THE BOOK OF REVELATION: Chapter 5

Chapter 5 of the Book of Revelation

In the first 3 chapters of Revelation we see Jesus Christ in His current ministry character. The Redeeming Lamb of God, “…taking out from among the nations a people for God’s name” . [Acts 15:14] He is walking among the Lamp-stands in the outer sanctuary of the Holy place. In constant care of His Father’s Redeemed Estate until “…after this I will return…” verse 16. Jesus, as a consequence of the Churchs’ failings and lamps removal, has no longer the position of Keeper of the Lamps.

Revelation 4:1,2 “….come up hither, and I will shew thee thins which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and behold a throne was (being) set in heaven(s), and one sat on the throne.”

PURPOSES of setting up the Judgment Throne [read 4:1,2. with Daniel 7:9,13,14]

1. For the Ancient of Day’s investiture of Jesus Christ as King over the earth
2. To remove satan from his place of authority, heavenly and earthly
3. To take away the dominion of the Beast
4. To accomplish the end of the times of the Gentiles (as ruling) and restore Israel as preeminent in the earth

Chapter 4 AND 5 SHOULD BE TAKEN TOGETHER AS THEIR EVENTS HAPPEN ALL TOGETHER AT ONE APPOINTED TIME IN THE FUTURE

CHAPTER 5 VERSES 1-7 “And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.” It is God the Father who is now sitting on this Throne. It is His Book, written by His finger, of Covenant closure. What begun in grace closes in just judgment, which also establishes the NC with Israel. (Jeremiah 31, Romans 8, & 11:27) Shrouded in mystery and sealed to all eyes, save to Him full of the Spirit with perfect vision, He with 7 eyes. He who is the mighty horned One in all authority, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. And as such the avenger of Israel and the root of David and as so, their ruler and God. He hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof and to shed much blood. “And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.”

Chapter 4 and 5 proceedings ARE SEEN in one Type found in Ruth as the Church, moving on from Boaz’s threshing floor. As Boaz now gathers the Governmental body at the Gate of assembly, there being rightly declared as kinsman redeemer by being granted the right of redemption by the nearer than He Kinsmen. 

VERSE 6  “….a Lamb  as it had been slain,….” Death wounds- but yet He is standing, which represents His Resurrection from among the dead.

To be slain was to prevail to be worthy.  To be slain, pictured as a meek lamb, yielded to the Throne of the Father, was to prevail and gain the victory over satan and the World.  Who would of thought? Certainly not satan. “…for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.” [1Corinthians 2:8] Satan has bruised His heel. It is now time for Him to bruise the Serpent’s head. God reveal to us the necessity of our death in overcoming.

CONTRASTING JESUS CHRIST’S PRESENT AND FUTURE MINISTRIES

It is in the Character and purpose of the daily sacrificial Lamb of the Temple that Jesus continues to minister for the sins of His People in this Age. Patiently He waits, and endures the pain and hardship of His sheep.  Providing mercy and grace as the Great Shepherd, He is setting the Gospel example for His faithful followers to do likewise.

In Scripture, little is said about Christ’s current ministry in Heaven in this Age, now almost 2 thousand years. And what is said is mostly in the Book of Hebrews. That since the ascension, Jesus Christ, as the High Priest of God is understood to be “limited” in His scope of administration and to intercession for His own people. [Hebrews 9:11, 24, 7:25; 1 John 2:1, 1 John 17 vs 9] And Revelation chapters 2 & 3 pictures Jesus Christ as the administrator of the Churches, not of the World. Patiently in longsuffering, He faithfully ministers God’s Grace to His own brethren and through them to others. While He awaits “….that His enemies be made His footstool.”

But from Revelation chapter 5 onward, this aspect of His current Ministry ceases/evolves as He now intensely enters into the affairs of the World. He now begins to administer Justice and Wrath in the World. As the Lamb slain, He associates himself with the Church. As the lion of Judah, He will call to battle beside Him the remnant of Israel. [Zechariah 9:13-15] As Lamb, He put away sin by suffering. As a lion,  He shall put away by destruction. This extensive Judgment of Justice in the World is coming. Currently there is ever decreasing Divine limits or restraints upon injustice and anarchy, due to the faithlessness of Christendom. But what there is, is being administered in the World’s system by the Father’s Angels under His decrees.  In this Age  (of Grace and Mercy) it is not appropriate for the Lord Jesus and His saints to rule or judge critically the lost in the World. [Luke 12:14; John 8:15; 12:47; 1Corinthians 4:5] For their appointed office in ministry is to extend God’s mercy and grace in Jesus Christ His Sacrificed Son.

