Revelation 5:1-5
In the last chapter we saw John being summoned to heaven by God and I am sure John's anxiety must be going a mile a minute, I know mine would. The awe of being in the presence of God must be mind blowing and there would be no words to describe the feeling. So now it continues.
1 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.
God presenting Himself to John in human form being that it says that the scroll was in God's right hand, I am sure this was to reduce any unnecessary stress more than what John was already experiencing. Not that the stress was in anyway negative but he is in the presence of God.
The fact that God has the scroll in His hand gives us good reason to conclude God must have surely wrote what is inside it and then sealed it himself with the seven seals.
In ancient times a persons seal was a way of first letting the person whom it was going to know where it came from and second that it was authentic. The seal also doesn't allow anyone else to open it and read it because if someone opened it the seal would be broken and the person carrying it would most likely face great harm for doing that.
This scroll having seven seals not only insures no one can read it who isn't supposed to but these seals were unbreakable to everyone but the one it is intended for.
We are also told that the scroll was written on both front and back which indicates what is written on it is at minimal somewhat lengthy.
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,
Who is this mighty angel that we read about? No one knows but it seems to be a high ranking angel being the angel is described as mighty. To us humans though I would assume any angel is mighty compared to us.
While in the presence of God would we even pay much attention to the angel at all, most likely not much, really just what attention was needed and all focus would be on God himself.
The angels loud voice proclaiming “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break the seals” is ended with a question mark indicating the angel didn't even know who could open it, that information was only known by few it seems.
The question the angel shouted out about who could open the scroll, was a call out to anyone that could open it it seems and that call out traveled throughout heaven, on earth and under the earth. Being verse three says no one in these three places was able to open it gives the impression some tried, or at minimal replied that it wasn't them that could. This is what then leads to what we see in the next verse and how John responds to it.
4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
For John to have been so upset tells us some things, first being he understood that whatever was in this scroll was extremely important. Second, that there must to have been a sufficient amount of time that lapsed in which there was an attempt to find someone that could open it but that failed. Lastly, that John understanding its importance and not finding anyone that could open it caused in him such disappointment that he began to cry.
But there is hope yet!
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.”
This last verse has in it several important things we need to go through and we will take them one at a time but it starts off that one of the elders had the answer of who could open the scroll. We are not told if all of the elders knew this or just this one but for sure at least this one elder held the answer to this.
I'm not sure why this information wasn't given out sooner or why a process of attempting to find the person who could open it was allowed to follow its course but there must have been some importance to it.
The elder then tells John not to weep any more and then states it is the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David.
Why is Jesus identified as the lion of the tribe of Judah? The lion is often known as the king of the animal world, it is majestic, powerful, respected, declared king, a conqueror and triumphant over its kingdom so then seems to fit at least for our understanding.
I often preach that if we are to be more like Jesus we should be preparing ourselves to be like the lion of Judah. Yes, Jesus came as a lamb willing to be sacrificed but as we move closer to the end times we should become more like the lion as Jesus is surely now. That throws people off most times because most think we should be stuck in the lamb phase forever but I don't see it that way biblically. If we are to prepare for the end times we should be preparing to be like a lion as Christ is.
Jesus is in the lineage of King David which is why it says “the Root of David” as stated.
This was foretold in Isaiah 11:1 “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.” Jesse is the father of King David.
The conqueror, is a reference of Jesus' conquering of sin and death by the payment of sin on the cross for all who would believe in Him as Lord and Savior. Did Jesus conquer more? For sure but this is I feel the primary thing He conquered as told in scripture.
This section of verses ends with saying that Jesus being all these things we just went through then gives only Him the right to open the seven seals and the scroll. Jesus is the only one that fits the description laid out perfectly from Old Testament through New so it can only be him and no other.
To God be the glory!
