J Philip Bible Readings

"⁶ And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. ⁷ And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. ⁸ And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. ⁹ And they sang a new song, saying,

“Worthy are you to take the scroll
      and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
      from every tribe and language and people and nation,
¹⁰ and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
      and they shall reign on the earth.”

¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, ¹² saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing!” ¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying, “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honour and glory and might for ever and ever!” ¹⁴ And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshipped."

Revelation 5:6-14

There is still another point which we must note here. The Lamb holds the seals in His hand. In the next chapters we are to see the seals opened, and the plagues poured out upon the earth, representing all the woes and tribulations that come upon men. The meaning is plain; these things happen by His sovereign permission. It is this fact that gives us the key to history. The distresses and crises that come upon the nations do so by Christ's permission and direction. This is why the Christian cannot ultimately despair, for he knows that even if the earth be removed and the mountains cast into the midst of the sea, all will yet be well, for he has seen the vision of the sea of glass and the turmoils of earth set at nought. What it means therefore is this - and this is an awesome thought indeed! - through that very tribulation and distress through which the world passes, and in which His Church necessarily shares, He is going to bring about the new heaven and the new earth. God allows, nay ordains, the travail and agony, in order that from it He might bring forth newness. It is doubtless mystifying to many, and a stumbling-block to some, that the seals could be said to refer to the distresses of the world, and that there should be so much rejoicing in heaven at the thought of Christ breaking them one by one, if in fact what was to come from them should be disaster upon disaster. But it is precisely out of these agonies and travails that the new creation emerges. They are its birth-pangs, and so sovereignly is Christ in control of them that He can make them, dark and sinister though they be, the process by which the world of His ordaining will be born. It is the sheer, breathtaking wonder and magnificence of this conception that sets all heaven rejoicing and praising Him. Well might they sing a new song when they see how firmly Christ holds the key of history in His hand!