Revelation 14:14-20 – Reaping the harvest

Verses 14-16 describe the first one of the two visions that bring chapter 14 to its close. Many people have concluded it is a picture of divine judgement in the form of a harvest of grains. The Son of man himself is seen to be thrusting in the sickle. As we recall in the previous chapter, God’s people were warned about worshipping the monster. In the up-coming chapter, we will see those same people, now victorious and singing the new song, by the sea of glass. How were they brought from one place to the other? Of course by being the harvest of the Lord. So here what this depicts for us is about salvation and not condemnation.

In Revelation, salvation is seen to be attained through suffering. In this book, John is encouraging the people to face the prospect of persecution in faith and patience. So when the angel encouraged the son of man to put in the sickle to reap, it is to be seen as the process of harvesting those faithful people who are ready for the salvation. 

We shall come to the second vision in our reflection tomorrow. We need to know that the time will come when God will bring us safely home. In the main time, we must be mindful that there will be tribulation in this world. But let’s be of good cheer, for He has overcome the world and we are in His victorious force. We will overcome!

Revelation 14:6-13 – The call to endure patiently

Here John describes three angels, each with an announcement for the people. The first announces the eternal Gospel to every nation, tribe, language and people. It is a call to fear, honor and worship God. This eternal Gospel is not about God’s redeeming grace but about God’s eternal purpose for His people. It is about God’s impending judgement

Verse 8 speaks of another angel announcing the fall of Babylon the Great. This ancient Mesopotamian city of Babylon was the political and religious capital of a world empire. It was also the great enemy of the people of God in the Old Testament where they were brought into exile. We first read of it in Genesis as the Tower of Babel. This ancient city has become a symbol of moral corruption, and the godless spirit that entices people away from the worship of the Creator in every age. Here John is using it to symbolize Rome, the great city at that point in time. Drawing from Old Testament passages like Isaiah 21:9 and Jeremiah 51:7, John describes its doom. It’s because she has made the whole earth drunk with her passionate acts of corruption. Like Babylon of old, Rome was luring the people into her corrupt practices and was incurring God’s wrath and her judgement awaits her.

In chapter 13, we learned that those who would not worship the image would be killed and that those without the mark of the beast would not be able to buy or sell. Now we see the third angel giving a counter announcement. It prescribes a worst end for those who do. Those who worship the beast or bear his mark would be made to drink the wine of God’s fury and endure eternal torment in burning sulfur. A place of endless torment – day and night.

It would be terrible for anyone to fall into what John has described in verse 9-11. He was concerned for the followers of Jesus, and would not that any to be pulled into the swirl of God’s rage. John wanted believers of Christ to be patient, obedient and true, and be confident of the fact that death itself is defeated. This will enable followers of Christ to be a source of blessing and not a source of curse. He wanted us all to know that whatever we are doing for Christ will never be a lost cause.

Let’s take heed of Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.”

Revelation 14:1-5 – The Lamb’s elites

Here John is keeping a picture of the eventual prize for those who endure to the very end. Among the many passages of judgement, he has so often interwoven glimpses of eventual outcome. Reading chapter 12 and 13, we are confronted by the dragon and his beasts with a grim reminder of suffering and death that are within the upcoming future. Yet within the message is the call to remain steadfast in the Christian journey. In these verses, John shifted to the bright morning about to break in the morning of eternity. The Lamb and His followers will stand on the heavenly Mount Zion where the chorale of redemption will ring out like the sound of mighty waterfalls and peals of thunder.

The 144,000 with the Lamb on Mount Zion bear the name of God. This is opposed to the unbelieving world that bears the name or number of Satan’s beast. Every person’s destiny is determined by the mark he or she bears. There will be no ambiguity when judgment falls on the people. The mark will indicate who one is serving. Joy and celebration before the throne of heaven await believers. They will be singing the new song of the redeemed. In chapter 7, the 144,000 that were sealed against the woes now stand secure from the ordeal. We have established that they represent the whole body of the redeemed company. The mention of the number is to point out that not one has been lost. The mark of the name of the Lamb and the name of his Father on their foreheads is an indication of their allegiance.

Having experienced the redemption, the 144,000 sang the song of the redeemed. It was not only melodic but very loud like the roar of rushing waters. It is like the approaching glory of God. On top of that melodic song are sounds of peals of thunder and the ensemble of harpists. These 144,000, they are like virgins who have not defiled themselves with women. They are followers of the Lamb. And they are the first fruits purchased from among men. They are virgins in the sense that they kept themselves pure and refused to engage in immoral sexual activity. These redeemed prize chastity and purity highly. Furthermore, they are described as virgins. In other words, they refused to be seduced by Rome into committing fornication, i.e. worshipping or associating with idols. These are the followers of the Lamb and would go wherever the Lamb goes. They emulate His life while on earth. And the first fruit speaks of their sacrificial giving of themselves to God and the Lamb. These three figures speak of fidelity, discipleship and sacrificial giving of self to the Lord.  They spoke truthfully and were blameless.

Are we people who demonstrate fidelity, discipleship and sacrificial living? The embodiment of the whole redeemed company, figured by the 144,000, reminds us of the kind of believers we ought to be. Let’s seek to make these the marks of our life. 

Revelation 13:11-18 – The beast from the earth

Yesterday we saw that the monster from the sea working with the dragon. It was established that John was referring to Rome and its imperial cult. Emperor worship was propagated and Christians stood their ground and refused to participate in it. In these verses today we shall see the beast from the earth. Who is this beast? How is he described? What will he do to the people of God?

We are told that the second beast has two horns like a lamb. And when he spoke he bellowed like the dragon. Besides, he sets out to deceive the population of the earth by his miraculous signs. He sets up an image to honor the first beast and he had the power to bring life to that image so that it could speak. In order to buy or sell, everyone was required to receive a mark. Everyone who did not honor the first beast was put to death. His name, translated into numbers, is 666. We have established yesterday that the first beast from the sea was Rome and her insistence that the Emperor must be worshiped. The second beast must be the state priesthood. They assisted Rome to spread the Emperor worship. Today Satan had means of control over society and will demand ultimate allegiance and deceitfully use every method to gain worship from the inhabitants of the earth.

