Worthy Is The Lamb Revelation 5
Tuesday Night Bible Study Questions
1. How do chapters 4–5 introduce the rest of the book of Revelation? What common themes do they share?
- What is so sad about the scene in verses 2-4? Why do you think the scroll needs to be opened?
- What do the messianic titles for the Lamb reveal about His character and His work?
- What is significant about the fact that the Lamb is slaughtered? How does this show Christ's work?
- What is significant about the fact that the Lamb is standing? What significance does Jesus' resurrection have for our lives?
- The people around the throne are from every tribe and people and language. What does this tell us about the nature of the church?
- How should Revelation 5:9-10 shape our missionary activity?
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Revelation 5. The Lamb Is All The Glory Of Immanuel's Land.
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. 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, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 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."
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,
"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."
11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"
14 And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Throughout history there have been many pretenders to earth's throne who have sought to conquer and rule the world. The first and most powerful and notorious usurper was Satan. After his rebellion against God was crushed, he and his angelic followers were thrown out of heaven (Luke 10:18; Rev. 12:3–4), and he became the "god of this world"(2 Cor. 4:4). He inspired a host of humans to try their hand at conquest, men such as Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Alexander the Great, the emperors of Rome, Attila the Hun, Genghis Khan, Napoleon, Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler. In the future will come the most powerful Satan-possessed human conqueror of all, the final Antichrist. All of those men, and a host of lesser lights, have one thing in common: they failed. Only one individual has the right, the power, and the authority to rule the earth: the Lord Jesus Christ. He will one day take back what is rightfully His from Satan the usurper, and all the rebels, demonic and human. No one else is worthy or capable of ruling the world–no evil man, no good man, no demon, and no holy angel. Revelation 5 introduces Jesus Christ, earth's rightful ruler, who is pictured about to return to redeem the world from sin, Satan, death, and the curse. He is the central theme of John's second vision of heaven.
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. 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, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it.
The events of chapter 5 occur right after those of chapter 4. The scene, as in chapter 4, is the throne of God in heaven. Present are the cherubim, the twenty-four elders (representing the raptured, glorified church), and the Holy Spirit in His sevenfold glory (4:5). The events described in these two chapters anticipate the holocaust of divine judgment about to be poured out on the sinful, rebellious, cursed earth (chaps. 6–19). Awestruck by the indescribable majesty of God's throne, and the flashes of lightning and peals of thunder that proceed from it, the cherubim and elders begin a series of hymns of praise to God. Those hymns celebrate God as creator and redeemer, and rejoice that He is about to take back what is rightfully His. This is the moment that all Christians (Eph. 1:14) and the entire creation (Rom. 8:19–22) long for.
Having completed the writing, the scroll had been sealed with seven seals. In Roman law, according to some evidence, a testament was sealed with seven seals by seven witnesses before its legality could be established. Clearly, the authority of heaven itself rests on this book thus written and sealed. The sealing of the document would have employed a substance such as clay, wax, or some other soft material on which an imprimatur could be placed. When the seals begin to be opened in chap. 6, the impression is that the scroll is only partially opened with the breaking of each of the seven seals. This being the case, seemingly the scroll had been sealed at particular places, probably across the top, so that the breaking of one seal would allow the scroll to be unrolled only to a point.
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, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it
When God created the world, He gave Adam and Eve dominion.
Adam and Eve turned that dominion over to Satan when they sinned in the Garden.
2 Corinthians 4:4
Adam legally lost dominion to Satan, and now it has to be legally regained.
Revelation 5:2
Criswell writes: "[John's tears] represent the tears of all God's people through all the centuries. Those tears of the Apostle John are the tears of Adam and Eve, driven out of the Garden of Eden, as they bowed over the first grave, as they watered the dust of the ground with their tears over the silent, still form of their son, Abel. Those are the tears of the children of Israel in bondage as they cried unto God in their affliction and slavery. They are the tears of God's elect through the centuries as they cried unto heaven. They are the sobs and tears that have been wrung from the heart and soul of God's people as they looked on their silent dead, as they stand beside their open graves, as they experience in the trials and sufferings of life, heartaches and disappointments indescribable. Such is the curse that sin has laid upon God's beautiful creation"
But there is an answer!
