Chapter 3: Unsealing the Book

 

A book that is sealed is a book that cannot be read. When kings sent official messages, those scrolls were sealed with wax and imprinted with the seal of the king. If any man who was unworthy should break the seal and read the message, he was to be executed. This, then, is the cultural background that provides the setting for the fifth chapter of Revelation. Rev. 5:1 says,

¹ And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a book written inside and on the back, sealed up with seven seals.

This book is written on both sides of the paper, “inside and on the back,” much like the book in Ezekiel 2:9-10,

⁸ Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you; do not be rebellious like that rebellious house. Open your mouth and eat what I am giving you. ⁹ Then I looked, behold, a hand was extended to me; and lo, a scroll was in it. ¹⁰ When He spread it out before me, it was written on the front and back; and written on it were lamentations, mourning and woe.

Note also that the writing itself dealt with “lamentations, mourning, and woe.” According to the notes on this passage in the Commentary on the Whole Bible, by Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown, p. 569,

“Usually the parchment was written only on its inside when rolled up; but so full was God’s message of impending woes, it was written also on the back.”

This book is not a comedy. It is a book of judgment upon Israel for being a rebellious house. Although Ezekiel’s prophecy was not said to be “sealed” as such, nonetheless, his message was sealed in the sense that the rebellious people would refuse to listen to him (Ezekiel 2:7). Furthermore, God sealed the message in a different way, saying in 3:26,

²⁶ Moreover, I will make your tongue stick to the roof of your mouth, so that you will be dumb, and cannot be a man who rebukes them, for they are a rebellious house.

It is evident that when a man or nation rejects the rule of God (i.e., Jesus Christ) and His word, God blinds them even to the warning of judgment, so that they will not understand why they are being judged. As we will see shortly, this becomes clearer in the writings of Isaiah. This principle, then, gives us some idea why the book of Revelation itself remains sealed until Jesus Christ opens the book.

This book in Revelation 5 is not merely sealed with a single seal, but with seven seals. Perhaps this is the equivalent of stamping a document “Top Secret.” The book that is presented here is the rest of the book of Revelation—or at least most of it. We know this from the simple fact that beginning with chapter six, the seven seals begin to be broken, so that we may read the following chapters of the book of Revelation.

Why had the Book Been Sealed?

Rev. 5:1 says that the book was “sealed up with seven seals.” The book of Revelation is not the first book to be sealed by God. Nor does the book of Revelation adequately explain to us why the book was sealed in the first place. Daniel was also told to “seal up the book until the end of time” (Dan. 12:4), but no explanation is given. These things are explained more fully by the prophet Isaiah.

Isaiah 29 speaks of the final destruction of Jerusalem (“Ariel”), beginning with the statement, “Woe, O Ariel, Ariel the city where David once camped.” In that chapter God gives a final verdict of destruction upon the enemies of Jerusalem which had occupied the city. Whereas it had once been a city of David, a righteous king, this prophecy speaks of a time when it was a city of unrighteousness people and rulers.

In this context, Isaiah 11:9-12 speaks of a sealed book,

⁹ Be delayed and wait. Blind yourselves and be blind. They become drunk, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. ¹⁰ For the Lord has poured over you a spirit of deep sleep, He has shut your eyes, the prophets; and He has covered your heads, the seers. ¹¹ And the entire vision shall be to you like the words of a sealed book, which when they give it to the one who is literate, saying, “Please read this,” he will say, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” ¹² Then the book will be given to the one who is illiterate, saying, “Please read this.” And he will say, “I cannot read.”

The first thing to note here is that the seals upon the book are not literal seals. They instead represent the fact that God “has shut your eyes” and “covered your heads.” It is also called “a spirit of deep sleep.” The sealing, then, does not mean that the book is hidden, or that men cannot read its words. The sealing is in the fact that God has put men to sleep so that they cannot understand its meaning.

The reason the book is sealed is given in the previous verses in Isaiah. The people were in rebellion against God and His law, so God blinded them to the truth that they had rejected. Hence, judgment was pronounced upon Jerusalem, but because the message was sealed, the people would not understand why judgment was coming. Isaiah 44:18 says,

¹⁸ They do not know, nor do they understand, for He has smeared over their eyes so that they cannot see and their hearts so that they cannot comprehend.

