Revelation 5:1-10 The Lamb is worth to open the book

Revelation 5:1-4 The book  and its seven seals are explained later on. In the theatre of heaven, the uniqueness of Jesus' qualification is emphasized by asking the question. One has to be worthy to break the seals and open this book. No man and no angel is worthy. John lamented much because of this.

Revelation 5:5-10 The  Lion of the tribe of Judah, who is also the Lamb who was slain, is worthy. Although He took the form of man, He is God. He has seven horns and seven eyes. When He takes the book, which only He can open, the four living creatures and twenty four elders break into a new song, explaining the reason for His worthiness.

          How is the Lion also a Lamb? The mixture of metaphors highlights the uniqueness of Christ. He is at the top of the food chain, but voluntarily chose to become the sacrifice lamb, prey for the evil that opposes God, because in doing so He could rescue mankind from the folly and the penalty of our sin. This is portrayed very well in the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, when Aslan explains why he will surrender to the witch, in order to rescue the traitor Edmund.

          What do seven horns and seven eyes symbolize? The seven spirits of God, discussed earlier, that are sent into all the earth. In this way, we see the unity of the Trinity. Horns typify authority, and eyes, as we saw earlier with the four living creatures, speak of seeing all that happens on the earth, everywhere, all the time.

          Having established the essential character and nature of this one who is uniquely worthy, John describes the act of His taking the book from the hand of God the Father.  This act triggers another stanza of worship, which focuses on the reason for the unique worthiness of the Lamb to take and unseal this book.

          When we later see the contents of this book, we may be puzzled by this reaction. For the book contains the terrifying judgments that will be poured out on the earth in preparation for the second coming of Christ to the earth. Why is the Lamb worthy to open it? It is because He was slain and purchased with His blood people from every part of humankind, to become a kingdom of priests to the one true God. Only He can compassionately administer the justice that God's holiness demands, so that if anyone can be rescued from the consequence and power of sin, it is He that can do it. And the people He has rescued will share in the administration of His kingdom because they have partaken of Him. So the book being opened imminently is cause for worship because it will bring this to pass upon the earth.

          The cost of the coming judgments in human terms will be staggering. The closest Old Testament parallel is recorded in Jeremiah and Ezekiel, in which chapter after chapter documents the outpouring of God's wrath on Jerusalem for the sins of Israel. Now this same wrath will be poured out on all mankind. But the elders and seraphim sing, celebrating the worthiness of the Lamb. No one sang when Jerusalem was destroyed, except Lamentation. The difference is that this judgment will prepare the way for the administration of God's kingdom on the earth. Jesus brought God's kingdom to the earth (Mark 1:15), but people could not see it (John 3:3-5). We must be born again to even see and recognizes it, but the worldly ways of mankind must be judged and removed in order for us to live it. The reign of the redeemed upon the earth is indeed cause for celebration.

          This dynamic is present in the life of each individual believer. We are so immersed in the world system that we have great difficulty in allowing our redeemed self actually rule in our own life. (Romans 7:14-25) God's judgment on the things in our life, those sinful and fleshly things in rebellion against the law of God, must be strong enough to destroy their power. In Christ, thru the power of the Holy Spirit, we are freed from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:2-4) But if we are unable to experience this freedom from sin in any other way, God's delivering grace is so intense that He will take care of this through a terrible and powerful judgment. Then we, too, will sing the song of the redeemed.