I) EXCERPT FROM REVELATION CHAPTER FOUR

OR GO TO REV CHAPTER FIVE

VI) [(Rev 4:9-11) Biblestudymanuals Commentary On Rev 4:9-11]:

(Rev 4:9 NASB) "And when the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to Him Who sits on the throne, to Him Who lives forever and ever,

(Rev 4:10 NASB) the twenty-four elders fall down before Him Who sits on the throne and worship Him Who lives forever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say,

(Rev 4:11 NASB)  Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." '''

The Creatures represent the four attributes of God i.e. face of a: Man=Love, Eagle=Wisdom, Lion=Power, and Ox=Justice.  ‘Full of eyes’ means God is all seeing and all knowing.  Having wings may be interpreted  as the ability to go anywhere quickly. When the 24 elders fall down, casting their crowns, worshiping God, it signals that God has brought to pass one of the events God told them to write about in the Old Testament.

[EXPOSITOR'S on Rev 4:9-11]:

(Rev 4:11 NASB)  Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created." '''

9-11 The second hymn is sung by the twenty-four elders. When the living creatures confess the truth of God's holy deeds, the response of the highest order of God's heavenly creatures is to relinquish their crowns of honor before the feet of him who alone is "worthy" of "glory and honor and power" because he alone (no man, not even the emperor) is the source and stay of every created thing (Ps 33:6-9; 102:25; 136:5ff.). The expression "by your will they were created and have their being" (v. 11) presents a translation difficulty because the Greek text has two different tenses (esan,"they were" [NIV, "have their being"], imperfect; ektisthesan, "they were created," aorist). Although a number of possible explanations have been advanced, Alford's remains the best: the imperfect tense describes the fact of their existence while the aorist captures the sense of the beginning of their existence (Alf, 4:602-3). Consequently, the phrase might be translated thus: "Because of [not `by'] your will they continually exist and have come into being."

4:9-11. The worship by the four living creatures is attended by the 24 elders also worshiping the One on the throne and attributing to God glory and honor and power (cf. 5:12-13) and acknowledging that He is the Creator and Sustainer of the universe (cf. John 1:3; Eph. 3:9; Col. 1:16-17; Heb. 1:2-3; Rev. 10:6; 14:7). They lay their crowns before the throne in ascribing all glory to Him as the Sovereign.

'''6. Worship In Heaven (4:9-11)

1  66667777 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.

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 the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.

4  Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;

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.

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Revelation 5:1-14 (NASB)

1  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.

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 the earth or under the earth was able to open the book or to look into it.

4  Then I began to weep greatly because no one was found worthy to open the book or to look into it;

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 took the book out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne.

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

9  And they *sang a new song, saying, "Worthy are You to take the book and to break its seals; for You were slain, and purchased for God with Your blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation.

10  "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth."

11  Then 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.

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b. The Scroll and the Lamb (5:1-14)

1 This chapter is part of the vision that begins at chapter 4 and continues through the opening of the seven seals (6:1-8:1; cf. comments in introduction to ch. 4). Its center of gravity lies in the three hymns (vv. 9, 12, 13). These are addressed to the Lamb. They beautifully combine the worship of the Lamb (hymns one and two) with the worship of the one who sits on the throne (hymn three, which is addressed to both God and the Lamb). The movement of the whole scene focuses on the slain Lamb as he takes the scroll from the hand of the one on the throne. The actions of all other participants are described in terms of worship directed to the Lamb and the one on the throne. The culminating emphasis is on the worthiness of the Lamb to receive worship because of his death.

John sees "in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals." This raises a problem involving the phrase "with writing on both sides." Papyrus codices (which were like books as we know them) did not originate until the second century A.D., or perhaps the late first century (Bruce M. Metzger, The Text of the New Testament 2d ed. [Oxford: Clarendon, 1964], p. 6). In ancient times, papyrus rolls were used for public and private documents. Usually the writing was on one side only—the inside part, arranged in successive vertical columns. Occasionally a scroll was written on both sides; in that case it was called an "opisthograph." Such double-sided writing was for private, nonsalable use in contrast to the usual scrolls written on only one side, which were sold (Edward Maunde Thompson, An Introduction to Greek and Latin Paleography [Oxford: Clarendon, 1912], pp. 49-50). In the context of chapter 5, an opisthograph would signify a scroll full of words. The importance of establishing the scroll rather than codex character of the document lies in the interpretation of the opening of the seals. If the book was a codex, the seals could have been opened one at a time and portions of the book disclosed; a scroll, however, could be opened only after all the seals were broken.

