(Rev. 5)
God appeals to His people in the prophet Isaiah to remember the former things of old, for He is God and there is none else. He is God and there is none like Him, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, “my counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure.” (Isa. 46:9, 109Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, 10Declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure: (Isaiah 46:9‑10).) None then can frustrate His counsels, however long He may delay their execution, nor will His purposes fall through from change of mind on the part of Him who has conceived them.
“The earth hath he given to the children of men” (Psa. 115:1616The heaven, even the heavens, are the Lord's: but the earth hath he given to the children of men. (Psalm 115:16)) is a thought which will comfort the remnant when taunted by the heathen with the nonappearance of their God, announcing to them and to us God's purpose about this world. Generation after generation has passed away; but the earth was formed for man, and man shall yet enjoy it as a grant from God. This purpose, first disclosed when Adam appeared on the scene as the lord of creation, Psa. 8 assures us God has not foregone. And that which John witnessed through the door opened in heaven tells us under whom, and by whom, it will be made good. In the hand of God on the throne was seen a book, written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals, which when opened disclosed the destiny of the earth. Beheld by John as a sealed book, who should open it? To this a strong angel now addressed himself, proclaiming with a loud voice, “who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?” The proclamation met with no response from any of the children of Adam.
Had God's purposes as regards the earth changed? He is unchangeable in His purposes. Why then was there no response? The angel had asked “who was Worthy:” hence all were silent. And this silence was most expressive, proclaiming the irremediable condition, as far as man was concerned, into which Adam and his descendants had got by the fall. That Adam had forfeited his place by the fall all will admit; but is the unwelcome truth accepted by all, that none can rescue themselves from the condition in which they are placed by it? Why then do we hear of attempts to merit God's favor, or to earn a title to stand in His presence? Whence spring the thoughts of regenerating the race by education and intellectual culture, but from the unwillingness of the natural man to believe that he is hopelessly corrupt, and utterly ruined by the fall? Have not most of the children of God found this lesson a very difficult one to learn? There is however a time when all must be truthful.
So the angel's question no one answered. Had he asked if any wished the book to be opened, surely multitudes would have responded in the affirmative; but the question being who was worthy to open it, and to loose the seals thereof, the silence which succeeded the loud voice of the angel remained unbroken. Man is a fallen creature; his conscience, if allowed to act, tells him of his condition; his efforts at amelioration only attest its continuance. Man in his nature is no better than he was when Adam and Eve passed out from the garden of Eden, for a nature cannot be changed, and the flesh cannot be made subject to God's law. (Rom. 8:77Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. (Romans 8:7).) All heaven heard the challenge, yet no one took it up. The elders, symbolical of redeemed souls who will walk with Christ (Rev. 3:44Thou hast a few names even in Sardis which have not defiled their garments; and they shall walk with me in white: for they are worthy. (Revelation 3:4)) arrayed in fine linen white and clean, expressive of their righteous acts (Rev. 19:14, 814And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean. (Revelation 19:14)
8And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. (Revelation 19:8)), and whom John saw seated on thrones, and unmoved at the tokens of God's majesty, were unable to stand the test to which the one who should open the book must conform. John the beloved disciple heard the angel's words, and was silent. For “no one in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.” How completely man was silenced by these simple words of the angel, “who is worthy!”
Man, whether sinner or saint, is equally unworthy as regards himself to disclose earth's destiny; could an angel then take the book and open it? No, for unto the angels hath God “not put in subjection the world to come.” (Heb. 2:55For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world to come, whereof we speak. (Hebrews 2:5).) It was never God's intention that angels should lord it over this creation, and such a sight would never have been witnessed had man continued faithful to God. It was Adam who opened the door to Satan, to have power over the scene, in which the Lord God had placed man. It is therefore, and must be, an abnormal condition of things on earth, so long as Satan is the god of this world; for, when things shall get into their right places, man, not angels, will be found ruling here below.
But where could be found the man worthy of this place, which Adam had forfeited and no saint could acquire? John wept, and we can surely understand it, because no one was found worthy to open the book, neither to look thereon. Amongst those represented by the elders will be apostles, prophets, patriarchs, martyrs, all of whom had failed to come up to the required standard, for the taint of the fall had infected them all. How Satan had apparently triumphed! Man's ruined condition was here acknowledged. A man, but one not involved in Adam's guilt, alone could answer to the challenge. This one the elder introduces, as he speaks to the apostle who wept, “weep not, behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book” (or as some would read, “hath overcome, who opens the book) and the seven seals thereof.”
