The Judgments on Earth
The second of three studies of The Revelation of Jesus Christ by Paige Ramsey
“The Book with Seven Seals” – Lesson 2
Much of this lesson is taken from the sermon “The Book with Seven Seals” by Dr. Dan W. Cozart which he preached on August 16, 2009. He was so thorough in his research that I could not begin to redo what was already so well done.
Chapter five is a continuation of chapter four. We are still in God’s Throne Room where John was raptured up through the open door in heaven. The twenty four elders who represent all the saints of the Old Testament and the New Testament and were raptured up are seated in thrones around the throne of God Almighty. And now John sees the book in the right hand of God. Notice the conjunction “And…” in Rev. 5:1 which joins this chapter with chapter four.
The word “scroll” is translated “book” in most of the older versions. Remember, this is long before the printing press was made, and the common type of book was a scroll, which was hand written, bound with cords, and sometimes sealed with wax.
Revelation 5:1-14 – 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 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, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
And I looked, and behold,[c] 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, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 Then He came and took the
scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.
Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying:
"You are worthy to take the scroll,
And to open its seals;
For You were slain,
And have redeemed us to God by Your blood
Out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation,
And have made us kings and priests to our God;
And we shall reign on the earth.”
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 ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice:
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!”
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!”
Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped Him who lives forever and ever.
Have you ever been told not to look inside a book to see what is written? __________ Immediately, curiosity builds until you are plotting ways of getting that information one way or another. My children were not allowed to watch horror shows as I did not want them to be unduly frightened, have nightmares, be afraid to be alone, afraid of the dark, or just have fear well up inside them unnecessarily. Of course, curiosity began to set in, and I found out many years later that their friends were very accommodating to show horror movies when they came over to play or spend the night. When my son was about twelve, he mentioned Edward Scissorhand in a
conversation, and I asked, “How do you know anything about Edward Scissorhand?” thinking he had just heard the name somewhere. “Oh, I saw all those movies over at Matt’s house,” he replied. He hadn’t seen Matt since he was seven.
We come by this curiosity honestly. Our first parents, ________ and ______ were given a huge garden with everything they could have desired waiting for their taking. Only one tree was forbidden. The curiosity began to grow, and Satan began to entice until it just would not do to leave that tree alone. Like our parents, anything that is forbidden draws our attention. Locked boxes and diaries quickly become temptations.
Seals
This particular scroll was in the right hand of God Almighty. The right hand is the hand of protection and government. God could not properly protect and govern without the contents being revealed. The scroll was sealed with seven seals. We are all familiar with seals. Letters are sealed to keep the contents safe until the proper owner can open it. Cans of meat, vegetables, or fruit are sealed to keep the contents safe and good until they are purchased and used by the owner. We use vacuumed seals for preservation, gummed seals for privacy, and stamped seals for authorized approvals. John was familiar with wax seals on a scroll. The wax provided privacy. If a scroll was delivered with a secured seal, the receiver knew its contents had not been read by anyone since the author stamped it with his seal. If the seal was broken, they knew its contents were no longer private.
This scroll was sealed with seven seals. What does the number seven represent? ________________________ It was completely secured. Its contents were completely safe. Now, some scrolls were designed so that one person was authorized to read a portion of the scroll until it was sealed shut with another seal. Perhaps the next portion was to be kept sealed until a certain time period expired or to be read by another person. This could continue for as many different time periods or readers as the author wished to designate. We do not know if this is the design of the scroll in the right hand of God, but we do know that the back of the scroll was sealed with seven seals.
Obviously, this was an important scroll that was significant in governing the earth, and no one was worthy to open it. None of the angels were worthy – angels were not created to rule. None of the humans were worthy – they were of a fallen race, who chose to follow the Deceiver. No wonder John wept uncontrollably! It was not just because he was curious – it was because without these seals being broken, justice could never prevail! The wrongs would never be righted. Sin could never be punished and/or obliterated, and the earth could not be redeemed.
