Having in our last segment examined Chapter 4 the Introduction to the Seven Seals we now move on to Chapter 5

Revelation Chapter 5

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

AND I SAW:

This is one of those phrases which mark changes in the Book of Revelation. In this case it shifts emphasis to the sealed book (scroll) which is to occupy our attention up to Verse 1 of Chapter 8.

IN THE RIGHT HAND OF HIM WHO SAT ON THE THRONE:

Right hand is favor, activity, and power. Since the scroll contains God’s plan of action for the period of the development of the Church, it is something which has His FAVOR and represents the ACTIVITY He desires (or foresees) accomplished. It is kept in His POWER until the One is found to open it.

Compare with Eph 3:10, 11

“To the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (NKJV)

As it is taken from the Diaglott.

“In order that now may be made known to the governments and authorities in the Heavenlies, through the congregation (the Church), the much diversified wisdom of God, according to a Plan of the Ages, which he formed for the Anointed Jesus our Lord (to fulfill).”

A SCROLL WRITTEN INSIDE AND ON THE BACK:

Remember that at this time, books as we know them did not exist. All books were scrolls. This seems to be saying that God’s purposes were in some part visible (understandable), and in some part obscure.

SEALED UP WITH SEVEN SEALS:

The obscure part of God’s plan was divided into seven parts to be revealed in sequence when due.” (New Albany Notes on Revelation)

The Seven Seals

“That the seven seals are intact here seems to place the start of this vision at a time prior to the first advent, and the giving of the ransom. Since the scroll was in God’s hand, no one would be able to open it until he deemed that one worthy to do so.

With the seals on the scroll you would be able to partially read the outside, but the inside could not be read. That is the way that God’s plans were known before Christ. Only bits and pieces of the Plan could be seen in the Old Testament. The better part or the New Testament or New Covenant was hidden from direct sight, on the inside of the scroll. Only after Christ began to remove the seals were we able to look further into the Plan of God and the events that would need to take place.

The scroll is sealed up in a manner such that as each seal is removed, you would be able to unroll the scroll a little bit further, and more of the messages could be heard. By the time you would remove the seventh seal, you would then be able to read the entire message. This complete unfolding of the message for that reason we think was only possible at the time of the Seventh Messenger (1 Cor 13:10-12; Rev 10:7).

Each church would receive an additional portion of light as each seal was undone, and we could at least see what that church was going to do wrong as it fell further into error. Only the fifth through the seventh church seem to have reversed that trend and they began to break down the power of the false church and state system. At the time of the Seventh Messenger he gathered up what was good from the other messengers and added his part to the whole, thus completely revealing what the mystery of God had been (Rev 10:7).

Rev 10:7, “But in the days of the sounding of the seventh angel, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished, as He declared to His servants the prophets.”

Prov 4:18, “But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day.” (Excerpts taken from Revelation Notes, Southern Wisconsin)

Verse 1 as explained from another perspective:

There was a time when the divine plan was entirely absent from view, kept secret, in the mind of God (Eph. 1:4; 3:11; 1 Pet. 1:19, 20). But when God prepared the earth for habitation, and breathed into Adam’s nostrils the breath of life, then it became quite apparent to those in heavenly places that He had an ulterior motive with respect to this brand-new creation. That which had previously been a concept locked within His intellect, was now discernible as the initiation of an undisclosed project, at hand, under His control.

The angels knew something was going on, for God did reveal little things here and there, scraps of information recorded in the Old Testament (Isa. 28:10,13; Heb. 1:1). They knew there was a plan, but they could not understand it. When they looked at the book in the hand of Jehovah, they could see some writing. There were scattered encouraging promises, such as that the seed of the woman would bruise the serpent’s head and that in Abraham “all the families of the earth” would be blessed; but they could not put together in an understandable way what was happening down here (Gen. 3:15; 12:3; 28:14). The angels knew about the promised Messiah. They were very interested and earnestly desired to look into these things (1 Pet. 1:12).

The message was sealed or locked up until the proper time for this “meat” (understanding) to become due (Matt. 24:45). The same principle applied to Daniel, who was given considerable information but little understanding (Dan. 12:9). Neither Daniel nor the other prophets could comprehend with distinction their own prophetic utterances given under the impulse of the Holy Spirit (2 Pet. 1:21; 1 Pet. 1:10–12).

This introductory explanation has been given to the setting of the first verse of Chapter 5 as seen from the standpoint of the holy angels and the prophets. Now the vision is to be considered from the perspective of John the Apostle himself (representative of the Church), who declared in his opening remarks of both Verse 1 and Verse 2, “I saw”

The “book” (Greek biblion, i.e., scroll) John saw in God’s hand was not the conventional book associated with modern-day society. Resembling a rolled document with external writing—that is, with introductory or preface remarks thereon—it was held firmly in Jehovah’s grasp. Notwithstanding this fact, the document was sufficiently unfurled (perhaps just a curl in the corner of the parchment) in such a manner as to reveal as well as confirm that it also contained a message within.

The external writing apparently alludes to the purpose of God in regard to His dealings with mankind in general, whereas the internal contents of the scroll pertain to the experiences of His Church during the Gospel Age.

The plan of God, with reference to man, spans three great periods of time, beginning with man’s creation and reaching into the illimitable future. Designated “worlds” by Peter and Paul, these three great epochs represent three distinct manifestations of Divine Providence.

The first, from Creation to the Flood, was under the ministration of angels and is called “the world that was” (2 Pet. 3:6). The second great epoch, from the Flood to the establishment of the Kingdom of God, is under the limited control of Satan, “the prince of this world,” and is therefore called “this present evil world” (Gal. 1:4; 2 Pet. 3:7). The third is to be a “world to come” under divine administration, the Kingdom of God, and is called “the world to come…wherein dwells righteousness” (Isa. 45:17; Heb. 2:5; 2 Pet. 3:13). The first of these periods, or worlds, under the ministration of angels, was a failure; the second, under the rule of Satan, the usurper, has indeed been a sinful and “evil world”; but the third, under divine ruler-ship, will be an era of unending righteousness, peace, and blessing to all the families of the earth. Then will the Lord’s Prayer be answered: “Thy kingdom come.” (The Keys of Revelation)

We will continue with our examination of Verse 1 in our next post.