Chapter 5 Revelation 4:1- 5:14
CHAPTER V
THE VISION IN THE HEAVENLY TEMPLE (4.1-5.14)
These two chapters quite clearly make up a single vision, and we shall inevitably fall into serious expositional error unless we recognize this. So let us being by telling the story as if it were only this, leaving interpretation until we have done so:
4.1
John sees a door opened in heaven, and hears again the voice like a trumpet, inviting him to ascend (1.10), when the things of the future would be disclosed to him: "I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter".
4.2
As a result he is again "in Spirit", and beholds a throne in heaven.
4.3
On this is a radiant Person (cf . 21.11). The throne is surrounded by a rainbow (10.1), with the appearance of an emerald (cf. 21.19, where a different but related word is used).
The word thronos occurs 61 times in NT, in 54 of which it is translated 'throne', and in the remainder 'seat' in AV. All the occurrences are given here for further reference, those translated 'seat' being marked : Matthew 5.34; 19.28, 28; 23.22; 25.31; Luke 1.32; 1.52 ; 22.30; Acts 2.30; 7.49; Colossians 1.16; Hebrews 1.8; 4.16; 8.1; 12.2; Revelation 1.4; 2.13 ; 3.21, 21; 4.2, 2, 3,4, 4 , 4 , 5, 5, 6, 6, 6, 9, 10, 10; 5, 1, 6, 7, 11, 13; 6.16; 7.9, 10, 11,11,15, 15,17; 8.3; 11.16 ; 12.5; 13.2 ; 14.3,5; 16.10 , 17; 19.4, 5; 20.4, 11; 21.5; 22.1, 3. Apart from a tendency to use the word 'seat' when evil or merely human powers are involved there seems no reason for the variation, particularly in this chapter.
4.4 Around this throne are twenty four others on which are seated elders clad in white and crowned with gold.
The word presbuteros occurs 67 times in NT, 62 as "elder". In the Gospels it refers to the elders of the Jewish communities, but in Acts it is used also for the leaders of the congregations of Christians, a meaning it retains in those Epistles in which it appears (I Timothy 5.1,2 , 17, 19; Titus 1.5; Hebrews 11.2 (of Old Testament men of faith); James 5.14; 1 Peter 5.1, 5; 2 John 1; 3 John 1). In Revelation it is used exclusively for these present symbolic heavenly beings (4.4, 10; 5.5, 6, 8, 11, 14; 7.11, 13; 11.16; 14.3; 19.4). Though the word means literally 'one who, or that which, is older' when used substantively, only rarely in NT is the idea of age the dominant one. In the synagogues and Christian congregations they were men deemd to be of sufficient maturity to be entrusted with responsbility as leaders. The case marked refers to elder women.
4.5 Lightning, voices and thunders come from the central throne, and seven fiery lamps burn in front of it, "the Seven Spirits of God" (1.4), while before the throne is a sea of glass. "In the midst of the throne and round about the throne" are four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind.
Note that these are "living creatures" and not "beasts" as in AV. They are to be distinguished sharply from the wild horrors which appear later in the Book, and which are appropriately called theria, wild beasts. The characteristic of the present creatures is life, not beastliness.
whose death has redeemed to God people of all nations. Many angels join their praises, and all creatures everywhere offer their blessings on "Him that sitteth on the throne, and on the
5.10
One called the Lamb. Only then do we learn:
6.1 The Lamb opened one of the seven seals.
This analysis causes certain points to stand out very clearly:
1 Only now we are approaching the point when the Book will begin to disclose the future, for though we were told in 1.1 that the Book was intended "to show unto Jesus' servants things which are shortly to come to pass", three chapters pass by before John is reminded of the promise, and is told in vision to enter a heavenly scene, when "I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter (4.1). This is much the same as to say, "Now that the preliminaries have been dealt with, we are in a position to set about the main task, and discuss the future". This confirms still further the position taken about chapters 1-3, that they are concerned with the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ which He had after His resurrection and ascension, and that they deal with actual contemporary events and situations, and are not designed to deal with the future. The only prophecies in those chapters are those which conern the particular congregations there addressed, or those which speak in general terms of punishment for those who deny or neglect their Lord, and of blessings at His return for "him that overcometh".
Since the Lamb of 5.6 unquestionably depicts the Lord Jesus, and since it is He Who takes the Book out of the hand of the Occupant of the throne, then that Occupant represents God, the Creator, Himself. This is in any case made absolutely plain in 4.11: "Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they were, and were created".
3 Since, notwithstanding the glory of the scene as we see it in chapter 4, no-one is present at that stage able to open the Book, and since John is moved to tears because of this, then chapter 4 is plainly not a vision of the glories of the future kingdom. It is rather a picture of the situation before the death, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is glory there, indeed, but the whole of the world's future awaited the triumph of the Lord on the cross. Up to 5.3, then, we have the glory of God as it was before the Lord Jesus ascended. From 5.4 we see the new situation which arose when Jesus acended to God's right hand. Indeed the terms of the doxology afforded to Jesus in 5.13, by "every created thing in heaven, and on the earth, and under the
4.7
The living creatures resemble a lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle, and they each of them have six wings. They sing praises the clock round to the Lord God, the Almighty, the Occupant of the throne.
4.10
In this they are joined by the 24 elders, who worship the enthroned One, by Whom and by Whose will all things were created.
5.1
In the right hand of this Person is a sealed book.
5.2
A "strong angel" makes a proclamation that one shall be sought who is worthy to open the book.
5.3
No such person is found, in heaven, on earth, or under the earth.
5.4
Hereupon John burst into tears that the book cannot be opened.
5.5
He is comforted by one of the elders, who tells him that "the Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David" has overcome and can now open the Book.
5.6
John then sees in the midst of throne, living creatures, and elders "a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God" (1.4).
5.7
The Lamb takes the book.
5.8
All the heavenly beings fall down, with each his harp and bowl containing incense which is "the prayers of the saints".
5.9
Then they sing a new song of praise to the Lamb
earth, and on the sea", correspond closely to those of Philippians 2.10 where, because the Lord has conquered sin, God has highly exalted Him, and required that every knee should bow to Him, "of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth". It is clear that the Lord who revealed the one to John inspired the other in Paul, and expected that they would be compared together to provide the solution of the picture.
Here, then, we have a clearly established position. John sees in symbol the glory of God in heaven. He is given to understand that the fulfillment of God's purpose for the future depends utterly on the triumph of the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross, so that He may gain the power to bring about the future blessings. He sees that this has come about when the slain Lamb ascends to be with His Father, with "all power given unto Him in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28.19). The interpretation is given to us by the Book itself, the surest of all grounds of exegesis. Any minor difficulties it might involve can be death with in the sequential analysis as they arise..
4.1: Come up hither, and I will show thee.