Let us mark well the language. The angel had asked, “who was worthy:” and the elder introduces One who had overcome: a term most significant, telling of victory over Satan who had assumed domination over the earth. It is not what He was in Himself, His intrinsic excellency, of which the elder speaks, but of what He had done, and of His relation to the government of the earth. He had overcome, ἐνίκησεν. Such language applied to Adam before the fall would have been unsuited, and surely unintelligible. He had to maintain his position by obedience; this one had to contend with powers arrayed against Him. He had done so, and was victorious. All Satan's efforts to get this earth for himself had been baffled. He, who had overcome Adam, was overcome by the woman's Seed. This designation, the overcomer, tells of His work, but tells of the fall likewise. This characterizes the man of God's purpose, and it will characterize all who shall be associated with Him in His kingdom.
To this characteristic the elder links two titles, descriptive of His relation to earth, the lion of the tribe of Judah, and the root of David. But these names are suggestive of the unchanging purposes of God, for they carry us back in thought to scenes of ancient date. The lion of the tribe of Judah recalls to our remembrance Jacob's dying bed, and the root of David, Nathan's visit to the king. Under the protecting shield of Pharaoh's rule Jacob found a resting place and was fed, whilst the famine pressed sore on the land, and, led by the Spirit of God, he looked beyond things present, and spoke of One to spring from Judah, to whom should the gathering of peoples be םיִּמַע (Gen. 49:1010The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be. (Genesis 49:10)). To sense nothing seemed more unlikely, to faith all was plain. Indebted to Pharaoh's kindness for a place of sojourn in Goshen, he predicted that one descended from himself should lord it over Egypt, the powerful kingdom of that day, and be the acknowledged center for the whole world. The lion of the tribe of Judah speaks to us of power, which man cannot withstand, for What, said the Philistines to Samson, is stronger than a lion? But it is power, called out against enemies for their destruction, when opposed to Him who will wield it. This then takes us on to the future, whilst the root of David takes us back to the past. As the first of these titles tells us what He will do, the second takes us, as it were, behind the curtain to disclose to us the source of kingly power at Jerusalem. He will sit on David's throne as David's son (Psa. 110:11<<A Psalm of David.>> The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool. (Psalm 110:1); Luke 1:3232He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: (Luke 1:32)), yet He is the root from which that kingly power sprung. Just the opposite of Isa. 11:11And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: (Isaiah 11:1) is this announcement of Rev. 5:55And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. (Revelation 5:5). There He is described as a rod out of the stem of Jesse, that which He will appear to outward eyes; here we learn the real nature of the sovereign power which David was the first to wield. Thrones on earth are overturned, and dynasties change, but on David's throne no dynasty but one will ever sit, and He who is its last occupant in point of time is the root of David in reality. For years that throne remained untenanted, to the eye of sense it is still vacant; but we know to whom it belongs, and where He is who will openly sit upon it. John saw Him in heaven, and the elders proclaimed Him as its occupant, and the source of its power. Unchanging then are God's counsels, and, while we wait, their accomplishment, we know that the Lord Jesus awaits in heaven the hour for His reappearance on earth. Are men satisfied with the balance of power and arrangement of sovereign rights as they now exist on earth? God, we may say, is not; for, till His Son occupies the throne of David, which He has given to Him, the due adjustment of things on earth will not be effected. Are we then to wait for an unknown person to rise up and do this? No. God's king is now in heaven, and those whose hearts are in unison with God's thoughts will own it and wait for Him. The second man has been on earth, and is in heaven, expecting till His enemies be made His footstool.
