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Text Sermons : Zac Poonen : (The Final Triumph) 5. Chapter 5

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Verses 1, 2: And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, 'Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?'

Here we see God holding a book (a scroll). A scroll is a large length of parchment rolled up that has to be unrolled in order to be read.

To understand what this scroll symbolizes, we need to turn to the Old Testament. In Leviticus 25:24, 25, we read

For every piece of your property, you are to provide for the redemption of your land. If a fellow-countryman of yours becomes so poor that he has to sell part of his property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative has sold.
There was a law in Israel, that when a man became so poor that he had to sell his property, his nearest relative had to buy it for him. That was called "redeeming the land". How does this apply to us?

God gave Adam the whole earth. He told him to rule over it and to subdue it. But Adam disobeyed and became poor. Thus he gave away the title-deed of the earth to Satan. Then Satan became the ruler of the earth.

When Satan tempted Jesus in the wilderness, he showed Him the glory of the world and told Him, "I will give you all this, because it has been handed over to me" (Luke 4:6). Who had handed it over to him? Adam.

There are many gifts that God has given man that He has handed over to Satan. For example, God gives men money and health, and they hand them over to Satan, by using them for indulging in selfish pleasures.

Now this earth which Adam had given to Satan had to be redeemed.

But we read in Leviticus 25 that only a close relative, a near kinsman could redeem it. That's why Jesus had to come as a Man. Only thus could He be our Relative and Redeemer and redeem the earth back to God.

In Jeremiah 32:6-9 we read of Jeremiah buying a land for his relative according to this law. He paid the money and signed the purchase deed. The deed was a scroll which was then rolled up and sealed (Jeremiah 32:10).

It is a similar scroll that we read of in Revelation 5 - the purchase deed of the earth. And the angel asked who was worthy to redeem it.

In the book of Ruth, we see one more picture of this type of redemption. Ruth was a Gentile who had married a Jew in Moab. When her husband died, she came to Israel with her mother-in-law Naomi. They were both very poor and someone had to redeem the land that belonged to Ruth's late husband. The one who could redeem it was a near relative called Boaz. So Ruth went up to Boaz and said "Can you redeem it for me?"

The Law stated that if a man died leaving his wife, his brother must marry her (Deuteronomy 25:8 to 10). So Boaz had to purchase this land as well as marry Ruth. But when Ruth came to Boaz, he told her, "There is someone who is a closer relative to you than I am. We will have to ask him first. If he is unwilling to purchase the land and marry you, then I will do both." So Boaz told the other relative. But the other man was unwilling. So Boaz redeemed Ruth.

Ruth is a type of the church - poor and needing redemption. The first relative, the LAW could not redeem us. Then, Boaz typifying Christ, redeems us and marries us. This is what Romans 7:4 says, "My brethren you are dead to the law, so that you can be married to Christ".

Verse 3-5: And no one in heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look into it. And I began to weep greatly, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look into it; and one of the elders said to me, 'Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.'

No one was found worthy or able to unseal the book of earth's redemption. The Law of God could not do it. And when John saw that no one could redeem the earth that man had lost, he wept.

He wept greatly - because no one was found worthy to open the book. There was no relative who came forward to help this poor "girl" who had lost all her lands, and no one to marry "her" either.

And then one of the elders proclaimed the good news to John that the Lion of Judah, the Root of David, was worthy. Jesus, the Root of David also became the Seed of David (Revelation 22:16). Jesus came as a Man, became our closest relative and redeemed both us and the earth.

So the gospel message is, "Stop weeping! Someone has come as a man - as your close relative - and loved you enough to redeem you."

He could not have become our closest relative if He had not come as a Man. That's why Paul says, that an essential part of the gospel is the fact that Jesus Christ was born of the seed of David (Romans 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:8). That is why our Lord Jesus Christ is worthy, and that is why we read further in Revelation 5 that they sing a new song of praise to Him in heaven.

