Who is Worthy? - Revelation 5

And now, in this chapter, God the Son is introduced.  And he shares the throne with Father, and the seven-fold Spirit of God is indicated by seven eyes.  Again we see the prominence of the perfect number seven.

• Seven horns speaks of the incomparable power of the Lamb.
• Seven seals indicates perfect unbreakable security of the seals.
• Seven eyes speaks of the seven-fold Spirit of God on the Lamb.

After reading this chapter, I hardly know where to start.  George Frideric Handel must have felt the same way when he composed the last chorus in his seminal work, “The Messiah.”  The last chorus, “Worthy Is the Lamb,” uses the text from Revelation 5:12-14.

Imagine hearing this chapter for the first time as a believer in the seven churches.  Everything you’ve been going through would fade into the background as you see the Lamb of God in the midst of the throne.  The reader identifies with John who is wracked with sobs when no one can be found worthy to open the scroll.  And then when the Lamb steps up and is declared worthy, all heaven and earth explodes with praise.  Hear it in Handel’s Messiah.  Or if you prefer contemporary worship, listen to the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir sing “Worthy is the Lamb.”