In order for a person to be worthy to open the book and loose the seals:
He had to be a near kinsman. He had to have the price to pay.
No man in Heaven or on Earth was worthy, and no demon spirit was worthy. Revelation 5:3-4
No man is worthy to open the book because we are all in Adam.
Adam is a slave to Satan, and the children of a slave are slaves themselves.
As descendants of Adam, we were all born as slaves to Satan.
Not only does the master own the slave, but he owns all that the slave owns.
We are slaves, and we are bankrupt.
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."
Jesus, the second Adam, came to Earth to regain what the first Adam lost.
Had He not been born of a virgin, He would have been a son of Adam.
Though He is perfect man made of woman, He is not a son of Adam.
He is Son of Man and Son of God. Jesus was born of a virgin to be what He was: sinless.
Jesus was sinless to do what He did: die on the cross to pay our sin debt. 1 Peter 1:18-19
There is no way to Heaven apart from Jesus Christ. John 14:6 Acts 4:12
Jesus is exclusively worthy.
He Is Worthy Because of His Scars
We Shall See The King In The Beauty of His Scars
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."
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain
John, expecting to see a lion (the Lion of the tribe of Judah), instead sees a lamb.
The sacrificial Lamb, Jesus, is the only one who can take the book, the title deed to all the Earth, and open the seals. What does John see in the Lamb?
He sees a redeeming Lamb. The Greek word for "lamb" is not the word used in this passage of Revelation. The word for "lamb" used here is the word for a little pet lamb. The word Lamb (Gk arnion) is a special word used 29 times in Revelation and only one time outside the book (see John 21:15). Mounce notes it is used exclusively of the resurrected and victorious Christ (Revelation, 132n18). However, 28 times it refers to Jesus in Revelation.
Genesis 22:8 (Abraham and Isaac)—"God Himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering."
Exodus 12:5 (Passover)—"Your lamb shall be without blemish" (NKJV).
Isaiah 53:7 (The suffering servant of the Lord)—"Like a lamb led to the slaughter."
John 1:29 (The declaration of John the Baptist)—"Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!"
Yes these were words that the apostle John had heard with his own ears from John the Baptist. And yes John knew what is meant for the second person of the trinity to appear on earth as a lamb.
He Was Poor.
He Was A Prisoner.
He Was Pain-filled.
He Is Worthy Because of His Standing
We Shall See The King In The Beauty of His Standing though slain.
He sees a resurrected Lamb. This Lamb, as though it had been slain, is now standing.
He is victorious because He is standing (5:6).
"Slaughtered" speaks of His death. "Standing" speaks of His resurrection. This word is also in the perfect tense. There is permanence to the resurrection. There was a day when His dead body got up and left the tomb, and it will never die again! Jesus of Nazareth began to stand in resurrection life at a point and time in history, He stands today, and He will stand forever.
The Lamb still has the nail prints. The Lamb is no longer dead.
He is risen and our Risen Lord we look forward to seeing Him in His glory.
Friends will be there I have known long ago,
Joy like a river around me will flow,
But just a smile from my Saviour I know
Will through the ages be glory for me.
He Is Worthy Because of His Strength
We Shall See The King In The Beauty of His Strength
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."
6 And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
He is victorious because He is strong (5:6).
He sees a reigning Lamb. Revelation 5:6
In Bible prophecy, horns speak of power. The number seven is the perfect number.
This Lamb is omnipotent.
This Lamb also has seven eyes; eyes speak of wisdom. He sees everything.
This Lamb is omniscient.
2 Chronicles 16:9
The "seven Spirits of God" shows that He is also omnipresent.
There is no where that He is not.
That this One is also the Root of David is referenced in Isa 11:1,10 where messianic prophecy foretold the rising of one who is both the Root and the offspring of David. The clear messianic message of Isaiah 11, applied here to Jesus, is no accident. The reference constitutes still another clear messianic statement concerning Jesus as well as a claim for his deity.
