June 12: Revelation 5:1-10

We’re two weeks into our Revelation mini-series on worship, and picking up where we left off last week we’re met with a dramatic moment in John’s vision in Revelation 5. God, sitting on his throne, hands forth a scroll, and Jesus alone is worthy to open it and fulfill God’s plan. This centers all of our attention on Jesus and what makes him worthy both to carry out God’s plan and to receive our unending worship.

There are various thoughts as to what the scroll in verse 1 represents. It could be a royal decree handed down by God, or God’s whole big plan for redemption, or a plan for the End of Time meant to be carried out. We really can’t say for certain which it is, though given the song that’s sung to Jesus in v.9-10 and the acts of judgment that come with the opening of the scroll’s seals (Rev. 6:1-8:5), it’s likely something related to God’s work in both redemption and judgment. However, in a sense the exact content of the scroll doesn’t matter (and if it did, in his sovereignty God wouldn’t have neglected to tell us). The essential role of the scroll, a will, desire, or plan of God which is offered to be executed by another, is quite clear. And a second thing is just as clear: no being in the universe is worthy to execute it.

At least, at first glance. This is that dramatic moment in John’s vision I mentioned above, where the need for One who is worthy is deafening. The elders and the creatures around the throne can’t do it, the angels or John himself can’t do it, no one living or dead or yet to come can do it. But then comes the dramatic reveal—an elder points to the one who is the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, the slain Lamb. Only God himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, can fulfill God’s plan for his people and his creation.

John says he turned to see “a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and seven eyes.”(5:6) That might sound like the stuff of nightmares, but like I said last week, we need to keep in mind that prophetic and apocalyptic literature has a dreamlike quality to it, with layers of meaning that would be strange or disturbing in real life. Which is to say, it’s meant to catch your attention, but we shouldn’t let it distract us from the intended meaning. As a refresher, seven was the ancient number of perfection, and a horn represented power and authority in the ancient world, as in Psalm 18:2, “The Lord is…my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” So, seven horns represents perfect power and authority. Then John himself explains the seven eyes as being the “seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.” Check out the Revelation Resources post for more on the seven spirits.

Now, to back up, those three titles given to Jesus, Lion, Root, and Lamb, are jam-packed with significance, which we don’t have room to delve into here. Check out Genesis 49 for more on the Lion of Judah and Isaiah 11 for more on the Root of David (though there you’ll see “branch” instead of root; here we’re told he’s the root because he’s both the descendent of David, i.e. “branch”, and source of David, i.e. “root”). For more on the Lamb of God, consult the Exodus account of Passover (Exo. 12) and the suffering servant of Isaiah 53:7. This web of connections to Old Testament prophesy and expectation shows how Jesus fulfills all of God’s plans throughout history, both past, present, and future.