Scrolls, or folded sheets, were sealed with wax blobs impressed with a signet ring to protect the contents or guarantee the integrity of the writing. Only the owner could open the seals and disclose the contents. Original documents were usually sealed; copies were not. Sealed documents were kept hidden while unsealed copies were made public (Rev 22:10) (TDNT, 7:941ff.).

The phrase "with writing on both sides" (gegrammenon esothen kai opisthen) is literally "written inside and on the back side," where "on the back side" (opisthen) is generally understood as going with "written" (gegrammenon). Zahn, however, argues that "back side" (opisthen) should go with the verb "sealed" (katesphragismenon) and not with "written" (Theodore Zahn, Introduction to the New Testament, 3 vols. [Grand Rapids: Kregel, 1953], 3.405-6). While tempting and grammatically possible, Zahn's view has not found acceptance among exegetes; and the adverbial use of opisthen in the rest of Revelation and the NT favors taking it always with a preceding rather than a following verb.

As to the identity and significance of the scroll, there are a number of different views.

1. Ancient Roman wills or "testaments" were sealed with six seals, each of which bore a different name of the sealer and could only be opened by him (TDNT, 7:941). This has led some to identify the scroll as the testament of God concerning the promise of the inheritance of his future kingdom (Zahn, NT Introduction, 3:395-96). A slight variation of this view refers the scene to the Roman law of mancipatio. Under this law an heir received either an inheritance at the death of the testator or the use of mancipatio in connection with transference of the inheritance to an executor, known as the familiae empto. The executor could use the property till the death of the testator, at which time he was obligated to distribute the possessions in accordance with the instructions of the testator (Emmet Russell, A Roman Law Parallel to Revelation Five," BS, 115 [1958], 258-64).

2. Others find the scroll containing, like Ezekiel's scroll, "words of lament and mourning and woe" (Ezek 2:9-10) and depicting the future judgment of the world (Walvoord, p. 113).

3. Still others find the significance to be the progressive unfolding of the history of the world. As each successive seal is opened, the further contents of the book are revealed. J.A. Seiss (The Apocalypse [Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 1957], p. 112) connects the scroll with a "title-deed" Jer 32:10-14). It is the "title-deed" to creation that was forfeited by sin in Genesis. By his redeeming death Christ has won the authority to reclaim the earth.

4. A more recent study finds the scroll to be the OT Torah (Law) (Lucetta Mowry, "Revelation 4-5 and Early Christian Liturgical Usage," JBL, 71 [1952], 75-84).

Each of these views has merit and may provide elements of truth for the background of the striking imagery in these chapters. Yet each view is vulnerable to criticism. Only from Revelation itself can the content and nature of the scroll be determined. Since the seals hinder the opening of the scroll till they are all broken, we may assume that the seals are preparatory to the opening of the scroll and the disclosure of its contents. This means that the seals have the effect of hiding the contents of the scroll till they are broken (Isa 29:11).

The following internal evidence relating to the contents of the scroll may be noted:

1. Just prior to the opening of the seventh seal, in connection with the events under the sixth seal, we read, "For the great day of their [i.e., of the One sitting on the throne and the Lamb] wrath has come, and who can stand?" (6:17).

2. When the seventh seal is opened (8:1-5), no immediate events as such follow on earth—except for the earthquake—as in the first six seals, unless the opening of the seventh seal includes among its events the blowing of the seven trumpets of judgment (8:6-11:15). This appears to be precisely the case.

3. The seventh trumpet likewise is not immediately followed by any specific events on earth (11:15ff.), except for an earthquake and a hailstorm (11:19). However, just before the seventh trumpet is sounded, we read, "The second woe has passed, the third woe is coming soon" (11:14). When the seven angels prepare to pour out "the seven last plagues," symbolized by the bowls, we read that with these bowls God's wrath is completed" (15:1, 7). Thus it seems reasonable to identify the content of the seventh trumpet with the seven bowls of judgment (chs. 16-19).

