The Sealed Scroll

 

Revelation 5:1:  “And I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals.”

            For the covenant community of the New Testament era, mention of a sealed book, such as in Revelation 5, would have immediately suggested the book which was given to Daniel to be sealed “until the time of the end.”  Jesus referred to the book of Daniel, (Matt. 24:15; Mark 13:14), in terms showing that His audience was thoroughly familiar with it.  Many references throughout the New Testament show that they expected the imminent “end” which Daniel had prophesied to happen in “seventy weeks of years” plus the “time, times and half a time”.  Since Daniel’s book was to be sealed “until the time of the end,” (Daniel 12:4, 9) and knowing that time had come, they would expect the sealed book to now be opened.  And this is what we see happening in Revelation 5.

            The sealed book was “written within and on the back side.”  As the “book” was actually a scroll, the writing within could not be read until it was opened.  According to the then current practice of making a testament, the writing on the back side named the One who was qualified to open the seals.  That was usually the Heir.  In this particular case, it designated the Lamb as the Heir, and so He only was qualified to open the scroll and to read what was within.

            The scene shows that the Testator was very wealthy, for John wept much when no one qualified to open the scroll.  When the Lamb, Christ, appeared as the qualified Heir, the hosts of heaven sang and rejoiced.

            If this scroll was indeed that which Daniel sealed, we know that it contained the prophecy which Daniel did not understand, (12:8), which was that of the end of the fleshly nation of Israel and the Holy City, Jerusalem, (9:24-27).  He was not able to understand it in his lifetime, but was promised that he would rest and stand in his lot at the “end of the days,” i.e., at the end of the 490 years, plus “time, times and dividing of times.”

            The book of Daniel was sealed until the “time of the end,” (12:4, 9).  The book of Revelation was not to be sealed, awaiting a future time, (22:10), but was to be fulfilled immediately.  The time of that “end” which Daniel foresaw was specified, as calculated in 9:24-27 and 12:7-12.  The seventy weeks were decreed:

Concerning your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy (“one”, or “place,” (RSV).

            Many scholars have conclusively shown that this time was fulfilled and the events were accomplished in history at Calvary and the destruction of Jerusalem forty years later.  The book of Revelation shows the fulfillment of Daniel‘s prophecy of the end of the fleshly kingdom.

            That Daniel‘s prophecies have been literally fulfilled should not be a cause for stumbling but rather a source of certainty that they are indeed the word of God.  That they have been fulfilled makes it all the more certain that they will be fulfilled again upon the entire planet after the Gospel has gone throughout the world as a witness.  They serve as a sign of the end of the whole earth in due time.

            To interpret these seven seals, we should then take our cue from the book of Daniel as to how his prophecies were constructed.  He was given three prophecies concerning the kingdoms of this world, Medio-Persia, Greece and Rome, wherein he foresaw the historical events that were to happen to those kingdoms, (Daniel chapters 10 and 11).  These predictive prophecies came to pass very precisely, but the prophecy concerning Israel had been sealed.  Now, the prophecy concerning Israel and Jerusalem was about to be opened, we should expect that it would describe the events that happened to the nation of the Jews from the time of Daniel to the “time of the end,” the destruction of the nation and the City, i.e., the events of the seventy weeks, or 490 years, plus the “time, times and half a time,” from the going forth of the decree to rebuild Jerusalem to its final destruction in AD 70.  (See Introductory Articles: “Calculating the Seventy Weeks”.)

            With this framework in mind, we have a basis for interpreting the events depicted in the opening of the seals.  We find some correlation in the Biblical record, some in Josephus‘ Histories, some in histories of the Roman Empire, and some in the Jewish writings of the Rabbis, the Maccabean histories, the apocryphal and pseudepigraphic writings.  If modern “prophets” can discover the fulfillment of these things in the daily newspapers, then surely we have better grounds for discovering them in the time setting to which they applied.

            Since this scroll was sealed with seven seals, if it represented a total of 490 years of time, then perhaps each seal represented approximately 70 years.  However, from a prophetic viewpoint, which is above time, we may view the seals as aspects of their spiritual condition.[1]  We see also that the seventh seal consists of the seven trumpets, (Revelation 8:1-2).

