Take a moment to read Revelation 4 before reading the devotional below.
Be sure to read the whole chapter of Revelation 4 before you read this devotional. When the passages are too long I don’t copy and paste it here, but if you read my words and not the Bible it’s harming your spiritual life.
In today’s passage we get a vision of heaven. I’m not interested in using this devotional series to figure out what’s literal or figurative or what every symbol means. There are plenty of scholars who have done that and I’d encourage you to dig deeper if it interests you. For our purposes, I want to notice the bigger picture. Who is God and what is his kingdom like? Two key themes I notice in today’s chapter: diversity and worship.
John can barely put words to what he is seeing. Twenty-four thrones, twenty-four elders, and four living creatures that are unlike anything we’ve ever seen. What I see in that is images of diversity. The richness of diversity in God’s kingdom extends far beyond even human diversity to include even creatures we have never seen before. And what is this diverse group doing? Worshiping God. Bowing at the feet of Jesus. Will heaven be a constant worship concert? I doubt it, since the Bible talks about worship in all kinds of ways that don’t involve singing. However, it is interesting to see this diverse kingdom united in worship. Perhaps that picture could serve us even here and now.
“Then I saw a scroll in the right hand of the one who was sitting on the throne. There was writing on the inside and the outside of the scroll, and it was sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: ‘Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?’ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it. Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it.”
These few verses hold a lot of intrigue for me. We’ve just spent the first four chapters of Revelation getting an inside glimpse into heaven and the throne room of God. There are unusual creatures and twenty-four elders on thrones and this Son of Man glowing figure. Enter the scroll. It is in the right hand of the one who is sitting on the throne. And yet seemingly no one is able to open the scroll.
Why couldn’t the one on the throne open the seal? He seemed like a Messianic/Jesus figure up until this point. I noted a few days ago, however, that there was a lot of metaphor so far. What we know is that the glowing figure on the throne was “like” the Son of Man. But we see here that it isn’t Jesus. Notice also that John’s reaction is bitter weeping. Why is it so crushing that no one can open the scroll? What is written on it?
Imagine this overwhelming and somewhat frightening scene that John has experienced in these first four chapters of Revelation. Things perhaps start to make a little bit of sense when this scroll comes along that no one can open. Clearly the scroll is a symbol of hope. If no one can open the scroll, then what? Is there no hope? The depth of emotion in his bitter tears reminds me of my need for a Savior. OUR need for a Savior. If no one can win the most significant spiritual battles that are happening in the supernatural realm, then what? I have no power to open any supernatural scrolls, I’m sure of that! Take a moment today to sit with your own smallness. If Jesus does not come, no one can save us.
“But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, ‘Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.’
Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth. He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne. And when he took the scroll, the four living beings and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp, and they held gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of God’s people. And they sang a new song with these words:
‘You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For you were slaughtered, and your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.’
Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus:
‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered— to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.’
And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang:
‘Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.’
And the four living beings said, ‘Amen!’ And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.”
I have so many songs playing in my head right now I can’t even count them. Worship songs, hymns, and even Handel’s Messiah echo these verses. There is hardly a more triumphant story in the Bible than the coming of this Lamb who is able to break the seals. Remember yesterday’s bitter weeping because no one in all of heaven and earth could open the scroll? Enter the Lamb. Slaughtered and yet still standing.
There are a lot of parts of Revelation that we could speculate about. I’d rather focus on what we clearly know. First, we know that this slaughtered Lamb is worthy to open the scrolls. Notice it says, “worthy” instead of “capable.” It’s not a skill set, it is an honor. We know that the blood of the Lamb paid a ransom for people who have become a kingdom of priests. We know that the Lamb is worshiped and given glory equal to the one on the throne.
If you were every confused when you were singing in church, “Worthy is the Lamb…” now it hopefully makes some sense. This is a clear reference to Jesus, who died on the cross and whose blood was offered as a ransom for many (also referenced in Matthew 20:28). There are not clear lines between the Son of Man (“the one on the throne”) and the Lamb, and these are also conflated in Matthew 20:28 as well. The sevenfold Spirit of God (sorry, nothing’s clear about exactly what that means) is all a part of the horns and eyes of the Lamb. Even to begin to reduce God to our finite thoughts is offensive, yet he has chosen to allow us to attempt it by revealing himself to us. Passages like this one hopefully remind us that God is beautifully and ornately complex. He is worthy of our worship because he is nothing like anything else we have ever seen.
Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Revelation 6 before reading the devotional below.
If you’ve seen a lot of apocalypse movies, this chapter will certainly conjure up some solid “end times” images. Too many people try to predict the unpredictable and when religious people looked for the Messiah that way it backfired. So I’m certainly not going to paint any timeline of the end of the end here. But there are some things we can observe.
When the first seal is broken, we see a white horse riding out to victory. Sounds great! By the second seal, we realize we might have just been cheering for the wrong team. The first horse is just crowning a new prince. The breaking of the second seal shows what follows that prince, as peace is taken from the earth. That’s followed by injustice, death, martyrdom, and natural disasters. All of these certainly sound like power Satan has gained as the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4). By the end of all this, everyone is hiding in caves from the “wrath of the Lamb.”
Verse 15 emphasizes that no matter your social status, you’ll be hiding in caves with everyone else when the Lamb comes to judge the world. It strikes me that hiding was the very first reaction to sin (Genesis 3:6-10) and it will be the very last. The Lamb is scary to those who have followed the crowned prince who rode out on horse #1. You’ve probably heard the saying, “Be on the right side of history.” That phrase is certainly an important one, especially in this moment in U.S. history. But being on the right side of eternity is even more important. Will your instinct be to hide from the Lamb in the face of destruction, or will he already know you by name?
Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Revelation 7 before reading the devotional below.
Christians can get caught up in false teachings because we are often eager to find “secret” answers. It’s hard to sit in the gray of, “I don’t know.” So we’re definitely not going to be doing any calculations about 12 tribes and 144,000 people and speculate about who that is. I have not seen a lot of good, spiritual fruit come when people get obsessed with numbers in the Bible.
Given the genre of the book of Revelation, this chapter likely offers mostly symbolism about the church. Let’s focus on what this chapter tells us about who God’s people are. First, verse 9 gives us another picture of the diversity of heaven as God’s people are described as a vast crowd from every tribe and nation. Second, this diverse church is waving palm branches and worshiping God and the Lamb simultaneously. This image reminds me of the story in John 12:12-14 in which Jesus’ followers waved palm branches as he rode triumphantly in on a donkey. God’s people are his worshipers. Finally, we see that Christians who died in “the great tribulation” — either a distinct time period or a summary of all those martyred during this entire post-Jesus time while we await his return — serve in the throne room of God for all eternity.
Those who serve Jesus and give everything for him will receive great honor and reward in heaven. God will give them shelter, satisfy all their needs, and wipe every tear from their eyes. Any earthly comfort or need you think you have is absolutely worth sacrificing to serve God. We have to value suffering for its eternal significance, rather than trying to eliminate it in our lives. What voluntary suffering could you offer to bless your neighbor or advance the Gospel?