The reason for judgment is not that difficult to understand, if a person can “hear” it. Judgment comes because of rebellion against God’s rule and the continued violation of His law, which is sin. The law made it clear that when Israel rebelled against God and His law, judgment would follow until the people repented. Many examples of this are found in the book of Judges.

But what if God pronounced judgment, and the people refused to accept His judgment? In such cases, the law of Deut. 17:9-13 would apply. This law mandates that the people obey the decision of the judge—or die for contempt of court, otherwise known as a “presumptuous sin,” or a sin of presumption. Verse 12 says,

¹² And the man who acts presumptuously by not listening to the priest who stands there to serve the Lord your God, nor to the judge, that man shall die; thus you shall purge the evil from Israel.

The most striking example of Jerusalem’s violation of this law against presumption is found in Jeremiah’s writings. The prophet passed sentence upon Jerusalem and the temple in Jer. 7:1-16, likening the temple to a den of robbers—that is, a place where lawbreakers thought themselves to be “delivered” or “saved” from the law (7:10). The prophet told them that if they would submit to God’s sentence, they could serve Babylon for 70 years in their own land without the nation being destroyed. He illustrated this by putting a wooden yoke upon his neck (Jer. 27:2).

However, another prophet, Hananiah, took the yoke and broke it (Jer. 28:10). This prophet acted “presumptuously” by refusing to submit to the divine judgment that had been given through Jeremiah. So then God told the prophet in Jer. 28:13, 14,

¹³ Go and speak to Hananiah, saying, Thus says the Lord, You have broken the yokes of wood, but you have made instead of them yokes of iron. ¹⁴ For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, I have put a yoke of iron on the neck of all these nations. . .

The “yoke of iron” is mentioned in the law of tribulation found in Deut. 28:48,

⁴⁸ therefore you shall serve your enemies whom the Lord shall send against you, in hunger, in thirst, in nakedness, and in the lack of all things; and He will put an iron yoke on your neck until He has destroyed you.

We see here that because Jerusalem refused to submit to the righteous judgment that God had pronounced over them—because of their sin—their sentence would not be carried in their own land (the wooden yoke), but in a foreign land (the iron yoke). More than this, they would serve their sentence in hunger, thirst, and nakedness. But the law of tribulation goes further. It says in Deut. 28:23, 24,

²³ And the heaven which is over your head shall be bronze, and the earth which is under you, iron. ²⁴ The Lord will make the rain of your land powder and dust; from heaven it shall come down on you until you are destroyed.

This is not merely talking about physical rain. It is talking about the Spirit and the Word that is poured out only from heaven (Is. 32:15). So in a time of tribulation—which is God’s judgment for sin—if men reject the Word of the Lord, God Himself will shut up the heavens so that there is no “rain.” If they refuse to submit to His judgment, thinking they are righteous and God is unjust in His judgment, then He will seal up the heavens so that the Spirit will not be poured out, and the Word will not be understood. This is what causes the famine of hearing the Word (Amos 8:11).

Deut. 11:13-17 says that God will send the former and latter rain (Pentecost and Tabernacles) if we are willing to hear His Word. If we follow idols—men’s opinions, the traditions of men—He will “shut up the heavens, so that there will be no rain” (Deut. 11:17). Solomon later mentioned this verse in his prayer of dedication for the temple, asking that God would send the rain when the people repented. (See 1 Kings 8:35.)

The solution to such a situation is for the people to repent. They must go back and remember where they first rejected the Word of the Lord—or even a portion of it. Every rejected portion of the Word will be replaced by a tradition of men, ruled by an idol of the heart. The result is blindness, or at least blindness in part. One must pray not only to receive revelation from the Holy Spirit, but also that God would deliver us from the times in the past when we have rejected a portion of His Word. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness, He quoted Moses, saying in Matt. 4:4,

⁴ . . . It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.

I submit to you that one of the major reasons that the Laodicean Church is afflicted with blindness, nakedness, and poverty of the Word is because it has rejected much of the law and the Old Testament in general. This has resulted in widespread ignorance of the feast days, particularly the Feast of Tabernacles, which is fully discussed in the law. Most Christians have never even heard of such a feast, and yet it contains the keys to a true understanding of the second coming of Christ. Having rejected that portion of the Word as being uninspired, irrelevant, or even satanic, the second coming of Christ cannot be properly understood and remains “sealed up” to them.

This is also why the book of Revelation has been a sealed book to them, though they might study and memorize every line of it. As we will see shortly from John’s writing, it is only unsealed by the overcomer. The rest of the Church thinks itself to be rich in knowledge, but, in fact, it is poor (Rev. 3:17).

The Remnant of Grace Understands

The Apostle Paul says in Romans 11:5-10,

⁵ In the same way then, there has also come to be at the present time a remnant according to God’s gracious choice. . . ⁷ What then? That which Israel is seeking for, it has not obtained, but those who were chosen obtained it, and the rest were hardened; ⁸ just as it is written, God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day. . . ¹⁰ Let their eyes be darkened to see not, and bend their backs forever.

Paul says that God “hardened” the heart of Israel as a whole. In those days Israel was the Church (Acts 7:38). Yet their eyes and ears were closed, so that they would not be able to understand the Word. Even so, Paul makes it clear that God chose a “remnant” within the Church of Israel who would not be blind or deaf. This remnant, Paul says, was “chosen.” That is, they were the real “chosen people.” An unbelieving Israelite was not really chosen at all, but was hardened even as Pharaoh himself was hardened.

We have referred to these in our study of The Seven Churches by the term used in Revelation 2 and 3—the overcomers. It is also no surprise, as we will see shortly, that the One who opens the seals is “worthy” by virtue of the fact that he “has overcome” (5:5). First and foremost, an overcomer is one who is not blind and deaf. Jesus Himself may be the only One at this point who has perfect understanding, but there is also a remnant of grace that has greater understanding than the rest of the people—or the rest of the Church in general.

An overcomer is really a reference to Jacob, who wrestled with the angel and “prevailed” (Gen. 32:28)—that is, he overcame. Many people have been taught that Jacob actually outwrestled the angel, as if he were more powerful than God Almighty. This is absolutely incorrect. Jacob won by losing. By the end of the wrestling match, Jacob could only lie on the ground, hang on to the angel’s ankle, and ask for a blessing. The angel had done something to “the socket of his thigh” (32:25), preventing him from standing on his feet.

Now whether or not this was a literal wrestling match is not the point. The point is that Jacob lost the match, but in losing, he won. God is not interested in giving authority to men who think they are more powerful than He is. He gives authority to those who recognize His sovereignty. Hence, the name Israel means “God rules.” It does not mean “ruling with God” or “ruling God,” as some have suggested. A true Israelite is one who recognizes that God rules. He recognizes that God’s sovereignty stands above man’s authority. He does not try to force his will upon God, but seeks to know God’s will and then conform his own thinking to the mind and will of God.

An overcomer, then, is also an Israelite in the same sense as it was when Jacob became an Israelite in Genesis 32:28. For further study on this vein, see my book, Who is an Israelite?

Who is Worthy to Open the Book?

Rev. 4:2-4 says,

² And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the book and to break its seals?” ³ And no one in heaven, or on earth, or under the earth, was able to open the book, or to look into it. ⁴ And I began to weep greatly, because no one was found worthy to open the book, or to look into it.

We hardly need to comment upon this, because most people are aware of man’s condition under the first Adam. No man is worthy, simply because, as Paul said in Rom. 3:23, “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” In our fleshly condition, we have all rebelled against God and have added sins of presumption, rejecting portions of the Word of God. Thus, the heavens have been sealed up to us, preventing us from receiving the fullness of the Spirit until the work of God is complete. John himself weeps, knowing that he too is unworthy to open the book. Rev. 5:5, 6 says,

⁵ and one of the elders said to me, “Stop weeping; behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals.” ⁶ And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. ⁷ And He came and He took it out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

What is most striking in this passage is the fact that the elder says to “behold the Lion,” but what actually appears is “a Lamb.” Jesus Christ is, of course, both a Lion and a Lamb. He is a Lion in power and ability, but a Lamb in meekness and submission to the will of the Father. As we pointed out earlier, He is worthy by virtue of the fact that he “has overcome.” Yet there is more to this than meets the eye.

