REVELATION 5

 

The Structure of Revelation 5-11

A. The Seven Seals

1. Scene in heaven with scroll (Chapter 5)

2. Four horsemen causing limited destruction (6:1-8)

3. Fifth and Sixth Seals: Two longer, associated visions (6:9-17)

4. Interlude with two visions (7:1-8, 9-17)

5. The seventh seal (8:1)

A'. The Seven Trumpets

1. Scene in heaven with censer (8:2-6)

2. Four trumpets causing limited destruction (8:7-12)

3. Fifth and Sixth Trumpets: Two longer, associated visions (9:1-12, 13-21)

4. Interlude with two visions (Chapter 10; 11:1-14)

1. The seventh trumpet (11:15-19)

There is an alternation in these chapters between events taking place in heaven and those transpiring on earth. Why is there such alternation in locations? We rarely are given the opportunity to look behind the veil to see what is really happening. One rare case is that of Paul, who says in 2 Corinthians 12:1-4 that he was taken up into the third heaven. However, he wasn't allowed to tell what he had seen.

One story I really like is found in 2 Kings 6:14-17. The king of Aram sends an army to go to the city of Dothan to capture the prophet Elisha. “So he sent horses and chariots there and a great army; they came by night , and surrounded the city. When a servant of Elisha rose early in the morning and went out, he saw the army. His servant said, 'Alas, master! What shall we do?' He replied, 'Do not be afraid, for there are more with us than there are with them.' Then Elisha prayed: 'O LORD, please open his eyes that he may see.' So the LORD opened the eyes of the servant and he saw the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” We are similarly treated to the reality behind the scenes in the Book of Revelation.

Note that in the structure above the seventh seal doesn't accomplish anything but starts up another series of seven which are quite similar in structure. This is the first hint that the visions may not be presented in a simple chronological order. The exact order of events in Revelation is actually a quite complicated subject that I will treat elsewhere.

The Relationship Between Chapters 4 and 5

voice like a trumpet (4:1) angel with a loud voice (5:2)

angels singing with full voice (5:11-12)

one seated on the throne (4:2) one seated on the throne (5:1)

twenty-four elders (4:4) twenty-four elders (5:8)

four living creatures (4:6) four living creatures (5:6)

full of eyes (4:8) seven eyes (5:6)

“you are worthy to... for you” “you are worthy to...for you” (5:9)

“to receive glory and honor and power” (4:11) “to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” (5:12)

“elders fall... and worship” (4:10) “elders fell down and worshiped” (5:14)

This similarity in language shows that in many ways Chapter 5 is a repeat of the previous one. There are two new features, however: a scroll and the Lamb.

Revelation 5:1-5

vv. 1-2 What is in the scroll? The background comes from several OT passages: A similar scroll in Ezekiel 2:9-10 contains words of judgment against the Kingdom of Judah. Isaiah 29:11-12 talks about a sealed document containing the truths from God, but the people are too spiritually blind to read it. Daniel 12:4 describes the Book of Life which contains the divine plan of judgment and salvation, the decrees of God, the future history of the world. “But you, Daniel, keep the words secret and the book sealed until the time of the end.”

5:1 If you ever get the chance to look at a sheet of papyrus paper, you will see that it is composed of horizontal strips laid on top of vertical strips, and the whole thing pressed together. It is easy to write on the side with horizontal divisions but much harder to do it on the reverse side of the paper. It has an external side that can be seen by all, but also a hidden side only revealed by Christ. Ellul says it is the history of humanity – “the disclosure of the profound forces of this history – the action of God in the history of man.” But there is a rare type of scroll called an opistograph which utilizes both sides. Symbolic significance = sum total of God's will and plan of judgment and salvation, or the future history of the world. Since it is written on both sides, nothing can be added to God's plan.

Seven seals were required for Roman wills. Thus, the scroll is God’s promise of a new destiny for mankind. The will took effect only when the seals were broken. Sealed means that no one can alter it or knows God's purpose until it is opened, and only Jesus can bring about God's purposes. Usually all seven seals are placed on the outside of a scroll, but not in this case. God's will is revealed only in stages. Perhaps it was a multli-signed and sealed, folded scroll such have been found in ancient divorcement papers. We have the problem of always wanting to know “why?” when something happens in our lives. Just look at Job and the fact that God never did reveal the reason to him.

This is a good time to stop and talk a little about the numbers in Revelation. 7 = complete, so seven seals means the contents are completely sealed and hidden from view.

