Study – Grow – Know

Revelation 5: Lamb Takes the Throne

April 25, 2022 at 11:42 AM 3 comments

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Revelation 5 is an extremely important chapter in the book of Revelation. Without it, Revelation would have ended with chapter four. What we witness through the apostle John’s vision is nothing short of ceremonial pageantry that not only officially installs Jesus as King and coming Judge, but it is through Him that every event in Revelation 6-22 occurs.

Revelation 4 sets the stage for the action seen in Revelation 5. Before the Lamb is revealed to us, there is something else our attention is drawn to and that is the scroll that God the Father (who sits on His throne), holds in His right hand, Revelation 5:1. While God holds the scroll, the intent here is not to view it as if He clings to it. It becomes clear that the strong angel asks the question, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” signifying that the Father is looking for Someone who has been found worthy to open the scroll and break the seals. That Someone of course, is Jesus, the Lamb of God, who appeared as though slain. This of course means that He bore the obvious marks and wounds of His death on the cross, along with the beating He received prior to His physical death on that cross.

It is natural to assume that these particular wounds will be present and visible for all to see as a constant reminder of His commitment to the Father’s will and His love for the world (John 3:16), that prompted Him to be born of a woman so that humanity would be added to His character, while retaining His full deity.

We will also learn that the contents of the seven-sealed scroll contain the twenty-one judgments of the Tribulation period that represent God’s wrath that is poured out onto much deserving humanity. So consider if Jesus had not been successful during His earthly life in never once failing to fulfill God the Father’s perfect will, He would not then be able to stand before the Father in that court and be enthroned as King of the Earth.

Jesus came the first time as the “little lamb” that was slain for the sins of humanity. Because of His sacrificial life and death, salvation was made available to all who will believe in Him and His work on our behalf. Jesus’ birth ushered in a new period essentially called the Age of Grace. This is not to say that grace was not in effect prior to His birth, life, death and resurrection, for it certainly was, however it existed prior to Christ’s birth because of the fact that God, during the times of the Old Testament, could look ahead to the cross and extend His grace based on that.

The Age of Grace continues until either the Church is Raptured or until the end of the Tribulation period, depending upon how individual readers interpret Scripture. At the end of the Tribulation period, Jesus’ return will usher in a new period, one of judgment and the exercising of His Kingship over all the earth. The fact that He will physically reign over the earth from His father David’s throne in Jerusalem will prove that He literally owns the earth. Certainly God reigns on high from His throne in heaven and has never vacated that position of authority. However, reigning on the earthy physically proves to the entire Creation that God is the rightful and only owner of this earth.

The scroll is received (“taken”) by the Lamb (v 7), which symbolically means that the Lamb (Jesus), has proven to be worthy to receive the scroll and open its seals. In essence, many commentators believe this scroll represents the title deed to earth, which was taken via deception in the Garden of Eden by Satan, when Eve and then Adam submitted to Satan’s deceptive “authority” and having done that, transferred the title deed to earth from God’s representative (Adam), to Satan. The work of Christ not only redeemed those who believe on Him in faith regarding His redemptive work for our souls, but also fully redeemed the title deed to the earth and essentially all that God created.

God is a God of order and specifics. He does nothing without thinking it through and crossing all the t’s and dotting the i’s (every jot and tittle). God does not nor would He ever consider skipping steps to get to an end result. He makes the rules and He fulfills them as well, expecting us, in His strength, to do the same thing. Failure to do what is always right is sin, which is why humanity fell in the first place. Yet, God continued to always do things correctly because He can do nothing else. There is no darkness (sin), in God whatsoever and one day, all who have received salvation through faith will live that same way, not that we will be God, but that we will live, think and speak in ways that always bring Him glory. We will never fail at it once our sin natures are removed (after death or Rapture).

One of the twenty-four elders refers to Jesus/the Lamb as “Lion of Judah/Root of Jesse” and this is the only place in the New Testament where these two titles appear together. Jesus is the Lion of Judah and His human lineage traces all the way back to King David, Israel’s second king. Because this Lamb overcame, He was found worthy to take and open the seven-sealed scroll. Jesus is worthy because He overcame, Satan, Sin and Death. It is through Him we will also overcome those three things ultimately.

In Revelation 5:6, we learn that this Lamb has seven eyes and seven spirits. This could allude to His full power and sovereignty over all Creation. Moreover, the seven eyes and seven spirits could also refer to the fullness of divine wisdom and discernment, not that there are actually seven individual spirits (cf Zechariah 4:10). Jesus always operates with full power and energy of the Holy Spirit. He did so while He lived life on this earth and does so now and will, throughout all eternal future.

Ultimately, Revelation 5 gives illustration of the ancient enthronement ceremony when kings ascended to the throne. The steps include:

• Exaltation (v5)
• Presentation (v6)
• Enthronement (v7)

What we are seeing in Revelation 5 is the transfer of power to Jesus because He was found worthy due to the fact that He overcame every obstacle placed before Him without ever succumbing to the temptation to sin. Once the enthronement of Jesus is established and completed, a new song is sung (v9). There is always celebration after a monarch has been installed to celebrate that occasion. How much more will we see all of Creation praising the Lord for the fact that He is the only rightful King? John sees all of Creation offering praise to God in Christ (v13). This looks ahead to the day when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess (Philippians 2:10-11). There will not be one creature who will not offer praise to our rightful God. Think of all the people today who choose to ignore, denigrate and even deny that God exists. These people will – of their own volition – offer praise to the Lord. Their mouths will not remain quiet. They will have no option. Yet, we have too many today trying to discount God, like Yuval Noah Harari and editors at the New York Times who essentially said we need to get rid of God. One day, they will bend the knee and confess with their tongues the very thing they denied during this life.

Entry filed under: eternity, Religious - Christian - End Times, Religious - Christian - Prophecy, Religious - Christian - Theology, salvation, second coming. Tags: revelation 5, the lamb.