THEME 2

The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb

The throne of God

Revelation chapter 4 introduces us to what has been called the “great throne room” vision. It is a vision of the throne of the Lord God Almighty in heaven. It could be described as the Holy of Holies, for the vision takes us into the place of God’s throne.

“At once I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated upon the throne!” (4:2)

The Revelation which God gave to His Son (1:1) is of particular significance, for it is a message to His people about the culmination of mankind’s mortal dispensation on the earth, and heralds the long foretold Kingdom of God. Robert H. Mounce puts it this way:

“John is now swept up to heaven in the Spirit to the very door of heaven. There he beholds a vision of a sovereign God in full command of the course of human affairs as they move swiftly to their denouement.”⁵

The scene is dramatic. Lightning flashes from the throne, there are peals of thunder and voices. In front of God’s throne, there are seven torches of fire – the seven spirits of God. Elsewhere (Rev. 8:2) we find that there are also seven angels who stand before God, one of whom is Gabriel (Luke 1:19).

Close to God’s throne, on each side of it, are four living creatures. The first is like a lion, the second like an ox, the third has the face of a man and the fourth is like a flying eagle. Each of them has six wings, and eyes all around them.

There is constant adulation and praise from the twenty-four elders and four living creatures. The elders sing a song of praise to God, “for Thou didst create all things, and by Thy will they existed and were created.” (4:11)

Much has been written, and there has been much speculation upon, what these twenty-four elders and four living creatures represent. Some suggest that the elders are representative of the twenty-four divisions of the sons of Aaron (1 Chronicles 24:5). Others have speculated that they may represent the twelve tribes and twelve apostles. The most likely suggestion is that they are a form of exalted angelic order. However, we can do nothing more than speculate.

Similarly with the four living creatures, mere speculation is all that is available to us. There are similarities to the creatures in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10, and Isaiah 6, but there are also significant differences.

Mounce, in considering these matters, writes:

“ . . . We are dealing with visions which were meant to stir the imagination, not yield to the drawing board.”⁶

We can do no better than to join our voices with the four living creatures as they sing to Almighty God:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” (4:8)

The Lamb

At this moment, with an unobtrusiveness which has always characterised Jesus, John sees Jesus standing near the throne. This is perhaps the most breathtaking moment in the whole of Revelation.

Revelation contains much information about the violent horror of suffering and death which is to characterise the great tribulation of God’s people; it describes the tumultuous and earth shattering events of God’s judgements on the nations; it gives a graphic picture of the battle against Jesus by the beast and kings of the earth. But here, in Revelation 5:6, we have the quiet and unobtrusive appearance of Jesus in this heavenly scene. John had not seen him there previously, but now, as he looks, he “saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain . . .”

One of the elders had just spoken to John:

“Weep not, lo, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” (5:5)

“Judah is a lion’s whelp . . . the sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” (Genesis 49:9-10)

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him . . .” (Isaiah 11:1-2)

Those who hold that Israel is no longer of any consequence in God’s purpose should be warned that they are quite wrong in this view. It is essential that our belief in the gospel being firmly founded in the promises to Israel, through Abraham, is not weakened. Not only in Revelation 5 are we reminded that Jesus is the “Root of David”, but also in Revelation 22, where Jesus describes himself as “the root and the offspring of David.” (22:16)

Jesus alone is worthy to open the scroll. He alone has conquered. “The Lion of the tribe of Judah”, the elder tells John.

But John sees not a lion, but a Lamb!A Lamb who has achieved victory through total self-sacrifice.

Throughout Revelation, the Greek word for “Lamb” is arnion. Arnionis used thirty times in the New Testament, and twenty-nine of these occurrences are in Revelation. The one occasion arnionis used outside Revelation is in John 21:15, when Jesus told Peter, “Feed my lambs (arnion)”. Elsewhere in the New Testament, the word “lamb” is used five times – four times as amnos, and once as aren.

It is very significant that the word arnionis used almost exclusively in Revelation. It is only in Revelation that Jesus is called the “Lamb”. The word arnionmeans lambkin (little lamb). Do we have a glimpse here of the particularly close and loving relationship between Father and Son? We recall the words of God to Abraham when he was told to kill Isaac – a situation which foreshadowed the death of God’s own Son:

“Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love . . .” (Genesis 22:2)

In these poignant words, we are privileged to perceive God’s feelings for His own Son.

In the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Abba (Daddy), Father.” In the long dark hours of early morning, alone on the hills of Israel with his Father, a very close and loving relationship developed between God and His “only Son, whom He loved.”

Here, in Revelation, the word used by God of His Son (remembering that it was God who gave Jesus the Revelation [1:1]) is “lambkin”: the sort of endearing expression a parent would use for his little child. If this perception of the use of this word “lambkin” is correct, we see a far closer and more overt loving relationship between God and His Son than we would normally have imagined to be the case.

