House of Hope Online

January 26, 2025

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Today I want to share from Revelation Chapter 5, which is a key chapter in the Book of Revelation.  Part of what I share today is from the teaching of Mark Hitchcock of Tipping Point Ministries, which teaching can be found at endtimes.substack.com.

The 14 verses of Revelation 5 set the stage for all the other events prophesied in the great vision that Jesus gave John while John was exiled on the Island of Patmos.  Revelation 5 opens with John seeing the scroll being held by Father God.  The scroll was sealed with seven seals and the immediate problem was no one was worthy to break the seals and open the scroll.

Revelation 5:

 1 ¶ And 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.

 2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?”

 3 And no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look into it.

The Greek word for book in verse 1 means “scroll” and represents the inheritance of the will of God.  Like any Final Will and Testament, it must be opened to discern the will of the one who drafted it, the one who is bequeathing the inheritance to the beneficiaries. 

In this case, the inheritance includes the end times plan for God’s children to attain eternal salvation, and to be rescued from the evil that is destined to dominate the world in the meantime.  Thus, the scroll also contains the end times prophecies outlined in the Book of Revelation and elsewhere in the Bible.  The scroll represents the plan and the will of God, a plan that gives us an everlasting future and a hope.

John saw a strong angel proclaiming: “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” 

John observed that no one was worthy, so he began to weep.

Revelation 5:

 4 And I [began] to weep greatly, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look into it;

 5 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.”

A Profound Verse

Revelation 5:5 is a profound verse of scripture.  Out of everyone in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, only 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.”  So, out of everyone, only Jesus has overcome and is therefore considered worthy.  Only Jesus is worthy, not Adam, and Eve, not Abraham, not Moses, not Noah, not any of the apostles or disciples, not Mary, nor any saint declared by a religious denomination.  Only Jesus is worthy because only Jesus overcame temptation, sin, and death. 

The writer of Hebrews said this of Jesus: “For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as [we are, yet] without sin.” (Hebrews 4:15)

Only One is without sin.

The Lion and the Lamb

So, it is interesting that Revelation 5:5 refers to Jesus as the Lion of Judah, but in verse 6, when John looked, He saw a Lamb.

Revelation 5:

6 ¶ And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.

Mark Hitchcock points out a few things that I want to share:

1. John sees the Lamb that was slain which refers to Jesus’ first coming, but the elder in verse 5 referred to the Lion, a symbol of the Second Coming.  The Lion and the Lamb are the same guy: Jesus!
2. John saw a Lamb “standing, as if slain.”  The Greek word for “slain” means slaughtered violently.  The fact He was standing as if slain refers to His overcoming death.  Because He overcame, He was deemed by Father God as worthy to open the seals of the scroll.
3. The seven horns that the Lamb had represent power.  Jesus is coming again as all-powerful.
4. John saw the Lamb between the throne and the elders, which is symbolic of the centrality of Jesus.  He is the central figure for all eternity, and He has been the central figure throughout all history.  John 1:1 says: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”  Jesus is the Word.  No one else who walked the earth is worthy of our worship.

Significance of the Scroll

Revelation 5:

7 And He came, and He took [it] out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

Verse 7 represents a significant event.  Jesus goes to the Father who sat on the throne and took the scroll out of His hand.  In Revelation 6, Jesus begins to open the seals one by one, and with each broken seal the wrath of God begins to be poured out.  The first seal released a white horse and the one who sat upon it wore a crown, and he went out to conquer.  The second broken seal released a red horse and the one seated on it was given a sword to take peace out of the earth so that men would slay one another.  And so on.

The point is the wrath of God begins to be poured out upon the earth with each seal.  And then later in the Book of Revelation, the seven trumpets (Chapters 8-11) and the seven bowls (Chapters15-16) release increasingly severe wrath during the Tribulation.  In the middle of all this the antichrist establishes his deception in the earth.

Worship in Heaven

The good news is that we, the born-again Christian Church, will be in heaven with Jesus.  We will watch what John is describing in Revelation 5.  We will see Him take the scroll from the Father and begin breaking the seals.  And we will worship Him along with the 24 elders and the myriads of myriads of angels and other believers.  Verses 8-14 describe the awesome scene we will be part of.

Revelation 5:

8 And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

 9 And they *sang a new song, saying, “Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood [men] from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

 10 “And Thou hast made them [to be] a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

 11 And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands,

 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”

 13 And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, [be] blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”

 14 And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

(NASB)

Verses 11-12 are interesting.  They describe the loud worshipping voices of “myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands.”  In the King James Version, the expression for “myriads of myriads” is “ten thousand times ten thousand.”  If you do the math there, it amounts to 100 million, but many observers believe the reference means even more than that, i.e., an indeterminate number. 

Can you imagine 100 million saying with a loud voice: “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”?

That is in store for those of us who accept Jesus in our hearts.  And then we get to go to the wedding feast where Jesus takes the Church as His bride.

Invite Jesus In

If you haven’t received Jesus into your heart, I encourage you to pray this prayer and be part of the worship described in Revelation 5.

Father God, I repent of my sin, and I ask Your Son Jesus to come into my heart to change me.  I confess with my mouth that Jesus is Lord, and I believe in my heart what Your word says, that He died for the forgiveness of my sins , and You raised Him from the dead, so I too can have eternal life.  I believe that only He is worthy to open the seals that release Your wrath and commence the tribulation as prophesied in the Bible.  I praise You for the truth of Your word, and I ask the Holy Spirit to walk with me, that I might walk in wisdom and overcome the temptation of the devil.  In Jesus’ name I ask.  Amen.