Verses 6, 7: And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And He came, and He took it out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

When John turned to see the lion, what he saw was a lamb - a lamb as it has been slain - symbolising Jesus Christ crucified - standing between God and man as the one Mediator between them.

Jesus was always like a lion, towards Satan, sin and the spirit of the world (wherever He found it) - fighting them and resisting them. But towards people, Jesus was always like a lamb. People could beat Him, insult Him, and ill-treat Him, and He would never retaliate.

In the world, we see the opposite of that. People are like a lamb towards the Devil, afraid of him, submitting to him and yielding to sin. But they behave like lions towards each other - tearing each other apart and fighting with each other. This is the spirit of the antichrist - the opposite of Christ.

The word "Lamb" is a frequently used title of Jesus Christ in the book of Revelation. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus saying, "Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29).

The seven horns that the Lamb has, symbolize "all power". Seven is the perfect member and the horns speak of strength and power. All power in heaven and on earth has been given to our Lord.

The seven eyes are again the sevenfold Holy Spirit of God. This is another symbol of the Holy Spirit, that speaks of His perfect discernment.

Here we are also told that these seven eyes have been sent out into all the earth. Why? The answer is found in 2 Chronicles 16:9, "The eyes of the Lord, (the sevenfold Holy Spirit) move to and fro throughout the whole earth to strongly support those whose hearts are completely His". It is very important, as we look to the future, that we recognise that the Holy Spirit is working all across the earth to support us strongly, if our hearts are completely His. When we see this, we won't be afraid even if the Devil himself opposes us.

And then we read, "And He came, and He took it out of the right Hand of Him who sat on the throne" (verse 7). Look at the authority here - walking up to the Father and taking the book from His hand. Which man can do that? Only Jesus, our Lord and Saviour.

There are some "Christian" groups that teach that there are NOT three Persons in the Godhead but only one. Therefore they baptize people in the Name of "Jesus only". This is a great deception of the devil that removes the distinction between the Father and the Son as two separate Persons and thus leaves us without any Mediator (See 1 Timothy 2:5).

But here we see the Father sitting on the throne and Jesus coming and taking the scroll from the Father's hand, proving that He had the right to take it - as the only mediator between God and men.

In Ezekiel 2:9, 10 we see something more about this scroll: "Lo, a scroll....ritten on the front and the back, and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe". Various judgments were written on the scroll. Zechariah also saw a scroll, showing God's curse going over the earth, because people had disobeyed God's commandments (Zechariah 5:1-3). Two of the 10 commandments are mentioned especially:

Do not steal; and
Do not to take the Lord's name in vain.
Everyone who stole would be judged according to the writing on the outside of the scroll. And everyone who swore would be judged according to the writing on the inside of the scroll.

God had written the ten commandments on two tablets of stone. On one were written four commandments relating to man's relationship with God. On the other were written six commandments that related to man's relationship with his fellowman. Swearing broke one commandment on the first tablet and stealing broke one commandment on the second tablet. So the two sides of the scroll represent the ten commandments of God that have been disobeyed by the human race, necessitating God's judgment falling on man.

As the 7 seals are opened, we can therefore expect to see the judgment that will come upon man for his disobedience to God's commandments.

We could therefore look at the question, "Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?" (verse 2), as "Who is worthy to execute judgment upon the human race for their disobeying God's commandments".

When the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery to Jesus, He asked them, as it were, a similar question, "Who is worthy to throw a stone at her? (John 8:1-12)."

So the question here is: "Who is worthy to judge the world?"

In the case of the adulterous woman, only the sinless Jesus was qualified to throw a stone at her. But He did not. He said, "I do not condemn you". Jesus had come then to initiate the age of grace. 2000 years have gone by and the age of grace is almost over now. One of these days, the same Jesus will return to judge the world.

