Chapter Five

Vision of the Lamb: a mystical book sealed with seven seals (1–4). Appearance of what seems a slain Lamb with seven horns and seven eyes (5–7), a new song of praise to the one sitting on the throne and the Lamb from the 24 elders and the host of heaven-dwellers, including the four creatures (8–14).

Revelation 5:1. And I saw in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals. The truth that the Lord is the ruler and judge of the world, only sketched in the song of the angels and in the vision itself, is revealed in more detail before the eyes of the holy John in the gradual manifestation of various exhibitions of divine governance and judgment. The vision of chapter 5 is precisely one of the exhibitions of divine governance as the foundation of God’s judgment. As the conjunction “and” shows, the fifth chapter is a continuation of the fourth and belongs to the same vision and is only its further unfolding. The holy John saw a book on the open palm of the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. The right hand of the one sitting serves as the symbol both of divine omnipotence and of divine providential activity. The book seen by John appears in the form of a parchment scroll, as prophetic writings were commonly written, and was written inside and outside and sealed with seven seals. The writing on both sides presupposes richness of content which could not fit on one side of the scroll. The scroll was one but consisted of seven folds—parts which were separated from one another by seals; as the seals were removed, the scroll itself would unroll further and further and reveal its content. The seals themselves could be placed on the edge of the scroll. To the question about the content of the book, the answer should be that its content is all that is revealed after the seals are removed.

Revelation 5:2. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals? Revelation 5:3. And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it. Keeping his view of the heavenly throne, John sees an angel flying across the sky who is called mighty, as he should be the messenger of the great God. The angel asks not who wants to open the book but who is worthy, who has such moral perfection and holiness before the Lord as to be able to receive the revelation of God’s judgments. God reveals to people his will, but reveals it only to those worthy and through those worthy. But no one answered the question of the mighty angel. Among all rational creatures there was found not a single one who would be worthy to open the book and see its content. The text speaks no longer of removing seals but of contemplating what is contained in the book, because removing seals is equivalent to contemplating itself. Here is a foretelling of the peculiarities of the form and content of apocalyptic revelation.

Revelation 5:4. And I wept greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or even to look into it. John wept over what he as it were lost, what he could not learn from the sealed book, but what he considered very necessary for the knowledge of people and for guidance in their life.

Revelation 5:5. And one of the elders said to me, Do not weep; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome, and can open the book and its seven seals. The designation of lion, used by the elder, is taken from Gen 49:9, and in application to Jesus Christ, whom the Lamb represents here, means a mighty victor, a king through his incarnate nature. In the deepest sense of the latter word, Jesus Christ is named the Root of David: in him flows the same blood as in the veins of David, just as in the branch there is preserved a part of the sap which before all exists in the roots. The victory over death and the ascension to heaven gave Jesus Christ the right and henceforth to be for people the sole mediator before God and sole teacher, that is, through John to communicate to people the divine revelation regarding the mysterious future.

Revelation 5:6. And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders a Lamb standing, 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. The image of a slain lamb points to the victory of Jesus Christ, which gave him the right to communicate to people the divine revelation. This right consisted in the fact that he was a lamb slain for the sins of the world; the expression “as if it had been slain” means that Jesus Christ appeared to John with such marks which are proper to a slain lamb, that is, with the wound of slaughter. The seven horns of the Lamb, as a sacred number and the number of completeness (Ps 11:7, Ezek 29:21; Dan 7:8), signify the completeness of the might of Jesus Christ as God-man and Redeemer. As to what must be understood by the seven spirits of God, it is better to agree with that opinion which holds that here, as in Rev 1:16 and Rev 4:1, under the seven spirits must be understood the Holy Spirit with his gracious gifts which rest upon Jesus Christ and dwell among believers, pouring out abundant grace of redemption upon them.

Revelation 5:7. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of the One sitting on the throne. “He took the book...” How did he take it? asks Cornelius a Lapide, and answers: with his feet; but this must be understood symbolically. But it is better not to ask such questions at all in explaining apocalyptic visions, in which much of the particulars remained unclear even to the seer himself.

Revelation 5:8. And when He took the book, 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. The common falling of both the creatures and the elders must be understood as an indication of the particular solemnity of the moment. The harps are indeed actual instruments which the seer saw in the hands of the elders; therefore the sounds of the harps were actual, just as the song itself, the content of which is transmitted further, was actually heard. Only of the bowls, which remind one of the incense holders of the Old Testament priests, is it said that they were a symbol of the prayers of the saints. The elders also appear as representatives of the saints, offering their prayers to the Lord God.

Revelation 5:9. And they sing a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the book and to break its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You redeemed us to God from every tribe and language and people and nation, Revelation 5:10. and made us kings and priests to our God; and we will reign on the earth. Revelation 5:11. And I saw and heard the voice of many angels around the throne and of the living creatures and of the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, Revelation 5:12. saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. Worship and the offering of incense are accompanied by the elders with a song of praise, which is called a new song because of a certain novelty of its content: Jesus Christ the Lamb is presented as the redeemer of all humanity, without any distinction of people by tribes, language, by kindred and nation. In this song the elders, distinguishing themselves as intercessors and prayer-bearers, give thanks and glorify the Lord God for all other Christians living on earth. They give thanks for the fact that by the mercy of God Christians now constitute on earth the kingdom of Jesus Christ, where each member of the church can and should offer God his own soul and together with his priest, as if being a priest himself, actively participates in the offering of the bloodless sacrifice. Together with this, Christians, as members of the kingdom of Christ, even now reign on earth inasmuch as they manifest in themselves that moral power which distinguishes each true Christian and which has been repeatedly and clearly manifested in the life of great Christian ascetics. Similarly, the four creatures and the elders and the innumerable angels glorified the one sitting on the throne as if on behalf of all bodiless powers. The angels praise those general attributes of Jesus Christ through which in the redeemed world was established a better order, unity, and perfection.

Revelation 5:13. And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all the things in them, I heard saying, To the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever. By heavenly creatures must be understood all the remaining angels, who were not comprehended by the holy John in Rev 5:11. By creatures dwelling on earth must be understood both people and other inhabitants of the earth’s surface (Rom 8:19-22). By subterranean creatures cannot be understood demons and condemned people, because Holy Scripture in general does not allow for the glorification of the all-holy God on the part of demons and sinners (Acts 16:17-18). It is more natural that subterranean creatures are those which have their dwelling place below the earth’s surface. All creatures give to the one sitting on the throne and the Lamb blessing, glory, honor, and power (Rev 1:6).

Revelation 5:14. And the four living creatures were saying, Amen. And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the One living forever and ever. * * * Ewald and others. Ebrard. Kliefoth. Hengstenberg. Ebrard, Kliefoth. Kremetz.