Like the “son of man,” the Lamb approaches the throne of heaven. John writes, “I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain” - but not in weakness, but with great power: “with seven horns and with seven eyes” (5:6). One of the elders then turns to John to announce the good news: “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” (5:5).įinally John’s vision unveils its single greatest detail, advancing the “son of man” prophecy in Daniel 7, and echoing Stephen’s shocking peek at heaven’s throne where Jesus stood. The apostle senses the drama, and tragedy, of the moment, and says, “I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it” (5:4). None is worthy for this critical task - not the four creatures, not the elders, not the angels, not any mere human. John’s commentary is striking: “And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it” (5:3). Such a scroll represents God’s will and purposes for all of history, to be executed upon its opening.Ī mighty angel, with a loud voice, asks, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” (5:2). John then sees a sealed scroll in the right hand of God. The four creatures declare him to be “Holy, holy, holy,” and the elders fall down in worship and “cast their crowns before the throne” and tell of God’s infinite value:Īnd by your will they existed and were created. There he saw “a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne” (4:2), with twenty-four elders and four living creatures praising “the Lord God Almighty” (4:8). Jesus’s beloved disciple, exiled on the isle of Patmos, received a vision of “a door standing open in heaven” and heard the summons, “Come up here” (Revelation 4:1). Still, the greatest sight of heaven’s throne in all of Scripture was kept for the final book of the canon. Then, in Acts, after Christ’s ascension, the first Christian martyr, Stephen, looked into heaven and the saw the glory of God, with Jesus standing at his right hand (Acts 7:55). In perhaps the most revealing vision prior to the coming of Christ, the prophet Daniel, exiled in Babylon, saw the Ancient of Days on his throne, with an enigmatic figure called the “son of man” coming forward to receive power (Daniel 7:13–14). So too Ezekiel caught a glimpse of God on his chariot throne as he departed from Jerusalem (Ezekiel 1:26). Isaiah saw the Lord seated on his throne, with the hem of his garment filling the temple (Isaiah 6:1). Moses asked to see God’s glory on the mountain, and was given a glimpse of his trailing afterglow, while hiding in the cleft of the rock (Exodus 33:23). Jacob saw angels ascending and descending, with God standing above (Genesis 28:12–13). In a Book of stunning visions of God himself seated on the throne of heaven, none surpasses the one given to the apostle John in Revelation 4 and 5. Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! (Revelation 5:12)
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