Furthermore, frequent references to the events of the seals, trumpets, and bowls appear throughout the remaining visions in Revelation (cf. 19:19ff.; 20:4; 21:9), indicating that the content of the seven-sealed scroll ultimately includes the unfolding of the consummation of the mystery of all things, the goal or end of all history, for both the conquerors and the worshipers of the beast. In 10:7 we are told that in the days of the sounding of the seventh trumpet "the mystery of God will be accomplished, just as he announced to his servants the prophets." From this it may be concluded that the scroll contains the unveiling of "the mystery of God" that OT prophets foretold (cf. comments at 10:7). Thus the "seals" conceal the mystery, which only Christ can disclose (Dan 12:9; Rev 10:4), of how God's judgment and his kingdom will come. In 11:15, when the final trumpet sounds, heavenly voices say, "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ," indicating that the scroll also contains the announcement of the inheritance of Christ and the saints who will reign with him (5:10).

The scroll, then, is not only about judgment or about the inheritance of the kingdom. Rather, it contains the announcement of the consummation of all history—how things will ultimately end for all people: judgment for the world and the final reward of the saints (11:18). Christ alone, as the Messiah, is the executor of the purposes of God and the heir of the inheritance of the world. He obtained this by his substitutionary and propitiatory death on the cross (5:9).

2-4 A mighty angel shouts out a challenge for anyone to come forth who is "worthy" to open the great scroll and its seals. All creation in heaven and earth and under the earth stood motionless and speechless. No one was worthy to open the scroll, i.e., no one had the authority and virtue for such a task. If the scroll contains both the revelation and the carrying out of the final drama of history, then John's despair can be appreciated. In this vision, the execution of events on earth is ascribed to the Lamb. As the seals are broken and the roll opened, salvation history unfolds till history culminates in the kingdom reign of the Messiah over the whole earth. History, then has its center in Jesus Christ and its goal in his triumphant reign over all the powers of the world.

5 John's sorrow is assuaged. One of the elders announces that there is one who has "triumphed" (nikao, "overcome," "conquer," "win a victory"—same word as 2:7; 3:21; et al.). He has triumphed because of his death (v. 9). Two figurative titles are used of the one who is worthy—"the Lion of the tribe of Judah" and "the Root of David." Both are familiar OT messianic titles (Gen 49:9-10; cf. Isa 11:1, 10; Jer 23:5; 33:5; Rev 22:16). But they are linked together only here and in the Qumran literature (cf. 4Q Patriarchal Blessings; L. Paul Trudinger, "Some Observations Concerning the Text of the Old Testament in the Book of Revelation," JTS, 17 [1966], 88). In Jewish apocalyptic literature contemporary with John, the figure of a lion was used to designate the conquering Messiah who would destroy Rome (4 Ezra 11:58). Close attention should be paid to John's understanding of the role and function of the Messiah, observing where it is similar to the Jewish understanding of the Messiah and where it differs from it.

6 As John looked to see the mighty Lion (the conquering warrior-Messiah from the Root of David), he saw instead the striking figure of a "Lamb" (arnion, "a young sheep") as if it had been slaughtered, standing in the center of the throne court. This new figure portrays sacrificial death and links the Messiah to the OT passover lamb (Exod 12:5f.; Isa 53:7; John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; 1 Peter 1:19). Here John joins the OT royal Davidic Messiah with the Suffering Servant of Isaiah (Isa 42-53). Both prophetic themes come together in Jesus of Nazareth, the true Messiah. "As if it had been slain" (esphagmenon, "with its throat cut") could refer to the "marks of death" the living Lamb still bore or to his appearance "as if being led to the slaughter," i.e., "marked out for death" (Minear, I Saw a New Earth, in loc. ). The "lamb" metaphor dominates John's thought in the rest of the book (e.g., 6:1ff.; 7:9ff.; 12:11; 13:8; 21:9).

John notices that the Lamb who bears the marks of death is also the ruler who bears the signs of the fullness of divine omnipotence, dominion, and omniscience ("seven horns and seven eyes"). Following Charles, Mounce (Revelation, p. 145) suggests that the figure of a lamb with seven horns is undoubtedly drawn from the apocalyptic tradition, citing 1 Enoch 90:9 (the Maccabees are symbolized by "horned lambs") and the Testament of Joseph (T Jos 19:8-9—a lamb destroys the enemies of Israel). However, the Enoch passage bears little relationship to the messianic Lamb as portrayed in Revelation, and the Testament of Joseph is notorious for Christian interpolations. Since the lamb image is used by the fourth Gospel to depict the Suffering Messiah in passages where apocalyptic connections would be quite remote, it may still be better to connect the lamb vocabulary to the OT Passover motif and Isaiah's Suffering Servant (Isa 53:7), especially in light of the author's interest in the Passover theme elsewhere in the book (e.g., 19:1ff.).

