Revelation 5 Verse 1 - 7

This is one of the most important scenes in the Bible. One of the most

important events to ever take place. There was the event of creation. (Sort

of important.) The birth of Jesus Christ. The crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Absolute anchor points of the human story. The resurrection of Jesus

Christ. The New Heaven and the New Earth…and this. You’ll understand

why after today and you’ll also understand how all of those events really

aren’t complete (perhaps even meaningless) without this one…

Revelation Chapter 5 Verse 1

 Significant here is that this scroll has writing on both sides. That

would mean that this scroll is unusual, particular. It’s important to

comment that no one knows what this scroll is, or what is written on it,

except for God. We’re not told. It’s not given to us in the text. But

many have offered some, I think, very well-founded and wonderful

thoughts as to its purpose.

 No one is found worthy to take hold of the scroll but the Lamb, the

Root of David, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Which is without any

doubt, Jesus. So, with that, some have offered that this scroll contains

all fulfilled prophecy. Like, all of it. Every prophecy ever spoken, of

all time. And if you funnel all prophecy to one Person, that Person of

convergence is Jesus Christ. History is His story.

 Others offer that this is the Bible. The Old Testament and the New

Testament. The full law of creation and the full law of man. Fulfilled

by only one Man that ever lived. And so only Jesus is worthy to take a

hold of the law, the Old and the New Covenant Maker and Fulfiller

Himself. One that also is out there which I think is good and

acceptable is that this is a will. Roman law required a will to be sealed

seven times and we have evidence of this in archeological finds.

Perhaps this is God’s perfect will for creation…I like that one.

 One scholarly thought that is most certainly the front runner for

several reasons remains and I’d like to give it to you because it is

Biblically supportable, wonderfully incredible, fantastically

encouraging and remarkably fascinating! This one fits…,

everything…

 This scroll is written on both sides. Unusual. In John’s day, scrolls

were made of sheets of papyrus. And they weren’t books, they were

scrolls. Rolls if you will. Papyrus yields a sheet of writing paper that

has a coarse side and a smooth side. So typically, scribes would write

on the smooth side which only made sense because if you write on the

side that is outside of the roll then it will not preserve. So typically, a

scroll would only have writing on one side. That is, except in one

type of document. Where you would find writing on two sides of a

scroll would be specifically a title deed…and what’s more, a

defaulted title deed.

 When a contract would be made between two parties for a piece of

property…a possession…the contract would be drawn up on one side

of a papyrus sheet. It would then be sealed and we find this in

Jeremiah 32:9-11, “So I bought the field from Hanamel, the son of my

uncle who was in Anathoth, and weighed out to him the

money—seventeen shekels of silver. And I signed the deed and sealed

it, took witnesses, and weighed the money on the scales. So, I took the

purchase deed, both that which was sealed according to the law and

custom.”

 Now, if the owner, (and ownership of land is always a family thing in

that culture), if the owner had some sort of debt and was unable to

meet his/her financial obligations, he/she would have to relinquish

their title to the property as either payment or equity against or for the

debt. This consisted of writing on the backside of the papyrus contract

the default of the owner along with their debt and then the contract

would be sealed with seven seals which represented a seven-year

period they had to pay it back and retain the property.

 If the owner/debtor was able to pay the debt within the seven-year

period then the seals would be broken and the title deed would be

returned! If the owner/debtor was not able to pay the debt, before the

title to the property would be relinquished to its new owner (and that

would become a family thing for the new owner at that time) but

before that, there was what’s called the right of redemption. You find

this in Leviticus 25 and you see it played out in Jeremiah 32. That

before the property is lost, any family member of the debtor has a right

to pay the debt to redeem the property.

 I love thinking on this because what we just went through, at least for

me, explains exactly…precisely…what is in the hand of the One who

sits upon the throne! I offer to you that it very well could be the title

deed to planet earth!

 Genesis 1:28, “Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be

fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion

(“rada,” in the Hebrew, rule it, reign over it) over the fish of the sea,

over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the

earth.”” Mankind, the first man and woman, to them was given the

dominion/rule/reign of the earth. But what happened?

 Romans 6:16 says, “Do you not know that to whom you present

yourselves slaves to obey, you are that one’s slaves whom you obey.”

