The Heavenly Vision (Part Two)

The Lamb on the Throne

Revelation 5

Introduction

The fourth and fifth chapters of Revelation are really a single vision. In the fourth chapter, we see into Heaven with John. At the center of the heavenly court is the Throne of God. It is a vision of power and sovereignty. God is seated on His Throne and is ruling the world. This is not only the theological foundation of the book of Revelation, it is the foundational revelation of the entire Bible! The rest of the visions in Revelation proceed because God is executing His sovereign will and purpose “on earth as in heaven.” However, we will also see as the rest of Revelation unfolds that there are personalities in the universe, including human beings, who do not acknowledge or submit to the authority of the One on the Throne in Heaven.

John now sees a sealed scroll in the hand of the One on the Throne. What is this scroll? Some have said this scroll represents the title deed of the earth. In other words, whoever possesses the scroll rules the world. But others have thought this scroll represents the purpose of God. Both views contain some elements of truth. But even more importantly, all of Heaven wants to know who can open the scroll and reveal its contents. Who is worthy to do such a task? But there is no person who answers this call. John sense the significance of the sealed scroll because he begins to weep when no one is found worthy to open it. But we all know that weeping is out of place in Heaven and John has not seen all there is to see in this vision. There is someone who can open the scroll!

And so, one of the heavenly Elders comforts John and gives an additional revelation: The Lion of the Tribe of Judah has been found worthy and can open the scroll! And what do you think John expected to see at that point in the vision? A lion, of course! But that is not what he sees. Instead of a mighty lion, John sees a lamb. This is literally a little lamb and even more surprising is the fact that this lamb has just been killed, yet is standing alive before the Throne. This lamb then takes the scroll from the hand of the One of the Throne and receives the same kind of worship from the inhabitants of Heaven that had previously been given to the One seated on the Throne. In the next chapter, the lamb will begin to open the scroll and the first cycle of visions will commence.

All the visions in Revelation that follow are coming from the lamb. He is at the center of everything and is the great Mover of all events in heaven and on the earth. The book of Revelation is making a shocking claim about the nature of reality and we must orient ourselves to the meaning of this vision. The lamb is the most important person in heaven and earth. We dare not ignore this person or become his opponents. The entire history of the world and the meaning of everything, as well as the destiny of every person who will ever live, is determined by the identity of this lamb, what he has accomplished, and what he is doing in Heaven right now.

The Identity of the Lamb

Who is this lamb? Obviously, this is an important person. There is a kind of double vision here that helps us understand who this exalted person is. He is both a lion and a lamb. Those characteristics are difficult to find together in a single personality. We all know people who are bold and powerful, like a lion. And then there are those who are meek and humble, like a lamb. But have you ever known anyone who is both a lion and a lamb? How can these things come together in one person? This is a unique person we are talking about here, someone who possesses characteristics found in no one else in heaven or on earth.

The great New England preacher, Jonathan Edwards, preached a sermon on Revelation chapter five on the profound convergence of attributes found in the one who is both a lion and a lamb. The sermon is entitled The Excellency of Jesus Christ and Edward’s stated thesis for his sermon is that “there is an admirable conjunction of diverse excellencies in Jesus Christ. The lion and the lamb, though very diverse kinds of creatures, yet each have their peculiar excellencies. The lion excels in strength and in majesty of appearance and voice. The lamb excels in meekness and patience. But we see that Christ is in the text compared to both, because the diverse excellencies of both wonderfully meet in him.”

Those who know the Scriptures recognize the origins of this lion who is also a lamb. The lion is the messiah promised to the people of Israel. This unique, exalted person came out of the special people God had chosen. Out of the people of Israel would come a ruler, a Messiah (anointed one) who would not only rule over Israel but also the Gentiles. The origins of this ruler were predicted in prophecy. He would come from the tribe of Judah:

“Judah, your brothers shall praise you; your hand shall be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons shall bow down before you. Judah is a lion's cub; from the prey, my son, you have gone up. He stooped down; he crouched as a lion and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples” (Gen. 49.8-10).

