Revelation 5 (Psalm 103:19)

We are in God’s throne room.   In God’s right hand is a scroll which, as it turns out, contains the “end of the story,” the fulfillment of the promise He made to His Son (Psalm 2:7-9), the revelation of Jesus Christ.  It is the scroll Daniel was told to seal up (Dan. 12:1-13) until the time of the end.  He could not reveal its contents because he was not worthy.  No one in heaven, on earth or under the earth was worthy to open it until the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Gen. 49:9-10), the Root of David (Isa. 11:10), the Lamb entered heaven, having prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

God promised to give His Son the nations as an inheritance.  Perhaps you remember a time with Satan made the same offer to Christ?  It’s in Matt. 4:8-9 when Satan tempted Jesus.  You will note that Jesus did not deny that Satan had the authority to do this at that time.  Let us remember who Satan is:

·        The ruler of the world (John 14:30; 16:11).

·        The god of this age (2 Cor. 4:4).

·        The prince of the power of the air, the spirit that works in the sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:2).

·        His minions are world rulers (Eph. 6:12).

·        His kingdom is the authority of darkness (Col. 1:13).

Satan gained this authority, the power of death (Heb. 2:14-15), in the Garden of Eden when he incited man to rebel against God.  Jesus acknowledged Satan’s kingdom but also indicated that He had come to bind the strong man (Satan) so as to plunder his kingdom (Matt. 12:22-30)!  Jesus has done this by destroying Satan’s death-authority through His own death and resurrection.  He abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel (2 Tim. 1:10).  He is now plundering Satan’s kingdom, drawing men to Himself (Jn. 12:31-32).

This explains why Daniel was not worthy to open the scroll.  He foretold the story to a point.  But then the book was sealed until the worthy One would come and complete the story.  How amazing that the worthy One was a Lamb.  He’s the Lion and the Root of David.  But He approaches the throne in the greatness of meekness.  The Lamb of God who was slain has prevailed!

Don’t miss the worship that ensues.  The living creatures, who only worship God, worship the Lamb!  The twenty-four elders, representing the redeemed, worship the Lamb.  The saints who have been praying “how long” for generations have their prayers answered!  The countless hosts of heaven cry out “WORTHY!”  Every creature ever created, including those under the earth, gives praise to the Father who had planned this from the beginning and to the Lamb who has prevailed that the Father’s plan might be fulfilled.  There is a resounding “Amen!” and the elders fall in worship before the eternal God.