Whom you obey is your master, owner… You cannot obey one,

serve one, without forfeiting the other. Matthew 6:24, “You cannot

serve two masters…” What did man do with the rule given. Eve

obeyed Satan, (any transgression is a two-fold action, it is

disobedience to God and at the same time it is obedience to Satan),

Even obeyed Satan and subsequently Adam did they same. 1 Timothy

2:14 says, “Adam was not deceived,” and thus mankind presented

itself through Adam, through the only mankinds (and therefore ALL

of mankind) as servant to a new master. In that transaction, dominion

was lost and a debt was born…

 This explains why Paul called Satan the god of this world in 2

Corinthians 4:4 and why Jesus referred to Satan as the prince of this

world in John 12:31. We read in Luke 4:5-7, “Then the devil, taking

Him up on a high mountain, showed Him all the kingdoms of the

world in a moment of time. And the devil said to Him, “All this

authority I will give You, and their glory; for this has been delivered

to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore, if You will worship

before me, all will be Yours.” Obey me, not God… Jesus did not

rebuke Satan for making this claim…how could he have even made

that claim lest they were his in the first place? You see the title deed

to planet earth…stripped from all mankind by man’s obedience to

Satan…and Satan was trying to ensure it changes family hands!

 Satan is still in this business today! He wants the deed to everything.

The deed to your family. The deed to your life. The title deed to your

joy…the title deed to your decency, man…he’s still ripping people

off…don’t let him do it! Fight as Jesus fought! With the Word of

God and a life aim to serve the Father!

 An intensely interesting point about being a member of a church and a

community, family of God! Because before Satan can take over the

deed to whatever about you, the kinsmen redeemer phase has to fail as

well. And in the Body of Christ what are you surrounded by?

KINSMEN and KINSWOMEN, brothers and sisters that are willing

and wanting to step in and fight for you against the enemy!!

 In the case of the title deed to creation, to the apex of creation,

mankind…, the right of redemption stands…and in order for that debt

to be redeemed, it had to be done by family. So, God stepped down

from His Glory and became, in all ways, family to His own creation.

Hebrews 2:10-11, “For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things

and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to make

the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. For both He

who sanctifies and those who are being sanctified are all of one, for

which reason He is not ashamed to call them brethren…”

 Seven years. Debt is due. Man can’t pay it. “Who is worthy?” No one

was found…and yet the Kinsman Redeemer, Jesus Christ, the Brother,

Friend, Father, Creator, Lord and Savior of all mankind steps forward

to settle the debt!

Revelation Chapter 5 Verse 2

 In other words, “Who is able to pay the debt?” Notice this strong

angel doesn’t ask, “Who is willing?” Alexander the Great was

willing. Hitler was willing. Bin Laden was willing. Stalin was

willing. Mohammad was willing…many are willing.

 There have been scores of folks who have said, “I want the power.

Give me the control. I will rule the world.” But the angel doesn’t ask

who has the self-willed impulsive desire…the angel asks, “Who is

worthy?” Or “who is able?”

 You might want to fix your husband. You might want to fix your

kids…fix your parents…fix your job…fix your addiction…fix your

laziness…fix your attitude even…but are you able…? In truth…no

you’re not. Only the Lord can do that work in your life and in mine!

So, do I do nothing then!? NO!! Get at HIM! Put in some work!

Change your priority to serving the Lord, loving God and loving

others. Get in the Word. Start praying. Remove that which is of the

flesh…insert that which is of the Spirit! If you want God to be the

Master of your life, start obeying Him over your flesh!!!

Revelation Chapter 5 Verse 3

 Notice no one in heaven. No angels can help you…no patron

saints…no false gods…no demons…really even no man can help…as

John says here that no one…no one in heaven, on earth or under the

earth was able to take it…all eyes hit the floor…that’s what John is

saying here about no one even being able to give a hint of

worthiness…They can’t even look at it!