3 = God, the Trinity

4 = creation, the earth

1,000 = a representative large number

7 = 3 + 4 = everything, completion, perfection

12 = 3x4 = God's chosen people (12 tribes, 12 judges, 12 apostles)

24 = 12 =12 = God's total people in the Old and New Dispensations

144,000 = 12x12x1,000 = all the saved

666 = a trinity of imperfection

3 ½ = 7/2 = an imperfect on incomplete time period, a time of testing

It is interesting that many who admit that words can have symbolic meanings in the Bible (especially in Revelation), demand that numbers be treated literally. (Such as the belief that the Millennium must last exactly 1,000 years) I think that this is an artifact of our worship of science, mathematics and technology.

5:2 “Who is worthy to open the seals” does not just mean who is holy enough, powerful enough, or has 

the authority to reveal history, but who has the authority to actually bring about the events themselves.

5:4 mankind weeps that they cannot know the mystery of history, which is only revealed through 

Christ.

5:5-6 At this point we expect to see a triumphant lion, but instead there is one of the gentlest animals. 

“Lamb slain” indicates Jesus’ sacrifice, but the seven horns indicate complete power. “Nowhere is the 

paradox of the NT revelation of Christ shown so clearly as here.” Only once outside of Revelation in 

the NT is Christ called the lamb of God. The word “Lamb,” which occurs numerous times throughout 

the Revelation, is associated with the terms “blood and “slain” only in chapters 5-13, with believers in 

chapters 19-21, and finally only with “throne” in Chapter 22.

Revelation 5:5 There are three phrases used to describe Christ:

(1) Lion of Judah: In Genesis 49:8-10 Jacob blesses his 12 sons: “Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a young lion; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He crouches down, he stretches out like a lion, like a lioness – who dares rouse him up? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and the obedience of the peoples is his.” This chapter concludes the story of Joseph, but it is Judah, not Joseph who is the real center of that story since David and Jesus came from this tribe.

(2) Root of David comes from Isaiah's messianic prophecy in 11:1: “A shoot shall come out from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots.”

The designation Lion of Judah has prepared us for an Aslan-type figure. But instead a lamb appears. The word means “little lamb” (usually referring to a sacrificial lamb), and this is the first of 28 occurrences (7 x 4) in Revelation. Actually I have counted at least 37 different Greek words and phrases that appear exactly seven times or a multiple of seven in this book.] We look for power on earth (such as political) instead of looking at the example of Christ's sacrifice. We, as Christians, can only conquer by submitting. Years ago when we were in between senior pastors, someone made the statement during a business meeting that we were suffering from a power vacuum in the church. I corrected by calling it a service vacuum. There are always plenty of people who want to be in power, but many fewer people are willing to be servants.

The four living creatures are described in chapter 4 as resembling a man (intelligence or wisdom), lion 

(strength or glory), ox (usefulness or power) and eagle (swiftness or eternity). One author lists 21

different interpretations as to what they represent. The similar description in Ezekiel indicates that 

they are the cherubim although John incorporates some features of the seraphim in Isaiah also.

Revelation 5:6-8

v. 6 This is starting to get rather bizarre if taken literally, and the next chapter will get even more weird. Notice that the eyes are interpreted for us as the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth (They appeared earlier in 1:4 where they represented God's omnipresence and omniscience). Isaiah 11 references a 7-fold spirit of God that will rest on the Messiah: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. The Septuagint adds the spirit of piety to make a total of seven. And the seven horns stand for another characteristic of God: his omnipotence. God's omniscience, omnipresence and omnipotence, and the Holy Spirit's eyes are all combined in the picture of the Lamb (Trinity).

v. 8 Harps are only in the hands of the four living creatures and 24 elders, but in 15:2 all those who conquer the beasts have harps in their hands. This confirms the interpretation that the elders and four beasts are but representatives of all the redeemed of creation. The image is obviously symbolic since it would be rather difficult to play a harp with one hand and swing a bowl of incense with the other at the same time. There is a similar picture in Chapter 8 at the conclusion of the seven seals portion of the book where incense is offered with the prayers of the saints. We on earth are actually participating in the worship that goes on around God's throne in heaven. This goes beyond the Book of Hebrews' idea of a cloud of witnesses watching us. This is part of what the Apostles' Creed says when it refers to the communion of all the saints. Our prayers are brought into God's actual presence and are treated as valuable (in golden bowls). We can even speculate that the 24 elders translate our feeble praise and prayers into a new song of glory for God's benefit.

Revelation 5:9-10 This is basically a replay of Revelation 1:5-6: “To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” The designation “kingdom and priests” originally referred just to ethnic Jews (Exodus 19:5-6), but now it is used for all redeemed people.

