Divine
Redemption of the Planet. Rev. 5:1-5
Chapters four and five are
basically the first act in the most dramatic presentation we have of the end times
of human history as revealed to the apostle John and recorded for us in what is
known as the Apocalypse or the Revelation given to John by the Lord Jesus
Christ. The first three chapters relate to past and current events in human history.
Then in chapter four the scene shifts to heaven. We have a new act and this act
begins in the future as John is taken up to heaven, “after these things.” John
says “I looked,” in verse one, a key verb. The next time we have a verb related
to seeing is in 5:1, “and I saw.” It is a succession of events. If we think of
this as a dramatic event, as a play and we have an act, then what we have in
chapter four is the setting of the stage. It is a description of what John sees
when he is taken into heaven through the opened door of 4:1. That stands, as it
were, as a picture if the Rapture of the church. What John sees is a picture of
God sitting upon His throne as the supreme judge of the universe. This sets the
tone for the rest of Revelation. The book of revelation is a book about divine
judgment in history, it is a book which ends with the
final judgment of all evil in human history and the restriction and
condemnation of evil to the lake of fire. So it is a book that focuses on judgment.
In that way it gives us hope because one of the things that many people wrestle
with today is the presence of evil and the presence of undeserved suffering. When
this takes place we often wonder if there is ever going to be an ultimate
accountability for those who continue to thumb their nose at God, as it were, and
yet they seem to prosper. This is an answer to that question the psalmist would
raise several times: “LORD, how long shall the wicked prosper and the righteous
suffer?” There is something in us that recognizes that there is ultimately
justice in the universe and that there must be an
accountability. In the book of Revelation we see that that accountability
may not take place in our lives but that ultimately there will be judgment and
justice.
So in chapter four we have
the description of the heavenly throne, and we see that there is a host of
people surrounding the throne: the twenty-four elders sitting in thrones who
are the resurrected, raptured church age believers
who have already been rewarded at the judgment seat of Christ. Besides these 24
elders around the throne there are four living creatures, a category of angels
related to God’s righteousness and holiness. Then we see that whenever these
four living creatures give glory to God the 24 elders fall down in worship of
God, and we see that the first and foremost reason for worshipping God is
because He is the creator and we are the creatures. Fundamental to understanding
the dynamics of judgment is Revelation is the distinction between the creator
and the creature. And there are two reasons for worshipping God in these two
chapters, the first is because of His position as creator and the second is
because of His work in redemption. There is an emphasis on worthiness in this
chapter and so the focus is on the innate character of God and His work of
redemption which comes from that.
Chapter four sets the stage
and chapter five tells us what begins to happen, and this is done in five scenes
indicated by the phrase, “And I saw.”
Revelation 5:1 NASB
“I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and
on the back, sealed up with seven seals.” This scroll, through the seven seals
that are securing it, comprises the remainder of the book of Revelation. Those
seven seals are the seven seal judgments that begin the Tribulation. The
seventh seal judgment is opened and it will reveal seven trumpet judgments.
Then the seventh trumpet judgment will be opened and it will reveal seven bowl
judgments. So these seven seals encompass the twenty judgments that are the
scope of Revelation. The opening of the scroll entails the unfolding of twenty
different judgments upon the planet.
The first issue that we have
to address in terms of interpreting this particular passage in understanding
the word “scroll.” It is the Greek word BIBLION [biblion].
BIBLIOS is the word for book. That is where get our name for the Bible. The
ending there indicates that it is a small book. It is used interchangeably, though
with BIBLOS, so even though it is a diminutive form it does not necessarily mean a
smaller book. It refers to a long or a lengthy written composition, usually on
a scroll. Later the word refers to a book. There is some debate on whether or
not this should be a book or a scroll, or a book in the sense of a codex. A
codex is where they were taking manuscripts and then bind them together in
something similar to the way a modern book is set up. But that didn’t come into
practice until the second century. We are talking about 95 AD here, so this
would refer to a scroll and not to a book. A scroll is a roll of parchment or
paper that you would write or paint on. It was usually of some length. It could
be short or long and the ends were wound around wooden sticks. Unlike what is
often portrayed in films it was not opened from top to bottom, it was opened
from right to left. It was made of papyrus which was manufactured from
something like a bull rush, pounded out into single sheets that were about ten
inches by eight. The sheets were then joined together horizontally. They would
score the page in three columns.
