Article 5

UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 5

The Divine Skeleton of Revelation

We proceed further in laying a firm foundation to this book of Revelation so that the edifice we construct will stand the test of scrutiny.  It is a “must” that we are able to rightly interpret the symbolic imagery throughout the document.

So, we turn to Rev.1 and ask, “What image do we see of Christ in this chapter?  First, we are greeted by the Holy Trinity (v. 4-6), Jesus Christ being “the faithful witness”, “the firstborn from the dead”, and “ruler over the kings of the earth”.  “He loved (loves) us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.”  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  The result, He “has made us kings (a kingdom) and priests to His God and Father”—a totally impressive list of accomplishments!

In v. 10 John is “in the Spirit” and hears a trumpet-like voice.  The next few verses describe “the Son of Man” (that’s Christ), dressed in His Hi-priestly garb (see Ex. 28:4; Lev. 16:4) walking among the seven golden lampstands.  Right away this imagery reminds us of the OT tabernacle that Moses was instructed to build (Ex. 25:8) where the seven-tiered lampstand (menorah) stood on the south side of the first apartment or holy place of the temple, giving it light.  Aaron, the hi-priest (Lev. 24:1-4) was charged with maintaining the continuous burning of the lamps.  In John 8:12 Jesus declared, “I am the light of the world.”  In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declared, “You are the light of the world” (Matt. 5:14).  Here in Rev. 1:20 Christ instructs us that the seven lampstands represent the seven churches.  It would seem clear that the Christian Church is to reflect Christ, the Light of the world, to the rest of the world.

Here is a significant principle regarding the literary structure of the book of Revelation.  It is the crucified (1:5, 18) and now newly ministering ((1:13, 18) Christ who is now teaching and empowering His struggling churches.  Revelation 1 becomes an Introductory Sanctuary Scene (ISS) to Christ’s continual hi-priestly ministry to His Church on earth laid out in chapters two and three.  (The reader is encouraged in a thoughtful reading of the book of Hebrews)

We turn to chapters 4 and 5.  John sees an open door in heaven and is invited to “come up here” (v. 4:1).  Gazing, he sees a throne and One sitting on it.  He then sees 24 elders and 4 living creatures offering worship to the One on the throne because He is the Creator of all things (v. 11).   It is a heavenly sanctuary scene, and the scene continues without interruption into chapter 5.  “In the right hand (or at the right hand) of Him who sat on the throne”, John sees a seven-sealed scroll (5:1).  A strong angel questions, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals (v. 2).  No one in the entire universe was found worthy!  I envision an extended silence throughout, then the soft sound of weeping becoming louder.  John is weeping and weeping much—no one is worthy.  It is a most riveting scene!  “Stop weeping John” an elder states; “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has prevailed” to open the scroll and loose its seals (v. 5.).  Turns out the Lion is also a Lamb “as though it had been slain” who takes the scroll from the right hand of Him who sits on the throne (v. 6-7).  One theologian stated that, “while the Lion shows what Christ did (He “has prevailed”), the Lamb shows how He did it.”  Here is the main point of the entire scene.  Christ is worthy to take the scroll and unseal its contents because of His victorious death on the cross whereby He guaranteed salvation for responding, sinful humanity and to ultimately destroy death.

Christ is further described as having “seven horns and seven eyes.”  Horns represent power and eyes represent intelligence.  In light of the fact that the scroll is sealed with seven seals, the seven horns symbolize Christ’s omnipotent power and authority (see Matt. 28:18) to open the seven-sealed scroll.  The seven eyes reveal Christ’s omniscience regarding His ability to read the scroll and instruct His people in its contents.  Additionally, the seven spirits representing the Holy Spirit are “sent out into all the earth”.

Well might the question beg, “Can we discover when this scene of Rev. 5:6-7 could have occurred?”  The second chapter of the book of Acts gives us the answer.  The Day of Pentecost had fully come (2:1) and the apostles were given the ability to speak in languages unknown to them “the wonderful works of God” (2:11).  Peter, in his response to the amazed crowds, made the remarkable announcement that “this Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.  Therefore, being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear” (2:32-33).  The Day of Pentecost (on earth) constituted the official inauguration of Jesus Christ (in heaven) “to the right hand of God” as our heavenly Hi-priest!  Significant is the declaration of John in his gospel (7:39), “but this He spoke concerning the Spirit . . . for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

The remainder of the verses in Rev. 5 describe the worship, and praise of the growing universal choir as they recognize the great significance of the specific activity of the Lamb that qualified Him to be worthy— “You were slain” (v. 9); “the Lamb was slain” (v. 12)!  The slain Lamb is now the exalted and reigning Christ!

Back to our focus in this article, the personages and activities described in Rev. 4-5 become an Introductory Sanctuary Scene (ISS) to the opening of the seven seals of Rev. 6 which begins on the Day of Pentecost at the official birth of the new Christian Church.

We proceed to Rev. 8:2-6.  With the opening of the seventh seal, seven angels “who stand before God” are given seven trumpets (8:1-2).  Verse 3 describes another angel, having a golden censer, standing at the altar with much incense to offer with the prayers of all the saints on the golden altar before the throne.  This is OT sanctuary imagery (Ex. 30:1-10) now being actualized at the heavenly sanctuary’s Altar of Incense.  The censer and incense represent Christ’s perfect and spotless intercessory ministry, making the prayers of God’s people acceptable before God, the Father (v. 4).  This we also see exhibited in Rev. 5:8 during the seven seals.  These passages reveal that the seals and the trumpets occur during the time of the Christian era, that is, during the time of Christ’s intercessory ministry since His inaugural on the Day of Pentecost.

Conclusion: Rev. 8:2-6 constitutes, you got it, an Introductory Sanctuary Scene (ISS) to the seven trumpets.  We are seeing an obvious trend.  We see the forming of the skeleton of the book of Revelation onto which all its contents hang.  The decisions of the One who sits on the throne in the heavenly throne room result in corresponding events and activities on planet earth.  God is working out His divine purposes in Christ, throughout the history of the Christian Church.

The forming skeleton continues in the next article.

~Rex Frost