Daniel and
Revelation by Uriah Smith
Revelation 5-
Verse 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.
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.
7 And He came and
took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.
*******
John is not
permitted to weep for long.
God is not willing
that any knowledge which can benefit His people shall be withheld from them.
Provision is made
for the opening of the book.
Hence one of the
elders counsels John, "Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah,
the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seals
thereof."
Why one of the elder
in preference to some other being, should impart this information to John, does
not appear, unless it is that having been redeemed, they had an acquaintance
with Christ, and would be especially interested in all that pertained to the
welfare of the church on earth.
Christ is here
called the "Lion of the tribe of Judah." Why called a lion? And why
of the tribe of Judah?--As to the first question, it is probably to denote His
strength. As the lion is the king of beasts, the monarch of the forest, he thus
becomes a fit emblem of kingly authority and power. As to being "of the
tribe of Judah," He doubtless receives this appellation from the prophecy
in Genesis 49: 9, 10.
"The Root of
David."--Christ was the source and sustainer of David in his position and
power. That David's position was specially ordained of Christ, and that he was
specially sustained by Him, there can be no doubt. David was the type, Christ was
the antitype. David's throne and reign over Israel was a type of Christ's reign
over His people. He shall reign
Page 418
upon "The
throne of His father David." Luke 1: 32, 33.
As Christ appeared
in the line of David's descendants when He took upon Himself our nature, He is
also called "the offspring of David," and "a rod out of the stem
of Jesse." Isaiah 11: 1, 10; Revelation 22: 16. His connection with the
throne of David being thus set forth, and His right thus shown to rule over the
people of God, there was a propriety in entrusting to Him the opening of the
seals.
"Hath
Prevailed."--These words indicate that the right to open the book was
acquired by a victory gained in some previous conflict.
We find the account
of this triumph set forth later in this chapter. The next scene introduces us
to the great work of Christ as the Redeemer of the world, and the shedding of
His blood for the remission of sin and the salvation of man. In this work He was
subjected to the fiercest assaults of Satan. But He endured temptation, bore
the agonies of the cross, rose a victor over death and the grave, made the way
of redemption sure--triumphed! Hence the four living beings and the four and
twenty elders sign, "Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the
seals thereof: for Thou was slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy
blood."
John looks for the
Lion of the tribe of Judah and beholds a Lamb in the midst of the throne and of
the four living beings and the elders, as it had been slain.
"In the Midst
of the Throne."--
Phillip Doddridge
translates thus: "I beheld . . . in the middle space between the throne
and the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, . . . there
stood . . . a Lamb." In the center
of the scene was the throne of the Father, and standing in the open space which
surrounded it was the Son, set forth under the symbol of a slain lamb. Around
these there stood those saints who had been redeemed: first, those represented
by the four living creatures, then the elders forming the second circle, and
the angels (verse 11) forming a third circle. The worthiness of Christ as
Page 419
He thus stands forth
under the figure of a slain lamb, is the admiration of all the holy throng.
"As It Had Been
Slain."--John C. Wood house, as quoted in the Comprehensive Commentary,
says: "The Greek implies that the Lamb appeared with a wounded neck and
throat, as if smitten at the altar as a victim." On this phrase, Adam Clarke
says: "As if now in the act of being offered. This is very remarkable; so
important is the sacrificial offering of Christ in the sight of God, that He is
still represented as being in the very act of pouring out His blood for the
offenses of man."
*******
Revelation 5 verse 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.
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…
Yesterday we talked
about John weeping, the depths of his despair was very real and we don't know
exactly how long he wept, it could have been only a minute of intense grief, or
several minutes. We do know that the next
thing revealed to us is one of the 24 elders speaking to John. The elder told him not to weep. The elder KNEW there was HOPE. Where John did
not know, this elder did know. This elder told John to stop crying and the only
way John would even want to stop crying would be if there were hope after all
that there was one worthy to open this perfect book of prophecy. The elder told him just that- the Lion of the
tribe of Judah, the Root of David. And
the elder stopped speaking and John SAW- right there near the throne, the four
beasts, and the elders- STOOD A LAMB AS IT HAD BEEN SLAIN.
Joh_1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto
him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
Joh_1:36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he
saith, Behold the Lamb of God!
The Lamb of God.
Jesus was
SLAIN, the Lamb of God was slain, and
this alone brought forgiveness to ALL who would choose to have faith in the Son
of God, the Lamb slain.
John saw the LAMB
slain standing. Can you even imagine
comprehending the hope, the reality of the hope he knew was found in our
Savior?
More on ALL of this
tomorrow by the grace of our LORD, our SAVIOR!
God's will be done!
Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment