III. THE FUTURE (“THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BE HEREAFTER"), PART 1b--4:1-5:14
A. The Heavenly Vision--4:1-5:14
4. The Seven-sealed Book--5:1-14
a. The book--v. 1
(I)
In the hand of Him that sat on the throne--God Almighty, the Father
(A) The right hand signifies authority.
(B) The hand was opened and the book rested on the open hand.
(C) The open hand signifies that God on His part no longer was
to withhold His future purpose as
contained in this book.
(II)
The book itself
(A) Greek simply says biblion, a small book
(1) Can be a book as we know it
(2) Can be a scroll, like Old Testament books
were rolls (most probable)
(B) Written within and behind
(1) We would say, "front and back."
(2) Signifies completeness
(C) Sealed with seven seals
(1) Greek says, "sealed fast with seven seals."
(2) The question arises whether these seven seals
are the ones opened later.
(a) Unquestionably the seals
are the same.
(b) The roll, however, is
never indicated as actually opened.
(c) The opening of the
seals do not give us the contents as to the words, but rather give access
to
it.
(D) Significance
(1) After considering various opinions, Alford
(IV:605) states: "The opening of the seals, as notified
by the symbolic visions
belonging to each, does not relate to things past, but to things which
:were
yet future when this book
was written."
(2) The book reveals the events that will take
place during the great tribulation.
(3) That.this is the correct interpretation is
seen from Daniel 12:4.
b. The proclamation--v.
2
(I)
The proclaimer
(A) A strong angel
(B) Strength corresponds to a loud voice
(C) Undoubtedly just as it says, an angel--order unspecified;
may well be one of the archangels. This
writer is inclined to think it is Michael who
is generally associated with Israel (admittedly speculation).
(II)
The question
(A) Who is worthy to open the book?
(B) Who is worthy to loose the seals?
(C) The question is given, not because the angel did not know,
rather as a point of emphasis as to Whom
alone was worthy.
c. No one worthy--vv.
3, 4
(I)
No one not "no man" (although the word often has been rendered that way)
(II)
In heaven nor in earth or under the earth
(III)
To look upon it let alone open it
(IV)
Was the Lord in heaven?
(A) Yes!
(B) The emphasis would seem to be that no created one was
worthy.
(C) This, of course, excludes the Lord, for He is the
Creator not a created one.
(V)
The seer (John) sadden because no one was worthy.
(A) Prophet weeps, for he was promised in 4:1 to be shown future
things.
(B) The promise seemed to be frustrated by no one being worthy
to open the book.
(C) Incidentally, this incident shows that the book is of
prophetic nature and involves the future rather than
the past.
(D) One might criticize the dragging out, so to speak, of the
fact that no one was worthy, but it does
establish without question that there is One
and only One so worthy.
d. The Worthy One--vv.
5-7
(I)
The elder's message of comfort
(A) Weep not
(B) Behold the Lion,of the tribe of Juda, the root
of David, hath prevailed to open the book and loose
the seals.
(C) The Lion of the Tribe of Judah
(1) Genesis 49:9, 10
(2) The Lion speaks of royalty and rulership.
(3) Notice from 1 Samuel 17:12 that David was
of Judah
(4) Jesus Christ was born in Bethlehem of the
house and lineage of David--note Micah 5:2
(5) Obviously, this Lion is none other than the
Lord Jesus Christ.
(D) The Root of David
(1) Isaiah 11:10-12
(2) Note that He is the root of David,
yet a descendent of David--the Lord showed this in His
question to the
Pharisees--Matthew 22:41ff.
(II)
What the seer beholds
(A) The elder said., the Lion of the tribe of Judah.
(B) But John sees a Lamb.
(1) This confirms that the Lion is Jesus Christ,
the Lamb of God.
(2) As it had been slain
(a) "Wounded for me, wounded
for me, There on the cross He was wounded for me; Gone my
transgression,
and now I am free, All because Jesus was wounded for me." (W. G. Owens
&
Gladys Watkin
Roberts)
(b) Further proof that this
Lion-lamb is the Saviour, our blessed Lord
(3) In the midst
(a) Jesus is always in the
midst of His own.
(b) In the midst of the
throne
((I)) Hebrews 1:3b
((II)) Hebrew 8:1
(4) Seven horns
(a) Speaks of authority
(b) Speaks of power
(the horns of an animal are used for defense and offense)
(c) The number seven signifies
completeness.
