Revelation Chapter 5
VERSE 6 “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”
AND I LOOKED, AND BEHOLD:
For the 3rd time in this chapter our focus is changed.
The first focus of this chapter (5:1) was in God’s hand —the scroll over which He held control.
The second focus (5:2) was the strong angel —the change of dispensation with its attendant confusion and questioning.
Now the third focus (5:6) is on the Lamb —the answer to all the questioning.
IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE AND OF THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES, AND IN THE MIDST OF THE ELDERS:
This phrase is perhaps the most effective way of saying that this lamb is the CENTRAL CHARACTER in the scheme of things. He is in the center of God’s arrangements for judgment (throne), for manifesting God’s character (the 4 living ones), and the central figure in the fulfillment of prophecy (the elders.)
STOOD A LAMB AS THOUGH IT HAD BEEN SLAIN:
This is, of course, a strange picture. Slain lambs don’t stand! The power of the expression is that it is BECAUSE he was sacrificially slain that he IS standing —in a position to take control. It is because of his faithfulness to the death of the cross that he occupies this position. This is WHY he is a lamb —he was MEEK enough to do this wonderful thing.
HAVING SEVEN HORNS AND SEVEN EYES:
How free we are to see beauty when our minds are freed from grotesque imagery which such descriptions impart! This Lamb has been granted all power (7 horns) and all wisdom (7 eyes) to be head of the Church. Besides the symbolic meaning of seven (complete), the literal meaning is also evident.
His power will be exercised in the seven periods of the Church’s development; his wisdom will be distributed among the seven stages of Church history.
WHICH ARE THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD: The Lamb’s eyes (his wisdom) represent the power he received from his Father’s Holy Spirit.
(See “The Seven Spirits”: under our blog post entitled “How to Study the book of Revelation”, Part 35)
SENT OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH:
The function of the Holy Spirit is clearly shown in this quote from 2 Chron 16:9. “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
This is important. The Seals will show uncomfortable events. The knowledge of these “eyes” and “horns” on our behalf during all of these events is imperative to our faithfulness.” (New Albany Notes on Revelation)
Verse 6 as it is explained in The Keys of Revelation.
“In Chapter 4 the center of attraction was the great and glorious Jehovah; here, in Chapter 5, all eyes are focused on Jesus, the agent of God’s salvation. However, not until the Master had laid his all on the altar and was slain at Calvary did he acquire stewardship of the scroll. “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18). On several occasions prior to his death on the Cross, Jesus expressly stated that there were some secrets of the Father concerning which he was uninformed (Mark 10:35–40; 13:32).
That the risen Lamb, representing Jesus, has “seven horns and seven eyes” indicates that the Father entrusted to him the complete custodianship of the Church, who are called to be his body members.
Since approximately two thousand years are required to find, develop, and crystallize the foreordained number of the “called, and chosen, and faithful,” Divine Providence has deemed it expedient, during this long interval, to mark out seven periods of time or phases of development in which the body members are to be tried dispensationally along different lines (Rev. 17:14).
In other words, there would be seven messages of the Spirit or “seven Spirits”.
As this message of the Holy Spirit is dispensed in each period, it has a twofold effect upon those whom it benefits.
(1) Chiefly, the dispensational message helps them to have the “POWER [horn] . . . of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7) and affords them grace and comfort to endure the trials peculiar to each period.
(2) It causes them to have “a SOUND MIND [eye],” a knowledge and understanding of their responsibilities peculiar to each period. This reasoning is not mitigated by the fact that it is the Lamb who has the seven horns and seven eyes and, furthermore, that the Lamb represents Jesus only, for the lesson is that the Master and High Priest has been given a stewardship over the pilgrim Church’s perilous journey during the nighttime of sin. The Lamb’s horns and eyes express his vigilance over and concern for his body members; he manifests his care by intervening in the affairs of life to rescue and succor them whenever and wherever the need arises for such spiritual (and sometimes physical) aid to be “sent forth into all the earth.”
VERSE 7 “Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.”
THEN HE CAME AND TOOK THE SCROLL:
“NOT by force or by usurpation, but because HERE was the ONE for whom God was holding the book. This little verse in its simplicity marks one of the grandest events in history —the transfer of authority to the ONE who will accomplish God’s Will.”
“Praise the Lord for this confirmation of the lesson contained in the first chapter; namely, that Jehovah alone is the Savior in the highest sense of the word—“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him.”
The Book of Revelation is styled “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” not because he is its author but because he is the one chosen by God to be its revelator, the one who will break the seven-sealed scroll. Thus, to a certain degree, the breaking of the seven seals is contemporaneous with the exercise of the seven horns and the seven eyes as they separately operate in each of the seven phases or eras of the Church’s journey. The Lamb freshly slain (Verse 6) represents the recent death of Jesus in John’s day, and is a mark of identification of him who was slain on Calvary as God’s choice of the Redeemer. The Lamb corresponds to the signifying angel of Revelation 1:1.” (The Keys of Revelation)
We move on to Verse 8 in our next post.
VERSE 6 “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”
AND I LOOKED, AND BEHOLD:
For the 3rd time in this chapter our focus is changed.