In the previous chapter, we are introduced to the great dragon. He was the primary adversary of God. Then in chapter 13 we see two great forces, the two beasts,  that Satan used to accomplish his wicked plans. Here we see the moment building up to the final encounter. It is critical for us to recognize what the struggle entails. Yes, we know that the Lamb had accomplished the victory when He died on the cross. But the ultimate and full public victory still awaits its final moment. We believers are ever in a battle. We need to hold the whole conflict in tension. Although the decisive battle is won, the war is not over. Our victory is secured but we still wait for the defeated foe to be totally removed from the battle ground. Soon and very soon our Messiah will return, and once and for all, His eternal and sovereign reign will be established!

Revelation 13:1-10 – The beast from the sea

In this passage we find Satan not acting alone. He has deployed his other powers to do his bidding in this spiritual warfare. He would rule the world through his intermediaries by providing powers to them, and accomplishing his task through them. Here we see the beast of the sea is one of his intermediaries. The passage we see here draws heavily on Daniel 7. Without going into detail, we can see that John is not interested in the monster than in what this monster represents. His readers, like him, could see Rome as the monster from the sea. Rome represents the worldly power that set itself up against God.

Verses 3 draws us to a feature of the beast that was mortally wounded and was healed. This was probably referring to rumors that Nero who was dead, purported to have returned to life. Whether this is the case or not, John’s main point is this: the beast claimed worship and shared the worship with the dark pagan gods that stood behind it. This is a fact that his readers would also recognize.

The Roman emperor was worshiped as god. There was only room for him alone. Everyone must accept this and worship him. For any one, the Christians in particular, who refused to worship the beast, had already set themselves up on a collision course with him. And everyone it seems, worshiped the beast, except those whose names are found in the book of life of the Lamb that was slain.

John paints for us a larger and bleak picture here, so that the little struggles in church can make sense in this larger context. This dragon and the beast should help us to come to a proper perspective to our faith and practice. It should goad us into greater faithfulness to Christ and to persevere in our faith with patience and true holiness! 

Revelation 12:13-18 – The accuser on earth

John was drawing his readers into the drama. He wanted to warn them that Satan, being cast down to earth, will focus his attack on the woman representing the people of God. The attack will be for a duration, described here as a time, times and half a time.

The water that the dragon spewed out of his mouth like a flood, speaks of the flood of intensified accusation on the people of God. This is John’s way of saying: don’t be surprised that the dragon is out to get you. Here the earth is found also to be on the side of the people of God. The idea that he woman was being carried to a place of refuge by the wings of eagles is reminiscent of Exodus 19:4, telling how God bore His people on eagle’s wings and brought Israel out of Egypt. Similarly, the people of God will escape and experience the protection and care of God. So enraged, the dragon will turn his attention on the rest of the offspring of the woman – this is an indication of the people who keep God’s command and the testimony of Jesus.   

What exactly was John saying? Satan would intensify his works to attack the people of God. There will be a greater outpouring of his attacks, persecutions, and accusations. Why? Because the devil is now hurled to earth and in great anger. He is aware that his time is short so he must create havoc and intensify the woes for God’s people on earth. The decisive cosmic battle had been won by God, and the devil is fully aware of it. Since accusation is his intrinsic nature, he would deploy it to accuse the people of God, whether justified or not. He would do anything to slander and to deny the truth of God and His Son, the Lamb. Know it or not, we Christians are dragged into this ongoing battle. We must be careful what we think, say and do. Let’s be those who are obedient and willingly bear testimony to Jesus!   

Revelation 12:7-12 – The accuser cast out of heaven

Here we are introduced to the cosmic war between the angels led by Michael, and the dragon and their angels. Michael of course is the archangel we can read about in Daniel 10. In this battle in the heavenly realm, the victory is decisive. Michael and his angels won hands down. And now the ancient serpent, called Satan or the devil, and his hosts of wicked angels were hurled down to earth. If there is anything we can make out of this cosmic war will be this: all of life’s moral and political struggles, all of life’s battle between justice and injustice, and between good and evil, are a reflection of the basic battle which has taken place in the spiritual realm.

Then John heard a song of praise sounded in heaven, giving the credit of the victory to the people of God on earth. It’s puzzling that the credit did not go to Michael and his angels but to the people of God. Why? For they have conquered him “…by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.” Here we are told that what really secured the victory was the atoning work of Christ. His people share that victory as they affirm their faith in the Gospel, and as they bear witness to it through their word and deeds. Like Christ, they remain faithful to the truth even when death beckons.

After all, the dragon is the accuser of the brethren. He has been the one, and remains the one, hurling accusations at the believers of Christ. The readers of John knew this all too well. They were exposed to all kinds of accusations and lies said of them for their unwillingness to participate in the Emperor worship. They were even prepared to be martyred for their faith in Christ. They had overcome by not fearing even death. They knew that behind every accusing activity against them is the work of the accuser.

Here John also wants his readers to know the situation. The accuser had been cast down to earth. They could rejoice and celebrate the victory because the accuser no longer has a place in heaven. This is because the death of Jesus had cancelled out the charges he could otherwise bring against the people of God. However, we see that he would not admit defeat. John warned the church to anticipate the venomous attack of the dragon. He had been cast down to earth and will be releasing his worst attack because he knew his time is short. 

Christian life is challenging and we know that we are not fighting against flesh and blood. We are in fact fighting …against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. We put on the Lord Jesus Christ, Who is our sure-success armor for the ongoing spiritual battle. We have the victory in the Lord Jesus!

Revelation 12:1- 6 – The woman, the dragon and the male child

One difficulty in interpreting the book of revelation is the identification of the different characters and events. We wish the Bible has put a tag on each of those figures so that we will know exactly who is who. But the exciting part about studying the Bible is discovering what God is saying and then applying them to our life and situation. Chapter 12 actually introduces us to three scenes. In verses 1-6 we will see the narrative of the woman, the dragon, and the male child. In verses 7-12, we read of Satan’s defeat and being cast out of heaven. The last five verses from 13-17 deal with the persecution of the woman and her offspring. Our consideration today is from verses 1-6. Who is the woman? What is the dragon? And who exactly is the male child?

Providentially, John had left with a clue concerning who that child is. In verse 5 we see that “He will be ruling the nations with an iron rod.” This is a quotation and a fulfillment of Psalm 2:9. We know that John is referring to none other than the Messiah whom God has ordained to bring the nations under control. And since this child is Jesus the Messiah, many would have concluded that the woman must be Mary, the mother of Jesus. But this conclusion is far from it. Why it cannot be is because John tells us that she is a sign and not a literal mother.