((I)) Therefore,
complete authority
((II)) Therefore,
all powerful)
(5) Seven eyes
(a) Speaks of wisdom
and knowledge
(b) Therefore, perfect knowledge
and wisdom
(c) These are the seven Spirits
of God.
((I)) Completely
Spirit-filled
((II)) Completely
led of the Spirit
((III)) All
spiritual graces are His.
(d) Notice the Spirit is
sent forth into all the earth.
((I)) Speaks
of omnipresence
((II)) May
suggest the Spirit's work in judgment
(III)
The Lamb takes the book--v. 7
(A) Comes up to the Father
(B) Takes the book out of the hand of God Almighty;
it is not handed to Him. This may suggest several
passages of' Scripture.
(1) John 5:22, 27
(2) Romans 2:16
(3) Romans 14:10
(4) 1 Corinthians 3:9-15
(5) 2 Corinthians 5:10
(a) In particular, this book
has to do with the judgment of Israel rather than the judgment of
believers.
e. The renewed
worship--vv. 8-14
(I)
The four living creatures--v. 8a
(A) Fall down and worship together with the twenty-four elders
(B) A careless reading of this passage ( which many do)
would seem to say that the four living creatures
have harps and sing the new song in v. 9f .
(C) The symbolism suggests that this latter is not correct.
(1) Note: no grammatical reason either
way
(2) Inconsistent with the view that the four
living creatures represent angels that they should present the
prayers of the saints
(3) When a doubt exists as to interpretation,
one sometimes needs to consult other Scripture; this
writer has previously
shown that the four living creatures are angels and not part of the
church.
(II)
The twenty-four elders--vv. 8b-10
(A) They have harps.
(1) Probably a kind of guitar, but could
be a hand-held harp of some kind.
(2) Cf. Psalm 150:3
(3) Part of the justification for using
instruments in church worship, but this is a heavenly scene.
(B) The golden vials
(1) Full of incense
(a) Sometimes Roman.Catholics
refer to this passage as justification for their use of incense.
(b) However, this is a heavenly
scene, and also symbolic.
(2) Which is the prayer of saints
(a) The word "which" may
seem to refer to the incense.
(b) This would seem to give
support to the Roman Catholics use of incense.
(c) However, the word
incense is neuter whereas the word which is feminine.
(d) The word "vials," however
.is feminine and thus the word "which" can and probably does refer
to it.
(e) Again, this passage does
not give any justification for the Romanish idea that saints pray for us,
since this
is the heavenly view after the church is taken out of the earth.
(C) The new song
(1) Remember the loud cry of the angel
earlier--v. 2
(2) Now the church saints take up this fact and
cry, "Thou art worthy."
(a) He, and only He, is worthy
to take the book.
(b) He alone is worthy to
loose the seals.
(c) Jesus Christ. the Lamb
of God, the Lion of the tribe of Judah ever stands ready
and able to
reveal God's
future dealings with His people Israel.
(d) The reason for His worthiness
is given in vv. 9b-10
(3) Thou wast slain.
(a) He was set forth in verse
6 as the one who has been slain.
(b) The New Testament forever
connects the slain Lamb with redemption.
(4) Thou hast redeemed to God
(a) Most commentators say
the "us" should be omitted as not supported by the best of evidence.
(b) Covered in part when
discussing the twenty-four elders
(c) The “us” is,
however, in verse 10 and belongs there; thus, in this verse, it is implied
if not
actually
there.
(d) Redeemed through the
blood of Christ
((I)) Romans
3:25
((II)) Ephesians
1:7
((III)) Colossians
1:14
((IV)) Hebrews
9:14
((V)) 1 Peter
1:18.19
((VI)) 1 John
1:7
((VII)) Revelation
1:5
(5) Thou hast redeemed us out of every
kindred, tongue, people, and nation.
(a) the word ek is
clearly seen here in its primary meaning of "out of".
(b) Every kindred--every
tribe
(c) Every language--never
before the present has the gospel even been attempted to be given in
every language
(d) The quadrupling here--
represents itself universality
((I)) This
does not imply as some teach that every human will be saved or redeemed.
((II)) Notice
the ek, out of; it teaches that in the church, the body of Christ,
there is to be some
from every tribe, nation, language, and people.
(e) This is the importance
of the great commission.