There are several books mentioned in the Book of Revelation:
1. The Book of the Living (Revelation 3:5) – sometimes called the Book of Life but not to be confused
with the Lamb’s Book of Life. Names are written in the Book of the Living when they are born into the
world, and when one dies without Christ, his/her name is blotted out. (See Ex. 32; Ps. 69:28)
2. The Lamb’s Book of Life (Rev. 21:27) – also sometimes called The Book of Life. This book was written
before the foundation of the world and contains the names of every one of God’s elected children who
will come to salvation. (See Rev. 13:8; 17:8; Eph. 1:4; Luke 10:20; Phil. 4:3; Heb. 12:23) No name that
is written in this book will ever be removed.
3. The Book of Works (Rev. 20:12) contains the deeds of the unsaved by which they will be judged. These
works will determine the degrees of punishment that hell has for those who go there.
4. The Little Book (Rev. 10:10) – most likely the same as the book in Ezekiel 2:8-10.
5. The book in Rev. 5 with seven seals which could be the title deed to the earth, and, thus, a book of
redemption.
The right to rule the earth was given to Adam (Gen 1:28). Adam gave up that right when he sinned, and Satan became the god of this world (2 Cor. 4:4). According to Eph. 2:2, Satan is the ruler of the lower atmosphere.
In the law of Moses, there are three kinds of redemptions: 1) the redemption of a wife (Deut. 25:5) – the next of kin (usually a brother) could redeem a wife whose husband died before giving her children; 2) the redemption of a slave (Lev. 25:39-41, 47-48) – if a man had a debt he could not pay, he became the slave of the one to whom he owed the debt until it was paid off but never longer than 49 years or until a close
relative paid off the debt; 3) the redemption of land (Lev. 25:23-28) – if a man had a debt, he could pay it by deeding his land to his debtor. The land could only be redeemed if a close relative would pay off the debt and take the land for himself or in the Year of Jubilee, the land would automatically be redeemed (returned to the original owner).
Jeremiah 32:6-12 gives us a description of the process by which land was redeemed. Two scrolls were written; one scroll was placed publicly in the temple for everyone to read; the other was sealed and kept in the temple until one who was worthy (a relative who was willing and able to pay the debt) came to redeem the land. When the redeemer came, he could break the seals to reveal the contents and conditions necessary to redeem the land.
Then… one of the elders (who represented the saints – perhaps the elder who represented the tribe of Judah?) comforted John and told him to stop crying as the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has succeeded to open the scroll and to loose the seven seals!
Genesis 49:8-13 – This is where the Lion of the tribe of Judah got its beginning. A lion is called the king of the jungle – Jesus is the King of kings. He is the Root of David because He is the King of the Jews. He is the Lamb slain – standing. He is not hanging on a cross, not laid out in a tomb, but standing.
To be a redeemer, a man must qualify: he must be a near kin, he must be willing to redeem, and he must be able to pay the price.
1. Jesus was born of a woman, he was human – near of kin. Hebrews 2:16-17
2. Jesus willingly gave His life to be our redeemer– John 10:18
3. Jesus was able to pay the price – Revelation 5:9-11
Immediately, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall down before the Lamb and begin to worship and praise Him!!
After that, all the angels get in on the act. Notice how many angels begin to sing: ____________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
And then, the entire creation has to join them in their song! Everything in heaven, on the earth, under the earth, and in the sea - every single creature begins to shout with praise because the earth will be redeemed!
What are they singing? ____________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________________
He is Worthy!!
Jesus Christ is worthy by creation: John 1:1-3 – In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were created by Him and without Him nothing was made that was made. He made it! He has the right to do with it as He pleases. Psalm 24:1 – The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof; the world and they that dwell therein. It isn’t our earth – it belongs to the Lord!
Jesus Christ is worthy by Calvary – Galatians 3:13 – Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree. He owns us because He was willing and able to redeem us!
Jesus Christ is worthy by conquest – Revelation 5:5 – He has prevailed!
In the next lesson, we will discover the contents of the book as the seals are loosed.