The Wrath of The Lamb (Revelation 5 & 6)

The Lamb Takes the Scroll and the Church in Heaven

All right, let's turn to the book of Revelation, chapter 5. Revelation 5, and this chapter is titled, let's see, The Lamb Takes the Scroll. The Lamb Takes the Scroll. If someone isn't familiar with the book of Revelation or even Christianity, I mean, that title probably sounds a little strange, don't you think?

The Lamb Takes the Scroll. Of course, once you know, as most of you do, that the lamb is a title for Jesus, then okay, it starts making a little more sense. Of course, Jesus is spoken about as both a lion and a lamb.

I mean, you hear things like, you know, the lion and the lamb ministries, and there's a lot of things like that, and he's called both here. So he is the lamb, and he takes the scroll from the one seated on the throne.

Remember last week, we got this glimpse into heaven's throne room, that's chapter 4, and the 24 elders were seen in heaven, which we said represents the church, and almost all commentators agree with that.

So the church is on earth in Revelation, chapters 2 and 3. John is caught up to heaven at the sound of something like a trumpet at the beginning of chapter 4. We think that it sounds very similar to the rapture, and then all of a sudden, the church is pictured in heaven.

You see the throne, who's on the throne? Of course, this would have to be God the Father on the throne, and Jesus the lamb takes from his hand this scroll. And the scroll has how many seals? Seven, right?

This is the number that keeps getting repeated throughout the book of Revelation. Seven this, seven that, and there's seven seals. So to kind of help you visualize this, I have a picture here on the screen of what a scroll, of course, we have books back then, they had scrolls, and the seal is like a wax seal.

Someone might have a king, might have a signet ring, and they would push it into the wax, and that was the seal. So probably the way this scroll worked, it's a seal here, you would break the seal, open it, open it up, then there'd be another one, and then another one, and what are these seals?

Well, we may get into chapter six tonight, but when Jesus starts to open the seals, this is the beginning of the tribulation period. So each seal more or less represents a judgment. So just to kind of recap, because this is important in understanding what's going on in the book of Revelation, if you don't get this right, you're not gonna be able to understand the book.

Churches on earth in chapters two and three, churches in heaven in chapter four, Jesus takes the scroll, starts opening the seals, the tribulation starts, the church is where? In heaven, presumably, we believe, because the church has been raptured prior to the tribulation.

So with all those things in mind, let's begin reading. Revelation five, we'll begin reading verses one through seven says, and I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals.

Then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals. And no one in heaven or on the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it.

So I, that's John, I wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, do not weep. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, he has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.

And I looked and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the 20, or excuse me, and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth.

Then he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Okay, so like I said, I made kind of a big deal on purpose, this idea that the church is in heaven. John in Revelation chapter four, verse one, it says, after these things, I looked, a door standing open in heaven.

And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet saying or speaking with me saying, come up hither. So this sounds just like first Thessalonians four, that great passage about the rapture of the church.

The 24 elders representing God's people, why? Because 12 plus 12 equals 24. So the 12 tribes of Israel, that represents God's people in the Old Testament. 12 apostles of the lamb represent the church, God's people in the New Testament.

12 plus 12 equals 24. This is all of God's redeemed people in heaven. Like I said, we have to understand that and what's happening like this idea of a pre-tribulation rapture, because if you don't get that right, everything is gonna be skewed going forward.

Because there are believers on the earth during the tribulation. And you're gonna have it wrong who they are and why they're there if you get this wrong. I've given this illustration before. You need to get that top button of your shirt right.

Because if you don't, if you get it wrong, then your shirt's gonna be like off no matter what you do. So we have to get it right from the start that this is a pre-tribulational viewpoint. And I say that because a lot of churches these days are teaching what is called replacement theology.

And that is the idea that the church has replaced Israel. So we are the new Israel. And part of that system is to, a lot of good Christians believe that. Okay, I'm not down on anybody. But part of that system is to deny the pre-tribulation rapture.

