Revelation 5:1-3

In chap. IV. John has described his vision of the throne of God as seen through the open door of heaven. The object of that scene was not primarily to reveal the glory of him who sat upon the throne, or to describe the living creatures and four and twenty elders, but to record the vision of the sealed book in the hands of the Almighty, and its delivery to the Lamb, in order that it might be opened and its concealed history of the future revealed to man. Chap. V. opens with these words:

And. saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne. book written within and on the back side, sealed with seven seals. And. saw. strong angel proclaiming with aloud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the hook, neither to look thereon.

Let us look with John upon this symbolical picture. The book is in the right hand of God. It is not. printed book, such as we have upon our shelves. There were no printed books then in existence. It is. manuscript, written upon both sides, and rolled together in the form of. scroll, and sealed with seven seals. We learn, from what is recorded in the next chapter, that these seals were so arranged that when they were loosed in succession each one permitted. part of the book to be read. Possibly there were seven leaves to the book, since as each seal was loosed,. leaf of the book was revealed.

This sealed book is the book of the future, sealed to human vision, unknown even to the angels of heaven. No one (the word man does not occur in the Greek) was found able to open the book, for no one can penetrate the future. It is held in the strong right hand of Him who sits on the throne, the omnipotent disposer of the future, who controls the destiny of churches, men and nations. Let the reader take distinct note of this book. Revelation had not yet pictured forth the future. The sweep of the panorama, that has pictured forth upon its canvas the destiny of the Church and the world, cannot begin until the seals of this book are opened. Had no one been found able to open the seals, the closing book of the Bible would never have been written, or certainly would never have been. book of prophecy. Those who find symbols of the future before. single seal of the book that holds the record of human destiny locked in its folds is opened, have studied the meaning of the symbols in vain.