The first focus of this chapter (5:1) was in God’s hand —the scroll over which He held control.
The second focus (5:2) was the strong angel —the change of dispensation with its attendant confusion and questioning.
Now the third focus (5:6) is on the Lamb —the answer to all the questioning.
IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE AND OF THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES, AND IN THE MIDST OF THE ELDERS:
This phrase is perhaps the most effective way of saying that this lamb is the CENTRAL CHARACTER in the scheme of things. He is in the center of God’s arrangements for judgment (throne), for manifesting God’s character (the 4 living ones), and the central figure in the fulfillment of prophecy (the elders.)
STOOD A LAMB AS THOUGH IT HAD BEEN SLAIN:
This is, of course, a strange picture. Slain lambs don’t stand! The power of the expression is that it is BECAUSE he was sacrificially slain that he IS standing —in a position to take control. It is because of his faithfulness to the death of the cross that he occupies this position. This is WHY he is a lamb —he was MEEK enough to do this wonderful thing.
HAVING SEVEN HORNS AND SEVEN EYES:
How free we are to see beauty when our minds are freed from grotesque imagery which such descriptions impart! This Lamb has been granted all power (7 horns) and all wisdom (7 eyes) to be head of the Church. Besides the symbolic meaning of seven (complete), the literal meaning is also evident.
His power will be exercised in the seven periods of the Church’s development; his wisdom will be distributed among the seven stages of Church history.
WHICH ARE THE SEVEN SPIRITS OF GOD: The Lamb’s eyes (his wisdom) represent the power he received from his Father’s Holy Spirit.
(See “The Seven Spirits”: under our blog post entitled “How to Study the book of Revelation”, Part 35)
SENT OUT INTO ALL THE EARTH:
The function of the Holy Spirit is clearly shown in this quote from 2 Chron 16:9. “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
This is important. The Seals will show uncomfortable events. The knowledge of these “eyes” and “horns” on our behalf during all of these events is imperative to our faithfulness.” (New Albany Notes on Revelation)
Verse 6 as it is explained in The Keys of Revelation.
“In Chapter 4 the center of attraction was the great and glorious Jehovah; here, in Chapter 5, all eyes are focused on Jesus, the agent of God’s salvation. However, not until the Master had laid his all on the altar and was slain at Calvary did he acquire stewardship of the scroll. “All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth” (Matt. 28:18). On several occasions prior to his death on the Cross, Jesus expressly stated that there were some secrets of the Father concerning which he was uninformed (Mark 10:35–40; 13:32).
That the risen Lamb, representing Jesus, has “seven horns and seven eyes” indicates that the Father entrusted to him the complete custodianship of the Church, who are called to be his body members.
Since approximately two thousand years are required to find, develop, and crystallize the foreordained number of the “called, and chosen, and faithful,” Divine Providence has deemed it expedient, during this long interval, to mark out seven periods of time or phases of development in which the body members are to be tried dispensationally along different lines (Rev. 17:14).
In other words, there would be seven messages of the Spirit or “seven Spirits”.
As this message of the Holy Spirit is dispensed in each period, it has a twofold effect upon those whom it benefits.
(1) Chiefly, the dispensational message helps them to have the “POWER [horn] . . . of a sound mind” (2 Tim. 1:7) and affords them grace and comfort to endure the trials peculiar to each period.
(2) It causes them to have “a SOUND MIND [eye],” a knowledge and understanding of their responsibilities peculiar to each period. This reasoning is not mitigated by the fact that it is the Lamb who has the seven horns and seven eyes and, furthermore, that the Lamb represents Jesus only, for the lesson is that the Master and High Priest has been given a stewardship over the pilgrim Church’s perilous journey during the nighttime of sin. The Lamb’s horns and eyes express his vigilance over and concern for his body members; he manifests his care by intervening in the affairs of life to rescue and succor them whenever and wherever the need arises for such spiritual (and sometimes physical) aid to be “sent forth into all the earth.”
VERSE 7 “Then He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.”
THEN HE CAME AND TOOK THE SCROLL:
“NOT by force or by usurpation, but because HERE was the ONE for whom God was holding the book. This little verse in its simplicity marks one of the grandest events in history —the transfer of authority to the ONE who will accomplish God’s Will.”
“Praise the Lord for this confirmation of the lesson contained in the first chapter; namely, that Jehovah alone is the Savior in the highest sense of the word—“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him.”
The Book of Revelation is styled “the Revelation of Jesus Christ” not because he is its author but because he is the one chosen by God to be its revelator, the one who will break the seven-sealed scroll. Thus, to a certain degree, the breaking of the seven seals is contemporaneous with the exercise of the seven horns and the seven eyes as they separately operate in each of the seven phases or eras of the Church’s journey. The Lamb freshly slain (Verse 6) represents the recent death of Jesus in John’s day, and is a mark of identification of him who was slain on Calvary as God’s choice of the Redeemer. The Lamb corresponds to the signifying angel of Revelation 1:1.” (The Keys of Revelation)
We move on to Verse 8 in our next post.
