Sunday School Notes: Introduction to Revelation 4 and 5

We kicked off the new semester of Sunday School this week picking up where we left off in Revelation before Christmas. To ease us back in, we briefly recapped the first three chapters of Revelation, and then I read chapters 4 and 5. Bearing in mind there were no chapter and verse divisions in the original text, I think it helps our understanding to see 4 and 5 as a single section depicting the heavenly throne room. Here we get a glimpse of true worship, and we are introduced to the “scroll” and its seals that will play an important part in chapters 6 onwards. We then discussed chapters 4 and 5 in broad overview.

After the dictation of the seven letters, an angel takes John to the heavenly throne room. Here we see all of creation represented before the throne giving worship to the One who sits on the throne. The worshipers acknowledge God’s holiness, His eternality, and His sovereignty–all themes that are important to the message of Revelation. The diverse faces of creation are seen in the faces of the four living creatures. Once again we noted the presence of numbers: 4 creatures, 24 elders, and another reference to 7 with the 7 seals. Not all numbers in the Bible have particular significance, but particular numbers, especially in particular contexts, do. And if we follow the popular saying, “When the Bible says something once, pay attention; when it says something more than once, pay particular attention,” then we need to pay particular attention to these numbers. They are not accidental, and are as much symbols as the things they quantify. We already know the number 7 represents “fullness,” “completion,” or “perfection.” So whatever the seals represent, the fact there are seven of them denotes a fullness or completion of that. Why four creatures and twenty-four elders? We’ll come to those when we treat these passages in more detail.

The Lord has a “scroll” in his right hand that no-one is able to open–no-one, that is, except the Lamb, the Lion of Judah, the one who has overcome (Greek: nikaô), a term we’re familiar with from the seven letters (“to him who overcomes…”). The whole of creation worships the Lamb and proclaims him worthy because of his sacrifice by which he has made a kingdom of priests to God out of people from every tribe, tongue, and nation, and these people will reign on earth (echoing Revelation 1:5-6).

There is some debate over whether the “scroll” is actually a scroll or a codex (i.e., a book with pages). The Greek word biblion could refer to either, and the context doesn’t help much. Whatever it is–and we’ll discuss this in more detail when we get to chapter 5–it is written on both sides. This may reflect the ancient testimony, will, or contract, where the details were sealed within the document, and a summary of the contents written on the outside, even on the seal. We’ve discussed before how much Revelation echoes the Old Testament, particularly Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah, and the Psalms. This is because the Lord intends us to see Revelation as the unveiling of what was foretold in these books–the judgments and promises alluded to then are made full in Christ. It’s possible that the writing on the outside consists of the Old Testament foreshadowing, while the sealed contents detail the fulfillment of those things. Again, we’ll discuss more when we get to chapter 5.

One final point. When we look at the opening of the seals, it’s easy to get caught up in questions of mechanics. That is, how it’s possible for a book or a scroll to have writing on both sides and yet the contents remain a mystery. Or, how it’s possible for a book or scroll to be secured with seven seals, and for those seals to be broken in sequence revealing only the contents relevant to that seal. Commentators have attempted to come up with ways in which scrolls or books could be constructed this way, but this misses the point. As commentator G. K. Beale points out, this is a vision. And without denying the reality of what John saw, we need to remember that what is most important is what the vision means. This won’t be the first time in Revelation when John presents to us things he saw that are hard for us to picture from a practical viewpoint. But we shouldn’t get hung up on that. What should capture our attention is what John saw, and what that’s supposed to tell us. The logistics of the vision are far less important.

Next time, Lord willing, we’ll begin Revelation chapter 4…