The "eyes" are more explicitly identified as the "seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth," probably a symbolic reference to the divine Holy Spirit who is sent forth by Christ into the world (1:4; 4:5). The teaching of the fourth Gospel is similar, where the Spirit is sent forth to exalt Christ and convict the world of sin (John 14:26; 15:26; 16:7-15).

7 Next the Lamb acts: "He came and took the scroll." The Greek conveys a dramatic action in the tense of the verb "took" (perhaps a dramatic perfect?): "He went up and took it, and now he has it." Symbolically, the one on the throne thus authorizes the slain messianic King to execute his plan for the redemption of the world because in and through the Lamb, God is at work in history for the salvation of humanity. Observe that this dramatic act of seizing the scroll is not itself the act of victory referred to in v. 6 and later in v. 9. Christ's victorious death on the cross is the basis of his authority to redeem the world by taking and opening the seven-sealed scroll.

8 The Lamb's act calls forth three hymns of praise (vv. 9, 12, 13) from the living creatures and elders. John sees them fall down in worship before the Lamb as they had earlier done before the one on the throne (4:10), thus acknowledging the deity of the Lamb. They have "harps", which are the "lyres" used for the older psalmody (cf., e.g., Pss 33:2, 98:5) but will now be used for the "new song" of praise to the Lamb (v. 9; 15:2-3).

The "bowls full of incense" represent the "prayers of the saints" (8:3-4). Prayer (proseuche) in this scene is not praise but petition. Why would John mention the saints on earth as petitioning God? In 6:10 the martyrs are seen as calling to God for his judgment on those who killed them, and in 8:3-4 the prayers of the saints are immediately connected with the trumpets of God's judgment. These prayers, then, are evidently for God's vindication of the martyred saints. And since v. 10 refers to the coming kingdom, it may be that the prayers are petitions for God to judge the world and to extend his kingdom throughout the earth (Luke 18:7-8). "Saints" here, as elsewhere in the NT and the rest of Revelation, is simply the normal term for the rank and file of Christians, i.e., those set apart for God's purposes (2Cor 1:1; Philippians 1:1; Rev 11:18; 13:7, 13:10; 19:8; 22:21).

9 The three hymns interpret the symbolism of the scroll and the Lamb. The number of singers increases from twenty-eight in v. 8 to every creature in all creation in v. 13. The first two hymns are songs of praise to the Lamb, whereas the last is praise to both the one on the throne and the Lamb (v. 13). The first hymn (vv. 9-10) is called a "new" song because there was never any like it before in heaven (cf. comments on 14:3).

"You are worthy" (axios, "comparable," "equal to," "deserving") refers to the qualifications of this person who alone has won the right to take the scroll and open its seals. His worthiness for this task was won by his loving sacrifice on the cross—"because you were slain." This must be understood as a direct reference to the earthly death of the human Jesus of Nazareth (the Gr. aorist tense supports this). It is no mythological death or salvation. Like other NT writers, John views the death of Jesus as a redeeming death—"and with your blood [or `by the price of your blood'] you purchased [or `redeemed,' agorazo] men for God."

The death of Jesus broke the stranglehold of the "powers and authorities" over the creation and produced a great victory of liberation for mankind (Col 2:15). It is this victory, obtained through suffering and death, that entitles Christ to execute the unfolding of the mystery of God's consummation of history. The centrality of the Cross and its meaning as a redemptive act comes repeatedly to the fore and should dominate our understanding throughout Revelation. (1:5; 5:12; 7:14; 12:11; 13:8; 14:4; 15:3; 19:7; 21:9, 23; 22:3, et al.). Jesus' death secured a salvation universally applied to all classes and peoples of the earth—"every tribe and language and people and nation" (cf. 7:9).

10 The Lamb's right to open the scroll rests also on the fact that he has made the ransomed into a "kingdom" and made them "priests" (to serve God in praise; cf. Heb 13:15-16). Christians "will reign on the earth" with Christ because they have been given "kingly authority" through his death (1:6; 20:4-6). While not excluding the present reign of believers, the reference to "the earth" is best taken to refer to the future eschatological kingdom reign of Christ (see Notes for various problems in this verse).