5:9a The new song they sing is also found in 14:3 in another vision of heaven. There only those who had been redeemed could learn the song. A new song is needed since Christ's redeeming mankind to bring about God's purposes is a brand new event which ushers in a new age. In the OT, “a new song” always follows a victory. The phrase “a new song” appears 7 times in the OT, 6x in the psalms and once at Isaiah 42:9-10 right after the description of the coming Messiah who will be a light to the nations and make all things new. The Commentary of the New Testament Use of the OT says, “A new song is a technical term for the song of thanksgiving in response to some particular action of God.” The Greek word is not neos (recurrence of something old), but kainos (entirely new). There is an applicable message here for hymns and praise songs today; newness should not only reflect changing musical tastes of the congregation, but the fresh things for which we can praise God. The Jews in Exile according to Psalm 137 cried that they couldn't sing the LORD's song (one of their old songs of Zion) in a foreign land (they didn't see any victories). We need a perspective that sees victory even in times of distress and apparent failure.

In opening the seals, Jesus will not change God's plan of redemption, but he reveals it by his utter obedience to God's will. This hymn in praise of the Lamb, and its continuation in verse 12, are very similar to the one in praise of God in 4:11. So we see another close association between the two being praised. Just as the Passover lamb's blood protected the Israelites from God's wrath, Jesus' sacrifice does the same for all mankind. One pastor I heard pointed out that this passage provides another reason against racism (besides our common ancestry) – we were all purchased for exactly the same price, and therefore are considered of equal worth in God's eyes.

There is a difference of opinion concerning the last phrase in verse 10 as to whether the saints will reign on (the new) earth eventually or are now reigning as the true rulers on earth. Textual evidence is evenly divided (compare translations). Probably both are implied (George Elton Ladd, The Presence of the Future). If it refers to a millennial period, then the promise is that all Christians will rule, not just risen martyrs.

Revelation 5:11-14

This is a useful text for refuting the claims of Jehovah Witnesses. Note that Jesus is not only worshiped 

at the center of the universe (throne room of God) but in every corner of creation. John Phillips 

(Exploring Revelation) says, “The supreme tragedy of a lost eternity will be to know that there, shut 

out from the focal center of things at the farthest, darkest, loneliest, furthest circumference of things, 

they still have to acknowledge that Jesus is Lord. He will be praised at the focal center of things by the 

sinless sons of light and by the redeemed of all ages with joy unspeakable and full of glory. And He 

will be praised at the furthest circumference of things by every damned and outcast soul with sobs and 

tears and choking cries.”

v. 11 This large number works out to be 101 million. It is one way of expressing an infinite number. It 

either refers to the number of angels in heaven or the redeemed. If the latter, Revelation 7:4 has 

144,000 sealed, and 7:9 states that there was a great multitude that no one could count. All of these 

may refer to the same group. We shouldn't expect mathematical precision.

v. 12 Compare this with the song in praise of God in Revelation 4:11. Seven qualities are mentioned as a symbolic indication of completeness.

v. 13 First it was the four creatures and 24 elders who sang, then all the angels, and now all creation gives praise for the last four attributes listed in verse 12. But who are they blessing this time? Both God and Jesus are referred to together in this hymn, indicating that they have equal majesty and importance. But note that only God is seated on the throne. Here Jesus is pictured as a slaughtered animal standing nearby, but let's jump ahead to the end of the story and the last two occurrences of the word “Lamb.” In Revelation 22:1,3 there is the phrase “the throne of God and of the Lamb.” Now he shares God's throne. This is the culmination of the revelation of Jesus Christ.

Consider again the title of this book: The Revelation of Jesus Christ (1:1a). Remember that “of” can mean coming from, belonging to, or concerning. This last way of understanding the preposition makes sense since it is only in this book that we see Christ in heaven revealed in all his glory, and it is the book in which we are most clearly taught the oneness of Christ and the Father. Compare Revelation 1:8 (I am the alpha and omega says the Lord God...the Almighty) with Revelation 22:13 where Jesus says he is the alpha and omega. Any understanding of this book that ignores the emphasis on Jesus himself should be looked on with suspicion.

v. 14 “Amen”: In II Corinthians 1:20, Paul says that we say 'Amen' to the glory of God. This fits with the rabbinical teaching that their saying “Amen” to a benediction or doxology actually increased God's glory.

At this point there are some hard questions we need to ask ourselves:

1. Are we really only in it for our own reward?

2. If so, then why do we picture heaven so differently from how it is portrayed in Revelation? (a place to meet our loved ones, living in mansions in leisure and comfort, or floating on clouds with harps in our hands). One of the most horrible images of heaven I have seen was in an old TV special called “The Littlest Angel,” in which a boy dies young and has to have an eternal existence in the sky sitting on clouds with nothing to do in a universe devoid of anything, including colors.

3. Why do we usually agree with symbolic interpretations of what happens in Revelation in heaven, but demand a literal interpretation for those chapters thtat take place on earth? Are we actually more concerned with what happens to us here on earth and don't really believe in a heavenly existence?

4. Lastly, why aren't we told more of what will happen to us in heaven?