WORTHY IS THE LAMB
Revelation 5: 6-10 NKJV
6 And I looked, and behold, 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.
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. 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,
10 And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
There is a great amount of symbolism in the Book of Revelation. I try to not get bogged down in trying to determine what all of it means. For example, in our passage for today, the scriptures reveal the only one worthy to open the scroll is the Lamb. One of the elders described the Lamb as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. We know that the Lion of the tribe of Judah is Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. But the Lamb that John saw in his vision had seven horns and seven eyes. Jesus never walked the earth with seven horns and seven eyes, so there is most definitely symbolism taking place. I don’t try to figure out what all the symbols mean; I just work with what I do know.
I do know that Jesus was the Lamb slain on the cross for our sins. And so the song that the elders sang is a picture of what Jesus did for us. He was slain on the cross. But of course, He rose again. Jesus told John in Revelation 1:18 that He is the One who lives and was dead. He died on the cross and was placed in a tomb. Jesus continues in that verse to declare that He is alive forevermore. He will never die again, and He has the keys of Hell and death. To the conqueror go the spoils of power and authority.
Going back to the song the elders sang. We know that Jesus redeemed or brought us again to God. We were under the domain of darkness, but Jesus paid the price for our freedom. Thank God the scourge of slavery is long over in our country, but there was a time when people were bought and sold. If someone bought a slave, then they had the right to set them completely free. This is what Jesus did for us, buying us out of the authority of Satan so that now we belong to God. The price for our freedom was His blood that He spilled for the sake of all people.
So now we know that out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, no one was left out. For God so loved the world, which includes every people group, so that whoever believes can receive the salvation and freedom that is in Christ.
And we know that it is Jesus who has made us kings and priests to our God. This agrees with 1 Peter 1:9 and Revelation 1:6. In almost every Bible translation, made us kings is translated a kingdom of priests. However, there is Young’s Translation, a very old but scholarly translation of the scriptures that stays with kings and priests. In any case, we have been made into something that we could not make ourselves, so our position before God is because of the work of Jesus. And we will reign with Him on the earth. We believe that day is coming, but in the meantime, we can reign over the darkness and power of Satan in our own lives. Because of Jesus, the overcoming Lamb of God, we are no longer under the authority of darkness and are part of God’s triumphant and everlasting Kingdom.
So, there is much symbolism that I don’t know, but the truth that is revealed and supported by scripture is more than enough to build on and praise God for.
PRAYER
Thank you, Lord, for your willingness to die for mankind. Thank You that I have been able to receive the truth that makes me free. And thank You for making me a king and a priest unto our God.