The
Lion and the Lamb. Rev. 5:1-5
We saw last time in verse 1 a reference to the scroll. The existence of
this scroll is directly related to God as our creator. It is really the scroll
of Christ’s title deed to the planet. It is sealed with seven seals which
represent some nineteen judgments in the book of Revelation. It is the opening
of these seals, each judgment, that brings about the final event of our Lord
Jesus Christ returning to the earth in chapter nineteen with this title deed to
assume His position as the King of the planet.
To understand that we have to go back to the original creation in
Genesis chapter one. At the very
beginning man was created in His likeness and was to rule over the fish of the
sea, the birds of the air and the beasts of the filed. He was the ruler of the
planet, the king of the planet, as God’s representative, but when Adam sinned
he gave up his rightful ownership of the planet. It was taken over and usurped
by Satan who becomes the new ruler of the planet and is the present ruler of
the kingdom of man. That immediately brings to mind the great statue that
appeared to Nebuchadnezzar that traces the history of the kingdoms of man. This
image is repeated again in Daniel chapter seven in another manifestation as
various beasts because ultimately the character of the kingdom of man is
beastly because man in sin and rebellion to God perverts his original purpose
as ruler of the planet and it operates under the tyranny and dominion of Satan.
So God is seen as the original owner of the planet and man is, as it were,
given a delegated responsibility to rule the planet. When the Lord Jesus Christ
comes back He is going to complete that victory over Satan which He began on
the cross. He completes the victory in one sense because at that point Satan is
defeated but the full application of that defeat does not occur until the
Tribulation period.
The title deed is given to the Lord, it is part of God’s original delegation
of rulership to the planet. The word “scroll” there reflects the Greek word BIBLION [biblion], and this scroll
which is sealed with seven seals indicates some sort of legal document. The
purpose and significance of the scroll is tied directly to the fulfilment of
the original covenants, the creation covenant in Genesis 1:27, 28;
modifications with the Adamic covenant and then the Noahic covenant which is
still in effect. Jesus Christ is going to come as Man to fulfil the original
creation covenant and cultural mandate to rule over the planet. What God does
in human history is always tied to these covenants, these legal documents, and
God has so ordered that the way He relates to man is according to these legal
contracts or covenants that He has revealed to man.
Now we come to the second scene. There are four verses where we have the
phrase, “And I saw”—vv. 1, 2, 6, 11. These indicate the four scenes in this
act. The second scene is where we see the unique credentials of the ones who
enact the title contract to the earth. The focus here is on who is worthy.
Revelation 5:2 NASB “And I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?’”
The word there for proclaiming is the present active participle of KERUSSO [khrussw]. This is an
important word in the New Testament, it refers to the act of a herald in
proclaiming something. The is the word that is used of what a pastor has to do
in terms of the proclamation of the truth of God’s Word. In tuis particular
case it indicates that this strong angel—not an identified angel—proclaims this
message across the creation. The word for worthy is the Greek word AXIOS [a)cioj] meaning
originally the idea of something with proper weight. It is that which has value
or worth but it came to be used of qualities other than weight. Is a synonym
for another Greek word which means sufficient, competent or fit. Who is
competent, qualified, has the proper credentials to take the scroll? Remember
this has to be a human being because it is to man that God originally gave the
title deed. This is one of the other reasons that Jesus Christ as the Messiah
had to be a God-Man. He is going to fulfil the work of the first Adam and he
will rule as the King of the planet.
Revelation 5:3 NASB “And no one in heaven or on the earth or
under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.” Verses 3 & 4
emphasize the fact that there is no one other than the Lord Jesus Christ who is
worthy. Some ask, what is “under the earth”? This is a figure of speech called
a merism. This is when you take two
opposites and express them in terms of being able to include the totality of
something. For example, in the Psalms we often read that you should meditate on
the Word “day and night.” By using the opposites, daytime and night time, you
include the totality of your time, that you should be continually be thinking
about God’s Word. In Genesis 1:1 we read that God created the heavens and the
earth. There is no word in Hebrew for a universe so we have the two extremes,
the heavens and the earth, and that phrase expresses the totality of God’s
creation. So no matter how we might explore creation there is no creature that
is qualified to open the scroll or to look at it. As a result of this search
that is taking place—and we get a sense almost that at least for John as a
creature who is observing this scene that some time goes by—it seems that as
John is observing there is certain level of frustration that no one is found
who is qualified to take the scroll, and he bursts out weeping.