Here in Revelation we see the fulfillment of this ancient prophecy.

Out of Judah’s family came Israel’s greatest king. God promised King David that his line would never fail and his throne would be established forever (See II Sam. 7.12-16). It would eventually seem like David’s line was defunct and would never rule again, but the Lord had promised that “there shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit” (Isa. 11.1). The vision in Revelation shows the fulfillment of that prophecy as well. This heavenly ruler is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah who sprang from David’s kingly line. There is only one person who can be called “the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David” and that person is Jesus. As a lion, He has all power to rule the world.

But in the book of Revelation Jesus is always pictured as the lamb. The most critical vision of Jesus is as the lamb. He is a slain lamb and the wounds still appear upon Him, even in heavenly glory. He is a sacrificial lamb. Our minds should immediately go back to the story of the Exodus and the killing of the Passover lamb. The lamb in Revelation is the cosmic Passover lamb. Images from the Exodus run throughout the visions that follow. Everything that happened in the Exodus of Israel from Egypt will happen again, but this time on a cosmic scale. God judged Egypt with a series of plagues that culminated in the Death Angel passing over the land. The blood of the lamb saved the Israelites from the plague of death and judgement that fell on the Egyptians. In Revelation, God judges the world with a series of plagues. But our cosmic Passover Lamb has been sacrificed and God will bring His covenant people out of the world and into a New Creation. The main theme of history and the whole purpose of God is the redemption of a People. The Lamb has purchased a People for God – a group too large to be numbered – who will one day stand with the Lamb before the Throne of God.

The crucial event of the original Exodus was the night when the lamb was slain and blood was applied to the houses of the people to save them from the plague of death. For the people to live, an innocent lamb had to be slain and blood had to shed. Life was taken so that life could be spared. The Passover Lamb was a substitute that died for the people and protected them from the plague of God’s wrath. God was developing in the minds of the people the concept of atonement. The act of atonement is more than just the forgiveness of sins, though that is the result. Atonement means that the offense of sin is covered, the debt is paid in full, so that even the holy eyes of God see no sin in the ones covered by the atonement. God is not ignoring sin. Atonement means God is canceling or covering the offense and guilt of sin. This is what the blood of Christ has done. The one who is covered by this atonement will not be subjected to the wrath of God. There is no reason for God to condemn a person who is covered by the blood of this Lamb. The offering of this atoning sacrifice for sin is the crucial event in the history of the world and the key to God’s eternal purpose. The purpose of God could not move forward until sin was atoned for and taken away from the presence of God. This great act of redemption has been accomplished by the Lamb “whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood” (Rom. 3.25). All of heaven continues to celebrate the effect of this atoning sacrifice.

The Accomplishments of the Lamb

All of Heaven is celebrating what the Lamb has accomplished. The heavenly Elder said that the Lion of the Tribe of Judah has triumphed. And with His blood the Lamb has redeemed a People for God from out of the world. The Gospel is all about the exploits of this Lamb. If Heaven is caught up in celebrating his accomplishments, we ought to give him more than a passing consideration. What has the Lamb accomplished?

He has triumphed. The word here could also be translated that he has conquered. Where did he win this victory? It was not in heaven. The Lamb entered heaven having already won the victory. The Roman generals who won victories on foreign fields would then be welcomed back into the capital city with great honor and celebrations. This same kind of thing has been done in heaven for the conquering Lamb. The victory was won on earth and then celebrated in heaven. The earth is the realm of men and of Satan and his fallen angels. The Lamb won this victory in enemy territory that is in opposition to the One on the Throne in heaven. The Lion of Judah won the crucial victory in the same realm and over the same adversaries that the people of God must also face while in the world. The enemies have been defeated, although the final mop-up operation is yet to come. The Victor had to enter heaven first before that final victory is fully accomplished.

