The Lamb Worthy to Open the Scroll: Part 3 of 7 (series: Lessons on Revelation)

by John Lowe
(Woodruff, S.C.)

4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

“AND I WEPT MUCH”, not so much on his own account, but because he feared his curiosity would not be satisfied, and that his strong desire would not be gratified. These feelings were raised in him upon sight of “THE BOOK,” and increased by the angel's proclamation; but this was not the cause of his weeping—he “WEPT” for the sake of the church of God, whose representative he was, and to whom the knowledge of this book, and the things contained in it, he believed must be very useful and profitable. The Ethiopic version reads, "and many wept"; many of those that were about the throne, as well as John, “BECAUSE NO MAN WAS FOUND WORTHY TO OPEN AND TO READ THE BOOK”

Someone is bound to ask the question, “but how can there be weeping in heaven?” Whatever the correct answer is to this question, it certainly is not revealed fully in the Scriptures. John “WEPT” because “NO MAN WAS FOUND WORTHY TO OPEN THE SCROLL,” and I only assume that the scroll, unopened and unread, brought forth from God’s servant tears of concern and compassion over an inheritance unredeemed.

There was a time in the life and ministry of our Lord when He “WEPT.” John wept, as we have seen. Jeremiah wept over the fallen city of Jerusalem. When did you and I weep over a world in spiritual darkness, from which men are passing one by one into an eternal eclipse, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. John wept audibly, not because of any weakness, but because of deep concern.

“NEITHER” was there anyone “TO LOOK THEREON”; because there was no creature in heaven, on earth, or under it, that possessed the dignity and authority, as well as the ability, to open the book by unsealing it; and to read it with understanding, and then to share the prophecies it contains. That was enough to bring about the weeping; not to look into it, and foresee and predict what was to come to pass, in the church and world.

5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

“AND ONE OF THE ELDERS SAID UNTO ME”, that is, one of the four and twenty “ELDERS” that were seated around, and near the throne. These had communion with Him, and knowledge of His will, and “ONE” of them is represented here as comforting John when he expressed his sorrow and concern, because there wasn’t a man that could be found anywhere, who was able to break the “SEALS” and “OPEN THE BOOK”; and they also gave him information—like persons of superior ability may sometimes receive from persons with much less ability—like the instruction that Apollos received from Aquila and Priscilla.

“WEEP NOT” and stop being so sorrowful, do not be so discouraged that you lose hope.

Once again the central figure of the book is brought into view. He is the triumphant Christ. John ceased his sobbing to behold Him, the Kinsmen-Redeemer who held the crown rights to rule sovereignly over the earth. The hour of Christ’s triumph had come. “BEHOLD THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH”; which, of course, refers to Christ, who, according to the flesh, was to come from “THE TRIBE OF JUDAH”; and it is a fact that our Lord sprang from there, and for proof, we have the genealogies in the Old and New Testaments: and He is said to be “THE LION” of that tribe, an allusion to the prophecy concerning Judah in Genesis 49:9—“You are a lion's cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion, he crouches and lies down, like a lioness-who dares to rouse him?”—where He is said to be a lion, an old lion stooping down and crouching, and on whose banner was the figure of a lion. Christ may be compared to a “LION”, because of His great strength. He is the mighty God, the able Saviour, strong Redeemer, and protector of His church and people, and the nemesis of their enemies; and because of His courage and resoluteness when He encountered Satan, and his principalities and powers; when He bore the sins of His people, incurred His Father's wrath, and the terrors of death set themselves in array against Him; and because of the fierceness of His wrath, and fury against the wicked; and for His generosity and leniency towards those that accept Him, and obey Him.

He is “THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH”; but he is also called “THE ROOT OF DAVID”; and in Isaiah 11:10, Christ is called the root of Jesse; and the meaning is either (1) that he is a branch that springs out of the roots of Jesse and David, or, (2) that He is David's son and offspring, according to His human nature (see Revelation 22:16), or, (3); that He is David's Lord, according to His divine nature. What’s more, the metaphor of a root agrees well with His role of Mediator, since He is hidden out of sight, and unknown to a natural man; and may denote His submissiveness in His state of humiliation, when He was like a root developing within dry ground; and because He is the root from which all the elect of God spring, in whom they have their being, and by whom they are created and supported, and from whom they obtain all the blessings of grace, all their spiritual life, holiness, fruitfulness, and perseverance.

“HATH PREVAILED”; or overcome all difficulties, seeing that He is one of worth and value, and of great authority and ability. Of course, the power of the Lion will be demonstrated when Jesus comes with multiplied millions of the saints riding upon white horses (Revelation 19:1-11).

Christ was able “TO OPEN THE BOOK, AND TO LOOSE THE SEVEN SEALS THEREOF”; and to bring out all the prophecies it contains, and fulfil them; and He did it all, through the merits of His blood, His sufferings, and His death: hence, in the next verse, He is represented as a lamb that had been slain. And in the following verses, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, proclaim His worthiness to take the book, and open it, and they give the credit to His having been slain, and having redeemed them by His blood (5:9). And since He, upon His resurrection from the dead, had all power in heaven and in earth given Him, as Mediator, for the protection of His church, He was deserving; and it was fitting and necessary that He, as the great prophet of the church, should have the privilege of delivering the prophecies concerning the state and condition of His redeemed ones in all ages. Only Christ conquered sin, death, hell, and Satan himself, so only He can set in motion the forces that will bring about the final destruction of all evil.

6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

While the previous verse pictured Jesus Christ as a Lion (symbolizing His authority and power), this verse pictures Him as a Lamb (symbolizing His submission to God’s will) that looks as though it has been killed (perhaps a reference to the slaughter of a Passover lamb). One of the elders called out to John to look at the lion (5:5), but when John looked, he saw a Lamb. Christ the Lamb was the perfect sacrifice for the sins of all mankind; therefore, only He can save His people from the terrible events that will be revealed by the scroll. This is a beautiful picture; the Lion of the tribe of Judea became a slain Lamb, who is here seen as a conquering Lamb at the center of the throne of God.

“AND I BEHELD, AND, LO, IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE AND OF THE FOUR BEASTS” describes the position of the Lamb from the seer’s (John’s) point of view. We are not to suppose that the lamb was in the center of the throne room itself; nor was he standing on the throne. He was placed where he would seem to be in the midst of the group made up of the throne, the living beings, and the elders. The Lamb is not on the throne, but in the middle front of it, and so apparently he was between the living creatures, and in the midst of the circle formed by the twenty-four elders, which would make him a conspicuous object. There is no mistaking the identity of the Lamb.