Jesus is the pattern overcomer who was the “firstborn from the dead; so that He Himself might come to have first place in everything” (Col. 1:18). Even as a firstborn son is the prime inheritor in a natural family, so also is it in the spiritual application. Jesus came out of the tomb first, and so He is the prime inheritor with authority over all. However, those sons who are born in the second squadron (tagma of 1 Cor. 15:23), hold the position of next highest authority under the firstborn. These are the overcomers.

As I showed in my book, The Purpose of Resurrection, the rest of the Church will not be brought to birth until the general resurrection at the end of the thousand years. They will have authority over the rest of creation, but not over the overcomers.

The Lamb

We all know that the Lamb of God is Jesus Christ, for John the Baptist identified Him plainly in John 1:29 and 36. However, the book of Revelation is the story of history leading to the manifestation of the sons of God as God’s Kingdom merges with and emerges in the earth. This is in accord with the Lord’s Prayer that His will be done in earth as it is in heaven.

Thus, the Lamb can at times be thought of as Jesus by Himself; but at other times as a collective body of Christ with Jesus Himself serving as the Head of that body. Psalm 23 is about the Lord being our Shepherd. Psalm 100:3 says, “We are His people and the sheep of His pasture.” Jesus is not only the Great Shepherd, but also is the Lamb. Likewise, there are earthly shepherds who should also be lambs.

The New Testament uses two different Greek words that are both translated “lamb.” One is amnos, which is used of literal sacrificial lambs and figuratively applied to Jesus in that role. The second is arnion, which is a “little lamb” and applies figuratively to God’s people.

First, let us look at the word amnos. In John 1:29, we read,

²⁹ The next day he saw Jesus coming to him, and said, “Behold the Lamb [amnos] of God who takes away the sin of the world!”

This is repeated in verse 36, where again John uses the word amnos to describe Jesus. The word is again used in the story of the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:32,

³² Now the passage of Scripture which he was reading was this: “He was led as a sheep to slaughter; and as a lamb [Greek: amnos] before its shearer is silent, so He does not open His mouth.”

This is a quotation from Isaiah 53:7. The word is again used to describe Jesus Christ in 1 Peter 1:19,

¹⁹ but with precious blood, as of a lamb [amnos] unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.

All of these examples apply to Jesus Christ Himself. No one else died for our sins, and so no one else is the Amnos of God. Jesus holds that position exclusively, and for this reason He is the only one through whom salvation can come.

The word arnion is also translated “lamb.” This word is a diminutive form of amnos. The Concordant Version translates it “lambkin,” an outdated English word meaning a little lamb. The only New Testament use of this term outside of the book of Revelation is found in John 21:15,

¹⁵ So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He said to him, “Tend my lambs” [arnion].

When Jesus told Peter, “tend my lambs,” it is obvious that Jesus did not expect Peter to feed or take care of Jesus Himself, but rather His body, the little lambs. The word is used to mean the body of Christ—certainly not separate from Christ, but included with Him even as the Head and Body are one.

The book of Revelation uses only arnion, never amnos. It is the story of the little lambs that Peter was supposed to tend, or feed. The book of Revelation reveals how the lambs grow into spiritual maturity not only by the spiritual food that they eat, but also through suffering in tribulation as their faith and patience is exercised. It is the prophetic story of the overcomers becoming lambs like the Lamb before them.

These lambs are the ones willing to be sacrificed for the sake of the Gospel, that others may be enlightened with the truth. Why? Because they already “died with Christ” (Rom. 6:8) and were raised with Him to life. The blood Jesus shed on the cross was also their blood. The blood of the Head is the also the blood of the body.

Rev. 6:9-11 speaks of the “souls under the altar” who are martyrs for Christ. In the law, the blood of the sacrifice was to be poured out upon the earth (Lev. 17:13). It also says that the soul (nephesh) is in the blood. Thus, when the priest poured out the blood of the sacrifice under the brazen altar in the temple, it signified pouring out its SOUL. For this reason Isaiah 53:12 says that He poured out His SOUL unto death.

The martyrs in Rev. 6 are called “souls under the altar.” When Jesus’ blood was shed on the cross, His soul was poured out, and that soul is identified with the martyrs themselves. They are the ones willing to drink of His cup, as we read in Matt. 20:22, 23,

²² But Jesus answered and said, “You do not know what you are asking for. Are you able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to Him, “We are able.” ²³ He said to them, “My cup you shall drink; but to sit on My right and on My left, this is not Mine to give, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by My Father.