We should take note of how the Lion of the Tribe of Judah won this victory on earth. We would expect a lion to roar and scare his enemies before pouncing for the kill. But that is not how the Lion of Judah won the victory. The Lion is also the Lamb of God. He conquered our enemies through suffering and death. It is no wonder the Gospel is foolishness to the wisdom of the world! Here is a completely counter-intuitive message: the victory came when the Lion of Judah became a lamb and laid down his life. This aspect of the Gospel is captured so vividly in C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia when Aslan, the great lion of Narnia, gives himself up to the power of the White Witch and her dark powers, is tied to the Stone Table, and then killed by the Witch and her cruel, stone knife. It was at that very moment, when all seemed to be death and despair, that the crucial victory was being won. When Jesus died on the cross, that was the point when the head of the Serpent was crushed even as he himself dealt the fatal blow to Christ. In his excellent sermon on Revelation chapter five, Jonathan Edwards says that

“it was principally by means of those sufferings that he conquered and overthrew his enemies. Christ never so effectively bruised Satan’s head as when Satan bruised his heel. In his last sufferings, Christ sapped the very foundations of Satan’s kingdom, he conquered his enemies in their own territories, and beat them with their own weapons, as David cut off Goliath’s head with his own sword. The devil had, as it were, swallowed up Christ, as the whale did Jonah, but it was deadly poison to him, he gave him a mortal wound in his own bowels. He was soon sick of his morsel, and was forced to do by him as the whale did by Jonah. And thus, the actual Samson does more towards the destruction of his enemies at his death than in his life. In yielding up himself to death, he pulls down the temple of Dagon and destroys many thousands of his enemies, even while they are making themselves sport in his sufferings. And so, he whose type was the Ark, pulls down Dagon and breaks off his head and hands in his own temple, even while he is brought in there as Dagon’s captive.”

Or, as the Apostle Paul says it more succinctly: “He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in him” (Col. 2.15).

All the adversaries have already been defeated for us: The Devil and his dark forces, the World and its rebellious opposition to the will of God, and the curse of death itself which was broken by the One the grace could not rightfully hold in its clutches. It is no wonder that believers in Christ are now called “more than conquerors” – we can also overcome Satan, the World, and even death itself, all through Him who has already conquered all these.

The greatness of the Lamb’s victory has been recognized in Heaven, which makes these accomplishments even more significant. There are accomplishments recognized and celebrated on earth among men. But the accomplishment celebrated in Heaven are the truly great works, though these are usually ignored on the earth. The Scriptures record the works of great men like Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and all the Prophets. But here in Revelation, Heaven is not celebrating those men and their works. Heaven celebrates the accomplishments of the Lamb and only he is said to be worthy.

The Lamb is worthy of all this attention in Heaven because of His perfect obedience to the will of God – obedience even to the point of laying down His own life. Jesus said it was “for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father (John 10.17-18).” Jesus perfectly obeyed that charge from His Father in Heaven. The Lamb of God was the only person in history who perfectly obeyed the will of God. As He prayed in Gethsemane: “Not my will, but yours be done.” Because He humbled Himself in this way, He has been exalted in Heaven (See Phil. 2.5-11). In Heaven, the Lamb is worshiped just like the One seated on the Throne. And it is now critical than everyone on earth do the same because in the future every knee will have to bow to the Lamb, willingly or otherwise.

The Presence of the Lamb in Heaven

In the future, the Lamb will appear and every eye will see him. The wicked world that opposed him will call for the rocks and the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb. But in the meantime, the Lamb is in Heaven before the Throne of God, where He cannot be seen by earthly eyes. The book of Revelation is not primarily about the appearing of the Lamb at the end of time, although that is certainly a part of the cycle of visions. The primary message of Revelation has more to do with the Lamb’s presence in Heaven now. What is the Lamb doing in Heaven and why does this matter?