To give an idea of how long
some of these scrolls would be, an epistle such as II John or III John, or Jude
and Philemon, which are one-chapter books of the Bible, would occupy about one
sheet of papyrus. Romans, on the other hand would require a roll approximately
eleven and a half feet in length. The Gospel of Mark would have been 19 feet
long, the Gospel of John 23-1/2 feet long, Matthew would be 30 feet long, Luke
and Acts would have each been about 32 feet in length, and the book of
Revelation would take up about a 15-feet long scroll.
The scrolls were typically written
on on the front and the back. On one side the grain
of the papyrus would run horizontally. That was the primary side for writing. It
was not common to write on the back side. Usually in some types of documents what
they would do would be to have technical language inside, if it was a contract,
then it would be rolled up. Then on the outside they
would simply give a summary of what was on the inside, especially if the information
on the inside was to be kept somewhat private, then
there would just be a title on the outside.
As we look at several
passages in the Old Testament, remember a key principle for interpreting
Revelation is that the events, the people, the symbols in Revelation are not
new. Everything we find in Revelation has its precedent in the Old Testament.
We always have to go back to the Old Testament to understand what is happening.
Not all of what is given in Revelation happened in the Old Testament but the
people, the events and the symbols come from the Old Testament.
Ezekiel 2:9 NASB “Then
I looked, and behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll {was} in it.”
So this concept of God handing a scroll to the prophet has a precedent here.
[10] “When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back,
and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.”
A number of suggestions have
been made concerning the nature of this scroll but the thing
that fits the context of Scripture and backgrounds the best is that this was
some sort of legal document. The fact that it was sealed with seven seals is
consistent with a Roman practice of securing their legal documents, especially
title deeds and real estate contracts. Marriage contracts would be sealed up
this way as well as rental and lease agreements, contracts for the release of
slaves, etc. So this tells us that this was some kind of legal contract. Of
course, when we start talking about legal contracts the word that comes to mind
is a covenant. So immediately we ought to be thinking in terms covenant when we
talk about this and what the background is related to that.
Another Old Testament passage
that has some parallels to this is Jeremiah 32:10-14. Again we have a contract
scroll and it is a title deed, giving us another clue to perhaps understanding what
is happening in Revelation. [10] NASB “I signed and sealed the deed,
and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. [11] Then I
took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed {copy containing} the terms and
conditions and the open {copy;} [12] and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch
the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah,
in the sight of Hanamel my uncle’s {son} and in the
sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who
were sitting in the court of the guard. [13] And I commanded Baruch in their
presence, saying, [14] Thus says the LORD of hosts,
the God of Israel, ‘Take these deeds, this sealed deed of purchase and this
open deed, and put them in an earthenware jar, that they may last a long time.’”
This shows that they would preserve these contracts.
So as we begin to try to
decipher and understand the meaning and significance of this scroll we have to
keep three things in mind. First of all, the Bible is a unified whole from
beginning to end. It is a unified whole of God’s thought but it is given
incrementally. We have to understand that these were not written just
haphazardly or randomly without connection; they all connect. There is a theme
that flows thorough all of the books of the Bible, an
internal connection. So we must remember that earlier revelation provides the
background for understanding later revelation. The events, the people and the
symbols of Revelation are to be understood by previous revelation. That is very
important because the fact that this scroll that is being opened in 5:1 bears
the mark of a title deed it takes us back to some important revelation from the
Old Testament.
If we read the Mosaic law,
which is the temporary covenant that God gave to Israel prior to the time that
they would go into the land that God had promised unconditionally and
permanently to Abraham, as they get ready to go into the land God gives them
specific revelation in the Mosaic law as to how to handle the land, how to deal
with ownership of the land. What happens if somebody has land assigned to them
and they can’t keep it up so they need to sell it. What
happens if a foreigner, a non-Jew comes into the land and sees a piece of real
estate that they want to buy. Can they do it? What happens of you want to sell
your land because of inheritance issues or some other pressure to some other
tribe? Can you do this or can you not? So these kinds of things are spelled out
in the Mosaic law. The Mosaic law
itself is written in a specific contract form. That is important to understand
because of what is known today as a suzerain-vassal treaty. A suzerain is a
term for a great king or lord or emperor or head of an empire who would enter into a contract with subordinate nations. It
was a conditional type of contract. The suzerain-vassal treaty form also has
parallels to some other biblical contracts, so we have to understand a basic
principle.