The Lord Jesus Christ is the Revealer, as He had promised (1.1). But, as so often in this Book, He reveals by what He shows rather than by what He says. It is "What thou seest, write in a book" (1.11). The message is therein picture: the interpretation is left to the disciple to search out. This is the whole problem of the Book of Revelation, to which every student has to address himself. We see the symbols, and can read the story as a story: but what do the symbols and the story signify?
4.2: / was in Spirit.
Both the language and the experience resemble those of Ezekiel 3.12, where that prophet was caught up to see a vision of the glory of God. The prophet had already seen such a vision in isolation, as it were (1.4ff), but now sees the same appearance again to prepare him to prophesy to his fellow captives in Babylonia, later to show him the abominations committed by the remnant in Jerusalem (8.22ff; 11.1, 24), and last of all to see the glory of God, which had forsaken Jerusalem when the city was captured, return in promise as the city is reestablished in the future (43.5). The miraculous experience, and some aspects of the material revealed, are common to all those who have been allowed to see in sign what the glory of God is like, such as Moses (Exodus 24.5-11), Isaiah (6.Iff), and Daniel (7.9-10).
4.2: / saw a throne set in heaven.
In Isaiah 6.1 the prophet sees the Lord (a:dhonay in our texts, but LORD,y:howah, if it is correctly stated that the Jewish scribes altered the word from mistaken motives of reverence, as also in 6.8, 11 and 130 or so other places). In that vision, too, the six wings are there on the seraphim, as they are in this prophecy on the four living creatures, while the cry heard by Isaiah, "Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory" (6.3) provides the precedent for Revelation's "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, which was, and which is, and which is to come" (4.8). In Isaiah, too, there is an altar — for the vision takes place in God's temple (6.3) — as there is in the present vision also (6.9).
In the Ezekiel visions there are four living creatures too (1.5 = Revelation 4.6), each of which has four faces of man, lion, ox, and eagle (1.10 = R4.7), compared with one face on each creature here. The fire around the throne is also here in the shape of a bow (1.28 = R4.3). Revelation has its "glassy sea" (4.6), projecting before the throne, and on which perhaps the throne is set, which may correspond to the "likeness of a firmament, the colour of the terrible crystal" of Ezekiel 1.22-3, which, though located over the living creatures, formed the floor on which the throne was set (1.26).
In the vision of Moses and the elders this feature is matched by the "paved work of sapphire stone" (Exodus 24.10), though we lack other details save that it was "the God of Israel" Who sat or stood above it.
In Daniel too there are thrones (7.9), and "thousand thousands minister unto Him (who sits there), while "ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him," corresponding precisely to the "ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands" of this vision (7.10 = R5.ll).
Now there is nothing in any of these Old Testament visions to associate them exclusively, or in most cases even particularly, with the time when the Kingdom of God will be set up in glory at the return of the Lord. It is true that Daniel sees a vision in which judgement is poured out on the kingdom of men, but the very name "Ancient of Days" (7.9) shows that an abiding presence is on the scene, whereas in the other visions what we should have supposed, on a simple view of the circumstances, is fully justified by a closer look. Moses and the family of Aaron saw "the God if Israel" in His might, designed to strengthen them for the work they had to do. Isaiah saw the Lord in the year that king Uzziah died, to provide the instruction and the incentive for him to minister to his own people. The glory seen by Ezekiel is so obviously the abiding glory of God that it is hard to see how anyone can have thought otherwise: it is revealed to him in Babylonia; it is present in the temple, as yet intact, in Jerusalem; it leaves that temple when Jerusalem is doomed, and it will return there when
it is finally restored.
It is true that, referring to Isaiah 6.10, John tells us that Isaiah then saw "His glory", meaning in the context the glory of Jesus Christ (John 12.41), but this is right and proper, for though Isaiah saw God's glory in the temple of his own day, the statement that "the whole earth is full of His glory" (6.3) was then only true in principle and in prospect. Not until the return of the Lord Jesus Christ would that glory indeed cover the earth "as the waters cover the sea" (Numbers 14.21; Psalm 72.19; Habakkuk 2.14). The glory belongs to God, but it will be revealed in its fullness in the person of, and at the return of, His Son.
In Revelation 4-5, then, John sees first the eternal glory of God before the means by which the future will be revealed are disclosed to him, with the rainbow of God's eternal covenant assuring him that God's faithfulness will preserve the earth from total destruction, that it might be finally filled with His glory (4.3; Genesis 9.8-17). But it was His glory contemporary with John's own times that he saw, as all the facts to follow will plainly show.
4.4: Round about the throne were 24 thrones: and on the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting, arrayed in white garments, and on their heads crowns of gold.
A rather different point of view is taken by Peter Watkins (EAF , pages 129ff), who observes that there are three songs of praise in Revelation 4-5, as follows: (1) that which is sung when the Lamb appears on the scene, but before the Book is opened (5.9); (2) that sung by the myriads of angels (5.12), which "could well be" when the Book is opened; and (3) that which is sung by every creature (5.13-14), of which he writes, "the occasion would surely be when God's purpose with all created things is completely fulfilled." He therefore finds in this vision three points in time: (1) contemporarily, with Jesus glorified but not returned; (2) ad-ventually, with the thrones of judgement set and the Book of Life opened (see my page 76, footnote); and (3) post-millennially, when the last enemy is destroyed and all surviving creatures render praise and glory to God.
Attractive though the suggestion is, it cannot be sustained. The last two utterances are not in fact called songs, though that is a minor correction. The message of the chapters runs smoothly on; first heaven without the Lamb, then the Lamb's ascension and taking of the Book, then His sitting down with His Father and the opening of the Book, and then the disclosure of the future. To find the future disclosed in advance dislocates the sequence. All the same, we do have a sequence of thought, if not of typical times: first the "living creatures" give glory to God alone; then they accord His share in that glory to the triumphant Lamb; and then the Lamb, possessed of all authority, is shown to be in possession of the right to the allegiance of all creation, as we have shown, in similar terms to those employed in Philippians 2.9-11.
There were 24 hours in the day-and-night cycle, for the Jews as well as four ourselves (John 11.9). There were 24 thousand of Israel who did service before their king each month (1 Chronicles 27.1). There were 24 orders of priests descended from Aaron "to come into the house of the Lord according to the ordinance given to them" (1 Chronicles 24.1-19). There were 12 tribes and twelve apostles of the Lamb (21.12, 14; Matthew 19.28 ). These facts present a very satisfying reason for having 24 elders present here, in this temple scene. All the orders of priests are, as it were, mustered to render mass praise to their Maker, giving Him "no rest day and night" (4.8) until He make Jerusalem a praise (Isaiah 62.1, 7), and while He sits on the throne which He has established in the heavens (Psalm 103.19). There is no need to say precisely whom or what the elders 'represent'; they stand as a manifestation of the unceasing praise and honour eternally due to God above. Whenever we pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6.10), we pay our small tribute in harmony with the praises of heaven.