So they would view revelation very different than us. And every text of scripture has many applications perhaps, but there's only one right meaning. And we want to know what the correct view is. Pastor and commentator John MacArthur, who shares this view on revelation, he said, and this always stuck with me, because people say, well, revelation is too hard to understand.

That's why we don't preach from it. It's too difficult. He said about revelation, he said, actually, it's not the hardest book in the New Testament.

To understand.

He said, it's actually the easiest book in the New Testament to understand, if you take it literally and at face value. Okay, let's go through these verses, Revelation 5 .1. And I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne, a scroll written inside and on the back sealed with seven seals.

So I think the best way to view the scroll is to view it as something like the title deed for the earth. Okay, the title deed for the earth. One commentator says this just about scrolls being sealed. This is typical with various kinds of contracts in the ancient world, including deeds, marriage contracts, rental and lease agreements and wills.

The inside of the scroll contained all the details of the contract and the outside or back contained a summary of the document. In this case, it almost certainly is a deed, the title deed to the earth.

Romans sealed their will seven times on the edge at each roll to prevent unauthorized entry. Hebrew title deeds required a minimum of three witnesses and three separate seals with more important transactions requiring more witnesses and seals.

So the title deed for the earth, this earth belongs to who? Okay, I mean, you'll get different answers. When God created all things, he created through Jesus. Everything was made by him and for him, right?

John 1 .1. But when God created the earth, he gave dominion to man. He gave dominion to Adam and then Adam sinned and did he lose dominion? Well, ever since the world has been under the curse, under the sway of the wicked one.

So really Satan, he is called the God of this age. And the way I view this, when Jesus takes the scroll, he's taking dominion back. Where Adam failed, Jesus will succeed. So Jesus is gonna take dominion back, but before he does and before this world is filled with righteousness and belongs to God, he has to do some cleaning up, which is what the tribulation is.

Yes.

When Satan tested Jesus in the wilderness, he offered to give the world to Jesus if Jesus would bow down to him. And I believe that he was holding the title.

In that story, it makes it sound like Satan had control. Of course, Satan's a liar too, so you can't really believe him, but Jesus didn't contest that, right?

So, Erin.

Isn't there a verse in the Psalms, the earth is the Lord's?

Well, Jesus, the Lord is sovereign. The world does belong to him without question. But as Bible also says, the whole world is under the sway of the wicked one. So both are true. And if you just look around, turn on the six o 'clock news, look around, it doesn't appear that Jesus is ruling and reigning on the earth today, right?

It seems like the devil and his people are in charge. That's the way it looks.

Okay.

So verse two, John describes what he saw. And then I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals. And no one in heaven or on earth, basically nobody period, was able to open the scroll or look at it.

Except one, which is Christ. In John 5 .22, Jesus says that the father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the son. So Revelation chapter five, we're preparing for the great tribulation, where Jesus, the son of man, all authority and heaven and earth has been given to him.

He is now getting ready to judge the earth. So he is worthy. Verse four, John weeps much, because no one has found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it. But that's when one of the elders speaks up.

He says to John, do not weep. Behold, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals. Okay, so why is Jesus called the lion of the tribe of Judah?

Who knows where that comes from? You remember in, this is a ways back, but when we were studying the book of Genesis, remember when Jacob or Israel was about to die and he blessed his 12 sons? What did he say about Judah?

Judah, he compared to a lion and the scepter shall not depart from Judah. So it was like a prophecy that the kings of Israel, the future kings and the Messiah would come from the tribe of Judah. And of course, Jesus, David first, was kind of the old Testament prototype of the Messiah.

That's why he's called the root of David. But Jesus is a descendant, he's son of David, right?

So he's from the tribe of Judah.

Yeah.

Just one other thought I had on this earth because God is going to create new heavens and a new earth. And that's so, that makes me think like there, yeah, there's just definitely something wrong with this one.

You agree with that? Is there something wrong? You know, we look at the world and

There's been something wrong done to it. It was good in the beginning.

It was good in the beginning. It's still beautiful. It's still amazing, but yeah.