The “cup” in this case represented the calling that He had as the Lion of Judah, first pictured in Jacob’s blessing upon Judah in Gen. 49:9. It is the lion who crouches down in death and is then raised to life. That Lion of Judah receives the scepter (Gen. 49:10). In the passage in Matthew 20, the mother of the sons of Zebedee was asking Jesus to put her sons on His right and on His left in the Kingdom. In other words, she wanted them to receive the highest positions of government under Christ. They were even willing to endure hardship to achieve this high calling.

They did not understand that only a spotless Amnos, the Lamb of God, could take away the sin of the world. The disciples would indeed die as martyrs and in that sense they would be lambkins, drinking from the cup of the Lamb. But let no one think that any arnion of the body of Christ can become the Head Amnos. Jesus will always be the Head, and His calling was exclusive to Himself. Nonetheless, as 1 John 2:6 says,

⁶ the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

In other words, it is for this purpose that the holy ones have endured much hardship and tribulation. Like the Old Testament saints in Hebrews 11, they have endured to the end in order to obtain a “better resurrection” (Heb. 11:35). For, you see, these saints, or holy ones, are the first to be raised from the dead (Rev. 20:1-4), the first to be manifested, and the first to come into the experience of the Feast of Tabernacles.

And so Rev. 5:6 describes this arnion (lamb) “standing AS IF slain.” Like Jesus’ disciples, we stand AS IF slain, simply because we are identified with Jesus who WAS slain. His righteousness is our only righteousness. His life is our life. We are the body, attached to the Head, but we will never replace the Head.

Most Bible commentators have missed this connection with the overcomers, because it seems unthinkable that the angels and elders would heap such praise upon this Lamb. The difficulty is removed, however, if we understand that their praise is really centered upon the Head, who is Jesus Christ. The overcomers participate in the praise only because they are attached to the Head. Paul says we are “fellow heirs with Christ” (Rom. 8:17).

To put it another way, Jesus Christ is the King, seated at the right hand of the Father (Heb. 10:12), but yet in Rev. 3:21 we find that those who overcome are also given the right to sit with Him in His throne:

²¹ He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

In such a position, if the elders fall down before the throne, are they not giving reverence to the overcoming body as well as the Head? The Head always receives the greatest reverence, of course, but the body enjoys secondary authority that is derived from the Head. This is what it means to be seated on a throne. The body’s throne receives its authority from the throne of Christ Himself. This does not diminish the primacy of the Head, but rather it shows the secondary authority of the overcoming body of Christ that is one with Him.

This is best illustrated in the earthly realm, where a king has ministers and executors of His will. Those who have been given authority to do the will of the king must be given the respect and reverence that is due to them on account of the king that they represent in the commission of their duties. So also is it with the overcomers, who rule and reign with Christ and are, as it were, seated with Him on His throne.

The Scriptures teach that we are the body of Christ, in the sense that we are joint heirs with Him and in unity with Him as a Husband and Wife. The New Age and occult groups make the mistake of twisting this to mean “You are Christ,” as if to replace Jesus. Herein is the critical distinction between Scripture and New Age. Scripture reconciles us to Christ; New Age replaces Christ with man, even as Absalom overthrew David and usurped His throne. Scripture elevates man to an exalted place under Christ—even saying, “You are gods” (John 10:34, 35) that is, judges, or rulers (Ex. 22:28). The New Age movement, however, overthrows and replaces Christ, saying, “There is no god but you.”

In Rev. 5:7 this arnion (lambkin) is Jesus Christ and the overcomers in unity as the collective Lamb, with each in his place under Christ. He is the one who is found worthy to take the book from Jesus Christ, who sits upon the throne. In Rev. 6:1 we are told that this arnion-lambkin begins to break open the seals of the book. How did this body of overcomers obtain this right? Where did their worthiness come from? Certainly, not from their Adamic genealogy, which only brought death and sin. No, they are found worthy because their Head is worthy, and the body is in agreement with the Head.

