The first chapter of Revelation is a vision of the Son of man. The second and third chapters are letters to the Seven Churches. The fourth chapter is a vision [267] of the throne of God And scenes witnessed around the throne. Thus far the Book has not begun its revelation of future events. The fifth chapter introduces the reader to it delineation of the future. In the hand of him who sitteth on the throne is the sealed book, sealed with seven seals; the book of the future, sealed from human knowledge. As these seals are opened the panorama of the future passed before the eyes of the prophet.

      1. I saw in the right hand of him who sitteth on the throne a book. In the preceding chapter John tells its that he saw heaven opened and God sitting on the throne, or rather, saw a vision of God on his throne. He now sees in his hand a book sealed with seven seals. It is not a printed book, for there were none then, but a roll of manuscript, probably containing seven leaves, each sealed with a seal, so that when each seal was loosed one leaf would be so released that it could be read. "This sealed book is the book of the future, sealed to human vision, unknown even to the angels of heaven. It was held in the strong right hand of Him who sits on the throne, the omnipotent disposer of the future, who controls the destinies of churches, men, and nations."--Vision of the Ages.

      2, 3. Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? No man nor angel was found able to open the book. No man nor angel can read the future, and hence could not open the seals of the book that contained the future history of the world.

      4. And I wept much. When John learned that there was no created being who could unfold what the book contained he wept. He was an exile, filled with anxiety for the fate of the persecuted church, and he felt an intense desire to learn its fortunes in the years to come. He loved it better than his life, and if he could only see what the book contained he would know what would be the results, in the future of all the struggles, sufferings, and blood of the persecuted saints.

      5. One of the elders said to me. The twenty-four elders are first mentioned in chapter 4:4. They are mentioned in various places in Revelation. I have given [268] at length in The Vision of the Ages reasons for deciding that they were not human beings, but heavenly intelligences. To that work I must refer the reader, for lack of space here. I will note, however, the elder here instructs the prophet, a duty never laid on a human being under either covenant, but always the prerogative of an angel. Such a duty shows that this elder belonged to the angelic realm. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda . . . hath prevailed. The Lion of the tribe of Juda is Christ. It is a figure that presents him as a Conqueror. To him, divine as well as human, it was permitted to see the future, to open the seals of the book, and to disclose its contents to his human brethren. He was, according to the flesh, of the tribe of Judah and the descendant of David.

      6. I beheld . . . the four beasts, etc. In chapter 4:4-10, John has described the twenty-four elders and the four beasts that surrounded the throne. I have not space to enter into the discussions of what either of these two classes of intelligences signify. I must refer the reader again to The Vision of the Ages for the reasons, and barely state that a comparison of all that is said of them in Revelation with Ezekiel, chapter 1 and chapter 10, where they are also described, shows that they were cherubim. In Ezekiel I. he describes the same beings as John; in Ezekiel X. he describes the same beings and says, I knew that they were cherubim. The Revision exchanges the word "beasts" for "living creatures," which is correct. Stood a Lamb as it had been slain. In the midst of the throne, surrounded by the heavenly intelligences, John saw a Lamb, a Lamb bearing wounds, the marks of its having been slain. The Lamb was the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The Lion had conquered by dying as the Lamb, slain for the sins of the world. Seven horns and seven eyes. The horn is the symbol of power; the eye of intelligence; the number seven is the symbol of perfection. The seven horns and eyes, therefore, denote that the Lamb is both Omnipotent and Omniscient.

      7, 8. When he had taken the book. The action of this chapter is wonderfully dramatic. Now the Lamb takes the sealed book and as soon as this is done the "Four beasts and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odors, which are the prayers of the saints (symbols of the prayers of the saints which it is their duty to record)," and then they burst forth in a grand doxology of praise. [269]

      9. And they sung a new song. It is new because it celebrates a new triumph of Christ who had been deemed worthy to hold and to open the book; that is, to control and to reveal the future, as the book is the book of the future. The song declares why he was adjudged worthy of this divine honor. It was because "he wast slain and hast redeemed" the human race. Hast redeemed us. Do not the four beasts and the twenty-four elders praise Christ for dying for them? They do in our translation, but according to Lange the proper translation of their song is, "Thou wast slain and has redeemed to God, out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation, and hast made them unto God kings and priests; and they shall reign upon the earth." He declares that criticism has shown that the received Greek text is in this place corrupt. Lange, Alford and Tischendorf are all agreed. These intelligences praise the Lamb, not for their salvation, but for human redemption.

      10. We shall reign on the earth. According to the view just presented, this should read, "They shall reign upon the earth," a prediction that the control of the earth should finally pass into the hands of the saints. Christ also said of the meek: "They shall inherit the earth."

      11, 12. And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels. Besides those already described, there was a countless multitude of angels. After the first strophe of the new song was sung the vast company all unite in a chorus of praise, still celebrating the death of the Lamb as the great ground on which his worthiness to receive the book was based, and to receive every other heavenly honor, "power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing."

      13. And every creature which is in heaven, etc. Then followed a second chorus. First, the Four Living Creatures and the Twenty-four Elders sung. Then these [270] and all the angelic hosts joined in the first chorus. Next, all the creation join in a song of praise "to Him that sitteth upon the throne, and the Lamb."

      14. And the four beasts said, Amen. This scene, all a wonderful preface, to the opening of the seals by the Lamb, closes with the Amen of the four living creatures and the worship of the elders.

      1. It is Christ, not as a Lion, but as a Slain Lamb, who is able to open the book.

      2. This vision not only shows us that Christ reveals the future, as he has done in the book of Revelation, but that he controls it.

      3. What lover of Christ will not study with deep interest the unrolled leaves of a book which he has opened?

      4. The reader should not fail to observe that the fact that Christ became a Slain Lamb, or in other words, the fact that he died for men, is assigned as the reason of that supreme majesty that enabled him to hold the book with the power of God. The scenery of this vision, and the songs sung in heaven, make the death of Christ the great central fact of his being. However earthly theologians may reason, these higher intelligences held the doctrine of the atonement.--Vision of the Ages.

      5. In teaching this lesson the striking imagery should not be lost sight of. (1) Opened gates of heaven; (2) The Almighty on the throne; (3) The Living Creatures, Elders and Angels around the throne; (4) The Sealed Book; (5) The Lamb who takes the Book; (6) The grand doxology, sung first by the Living Creatures and Elders; then by these and the countless angels, and lastly, by these and every creature of the universe. It is the doxology of the universe.

[CLC01 267-271]