            The book is depicted as a scroll in which the first page is rolled around the outside and the edge of the paper is sealed down.  As each page is unsealed and peeled off, the next page is similarly sealed and must be opened.  Then the next page, and the next is unsealed and peeled off until the seventh seal is broken and the last page is unrolled.  Now the scroll is very small, only one page and it is opened, (10:1-11).  But we will deal with that in its proper place, (See “The ‘Little Scroll’”, Commentary at 10:2-10).

            So, we see that before the final seal of the scroll is opened, God “seals” his holy remnant.  The word is from the same root as the “seals” of the scroll.[2]

            The final “time”, (or 70 years) was divided approximately in half also.  From the birth of Christ to His crucifixion was approximately 35 moon years and from His crucifixion to the final siege of Jerusalem was approximately 35 moon years.  Thus we see the fulfillment of the “Time, times, and dividing of times” which Daniel prophesied.

 

Seven Horns and Seven Eyes

 

Revelation 5:6: “A Lamb…with seven horns, and with seven eyes which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into the whole earth.”

            This great Lamb has seven “horns“.  If this Lamb is Christ, which it most certainly is, what is to be made of His ‘horns’?  The answer lies in the referents from the Old Testament.

            The word translated ‘horn’ here is probably from the Old Testament word qeren.[3]  It is often used of the horn of an animal, denoting the strength of maturity, but here it is probably used in the primary sense of the root, #7160: “to send out rays of light” as in Exodus 34:29-35  where it is said that Moses face shone, that is, it sent out rays of light.  It is these similar rays of light that are now seen to shine forth from the head of the Lamb. 

            The following comment was copied from Display of Michelangelo‘s Moses, No. 4573A of the Osborn Foundation World Museum in Tulsa, Oklahoma:

Exodus Chapter 34, verse 29 in the Latin Vulgate was translated: ‘And when Moses came down from the Mount Sinai, he held the two tables of the testimony, and he knew not that his face was horned (KJV – ‘shone’) from the conversation with the Lord.’  The Hebrew original signifies both ‘shooting out horns’ and ‘sending forth rays.’  Michelangelo… took it literally.

            As we have seen in Revelation 1:4, the number seven should in these instances be understood as “seven-fold”, or seven parts of a single unit and not seven units.  The seven horns, then, represent the seven-fold strength and maturity or perfection of Jesus as well as the seven-fold brightness of the light that radiates from Him.  ‘Seven’ is also a reminder of the Covenant. (See “The Number Seven In The Bible” at Commentary on 1:4)

            ‘Eyes’, in Hebrew is the same word used for springs of water, or fountains, indicating a source. The word may also indicate mental and spiritual faculties, such as pity, desire, or generosity.  It may indicate the varied facets of a thing such as the varied surfaces of the earth.. “Seven eyes” represents Christ as being the source; i.e. of Light, Love, Wisdom, Nurture, Righteousness, Peace, Joy.  It represents His vision as encompassing the many facets of the whole earth and heavens.

            Zechariah 3:9 is a referent for this passage:

For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone [shall be] seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

            In Zechariah the “seven eyes” are spoken of in the context of removing the iniquity from the land; in Revelation 5:6 they are “sent forth into all the earth,” which we may assume is to remove the iniquity from the land/earth.

            The word for eyes is (dual) `eynayim.  Another word very near to this and possibly another form of the same word is `ayam as used in Isaiah 11:15, translated by KJV as: “with his mighty wind” but by Gesenius Lexicon as “in the terror of His wrath;” or as we might say, “in the heat of His Spirit”.

”He will smite the river (of Egypt) in the seven streams” (thereof), or the seven outflowings thereof.  As Egypt is the symbol of bondage, what then are “the seven Spirits of God”?  As we have seen in Revelation 1:4, the number seven is better understood in many instances as “seven-fold” that is, a single unit with seven parts.  Isaiah chapter 11 may indicate the seven-fold nature of the Spirit of God.  This chapter is about Jesus, the Rod of Jesse, The Branch, The Ensign of the Tribe lifted up to the heavens to assemble the outcasts and gather the dispersed.

The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Jesus, (Isaiah 11:2).  The seven-fold attributes of this Spirit are given in verses 2-5: (1) the Spirit of Wisdom and (2) Understanding, (3)Counsel, (4)Might, (5)Knowledge, (6)Fear of the Lord, (reverence) and (7) Righteous Judgment.