The contracts, the covenants
that were developed in the ancient world were not invented and they did not
originate from man. They came from God. God is the first one we see who established
contracts or covenants in the Old Testament. Genesis chapter one sets forth the
obligations of man in terms of his position as the image-bearer of God. All of
this smacks of this suzerain-vassal treaty type of terminology. Human contracts
are modelled on the fact that from the very beginning God structured His
relationship with man in terms legal contracts/covenants. Man is created in the
image and likeness of God. Man is supposed to be God’s vicegerent,
he represents God, rules over the planet in God’s place as God’s representative.
That is the essence of the terminology “image and likeness,” he is to represent
God as His image and rule creation. His responsibility to take care of His
people was real estate. Man was supposed to take care of this piece of real
estate called planet earth and there was only one stipulation: that he couldn’t
eat from the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If he did
there was a penalty. Contracts have penalties for their violation. So when Adam
disobeyed God and ate from the tree the contract had to be modified. The first
modification was the Adamic covenant in Genesis 3:14-19. Adam was to rule over creation,
but now what has happened? The ground gets cursed, the
woman who is the child-bearer is going to have pain and suffering in
childbearing. The animals are now going to be in antagonism with man. So all of the areas of primary responsibility in the first covenant
are in difficulty. There is corruption that has entered into every
aspect of the universe, not just man’s separation from God; nature is now
corrupted because of the fall. Then there is another judgment that comes along
called the flood, and that calls for a second modification of the original creation
covenant, the Noahic covenant.
The reason we go into this is
because the suzerain-vassal treaty contract that we call the Mosaic law has basic principles related to real estate sales,
contracts and management that relate specifically back to the overall structure
that we get out of the beginning of genesis.
1)
The land was not
to be owned by
2)
3)
No land could be
sold permanently because ultimately the Lord owned the land.
4)
Temporary transfer
of tenant responsibilities or sale could take place, but it wasn’t permanent. It
would revert back to the original tenant at the year of Jubilee. Leviticus
25:28.
5)
The transfer from
one tribe to another was prohibited.
6)
After the land
title or tenant responsibility was sold or transferred it could be redeemed at
any time by the kinsman-redeemer, the goel. It is ultimately a picture of the Lord Jesus Christ
who is our kinsman-redeemer. So we begin to see the significance of this whole
real estate transaction as it relates to a kinsman redeemer. Leviticus 25:25 NASB
“If a fellow countryman of yours becomes so poor he has to sell part of his
property, then his nearest kinsman is to come and buy back what his relative
has sold. [26] Or in case a man has no kinsman, but so recovers his means as to
find sufficient for its redemption.”
When a sale took place then
two copies of the sale contract were made. One was kept by the purchaser and
one went on permanent file in the temple. In some cases the purchaser might not
take immediate possession of the land. So usurpers move in and take over the land.
When this happened, eventually when the kinsman-redeemer decided to come back
and to claim the land he would have to bring a contract with him to prove that
he was the rightful owner of the land. So at that time he would take that copy
of the scroll, the real estate contract, and he would have to break the seals in
order to open the scroll which would prove that he was the rightful owner of
the land.
For the kinsman-redeemer to
take the land he had to fulfil two basic responsibilities. The first was, he had to pay the redemption price; the second, that he
would have to take possession, and by doing so he would have to evict the
usurpers who had come in and squatted on his property.
Let’s apply this to God’s ownership
of the earth. God owns the earth; mankind, the human race, is simply the
tenant. Man was created in the image of God to rule as God’s vicegerent on the
earth, to represent God. The original intent was that man was to possess the
earth as his eternal possession, but man abdicated his rulership when he fell
into sin in the garden. Satan took over as the ruler of planet earth, and this
is recognized by Satan in Luke 4:6 when he is tempting the Lord Jesus Christ
over the kingdoms of the earth. There is no debate over the fact that he has a
right to them. [6] “And the devil said to Him, ‘I will give You
all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it
to whomever I wish.
So the land when Adam
sinned became cursed and came under judgment. Genesis 3:17-19. It affected
everything. The earth is currently under that curse and awaiting redemption. Romans
What were the two things
that the kinsman-redeemer had to do? He had to pay the redemption price; he had
to come and take possession of the land. The redemption price is paid for on
the cross. 1 Peter 1:18 NASB “knowing that you were not redeemed
with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life
inherited from your forefathers,
So when we read in Revelation
5:1 that there is a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven
seals, don’t just think of this as a book that is going to tell us about the
end. This is the title deed to the planet.