To understand the significance of this vision, we must go back to the meaning of that sealed scroll we saw previously in the hand of the One on the Throne. This scroll has something to do with the purpose of God., which previously had been hidden, hence the scroll is sealed, but which is now going to be revealed by the Lamb. The Apostle Paul said that he had been given grace to preach the riches of Christ to the Gentiles and bring to light for everyone “what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph. 3.8-10). This is also the meaning of the sealed scroll in Revelation. But the book of Revelation adds an important feature to the unlocking of God’s eternal purpose: here we are seeing this purpose in its final stages and how everything will be brought to a fitting conclusion or consummation. How will the purpose of God come to its conclusion? That mystery will be opened by the Lamb.

A commentator named Robert Wall identifies an even more specific purpose for the sealed scroll: “In the ancient world, the sealed scroll carried official edicts or legal documents. John probably recognized God’s scroll as containing the Divine decrees that announced God’s triumph over evil and the official conclusion of God’s rivalry with the Evil One. The scroll simply describes in detail the conclusion of salvation history that has commenced with the faithful work of the Paschal Lamb.”

So, when we see the Lamb take the scroll from the One on the Throne, this signifies God’s endorsement of the Lamb and the fact that the execution of God’s purpose has been given into the hands of the Lamb. The Lamb is managing the purpose of God and is responsible for bringing it to its conclusion. The Lamb is the chosen agent of God to bring in the fullness of God’s Kingdom and defeat all adversaries. For this reason, the Lamb has been given all authority in heaven and earth. Christ has been exalted into heaven to rule the world and implement the final purpose of God. Don’t miss that fact that He is ruling now.

But the Lamb is not just in heaven to rule the world. He is also in heaven as a priest so that He can mediate all the blessings of the New Covenant. Something has changed in Heaven and we have entered a new era of God’s dealing with men. We now have a man in heaven who is our representative before God. Revelation shows us in the form of a vision what the book of Hebrews teaches us doctrinally:

“For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf. Nor was it to offer himself repeatedly, as the high priest enters the holy places every year with blood not his own, for then he would have had to suffer repeatedly since the foundation of the world. But as it is, he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment, so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him” (Heb. 9.24-28).

That nicely summarizes the message of the book of Revelation for us!

Jesus is our priest, mediator, and intercessor in heaven. Even modern people understand these roles. Our form of government in Western-style democracies utilizes representation to bring the will and the needs of the people before those in power. And if you are having legal trouble, you hire an attorney to represent you. If you have a good attorney, you will get a good deal in court. Jesus is the very best representation for us in heaven before the Throne of God because He is like us, having taken on our human nature, and He is also the Son of God and has all the favor of God. He can bring us to God. As Jonathon Edwards said: “Christ has brought it to pass, that those whom the Father has given Him should be brought into the household of God, that he and his Father, and his people, should be as one society, one family; that the church should be, as it were, admitted into the society of the blessed Trinity.” We are accepted before that Throne in Heaven because Jesus has gone into Heaven first and has been accepted there for us. He is bringing many other sons to glory. And so, there is only one mediator between God and man because no other man has been accepted in Heaven before the Throne.

Conclusion

The Lamb has now taken the scroll from the hand of the One on the Throne. All things have been placed into the capable hands of the Lord Jesus. Now we will see how the final chapter of the history of the world will unfold, under the authority of the Lamb, culminating in a New Creation. But that road to the New Creation will not be an easy one. All the forces of Evil are amassed to resist the Lamb and His Father. The Saints who are in the world must pass through much tribulation to enter the New Creation. But when we need help, we have our High Priest in Heaven who is bringing our prayers before the Throne. That Throne has become a Throne of Grace for those in Christ. And if the whole future of the cosmos has been placed in the hands of the Lamb by God Himself, we should also be able to entrust our little lives to Jesus. The One who is now reigning in Heaven is the same one who said to his disciples: “do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you” (Matt. 6.31-33).