We know that this woman is best seen as the Messianic community, the faithful Israel. And Mary was a Jewess and through her, Jesus came into the world. In Exodus, we know that the intention of God was for faithful Israel, His people, to be a kingdom priest and holy nation. In 1 Peter 2:9, we can see that the church, as a continuation of that kingdom priest and holy nation and royal priesthood, is to declare the excellence of Him who has called us out of darkness. Hence, we can say that this woman, seen here in Revelation 12, is the embodiment of the entire body of God’s people, called and chosen to execute God’s plan for the nations and the whole creation. That’s why she is adorned with the sun, moon and twelve-star crown. Here, we also see that the dragon was doing his best by striking at the woman and her child, so as to extinguish the purpose of God before it could get underway

One other figure for the woman could also be Eve, the original mother of all mankind. Eve was told that her seed will crush the serpent’s head. Putting the pictures together, we can say that faithful Israel, which the church is part of, is the woman through whom the purpose of God for humanity will be realized.  This purpose of God includes a central and necessary part of that agenda - the crushing of the serpent’s head.

The enormous red dragon with its seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on its head will be more fully revealed later. But here we can see that he possessed considerable power. He was in heaven as part of the heavenly court. Revelation 12:9 calls him the devil and Satan, and he rebels against the plan of the Creator for the world. Here we see that he was thrown out of heaven and flung down to earth. His rebellious activities against God’s people had been obvious. His work through King Herod was seen in the years leading up to the coming of the Messiah and at His birth. We saw in the Gospels how his plan was foiled at the Messiah’s birth. In speaking of the child being snatched up to God’s throne, the story of the life of Jesus the Messiah who died, resurrected and ascended to God was compacted. Jesus has won the victory through His death, resurrection and ascension, and now there’s not a thing the dragon can do to him. The dragon will be seen to turn his anger on the woman. Hence the people of God, represented by the woman, remain in danger.

Israel as the people of God is redefined, since Jesus’ coming to die for His people. The church, now comprised of both non-Jews and ethnic Jews who become believers of the Messiah, will now flee to the wilderness. They will be protected by God for 1260 days. The church whom John wrote to, knew that they were not just bystanders watching but were participants in the drama that John narrates here. This woman and the dragon will continue to be featured in the remaining chapters of the book. There will come another woman along the way. We will deal with her when we come to it. John wrote with the aim to help the church to understand how the dragon operates and how his power must be overthrown.     

Revelation 11:15-19 – The seventh trumpet and the triumphant song

Instead of another plague, loud voices were heard declaring the eternal and sovereign reign of God and His Christ at the sound of the seventh trumpet. And when that declaration was made, the 24 elders on their thrones fell face down and worshiped God. They praised God for taking His great power and began to reign. They also declared that it’s time to reward His servants and also to pour out His wrath upon the destroyers of the earth. A close reflection tells us that these six verses summarize all that is yet to take place. They provide for us the themes of the chapters to follow. There is an absolute certainty that these events will definitely happen.

The seals, the trumpets, and all that would be described in chapters 12-14 climaxing in the seven bowls and all are not sequential happenings. They are actually one common recurring reality look from different angles. The reality is that through all the world’s dreadful upheavals and woes, God through Jesus is establishing a people who will follow the Lamb to bear witness to the Kingdom of God through their own sufferings. And through them the world will be brought to repentance and faith so that ultimately God will be King over all.

Revelation is all about the Kingdom of God, which is a greatly misunderstood theme. Many have mistakenly think that the Kingdom of God is the place we go to after death. Many have failed to realize that God is the Creator of the world and the universe. His whole purpose is to made the whole world His once again. He intends to put the world back to its original position. He wants to make it like the place before the fall, which sin and man’s rebelliousness had made it so tragically off track. The book of Revelation is about God confronting the powers of the world with the news that He is now in-charge. And He is ruling it in the way the Messiah, the Lamb has established it. This also brings about the fulfilment narrated by Psalm 2 where “the Son” is promised the Kingdom of the nation.  

The tenses used in theses verses give us the idea that God has assumed His reign. This has become a reality. The church has faithfully witnessed and through her martyrs has shown to the world that God is God and that Jesus is Lord and King. The world has responded by glorifying the God of heaven. With that, the destroyers of the earth, which is death, will be dealt with finally.  

Like Revelation 4:5 and Revelation 8:5, the thunders and lightning and so on form the transition. Just as the throne room in heaven was seen in the temple of heaven, now the Ark of His Covenant also appears. This is by way of saying that God has fulfilled all His covenant. This is a reminder that what God has said, He will certainly do. Adorned with power, the King is reigning! Is He reigning over your life today?

Revelation 11:3-14 – The two witnesses

“Measuring of the temple” described in verses 1-2 is a message in symbol. “The two witnesses” described in verse 3 onward is a message in parable. What about the two witnesses? John is not talking about two persons witnessing for God in tumultuous times (referred to as 1260 days). He was really talking about the church and her prophetic witness. John took the vision of Zachariah 4 and liberally used it to fit what he wanted to say. Here the one lampstand described by the prophet Zachariah becomes two here, and they are synonymous with the two olive trees. The emphasis is that the church’s power and authority for effective witness lies in the Spirit of God.

Judging from John’s description of the witnesses, he probably had in mind as a backdrop two great heroes of old – Moses and Elijah. In their ministries, we saw great signs. They both had great authority from God and stood up against kings whom they were each confronting. They both demonstrated signs and wonders to prove the power of God. In Elijah, the heaven was shut up and it brought a drought upon the land. In Moses we saw the water of River Nile turned into blood. The message is that the church with its prophetic witness stood in the tradition of Moses and Elijah. Like them, the church will perform great signs granted by God and in so doing, will torment the people who refuse to believe in their message. The climax of it all will be the church being martyred at the hand of the monster from the Abyss.

Who is “the monster” and where is “the great city” mystically called Sodom and Egypt, where the Lord was crucified? They will be revealed in the later chapters of the book. Suffice to say that the “monster” here refers to the power of the pagan empire represented by the Romans and the mystical city is Rome. John’s point is this: the church, though protected by God and given a mission to bear prophetic witness, will also have to go through suffering and death. But like the Lord Jesus, through their suffering and death, they will be the ultimate prophetic sign for the world to be brought to glorify God.  

