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- John sees the throne of God in heaven surrounded by
twenty-four elders; and four living creatures, full of
eyes; which all join in giving glory to the
Almighty, 1-11.
- The book sealed with seven seals, which no being in
heaven or earth could open, 1-3.
- Is at last
opened by the Lion of the tribe of Judah, 4-8.
- He
receives the praises of the four living creatures and the
twenty-four elders, 9,10.
- And afterwards of an
innumerable multitude, who acknowledge that they were
redeemed to God by his blood, 11,12.
- And then, of the
whole creation, who ascribe blessing, honour, glory,
and power to God and the Lamb for ever, 13,14.
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Verse 1. A book written within and
on the back side
That is, the book was full
of solemn contents within, but it was sealed;
and on the back side was a superscription
indicating its contents. It was a labelled book, or one
written on each side of the skin, which was not usual.
Sealed with seven
seals.
As seven is a number of
perfection, it may mean that the book was so sealed
that the seals could neither be counterfeited nor
broken; i.e., the matter of the book was so
obscure and enigmatical and the work it enjoined
and the facts it predicted so difficult and stupendous, that
they could neither be known nor performed by human wisdom or
power.
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color=black>Verse 2. A strong
angel
One of the chief of the
angelic host.
Proclaiming
As
the herald of God.
To open the book, and to loose the
seals
To loose the seals that he may open
the book. Who can tell what this book contains? Who can open
its mysteries? The book may mean the purposes and designs of
God relative to his government of the world and the Church;
but we, whose habitation is in the dust, know nothing of such
things. We are, however, determined to guess.
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Verse 3. And no man
(οις ),
No person or being.
In heaven
Among
all the angels of God.
Nor in the earth
No human being.
Neither under the
earth
No disembodied spirit, nor any
demon. Neither angels, men, nor devils,
can fathom the decrees of God.
Neither to look
thereon.
None can look into it
unless it be opened, and none can open it unless the
seals be unloosed.
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Verse 4. I wept much
Because the world and the Church were likely to be
deprived of the knowledge of the contents of the book.
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Verse 5. The Lion of the tribe of
Juda
Jesus Christ, who sprang from this
tribe, as his genealogy proves; see on Matthew
1:2,3and Luke
3:33. There is an allusion here to ; Genesis
49:9, Judah is a lion's whelp; the lion was
the emblem of this tribe, and was supposed to have been
embroidered on its ensigns.
The Root of David
See Isaiah
11:1. Christ was the root of David as to his
Divine nature; he was a branch out of the
stem of Jesse as to his human nature.
Hath prevailed
By the merit of his incarnation, passion, and death.
To open the book
To explain and execute all the purposes and
decrees of God, in relation to the government of the world and
the Church.
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Verse 6. Stood a Lamb
Christ, so called because he was a sacrificial offering;
(οις),
signifies a little or delicate lamb.
As it had been
slain
As if now in the act of being
offered. This is very remarkable; so important is the
sacrificial offering of Christ in the sight of God that he is
still represented as being in the very act of pouring out his
blood for the offences of man. This gives great advantage to
faith: when any soul comes to the throne of grace, he finds a
sacrifice there provided for him to offer to God. Thus all
succeeding generations find they have the continual
sacrifice ready, and the newly-shed blood to offer.
Seven horns
As
horn is the emblem of power, and seven
the number of perfection, the seven horns may
denote the all-prevailing and infinite might of Jesus
Christ. He can support all his friends; he
can destroy all his enemies; and he can
save to the uttermost all that come unto God through him.
Seven eyes
To
denote his infinite knowledge and wisdom: but as these
seven eyes are said to be the seven Spirits of
God, they seem to denote rather his providence, in
which he often employs the ministry of angels;
therefore, these are said to be sent forth into all
the earth. See Clarke on Revelation
1:4.
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Verse
7. He came and took the book
This verse may be properly explained by John, John
1:18. No man hath seen God at any time; the
only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father,
he hath DECLARED him. With Jesus alone are all the
counsels and mysteries of God.
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Verse
8. The four beasts-fell down before the
Lamb
The whole Church of God, and all his
children in heaven and earth, acknowledge that Jesus Christ is
alone worthy and able to unfold and execute all the mysteries
and counsels of God. See Clarke on Revelation
5:9.
Having every one of them
harps
There were harps and
vials; and each of the elders and living
creatures had one.
Odours, which are the prayers of
saints.
The frankincense and odours offered
at the tabernacle were emblems of the prayers and praises of
the Lord. That prayers are compared to incense,
see Psalms
141:2: Let my PRAYER be set forth before thee as
INCENSE. Hence that saying in Synopsis Sohar, p.
