Painting #6 Lamb That Was Slain - Revelation 5:6

Revelation 5:6.     And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

     Instead of the great Lion which he anticipated, however, John saw a Lamb standing in the midst – the meekest of all God’s animal creation instead of the fiercest. The Lamb, like the Lion, is obviously symbolic, but the symbolism is clear.

     When John had first seen the glorified Son of man (Revelation 1:13-16) the symbol of the Lion would have been fitting. But now in the rainbow light encircling the throne appeared the same divine person in different garb. The conquering King had first become the suffering Servant. It is in His capacity as the Lamb of God that the price of redemption had been satisfied. Therefore it is as the Lamb that He must receive the title scroll from the hand of Him who had held it is safekeeping throughout the age of grace.

     Note also the Lamb stood “as it had been slain,” and yet He stood, and was living. His death wounds were still visible, but He was “alive for evermore” (Revelation 1:18).

     The Lamb’s appearance was remarkable in another respect – “seven horns and seven eyes.” The seven eyes represent the sevenfold Holy Spirit, as noted before (Revelation 1:4 and 4:5). There is also a reference, however, to Zechariah 4:10: “For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.”

     Zerubbabel was in charge of building the temple after the Jews returned from the Babylonian captivity, thus serving also as a type of the Redeemer returning to His possession. The “small things” of the restored temple were a type of the whole earth, which would one day be restored, and the “seven eyes,” seeing the whole earth as the Lord sees it reminded Zerubbabel, as they did John, of that great future day.

     Zerubbabel’s contemporary and colleague was Joshua, the high priest. God gave a similar message to him: “Hear now, O Joshua the high priest, . . . for, behold, I will bring forth my servant the BRANCH. For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day” (Zechariah 3:8, 9).

     The “BRANCH” is the “root of David” again, a name for the coming Savior. In token of this promise, God gave Joshua an engraved stone with the “seven eyes.” To Zerubbabel the seven eyes betokened restoration of the earth; to Joshua they symbolized its future purification. Both restoration and purification would be accomplished some day by the coming Redeemer.

     The “seven horns” may be an antiypical reference to another Joshua (The name Joshua, of course, is the same as Jesus). When the children of Israel first entered the land of Canaan to claim it for their own as God had promised, they encountered a wicked city barring their way. When in accord with God’s command, the priests took “seven trumpets of ram’s horns,” the walls of Jericho tumbled down and the city and its alien inhabitants were destroyed.       Thus, these “seven horns” on the Lamb may well have recalled to John the seven ram’s horns of Joshua, and their effectiveness in enabling the people of God to enter on their inheritance in God’s land of promise. Further, their use as trumpets surely reminded John also of the trumpet that had called him up to God’s throne.

     Thus the seven horns and seven eyes on the heavenly Lamb would call to John’s remembrance all the great promises of salvation, both to Israel and to the whole world. In fact Jesus Himself is called “an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David” (Luke 1:69).

Revelation 5:7.     And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

     The dramatic moment for which John and the great assembly had waited was finally here. The Lamb came to take the title book, and the One on the throne gave it to Him, thus acknowledging before the universe that the slain, yet living, Lamb was the world’s Redeemer.

     Daniel saw the same great event in a vision. “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13, 14).

     Daniel saw only a vision, and therefore not the complete sequence of events involved. John saw the actual events, because He was there, caught up with the saints into God’s presence. John’s “Lamb” is the same as the Son of man in Daniel, and the dominion given Him must actually be enforced by Him as the seals on the title scroll are opened.

When the Angels Sing

Revelation 5:8.     And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. 

     This was the signal the rapt assembly had been waiting for. The Lamb who had purchased their redemption was back again, and soon would open the seals to complete the work.

     “Thy kingdom come; thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” Thus had the Lord taught His disciples to pray, and thus had millions of His people prayed through century after century. Countless other prayers had ascended which had not yet been answered. Yet the Lord had promised: “If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it” (John 14:14). The believing prayers of godly saints will all be answered, though many will not see all the answers before the Lord returns. It will be as though the prayers were stored up in bottles of precious incense, awaiting the proper time for the Lord’s personal attention.

     The daily prayers of the saints are indeed like sweet incense to the Lord. David said: “Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice” (Psalm 141:2). In the tabernacle in the wilderness was an altar of incense, just outside the veil before the mercy seat, and the high priest was to “burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the Lord throughout your generations” (Exodus 30:8). This beautifully pictured the prayers of believers continually appearing before the presence of the Lord. “By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name” (Hebrews 13:15).

     The twenty-four elders, representing all the saints, have each apparently been given a golden bowl of incense, representing all the unanswered prayers of the ages to offer before the Lamb. They also have harps with which to praise Him in song. In song and prayer, falling down in worship, they (that is to say, we!) will begin an eternal ministry of joyful service to their Redeemer.

     And, amazingly enough, the four “living ones” are with them in prostration before the Lamb. Even the mightiest of all the “angels desire to look into” the great mysteries of God (1 Peter 1:12), and rejoice with the “heirs of salvation” to whom they have ministered (Hebrews 1:14) when they are revealed and fulfilled.

Revelation 5:9.     And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.

     The twenty-four elders, presumably accompanied by all the saints, will then proceed to sing, and it will be a song such as the cosmos has never yet heard. Even at the creation, when all the newly-created angelic host shouted for joy as they sang together (Job 38:7), there was nothing like this. For now, the renewed voices of billions of redeemed saints will join in a mighty anthem of praise to their strong Redeemer and King. Perhaps the song will even be heard on earth, as was the praise of the angels at the birth of Christ (Luke 2:13).

     The song is new not only in magnitude but in words and music. A billion harps will accompany the golden voices of their singers, and the theme is that of gratitude to the worthy Lamb.

     That more than just twenty-four are singing is evident from the song: “Thou hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.” There are thousands of languages among men, and here is a gracious promise that God does have His elect hidden away in every tribe and people.

     It has been pointed out that the pronoun “us” is not found in one of the oldest manuscripts, thus raising a question as to whether the elders are actually human beings. It does occur in practically all, however, so there is really no legitimate reason to question it.

     It is noteworthy, too, that the heavenly host is not embarrassed (as are many modern congregations) to sing a hymn extolling the blood of Christ. The very price of the world’s redemption was the shed blood of the Savior.

Revelation 5:10.     And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

     Three times in the Book of Revelation it is said that believers are to be made kings and priests (Revelation 1:6; 5:10; 20:6). These functions apply particularly in the millennial kingdom, when there is still need for them. This, indeed is a part of the Christian’s reward. “And he said unto him, Well, thou good servant: because thou hast been faithful in a very little, have thou authority over ten cities” (Luke 19:17). The people still in the flesh are on the earth, during the millennium, but the saints, in their glorified bodies, have their homes in the heavenly places, possibly in the New Jerusalem, hovering over the atmospheric heavens. Nevertheless, they have rapid access to the earth, as needed in the course of their kingly duties. As priests (1 Peter 2:5), they will offer up spiritual sacrifices, the sacrifice of praise continually (Hebrews 13:15). Perhaps there will also be ministries of intercession and of evangelism, in relation to those yet unsaved during the millennium. In any case, the promise of Christ is that we shall reign over (better than “on”) the earth.