White garments and crowns of gold.
One of the reasons given for regarding this as a scene of future glory is found in this adornment, for we have already discussed the crowns, or stephanoi, in connection with the coming blessing of God's saints, and we learn later that "the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints" (19.8). Moreover, we learn that "he that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment" (3.5). It has to be agreed that the symbolism of this verse would accord perfectly well with such a view. But we have already shown that the stephanos can also denote authority and dignity regardless of how these have been attained (Esther 8.15; Song 3.11; Ezekiel 16.12). In Revelation itself a stephanos is worn by forces of destruction in 9.7, and by the heavenly reaper of the world's harvest in 14.14. As to the white garments, the Levites were so arrayed, and doubtless the priests among them, at the dedication of Solomon's temple (2 Chronicles 5.12); Aaron was arrayed in linen garments when he went into the Most Holy Place on the Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16.4ff.). And in Revelation itself the angels armed with the world's "last plagues" are, like the saints of 19.8, clothed in fine and bright linen (15.6). So, though the symbols are beautifully appropriate to the justified saints, they are not exclusive to them. It is not so much that white garments mean the righteousness of saints, as that they mean righteousness and purity as such, which God and His angels have even now, and with which the Bride of Christ will one day be clothed. There is nothing in these symbols, therefore, to overthrow the conclusion we have already drawn that this is not a scene of the kingdom to come.
4.5: Out of the throne proceed lightnings and voices and thunders.
These would be most inappropriate to a picture of future blessing. They are to be linked with heavy and grievous punishments on the world (8.5; 11.19; 16.18), as they had been linked before with the terrors of God's presence before sinful Israel at Sinai (Exodus 19.16; Hebrews 12.18-21), to which place of terror the saints are taught that they have not come, but to a heavenly Jerusalem which will remain with the things which cannot be shaken when at last God has destroyed the present order of things.
Seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
The symbol is that of Zechariah 4.2; the seven Spirits have already been discussed (pages 16-17), and found to correspond to the Holy Spirit of God. In 5.6 this same Spirit is said to be "sent fortfa into all the earth" in pursuance of God's purpose. Just as we saw the seven Congregations represented by seven separate lampstands instead of the seven-branched candlestick of the Tabernacle, so now we see the seven lamps detached, rather than being linked to a central stem as they are in Zechariah. And whereas in the Old Testament prototype the mission to "run to and fro through the whole earth" (4.10) could possibly refer to either the land of Israel or the whole world as we know it (since 'erets in Hebrew can mean either, here in Zechariah, in its concern with the world-wide gospel, there can be little doubt that the universal concept is the one intended.
4.6: A sea of glass.
The Old Testament links of this have already been examined (page 87). The possibility of seeing through such a transparent base, whereby Ezekiel could discern what lay above, emphasizes even more clearly that nothing can be hidden from Him Who sits above: "all things are naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Hebrews 4.13). When we recall that the living creatures are full of eyes before and behind, and that the Lamb has seven eyes (5.6), we are made vividly aware that nothing can be hidden from the eyes of our God or of His Son.
4.6-8: Four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. The first creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.
That there were four of these promotes the reasonable suggestion that they are related to the four camps of Israel in the Wilderness (Numbers 2.3, 10, 18,25). That the faces are the same
as those in Ezekiel 1.5-10 suggests a further comparison. For in Ezekiel the man-face pointed south, the lion east, the eagle north, and the ox west (1.10 combined with 1.4, which shows that the prophet was facing north), so that comparing this with the camp of Numbers would make the lion the emblem of Judah and his group, the ox that of Ephraim, the eagle that of Dan, and the man that of Reuben. The fact that the four living creatures are separate, while the composite likeness of Ezekiel is a unit, once again indicates the general decentralization of the New Testament picture compared with the Old. That in its turn suggests that the Israel of the saints with which this Book deals is the spiritual Israel of the New Covenant rather than the natural Israel of the Old (though the old Israel has already appeared in this Book as an enemy of the gospel, and might yet do so again).
We know that the bodily likeness of Ezekiel's cherubim (for they are called by this name in Ezekiel 9.3; 10.1-20; 11.22) was that of human beings (1.5) in spite of their four faces, and the same may well be true of the living creatures of Revelation, since the different form of words used for the third of them ("the third creature had a face as of a man") suggests that we are really being told, "they all had the bodily likeness of a man, but the third of them had a human face also. Even the enquiry as to whether this might be so was discouraged so long as the idea of "beast" (AV) remained in one's mind, but as soon as this is recognized as likely, the six wings of 4.8 combine with the picture of the seraphim in Isaiah 6.2 to strengthen the impression of a likeness to the human form. God had said, "Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness" (Genesis 1.26), and the same affinity is bespoken here. There is angelic presence implied throughout this picture, no less in the living creatures than in the elders.
All kinds of other identifications and parallels have been proposed. The four Gospels, with Matthew's supposed concentration on the kingship of the Lord Jesus (the Lion), John's on His divine relationship (the Eagle), Mark's on His service (the Ox), and Luke's on His manhood (the Man), have attracted many an expositor . But there is sufficient variety in the identifications proposed to make them problematical, and in any case the question always arises, what would be the point of comparing the nature of Gods heavenly glory, or any other manifestation of His glory, with views about the specialist purpose of the Gospels which are anything but rigidly demonstrated? We were better served, it may be
Precisely this identification is illustrated in carvings of the outer doorposts of the Norwegian seamen's church in Rotterdam, Holland, testifying to the widespread popularity of this type of identification.
thought, by reflecting that the attributes of God sum up and exceed that of all His creatures together: the strength of the lion, the swift flight of the Eagle, the patient service of the ox, and the intelligence of a man, each in itself but a pale reflection of some quality of God.
4.8-11: They have no rest day or night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty . . .
Such praises are indeed sung in the heavens. As the hosts here symbolized extol God's creative acts (4.11), so they did in the beginning, when "the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted forjoy" (Job 38.7). Heaven praises Him now, as earth should, and His angels bless His name (Psalms 69.34; 103.20; 148.2).
4.11: Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honour and the power: for Thou didst create all things, and because of Thy will they were, and were created.
These words settle finally the question as to the identity of the Occupant of the throne at this point. It is the eternal God, the One whom believers are taught in the New Testament to call the Father. He is the source and origin of all, the universal Creator, the One to Whom even His Son said, "Not My will, but Thine, be done" (Matthew 26.39), and to Whom we are bidden pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, in earth as it is in heaven" (Matthew 6.10). That these praises are shortly to be shared with Another only emphasizes the point that at this moment they belong to the Father alone. And He is alone on His throne at this moment in the Book of Revelation, as the words to come establish beyond a doubt.
