The 24 Elders of Revelation, Part 4: The Heavenly Appearance of the Lamb

Revelation 4 describes the soon-to-come sitting of God upon his heavenly throne of judgment. Appropriate acknowledgements of His glory and honor, and submission to His authority, are thence given by the four Living Creatures and the 24 Elders.

Revelation 5 moves on from these preliminaries to an event that will result in earthly consequences.

Revelation 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of the One sitting on the throne a scroll having been written within and on the back, and having been sealed with seven seals. … 3 And no one in heaven nor on the earth nor under the earth was able to open the scroll, neither to look at it. 4 So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the scroll… 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.” 6 And I beheld in the midst of the throne and of the four Living Creatures, and in the midst of the Elders, a Lamb standing as having been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God having been sent out into all the earth. 7 And He came and took the scroll out of the right hand the One sitting on the throne. 8 And when He took the scroll, the four Living Creatures and the 24 Elders fell down before the Lamb, each one having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of saints. 9 And they sing a new song, saying, “You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals: for You were slain, and redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and language and people and nation; 10 And You made us kings and priests unto our God; and we shall reign on [or, over] the earth.” [Textus Receptus; other versions, “you made them kings [or, a kingdom]…and they shall reign…”] 11 … I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the Living Creatures, and the Elders… 12 saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive dunamis/power…”

[Here Jesus is called a lion, yet depicted as a lamb. These two images are different spiritual garments donned by the Son of God, according to the nature of the occasion. There is a big difference between spiritual beings and the garments and armor in which they are clothed. When Jesus appears as the slain Lamb in Revelation 5, He is wearing a heavenly garment that shows His righteous act as a sacrificial offering for redemption. When He appears with a sword in His mouth in Revelation 19, He is wearing the armor of the Sword of the Spirit. Such spiritual garments and armor portray the spiritual realities at the time, ones not seen by earthly eyes. When Satan appears in heaven as a red dragon, that is also a spiritual garment, one that accurately portrays his nature at that instant.]

So Jesus will at this time “receive power” to carry out all the promises and acts written in God’s scroll. He no longer will be, as Stephen saw Him, passively “standing at the right hand of God.” Acts 7:56 This receiving of End Time power is the same event Daniel foresaw centuries earlier:

Daniel 7:13 I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like a Son of a mortal was coming with the clouds of heaven. He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him. 14 And to Him were given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples and nations and languages should serve Him.

[The Messiah is only mentioned twice in the Book of Daniel: here in chapter 7, and briefly in 9:24-26. The whole era between His being “cut off” (9:26) up to His “coming with the clouds of heaven” (7:13) is the Church Age of Revelation 2 - 3.]

Some might object to the idea that Jesus is said to “receive dunamis/power” at this time, when, according to their Bibles, He told His disciples soon after His resurrection that “All exousia/power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.” Matt. 28:18 KJV, and a few other versions. However, exousia is more correctly translated as “authority,” that is, lawful jurisdiction. Whereas dunamis means actual “force,” that is, authority put into action. After Christ receives the scroll from God’s right hand, He will soon after begin to exercise His new authority-to-act by opening its seals, the first five of which will quickly result in the earthly trials of the Great Tribulation. (Being the same five trials, in the same order, that Jesus prophesied in Matthew 24:5-9.)

But why is it that Jesus is seen as a Slain Lamb receiving this power, and not as a Royal Lion? The reason for this will be explained in Part 5.