This pictures perfect harmony. This book of Revelation was sealed prior to the coming of the Lamb of God. Pentecost is usually pictured as the Spirit coming to inhabit our bodies, our “temples,” but we may also view this as the Head and body becoming one new Man. The existence of this new Man made it possible to begin opening the seals of the book of Revelation, so that we might understand the fall of the fourth beast empire of Daniel 7:7 and the “little horn” that sprang up after it.

Repentance and acceptance of the Word, then, makes them worthy in the sight of God to open the seals. Only when a person comes fully into agreement with God is he an overcomer, for then he does only what he sees his Father do. All that he does is in agreement with the Head. He also becomes a “friend” of Jesus in the sense that He spoke in John 15:14, 15,

¹⁴ You are My friends, if you do what I command you. ¹⁵ No longer do I call you slaves, for the slave does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I have heard from My Father I have made known to you.

Rev. 5:6 also says that this lambkin has “seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent out into all the earth.” John defines the seven eyes for us, but does not comment upon the seven horns. A “horn” was the universal symbol of power from ancient times, and this is why crowns were fashioned with horns on them.

Horns were mentioned in Daniel’s visions. Perhaps the most notable example is the “little horn” (Dan. 7:8) that comes out of the fourth beast (Rome). It is a “power” that arises out of the ruins of the Roman Empire.

At any rate, the lambkin has seven horns, because the seven Spirits of God are upon its Head, and each Spirit exercises divine authority. The horns and the eyes must go together in order to complete the work they are called to do.

The Elders’ New Song

Rev. 5:8 says,

⁸ And when He had taken the book, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb [arnion], having each one a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.

Keep in mind again that the Lamb here is both Head and body. The living creatures (creation) and the elders are not worshiping the overcomers, but the Head. They do, of course, give honor that is due to the overcomers as well, but such worship, if it is indeed worship, is not the highest worship in that sense, but the reverence due to authority.

The elders each have a harp, which speaks of music and harmony. It is the harmony of being in full agreement with God and with each other, with no discord. The golden bowls of incense contain the prayers of the saints. The prayer of the saints has always been “Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven.” It is the prayer that the earth would be filled with the glory of the Lord. This prayer finds its fulfillment beginning with the overcomers, then later with the Church, and finally with all creation.

Rev. 5:9, 10 continues,

⁹ And they sang a new song, saying, “Worthy art Thou to take the book and to break its seals; for Thou wast slain, and didst purchase for God with Thy blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. ¹⁰ And Thou hast made them to be a Kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”

Here it is plain that Jesus Christ Himself is the primary focus of this song of praise. Whereas the overcomers are those who have overcome in their respective corners of the world, Jesus overcame the world as a whole. All that the overcomers do is subservient to that which Christ has done.

Jesus was slain for the sin of the world (John 1:29), while the overcomers were slain for the word of His testimony (Rev. 6:9). Jesus purchased men by His blood, while the overcomers told men everywhere about that great redemption. And as the Head and body labored together in agreement, God has formed a Kingdom of priests, called to “reign upon the earth.”

They must reign upon the earth because they will yet have much work to do in the Tabernacles Age to come. There will be many unbelievers in the earth at the time of the first resurrection. There will still be many at the end of the thousand years (Rev. 20:8, 9). These will not be fully brought into account until the Great White Throne is set to judge men at the beginning of the eighth millennium.

The song of the Elders focuses not only upon the redemptive work of Christ, but upon those believers who were redeemed out of every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. These are the ones who are made priests to God and who form the Kingdom of God. No one can be part of God’s Kingdom in the fullest sense of the word until they submit to the King. This song, then, is limited in its scope—unlike the next praise fest of all creation. According to The Expositor’s Bible, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, Vol. VI, p. 854,

“The song was sung, but no sooner was it sung than it awoke a response strain from multitudes of which we have not yet heard (v. 11, 12).”

This “response” is like an Amen coming from all of creation. It is obvious from such a response that all creation is seen acknowledging Christ’s redemptive work.

Praise from All Creation

Rev. 5:11-14 says,

¹¹ And I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.” ¹³ And every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” ¹⁴ And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Here John catches a glimpse of the end of all things, the goal of history, the completed plan of God for the earth and for His creation. This scene has puzzled Bible teachers for centuries, because many cannot comprehend its sheer magnitude. Since the concept of the restoration of all things was lost back in the fifth and sixth centuries, the Church has taken the view that only a few will be saved, and the rest consigned to eternal flames in hell. But verse 13 entirely contradicts that teaching, for it has “every living thing” in heaven, earth, under the earth, and in the sea praising and glorifying God. By no stretch of imagination can we say that any of these are being tortured in hell while they praise God.