The unsealing of a scroll also means giving us understanding on what is written in the scroll. A sealed book is a book that we cannot understand. A book that is unsealed however is something that we can understand. Isaiah 29:11-12 says,

The entire vision shall be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, 'Please read this', he will say, 'I cannot, for IT IS SEALED'. Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate saying, 'Please read this'. And he will say, 'I cannot read'.
The literate person becomes as foolish as the illiterate person when confronted with a sealed book!! Why so? Verse 13 gives us the answer. The Lord says,

Because the people draw near with their words and honour me with their lip service, but they remove their hearts far from me".
If we approach the book of Revelation with this attitude - drawing near with our words but not with our hearts - then the book will be a sealed book to us. "The Lord poured a deep sleep upon the prophets and covered the eyes of the seers" in Isaiah's time, so that God's Word was like a sealed book to them (Isaiah 29:10).

The book of Revelation however is not a sealed book. It says in Revelation 22:10, "Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near". If our eyes are blinded to its meaning, the reason must be that our hearts are far from the Lord. God has given the book of Revelation, to open the eyes of His bondservants.

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

Previously we saw the 24 elders falling down before the Father - (4:10). Now they fall down before the Lamb. We also see each of them having a golden bowl full of incense (representing the prayers of the saints).

These bowls contain the prayers that believers have prayed for 2000 years. Every prayer of ours goes into those bowls. One day, the bowls will be full and they will be poured out. That will be the result of the sum total of all the prayers that believers prayed - especially this prayer "Thy kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven". That prayer is asking the Lord to redeem the earth and to let His kingdom of righteousness come on earth.

Jesus told us to pray always! And even if nothing happens immediately, our prayers go into the bowl. One day that bowl will be filled - and then you will see things happen. That is why it is important to pray. Pray especially for the coming of the kingdom of God. That is more important than prayers for physical healing and other such matters.

In a few more years the bowl will be full and those angelic authorities will pour out the bowls before the Lord. And God's final programme for winding up the affairs of this earth will begin. It is important for us to see that God acts in response to the prayers of the saints.

And when they pour out these bowls, what do they sing?

Verses 9, 10: And they sang a new song, saying, 'Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and Thou hast made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth".

When it says that they sang a NEW song, it means that every time they sing "Thou art worthy", it is fresh!

How is it with us? If we are filled with the Holy Spirit and walk the way of the cross daily, we can be fresh in our expressions of worship and praise to the Father and the Son, EVERY single time we do so.

Here it also says we will reign on the earth. Jesus has made us kings and priests. We rule in our spirit now. One day we will reign in our bodies as well.

Verse 11: And I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriad of myriads and thousands of thousands".

That means that there are a hundred million angels in heaven plus many more millions!! So there are enough angels there for God to allot one for each child of God quite easily - many more than one each!!

We read in Hebrews 1:14 that the angels are ministering spirits sent forth to serve those who inherit salvation. God has allotted angels for each of us. When we believe that, we will be encouraged. Jesus taught that every child has an angel who sees the face of the Father and helps it (Matthew 18:10). And those angels don't leave us when we grow up.

Verse 12: And they also said with a loud voice, 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.'.

All men are to honour the Son, exactly as they honour the Father. There is no doubt here that Jesus Christ is God, to be worshipped just as much as the Father is worshipped.

Verses 13, 14: And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, 'To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever'. And the four living creatures kept saying, 'Amen'. And the elders fell down and worshipped.

We see here that they didn't say Amen just once, but again and again.

Some people are offended when they hear people in a church say "Amen" and "Halleluja". How will such people live in heaven??

God has exalted Jesus because He humbled Himself, and given Him a Name that is above every name, so that one day at the Name of Jesus every knee, every thing in heaven and earth and under the earth will bow down to Him, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:8-11).

The most important confession that we must make to the unbeliever is that "Jesus Christ is Lord". One day, the whole universe will say that. How wonderful that our eyes have been opened to see the Lordship of Jesus even now, and to see the worthiness of Him Who came as a Lamb towards men and as a Lion towards Satan. Jesus overcame the world (John 16:33), and paid the price for the earth to be redeemed back to God.





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