Image: "Reality and Reflection", 2021, Mount Haynes (I think), Yellowstone Nat. Pk., Wy.
Revelation 5:1–7 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. 2 Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?” 3 And no one, in heaven or on the earth or under the earth, was able to open the scroll or to look at it.
4 So I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. 5 But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
6 And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
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I imagine we all have experienced those "pivotal" moments when we know, even as it happens, that things will never be the same again. My generation remembers the assassination of John Kennedy. That day is so branded in our minds we can tell you exactly where we were when we heard the news. The generation before mine remembered Pearl Harbor. The following generation remembers 9/11. The point is clear: some events change the world and, therefore, change the course of history.
The first 7 verses of Revelation 5 describe the ultimate world-changing, history-changing event of all time. Revelation 4 showed us the constant underlying reality of all things. God, the creator, sits on His throne, surrounded by the glorious praise of His creation, dignified in His majesty and unperturbed by the course of history that lies, like a sea of glass, at His feet. As many Scriptures proclaim, God's Word has gone out and not returned to Him void. Our lives, indeed the progressing life of the entire universe, are not spinning out of control. There is our God in heaven and His great purpose is to be glorified in all things.
But... there was the history of the world that occurred before the events of chapter 5:1-7 and there is the history of the world that began with those events. This is BC and AD, truly the appropriate division of history because that is when the cataclysmic event of the "Lamb Who was slain" (vs. 6) transpired.
These verses are so deep and packed with so much meaning that we hesitate and stumble before them. Like Isaiah in the Temple (Isa. 6) we fall flat on our faces in worship. What do we see?
We see a scroll, packed so tightly with writing that no word can be added to it, front or back, and no word can be taken from it without destroying its integrity. This "scroll" is, in fact, the eternal counsel of God and specifically the names of all those for whom God created the earth. Here is the "book of life" that details not only who are those elected unto salvation but also all the entire redemptive history of mankind which will bring about that great salvation. In other words, this scroll is the eternal mystery, hidden from mankind's fallen eyes ever since the Garden of Eden. It is that into which angels long to look and which sinful man feared to know. Truly, there was weeping in heaven when it appeared because no one was worthy to break those seals so that all creation would, at last know, the secret purposes of God.
Then, there in the midst of the throne, from the very seat of God's government, came One who was unlike any other Person John or anyone else could imagine. He was "like a lamb" in that He was gentle and mild and pure. He was like a "lamb that had been slain", a lamb who had been sacrificed on behalf of the sins of God's people and of His Creation itself. John was told that, incongruously, this One was the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David", the long-awaited Messiah of the Jewish nation, Who was to institute God's Kingdom on earth and rule in it to the glory of His Father. Thus, this Lamb was a Man, and not just any Man, but God's ultimate Man and His Ultimate King.
But this Lamb was stranger still. For though He was a Man, yet He, as a Lamb, had seven horns and seven eyes which we are told, are the seven Spirits of God sent out to fill the earth. This refers back to the vision of Jesus in chapter 1 vs. 4 where God has seven spirits before His throne. Here we see that this Lamb is in fact Divine. He is also the embodiment of God's Spiritual Being. God, who is Spirit, has become man and the fullness of God's Spirit is in Him.
This Lamb comes forth from the throne. Here we have a specific time and event, which I call the Christ-event. It's not just Jesus' birth but His entire life, death, and resurrection. He comes forth as a completed and proven Messiah, Who has ascended to heaven in time and, as is His right, now undertakes to open the seals of the scroll, and thereby revealing and accomplishing the final stage of history itself. He and He alone was and is worthy to do this.
This is the "New Thing in History." This is that earthquake that transforms all of man's social and redemptive consciousness. Our Christ has come and has ascended to heaven from whence He rules over our lives and the further progression of all things. We have our King! Let us rejoice, like the heavenly choir in this chapter, and sing His praise.
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