44, n. 37: "The odour of the prayers of the Israelites is
equal to myrrh and frankincense; but on the
Sabbath it is preferred to the scent of all kinds of
perfumes." The words which are the prayers of saints
are to be understood as this is my body, this signifies
or represents my body; these odours represent
the prayers of the saints.
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Verse
9. A new song
Composed on the
matters and blessings of the Gospel, which was just now opened
on earth. But new song may signify a most excellent
song; and by this the Gospel and its blessings are
probably signified. The Gospel is called a new song, Psalms
96:1. And perhaps there is an allusion in the harps
here to Psalms
144:9: I will sing a NEW SONG unto thee, O God: upon a
PSALTERY, and an INSTRUMENT of TEN STRINGS, Isaiah
42:10: Sing unto the Lord a NEW SONG, and there the
prophet seems to have the Gospel dispensation
particularly in view.
Thou-hast redeemed us to God-out
of every-nation
It appears, therefore, that
the living creatures and the elders represent
the aggregate of the followers of God; or the
Christian Church in all nations, and among all kinds of
people, and perhaps through the whole compass of time: and all
these are said to be redeemed by Christ's blood,
plainly showing that his life was a sacrificial
offering for the sins of mankind.
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Verse 10. Kings and
priests
See Exodus
19:6; ; 1 Peter
2:5,9, and the notes there.
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Verse 11. The voice of many
angels
These also are represented as
joining in the chorus with redeemed mortals.
Ten thousand times ten
thousand
"Myriads of myriads and chiliads
of chiliads;" that is, an infinite or innumerable multitude.
This is in reference to Daniel
7:10.
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Verse 12. To receive
power
That is, Jesus Christ is worthy
to take, (οις),
to have ascribed to him,
power-omnipotence; riches-beneficence;
wisdom-omniscience; strength-power in prevalent
exercise; honour-the highest reputation for what he has
done; glory-the praise due to such actions; and
blessing-the thankful acknowledgments of the whole
creation. Here are seven different species of praise; and this
is exactly agreeable to the rabbinical forms, which the author
of this book keeps constantly in view. See Sepher
Rasiel, fol. 39,2: "To thee belongs cabod, glory;
gedulah, magnitude; geburah, might; hammamlakah,
the kingdom; hattiphereth, the honour;
hannetsach, the victory; vehahod, and the
praise."
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Verse 13. Every
creature
All parts of the creation, animate
and inanimate, are represented here, by that figure of speech
called prosopopaeia or personification, as
giving praise to the Lord Jesus, because by him all things
were created. We find the whole creation gives precisely
the same praise, and in the same terms, to Jesus
Christ, who is undoubtedly meant here by the Lamb just
slain as they give to GOD who sits upon the
throne. Now if Jesus Christ were not properly GOD this
would be idolatry, as it would be giving to the
creature what belongs to the Creator.
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Verse 14. The four beasts said,
Amen.
Acknowledged that what was attributed
to Christ was his due.
The four and twenty
elders
The word (οις),
twenty-four, is wanting in the most eminent MSS. and
versions.
Fell down and
worshipped
(οις),
Fell
down on their knees, and then prostrated themselves
before the throne. This is the eastern method of
adoration: first, the person worshiping fell down on
his knees; and then, bowing down touched the earth with his
forehead. This latter act was prostration.
Him that liveth for
ever
This clause is wanting in ABC,
thirty-seven others, Syriac, Arabic, Coptic, AEthiopic,
some copies of the Slavonic, Itala, and Vulgate;
and in Andreas, and Arethas, ancient
commentators on this book. It is also wanting in some
editions, and is undoubtedly spurious. Griesbach has left this
and the above twenty-four out of the text.
Now follow the least intelligible parts of this mysterious
book, on which so much has been written, and so much in vain.
It is natural for man to desire to be wise; and the more
difficult the subject the more it is studied, and the hope of
finding out something by which the world and the Church might
be profited, has caused the most eminently learned men to
employ their talents and consume their time on these abstruse
prophecies. But of what use has all this learned and
well-meant labour been to mankind? Can hypothesis
explain prophecy, and conjecture find a
basis on which faith can rest? And what have we
better in all attempts hitherto made to explain the mysteries
of this book?
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- Revelation 5:1.
Copyright Statement
These files are considered public domain and are
a derivative of an electronic edition that is available
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Bible Software Library.
Bibliography
Information
Scofield, C. I.
"Scofield Reference Notes on Revelation 5". "Scofield
Reference Notes (1917 Edition)".
<http://www.studylight.org/com/srn/view.cgi?book=re&chapter=005>.
1917.
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