How would all these come together? For the duration of three and half year days the world will celebrate her seeming victory over the church. Their refusal to allow proper burial for the two witnesses is a symbol of the scorn that the world will show to the church that has urged them to repent. And just when the world is rejoicing and celebrating, God will act. Like the vision described in Ezekiel 37, God will once again breathe into the valley of dry bones, the church, and bring dead corpses to live again. What will also happen is described in verse 12. The vision recorded in Daniel 7 will come to pass. God’s people will also be going to heaven on the cloud. Here the church will be vindicated after the martyrdom and will complete the prophetic witness. And the world looking on will be converted.

Verse 13 leaves us with no doubt of the mercy of God. In describing those who are terrified and gave glory to God, John is telling us that people will come, trembling in fear, genuinely to honor God and to give Him glory. In the judgement of Sodom and Gomorrah, God would have spared them if He had only found ten righteous people (Genesis 18:32). However, instead of the whole city being destroyed like the scene in Genesis, here only one tenth of the city will fall. The other ninth tenth will be saved.  This is to show how merciful God is. And again through Elijah, when God was judging wicked Israel, 7,000 who refused to bow their knees to Baal were preserved. But now the opposite is seen, only 7,000 are killed and the great mass of the people saved. Here we catch a glimpse of God’s mercy again. God may grieve over the corruption of the world, but He is bent on rescuing and restoring it. And He does so through the faithful death of the Lamb, and also through the followers of the Lamb and their martyrdom.

Today, God still loves everyone in the world and wants them to be rescued. The church is God’s occupational force on earth now. And we, members of the church, are soldiers enlisted in this army to carry out this rescue operation in the world. Let’s be sure to be about doing our task!  

Revelation 11:1-2 – Measuring of the temple

In the interlude between the sixth and seventh trumpets, John was given the scroll and told to eat it. Like him, for any prophet to speak without contradiction, he must first taste the scroll – bitter or sweet. Having ingested the scroll, John was instructed to prophesy. So in this chapter, he began his prophecy and he did so in parabolic languages. First was the measuring of the temple. Why measure the temple? Was John referring to the temple in Jerusalem or the temple he saw in his earlier vision? 

Firstly, the measuring of the temple reminds us of similar actions of two Old Testament prophets recorded in Ezekiel 40 and Zachariah 2. However, the temple referred to here is the church. Why? In the time of John, the church of Jesus Christ had already been seen as the new temple. This church is God’s new temple, not built with bricks and stones but with the living stones of men. It’s the place that God comes now to dwell through His Spirit. The measuring of the temple indicates God’s intention to protect and bless His people with His presence. Both the inner and outer courts of the temple probably refer to the church. The outer court to be trampled upon tells us the church would have to suffer at the hand of the unbelieving world for three and a half years. In another sense, the church will also be protected and God will keep it safe despite these attacks. This, in a sense, is the bitter sweet experience John had when he ingested the scroll.  

What about the 42 months? In the book of Revelation we will see different ways this duration has been described. Revelation 11:2 and 13:5 referred to it as 42 months. In Revelation 11:3 and 12:6 it is designated 1,260 days. And in Revelation 12:14, it is “a time, times and half a time”. In Luke 21:24, Jesus referred to it as “the times of the Gentiles.” It is taken as a standard symbol for the limited period of time during which evil would be allowed free rein. It is also used to describe the temporary triumph of evil before the end of the age. The exact duration is not the focus. The primary focus is that during this time of hardship and trouble, God had already marked out His own. He knows them and will protect them with His presence.  

Every one of us is a living stone, being used to build up God’s spiritual house. We are to be His holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. Yes, we the people of God are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that we may proclaim the excellence of Christ who has called us out of darkness into His marvelous light!

Revelation 10:1-11 – The little scroll

In Revelation 7 we saw an interlude between the sixth and the seventh seals and now in Revelation 10-11, we see another interlude. This time it takes place between the sixth and seventh trumpet. It appears that John is now back on earth and saw a mighty angel descending from heaven. John’s description of the mighty angel tells us that this is not an ordinary messenger of God. This angel from heaven provides a welcoming moment, especially after all the gloom and doom seen in the last six trumpets. He comes from heaven with God’s Word for earth.

Here we are told that the angel is attired in a cloud that speaks of the hidden presence of God. The rainbow reminds us of the throne scene in Revelation 4. His face shines like the sun like that of the Son of Man seen in Revelation 1. His feet like fiery pillars, brings us back to the pillar of fire in the wilderness which refers to God’s personal presence. The one feet of this angel is on the sea and the other on earth, tells us that he represents the sovereignty of the Creator God over the whole of creation – the land and the sea.  When he speaks, his voice is like a roaring lion telling us that the words he speaks come from the Lion-Lamb, the Messiah. And when he speaks seven peals of thunder echo and uttered their messages. The seven thunders remind us of the scene in Mount Sinai when God spoke out in thunders and lightning. When John was about to write down what he heard, he was told not to write them. Here we get a sense that what he angel has said is, without a doubt, from heaven. For the angel swore an oath by “Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things in it, and the earth and the things in it, and the sea and the things in it…” And whatever is said will not be delayed any longer. For when the seventh trumpet sounds the plan and program of God will be fully revealed just as the prophets had spoken.

In God’s plan, there are still many things that must come to pass. He had appointed prophets to declare His Word. At this point, we can see that John is in such a position now. And as God’s prophet, he would not just be describing what’s going to happen, he would be speaking those events to come to pass. That’s why he was told to go and take the book or the little scroll now open in the hand of the angel described in the first seven verses. As John asked for the book, he was instructed by the angel to eat it and was even told what he would experience after he ingested the scroll. This scroll John took to eat is the same one as the scroll in Revelation 5. But now the seals had been removed by the Lamb. And now it can be read and John would be given the task to read it. Now we can understand why he was invited to heaven. Now he is invited to eat it or to experience it.    

John took it as instructed and what he was told came to pass. The scroll tasted sweet like honey in his mouth but became bitter in his stomach. This metaphor is vividly saying that John, as a prophet, is qualified to speak with authority only when he has taken the word of God and made it part of his life. He must first experience the word, bitter or sweet, before he can speak without contradiction. This is how He would accomplish through obedient human channel. Prophecy is speaking God’s word to bring God’s fresh order to the world. We shall see God’s word spoken through John later on from Revelation 12 onward. He will be declaring not only the terrible judgement but also the glorious victory of mercy which God’s mystery would be completed.

As we awaits the sounding of the seventh trumpet, we mustn’t just remain as spectators. All of us must be participants of God’s Kingdom program for now. Let’s actively seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. Let’s allow Christ to reign in our lives – in both the great and small things and find our delight in Him! 