1 There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD. He shall not judge by what his eyes see, or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor, and decide with equity for the meek of the earth; and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist, and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
Seven eyes and seven horns. The book of Revelation, for all of its difficulties, is a closely argued unit, and that the seven horns and seven eyes, in this case, are to be relationally interpreted. The seven eyes are specifically said to reference the sending of the Spirit into all the earth. There is a very close relationship to Isaiah 11 here. Previously in chap. 1 the "seven spirits" was almost certainly a reference to the Holy Spirit given without measure to each of the seven churches. Therefore, without surprise, here is a similar reference; and a unity exists between the Lamb and the seven eyes, which are the seven spirits sent forth throughout all the earth. By the same token, the horns, which speak of power and authority, almost certainly relate the Lamb to the central figure, sitting on the throne, from whose hand he will shortly retrieve the scroll. Still another trinitarian allusion occurs as well as an indication of the fact that the work of the Holy Spirit throughout the earth relates specifically, and above all else, to the Lamb.
He Is Worthy Because of His Satisfaction
We Shall See The King In The Beauty of His Satisfaction
He is worthy because of conquest.
He is victorious because He is sovereign (5:7).
"He [the Lamb] came and took the scroll out of the right hand of the One [the Father] seated on the throne." No one else can do this. No one else even attempts to do this.
Revelation 5:5 The word "prevailed" is the word we get our word "Nike" from, meaning victory.
The Lamb is the victor; He has prevailed.
The devil in the book of the Revelation is described as a great, red dragon.
The beast will also rise out of the sea, and the Antichrist will come with his militant millions.
The one who comes against them all is the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Lamb approaches the throne with no reticence whatever and takes the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Whereas all other participants of heaven (the 24 elders, the living creatures, and all the angels) fall on their faces and worship the One who is on the throne, the Lamb has no need of such an approach but simply approaches the throne and takes the book. At the very least, this suggests a remarkable relationship to the One who is on the throne. John must have considered the Lamb to be just as much God as the One who sat on the throne.
The contents of the book? W. A. Criswell suggests that "he lifted the title deeds of forfeiture to give back to us our lost inheritance." The Hebrew document most closely resembling this scroll was a title-deed that was folded and signed, requiring at least three witnesses. A portion of text would be written, folded over and sealed, with a different witness signing at each fold. A larger number of witnesses meant that more importance was assigned to the document.
Macarthur writes: "The scroll John saw in God's hand is the title deed to the earth, which He will give to Christ. Unlike other such deeds, however, it does not record the descriptive detail of what Christ will inherit, but rather how He will regain His rightful inheritance. He will do so by means of the divine judgments about to be poured out on the earth (6:1ff.).
But the idea that the book contains a title deed to the decimated earth seems alien to the text. To the contrary, the contents of the book are revealed in the opening of the seven seals in chaps. 6–8. The events of the period of the tribulation are sequentially unveiled and comprise the specific content of the scroll.
The four living creatures and the 24 elders now fall down before the Lamb just as they had previously fallen before the One who sat on the throne. Obviously, for one to worship any figure other than God is construed repeatedly in the Bible as idolatry (cf. Rev 19:10). Here, however, there is no hesitancy on the part of the very ones who were worshipping the figure on the throne to fall also and worship before the Lamb.
JESUS IS ETERNALLY WORTHY (Revelation 5:8-10, 13-14)
There was never a time when Jesus was not worthy, and there never will be a time when He is not worthy.
Jesus Christ Is the Lord of Glory (5:8-14).
8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,
"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."
11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"
14 And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped.
He is praised by the saints (5:8-10) Adoringly.
8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,
"Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
There is a song in Heaven. We will sing in Heaven to the Lamb.
The refrain of that song: We will sing about the blood of the Lamb.
We will sing a new song because we're now redeemed up in the glory.
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth."
He is praised by the angels (5:11-12)Absorbingly
11 Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!"
The reach of that song:
It will echo and thunder from the highest Heaven to the lowest hell.
He is praised by all creation (5:13-14)
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!"
14 And the four living creatures said, "Amen!" and the elders fell down and worshiped.
From every possible sphere, they will give glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Romans 14:11 Every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord.
CONCLUSION
- The wisest thing anyone can ever do is to surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.
- Even those you do not receive Him as Savior will one day confess Him as Lord.
- Do you know Jesus personally? If not, you can pray to Him today by asking Him to come into your life.
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