Heavens declare the glory of the Lord, it's true.

There is something wrong.

It's us, it's we were corrupted.

That's why we need a new heavens and a new earth.

Because we corrupted this one.

Right.

Okay, so the earth, the problem with the earth, it's under the curse because of man, because of us. We're not worthy. We can't fix it because we're the ones who ruined it. So that it takes the God man to fix it.

Verse six, John says, I looked and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders stood a lamb as though it had been slain. Why is it? Well, first of all, this is probably, John saw a lamb, but it's symbolic for Jesus.

Jesus, remember when he appeared to his disciples and Thomas in particular, he still had the nail prints in his hand. So the marks are there as though he had been slain, which he was, but he rose from the dead.

Says he has seven horns and seven eyes. And again, this is symbolic language. There's that number seven again, right? So the seven horns represent strength. So Jesus, he is the almighty. Seven eyes maybe represent his omniscience, divine wisdom.

Here it says, it's the seven spirits of God, which are sent into all the earth. So that's the Holy Spirit. Then he came and he took the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne. Why is Jesus called the lamb?

So we talked about why he's called the lion. This goes back from what Jacob said. Why is he called the lamb?

Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.

Yep, John 1 29, when John the Baptist saw Jesus coming, he said, behold, the lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. Why did he say that though?

Exodus.

Yeah, you're gonna say the same thing.

Exodus but also Leviticus. I feel like we just read it at times that it just was repeated that you could give us.

Right.

Yeah, the Passover lamb, all the Jews would have understood that perfectly. So Jesus is our Passover, Paul says. So Jesus is that sacrifice that atones for sin. So that would go back to the Passover lamb.

Worship in Heaven, the Priesthood of All Believers, and the New Song

Okay, the lion and the lamb. Verse eight. Now, when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the lamb, each having a harp and golden bowls full of incense.

And this is symbolic to the incense. Incense is the prayers of the saints. So who's been in it? We don't use incense here. Although, you know, I wouldn't object to it. I don't know where we would fit it in, in the service.

I'm sure some people wouldn't like the incense. When you think of incense being burnt in a church, what do you think of? Yeah, the Catholic church where they have the, what do you call it? The censer.

And they swing it around and, you know.

And everyone with allergies just sits there with their eyes falling down their face and their head exploding.

Yeah, but the smoke rises, and that's a picture of the prayers rising up to God. Also here you have a harp. Okay, so you have an assembly of people. You have the incense. You have the harp. This is basically like a worship service.

It's an ongoing worship service that basically is day and night in heaven, ongoing forever and ever. They're singing verse nine. They sang a new song saying, you are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals for you are slain and you have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people in the nation.

So whether it's the New Testament church or the Old Testament tabernacle, what happens down here when we worship God, maybe you don't think of it like this, but on Sunday morning when we gather together, that worship service is special.

It's like a picture of what's happening in heaven. It's supposed to be like a, well, this was true with the tabernacle. It's supposed to be like a mirror image or what's the word I'm looking for? A shadow of what's happening in heaven.

Psalm 22 verse three talks about how God is enthroned in the praises of his people. So something special happens when God is worshiped. This is something we've sort of, I don't know, the past generation or two, I mean, maybe it's just New Englanders, but people have this individualistic mindset where, you know, I can worship God wherever I am.

Out on the golf course, you know, nature is my cathedral. I can be out worshiping God anywhere. Yeah, but God desires to be worshiped corporately. He wants people gathered together, just in a church. When you have a church and it's full of people singing, there's like an electricity in the air as opposed to an assembly where like four people.

It's just not the same. God desires to be worshiped as a group, as a whole.

Electricity.

Yeah.

Well, we were talking about the prayers of God's people being, it reminded me of, is it in Leviticus where he talks about the incense that's made for the temple and no one's allowed to even make that incense.

It is specifically for the temple. And it got me to thinking, if God views our prayers that seriously, that we have this incense that is holy just to him, then to think we can take it for ourselves and go out to nature and be worshiping God all by ourselves all.

