Read with Me
Revelation 5:6-8 (NET)
Then I saw standing in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a Lamb that appeared to have been killed. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. Then he came and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne, and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground before the Lamb. Each of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense (which are the prayers of the saints).
Listen with Me
John was overjoyed to hear that someone, a single person in all of creation, was qualified to open the seals on the scroll that was in God’s right hand and reveal what was then going on in the world and how it would all turn out. When he heard that the one who was qualified was the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of David, traditional titles for the Messiah (5:5), he looked around for Jesus, who had called him into the heavenly throne room in the first place (4:1).
But what he saw was not Jesus as He had initially appeared to John (1:12-16), but a symbolic presence that revealed additional truths about Jesus. Jesus appeared as a lamb that had been slaughtered as a sacrifice, but which was now alive, standing in the midst of all that was going on around the throne. This lamb is unusual, because it had seven horns. Horns in the divine symbology typically used in the scriptures represents power. Thus, the Lamb of God, the Messiah, Jesus, is revealed to John as possessing complete and absolute power over everything. This is no victim, but one who, even in His death, retains and exercises complete power.
The lamb also had seven eyes, which John was allowed to see were the seven Spirits of God (or the seven-fold Spirit of God). This indicated that the Lamb of God was filled with all the fullness of God’s Spirit, just as Isaiah had foretold (Isaiah 11:1-3, 42:1). And because He possessed the Holy Spirit in all it His fullness, Jesus was able to send Him out into all the earth, not only to fill all God’s people, but also to convict the whole world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment (John 16:7-11).
This slain but now alive lamb strode forward boldly and took the sealed scroll from God’s hand. And with that action, all those gathered around God’s throne rejoiced, throwing themselves to the ground before the throne, rejoicing with a glad new song, and presenting incense before God, which John is quick to note is actually the prayers of God’s saints ascending before his throne.
The praise that swells before God comes from three distinct sources, each contributing to the song. Those gathered around God’s throne, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders, go first (verses 9-10). They are joined by myriads of angels filling heaven with verse two of the song (verses 11-12). Finally, they are joined by every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, and even in the sea (verses 13-14). We will explore each of these songs in the next three sections.
Pray with Me
Father, I am dazzled and filled with wonder at John’s record of what You revealed to him in this vision. I can’t even begin to imagine how he felt, seeing it all firsthand! Your glory and majesty are so much more than we usually imagine. So is the glory and majesty of Jesus. Even though He humbled Himself to become a man, a real human being (Philippians 1:5-11), that is not how He appears now. He is not the thin, blonde man that is depicted in so many portraits that hang on the walls in our homes and Church buildings. He is the risen and eternal Lamb of God, the exalted and all powerful Son of God, who even angels stand in awe of, and before whom all heaven and earth prostrate themselves. Lord, helped me to know You, and Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, not as I think You are, not even as I believe You are, but as You truly are, so that my own heart worships You as You are worthy to be worshiped, now and forever. Amen.