Revelation 5:7

Revelation 5:7. And he came, and he hath taken it out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. The change of tense is worthy of observation, for it is impossible to agree with those who urge that the two tenses used are simply equivalent to each other. In the very next verse the Seer returns to the tense of the verb ‘came' when he says ‘took,' and not ‘hath taken' The latter word therefore implies more than ‘took.' St. John sees the Lamb not merely take the roll, but keep it. It is His, His by right of the victory He has won; His as Immanuel, God with us; His not as the Divine Eternal Son only, but as our Redeemer, the Head of His Church; His to unfold in all its meaning for the Church for which He died. He ‘hath taken it,' He is worthy to open it, and it shall be opened. Therefore the song of praise and joy begins, gradually widening until it embraces all creation.