5.1:7 saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within, and on the back close-sealed with seven sales. 5.2: And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a great voice: Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
The book in the Father's hand is the focus of interest. All John's hopes of learning about things to come (4.1) are centred on it. If it could be opened, as events proved that it could indeed, then the events to come could unroll and the glorious climax be achieved. But if it could not, then John's heavenly visit was doomed to frustration. Clearly it was no part of the One seated on the throne to open it. That the future lies in God's hands is in one sense a truism, for "The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will" (Daniel 4.17 ). But in another sense this is less true. What God would do in the future depended critically on what He had achieved by sending His Son. "There is none other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we
must be saved" (Acts 4.12). In the drama of the Book of Revelation this is now to be put to the test.
5.3: No one in the heaven, or on the earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book or to look thereon.
Let the challenge be issued to the world: he that is able to open this book, let him come forward! The search was universal, but no one could be found. It was not a task which any angel could perform: heaven had been searched in vain. No living man was able to achieve it: the whole earth was scoured and among living men and women no one could be found. No-one remaining in the graves could do it: they looked under the earth, in the tombs of Hades, in vain. John had (so his mind in his vision evidently ran) made his journey to God's temple in heaven in vain.
5.4: / wept much, because no-one was worthy to open the book or to look thereon.
5.5: One of the elders saith unto me. Weep not: behold, the Lion that is of the tribe o Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book and the seven seals thereof.
John in waking knew fully the answer he was now to be given. But John in his vision is experiencing what men who learn about the meaning of the gospel must experience. He starts with a mind able to learn, but not knowing until he is told, and goes through the motions of learning as a child would. The child in his sadness says, "But there is no-one else. Angels, living people, dead people, all are impotent! Who can be left?" It is almost as though the prophet's words are being brought before us: "I looked, and there was none to help; and I wondered that there was none to uphold: therefore Mine own arm brought salvation unto Me; and My fury, it upheld Me" (Isaiah 63.5). This speaks, it is true, of the future victory over the nations, but that in itself is only possible because of the past victory over sin. It is the theme of the opening chapters of the Letter to the Hebrews which is being unfolded here. Jesus, "when He had made purification of sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels, as He hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they (Hebrews 1.3-4). It is Jesus Who, "having been made a little lower than the angels, because of the suffering of death" has been "crowned with glory and honour, that by the grace of God He should taste death for every man," "the Captain of our salvation made perfect by sufferings" (Hebrews 1.9-10). The future now lies firmly in the hands of Him who, having died once and for all for sins (Hebrews 7.27), is now the Priest perfected for evermore.
The Lion and the Lamb (5.5-14).
Our imagination can easily lead us astray. The Lamb is an appropriate and Scriptural symbol for Messiah in His suffering and atoning work (Isaiah 53.7; John 1.29, 36; Acts 8.32; 1 Peter 1.19). The devouring might of the lion, on the other hand (Genesis 49.9; Numbers 24.9; Daniel 7.4; Proverbs 19.12; 1 Peter 5.8; Revelation 10.3; 13.2), is also a Scriptural figure of speech, and in some of these passages is used in a messianic context. When, therefore, we find both Lion and Lamb referred to in Revelation 5, and both unquestionably with Messianic import, what is more natural than to think of the two phases of the Lord Jesus' experience, and say:
"HE CAME AS A LAMB, for the suffering of death. HE WILL RETURN AS A LION, to conquer the nations and establish the kingdom of God"?
5.6: / saw in the in idst of the throne, and of the jour living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.
That the Lord has suffered, and will return in power, are both true. His enemies will never again be able to crucify the Lord Jesus, and He is already in possession of "all power in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28.19), with which at His second advent He will break in pieces and consume all other kingdoms. But if it were such a transformation from Lamb to Lion that John was beholding, would not the dialogue have gone more like the parodied version below:
"One of the elders saith to me, weep not: behold, the Lamb of God hath prevailed to open the book and the seven seals thereof.
"And I saw in the midst of the throne, living creatures, and elders, a Lion, the Lion ofjudah in glorious might"?
Remember once again, we are confronted with a man "in Spirit", undergoing instruction as to what has been achieved, and any man in such a position, told that the Lion of Judah had triumphed, would expect to see a Lion, or at least a rampant conqueror fitting the description. Jesus appears on the heavenly scene as the crucified One, revealing by what hard path He has gained the victory and the power. Israel had constantly expected a conquering Messiah, and had rejected a crucified King. This doctrine was to them a stumbling block (1 Corinthians 1.23). What all needed to learn, and need yet to learn, is that the Lord's power could only come to Him when He had conquered that which could have disqualified Him for the exercise of power, and put away sin by his sacrifice.
Having been introduced as the Lamb, for the first time in the Book, it is a Lamb that the Lord remains. The word occurs 27 times in this Book, and all save one (13.11, where an evil beast has horns "like a lamb") refer to the Lord Jesus. He is the Lamb here as He enters the heavenly scene (5.6, 8, 12, 13). He is the Lamb still as He opens the seals (6.1); it is the "wrath of the Lamb" that the nations are taught to fear (6.16; 17.14). It is before the Lamb that the redeemed are pictured standing (7.9) and, of course, through the blood of the Lamb that they are purified (7.14). But, most telling of all, it is "the marriage of the Lamb" in which the saints participate as wedding guests and Bride (19.7, 9; 21.9). It is, too, the "book of life of the Lamb" which is opened to reveal their blessing (13.8), and it is "the throne of God and of the Lamb" which provides the temple of the new Jerusalem (21.22,23). Jesus Christ for His saints is, and remains, the Lamb: "the same yesterday, and today, and for ever" (Hebrews 13.8).
There is a fundamental fault in the idea that the Lord, having lived His mortal life as a Lamb, should by His resurrection be transformed into a Lion. This would imply that His experiences in the days of His weakness were discarded and lost when He was glorified. It would be incongruous that the spotless life which the Lord lived, disclosing the "mind of Christ" which disciples are expected to emulate (Philippians 2.5-10), should no longer be the same by the time He became their High Priest. If the Lord was made in all points like His brethren, and was made perfect by His sufferings (Hebrews 2.10; 5.9; 7.26), then His perfection must include the things He learned by His suffering (Hebrews 5.8-9). What a different High Priest our Lord Jesus would be, if it were not possible to write of Him that "we have not an high priest that cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities" (Hebrews 4.15-16), or again that "it behoved Him in all things to be made like to His brethren, that He might be a merciful and faithful High Priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For in that He Himself hath suffered being tempted, He is able to succour them that are tempted" (Hebrews 2.17-18. V
The Lord, will, of course, need to exert His irresistible power against the nations which rebel against Him on His return, but even here the initiative in fighting comes from them. The Lamb presents Himself to the nations which have given their power to "the Beast" in 17.13, and it is they who make war against Him, not the other way round, bringing upon themselves His vengeance and His victory. "The kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers thereof take counsel together against the Lord and His anointed", and it is because of this that the Lord will "break them in pieces
with a rod of iron like a potter's vessel" (Psalm 2.2, 9). But to His faithful saints the Lord remains kind, merciful, showing mercy to their offences and giving grace to help in time of need. He died for them as the Lamb, and it will be as the Lamb that He makes them his Bride.
