Revelation 5

Vss 1-5

v. 1—What did John notice after watching the doing in the throne room?
What was the one sitting on the throne holding in his hand?
Where was the writing on the scroll?
Is that unusual to be written on both sides at the same time? Ex. 32:15; Deut. 31:26; Psa. 78:5-8 also similar to the rainbow in Gen. 9:13-16. Men would use it to remember what they are doing and why. God would see it and remember.

What is the scroll? The New Covenant. The whole language so far and the imagery reminds us of things we saw in the dessert with Moses and the people. They followed the cloud and the pillar of fire, then Moses went on the mountain and got the 10 commandments on tablets written on both sides, which represented the covenant with God. They put the tablets inside the ark so that every one would remember who God was and what God had promised his people. And now we see the same things again, only they are a little bit different because someone else is worthy to open this scroll and different things are going to take place to bring it all about. Ez. 2:3-10
Was the scroll sealed?
What is a seal?
How many seals were on the scroll?
Is that unusual for that many seals to be on a scroll? In the ancient near east a scroll with 7 seals meant that it was a will. It was not to be opened unless or until someone died. Then it was brought out and the one worthy or ordained, opened the scroll and would reveal the contents to those gathered there. Besides revealing the contexts the ordained one would execute the will, doing whatever the dead person wanted done in the will.

v. 2—what did he see next?
What kind of angel was it?
What was this strong angel doing?
What kind of voice was he using?
What was he saying?
What does ‘worthy’ mean?
How could someone be worthy? Rom. 3:23; Heb. 10:4; 5:1-3; 7:23, 27
Would they be worthy if they thought they were worthy?
Can you open a scroll before you break the seals?
Why do you suppose it is in the wrong order?
How tight do you think we should be about something like this?

v. 3—Who jumped right up and said they were worthy?
How many people present thought they were worthy?
How wide was the search conducted?
What couldn’t they find someone to do?
Open the scroll and/or look into it?

v. 4—What did John do when he realized that there was no one to open the scroll or to look into it?
Why was he so distraught?
Have you ever seen a man weep loudly?

v. 5—Who spoke to John?
Why did he talk to John?
What did he say to John?
If John feels this loss so strongly, how could he simply just stop weeping?
Can anyone control their emotions simply by deciding to change them?
Why was John to stop weeping?
Why was he able to stop weeping?
Who is able to open the scroll?
Why these titles?
What does it mean that he is the lion of the tribe of Judah? Gen. 49:9-10
Where does the Bible call him the root of Jesse? Shoot—Isa 11:1; branch—Jer. 23:5; Zech. 3:8 The root comes because of the way history works. God creates history with a view to the results, not from something working itself out as it comes to him. It is not free lance, it is precise, based on a prior plan. If you decide to go to France, you will have in mind the outcome as you plan for the trip, so the things you do now come after the goal is set. But it appears that the packing and trip planning come before the actual trip, but in reality they came after the real event. So it is with history. God causes things to happen now, based on what he’s already established would happen. So Jesus is the root of because in God’s mind he came first and David was imitating him, not the other way around.
God gives David the Kingdom 2 Sam. 7:18ff; 23:2-5; Psa 16; 110; Acts 2:25-36
Where have we seen those titles before?
Why did the angel use these particular titles?
What has he done?
What did he Conquer?
How did the fact that he conquered make him qualified to open the scroll, to look in it and to open the seven seals?
Who was this that was the lion of the tribe of Judah and the root of Jesse?

Vss. 6-14
v. 6—What did John see between the throne and the four living creatures?
What does this have to do with what John just heard about? The root and lion?
The lion is the lamb.
Where was he in relation to the elders?
What was this lamb doing?
How was it standing?
How does a lamb stand that has just been slain?
How many horns did it have?
What is the significance of horns in the Bible? Deut. 33:17; 2 Chron. 18:10; Psa 75:10 strength Josh. 6:2-5; Mt. 28:18-20
How many eyes? Pro. 15:3
What are the horns and eyes?
Or is it just eyes?
Whose spirits are they?
What is their function?
If they were sent out into the world, how can they be eyes in the lamb?
What is going on here?
How literally can we take this image?
What does literal mean in a context like this?

v. 7—What did the lamb do?
How could a lamb take anything? Lambs don’t have thumbs, or even fingers?
The lamb that was slain has now by His work been made the Governor and Ruler over all things. Because of His sacrifice He has been exalted to the supreme place of rule and authority (Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:19-22; Philippians 2:9-11; Colossians 2:10). By His saving work He has utterly defeated all who opposed the purposes of God thus insuring world-wide victory for His kingdom. Satan has been bound (Matthew 12:28-29; John 12:31; Colossians 2:15).
The emphasis of the Scriptures is not upon the victory Christ will accomplish at His second coming, but rather the victory that He has accomplished by His first coming (Acts 3:18-21).

v. 8—What happened after he had taken the scroll?
Why did everyone fall down before the lamb?
What were they doing by falling down before him?
What were they all holding in their hands?
This is where the idea of harps in heaven come from. Ps. 98:4-5
Besides harps what are they holding?
What are the bowls full of?
What is incense? Is incense a good thing?
What is the incense in these bowls? Psa 141:2; Luke 1:10
What is the connection between incense and prayers?
Whose prayers are they?

v. 9—Besides falling down, what are all these folks doing?
What kind of song was it? Was it a psalm? Ps. 33:3; 40:3; 96:1; 98:1; 144:9; 149:1; Isa 42:10
What was wrong with the old songs? Couldn’t they find one that would be suitable for the occasion? New songs come with new revelations and actions of God. When God acts, people sing. When God acts in new and spectacular ways, people burst out in new songs. The Old Songs are good, but new songs present new expressions.
What are they saying?
Who have they found to be worthy to open the scroll?
Why is he worthy?
How is being slain something that would make him worthy to open what no one else in heaven or earth could open?
How did Jesus’ blood ransom a people for God? John 1:29
Who were they ransomed from?
Who demanded the ransom?
Where are all these people from?
Is there a lot of people?
Does this mean that there will be a few people from each tribe and language? So overall there will be only a few folks in heaven?

v. 10—What did the lamb do with these people?
What does it mean that they are a kingdom?
How can people be a kingdom?
Besides being a kingdom, what else did he make them?
Who made these people a kingdom and priests?
What are the duties of a priest?
Where are all these folks to reign?
When is this to be?
What happened to the lion of Judah and the Root of Jesse?

v. 11—What happened next?
What is going on? How many angels were there? Where did they come from?

v. 12—What were they saying? 1 Chron. 29:10-13
How loudly were they saying it?
How much power is his? Matthew 28:18; Ephesians 1:20-23; Philippians 2:8-11
How much wealth is his? Hebrews 1:2
How much wisdom is his? Col. 2:3
What are they saying that is different from what the elders were saying?
Besides being worthy to open the scroll and break the seals, what is he worthy to do?
Is receiving acclaim, a kind of doing?

v. 13—What happened next?
Who joined the chorus?
Why are they saying it all over again?
What were they all saying?
Who is added to the praise in this verse?

v. 14—and the angels said what?
The elders did what?
What is the difference between what the elders were doing and what they fell down and began doing?
What an incredible scene.