Now we get to the fun stuff, right? This is the part of Revelation everyone gets so intrigued about. I mean, the first 4 chapters are all well and good but now the action starts. We have seals breaking, bowls of wrath pouring and trumpets blasting and so many believe that these are all the things we are to be looking for in our future. Once again, if you are focused on playing armchair prophet, you will miss what's really going on.
And 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 strong 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 wept much that no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Weep not; lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
The scroll that is sealed represents the verdict of the Justice of God. The curse that we were under was sealed up. John wept bitterly at our desperate condition, we were guilty, we were hopeless. One of the elders tells him not to weep for the lion of the tribe of Judah, the son of David the King has conquered.
What has He conquered? Sin and death for those who accepted Him. By His victory, He has reconciled God's justice with His mercy, for those who accepted Him.
For those who accepted Him.
The question is what happens to those who didn't.
Imagine if you will, two books. The two books are formed by the irrefutable fact that God's justice must be satisfied.
Those who choose the red book, choose the blood book. By virtue of repentance, God's blood and God's Grace satisfy God's Justice with His mercy.
Those who choose the black book, the book of eternal death, choose to satisfy God's Justice themselves.
These will satisfy God's Justice eternally in hell.
Here is an example of the two-edged sword we talked about. The same blood that cleanses us, curses them, by their own implacable hatred and rash words.
Matthew 27:15 Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to release for the crowd any one prisoner whom they wanted. 16 And they had then a notorious prisoner, called Barab′bas. 17 So when they had gathered, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release for you, Barab′bas or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that it was out of envy that they had delivered him up. 19 Besides, while he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent word to him, “Have nothing to do with that righteous man, for I have suffered much over him today in a dream.”
20 Now the chief priests and the elders persuaded the people to ask for Barab′bas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor again said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release for you?” And they said, “Barab′bas.” 22 Pilate said to them, “Then what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” They all said, “Let him be crucified.” 23 And he said, “Why, what evil has he done?” But they shouted all the more, “Let him be crucified.”
24 So when Pilate saw that he was gaining nothing, but rather that a riot was beginning, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd, saying, “I am innocent of this righteous man’s blood; see to it yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered, “His blood be on us and on our children!”
These people committed the greatest act of evil in the history of the world. They killed God. Some later repented and were shown mercy. Some never did.
At death, the book of mercy close. The book of Justice opens.
What you are about to read in these coming chapters is about what happens to those who accepted Him and what happens to those who did not. It really is that simple. Which Book did you choose?
What you are about to see is the unsealing of the fulfilment of the Old Covenant with the new, the replacement of the old Passover with the new, the destruction of the old Jerusalem and replacing with the new. That is what is about to unfold here in graphic detail.
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.
The first thing that should strike you is the poetic, almost absurd, paradox you see here that was played out. The audience, so to speak, is expecting to see a roaring lion of Judah, a victorious Davidic King dressed in dazzling splendor.
and what do we behold? A slaughtered lamb.
The irony is just stunning! They searched all of heaven and earth and under the earth and could not find one powerful enough, worthy enough, to break the seals until the slain lamb, the meekest of creatures stepped forward.
The meek lamb that had been slaughtered, yet it had 7 horns which represent perfect power and seven eyes that are, again, the Seven Spirits of God. Omnipotence and Omniscience in the form of a slaughtered lamb.
The opposing forces of this image are just incomprehensible.
Remember, v5 calls Him the Lion and the Davidic King who has conquered. He conquered by being slaughtered. When people accuse Christians of inventing our faith, I laugh. No man could create a faith like this. It's too absurd! Victory by defeat. Conquest achieved by being Annihilated.
He now stands between the Throne and the Elders. He stands, literally, as the mediator between God and Man.
The lamb, who was led to slaughter without uttering a word in His own defense, now approaches the Ancient of Days and takes the scroll from His hand.
Now come 3 verses that should throw you for loop.
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 with golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; 9 and they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation,10 and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth.”
Do you have incense in your worship service?
Why not? It's a fixture in the Old Testament worship and here it is in the Book of Revelation. What is striking is what the incense is said to be and who it is offered by.
Ask a protestant what a saint is.
This, from Biblestudy.com
In the Bible, a saint is someone who is set apart for God’s special purposes2. The term “saint” is derived from the Greek word hagios, which means “holy” or “consecrated to God”2. In the New Testament, the word is used to describe believers who have been sanctified by their faith in Christ2.
Well. You have a problem. If the Saints are those consecrated to God, then the consecrated in Heaven are here offering the prayers of the consecrated on earth. They can't offer them if they don't receive them. Too many times I have heard the complaint that we are not to pray to dead saints in heaven because they cannot hear our prayers.
Jesus said in Mark 12:
24 Jesus said to them, “Is not this why you are wrong, that you know neither the scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God said to him, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living; you are quite wrong.”
So they aren't dead. Obviously, they can hear our prayers because they have collected them. Obviously, they are intercessors because here they are offering our prayers to Jesus.
So, why do we believe the Saints can intercede for us? It is because that is what the Bible shows us! We are literally following the model God gave us!
Further, God not only ransomed men from every tribe and nation by His blood but made them a Kingdom of Priests to reign on earth! Reign on earth? We have seen this before. That means authority. The Elders are literally confirming the authority of the Catholic Priesthood as God's authority on earth. These verses are impossible to reconcile with faith-alone ideology.
Let's review.
It's a kingdom. That denotes structure. They are Priests. That means they offer a sacrifice. They reign on earth. That denotes authority. There is no way that squares with Protestantism and the idea of a Bible alone.
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 therein, saying, “To him who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might for ever and ever!” 14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
This concludes our exposition of Chapter 5.
Chapter 6 will follow in the next episode.
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