Scripture allows that Jesus Christ’s extent of exercising judgments is limited to His Church. With the view that our chastisement received now, will cause us to escape the soon coming severe excluding Judgments in this World. As it is Written:  “For the time is come that judgment must begin at he house of God: and if it first begin at us, what shall the end be of them that obey not the gospel of God?” WITH…… “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

Today, before the Day that the Judgment Throne is set, Christ and His are still under the directive and attitude of, “pray for those who despitefully use you”. [Luke 6:27,28] Christ judges offenses in the Church, but not in the World. Likewise, we are instructed. [1Corinthians 5:12,13] Christendom, as a whole, is in direct opposition, as far as exampling actions are concerned, to the merciful and grace filled attitude of Jesus Christ. If we were to act upon Scripture, and put it into practice, the spirit and conduct would be dramatic. And thereby the lack of impact of Christians would be radically reversed, there then being true witnesses of Jesus Christ. Our attitude is more like the Corinthians, who were acting as an entitled ruling party. Paul sarcastically wrote to them: “Already ye are filled, already ye are become rich, ye have reigned without us: yea, and I would that ye did reign, that we also might reign with you” . [1Corinthians 4:8]

The Lord is Coming to Judge as King of Kings to sit on His Throne of Glory. [Matthew 25:31] And His saints will then rule with Him. It is when Christ sits on His Throne and rules with the rod of justice, that they will then only also do so. [1Corinthians 6:2,3; Luke 22:28-30; Revelation 2:26; 3:21; 20:4] The Great Age of Justice is nearly upon us. The Age of Mercy and Grace is fast closing as Christ will take His appointed and rightful place upon that Throne as Judge of all. [John5:22] His posture in intercession is to change; from Lamb-like passive to Lion-like. Divine intervention in filling up with final meaning the New Covenant with its threats and promises by Justice and Judgment. No relying on the obedience of man here. Jesus Christ is the manifest Ark of the Covenant and He will fulfill the complete requirements of its demands, and establish an eternal kingdom that will never end.

VERSE 8 now appears to present to us, that as Christ coming out of the Holy of Holies and moving from the eternal Throne of God again into the heavens’ realm of the Creation. The priestly service, as it relates to Christ’s people, is to then to be rendered by the Angels, “….golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” These praying saints, supposed to be those two groups, the remnant of the Church. [Revelation 12:17 14:12] The Elders, as Angels, are here seen having the prayers of the saints, acceptable as they are mixed with the incense of the merits of Jesus Christ. They do not pray for the saints, they simply administer for them.

We have stated proofs that the 24 Elders, are distinct from John:

1. as some of them speak to him (making it clear they are individuals)
2. distinct from the Beasts/Living Creatures as they are not as close to the Throne
3. distinct from ordinary Angels because they are grouped around the Elders
4. distinct from the Saints, as they present before the Lamb the prayers of the Saints

The Elders are the Head Angels in the inner council of God. Priests, dressed in white, and kings with crowns ministering and ruling and seated upon thrones, possibly the ArchAngels (chief angels) that include Michael. [Daniel 10:13; 12:1; Jude 9]

Proof they are not Saints being:

1. these are beings already on Thrones before the Lamb/King /Bridegroom and as the Bride could not be enthroned before Lamb/King/Bridegroom
2. they are mentioned separate from the “first-fruits (14:1-5)
3. they are separate from those who come out from the Tribulation, for it is an Elder who speaks to John concerning them (and as mentioned, they are enthroned before the Tribulation begins).
4. they distinguish themselves apart from those of the First Resurrection. The prophets and the saints and those who feared His Name, as well as also those who destroy the earth. [Revelation 11:16-18]
5.  in Chapter 19, there is the distinction between the Bride and themselves in that they worship God even before the announcement of the marriage of the Lamb.
6. their current joint ruler-ship in this Age is implicit in Hebrews 2:5, “For unto the angels hath he not put in subjection the world/age to come (that future age the author has in view throughout the book of Hebrews), whereof we speak.” See also 1Timothy 5:17 to see the force of thought.
7. that Angels are no strangers to Thrones is shown to us in Lucifer’s history. “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
8. Scriptures comparatively evidence that fallen angels now rule over the fallen World. [Ephesians 6; Colossians 1; 1Corinthians 2; Psalms 82]
9. Lastly….IN Revelation CHAPTER 5

VERSE 9 AND 10, the Elders further distinguish themselves from the redeemed, and therefore are not the redeemed themselves, in their song, they sing unto the Lamb of God. “Thou wast slain, and didst purchase unto God by Thy Blood (men) of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and madest them unto our God a kingdom, and priests, and they reign (or shall reign) upon the earth.”