The time is,.

It's a little presumptuous.

Yeah, it's something, if you read, especially the Old Testament sacrificial system, the tabernacle, God was very particular about how things need to be done.

You couldn't have the unauthorized fire.

No unauthorized fire or else you'd be the one getting cooked, right? Is that naydab in a bayou, right? You know, you don't really see that in the New Testament as much, but I think of that and this is why, you know, some of the antics that go on in churches today, like you should treat Sunday, you should treat the worship service, it is a sacred thing.

So I can only imagine what God thinks about some of the things that go on in his name. But here it says, yeah, this new song that is sung, the Bible tells us to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, right?

Psalm 96 one says, sing a new song to the Lord. So there's always room for new music. Verse 10, the church is singing and the represented with the 24 elders. And they say that, God, you have made us kings and priests to our God, or Jesus, you have made us kings and priests to our God, and we shall reign on the earth.

So the reigning on the earth is gonna come later. So Jesus comes back in chapter 19, sets up his kingdom. So pre-millennial kingdom, it comes back before it. And then we rule and reign with Jesus on the earth.

This other statement about he has made us priests, what is that? He has made us priests. This is a teaching that was rediscovered during the Protestant Reformation. And it's known as what? The priesthood of all believers, right?

Who's heard of the priesthood of all believers?

Yeah.

What is that? Are you, am I a priest? Do you regard me as a, yes? Who says yes? Who says no? We don't have priests. We're Protestant or we're independent. Chris, we don't have priests. See, when most people think of it, they think of the guy with the collar, right?

In their mind, that's what a priest is. But that's not what we're talking about. That's not what the elders are singing about. Jesus has made us priests because a priest is a intermediary. A priest can come before God.

He has been authorized to do that. So do you need someone to go to God for you? Or can you pray directly to God? Hebrews 4 .16 says, "'We are able to come boldly before the throne of grace.'". Unfortunately, there's a lot of people in the world today.

They believe that, well, I can't go to God. I need to do that through my priest. So they go and they see a man and he goes to God for them. Well, the scripture says there's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Jesus Christ.

So Jesus is the only go between us and God the Father.

Why?

Because we are all priests. If you are saved tonight, you are a priest. It has nothing to do with the collar and the celibacy. All of that is a priesthood that was manufactured by the Catholic church.

This is a different priesthood. This is for everybody.

Yes.

1 Peter 2 .9, "'For you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, his own special people. Acclaim the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.'". We have the ability to lead people to Christ, to introduce people to Christ.

Yep.

Did you catch the reference, Peter? Who's Peter talking to?

1 Peter.

I mean, he's just talking to all believers. You are a royal priesthood. Maybe you've noticed this. There's people maybe you work with, someone you know, a neighbor, and they go to you and they ask you to pray for them.

Why?

Because they recognize you have a relationship with God.

That they don't.

And even though they might not call you a priest, and that's not the way they're thinking about it, in a sense, that is kind of the way it is. Because as a saved person with the Holy Spirit, we have our great high priest, Jesus Christ, but we can come directly to God.

So 1 Peter 2 is another great passage on the priesthood of all believers. So verse 11, God's people are assembled in heaven. They're praising him for what he has done and also for what he is about to do.

Verse 11, then I looked and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures and the elders. And the number of them was 10 ,000 times 10 ,000 and thousands of thousands. See, there's no number in the Bible for a million or billion.

Well, we did this in fourth grade.

What's a thousand of thousands? A thousand thousands is what? Quick, what is that?

I don't know.

I mean, he's just saying there's so many you can't, we'll just call it trillions or whatever.

A great multitude.

A great multitude that no man can number, yes.

Larry used to say 10 million.

Yeah, 10 million or more. So verse 12, saying with a loud voice, here's what they're saying. Worthy is the lamb who is slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.