 And just a note here because this is a much longer conversation, the

Bible is fairly explicit that the heavens and the heaven of heavens is

above, and that hell is below. (This is why we say, “Hi,” as in,

“Heaven is high,” and “Hello,” as in, “Hell is below.”) The center of

the earth is estimated to be 10,300 degrees…, similar to the

temperature found on the surface of the sun, with pressure equivalent

to roughly 3.6 million times the atmospheric pressure at sea level…

Now, completely off limits to the living… The center of the earth is

4,000 miles straight down! The deepest drill in history, the Kola

Superdeep Borehole, only reached 7.6 miles before it failed… Some

wild ponderances there…

 And as this happens…we see something that’s probably never before

occurred in heaven…tears… This is spiritual weeping… An

interesting ponderance…

Revelation Chapter 5 Verse 4

 The word here for “wept much” in the Greek literally means to

convulse with grief. Perhaps John knows…he knows what this scroll

is…what this means…that if no one is able to come forth, he is

lost…he realizes the earth will remain in Satan’s grip…

Revelation Chapter 5 Verse 5

 I love how he is comforted by one of the elders. Being right,

right/wrong, good/bad…sin bad, God good…that comes easy…grace,

love, peace, kindness, longsuffering, goodness, faithfulness, self-

control…that comes as you grow up. The elder is the comforter, not

the corrector, and not the “dug in until they repent,” ruler.

 Who is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah? Jesus…but how do we know

that? Several ways but this one is most intriguing. Genesis Chapter

49. Jacob calls his sons and he blesses them and when he gets to

Judah, he says something quite peculiar…very different than what he

says to all of the others…he tells him in verses 8-10, “Judah, you are

whom your brothers will praise. You are a lion’s whelp, your line is

as a lion and the scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver

from between his feet, until the Messiah comes.”

 Now in the year 12 AD, the Romans issued a decree which stripped

the Jews of their right to capital punishment. The rabbi’s response

was to proclaim that “God had failed” (relevant to Genesis 49:8-10)

because they looked at this, capital punishment that is, as the

cornerstone of them being an autocratic people. In this action they

recognized that as a people they had lost their national, cultural and

authoritative scepter…and yet the Messiah had not come. What year

was this though? 12 AD. They should have looked in the temple!

 As the scripture says in Malachi 3:2 that suddenly the Lord will appear

in His own house…there in Jerusalem, the 12-year-old Jesus was

confounding the scribes and the thinkers as He taught, telling His

parents, “I must be about My Father’s business…”

 The Lion of the tribe of Judah you see was there…right there in

their midst just as Jacob had prophesied as he blessed Judah all the

way back in Genesis 49…but instead of saying, “God must be here”

they assumed God a failure… Don’t get all judgy…all too often we

too fall into that same fallacy!

 And the angel also says here the Root of David…now you might say

well Jesus was a descendant of David and you would be correct but

the angel calls Jesus here…the root. How? Jesus preceded David by

all eternity and therefore He is of the lineage of the house of David but

He is also the Root of David…

 And so just as in Chapter 1, John turns to look again…maybe

expecting a roaring strong beastly lion…but look at what he sees…

Revelation Chapter 5 Verse 6

 John just heard the elder say…behold the lion has overcome and he

looks and lo…a lamb…and in the Greek that word translated here as

“lamb” is in the diminutive form of the root word which means more

accurately this is “little lamb” or “precious lamb” gentle, lowly…and

what’s more, John notices that it is slain…

 How telling this is! How profoundly true this point yet how

frequently, almost constantly denied by folks…the power in the

middle of the throne of God…the force amongst the living creatures of

heaven…the strength within the elders of the Most-High…described

as a lion…fierce and commanding; supreme to all others, the king of

authority, in control and all mighty…as presented and in reality…is

absolutely hidden in the lamb slain. IT IS HUMILITY! The secret

to all life, to all godliness, to all love, joy, peace…

 But, love never fails. Everything else falls short. What does love

look like? Laying down your life for them. Love looks like the

littleness of the Lamb slain proclaimed in heaven as the prevailing

LION! Does He rule you or do you rule you? Anyone other than Jesus

Christ, can I just tell you this, is not worthy of you.

 None have perfect power and perfect insight…complete and perfect

eternal authority and wisdom…except Jesus! John says here that He

had seven horns…horns always signify power and authority in the

Bible and here Jesus has seven…the number of perfection and

completion…

 So, Jesus alone has perfect and complete power and authority. And

John says here that He had seven eyes which speak of perfect and

complete insight…flawless and unfailing wisdom!! Which are the

seven spirits of God which we have looked at now three times in the

Book of Revelation (they come from Isaiah Chapter 11).

 He alone can help. Not Him and them! That won’t help. Medicine

mixed with poison only cures life (kills)! If you really want to be made

well…the answer is Jesus.

Revelation Chapter 5 Verse 7

 The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the Lamb slain is

able to pay the price for the bankruptcy of mankind. And so, He takes

the title deed, along with all of the debts and defaults…