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| In-Depth Study of The Book of Revelation Chapter 5 By Rabbi Esther Boucher |
Verse 1
And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the
back, sealed with seven seals.
The scroll that John sees contains the full account of what G-d has in store for the world. The
seven seals indicate the importance of its contents. The seals are located throughout the scroll
so that as each one is broken more of the scroll can be read to reveal another phase of G-d's plan
for the end of the world. Only Christ is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. While in
awe John informs us that both sides of the scroll is written upon thus it is a full book, and the
judgements and woes pronounced by this scroll are full and known in detail before they occur.
Verse 2 - 4
Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and
to loose its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open
the scroll, or to look at it. 4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read
[a] the scroll, or to look at it.
No one was worthy. Since the opening of this book brings speedy judgement to the rebellious
earth. This was referring to no man.
Verse 5
But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root
of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose[b] its seven seals.”
The Tribe of Judah's ancient symbol is a lion. The Messiah was to come from Judah. He was to
sit on David's throne and was to be of the Davidic royal line, the line of the Kings of Judah, the
Southern Kingdom. By Jeremiah's time the royal line of David was almost destroyed and the
Davidic Kinds of his day were among the worst sinners and came under Babylonian capture. Yet
G-d promised that someday out of the cut down tree of David's Kingly line would a truly righteous
King emerge as a shoot from the roots which still remained (Isa. 10:33) This shoot, this branch,
was the Messiah Jesus and it is of Him that this verse speaks as the root of David.
Verse 6-7
And I looked, and behold,[c] in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in
the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the
scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
As John gazes at the throne having just heard of the Lion of Judah suddenly he beholds the slain
lamb which now lives. Jesus is seen to be both the Lion and the Lamb. At His first coming Jesus
came meekly as the Lamb of G-d to die a sacrificial death so that all who trust Him might be saved
from the just penalty of their sin. At His second coming he will come as a strong lion to judge the
ungodly. Christ comes as deity with 7 horns symbolic of complete power and strength and seven
eyes symbolic of complete knowledge.
Verse 8
Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell
down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the
prayers of the saints.
In this verse we clearly have an act of adoration and worship. In this scene we see these
heavenly creatures holding instruments which make music to praise the Lord. From this we ought
to observe two things.
1.) Those who oppose the using of any and all musical instruments in the church worship service
are in error.
2.) The prayers of the saints are not lost, they are preserved by G-d as seen here in the vials until
His time for their answering. The 24 elders having the prayers of the saints further confirms to us
thtat these are the representatives of the redeemed who are with Christ in Heaven.
Verse 9
And they sang a new song, saying:
“ You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
People from every nation are praising G-d before His throne. G-d's message of salvation and
eternal life is not limited to a specific culture, race or country. The song that sang of these things
was not a psalm or hymn that John had ever heard before, it was a new song.
Verse 10
And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
The result of the redemption is that the believer has been taken from his state of utter separation
from G-d and has been cleansed and elevated to a position of true dominion and to a position of
direct access to G-d. We shall reign on the earth during the thousand year millennial reign of
Christ and is the Eternal State forever after.
Verse 11
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and
the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of
thousands,
As the Lamb takes the book all of the heavenly host break into a joyous voice. The time has at
last come when the rebellious sinners of the earth are to be judged and their dominion is to be
taken away from them. The numbers given show us the staggering multitude of spiritual
creatures, the angels who inhabit heaven. Angels are spiritual beings created by G-d who help
carry out his work on earth. They bring messages, protect G-d's people, offer encouragement,
give guidance, bring punishment, patrol the earth, and fight the forces of evil. There are both
good and evil angels.
Verse 12 - 14
saying with a loud voice:
“ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in
the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“ Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and
worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
Here the glorifying of the Lamb spreads in successively outward concentric circles before John's
ecstatic eyes and ears. The four living creatures, the 24 elders, numberless angels and all the
creatures of the universe are seen glorifying the father on the throne and the Lamb.
Recap
The scene in Chapter 5 shows a mighty angel calling out for someone worthy to break the seals
and unroll the scroll. But no one responds. The sight causes a rush of emotion in John and
brings him to uncontrollable weeping. But John hears another voice, telling him not to weep.
There is hope. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has triumphed. He has authority
to open the scroll and its seven seals. The Lamb takes the scroll. Everyone in heaven falls
before him in worship and then breaks forth in a song of praise to the Lion who has triumphed by
becoming the Lamb of G-d who takes away the sin of the world. Because of human rebellion, the
sons of Adam have not been able to fulfill G-d's command to subdue the earth (Gen. 1:28) Satan,
G-d's adversary has become the G-d of this age (2 Cor. 4:4) and the ruler of this world (John
12:31, 14:30; 16:11). But Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah, became the Lamb of G-d to defeat the
devil and redeem us (Heb. 2:14-15). In Him and through Him we will fulfill our calling to subdue
the earth and bring honor to G-d.
Revelation 5 portrays Christ as the Lion - Lamb who alone is worthy to initiate the series of
judgement that will break the power of Satan - led human rebellion. Christ is the G-d - man
who is worthy to release the anger of G-d that will subdue the earth and bring every enemy
into submission.