Does this mean that God’s love for us, His “adopted” children, is far more affectionate than we think? Does it mean that our love for our brothers and sisters in Christ should reflect the closeness and affection that God has for Jesus, and for us? One would have to think so. Perhaps we have “undervalued” what we fairly casually speak of as “the love of God”. If so, every time we are thoughtless towards God and sin against Him, it must pierce Him like a knife, as it must our Lord Jesus as well. To love someone as dearly as God loves His own, demands a loving response to Him in the closest possible relationship between us and our Heavenly Father. Words such as Hosea’s take on a new illumination as we consider God’s love, in this case, for Israel:

“When Israel was a child, I loved him . . . it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms but they did not know that I healed them . . . I bent down to them and fed them. (Hosea 11:1-4)

If we are God’s children, and love Him, and recognise the depth of love He has for us, He will enfold us in His love in a way we may not have ever before experienced. Through Jesus, we rejoice in John’s words:

“I made known to them (us) Thy Name, and I will make it known, that the love with which Thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17:26)

Jesus takes the scroll

Jesus took the scroll from God’s right hand. We are told twice (5:7-8) that Jesus took the scroll from God:

“And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who was seated on the throne.” (5:7) “And when he had taken the scroll . . .” (5:8)

There seems to be an emphasis on the fact that Jesus takes the scroll, rather than God giving it to him. There is a divine principle that our relationship with God must be because we want to come to Him and obey and love Him. He will not impose Himself upon us, but if we ask Him to be our Father, and guide us and care for us, He will do it without measure. Here are some examples of this principle in action:

1. God did not insist that Adam and Eve worship and obey Him. It was up to them to decide if they would choose His way or the way of sin. They chose sin.

2. Jesus, when walking on the Sea of Galilee in the midst of a wild storm in the dark hours of the night, went to the disciples only when they cried out in fear. He would have passed by them had they not cried out:
   “And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, ‘Take heart, it is I; have no fear.” (Mark 6:48-50)

3. Jesus “stands at the door and knocks”. He doesn’t force his way in. We must respond and open the door.

4. Our covenant relationship with God is possible, not because God told Jesus he had to die. It is possible because Jesus himself “humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross.” (Philippians 2:8)

   Jesus reached out to God in obedience, and in response, God strengthened him and raised him from the dead.

Under this same principle, Jesus reaches out and takes the scroll from his Father. Again, we see that God does not force His way upon even His Son. In the same way, He is ready to bless us if we respond to His call.

Jesus, as the Lamb, indicates his willingness to take the scroll voluntarily, and immediately, “the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb . . . and they sang a new song, saying:

“Worthy art thou to take the scroll and to open its seals, for thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God from every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on earth.” (5:9)

It is worth noting that whereas their song of praise was first to God because of His creation (4:11), it is now to the Lamb because of his work of redemption – a redemption that embraces men and women from all nations, “every tribe and tongue and people and nation.” Again, we see the parallel with Israel in the words “and hast made them a kingdom and priests to our God.” These are the same words as were spoken to Israel at Mt. Sinai:

“You shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:6)

The promises to Israel are inextricably intertwined with the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, offered to both Jew and Gentile.

The song of praise of the four living creatures and twenty-four elders is because Jesus has taken the scroll, and is the only one able to do so because “thou wast slain and by thy blood didst ransom men for God . . .”

The paeons of praise of the Lamb gains in crescendo and depth as “many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousand of thousands” joined their voices with the four living creatures and twenty-four elders in praise of the Lamb:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing.” (5:12)

And to the praise of the four living creatures, twenty-four elders and myriads of angels is now added the praise of God and the Lamb by “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea and all therein, saying:

“To Him who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever!” (5:13)

It is well that we ponder the great majesty of God and the Lamb before the terrible events commence which are to take place on the earth. For in the great tribulation, and in the great destruction of the evil on earth following the tribulation, we must remind ourselves constantly that God is in control, and if we reach out to Him during the great tribulation ahead, He will be with us, and the Lamb will be our Shepherd.

The scroll and its seven seals

Before we move on to the time of great tribulation (Theme 3), and the out-pouring of God’s judgements on the nations (Theme 5), it will be helpful to consider the scroll with its seven seals:

The first five seals give us a preview of the time of great tribulation. The sixth seal is a preview of the great judgements of God on the nations of the earth because of their evil and Godlessness. The opening of the seventh seal opens out the overview of the sixth seal and provides details on the first phase of God’s judgements on the earth. Associated with this first phase of God’s judgements are seven angels with seven trumpets. Six of these seven angels, one by one, blows a trumpet, and as each trumpet is blown, the judgements of God are poured out on the nations. The first four trumpet blasts signal destruction of a third of the environment. The fifth and sixth trumpet blasts signal torture and killing of a third of mankind. There is then a pause of an indeterminate time before the second phase of God’s judgements on the nations commences. The seven bowls (or vials) of God’s wrath describe this second phase of His judgements on the nations. The seventh trumpet is reserved as a declaration of victory over evil, after the judgements on the nations is complete, and the beast is destroyed.

Jesus now prepares to open the first seal, ushering in the time of great tribulation about which he spoke to his disciples on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:21). In the next theme, we will discuss this time of great tribulation.