The world hates meekness, specially when it is thrust before it for emulation. Cain has always hated Abel, and the world chose typically when it chose Barabbas, the Cain of its generation, and rejected the Lord Jesus, its Abel, "killed the Prince of life, and desired a murderer to be granted unto it" (Genesis 4.1; Matthew 27.20; Luke 23.18; John 18.40; Acts 3.14). The disciples hear the Lord still saying, "Come unto Me: I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls" (Matthew 11.28-30).
Then why the Lion of Judah?
The title is used, and was certainly not intended to be ignored. It is surely the descent from Judah which provides the answer, and Genesis 49.9-10 the source. Judah is the tribe of the Lord's natural descent, and in all probability, as we have seen, the leader of the group of tribes which had the lion on its banner, being located on the east of the Tabernacle in the wilderness encampment (Numbers 2.3; Ezekiel 1.4, 10). That the lion was the symbol of Judah is further supported by the heraldic castings around the throne of Solomon in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 9.18, 19). Is not John being told, therefore, that he may dry his tears because the appointed Heir to the throne, bearing the standard of Judah, but whose proper name is the Lamb of God, has overcome by the suffering of death, and is now fit to open the book of the future, and eventually to reign in power?
The Root of David.
We are more accustomed to think of the Lord as the Branch growing out of the root of David than as the Root itself (Isaiah 11.1, where the Hebrew word is netser; and Zechariah 3.8; 6.12; Jeremiah 23.5; 33.15, where it is tsemach), because the Lord is Son of David, descended from his stock. Yet "Root" He is in this passage; He is "Root and Offspring of David", combining both positions, in 22.16; and in Isaiah 11.10, quoted in Romans 15.10, He is the "root of Jesse". The word in LXX is the same as in the Apocalypse, and there can be no doubt that Revelation is referring to the passage in Isaiah.
We are back to the question the Lord asked of the Jews: "What think ye of Christ? Whose Son is He?" (Matthew 22.42), and to the total inadequacy of the answer. "The Son of David." The Lord Jesus' origins go further back than David, for through Mary His mother He is Son of God, related in the first generation, as it
were, to the Creator Himself, stemming directly from the same Root from which Jesse and David by creation were formed; Scion of Him "whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting" (Micah 5.2). The One Who is now seated at the right hand of God is the One Who had said, "Before Abraham, was, I am" (John 8.58), now taking up in reality the promised "glory which I had with Thee before the world was" (John 17.5). Though He owes His natural birth to a daughter of David, the Lord now claims His position as the One to Whose coming David Himself was merely a steppingstone; as David acknowledged in his prophecy, "The LORD said to my Lord, Sit Thou at My right hand until I make Thy foes Thy footstool" (Psalm 110.1; Mark 12.36 ).
Having seven horns and seven eyes.
The seven eyes are present in the Old Testament in the stone set before Joshua the high priest (Zechariah 3.9). The picture there has some parallels with Revelation, for Joshua (whose name is the Hebrew equivalent of Jesus, meaning 'Y:howah is Saviour') is falsely accused before the heavenly court by the Satan, or prosecutor (3.1). He is vindicated, freed from his filthy garments, clothed with fair robes, and crowned (Zechariah 3.3-5), and though he doubtless depicts the coming redemption of Israel from her very real sins, and the terms employed cannot without very great care be applied to our sinless Saviour, yet it is the fact that this Saviour did "bear our sins and carry our sorrows" (Isaiah 53.4-6), and it was through a shameful death that He came to be crowned with glory and honour (Psalm 8.5; Hebrews 2.5-10). The Lord is now possessed of these seven symbolic eyes, which are called "the seven spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth", and therefore equivalent to His own claim, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and in earth", and also conveying that there is nothing which is hid from His eyes. By these spirits, or this Spirit, He can say to all lightstands, then and now, "I know thy works!" (3.1 ).
The seven horns we meet here for the first time in this Book. The other horned creatures of Revelation are evil and anti-Christian (12.3; 13.1, 11; 17.3, 7, 12, 16),. their powers being joined in alliance against this Son of God and His Father. Here, though, the perfection of authority and power which horns denote is settled on its rightful Owner. The temporary alliances of the world will have their day of power, but ultimately the Lord will be victorious. The victory is built into His triumph over death. (For horns as symbols of power see Psalm 18.2; 89.17, 24; 92.10; 112.9; 132.17; Luke 1.69).
He came, and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne.
This was what John has been summoned to see. Revelation reveals its plan of disclosure. First the Lord must be displayed as the crucified but triumphant Saviour, and then the disclosure itself, which commences in 6.1, can be effected. All this earlier matter, vital and significant though it is, is preparing the ground. It is as important for the saint to know why and how the events will come to pass and be controlled, as it is for the events themselves to be laid out. The introduction has been long, but as pent with excitement for the reader as it was for the seer himself. The Apocalypse does not tell us about the future as a soothsayer might, but as a saint should want it, placing it all in the hands of the Saviour, and bidding us look on it as part of the outworking of the plan of salvation through Him. "It is expedient for you that I go away," Jesus had said (John 16.7), for the way He travelled leads to the Father's throne, and to the mediation which the Lord exercises thence. What He discloses from now on will always be intimately concerned with this heavenly temple-scene in which the Apocalypse is set, and with the wellbeing of the saints for whose sake it is given. Jesus has overcome, and is sat down with the Father on His throne (3.21), and from this Most Holy Place gives His revelation to John, using the Book which He has now taken from the Father's hand.
The reaction of the living creatures and the twenty four elders to the arrival of the Lamb is dramatic, and gives yet a further indication that the 'Old Testament' heavenly scene of 4.1-5.4 has now been transformed into the 'New Testament' scene of 5.5-14. What was formerly the glory of God, not yet called the Father, awaiting the coming and the triumph of His son, has now become what John had said in his Gospel it would be, the glory of Jesus too (John 12.41). The heavenly powers had hitherto been worshipping God alone, "He that sits on the throne" (4.10): they now fall down in adoration at the feet of the Lamb. The new era which was actually inaugurated at the Ascension (John 14, 1-3; Acts 2.33; Hebrews 9.24 ), is now testified in symbol as a vital partof the process of redemption and revelation: not only is there now, as always, one God, but there is also now "one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus" (1 Timothy 2.5).
5.8: When He had taken the book the four living creatures and the four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints; 5.9: and they sing a new song.
