Bible Studies
Resurrected, To Reign With Him (Rev. 4-5)
Series: ResurrectionIntroduction:
1. In our previous study we gave attention to Rev. 1-3 observing that Jesus was raised from the dead as “ruler of the kings of the earth.” 2. He is the one who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood and made us to be a kingdom of priests. 3. He has overcome death and Hades and now challenges us to “overcome” with Him. In 3:21 He says, “He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” 4. Chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation provide an introduction to the rest of the book. It will be our purpose to survey these chapters observing the continued unfolding of the resurrection theme in Revelation. 5. In another lesson we will consider chapters 6-22.Discussion:
I. Chapter 4 opens with a scene in heaven.A. The details of the scene give the reader pause and challenge the interpreter.
B. It is obvious that it is a description of the throne of God (4:5, 8).
1. The quotation in verse 8 harks back to Isa. 6:3 and Isaiah’s vision of the Lord on His throne.
2. The scene produces awe.
C. Three observations relative to life and the resurrection . . .
1. God is presented as “Him who lives forever and ever” (9-10). Death has no power over Him.
2. God is presented as the creator (11). He begins life.
3. Verse 3 mentions a “rainbow around the throne.”
a. Also “around the throne were twenty-four elders sitting clothed in white garments.” In other places in Revelation such white garments are associated with life (3:4) and with being washed white in the blood of the Lamb (7:14).
b. In Gen. 9 the rainbow is a symbol of a new beginning, a new creation. God is the original creator, but He is in the business of creating anew.
c. These whose robes are white have such a new beginning.
d. And they have golden crowns on their heads, apparently symbolic of their reign.
II. If chapter 4 presents us with the throne of God, chapter 5 presents us with the Lion/Lamb worthy to open the revelation of the prophecy.A. Chapter 4 presents God as creator (v. 11); chapter 5 presents Him as the creator of a new beginning through the Lion/Lamb.
1. There is a book in His right hand. It is sealed up and no one is able to open the book. John wept in grief, but one of the elders said, “Stop weeping.”
2. He said, “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.”
a. The Lion from Judah (Gen. 49:9-10; cf. Heb. 7:14).
b. The Root of David (Isa. 11:1, 10; Rom. 15:12).
c. Jesus is this one (Rev. 22:16).
B. The Lamb is introduced in 5:6. Not as a new character, but the same character under a different image.
1. The Lion identifies the kingly rulership, the authority, and the dominion of Jesus.
2. The Lamb identifies His sacrificial work (v. 9).
3. It is through Him that God creates something new.
a. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders sang a new song.
1) It is similar to what the living creatures and the twenty-four elders had said in praising God in v. 11. In fact, 4:11 and 5:9-10 are like two verses in the same song.
2) The first verse, 4:11, praises God as creator.
3) The second verse, 5:9-10, praises the Lamb, who is the means of the new creation. He is identified in 3:14 as “the Beginning of the creation of God.”
b. The Lamb was slain and purchased with His blood men from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. Notice the universal nature of the purchase. Connect this with the universal nature of the prophecies concerning the coming kingdom (ex. Isa. 2:2-3).
c. Rev. 5:10 identifies those purchased as a kingdom and priests to God.
d. The Lamb was slain, but do not miss the fact that He is now living. He has been raised by God (Rom. 6:4; Col. 2:12). He is the Beginning of the creation of God. The kingdom and priests purchased with His blood are the continuation of that creation work. They are the new creation (Gal. 6:15). Cf. Col. 1:13-20.
e. “They will reign upon the earth” (5:10b). Not in a physical sense, but in the sense of overcoming the trials, tribulations, and difficulties associated with this life, including death (1:7, 10-11, 17, 26 (note particularly); 3:5, 12, 21 (note particularly)).
C. The “third verse” to the song is sung by the living creatures and the elders and myriads of others (5:12). It praises the Lamb.
D. And finally “the chorus” of the song, sung by every created thing. It praises Him who sits on the throne and the Lamb, “blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.”
1. The Lord God reigns from His throne.
2. He has operated through the Lamb to create a new kingdom. Its citizens reign through Him.
E. The four living creatures say, “Amen.”
F. The elders fell down and worshiped.
Conclusion:
1. So many passages take on new meaning in light of the revelation of God’s power exercised through Christ in His death for sin and resurrection. 2. One such passage is found in Eph 1:18ff where Paul prays that men might understand the greatness of God’s power working for us. Reading of Eph. 1:18-2:7. 3. Victory is available. It has already been accomplished. The question is will we join in it? 4. The one who sits on the throne and the Lamb have dominion forever and ever!