And did you notice something in that verse? Did you pick it up? There's that number seven again, right? Power, riches, wisdom, strength, glory, or honor, glory, blessing, seven. So verse 13, and every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them, I heard saying, blessing and honor and glory and power be to him who sits on the throne and to the lamb forever and ever.

And then the four living creatures said, amen. And the 24 elders fell down and worshiped him who lives forever and ever. So basically what happens, God is sitting on the throne. He has the title deed for the earth.

Jesus is the one who is worthy. He takes the title deed. He's about to open the seven seals, which will unleash the tribulation period, which is bad for the people on the earth. But it's good in the overall plan of God that God is taking the earth back.

And once the people in heaven realize that, what's about to happen, they just break out in praise. This is a wonderful, wonderful thing. So we have time to kind of go over chapter six. I think it's important to look at chapter six because chapter five is all preparation for this.

The Four Horsemen, the Martyrs, and the Sixth Seal

So chapter six is the opening of the first six seals. So again, you see the picture of the scroll, the wax seal, each seal, at least to start, is like a judgment. So we'll just go through Revelation chapter six quickly.

He says, now, when I saw the lamb opened one of the seals and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a voice like thunder, come and see. And I looked and behold a white horse and he who sat on it had a bow and a crown was given to him and he went out conquering and to conquer.

Okay, so Jesus opens the first seal. And this is where you get the term the four horsemen of the apocalypse, right? Everyone's heard that. So this is the first rider, the white horse, and it's a man on a white horse with a bow.

And people think, oh, white horse, that's Jesus. Wrong, it's not Jesus because Jesus, he does come riding on a white horse, but that's in chapter 19. Before Jesus comes to the earth, who's showing up on earth before Christ?

The Antichrist, right? So there are people right now looking for Jesus, like the Jews are looking for their Messiah. And what they're gonna get is not Jesus Christ, they're gonna get Antichrist. And it's not just them.

I mean, the whole world,.

Except for those people who end up getting saved, the whole world is gonna follow after this man. Now, much has been made of the fact that he has a bow and no arrows. A lot of commentators will say, see, this is a, it's symbolic of the fact that he's gonna take power and it's gonna be peaceful.

He'll take power in a diplomatic way, like people are gonna give him power. It does say that a crown was given to him in verse two, correct? Now, I don't know if this is real. I heard after COVID -19 and all that, that the United States signed some treaty that if there's ever another worldwide pandemic that we are gonna give up our national sovereignty and the World Health Organization is just gonna have full control.

I don't know if that's true or not. Don't quote me on that. That's what I heard.

I heard that, no?

Yes, I heard. I mean, that's a whole other subject, right?

Reliable source or not?

The point is, it's like, this may be what happens that nations just say, hey, we like you so much. You're so competent. Imagine this, the rapture happens. The world is in chaos. Hundreds of millions of people disappear.

Imagine the news cycle for the next week. I mean, people are panicking. The world is in chaos. They're gonna turn to a strong man who's gonna fix it. So they hand power over to him. Hey, you will be the leader.

He's gonna be able to apparently fix all the world's problems. Looks like that's what happens. You have something, Erin, that you wanted to?

No, I just, I never thought of the Congo being the antichrist. I never saw that connection.

Yeah.

Yeah, I mean, like I said, with revelation, no matter what I say, somebody out there is taking a different position. I mean, that's just the reality.

Yeah, but.

Just making sure that's what you were actually saying.

Yes, the rider on the white horse, the first seal is the antichrist. So he goes out conquering and to conquer. The next seal, the second seal is world war.

Red horse.

Yep, verse three. And he opened the second seal and I heard the second living creature saying, come and see. And another horse, fiery red, went out and it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth and that people should kill one another and there was given to him a great sword.

So I would understand this as being like the outbreak of world war three. Now, is it possible that the antichrist doesn't come to power so peacefully? You know, are we making too much of this bow without any arrows and actually he is a man of war and this is what causes world war three, what he's doing?

That's possible too, but either way, it's world war. That's the second seal. Verse five, the third seal, the third rider is famine. And when he opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, come and see.