According to The Expositor’s Bible, Vol. VI, page 854, says,

“What a sublime conception have we here before us! The whole universe, from its remotest star to the things around us and beneath our feet, is one—one in feeling, in emotion, in expression; one in heart and voice. Nothing is said of evil. Nor is it thought of. It is in the hands of God, who will work out His sovereign purposes in His own good time and way. We have only to listen to the universal harmony, and to see that it moves us to corresponding praise (v. 14).

“The redeemed creation is once more singled out for special mention. At chap. iv. 8, 10, they began the song; now we return to them that they may close it. All creation, man included, cries, Amen. The glorified Church has her heart too full to speak. She can only fall down and worship.”

Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Holy Bible, agrees with this, saying on page 463,

“This glorious song, thus begun by the church, and carried on by the angels, is echoed by the whole creation; all the creatures adore that great Redeemer, who delivers the creature from that bondage under which it groans, through the corruption of man, and the just curse denounced by the great God upon the fall. . .

“Happy those who shall adore and praise in heaven, and who shall eternally bless the Lamb, who delivered and consecrated them by his blood. How worthy art thou, O God, thou and thy Son, that all creatures should proclaim thy greatness, and adore thy majesty! Let every spirit abase and humble itself before thee, and pronounce an Amen of confession and acknowledgement of the holiness and sovereignty of thy being; of adherence to thy will and pleasure, of approval, praise, adoration, and admiration of thy works; of the wisdom of thy dispensations, and of the relation every creature has to thy designs concerning Christ and his church.”

These commentators cannot help but acknowledge the plain truth of this Scripture, telling us that all of creation will one day praise Jesus Christ in the manner that John saw. They tell us that this is the fulfillment of Romans 8:19-21,

¹⁹ For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not of its own will, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

Such hope is only possible if God intends to reconcile all creation to Himself. It is NOT possible, if God intends to consign the greater part of humanity to everlasting torture of hell with no hope of redemption. Perhaps the greatest impediment to seeing creation set free is bound up in the word “eternal.” This word comes from the Hebrew word olam and the Greek word aionios. If these words can only mean “unending time,” then we must of necessity treat “aionios judgment” as being everlasting.

However, a study of biblical language shows that this is NOT the case. The word aionios comes from the word aion, which means “eon, or age.” For this reason, Dr. Robert Young’s Literal Translation of the Holy Bible translates the word “age-during,” which is ultra-literal. Rotherham’s The Emphasized Bible renders it “age-abiding.” Thus, the judgment to come is not for all time, but is limited to the duration of that age. Likewise, the aionios life that believers hope to attain is not immortality itself, but life in the Tabernacles Age—that is, to inherit the first resurrection, rather than the second. Those who inherit life in the first resurrection will have immortality during the great Sabbath Millennium. That is the special reward given to the overcomers. Paul refers to this in 1 Tim. 4:10,

¹⁰ For it is for this we labor and strive, because we have fixed our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of believers.

In other words, He will save all men, but there is a special salvation and reward for believers that the unbelievers will not receive. That reward is to receive immortality long before the rest of creation. For a more complete study of this word and what Bible commentators have to say about it, see chapters five and six of my book, The Judgments of the Divine Law.

God’s judgments are based upon His law. The law mandates a Jubilee for felonies (Lev. 25:10) and no more than 40 stripes for misdemeanors (Deut. 25:1-3). In fact, Paul’s teaching in Romans 8, where he foresees all of creation being set free, is based upon the law of Jubilee. Lev. 25:10 says,

¹⁰ You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.

The whole earth was sold into bondage because of Adam’s sin. But the day will come—that great day of Creation’s Jubilee—when every man will be released from that bondage and will “return to his own property” and “family.” Judgment will have run its course, and every creature described by John in Rev. 5:11-14 will give praise to Jesus Christ and acknowledge that His plan was good.

