Free Bible Commentary
“Revelation 5:1-5”
Categories: Revelation“I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?’ And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it; and one of the elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.’”
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As the scene shifts from the glory, power and supremacy of God sitting on His majestic throne in heaven in chapter four, to the execution of His perfect, divine will in chapter five, John sees “a book,” or scroll “written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals” in the Creator’s right hand (verse 1). That this book is replete with writing and bound with seven (the perfect number) seals indicates that God’s full, complete and absolute will is contained therein. The seals were “to safeguard the material from being tampered with or exposed to view and to assure its reaching the proper destination intact. The seal was usually of wax or other soft substance on which the owner’s or sender’s name or emblem was impressed by his signet-seal.” (Hailey)
A “strong angel” issued a daunting challenge “with a loud voice, ‘Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals (verse 2)?” No created being “in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it” (verse 3). Not one of the 24 elders or living creatures. No one had the authority or credentials to open the book, read the book, implement God’s plan. The will and mind of God can only be known to mankind when the Lord decides and desires to reveal it. John “began to weep greatly” (verse 4) “because it appeared that the purpose for which he had been caught up to heaven, ‘to see the things which must come to pass hereafter’ (4:1), would not be realized.” (Hailey) John must have been fearful that Satan and his ministers would wield their power unabated, and win the victory over his brethren in the faith.
But there is One. One who is both human and divine, both a Lion and a Lamb. There is One deemed worthy by a perfectly sinless life and an all-powerful resurrection that has the will and right to break the seals, unleash God’s judgment and execute His plan of righteousness. He is “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah” (verse 5). Israel promised and prophesied to his sons that “Judah is a lion’s whelp,” and “the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet” until God’s Anointed One, “the One to whom it belongs” (Shiloh), comes (Genesis 49:9-10). He is “the Root of David” (Isaiah 11:1-10). Jesus is both David’s descendant and His Creator and Lord (Matthew 22:42-45), and it was prophesied that God’s Son would enter the world as “a descendant of David according to the flesh” (Romans 1:1-4; 2 Samuel 7:12-16; Jeremiah 23:5-6; Acts 2:25-36).
The fact that Jesus fulfilled these Messianic prophecies qualified Him to “open the book and its seven seals” (verse 5), and to “overcome” the great nemesis of mankind, Satan, his arsenal of sin, and his dominion of death. Those of us who belong to Lord of hosts should “stop weeping” over the plight of humanity, and the fear and dread of pain and death. The Lion of the tribe of Judah has overcome our mortal enemy, and He rules with a fist of iron and yet with a gentle hand. If God is for us, no one can stand against us (Romans 8:31)!
Please read Revelation 5:6-10 for tomorrow.
Have a blessed day!
-Louie Taylor
