Revelation 5

When officials in Bible times sent important messages through a courier, they often sent the message in a scroll that was rolled up and sealed closed with a plug of clay or hot wax that was pressed with their seal, often from a signet ring. The plug of clay or wax quickly dried. The only way to read the message was to break the seal. This helped maintain the privacy of the message. What do you think John’s readers would have made of his report that, “The scroll had writing on both front and back. Seven seals held the scroll closed” (Revelation 5:1).

It’s hard to know, some say, if what John sees next is what will happen at the end of time. Perhaps this is a symbolic scene in a vision intended to help Christians deal with persecution they were facing at the time. In either case, how do you think it might have helped Christians in John’s day to hear what sounds like Jesus being described as “the Lion from the tribe of Judah, from David’s family” (Revelation 5:5)?

There is certainly a bit of irony in the fact that the Lion from the tribe of Judah turns out to be “a Lamb that looked like it had been killed” (Revelation 5:6). What do you think there is about a lamb that makes it a fair description of Jesus?

John said, “The Lamb had seven horns. He also had seven eyes” (Revelation 5:6). Many scholars say the horns and eyes aren’t real. The horns symbolize power. And the eyes symbolize the “seven angel spirits God sent to earth.” John himself explained that about the eyes. Why would John describe Jesus in this symbolic way? Or if the vision actually portrayed Jesus this way, why bother? It could seem like a huge distraction, describing Jesus in a scary way like this.

Sad to say, people die protecting others all the time, all over the world. One person will shield another when a shooter steps into a room and begins to fire the gun. A person will jump into the water and save someone who is drowning, yet they themselves may drown in the process. What’s so special about the sacrificial death of Jesus that would warrant all these songs John is hearing in his vision, in Revelation 5:9-13?

In John’s vision, it’s hard to tell what people do in heaven. We can see that there’s a lot of praise going on for God and for Jesus. There’s apparently some judgment that will be going on. Author Stephen Miller says his younger sister had a dream in which she saw their father. When their dad came to her in the dream he simply said, “What do you want? I’m busy” (On earth, their dad was always busy working on something, but he did make time for his kids.) Whether or not that was a glimpse into heaven, it raises the question about how a person spends an eternity. What do you think about that?

LIFE APPLICATION. When the Lamb, apparently Jesus, shows up and is found worthy of opening the scroll, everyone in God’s throne room starts to sing a new song. In a way, they do what we do when we thank people in the military for putting their lives at risk. They thanked him for his service: “You were killed. Your blood bought the freedom of God’s people” (Revelation 5:9). People in the military and officers of the law put their lives on the line to buy our freedom. Instead of saying “Thank you for your service,” what might be a new song we can sing to them? What would be a short line we might say when we met one of them in the airport or restaurant or some other place? A new song, of sorts, that sounds more personal.