In the covenant that God made with Noah and “all flesh” in Genesis 9, He promised not to destroy the earth again by flood. He will instead send another flood, but this time a flood of the Holy Spirit so that His glory covers the earth as the waters cover the sea (Num. 14:21; Ps. 72:19; Isaiah 6:3, 11:9; Hab. 2:14). In Revelation 5, John saw the result of this outpouring of the Spirit. His Spirit will judge, correct, and ultimately reconcile all creation to Himself.

Psalm 8:6, “Thou dost make him to rule over the works of Thy hands; Thou has put all things under his feet.”

Psalm 64:9, “Then all men will fear, and will declare the work of God, and will consider what He has done.”

Psalm 65:2, “O Thou who dost hear prayer, to Thee all men come.”

Psalm 66:4, “All the earth will worship Thee, and will sing praises to Thee; they will sing praises to Thy name.”

Psalm 67:1, “God, be gracious to us and bless us, and cause His face to shine upon us—² that Thy way may be known on the earth, Thy salvation among all nations. . . ⁷ God blesses us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him.”

Here the psalmist sets forth the basic reason for God’s blessing upon Abraham. God’s people are blessed (saved) in order that the rest of the earth may be blessed (saved) as well. The first blessing may have been exclusive to Israel, but their blessing was all-inclusive in that Israel was called to be a blessing to all families of the earth (Gen. 12:3; Acts 3:25, 26).

The Apostle Paul had studied these Scriptures and had concluded that God would ultimately save all mankind. His favorite text to prove this is Psalm 8:6, which he quotes more than any other.

Eph. 1:22, “And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, ²³ which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.”

1 Cor. 15:27, “For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, ‘All things are put in subjection,’ it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. ²⁸ And when all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, that God may be all in all.”

Heb. 2:6, “But one has testified somewhere, saying, “What is man that Thou rememberest him? Or the Son of man that Thou art concerned about Him? ⁷ Thou hast made Him for a little while lower than the angels; Thou hast crowned Him with glory and honor, and hast appointed Him over the works of Thy hands; ⁸ Thou hast put all things in subjection under His feet.’ For in subjecting all things to Him, He left nothing that is not subject to Him. But now we do not yet see all things subjected to Him. ⁹ But we do see Him who has been made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone.”

These and many more Scriptures show that John was not the only one to see all creation reconciled to God through Jesus Christ. The chief concern, then, ought to be for us to be ambassadors for Christ telling the world the message set forth in 2 Cor. 5:18-20,

¹⁸ Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ, and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, ¹⁹ namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and that He has committed to us [believers] the word of reconciliation. ²⁰ Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

Evangelism is not made irrelevant by the understanding of the reconciliation of all things. It is the reason for evangelism. Those who are believers are called to be ambassadors for the King and His Kingdom. The message is not one of threatening, but of peace. It is a message which, if heeded, will give men an earlier reward without the need for the corrective judgments of God. Yes, accepting Christ does have great rewards. But the judgments for NOT accepting Him in this life time (or not hearing of Him at all) are not excessive. The level of judgment precisely fits the sin in accordance with God’s law. For a complete study of this, see my books, Creation’s Jubilee and The Judgments of the Divine Law.

The Great Amen

We have already shown that the four living creatures represent all of creation. In our study of The Seven Churches, we showed in the chapter on the Church of Laodicea that Jesus is the great Amen of God, because He spoke only what He heard His Father speaking. As the Amen of God, He was heaven’s double witness, a “faithful and true witness” (Rev. 3:14). By the law of the double witness (Deut. 19:15), all things require two or three witnesses to establish the things of heaven in the earth. Heaven provides the first witness when God speaks.

The earth provides the second witness when someone on earth hears Him and responds, thus ratifying it. According to the Commentary on the Whole Bible, page 567,

“As in ch. 4.11, the four and twenty elders asserted God’s worthiness to receive the glory, as having created all things, so here the four living creatures ratify by their “Amen” the whole creation’s ascription of the glory to Him.”

The importance of this ratification by the four living creatures is apparent, because without it, the whole foundation for the restoration of all things might be doubted. But this double witness establishes by law the final purpose of God for the earth—that is, all men. Though the first heaven and the first earth may pass away, God will have all men to be saved. All will glorify and praise His name when they finally come to the knowledge of who He is and what great work He has done in the history of His universe.