WEEK 13
“The Lamb Takes the Scroll”
Date: September 4, 2002
Place: Allendale Baptist Church
Text: Revelation 5: 1-7
Introduction
Chapters 4-5 again give us the scene of the throne room of heaven. John the Revelator has given us a description of the object in heaven, the throne of glory and government. The One that sits upon the throne is God the Father and He receives the praise and adoration of the twenty-four elders and of the angels. Remember chapter 4 is the scene of the never-ending worship that goes on in heaven.
Verse 1
“And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.”
“And”– the chapter opens with and, a connective or a conjunctive, which links two things together. We are continuing with the same thoughts and same scene.
“In the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back”
John sees God holding in His right hand a scroll with writing on both sides; this tells us there is a lot of information and contains many details.
This scroll is God’s Judgment Scroll; His plans to judge wickedness and reward righteousness. If God is the One who holds and made the plans then the Son, the Lord Jesus is the only One worthy to enact the plan. It is the final acts of God upon a sinful world
But it is also a Book of Redemption- Christ will redeem the world to its original purpose and intent. TO GLORIFY GOD IN ALL IT’S PURPOSES.
Dr Harry Ironside calls it the “title deed to the world”.
Who in today’s time rules the world? The devil… he took possession at the fall of Adam.
“Sealed with seven seals”
It was customary to seal an ancient letter or scroll to be sealed, this guarded the privacy of the contents until some authorized person broke the seal and opened the scroll.
The scroll that John is seeing was sealed seven times, meaning it had been completely and totally shut by God Himself.
Verse 2
“The I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice”
The identity of the angel is uncertain, but could be the archangel Gabriel whose name means “strength of God”
“Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?”
Who has the right to the title deed of the world?
Who can make this world the way it was intended. Surly Not Man. Not Politics. There are good people with I believe good intentions to take back the world.
No one other than Jesus Christ.
Verse 4
“So I wept”
The actual words here are “I kept on weeping”.
John shows his disappointment that sin and evil will continue because no one is worthy.
So many times our tears are unnecessary (as we are about to see with John’s tears). We cry because we see despair and hopelessness.
Verse 5
“But one of the elders”
Remember this is a representative of the church.
“Do not weep”
This literally means “stop weeping”
“Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah.”
This of course identifies Jesus with the tribe of Judah from the nation of Israel.
This title also signifies His fierceness and His strength.
“The Root of David.”
This is a messianic title, referring to the promise of God that the Messiah would come from the line of David.
II Samuel 7 tells us; “I am going to bring One in your line who shall rule, not only over these people, (Speaking of the nation of Israel) but over the whole earth.” (My translation)
Verse 6
“A Lamb”
Literally “A little lamb”
This denotes its gentleness and its willingness to be sacrificed.
Jesus is seen as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world as John the Baptist proclaimed in John 1:29
“Stood”
This speaks of Christ resurrection.
But also He is no longer seated at the right hand of God the Father, He is moving to His rightful place of power.
“As though it had been slain”
The scars of the slaughter are still visible, but the Lamb is standing, and the Lamb is alive.
“Having seven horns”
Horns represent or symbolize power.
Riding Bulls in High School, the toughest most powerful bulls were those with the biggest horns.
Seven horns signify complete or perfect power.
Now I have never seen a little defenseless lamb with horns.
This Lamb has complete sovereign power.
“Seven eyes”
* This represents complete knowledge.
* Jesus is all knowing
Jesus is seen in this passage as the Lion and the Lamb.
The Lamb refers to His 1st coming; The Lion to His 2nd coming.
The Lion is symbolic of His majesty; The Lamb is symbolic of His meekness.
As a Lion He is Sovereign; As a Lamb He is Savior.
As a Lion He is Judge; As a Lamb He was judged.
The Lion represents the government of God; The Lamb represents the grace of God.
Verse 7
Again Jesus has moved from His place of intercessor of the church, because the church is in heaven with Him
He moves to the throne to judge the world in righteousness before He reigns in righteousness.
