As he listens to the living creatures and the twenty-four elders give honour to the Lord God Almighty, John notices “a scroll” in the right hand of the One seated on the throne (5:1). John is not told what the scroll contains, but he observes the scroll was “written within and on the back” and sealed with “seven seals” (5:1). A mighty angel suddenly speaks up, loudly asking the question: “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” (5:2). No one—not the four living creatures or twenty-four elders—or anyone one else “in heaven or on earth or under the earth” qualified as worthy to break the seals and unroll the scroll (5:3). Overcome with sadness, John begins to “weep loudly” (5:4). One of the twenty-four elders comforts him with hopeful words: “Weep no more: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals” (5:5).
At this moment, John notices something he had not seen before; between the throne, the living creatures, and the elders, John sees “a Lamb standing” (5:6). Not a Lion, but a Lamb—and no ordinary one. This Lamb looks “as though it had been slain” (5:6) and has seven horns (a symbol of power and authority) and seven eyes (“which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth”—5:6).
The Lamb approaches the throne, taking the rolled scroll from the One seated on it (5:7). As He does, the living creatures and elders all fall down to worship the Lamb. The elders, each with a harp and a golden bowl of incense (which symbolizes the “prayers of the saints”), begin to sing a “new song” (5:8-9). The lyrics of the song praise the Lamb, explaining why He is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll: “for you were slain and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (5:9). By the Lamb’s death, He also made this multi-national group of ransomed people into “a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the earth” (5:10).
At this point, John hears others join to praise the Lamb. He hears millions of angels (“myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands”—5:11) loudly proclaiming a seven-fold blessing: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing” (5:12). But the praise doesn’t stop here; it spreads to all of creation. John hears “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them” (5:13). All of creation unites to say, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever” (5:13). The four living creatures who began the praise add their “Amen” as an exclamation, while the twenty-four elders fall down once more in worship (5:14).
What is Revealed about Jesus?
Jesus is both the conquering Lion and the sacrificial Lamb. In John’s vision of heaven, Jesus is called the Lion who “has conquered” (5:5) and the Lamb who “had been slain” (5:6, 9, 12). This surprising juxtaposition of images highlights Jesus’ royal authority and victory as well as His sacrificial, violent death. He conquered by being killed. He won the victory by laying down His life. What a magnificent Saviour we have—supreme and sacrificial, conquering and dying. There is no one like Him; He is worthy to take the scroll and open its seals. No wonder heaven erupts in songs and shouts of praise.
Jesus receives equal worship with the Lord God Almighty. In chapter 4, we see heaven focused on the Lord God Almighty, the Holy One who created all things (4:8, 11). The living creatures and elders fall down to worship Him. In chapter 5, the focus shifts to Jesus, the conquering Lion and sacrificial Lamb. Once again the living creatures and elders fall down in worship. Then all of heaven and all creation join to worship both the Lord God and Lamb together (“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb . . ..” —5:13). Here is heaven’s affirmation of the full deity of Jesus and His equality with God Almighty.
Jesus’ death ransomed people from every tribe, language, people, and nation. In the lyrics of the new song sung by the living creatures and elders, we learn what was accomplished by the Lamb’s sacrificial death: “by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation” (5:9). The verb translated “ransomed” carries the sense of buying or purchasing, acquiring someone or something through the payment of a price. Here we learn the reason for Jesus’ sacrifice and the global result of His death. Jesus’ sacrifice purchased a wide diversity of people “for God” (5:9). Heaven will be populated with some from every ethnic group on earth.
How Can We Keep the Words of this Prophecy?
We should join our voices to sing and speak our praise to God Almighty and to Jesus. In Revelation 5, we hear the angels, elders, and all creation singing (5:9) and speaking (5:12-13) praise to the Lamb and the One on the throne (the Lord God Almighty). They sing and speak their declaration that the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are worthy to rightfully possess all power, wealth, wisdom, might, honour, glory, and blessing (5:12-13). What is currently taking place in heaven should motivate us to join our voices in songs and statements of praise to the Lord God and the Lord Jesus. Through our songs and statements of praise, we not only tune our instruments for the heavenly symphony to come (to borrow an image from John Donne and C.S. Lewis), we also participate in the heavenly anthem right now.
We should rejoice that we’ve been ransomed by Jesus to reign with Jesus. As Christians, our understanding of who we are should be shaped by heaven’s perspective. The angels and elders understand that Christians have been “ransomed” by Christ so we can one day “reign” with Him on earth (5:9-10). While we may be slandered or marginalized by others (chapters 2-3), we can know we are precious to Jesus (paid for by His blood—5:9) and destined to reign with Him in His kingdom on the new earth (5:10; 22:5). This heavenly perspective of our past (ransomed) and our future (reigning) provides us with confidence to persevere in the present.
We must prioritize loyalty to the global kingdom Jesus died to create. Christians from every ethnic background comprise God’s heavenly, eternal kingdom. While we are called to be good citizens in the earthly kingdoms in which we live (see Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:17), our true citizenship is in heaven (see Philippians 3:20-21). Remembering this reality helps keep us from being nearsighted and nationalistic about the current countries in which we live as “sojourners and exiles” (1 Peter 2:11).
Reflection Questions:
- How will you join heaven’s praise of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb as you go about your day today? On Sunday at church?
- Do you see yourself as first-and-foremost a citizen of heaven or one of the nations on earth? Why does this matter?