Revelation 5:4 NASB “Then I {began} to weep greatly because
no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it.” Why does he
respond that way? It is because he recognizes that there is an ongoing problem
in human history, and that is the problem of suffering, the problem of
undeserved suffering, the problem of evil, the problem of injustice, and that
there needs to be a resolution to this ongoing problem of evil. He knows that
with the opening of the scroll, the taking of the title deed, this will bring
an end to human history and a final judgment on sin and evil and all injustice
will be made right and all evil will be corrected and there will be a resolution
to the problem of evil. He realizes this and yet when there is no one found who
can take the scroll he realizes in frustration that it is not going to happen
yet, and he so desperately sees the need for the end to sin and suffering and
sorrow and pain that he begins to weep. In the KJV or NKJV the words “and to read” are
added to this verse. They are not found in either the Majority text of the
Critical Text, they are found only in those few MSS that made up the Textus
Receptus that was the basis for the KJV and NKJV; so it has very little attestation in the MSS.
Revelation 5:5 NASB “and one of the elders said to me, ‘Stop
weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of
So we have this imagery from the Old Testament that the Messiah would be
the Lion from the tribe of
The second image that we have in this verse is that He is of the root of
David. It refers to that which is the source of something. The root is that
from which the plant springs, it represents the origination of the plant. It is
a metaphorical term for origin and it relates to promises in the Old Testament.
Isaiah 11:1, 10 where Isaiah prophesies regarding the Messiah that “a shoot
will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear
fruit… Then in that day The nations will resort to the root of Jesse, Who will
stand as a signal for the peoples; And His resting place will be glorious.”
Jeremiah also referred to the Branch imagery in Jeremiah 23:5; 33:15: “Behold,
{the} days are coming,” declares the LORD, “When I will raise up for David a righteous
Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and
righteousness in the land… In those days and at that time I will cause a
righteous Branch of David to spring forth; and He shall execute justice and
righteousness on the earth.”
In Revelation 5:5 the phrase “has overcome” is a prophetic past tense,
it is talking about what will happen in the future as if it has already
happened because it is so certain. It is from the Greek word NIKAO [nikaw]. There verb there
is actually NIKE [nikh], “he has overcome/prevailed, conquered,” He has had
victory and because of that victory He is qualified to open the scroll. This takes
us back to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15:54-57 NASB “But when
this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have
put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, ‘DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
Revelation 5:6 NASB “And I saw between the throne (with
the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having
seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into
all the earth.” This begins the third scene, the picture of the Lamb who was
slain but is still standing. The imagery here is of the Lord Jesus Christ as
the Lamb, John’s favourite title for the Lord Jesus Christ in the book of
Revelation—29 times there is the mention of the Lamb. What is interesting is
that the term for lamb here is ARNION [a)rnion], a diminutive term. That
means it is talking about a small lamb, almost like a pet lamb. It is a picture
of the Passover (1 Corinthians 5:7, Christ our Passover); He is the Lamb of
God, John says in John
Here in this description is the Lamb standing, a perfect active
participle which simply means to stand. But what is interesting in the Greek
construction here is that we have the word “standing” as a perfect participle
and though it had been slain the verb “slain” is also a perfect participle.
These indicate completed action. The word for “slain” is SPHAZO [sfazw] which indicates a
violent death, being slaughtered or butchered. So we have this picture of the
Lamb that had been slain, but even though it had been slain it was standing “as
though it had been slain” – it is not “if” in the sense that it is not real.
This is an allusion to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It has “seven
horns and seven eyes.” Horns are a metaphor in Scripture for power, and so this
indicates His omnipotence, His power over all things and thus His power to take
over the control and rulership of planet earth. “Seven eyes” is a metaphor for
the omniscience of God but here it also relates to the Holy Spirit. Cf.
Zechariah 4:6, 10.
The emphasis in these first six verses is on the Lamb, the one who died
on the cross for our sins. This is what qualifies Him to then go take the
scroll, to open it and to take over rulership of planet earth.