In Zechariah 3:9 the Lord also says: “I will engrave the engraving thereof”  The word ‘engrave’ is the same word as was used in Exodus 28 of the signet stones that were to be placed in the breastplate worn by the High Priest.  The signet stones were carved or sculptured in such a way that they could be used to impress the tribal signature into moist clay tablets.  They represented the Name.

We have seen previously, (Revelation 1:3 “Time”) that the stars are spoken of as God’s writing.  When the “seven stars” are mentioned it refers to the constellation surrounding the North Pole, variously referred to as the Big Dipper, or The Bear, or The Threshing Wain, Sheepfold, etc.  The “seven eyes” which are the seven-fold Spirit of the Lord, is His signature, His signet ring, and is represented graphically in the starry heavens by this constellation, which serves as a witness and a reminder of the work of the Seven-fold Spirit of God in the earth, the covenant Spirit.

 

Harps of God

 

Revelation 5:8:  “Each holding a harp and with golden bowls full of incense.”

 

            These harps seem to be standard equipment for the worship and praise that continually go forth before the throne of God.  We know from the Scriptures that harps were used as an instrument of praise: Psalm 33:2; 43:4; 150:3.  They were also used as an instrument of prophecy: 1 Chronicles 25:3; 150:3.

            There is a constellation of stars that is known as “Lyra,” the harp.  It may have been named thus not only because its outlines suggest the musical instrument, but because from those ancient times it was known that there are harps before the throne of God.

            The golden vials of perfumes are a dramatic contrast to the vials of wrath full of abominations mentioned later, (chapters 15 and 16).  The incense or perfume is interpreted: “which are the prayers of the saints.”  The fact that this is interpreted again reminds us that what we are reading is a symbolic portrayal of spiritual realities.

 

New Song

 

Revelation 5:9:  “And they sang a new song.”

 

            The “new song” sang by the four “beasts” and the numberless angels before the throne in 5:9 was the “Song of the Lamb,” (5:9 through 5:14).  Its entire content is concerning “The Lamb”.  The Song of the Lamb is perhaps Psalm 22 and 23, which was sung by Christ on the cross, Matthew 27:46, and quoted or referred to in Matthew 27:35, 39, 43; Mark 1:11; 15:29.  Hebrews 2:12 speaks of Jesus saying Psalm 22:22.  More of this song at chapter 15:3-4.

            In chapter 14:2 we shall see the “144,000” redeemed ones, singing this same “new song.”  “No one could learn this song but the 144,000” means that even though one was genetically descended from Abraham, he could not sing this song unless he had been “redeemed from the earth/land.”  Merely being a fleshly descendant from Abraham, even though he was dwelling in Judea, did not qualify one to learn this song.

            In chapter 15:2 yet more singers have joined the heavenly choir; it is all those who have gotten the victory over the beast and his image, his mark and his number.  This number probably includes those of chapter 7:9-14 who had gone through great tribulation and had washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb.  Then in chapter 15 they are all together singing the “Song of Moses” and the “Song of the Lamb.”  This reminds us of Isaiah 35:10:

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. (Isaiah 35:10)

The Song of Moses is found in Deuteronomy 32.  (See Deuteronomy 31:30:

And Moses spake in the ears of all the congregation of Israel the words of this song, until they were ended. (Deut. 31:30)

The theme of the Song of Moses and the Song of The Lamb is of vengeance upon the wicked oppressors and victory and deliverance to the faithful believers.

            We also have the Song of Deliverance which Moses and the people sang after triumphing at the Red Sea, Exodus 15:1-18.  The singers in 15:3 said:

Great and marvelous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

            In the covenant renewal ceremonies which were held year by year the people recited the mighty deeds and marvelous works of God. (Exod. 12; Deuteronomy 4:9-10).  Psalm 78 was probably used in the covenant renewal ceremonies to recount the mighty deeds of God.

            The words “new song” are found in several instances in the Old Testament.  The word for “new” is chadash, closely akin to the word chodesh, the new moon, or month.  The “new song” was a celebration of a new time.  The “new song” of the book of Revelation indicates a change of times, i.e., the Day or Year of the Lord, wherein Christ, not the new moon or sun, is now the Light to be celebrated.