So I looked and behold a black horse and he who sat on it had a pair of scales in his hands and I heard a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying a quart of wheat for a denarius and three quarts of barley for a denarius and do not harm the oil and the wine.

So world war breaks out, the next thing to happen is famine, which is very common. The oil and the wine, we believe probably represents the fact that the rich people are not really affected by it. The poor, the middle class, most people, yeah, they're working a whole day just to eat.

I mean, it's gonna be that bad. It's like the depression times 10. But the rich people, I mean, you know how that goes. They often benefit from war, which is sometimes why wars get fought because of whatever.

But you can see the world is spiraling into chaos very, very quickly. The fourth seal is death. That's the natural result of world war and famine. Now, if you're getting anxious about all this, just remember, if you're saved, I don't believe you'll be here.

That's my view. And if I'm wrong on pre-trib or holding out for mid-trib, right, we'll be raptured in the middle. But I really don't believe the church will face this because this is God pouring out his wrath and we're not appointed to wrath.

We covered that already. But the fourth seal is death. Verse seven, when he opened the fourth seal and I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, come and see. And I looked and behold a pale horse or a green, does the King James say green?

And the name of him who sat on it was death. And Hades or hell followed with him. And the power was given to them over a fourth of the earth to kill with sword, with hunger, with death and by the beasts of the earth.

So one fourth of the earth's population is going to die. So if you think of the earth, 8 billion people I think is the new stat, right? You're talking about 2 billion people. And 250 million went in the rapture.

And then you get, I mean, that's a lot of people gone. So by the time you get to the fifth seal, which is the martyrs, this could be two years into the tribulation. I mean, we're reading it verse after verse and you think like, okay, this is the next day.

And then the next day, no, it's probably a period of time. But the fifth seal, verse nine, when he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar, the souls of those who had been slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held.

So these are martyrs. And they cried with a loud voice saying, how long, oh Lord, holy and true until you judge and avenge our blood on those who dwell on the earth. I'd like to point out that this totally contradicts the teaching of soul sleep, okay?

Jehovah's Witnesses, Seventh-day Adventists believe that when a person dies, they cease to exist. We believe it's absent from the body present with the Lord. So when someone dies, these people, they died for their faith, their soul is in heaven.

There's no soul sleep. They're in heaven, they're conscious, they're even talking. And what are they saying? Lord, how long until you destroy these evil people? You say, well, is that right to pray such a thing?

Well, they're fully sanctified in heaven and this is what they're praying. So it is right. And God is glorified in people's salvation and God is gonna be glorified when he judges evil. You think of some serial killer who does just horrible things.

The day that murderer is put to death, it's a good day because justice has been served. And this is like this on a grand scale, maybe, yeah.

David, pray these kinds of prayers in the book of Psalms.

Yeah, the imprecatory Psalms and we think of imprecatory prayers. But that's when somebody, it's not your enemy. Like as Christians, we're called to love our enemy, right? So if you really dislike someone, you're not allowed to pray or you shouldn't pray.

Lord, get that person. If they're an enemy of God, if they hate God and they're killing people, I think that's a different story. Okay, verse 11. So the martyrs were almost done. Then a white robe was given to each of them and it was said to them that they should rest a little while longer until both of the number of their fellow servants and their brethren who would be killed as they were was completed.

So you see right there, there are saved people on the earth, right? I mean, they're saying there's gonna be more of us who get killed. So people are getting saved on the earth. That's what we're gonna get into in chapter seven with 144 ,000.

All right, the final few verses. Verse 12, John looks when he opened the sixth seal and behold, there was a great earthquake and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair and the moon became like blood.

Remember Joel's prophecy of the blood moon. I remember John Hagee had his four blood moon prophecies and nothing happened. I mean, he sold a lot of books, but nothing happened. See, let's say you see a red moon sometime in the next year.

Well, this is a unique event in the tribulation. There's been blood moons before. This is totally different, okay? The sun is gonna be darkened. When people see this, they're gonna be absolutely terrified.