And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the
back, sealed with seven seals.
The scroll that John sees contains the full account of what G-d has in store for the world. The
seven seals indicate the importance of its contents. The seals are located throughout the scroll
so that as each one is broken more of the scroll can be read to reveal another phase of G-d's plan
for the end of the world. Only Christ is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll. While in
awe John informs us that both sides of the scroll is written upon thus it is a full book, and the
judgements and woes pronounced by this scroll are full and known in detail before they occur.
Verse 2 - 4
Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and
to loose its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open
the scroll, or to look at it. 4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read
[a] the scroll, or to look at it.
No one was worthy. Since the opening of this book brings speedy judgement to the rebellious
earth. This was referring to no man.
Verse 5
But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root
of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose[b] its seven seals.”
The Tribe of Judah's ancient symbol is a lion. The Messiah was to come from Judah. He was to
sit on David's throne and was to be of the Davidic royal line, the line of the Kings of Judah, the
Southern Kingdom. By Jeremiah's time the royal line of David was almost destroyed and the
Davidic Kinds of his day were among the worst sinners and came under Babylonian capture. Yet
G-d promised that someday out of the cut down tree of David's Kingly line would a truly righteous
King emerge as a shoot from the roots which still remained (Isa. 10:33) This shoot, this branch,
was the Messiah Jesus and it is of Him that this verse speaks as the root of David.
Verse 6-7
And I looked, and behold,[c] in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in
the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven
eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the
scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
As John gazes at the throne having just heard of the Lion of Judah suddenly he beholds the slain
lamb which now lives. Jesus is seen to be both the Lion and the Lamb. At His first coming Jesus
came meekly as the Lamb of G-d to die a sacrificial death so that all who trust Him might be saved
from the just penalty of their sin. At His second coming he will come as a strong lion to judge the
ungodly. Christ comes as deity with 7 horns symbolic of complete power and strength and seven
eyes symbolic of complete knowledge.
Verse 8
Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell
down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the
prayers of the saints.
In this verse we clearly have an act of adoration and worship. In this scene we see these
heavenly creatures holding instruments which make music to praise the Lord. From this we ought
to observe two things.
1.) Those who oppose the using of any and all musical instruments in the church worship service
are in error.
2.) The prayers of the saints are not lost, they are preserved by G-d as seen here in the vials until
His time for their answering. The 24 elders having the prayers of the saints further confirms to us
thtat these are the representatives of the redeemed who are with Christ in Heaven.
Verse 9
And they sang a new song, saying:
“ You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
People from every nation are praising G-d before His throne. G-d's message of salvation and
eternal life is not limited to a specific culture, race or country. The song that sang of these things
was not a psalm or hymn that John had ever heard before, it was a new song.
Verse 10
And have made us kings and priests to our God; And we shall reign on the earth.”
The result of the redemption is that the believer has been taken from his state of utter separation
from G-d and has been cleansed and elevated to a position of true dominion and to a position of
direct access to G-d. We shall reign on the earth during the thousand year millennial reign of
Christ and is the Eternal State forever after.
Verse 11
Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and
the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of
thousands,
As the Lamb takes the book all of the heavenly host break into a joyous voice. The time has at
last come when the rebellious sinners of the earth are to be judged and their dominion is to be
taken away from them. The numbers given show us the staggering multitude of spiritual
creatures, the angels who inhabit heaven. Angels are spiritual beings created by G-d who help
carry out his work on earth. They bring messages, protect G-d's people, offer encouragement,
give guidance, bring punishment, patrol the earth, and fight the forces of evil. There are both
good and evil angels.
Verse 12 - 14
saying with a loud voice:
“ Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in
the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“ Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
14 Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and
worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
Here the glorifying of the Lamb spreads in successively outward concentric circles before John's
ecstatic eyes and ears. The four living creatures, the 24 elders, numberless angels and all the
creatures of the universe are seen glorifying the father on the throne and the Lamb.
Recap
The scene in Chapter 5 shows a mighty angel calling out for someone worthy to break the seals
and unroll the scroll. But no one responds. The sight causes a rush of emotion in John and
brings him to uncontrollable weeping. But John hears another voice, telling him not to weep.
There is hope. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has triumphed. He has authority
to open the scroll and its seven seals. The Lamb takes the scroll. Everyone in heaven falls
before him in worship and then breaks forth in a song of praise to the Lion who has triumphed by
becoming the Lamb of G-d who takes away the sin of the world. Because of human rebellion, the
sons of Adam have not been able to fulfill G-d's command to subdue the earth (Gen. 1:28) Satan,
G-d's adversary has become the G-d of this age (2 Cor. 4:4) and the ruler of this world (John
12:31, 14:30; 16:11). But Jesus Christ, the Lion of Judah, became the Lamb of G-d to defeat the
devil and redeem us (Heb. 2:14-15). In Him and through Him we will fulfill our calling to subdue
the earth and bring honor to G-d.
Revelation 5 portrays Christ as the Lion - Lamb who alone is worthy to initiate the series of
judgement that will break the power of Satan - led human rebellion. Christ is the G-d - man
who is worthy to release the anger of G-d that will subdue the earth and bring every enemy
into submission.
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