11-12 Now John sees a new feature in the vision: "thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand" angels surrounding the throne. The vision is similar to Daniel's vision of the countless multitude before the Ancient of Days (Dan 7:10). The imagery suggests the infinite honor and power of the one who is at the center of it all. The angels shout out their song of praise to the Lamb who was slain (cf. Heb 1:6). Their sevenfold shout rings out like the sound from a huge bell—"power... wealth... wisdom... strength... honor... glory... praise." All these are intrinsic qualities of Christ except the last, which is the expression of the creatures' worship: "praise" (lit., "blessing"). Elsewhere the same qualities are ascribed to God himself (5:13; 7:12). The sevenfold multiplication of these attributes by angel choirs is a Qumran liturgical method for creating the feeling of God's majesty and glory (7:12; 4QSL).

13-14 Finally, far beyond the precincts of the throne, there arises an expression of praise and worth from the whole created universe to the one on the throne and to the Lamb. John beautifully blends the worship of the Father (ch. 4) and the worship of the Son (5:8-12) together. In appropriate response, the living beings utter their "Amen" (cf. comments on 3:14), and the elders fall down in worship.

Notes

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1 The difficult expression ὄπισθεν (opisthen, "behind," "back of") has textual variants here. A strongly supported tradition in the versions and Fathers has the reading ἔξωθεν (exothen, "outside"), which probably arose when codices replaced scrolls in the Christian community, making the expression "back side" sound strange (Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, [New York: UBS, 1971], p. 737).

5 While evidence supporting a pre-Christian Jewish understanding of a suffering Messiah is meager, there do exist some traces of it. Edersheim points out that Isaiah 53 was applied to the Messiah in the Targum and in the Midrash on Samuel, "where it is said that all sufferings are divided into three parts, one of which the Messiah bore" (LTJM, 2:727).

6 The word for "lamb" or young sheep used in Rev some twenty-eight times is ἀρνίον (arnion), which occurs only once outside in John 21:15 (pl.). The alternate word elsewhere is ἀμνός (amnos), which occurs only four times and is used of Christ John 1:29, 36; Acts 8:32; 1 Peter 1:19). Both words occur in the LXX and are used in Exod 12 to refer to the Passover sacrificial lamb. No distinction between arnion and amnos should be pressed; their use merely reflects the author's preference. The diminutive ending ιον (ion) has lost its diminutive force (G. Mussies, The Morphology of Koine Greek as Used in the Apocalypse of St. John [Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1971], p. 109).

9-10 Here the chief problem is whether the text should read "redeemed us [ἡμᾶς, (hemas, `us')] to God" or simply "redeemed to God," omitting hemas (NIV, "purchased men"). The reading is crucial to the identification of the elders. If hemas is original, it would be difficult to argue that the elders are angelic beings. The evidence for the shorter reading consists of one Gr. MS (A) and one version (Ethiopic), while all other versional and Gr. evidence has the word hemas. Unless unusual weight is given to A (it is considered the best witness), the most reasonable conclusion is to charge A at this point with an omission. On the other hand, Metzger argues that the reading of A best accounts for the origin of the longer variations since scribes were unsatisfied with a less-direct object for ἠγόρασας (egorasas, "redeemed"; NIV, "purchased") and supplied the awkward hemas, which does not fit the αὐτοὺς (autous, "them") of v. 10 (Textual Commentary, p. 738). It is a difficult question to settle with certainty, but this commentary follows the shorter reading (like NIV) and views the elders as angels.

More difficult are the readings βασιλεύουσιν (basileuousin, "they reign" [present tense]) or βασιλεύσουσιν (basileusousin, "they will reign" [future tense]). Both have nearly equal MS support. Although NIV has the future tense here, it would seem better to adopt—with reservations—the present-tense reading and understand it as a "future present," in keeping with John's other references to the future reign of the saints (20:4). Mounce concurs (Revelation, p. 149, n.27). For a helpful inductive discussion of the whole chapter, see also Robert H. Mounce, "Worthy is the Lamb," ch. 5 in Scripture, Tradition, and Interpretation, edd. W. Ward Gasque and William Sanford LaSor, (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978).

John's expression "a kingdom and priests" is a combination of the LXX rendering of Exod 19:6 and that of the Targum's (M. McNamara, Targum and Testament: Aramaic Paraphrase of the Hebrew Bible; A Light on the New Testament [Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1962], p. 156). The source of this idea of the saints' reign could well be Dan 7:10ff., though no direct verbal allusion appears in Rev (R.T. France, Jesus and the Old Testament [Downers Grove, III.: InterVarsity, 1971], p. 204).

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