Looking Back
Revelation 5: 6-14
Book of Revelation was written around 95 AD by a prophet named John while he was exiled on the Greek island of Patmos.
Revelation 5:6–14 (HCSB-Holman Christian Standard Bible): 6 Then I saw One like a slaughtered lamb standing between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth. 7 He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of the One seated on the throne.
8 When He took the scroll, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and gold bowls filled with incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song:
You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because You were slaughtered,
and You redeemed people
for God by Your blood
from every tribe and language
and people and nation.
10 You made them a kingdom
and priests to our God,
and they will reign on the earth.
11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels around the throne, and also of the living creatures and of the elders. Their number was countless thousands, plus thousands of thousands. 12 They said with a loud voice:
The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy
to receive power and riches
and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and blessing!
13 I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, on the sea, and everything in them say:
Blessing and honor and glory and dominion
to the One seated on the throne,
and to the Lamb, forever and ever!
14 The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Revelation 5:6-14 reveals a profound theological pivot point where Jesus Christ is revealed as both a sacrificial victim and a cosmic victor.
Isaiah 11:2 (NRSV): 2 The spirit of the LORD shall rest on him,
the spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the spirit of counsel and might,
the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.
(Count…there are seven “spirits” attributes of God. 1) the holiness of God “the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. 2) Spirit of Wisdom. 3) Spirit of understanding. 4) The Spirit of counsel. 5) The Spirit of might. 6) The Spirit of Knowledge. 7) The Spirit of the “fear” respect of the Lord.
In Revelation 4, the seven spirits are burning stationary before God’s throne as lamps, representing the raw holiness and inner life of the Godhead. In Revelation 5, once the Lamb is slain and takes the scroll, those same seven spirits become the eyes of the Lamb, actively sent out into the world to watch over, empower, and sustain the global Church.