Revelation 9:12-21 – The sounding of the sixth trumpet

The first woe that the fifth trumpet released was already a horrendous nightmare. The second woe, about to happen at the sounding of the sixth trumpet, would be equally nightmarish if not more terrifying. Just imagine the thought of one’s country being invaded by brutal and heartless enemy, congregating at the boundary, ready to progress to swallow up vulnerable towns and cities along its way. What can be more frightening? For the longest time the Western world had been haunted by political and military nightmare. For a while communism was that force that threatened world peace. But since the fall of the Berlin wall and the crumbling of Russia, it is not tough to replace communism with another world threatening force. ISIS is a modern menace. This plus the rising tide of radical Islamic terrorists has brought great fear to many governments and countries.

Under the conquest of the Romans, lands at the upper stretches of Euphrates also became the boarder of the Roman Empire. It extended as far as modern Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, and even into Pakistan. At the sounding of the sixth trumpet, John’s vision saw four angels tied up by the great river Euphrates ready to be released to lead their massive armies into battle. Everyone from Jerusalem to Rome knew that this would be their worst political and military nightmare. Bear in mind that like the sight of the menacing, torturing locusts, what John said here is also symbolic. So from one horrifying imaginary to another, John was presenting intensifying scenes of terror and torture. All these done with the aim to challenge and bring about repentance.

In the plagues, released by the fifth trumpet, mankind suffered severely but were not killed. Now in this sixth trumpet, one third of mankind tasted death. This death comes from the throngs of military troops from the boundaries of the west, the Euphrates. They are fearsome in appearance and like what happened at the last trumpet, there is also a release of demonic forces. The vision is hard to explain but suffice to say, the message is plain. Mankind will be suffering and a significant percent of mankind will be killed. Yet there is no repentance.

These verses tell us that the human plight comes from idolatry. We become like what we worship. Worship something other than God, will distort our true image, which Genesis tells us is made in the “image and likeness of God.” When mankind worships idols that verses 20-21 say are blind, deaf and lifeless, they would become like their idols. They also become blind, deaf and lifeless as well. The passage shows us that murder, sorceries, immorality and theft are all the different forms of blindness, deafness and deadliness. They make a person go for quick gain to achieve power and pleasure. In so doing, that person will be giving up part of his or her humanness. Repentance is a radical change of heart and mind. It is deploring our past and embracing God’s offer of true life. God wants such kind of repentance. God will do anything, even by drastic means, to coax His image bearers out of their rebelliousness. Let’s seek never to break the heart of God! Let us think right, speak right, and act right and thus be God’s true image bearers!

Revelation 9:1-12 – The sounding of the fifth trumpet

When we were young, we must have watched horror movies and were frightened by the effect of those shows. Reading these events being played out at the sounding of the fifth trumpet, brings us back to those effect. It must have been John’s intention to let us feel a similar impact and effect like those produced by the horror movies.

The sounding of the fifth trumpet introduces a falling star from heaven to earth. He is given the key to the bottomless pit. This suggests to us that the ultimate source of evil is usually kept firmly locked up. But now the fallen star has been given the key to unlock that pit and release horrendous evil. The smoke, the darkened sun and air provide the cover for these evil, symbolized by these locusts, to be unleashed. Didn’t the Lord Jesus say that in the depth of the human heart lies all kinds of evil – pride, murder, wickedness, sexual immorality, debauchery, treachery, and on and on?  There is a black hole within the human heart much like the abyss. This is where all these evil would come bubbling up. Humans were made to reflect God, but our hearts have become cold, callous, and rebellious and filled with all kinds of wickedness. They came out of this abyss. At a cosmic level, the same is true. Though made and love by God, the world also harbors within it rebellious and anti-creation destructiveness and its true color must be revealed.  

The plague of locusts are also released at the sounding of the fifth trumpet. They are being described in verses 7-10 lucidly. Some have interpreted them to be some kind of modern military machineries such as the super-tanks or helicopters. This again is failing to see that John’s depiction is merely symbolic. John is pointing to the hellish experience of a terrible nightmare. At the sounding of the fifth trumpet, there came an onslaught of destructive ugly hideous looking locusts. They all have a demonic dimension. Not only that, they also have stings like scorpions in their tails. Their appearances are gruesome, having faces like human with crowns of gold, women’s hair, lions’ teeth, something like breastplates of iron, and thunder-sounding wings. They have as their leader, the angel of the abyss. In Hebrew his name is Abaddon, meaning place of destruction, in Greek it is Apollyon, meaning destroyer.

The locusts are here to act strictly under instruction. They cannot destroy vegetation or those sealed with God’s seal. Their mission is not to kill anyone but to torment them for a duration of five months. John probably knew the life cycle of a locust is only for that duration. So intense would be the torture that the people would be continuously tormented by their unfulfilled death wishes. This is only the first woe, two more to go.

God remains sovereign despite the ravaging evil. He is still in control. And evil must first be allowed to do its work before it could be totally dealt with and finally conquered.  Let’s brace up and keep looking up. For He is able to keep you from stumbling, and to make us stand in the presence of His glory blameless with great joy!  

Revelation 8:6-13 - The sounding of the first four trumpets

The stage has been set for the sounding of the seven trumpets. Seven angels steady themselves, each with a trumpet, are ready to sound them. Every time each of the first four trumpets sounds, a plague, a catastrophic event took place on earth. The plagues are reminiscence of what the Egyptians had experienced. Only this time around, the effect is on a world-wide scale and not confined to only one country. This is God’s warning not only for one country but for all mankind.

The blowing of the first trumpet sends hail and fire mixed with blood that devastates a third of earth and its vegetation. The sound of the second trumpet sends something like a mountain burning with fire that comes hurling into the sea, making a third of it to become like blood, killing a third of the creatures in the sea and destroying a third of the ships. At the sound of the third trumpet, a star, burning like a torch, fell from heaven on a third of the rivers and springs of water, making the water poisonous. Many people died from drinking the water. We are told that the name of the star is Wormwood. In the Old Testament Wormwood is a bitter wood used in connection with the consequences of idolatry. It signifies calamity, sorrow, and bitterness as a result.

When the fourth trumpet sounds, a third of the sun, moon and stars are struck, bringing darkness for one third of the time. This is describing a decrease in the intensity of available light resulting from the sun, moon and stars being darkened by a third. Verse 12 also tells us of the total absence of light for a third part of both day and night. This is a reminder of what took place in the ninth plague in Egypt, where thick darkness spread over the land for a period of three days.