The heavenly powers which had rejoiced at Jesus' birth now rejoice in His victory. And the "new song" they sing to Jesus should by its very form be compared with the older song which they' sang, and doubtless continue to sing, to His Father:
4.11: Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive the glory and the honour and the power, for Thou didst create all things, arid because of Thy will they were and were created.
5.9: (To the Lamb), Worthy art Thou to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and dist purchase to God with Thy bloodmen out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and'modest them to be a kingdom and priests; and they reign on the earth.
God is worthy as Creator; the Lamb is worthy as Redeemer. His victory over sin and death is the ground for sharing with Him the honours hitherto belonging to His Father only.
The same song is doubtless that referred to in 14.3, where it is said that no-one could learn it but the 144,000 (of which more will follow when we deal with chapter 7), itself a symbol for those whom Jesus has redeemed. In 15.3, it is called "the song of Moses and of the Lamb", which appropriately links the part played by Moses in mediating the redemption of Israel from Egypt with the extension of this by the Lord Jesus in delivering people of "all nations" (15.4) from their sins.
The Song of Moses in Exodus 15.1 concerns deliverance from the bondage of Egypt. That of Deuteronomy 31.19-30 anticipates the entry into the Promised Land, and is elaborated in 31.30-32.43 as an expression of the eternal purpose of God in choosing Israel so as to preserve and promote His purpose. The song is spoken to the people by Moses, "he and Hoshea the son of Nun" (32.44). But linguistically, and remarkably,
MOSES HOSHEA = MOSES JOSUAH = MOSES 4 JESUS = MOSES THE LAMB
- which is just what Revelation 15.3 calls the new song. This is the song of deliverance from bondage into the new inheritance, of which that achieved under Moses and Joshua was but a type, and it is of this that they sing who celebrate the work achieved for them by the sacrifice and resurrection of their Saviour, entering into the new rest of God from which sinful Israel remained excluded by their unbelief, even when they had gained entrance into Canaan (Hebrews 3.7-19; 4.14).
Harps and incense, and the prayers of the saints.
Apart from an ironical reference in 1 Corinthians 14.7, the only
substantive uses of the noun and verb for harp, kithara and kitharizo in NT are in Revelation (5.8; 14.2, 2; 18.22). The same word is used in LXX to translate rather over half the 44 occur-ences of the Hebrew word kinnowr. The instrument is peculiarly concerned with the thanksgiving and praise, a very fitting meaning here as the Lamb emerges from His ordeal into the heavenly glory.
Harps of triumph are one thing, though. Incense and prayers of the saints are quite another, and introduce a new and grave element into the situation. This is the first occurrence of the word thumiama, incense, in the Apocalypse, the ohers being in 8.3, 4; 18.13. Indeed, in NT the word is rare enough, being used only of the experience of Zacharias when his son, John the Baptist, was promised (Luke 1.9-11), and once of the Tabernacle's altar of incense, or "golden censer" (thumiaterion). Hebrews 9.4). It is, always (save in the irrelevant 18.13) associated with prayers, and what more appropriate moment could there be to introduce this thought than that in which the Mediator has now been seen in God's presence, "ever living to make intercession for those who draw near to God through Him" (Hebrews 7.25; Romans 8.27, 34)? The thought is carried a little further in 8.3, 4, where, before severe judgements are poured out on the earth, incense is added by the angel to the prayers of the saints, as though to emphasize that "we know not how to pray as we ought, but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered" (Romans 8.26). In times of deep crisis the believer needs to know that God pays respect to his need as well as to his knowledge, and will answer him, in accordance with his faith, "exceedingly abundantly, above all that we ask or think" (Ephesians 3.19-20).
"LORD, I have called on Thee: make haste to me; give ear to my voice when I call to Thee. Let my prayer be set forth as incense before Thee; the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice" (Psalm 141.1-2).
5.9: Men of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, made to be to our God a kingdom and priests, and they reign on the earth.
A major point of interpretation arises here: in AV the singers are made to say, "Thou hast redeemed us to God . . . and hast made us ... kings and priests, and we shall reign on the earth", and if this were sustained it would mean that the living creatures and elders are, after all, the saints, and that the heavenly scene is, in spite of all that has been written here, one including the future kingdom. This would apply to chapter 4, where there is no Lamb, as well as to chapter 5, and the whole picture of the structure of these two — and following — chapters might be thrown into confusion. Fortunately, the problem does not arise, because the
AV rendering is almost certainly wrong. The matter is of such importance, though, that it ought not to be dismissed without a rather thorough investigation. Here is an uncensored selection of English-language versions:
A V — Thou hast redeemed US ... hast made US ... WE shall reign . . .
RV — Thou didst purchase MEN . . . madest THEM . . . THEY reign . . .
RSV — Thou didst ransom MLIN . . . hast made iritivi . . . THEY shall reign ...
N ASB — Thou didst purchase MEN . . . has made THEM . . . THEY will reign . . .
NEB —Thou didst purchase MEN . . . has made of THEM . . . THEY shall reign . . .
JB — You bought MEN . . . made THEM a line of kings and priests . . .
NIV — You purchased MEN . . . have made THEM . . . THEY will reign.
The same view is supported by Berkeley, Phillips, Weymouth, Twentieth Century NT, and the standard translations in several modern languages other than English. The AV rendering is supported by the Catholic Douay and Knox translations (but not by the Catholic New American Bible), and it is obviously dependence on the Latin Vulgate ("redemisti NOS . . . fecisti NOS regnum . . . regnAMIBUS super terram") which has conditioned the more traditional Catholic translations. Aland & Black prefer the majority view (though with only "C" probability), and Alford's Greek Testament concludes that "us" is likely to be a later insertion arising from a prevalent early interpretation of the elders as Apostles and Prophets, rather than to be omitted to support the view that these beings were angels.
The consensus is strong in itself. This, together with the great internal consistency of the interpretation offered above, seems decisive. This will appear even more clearly when we consider the fact that the redeemed, when they do appear beyond doubt in the vision do so as people, 144,000 or a great multitude, and the elders are still present in their own right, with the living creatures too (7.11), which is just about decisive. The elders and the living creatures are not the saints in the kingdom to come.