The words of the elder gave a new direction to John's thoughts. “I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.” The elder had spoken of the relation of the Lord Jesus to earth as God's king. John tells us of His intrinsic excellency. From each comes the suited testimony. The description of the elders, as crowned and on thrones, connects them with the kingdom of which they naturally speak, but the saint, whilst still on earth, should discern the excellency of Him who is both God and man. “A Lamb as it had been slain” speaks of His humanity, the horns and the eyes are connected with His divinity. Perfection of power and perfection of vision, suited to take in all that goes on earth, belong to Him. The four living creatures were full of eyes within, but the Lord Jesus has seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God. Nothing an escape His sight, and none can withstand His power. Universal supremacy therefore belongs to Rim, and He will maintain it. But is this what men think of, and what the world looks for? John in Patmos was a witness to the power of the Roman Emperor, to whose decree he had to bow; but whilst there he saw One in heaven, whose power all on earth shall one day feel and acknowledge; nor those on earth only, for Satan too will be subject to Him who is characterized by the possession of seven horns. How different are God's thoughts and ways from those which man would connect together! How often have pride and ungoverned temper been found in those entrusted with power over their fellow-creatures! Gentleness and a subject will are here associated with perfection of power and of vision. The One who bore the horns and had the eyes John saw “as a Lamb which had been slain.”
Here too may we not ask ourselves, Are our thoughts in unison with those of God? The great events which occupied men's minds when the Lord was on earth who now thinks of? The grandeur and wealth of the Caesars have long passed away, their remembrance survives only in history. Who is now grateful to them for favors received? who speaks of them as those in whom they are personally interested? Their works may some day be quite forgotten, but a work done when Tiberius was on the throne will never fade from the memory of those in heaven; one born, when Augustus ruled at Rome, will be had in everlasting remembrance. John beheld a Lamb as it had been slain. The marks of His passion were seen even in heaven, for what He suffered on Calvary will forever and ever be remembered. Surely one must feel in the presence of such a fact as this, how trifling are the great events which men commemorate in comparison with that which they well nigh forget; another witness to the condition of man's heart; for what God remembers and His saints will ever celebrate, is just that in which man often feels no interest. As creatures, things around will make some impression, but as immortal beings; should not the Lord's death for sinners make the deepest impression? May it be that, what in heaven is always remembered, is that to which we can always respond!
From the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, the Lamb came and took the book out of the hand of Him that sat on it; and all heaven was moved to worship. The angels pronounce Him worthy to receive all power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing, for He has been slain; all creation joins to pay Him divine honor in company with the Lord God Almighty sitting on the throne; but the elders speak in a different key, for they own Him as the Second man, to whom it belongs to disclose the destiny of this earth. The first Adam had failed. To the challenge of the angel none could reply. By silence man's ruin was admitted. Now the elders speak of His fitness to open the book, and thus become witnesses, by their language, of what the fall has done, as well as of the unchanging purpose of God. All eyes and thoughts are directed to the Lamb, who stands out by the admission of the elders as the acknowledged head, under whom alone, and because of what He has done, God's plans for this universe shall be carried out in all their completeness. “Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; for thou roast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made them unto our God kings and priests, and they shall reign on the earth.”
Here again we may note how all is in keeping. For as the government of the world was not originally committed unto angels but to man, the angels say nothing about the opening of the book. That comes from the elders, and rightly so. The faithfulness of the Lord Jesus to God the elder had spoken of, for He had overcome: of the result of His obedience, as it affects man, the elders in a body bear witness. All of them had been involved in the consequences of Adam's transgression, all of them share in the fruit of the death of the Lamb. “Thou hast redeemed us by thy blood” is a plain acknowledgment of their condition by nature, and of their standing by virtue of the atonement which He has effected. If we retain the pronoun “us,” in chapter v. 9, we have two classes of saints referred to; those already in heaven, and those on earth, not forming part of the Church, but destined to share in heavenly glory, whose prayers the elders hold in the golden vials full of odors. “Thou hast redeemed us, and made them.” If we omit the pronoun “us,” the elders must be understood as occupied wholly with saints in trial on earth. All here, however, is ascribed to the Lamb. Honor, wealth, dignity, belong to Him, because He was slain; dignity and power the redeemed ones in heaven will enjoy, because of His finished work for them. No works done on earth have earned them this dignity of kings, or this place of priests; the Lamb has done it all. “Thou hast made them kings and priests unto our God.” From Adam, from themselves, they look away, and, proclaiming what the Lamb has done, put their seal to God's judgment of us all as descendants of the first Adam, begotten after his likeness, and await the full accomplishment of all His counsels by the man of His choice, His own well-beloved Son, the Second man, the Lord from heaven. C. E. S.