from deep within the Old Testament when Israel had abandoned God and went running after the gods of Assyria. God told the prophet Hosea, “I will be like a lion to Israel, like a strong young lion to Judah. I will tear them to pieces! I will carry them off, and no one will be left to rescue them” (Hosea 5:14 NLT).
Accordingly, the imagery of a lion is a symbol of judgement and wrath. What a surprise it must have been for John to look for this fierce lion who would rip the seals with his powerful claws, only to see a slain lamb instead.
In the Old Testament, lambs were sacrificed to atone for sin. Each year, on the Day of Atonement, or Yum Kippur, the high-priest would select a spotless innocent lamb and take it into the Holiest Place of the Temple, slaughtering it and shedding its blood to purify the people of Israel from their sins, making them right with God. But these sacrifices were offered over and over, year after year, because they were insufficient to bring about true atonement.
Those sacrificial lambs foreshadowed the coming of Jesus. John the Baptist was the first to make the connection. Pointing toward Jesus, he announced, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29). That’s just He did. Jesus died on the cross as a sacrificial lamb to atone for our faults, failures, and foibles. But, praise God, He didn’t stay dead!
That’s why the Lamb John sees looked as if it had been slain, but now is alive. Not only that, but this no ordinary Lamb. The Lamb has seven horns. Horns are a symbol of power, so the seven horns represent the Lamb’s omnipotence. He also has seven eyes. In other words, the Lamb is all-seeing, or omniscient. The seven eyes, like the seven torches, also represent the Holy Spirit, which John says is “sent out into all the earth,” signifying the Lamb’s omnipresence.
Moreover, the Lamb alone is worthy to open the sealed scroll. Far from being puny and vulnerable, our slain Savior rose from the grave powerful and victorious. And once Jesus takes center stage, John hears scores of worshippers break out in song. The final piece of this heavenly vision is the singing scores.
• THE SINGING SCORES
Even the splendor and spectacle of all John’s seen could not have prepared him for the magnificence of what he’s about to hear.
And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.”
Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”
And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.” (Revelation 5:8-13 NLT)
Moments ago, John, swallowed up in hopelessness, wept bitterly. Imagine how his spirits lifted as the four living beings and twenty-four elders sang the praises of Jesus Christ. Then, as if out of nowhere, scores and scores of angels joined in the chorus. Their melodious voices filling the endless expanse of heaven. Then, the next thing John knows every creature in heaven and earth—everything everywhere—lifted its voice to praise and honor the Lamb of God.
This whole scene reminds us, once again, that it’s all about Jesus. As Max Lucado puts it, Jesus is “The single most significant person who ever lived. Forget MVP. He is the entire league. The head of the parade? Hardly. No one else shares the street. Who comes close? Humanity’s best and brightest fade like dime-store rubies next to him.”
If we learn nothing else from Revelation, learn this: Jesus was, is, and always will be the center of it all. All creation sings His praises—so let’s join in the chorus. Whether you’re sitting in church or behind the wheel of your car, when you sing His praises, your heart and voice blend with scores of worshippers in heaven and earth. You become part of the most magnificent, massive choir in the universe.
Conclusion:
As we step back and take a wider view of this scene, we gain a grander view of Jesus. In his book, The Jesus You Can’t Ignore, John MacArthur writes, “What you think of Jesus will thoroughly color how you think about everything else… Our view of Jesus affects our view of God, the world, ourselves, and every one of our decisions.”
These days, Jesus is often portrayed as a pacifist, a philanthropist, or a doting professor. He strikes a plastic—and sometimes pathetic—pose in the minds of many. And some people prefer the meek and mild Jesus who heals the sick, calms fears, and speaks of peace and goodwill. But those things only represent a portion of who Jesus is. Yes, Jesus tenderly held little children in his arms and comforted grief-stricken parents, but he also boldly confronted the Pharisees and Sadducees, calling them a “brood of vipers” right to their faces. He was hostile toward hypocrisy. He issued orders to the wind and the waves. On two occasions, he violently turned over temple tables and chased sticky-fingered money-changes with the same type of whip that would later be used to flog Jesus himself. This was no mild-mannered Messiah.
Jesus is both the Lamb of God who sacrifices himself for the sins of the world, and the Lion of Judah who unleashes wrath and woe on wickedness and wrongdoers.
This chapter urges us to expand our own limited view of Jesus and praise Him for all that He is and had done.
Next week, we’ll continue our adventure through Revelation.
Invitation:
In the meantime, I want to invite each of you to join the four living creatures, the twenty-four elders, the myriad of angels, and all of creation in singing the wonderful praises of our blessed redeemer. Let’s stand and sing together church!