The word “us” is found in translations, which then makes the Elders include themselves as among the redeemed. But this “us” is rejected by respected translators, scholars and theologians: Lachmann, Tischendorf, W.Mills, Dusterdick, De Wette, Alford, Westcott and Hort, Nestle, Wordsworth, Weymouth, William Kelly and J.N.Darby. Also…..

*CODEX SINAITICUS …the oldest New Testament translation does not have the word “us”…..

8 And when he had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the lamb, having each one a harp and golden vials full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.
9 And they sing a new song, saying: Worthy art thou to take the book, and to open its seals, because thou wast slain and didst redeem to God in thy blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
10 and didst make them a kingdom and priests, and they shall reign on the earth

There can be no doubt how much the interpretation of the Revelation hinges on the very doubtful word, “us”.  (verse 9) In translations that have included the word, they have confused the redeemed, in the one case, have concluded that the Elders are humans or that the Angels and 4 Beasts/Living Ones are included in the Blood Redemption.

If as some have, “us” is accepted in verse 9 and rejected in verse 10, then it supposes two groups. One which are redeemed and one that are appointed kings and priests.

1. “thou redeemedest us to God by thy blood.”
2. “And madest them kings and priests to our God.”

This is out of harmony with the context,  that the Elders are not only not a part of the Redeemed, but are also not humans, but heavenly beings. It should be clear that Blood is the basis for both the redemption and the priestly and kingly authority.  The Elders have admitted and seceded their authority already, before any of the Redeemed is brought into their heirship.  In Chapter 7, where we see the Redeemed gathered to the Lord, the Elder poses the question in verse 13 to John, “what are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?”  There are no Elders or Beasts among them, only human beings.

Reject the word “us” in verse 9 and it is apparent the Elders, who are the speakers, regard the party a different body than themselves.

Several thoughts as it relates to the Cherubim:

Their form as they here appear in the midst of the throne and described as having each one face and 6 wings and in Ezekiel as each having four faces and four wings further distinguishes their appearance to be emblematic of their authority and representative of the 4 chief orders of Creation. Man, beasts of the field, domesticated animals and birds in the earth and not pictures of their real form. Additionally is that thought bolstered in that it was commanded that, “Thou shalt not make unto you any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above….” So as to prohibit the worship of images, but the Cherubim were a part of the Temple imagery.

Another reason to think they are described as they are, as to be representative of earthly heads of the chief orders in Creation, and not the true form of their persons, is that in this chapter 5, we also see Jesus Christ heralded twice as animals. Once as the Lion of the tribe of Judah and depicted as a “lamb”. Thus their description is emblematic. And to further this thought even further, we have Ezekiel 28 that reveals Lucifer as that fallen Cherub. Scripture reveals him as one who may appear in many forms, even as an Angel of light. But like all Angels that have appeared, are generally indistinguishable from man without special disclosure. [Hebrews 13:2] 

SPEAKING MORE OF Chapter 5 of the Book of Revelation in another TYPE

In type, chapter 5 appears as the reality of Genesis 22. The true Isaac has been offered by the Father, whose hand was not stayed.  All Heaven stands in admiration of that exercised willing obedience of the Son, who now stands in Resurrected worthiness. The Angel declared Abraham’s blessing and his seed on earth, that came from on high. Here we see through John’s eyes directly into the heavens where the Son and Seed shall now receive all authority of the Judgment Throne. “By myself I have sworn, saith the Lord, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: that in blessing I will bless thee, and multiplying I will multiply thy seed, as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea-shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; and in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed, because thou hast obeyed my voice.”

Both seeds of Abraham are to be blessed,. The heavenly as stars, and the earthly like the sand on the seashore. Both are found in this sealed Book of the New Covenant, about to be fully unveiled and completed. To each of them is promised a City, one earthly, (Ezekiel 40-48) one heavenly. [Hebrews 11:10, Revelation 20 & 21] The Covenant with Abraham: He had two wives, a slave women and a free woman. To the slave belonged the earthly covenant, the land of promise here on earth and Jerusalem below. [Galatians 4:22-31] But Sarah represents the New Covenant, with the better country and City, the heavenly, which has the foundations of God. [Hebrews 12] And this “Book” speaks to the New Covenant with Israel, the redemption of a lost possession. This is that receiving of them through the merits of Jesus Christ’s Blood as the Messiah of Israel. [Romans 11:15-36 “…life from the dead”]

In the days following the setting up the Throne of His investiture, we shall see the manifesting of the words to Abraham, “….thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies…” In that the heavenly will be called to possess that gate above the earth as satan is dispossessed from his throne there above, although he fights for it. [Revelation 12] And Israel shall again be in possession of the promised land and beloved City.  All nations then rejoicing in that great blessing upon earth, flowing from that SEED….which is Jesus Christ.

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