Page 17 - Florida Sentinel 4-27-18

God Is In Control Of The
to be worthy because He pur- chased with His own blood every man, woman, boy, and girl from an evil plantation owner—SIN— and then Jesus set them free!
Not only will the redeemed worship and praise Christ, but so will all the angels in heaven (v. 11).
All of creation sings a new song because God has done something new. He came to earth as the God-man to shed His blood to re- deem mankind, and for this, He is worthy to be praised (Revela- tion 5:9–14).
Angels are spiritual beings cre- ated by God who help carry out his work on earth. They bring messages (Luke 1:26-28); pro- tect God’s people (Daniel 6:22); offer encouragement (Genesis 16:7); give guidance (Exodus 14:19); bring punish- ment (2 Samuel 24:16); patrol the earth (Ezekiel 1:9-14) and fight the forces of evil (2 Kings 6:16-18; Revelations 20:1).
The believers’ song praises Christ for bringing them into the Kingdom and making them ‘Kings and Priests. While some-
times despised and mocked, in the future we will reign over all the earth (Luke 22:29,30). Christ’s death made all believers priests of God — the channels of blessing between God and mankind. (1 Peter 2:5-9)
The scene in Chapter 5 shows us that only the Lamb, Jesus Christ, is worthy to open the scroll (the events of history). Jesus, NOT Satan, holds the fu- ture. Jesus Christ is in control, and He alone is worthy to set into motion the events of last days of history.
Affairs Of The World Revelations 5:6-14
The Scripture for this week’s
lesson reads:
Revelation 5:6 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 be- ings 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.
7 He stepped forward and took the scroll from the right hand of the one sitting on the throne.
8 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.
9 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 lan- guage and people and nation.
10 And you have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.”
11 Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living be- ings and the elders.
12 And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered—to re- ceive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”
13 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.”
14 And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty- four elders fell down and wor- shiped the Lamb.
Persecution was nothing new to the Christian church. In fact, early church history holds that all the apostles were martyred with the exception of John.
Jesus predicted the 12 Disci- ples would experience persecu- tion (Matthew 10:18; John 16:33). Though John was never martyred for his faith in Jesus, he was exiled to the isle of Patmos because of it.
The recipients of the book of Revelation were the seven churches of Asia Minor (Revela- tion 1:19–20), a region today known as Turkey. The occasion for this letter was the Lord’s com- mand for John to write about what he had seen, what was presently taking place, and what lay ahead (Revelation 1:19).
Chapters 2 and 3 give us a glimpse into the state of the churches John was addressing. The issues they were contending with were not entirely different from many of the issues with which churches struggle today.
Among the list of sins plagu- ing these churches were false teachers, a loss of passion for God, occult activity, sexual im- morality, idolatry, and greed (Revelation 2–3).
Fortunately, many churches were doing good things as well, and John was careful to encour- age them to continue.
The overall purpose of Reve- lation was to encourage the 7 churches to remember that God is in control of the affairs of the world. He will punish evil doers, but reward the saints with new and eternal blessings.
The Powerful Lamb (Revelation 5:6–7)
John saw what others were not permitted to see. It is unclear whether this heavenly experience was some sort of vision, or whether John was miraculously transported to heaven. Whatever the case, it was made possible through the work of the Holy Spirit (Revelation 4:1–2).
In heaven was a scroll con- taining God’s plan for the world and His holy people, yet no one in heaven or on earth was found worthy to open it except the Lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David (Revelation 5:1– 5). The word “lion” in verse 5 refer- ences Christ, and signifies power and rulership (Genesis 49:8– 10).
Although one of the elders identifies Christ as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah,” He appears before John’s eyes as a lamb as if it had been slain (vv. 5–6). The contrasting descriptions evoke powerful imageries. Rulership (lion) and servanthood (lamb) are wrapped up in the single per- son of Jesus Christ.
But that’s not all.
John reveals more of what he saw as he describes three quali- ties of Christ that can only be at- tributed to God—sovereignty, omniscience, and omnipresence.
The number 7 has long been understood to signify perfection in the Bible, and the word horn is used repeatedly in Revelation to refer to authority (Revelation 13:1, 17:12).
The “7 horns” in Chapter 5 represent perfect authority (sov- ereignty), and the “7 eyes” and “7 Spirits of God” represent perfect insight (omniscience) and perfect presence (omnipresence), respec- tively.
We learn from vv. 5–6 that Christ is the God-man depicted as a powerful lamb standing be- fore the throne of God.
The Worthy Lamb (vv. 8–14)
A worship scene in heaven fills vv. 8–14. The identity of the elders—the 12 apostles and the 12 tribes of Israel (Revelation 21:12–13)—or possibly the an- gels described in Ezekiel chap- ters 1 and 10.
Most importantly, is what the elders and four living creatures are doing: worshiping Christ!
Three components of worship are found right in these verses: they made music with a harp, sang a new song to Christ, and of- fered prayers unto him (vv. 8– 10).
The Lamb is said to be worthy because He has “redeemed” men and women from every people group on the planet (v. 9).
Their song declares the Lamb
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