Just pause and consider the wonderful creation of God, and how He had made this world so beautiful, that the four living creatures and the elders should praise and worship Him. There is no denial that God had made this earth, He made it good and He said so in Genesis. How then can God allow a third of all His good creation be destroyed? How can He consent that a third of His creature on earth, the trees, the sea and its creatures, the river and even the sun, moon and stars be destroyed through these plagues?

This can partly be explained when we consider the seriousness of sin. God cannot just allow evil to proliferate and gross over the seriousness of evil. His very nature demands that wickedness and evil must be dealt with drastically. Bear in mind that Revelation is more symbolic and should not be mistaken for reality. John’s first readers probably understood that he was not talking about a third of earth, sea and all that were being destroyed. They knew that he was talking about God’s radical action to rid evil. John was talking about the necessity to remove the deadly effect of evil in order to preserve the rest. Dealing with the façade cannot deliver the millions trapped, enslaved and derogated by the system that only seems good and impressive. A slight adjustment is not adequate, a major and serious revamp is the only way to deal with it.

This sounding of trumpets is a like re-run of the effect of the plagues the Egyptians had experienced. The plagues sent upon the Egyptians affecting their land, water, live stocks, and people were warning of the power of the God of Israel. It would also be a reminder of how God provided a means through the Passover lamb and delivered His people. The plagues now recorded in Revelation would resonate with the people John was writing to. Having this in their mind, they would feel assured of the same result. The Lamb of John’s vison is indeed their true Passover Lamb. As Egypt was smitten as a warning so also would the world be smote by the plagues as a warning. Just as the children of Israel were delivered in the Egyptian’s situation, so also God will deliver His people.

If what we see in the first four trumpets is already bad, just wait till the sounding of the next three trumpets. Hence they were preceded by an eagle’s warning of the woes to follow. God is in the process of reestablishing the rule of heaven on earth. As members of His redeemed company, we must actively collaborate with Him to see His Kingdom come, and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Revelation 8:1-5 – The golden censer

In Revelation 6, we have seen the opening of the first six seals then an interlude in chapter 7. The vision of the 1444,000 and the sealing of the redeemed provided confidence of victory in impending tough times. Assurance of protection has been given in place of terror. We have also caught a glimpse of the glorious future and where history and the redeemed are heading. Perhaps in the breaking of the seventh seal God’s purpose, the climax of history, the end of all things could at last be made known. And now it seemed as if the moment has arrived. And in the light of the anticipation what took place may seem like an anti-climax. But many things had already happened that make a pause necessary.

When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. Just try to stand in the shoes of John. Having heard and seen so many things, a half an hour of silence would indeed be deafening for him. In the deafening silence, there surely must be a great sense of awe and expectation. Know it or not, silence is the presupposition of hearing. It underscores for us the importance of drawing near in silence if we are to have an enhanced receptivity to what Christ is saying. The surprising shush in heaven should tell us something colossal, and powerful and totally pivotal is about to happen. It certainly is, but the way must be prepared. To begin with, we are introduced to the next series of seven – the seven trumpets.  

Trumpets we know have been used in the Old Testament for various occasions. It had been used to call for worship, to call the people into battle, to assemble the people, to sound the alarm of impending dangers. And the sounding of the seven trumpets is to herald the coming of the great plagues. Before the first trumpet can even sound, something else must take place. An angel appears, carrying a golden censer. In Revelation 5:8 we have already been told of the prayers of the saints that rose as sweet incense before God. As the angel appears with the censer, more incense are added to the prayer of the saints. It appears that the prayers and the incense are not exactly the same thing. Perhaps the prayers are like the fuel on which the incense will burn. The prayers of the saints and the martyrs at the altar are now coming before God.

There is another aspect to consider concerning the silence mentioned in verse 1. The praises take a short pause for the prayer ascended from earth to God be given a proper hearing. See it this way, the seven trumpets and what they will bring are in part in answer to the prayers of God’s people. While God has a plan for humanity, it does not just mechanically happen. He works in tandem with human. The sequence of divine judgement needful for evil to be dealt with and for God’s new world to materialize don’t just happen mechanically. We all, the redeemed, must work in collaboration with God for that to happen. God is committed to work in the world through human, especially with the redeemed. Hence our prayers, yours and mine, matter even when we don’t fully comprehend everything in these divine-human collaboration. In fact they constitute a vital part in this divine-human co-operation.

The prayer on earth as we have discovered, is presented by the golden censer, the answer is given in the same way. After offering the incense, the angel now fills the censer with fire from the altar and throw it upon earth. All we will ever hear from heaven will be fire, until evil is finally judged, condemned and eliminated. Throughout the book of Revelation, we will see that “…peals of thunder and sounds and flashes of lightning and an earthquake” will mark the close of each section. It is first mentioned in Revelation 4:5. Here it closes the seven seals. It will be seen in Revelation 11:9 after the seven trumpets have sounded and again in Revelation 16:18 after the seven bowls have been poured out.   

Having been brought into a vital relationship with God through Christ, we all have our parts to play in the transaction between heaven and earth. So let’s not neglect to pray, more so as we draw close to earth’s final hour!

Revelation 7:9-17 – The enormous salvation

As we read this passage, we must bear in mind that the communities of believers that this book was sent to were facing an impending setback. Persecution was on the way and they must be prepared for what’s coming. What John was offering to them at this point was his continuing vision of the reality of the realm of heaven, with the worship of Him Who sits on the throne and the Lamb. What he was offering to them was the reality of heaven so that they could measure whatever they would soon encounter in the light of that realm.