5.11:7 saw, and I heard a voice of many angels round about the throne and the living creatures and the elders, and the number of them was 10,000 x 10,000 and 1000s of 1000s. Once again, the multitude of the heavenly hosts (Luke 2.13) is praising and singing, but now praising t he Lamb in His victory as
well as God in His eternal glory. The numbers are those of Daniel 7.10, and correspond also to the "innumerable hosts of angels" of Hebrews 12.22. An idle thought notes that the total number exceeds 100 millions, if it were to be construed literally which, when we consider the present population of the earth as perhaps 4000 millions is no tax on the imagination. A Psalm speaks of "the chariots of God" as being "twenty thousand, even thousands of thousands", no doubt meaning that the heavenly forces are beyond computation. Compared with the figures given here, though, the mere 80,000 angels which the Lord Jesus said were available to Him for the asking (Matthew 26.53) would have represented a negligible drain on the divine resources. Luke's "multitude of the heavenly host" gives a certain literality to the present verse, and it is small wonder that Jacob was impressed with the size of the two hosts of angels at Mahanaim (Genesis 32.1). It is remarkable that Jacob, in his awareness of this great number of angels in the background, should have struggled with a single angel (32.24) when he had forded the brook Jabbok by night, while the Lord should know of and reject the twelve legions of angels, having crossed over the brook Kidron to wrestle with God in prayer with the one angel by His side to comfort Him (Luke 22.43; John 18.1).
Once more, the context of the resurrection and ascension is stressed by the presence of this multitude of angels, the Lord being exalted at His Father's right hand, "angels and authorities and powers being made subject to Him" (1 Peter 3.22).
5.12: Saying with a great voice: Worthy is the Lamb that hath been slain to receive the power and riches and wisdom and might, and honour and glory and blessing. 5.13: and every created thing which is in the heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things that are in them, heard I saying: Unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honour, and the glory and the dominion for ever and ever.
The swelling chorus is reaching its climax. This marvellous Book is not to be thought of for a moment only as a Book of problems and difficulties and controversies. There is sublime and divine artistry in this glorious symphony of praise. God is worthy of praise as Creator and Planner. So say the living creatures and the elders (4.9-11). Jesus is worthy of praise as Sufferer and Redeemer. So say the same small choir again (5.8-11). God has rightly given all honour to the triumphant Lamb, chorus the massed heavenly choir of angels which had been silently waiting the time of victory, since they first rejoiced at His brith. What remains? Only that every created thing, wherever it is to be found, above, here on the ground, in the seas and from the graves,
should join in the panorama of expectation of the final universal bringing of the world to the feet of God. So living creatures, elders, millions of angels, and created things like the sand of the sea and the stars of heaven assemble their voices in deafening exultation as they salute together the Lord of Creation and His Son for their joint triumph:
"To Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, be the blessing and the honour, and the glory and the dominion, for ever and ever.
5.14: The four living creatures said, AMEN, and the elders fell down and worshipped.
That one word was needed. The time of rejoicing is only here in anticipation in this chapter. The multitudes on the earth have a long time to wait before they will actually sing this song, and angelic rejoicing must be muted for a long while yet. But God has set to His seal that the work shall be accomplished, and those sitting and standing closest to that divine pair joined together in loving unity of purpose on the throne can only worship before the certainty they have seen and say, but for all of us, So may it be:
AMEN!
Note: THE LAMB
There are three words translated "lamb" in NT. One, the relatively rare aren, is found in Luke 10.3, in the genitive case, only ("I sent you forth as lambs among wolves"). A second, arnion, is the most common only because it appears numerous times in the Book of Revelation (5.6, 8, 12, 13; 6.1, 16; 7.9, 10, 14, 17; 12.11; 13.8,11; 14.1,4,4, 10; 15.3; 17.14, 14; 19.7,9;21.9, 14, 22, 23, 27; 22.1, 3), for elsewhere it is found only once, and that, too, in the writings of John (John 21.15, "Feed My lambs"). The third, amnos, occurs four times only, of which two are in John (1.29, 36, "Behold the Lamb of God", the words of John the Baptist), and the other two in Acts 8.32; 1 Peter 1.19, both of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus. In LXX arnion is rare (Psalm 114.4, 6; Jeremiah 11.19; 27.45), while amnos is found about 100 times in connection with lambs for sacrifice. Vine (EDNTW in loc), observes, "The contrast between arnion and amnos does not lie in the diminutive character of the former as compared with the latter . . . The contrast lies in the manner in which Christ is represented in the two respects. The use of amnos points directly to the fact, the nature and character of His sacrifice; arnoin . . . presents Him, on the ground of His sacrifice, but in His acquired majesty, dignity, honour, authority, and power." It is hard to see the slightest justification for, and even very much meaning in, this pronouncement. Arnion is used in a diminutive sense (though compared with probaton, sheep) in John 21,16, 17; and may it not be that the Apocalypse uses this word to denote the utter dependence of the Lord Jesus Christ on His God and Father, so that when He enters into the divine glory it is because He has emptied Himself, become helpless and obedient
even unto death, and has waited upon God for deliverance with no more human expectations that those entertained by a sheep for the slaughter. In that event the other Gospels and John the Baptist refer to Jesus as a sacrificial Lamb, while the Lord Himself, in the Apocalypse, puts Himself on the same level of dependence and
needs as He put the young sheep which He first committed to
Peter's care.
Excursus V: Prayer and Praise to the Lord Jesus Christ
There are three main attitudes which might be taken up about the position of the Lord Jesus Christ in relation to the godhead. The one sees Him as eternal God in His Second person, Who took flesh of His own volition to become man in all man's weakness, and subsequently, having died as an atoning sacrifice, resumed the full powers of His eternal divine nature, now both the Eternal God the Son, and the immortal glorified Man. In essence this is the position adopted in what we call The Doctrine of the Trinity. The opposite extreme to this sees Jesus as man like the rest of us, and essentially nothing more, though His harmony with His Maker was such that He had bestowed upon Him the honorary title of Son of God, not because He was differently born or begotten from other men, but as a tribute to His extreme godliness. This is in essence the teaching of the Unitarians as we know them today.
Between the two is the position of the writer of this exposition, that the Lord Jesus Christ was begotten by God by way of the Hoi) Spirit, whereby God became the Father, and Jesus was born as the Son. He lived His life as a full) temptable human being must, and overcame the sin to which His nature disposed Him, never yielding to its impulses and always, in thought, word, and deed, doing the will of His Father. As a result of this, He was raised from the dead, caused to ascend into heaven, and placed in possession of the power and authority to which we have already referred.
Now a Unitarian could hardly of fer prayer to Jesus as t hough He were God, since he entertains no such view of His person. A Trinitarian, on the other hand, might be expected to feel free to address his prayers to the supposedly triune Godhead as a whole, or perhaps to any of its supposed hypostases individually, as in a well known hymn whose verses begin successively:
ETERNAL FATHER, strong to save, Whose arm halh bound the restless wave. O CHRIST, whose voice the waters heard, and stopped their raging at Thy word. 0 HOLY SPIRIT, Who didst brood upon the waters dark and rude: ending each of the supplications with the identical words: O hear us when we cry to Thee for those in peril on the sea.
though it is this writer's view that such petitions are not so much trinitarian as tritheistic, treating each of the 'Persons' as a separate God with particular spheres of interest and potency.
