Read with Me
Revelation 5:1-5 (NET)
Then I saw in the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne a scroll written on the front and back and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a powerful angel proclaiming in a loud voice: “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. So, I began weeping bitterly because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. Then one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered; Thus he can open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Listen with Me
John’s attention has been all over the place, just trying to grasp all that he was seeing and hearing around him in God’s throne room. But now his attention was arrested by the extended hand of the One sitting on the throne. In that hand was a rolled-up scroll.
Normally, someone holding a scroll would have caused only mild interest. It was a common enough sight at that time. But a few things caused John to pay closer attention.
First, the one holding the scroll is not just a person, it was God. Told John that indicated that the scroll contained a revelation from God, and that made it of supreme importance. John had been promised that he would be shown what would happen very soon (1:1), what is and what will be after those things (1:19), and what would happen next in God’s plan (4:1). And he was suddenly certain that those things were written down in that scroll.
John noticed that the scroll was written on both sides. Most of what was contained in the scroll couldn’t be seen because the scroll was rolled up in God’s hand. But there were a few tantalizing glimpses that could be seen on the outside surface.
The scroll was sealed with seven seals. As stated earlier, the number seven represents perfection or completion in much of Scripture. This told John that this scroll contained God’s complete revelation about what was then happening in the world, why it was happening, and what the outcome would be. John was immediately seized with a passionate longing to see what was written on the scroll, for the answers that it alone could provide.
But his hopes were dashed. A powerful angel asked those assembled in the throne room who was worthy to break the seven seals and open the scroll to read it. But in the whole throne room, not a single being, not an angel, not a cherub, not one of the 24 elders raised their hand. And John himself knew that there was no way that he was worthy if none of these others were.
This was terrible news! Here were all the answers needed by John and by his brothers and sisters in Christ to see them through the crisis they were facing. Here was the guidance they needed to help them to know and take the next necessary steps. And they were out of his reach.
John found himself weeping uncontrollably out of frustration. He needed those answers! The whole Church needed them if they were going to be able to stand firm in the face of such powerful persecution.
But as he was weeping and wailing unashamedly in the presence of such an august assembly, one of the twenty-four elders approached him and told him to stop crying. Someone had been found who was worthy to open the seals and reveal what was written in the scroll: the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David. Both of those were well-known as prophetic titles for the Messiah. So, John hurriedly wiped his eyes and looked around for Jesus.
Pray with Me
Father, in reading this revelation, it is easy to get caught up in all the vivid sights and sounds and to forget John completely. He was a man who had gone through so much, and who was now frustrated and searching for answers, confused and on the edge of disillusionment. He wasn’t searching for answers as a theological quest. He desperately needed the answers so that he could keep on going. The Christians he was responsible for needed those answers for the same reason. The idea that the answers were right in front of him but inaccessible knocked the wind right out of him. Lord, help me to be just as passionate in my quest for the answers I need today. Never let me come to Your word casually, just strolling along hoping to find some jewel lying on the surface. Instead, help me to delve deeply, to ask hopefully, always in powerful pursuit of what I genuinely need to know today. Amen.