The book with the seven seals
Do you know the idiom “Something is a book with seven seals” which means a big mystery? This phrase has its origin in this chapter and does not mean something that people don’t understand.
The book with the seven seals
In the throne room, the place of perfect worship, a scroll with seven seals appears and attracts all attention. But what is this seven-sealed scroll/book?
During ancient times, certain documents were written by an official and sealed by seven witnesses.
A summary of the contents was written on the outside to ensure that the scroll would not be opened accidentally, because opening the scroll meant that its contents became valid (activated). The contents of a scroll could be a will or a new law.
So, when the voice asks “who is able to open the scroll”, this means “who is able to implement the contents of that scroll?”. It is not clear at this point to what is refers concretly: You could call it the prophets, or the Old Testament, or just God’s plan, etc. but one thing is clear: It means who will rule the world. Since it seems thatno one was able to open it, John is obviously in deep trouble.
But there is one who can open it: The Lion of Judah. This is what John hears, but what he sees is the slaughtered lamb. They are two aspects of the same reality: the apparently helpless lamb is the victorious, invincible lion: It is the mystery of a hero. This is a challenging image, because all apocalyptic hopes present a strong ruler who overthrows the forces of evil with power.
Another surprising aspect is the worship of the Lamb.
In the previous chapter we saw that everything revolves around the throne. In this chapter everything is centered around Jesus, He is the center of everything, and He is worshipped. And God let this happen. This shows that Jesus is really God, because only God is allowed to be worshipped.
The seven seals
When Jesus opens the seals, He makes sure that the devil's plans are exposed. Satan wants to rule the world, and the first four seals show what he intends to bring about on the earth.
Since the saints are not excluded from hardship (we will see why during the trumpets), they suffer and ask when this will end. Their request is granted (they receive white linen garments). From there on the vindication of the saints and the answer to their prayers is a common theme in the book.
The main reaction is Jesus’ great judgment. This is truly the Day of the Lord, where everyone is accountable and cannot hide, which is the Last Judgement.
After the interruption of the 144,000, the seventh seal is opened. This causes a half hour of silence. Silence has its own meaning in the Bible, but in Jewish literature there is a strong connection between the time of silence in heaven and the time when God hears the prayers of the saints. This continues the idea of the fifth seal, where the prayers of the saints come into focus. Even though the prayer of the saints is only mentioned twice, it connects the themes of the seals and the trumpets and plays a central role there.