((I)) Matthew
28:19, 20
((II)) Acts
1:8
(6) Thou hast made us kings and priests and they
shall reign on the earth.
(a) As indicated, the word
us is in doubt and some say it needs to be replaced by
them.
(b) But as indicated earlier,
in discussing the twenty-four elders, they could be singing of their
own
redemption
though it would be in the third person.
(c) NOTE: The hymn "The Church's
One Foundation" is in third person except for the last half of
the last stanza.
(d) The church is to be a
kingdom, not kings; howbeit the individuals are kings.
(e) The church is to be priests;
thus, they are a kingdom of priests--cf. Revelation 1:6.
(f) They shall reign on earth,
of course, with their risen Lord.
(g) Alford (IV:610)--"Here
we have three particulars: 1) that those who are brought to be God's
own are and
made into a kingdom, viz., God's,--2) (kai) that they are made
into priests,--3)
(kai)
that they are invested with kingly power."
(h) NOTICE: That kingly
power is to be exercised on EARTH.
(D) The numerous angels
(1) Saw many angels and heard their voice
(a) The word voice
is singular.
(b) The word could thus be
rendered "chorus".
(c) It suggests their singing
as being in unison--sang as one voice.
(2) Round about the throne and the beasts and
the elders--the idea is that these angelic beings were
surrounding them, i.,
e., was on all sides of them.
(3) Their number
(a) 10,000 x 10,000 =
108 or 100 million
(b) Thousands of thousands
(c) This would be, if taken
strictly literal, at least 101 million.
(d) However, John is doubtlessly
trying to convey the idea that these angels were innumerable
particularly
since the Greek word is myrios, countless.
((I)) This
idea is taken directly from Daniel 7:10.
((II)) Cf.
Hebrews 12:22 (same word)
(E) The angels' song
(1) Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.
(a) Christ is ever set forth
as the worthy One.
(b) Again, He is set forth
as the slain One.
(2) Worthy to receive power
(a)
Power--dunamis--active power
(b) Riches
(c) Wisdom
(d)
Might--ischus--ability, force, or strength--thus potential power
(e) Honor
(f) Glory--doksa
((I)) Basic
meaning is opinion or one's estimate
((II)) Thus
the commonly derived meaning of "Praise"
((III)) Also
used as a translation of the Hebrew word kabhodh, splendor or
brightness, hence
the derived meaning of "glory"
(g) Blessing--eulogia,
our English word "eulogy," but here only for that act passing from man to
God
(h) Undoubtedly the seven
terms here signifies "completeness."
(F) The song taken up by every creature
(1) The idea is that of animate
creatures--possibly excluding sinful man on earth who are soon to be
judged.
(2) Those in heaven
(a) Includes the four living
creatures.
(b) Includes the twenty-four
elders representing the Church
(c) Includes the innumerable
angels
(3) Those on the earth
(a) Includes all that has
breath with which to praise God and the Lamb
(b) Excludes possibly mankind
still on the earth as suggested above.
(4) Those under the earth
(a) Not devils
(b) Alford (IV:611)says it
refers to "the departed spirits in Hades.”
((I)) Objected
to because only the saved could so ascribed praise to God and the Lamb
((II)) No
saved left in Hades
((III)) Only
unsaved are now in Hades
((IV)) NOTE:
Hades is the abode of the dead. not to be equated to the Lake
of fire.
(c) The Only way that Alford
could be right is if God is forcing these who are under the earth to
ascribe praise
to Himself and His Son the Lamb--cf. Philippians 2:10 (In all fairness to
Alford,
this is what
he may have meant.)
(5) Those in the sea--self-explanatory
(6) The song
(a) Blessing and honor, and
glory, and power
((I)) First
three words are the same as elsewhere.
((II))
Power--kratos, force, strength, might, dominion--almost synonymous
with dunamis, but
the meaning seems to be "manifested power"--probably "dominion" is best here
(b) Ascribed to God the Father
and to God the Son, The Lamb
(c) Ascribed for ever and
ever--unto the ages of ages
(G) The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders response
(1) The four living creatures respond with "Amen."
(a) Their response should
be our response, too.
(b) Amen--here signifies
"So be it."
(2) The response of the twenty-four elders--the
church--is silent reverence and adoration.
(a) This grand song should
cause us to worship the eternal God.
(b) The silence here may
well suggest the solemnness of what is about to occur.