The 144,000 described in verses 4-8, comprising the multiples of 12,000 times the 12 tribes of Israel, actually embody the whole company of believers. That number John heard concerning the 144,000, he now looked and saw was a great multitude of people that could not be counted. They comprised people from every nation, tribe and tongue standing before the throne of the Lamb. They were clothed in white robes, signifying victory and holding palm leaves, a symbol of victory celebration. These people could not contain their delight and joy so they expressed their praises and thanks in joyful jubilation, in worship to God and the Lamb. For it was God through the Lamb who have brought them the victory and had rescued them. So they joyfully acknowledged that their salvation came from the One who sits on the throne and through the Lamb. As they celebrate their rescue, the angels that were around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, all fell down and worshipped God. They all echoed in agreement that indeed “…blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”

Verse 13 contains a question that the communities of believers, including us today, want to hear. It was a question that one of the elders asked John: “These who are clothed in white robes, who are they, and where have they come from?” John’s immediate response to that question was, “My lord, you know.”  And immediately he was told that they were those who had come out of the great suffering. They lived through the horrendous nightmare and now have awaken into a fresh new glorious morning. Their white cloths were given not because they had lived a pure and holy life. They were given because the blood of Christ, their surficial Lamb had washed them and brought them out of the slavery of sin, and enabled them all at once to stand in the presence of the Living God. To the early believers and to us, John is saying that the moment death strikes, the redeemed will at once be transported into the very presence of God. Yes, without any delay! In saying that “…they serve Him day and night in His temple; and He who sits on the throne will spread His tabernacle over them” is to say that they would forever be sheltered by God’s very own presence. 

At his closing of this short interlude, John gives all believers (then and now) a glimpse of the things that we will be experiencing ultimately. Firstly, we will have the presence of God continually and will be given the privilege of worshipping Him forever. Secondly, we will be free from all trouble again. No more will we suffer any hunger, thirst nor scorching heat. Thirdly, there will also be a reversal of role. The Lamb who gave His life for us will become our Shepherd, guiding us to springs of refreshing water. And God Himself will also wipe away every tear from our eyes. What a joy! What a hope! Let us be faithful and wait with joyful expectation!  

Revelation 7:1-8 _ the sealing of the redeemed

At this juncture as we think that we have arrived for the climax, the breaking of the seventh seal so that God’s purpose could be read. Instead John pulls the brake and keeps us in suspense. This, we will see, is not the only time. The seven seals were like using wax made with a flame and affixed with an official stamp or mark. This is to keep prying eyes from looking at the content written inside a document. One can tell immediately when a seal like this had been broken. The seal we read in verse 2 is different from the six seals that had been broken, and it is not the 7^th seal. This seal is talking about people with an identification mark put over them to signify ownership. The purpose here is to rescue these specially marked out ones. Just like the blood of the Passover lamb that was applied on the door posts and lintel of the children of Israel so that the angel of death could not reach them.

The whole created order has to be purified. Here we see an impending judgement symbolically described as a violent wind that will devastate the earth and uproot trees. This is a divine judgement that will soon blitz the whole order of human affairs. While all these will take place, the people of God need to be assured that they will be kept and brought safely through. They will bear the special seal on their foreheads that will mark them out as God’s people and not to be harmed.

Here John hears the number that were being sealed as 144,000, broken down into 12 tribes of the children of Israel. These 144,000 redeemed and sealed people actually refer to the same group of people described in Revelation 7:9-17. John first heard the number, than as he looked, he beholds a large countless crowd. This group represents the whole of the redeemed people on earth. They did not escape the suffering but they came through much like Christ came through the resurrection.

Are these 144,000 ethnic Jews? No. John was merely using the rich symbolism of Israel to mark out God’s people. They were the ones, whether ethnic Jews or Gentiles, who through their relationship with the Messiah, have become members of God’s rescued and redeemed family, regardless of descent. The list of the twelve tribes seems to have some differences when compared with the list in Genesis 49. The tribe of Judah starts first instead of Reuben. Perhaps because of the Lion of Judah. And the tribe of Dan is excluded. And Manasseh, one of the sons of Joseph, mentioned as a tribe probably to make up to a total of 12, since the tribe of Dan has been omitted. The point this passage conveys is that while evil will reach its height because it must be totally dealt with; in the meanwhile, the redeemed, those belonging to the Lion of Judah, will be taken care of. Thankfully, we can confidently trust the Lord that He knows those who are His! 

Revelation 6:12-17 – The sixth seal

As we see the breaking of the sixth seal, it helps to know that from the very onset of this book, the Lord had made clear that He would be using symbols to communicate. He sent the message and signified it unto His servant John.” In other words, visions in the book of Revelation, such as this one, are symbols and should not be interpreted literally. In the Old Testament, symbolic languages such as the sun turning black and moon becoming like blood, had been used to describe catastrophic events. The writers resort to using vivid symbols and metaphors because it was hard for them to find the appropriate language to describe what they were seeing. The opening of the sixth seal is in that kind of a situation. Hence what we see here is not a literal, worldwide earthquake. It is a declaration of chaos, a social, political and governmental chaos in the present order. This is painting for us a breakdown of all proven establishments that once seemed to be stable.

This is so because, if the natural order like the sky and mountains and islands are breaking up and folding up, why then is everyone hiding in the caves among the rocks of the mountains? Everyone, including kings, commanders, the rich, the strong, the slaves, and free men. What we need to see in the opening of the sixth seal, that is being communicated, is the portrayal of political and social turbulence, where there will be wide spread panic. They realize that they are completely at the mercy of God and there’s nowhere to protect them from Him who sits on the Throne and the wrath of the Lamb. The wrath of the Lamb would be so intensified that the question is asked, “Who is able to stand it?”  

Before we go any further, we need to know that if the grace of the Lamb is rejected, then one will have to be prepared to face the wrath of the Lamb. The wrath of the Lamb is a contradiction of term. We only know a lamb is gentle, then how can a lamb has wrath? We need to see it in the light that God, in the death of the Christ, had demonstrated His anger against sin and evil in man. And it is the anger of the one who in His own death had embodied the self-giving, self-sacrificial love of God. The Lamb who came to be sacrificed is now the Lamb who will come to judge.

As of now, grace is still reigning through righteousness, and a just God still lovingly and kindly waits to justify everyone who will believe in Jesus. Someday God will call everyone to give an account of his or her life. The only people who should fear the wrath of the Lamb, who sits to judge, will be those who have rejected His call of love.   

Revelation 6:9-11 – The fifth seal

The breaking of the fifth seal reveals where the souls of the martyrs went. Verse 9 tells us that they are underneath the altar. These are the souls of those who stood firm for the Word of God and stayed true to their testimony as believers of the Messiah. They were those who show faith in the Lamb. From natural perspective, many would have given up but they refused to deny their Messiah. They were the wiser one for they have received their reward of eternal rest. What they experienced could not be considered tragedies but meaningful sacrifices. They have found favor with God despite being rejected by the earth. What this scene tells us is that truth can never stay neutral, we either identify with the martyrs or with the rest of humanity.  

