Sunday, October 18, 2015

John weeping no more

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.
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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
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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
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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."

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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.

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