Nevertheless, what is the subject of prayer in verse is not, in fact, the general practice in sober prose of those who accept the doctrine of the Trinity. At least until recent times there was a remarkably scriptural approach to the protocol of prayer in the official bre-
viaries. For example, in the section on "Morning Prayer" in the non-revised version of the Church of England's Book of Common Prayer, the "General Confession" begins, "Almighty and most merciful Father"; the "Absolution" which follows begins, "Almighty God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ"; the "Second Collect" begins, "O God, who art the author of peace", and plainly means the Father since the same prayer concludes with "through the might of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen." And it would be possible to be tediously convincing on the point by reciting ad infinitum numerous other examples to the same effect. In fact holders of the Doctrine of the Trinity deny frequently in practice what they affirm in theory, that the Father and the Son are eternally and co-equally God.
It is the more surprising in the light of this that there has grown up in recent times, by no means confined to Trinitarian circles, a movement to address prayers to Jesus as a Person independently. Unitarians may feel inhibited from doing this, but both Trinitarians, and those who, like this author, see Jesus as the One Whom the Father holds highly exalted because of His victory over sin, may well feel that the One Who did so much by dying to redeem men to their Clod, and Who is certainly alive and sitting at the right hand of the Father, can be addressed in prayer and praise. It is very much a modern phenomenon, or at least a modern recrudescence, but it deserves sympathetic consideration for all that; and the ground for introducing consideration of it here is the unquestionable attribution of praise to "the Lamb" in Revelation chapters 4 and 5 currently before us.
They fell down before the Lamb, . . ., .saying, Worthy art Thou to take the Book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase to God with Thy blood men of even tribe, and tongue, and people, . . . (5.8-10).
Worthy is the Lamb that halh been slain.to receive the power, and riches, and wisdom, and might, and honour, and glory, and blessing. (5.12).
To Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever. (5.13).
Which can be followed up from the later part of the Book with: Even so, Come, Lord Jesus (22.20),
words which are undeniably addressed to the Son of God.
However, in discussing whether it is proper or desirable or allowable to address prayers to the Lord Jesus personally, it ought to be agreed at once that the passages here quoted from the Apocalypse do not decide in favour of this practice. For in chapter 5 the praises (they are not prayers) are accorded to the Lord Jesus by the heavenly powers designated as the Living Creatures and the Elders and the heavenly hosts. They are not directly, if at all, concerned with how the believers on earth should address themselves to heaven in prayer; while in 22.20 the petition is a direct answer to the Lord's own words, "Behold, I come quickly." The answer, whether given by John, or by the angel or angels in attendance, could hardly have been other than "Please do as You
say!", and this would afford no precedent for prayers on the part of those of later ages who have not participated in this process of revelation.
What we have to do now is to go to the other parts of Scrpiture in which the proper address in prayer is spoken of, and let these be our guide. The analysis which follows attempts to do this, and the general answer which emerges from it is clear and convincing.
In the Acts of the Apostles, Epistles, and Apocalypse, then, we have something like'the following breakdown:
1
Invocations of grace and peace from the Father and the Son: Romans 1.7; 1 Corinthians 1.3; 2 Corinthians 1.2; 13.14; Galatians 1.3; Ephesians 1.1; 6.23; Philip-pians 1.2; Colossians 1.2 A.V.; 1 Thessalonians 1.1 AV; 3.11; 2 Thessalonians 1.2; 2.16; 1 Timothy 1.2; Titus 1.4; Philemon 3; 2 Peter 1.2; 2 John 3; Revelation 1.4; 7.10-12.
2
Invocation of the grac» of Jesus, without reference to
the Father. Romans 16.30; 1 Corinthians 16.23; Galatians 6.18; 2 Timothy 4.22 AV; Philemo;i 25.
3
Thanks and petition to the Father through the Son:
Romans 1.8; 5.11; 7.25; 15.6; 16.25-27; 1 Corinthians 15.57; Ephesians 5.19-20; Philippians 2.10-1 1 ; 4.6-7; Colossians 3. 17; Hebrews 4.14-16; 13.15, 20-21; 1 John 2.1; 5.13-17; Jude 24-25 RV; Ephesians 2.18; 3.12.
4
The same to God, as "the Father of Jesus Christ": 2
Corinthians 1.3; Ephesians 1.3, 17; Colossians 1.3; 1 Peter 1.3; Revelation 22.21.
5
The same to the Father without mention of the Son:
Rra/ians 6.17; 10.1; 11.1; 14.6; 15.13, 30.33; 1 Corinthians 1.3; 14.18, 25; 2 Corinthians 8.16; 9.11, 15; Galatians 1.5; Ephesians 3. 14-21 RV; Philippians 4. 20; Colossians 1.12; 1 Thessalonians 1.2; 5.23; 2 Thessalonians 1.3, 1 1; 2. 13; 1 Timothy 1.16; 6.15-16; James 1.5; 1 Peter 1.17; 4.19; 5.10-l'l; Revelation 11.17; 15.3-4.
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Glory accorded to Jesus Christ: 2 Peter 3.18; Revelation 1.5; 5.9-14.
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Prayer to Jesus Christ specifically: 2 Corinthians 12.8-9; 1 Timothy 1.12; Acts 1.24-25; 7.59; 9.5, 10; 10.14; 22.10, 19; 26.15.
These last, in view of our subject, deserve particular attention. The first concerns Paul personally in relation to his own immediate problem, and cannot be extended to others. The same applies to 1 Timothy 1.12. Acts 1.24-25 is a specific request by Peter that the Lord will choose His own apostle to replace Judas, and has no relevance to later times. Acts 7.59 concerns Stephen, in receipt of a vision of the Lord Jesus, personally, and cannot with any confidence be extended further. Acts 9.5, 10are specific revelations to Saul and Ananias which again have no relevance to later times.
Acts 10.14, if it is relevant to all, concerns Peter only in a direct revelation. Acts 22.10, 19 are peculiar to Paul in similar circumstances, as is 26.15.
For the rest, the overwhelming evidence is that petitions to Jesus were not the norm, even on the part of those who had been or still were closest to Him. His grace, with that of His Father, is certainly invoked on the ecclesias, and glory is certainly accorded to Him, but prayers to Him are almost entirely absent. When we couple this with the fact that the Lord Jesus Himself invited, not prayers to Himself when He should be exalted, but that men should approach the Father in His name, the evidence is well — nigh irresistible that to pray directly to the Son is an innovation which conforms neither to New Testament practice nor to the Lord's own will. (John 14.13, 14; 15.16; 16.23, 26).
This is no way intended to weaken the honour which it is our glory and pleasure to ascribe to the Lord Jesus. It is our duty to bow before His Name, and our glad confession that all authority has been given to Him by His Father. But the Lord Whose earthly life was devoted to doing His Father's will and seeking His honour is best served by following His own counsel and precedents.
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