These martyrs continually cried out loudly, “How long, O Lord, holy and true, will You refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth?” They were not requesting for revenge. They have no selfish and malicious desire to see those who brought about their death to suffer. Their request came from hearts full of faith and trust in a God who is just and faithful. They were in reality more concerned for God’s name to be honored, as one who judges rightly and justly. Here the Lord God Almighty shows that His plans will not be short-circuited, but rather it will be brought into its total fruition. What they were calling for was not just vengeance, but a desire to see the world brought back into balance, and that their martyrdom be revealed as unfair and unjustified. A just God cannot allow violence against the faithful to prevail. Each of the martyrs is given a white robe, indicating both purity and victory.

They were also told to rest which is a sign of divine favor. In their pleading, they asked how long before their martyrdom will be avenged. It was told to them that it would take a little while longer. There are many more who will have to suffer the same martyrdom as them. That’s because the plan of God is not completed yet. God is just. So however we may feel unjustified, remember He said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay it.” At the right moment, He will execute His judgement. He is always on time. We don’t have to remind God. He knows best. Just trust Him!  

Revelation 5:8-14 – The Lamb is worthy of all praise

It’s understandable that more worship should follow with such a vision of the Messiah of history. So here, described for us are the four living creatures and the 24 elders falling down before the Lamb in reverential worship. At this point, all of us, all believers existing, have become part of the cast. How so? As the 24 elders fell down in worship to the Lord, they each held a harp and golden bowls full of incense. Here we are told in verse 8 that the bowls of incense are the prayers of the saints – you and I, and all believers. Our prayers matter and they truly reach the throne room of God and are presented to the Almighty through Christ the Lamb, who once was slain. Our humble and simple prayers here on earth become sweet savory incense in heaven. We can even stretch our mind a little regarding the harp that each of the elders held. Could they be the equivalent to the song of the saints that rise from earth to heaven? They are sweet music to the Lord even if they are out of tune and pitched wrongly, so long as they are sung from the heart.

In these verses we see three songs. The first new song they sang recorded in verses 9-10, offers praises to the Lamb. For He is worthy, first and foremost to take the scroll and brakes its seal. He is worthy of praise for what He had done. He was slain to rescue us and redeem us with His precious blood. Everyone in lost humanity who has responded to Him is brought back from hopelessness. The blood bought and blood paid believers, now become a Kingdom and priests to God, will rule and reign upon earth. The Lamb had enlisted us and we are no longer spectators but participants in the Kingdom of God here on earth. The Lamb is indeed worthy to take the plan of God forward. He alone can thwart the powers of evil and to establish God’s new plan. Everything He had done, he did so through His own blood. He was our ultimate Passover. In short: this first song praised the Lamb for saving believers by His death, so  that the believers can now take God’s redemptive plans and purposes to reach the wider world.

Verses 11-12 record for us the second song. Here thousands and thousands of angels round the throne, the four living creatures and the 24 elders turned to sing their praises. They first song praised Him for what He had done. This second song praises Him for what He deserves to receive - power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing. To Him belongs all the praise and honor, and everything that enables creation to truly live an enriching life, everything creation is capable of.  We mustn’t just consider the comfort of having Jesus as a friend but fail to see Him as one deserving all the majesty and all the glory. 

The third song, verses 13-14, tells us that all creations, every creature in all of God’s creations, join in the grand worship. They all sang rapturously, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures responded with their “Amen” while the 24 elders fell down and worshiped. At the heart of all that we have seen in Revelation 4-5, is the fact that Jesus, the Lion-Lamb Messiah, is worthy of worship. He shares the worship that uniquely belongs to the Creator God.

What must we do? Why don’t we also join our chorus with the whole host of saints and creative order to adore, worship and ascribe blessing and honor and glory and dominion to Christ who is worthy of it all? We have been redeemed with the precious blood of the slain Lamb who had made us Kingdom and priests to serve the Father. So why don’t we actively serve as God’s redemptive agents to fulfill His redemptive purpose?

Revelation 5:1-7 - The Lion and the Lamb

In these verses John was still beholding the throne room of God. Bear in mind that at this point, the heaven John witnessed was not the ultimate place where all saints will ultimately go. We need to know that what he saw was not just a collage of scenes to be enjoyed. Works have been going on. There is the need to rescue all creation from the danger of the deep rooted evil within it, which is continuously advancing. And there is the necessity to depose the powers that threaten to destroy God’s creation.

As John’s eyes were transfixed on the One who sits on the throne, he saw in His right hand a scroll with writings inside and outside and sealed with seven seals. The affixed seals indicate to us that the contents are valid, and not tampered with. The seven seals also highlight the importance of the content. The seals also tell us that the contents are hidden. While John could see the writing, he did not know the details of the message, until the seals were broken. What could the message of the sealed scroll be? It probably contain the secret plan of God to obliterate and halt the advancing world-destroying scheme, to install His plan to rescue the world, and put it back on the track that He had created it for.

A strong angel then came forward and proclaimed with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” In saying that no one is found worthy to read it and to open the seals, shows us that John was realistic and he understood the deep-seated problems of the human race. We all know that God wants to rule His creation through human being who would obey Him. That was precisely His intention when He created Adam and Eve. He gave them the task. But they disobeyed and failed Him. God then raised the nation Israel with the hope to rescue His plan. He gave Israel the task to do so, but they too failed Him. These were major set-backs. Both Adam and Israel had failed. Who else is worthy to undo the scroll to execute God’s plan? In John’s assessment no one was worthy to do so, hence he broke down and wept uncontrollably.

Just then one of the elders told him to stop weeping for there is one who can do it. He is none other than the Messiah. Here He is referred to as the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David. We know these are Old Testament terms alluded to the Messiah of Israel. And here John said that He has overcome and won the victory and is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals. He can execute God’s plan. But as he heard the announcement that the Messiah can do it, what He saw was different. Instead of the Lion, what he saw was the lamb that was slain. Here we see the merging of the Lion and the Lamb. The implication is: the victory of the lion is secured through the sacrifice of the Lamb. Through this Messiah who was the Lamb that was slain, the victory of the Lion is secured. Through Him God conquers all forces of corruption and death and everything that would destroy God’s perfect creation.

Verse 6 tells us that the slain Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes referring to the Holy Spirit sent out to the world. This assures us that this Lion-Lamb is all powerful and all seeing. He has the right to take the scroll, break the seals and execute the plan. He truly is worthy of our worship. So let our praise continuously rise to the throne of God!