Revelation 5:3

And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. NO MAN - `no one.' Not merely no man, but also no one of all created beings. IN EARTH - `upon the earth.' UNDER THE EARTH - namely, in hades. LOOK THEREON - upon the contents, so as to read them....

1-7 The apostle saw in the hand of Him that sat upon the throne, a roll of parchments in the form usual in those times, and sealed with seven seals. This represented the secret purposes of God about to be revealed. The designs and methods of Divine Providence, toward the church and the world, are stated, fixed, and made a matter of record. The counsels of God are altogether hidden from the eye and understanding of the creature. The several parts are not unsealed and opened at once, but after each other, till the whole mystery of God's counsel and conduct is finished in the world. The creatures cannot open it, nor read it; the Lord only can do so. Those who see most of God, are most desirous to see more; and those who have seen his glory, desire to know his will. But even good men may be too eager and hasty to look into the mysteries of the Divine conduct. Such desires, if not soon answe...

Verse Revelation 5:3. _AND NO MAN_] ουδεις No _person_ or _being_. _IN HEAVEN_] Among all the angels of God. _NOR IN THE EARTH_] No _human_ being. _NEITHER UNDER THE EARTH_] No _disembodied spirit_, nor any _demon_. Neither _angels, men_, nor _devils_, can fathom the decrees of God. _NEITHER TO LOOK THEREON._] None can _look_ into it unless it be opened, and none can _open_ it unless the _seals_ be unloosed....

AND NO MAN IN HEAVEN - No one - οὐδεὶς oudeis. There is no limitation in the original to man. The idea is, that there was no one in heaven - evidently alluding to the created beings there - who could open the volume. Is it not taught here that angels cannot penetrate the future, and disclose what is to come? Are not their faculties limited in this respect like those of man? NOR IN EARTH - Among all classes of people - sages, divines, prophets, philosophers - who among those have ever been able to penetrate the future, and disclose what is to come? NEITHER UNDER THE EARTH - These divisions compose, in common language, the universe: what is in heaven above; what is on the earth; and whatever there is under the earth - the abodes of the dead. May there not be an allusion here to the supposed science of necr

EXPOSITION REVELATION 5:1 AND I SAW. As in Revelation 4:1, this phrase introduces a new incident in the vision. That which had been witnessed remained, but a further development now takes place. Revelation 4:1. relates the revelation of the glory of the Triune God (see on Revelation 4:2) surrounded by his Church and creation. The glory of Jesus Christ, the Lamb, is now set forth, since he is the only One worthy to receive and declare to his Church the mystery contained in the sealed book. IN THE RIGHT HAND; _upon the right hand _(ἐπί)_. _T

AND NO MAN IN HEAVEN,.... Or "no one in heaven", whether angels, or the souls of departed saints; neither the one nor the other know anything of what is to come, until it is revealed unto them: NOR IN EARTH: among all the men on earth, even those of the greatest sagacity and penetration, the wise, the prudent, the scribe, the disputer of this world, such who are most conversant with books, and have the greatest reach into the things of nature, or of grace: NEITHER UNDER THE EARTH; the dead buried there, good or bad; which may be said agreeably to the notions of the ancient Jews, who believed the immortality of souls, and that they were rewarded or punished, υπο χθονος, "under the earth", according to their virtue or vice in life d: or the devils in hell; or whoever on the earth are influenced by them, as magicians, sorcerers, soothsayers, and necromancers: WAS ABLE TO OPEN THE BOOK, N...

Revelation 5:1 . Much has been written about the meaning of the book written within and on the back side, and sealed with seven seals. What the book contains is no secret whatever. Beginning with the sixth chapter the seals are opened and after they are all broken the contents of the book are made known. The book contains the judgments for this earth preceding His coming in power and glory and the beginning of His reign. It is, therefore, the book of the righteous judgments of God, preceding the glorious manifestation of the King of Kings. Revelation 5:4 . John receives the answer to the question the strong angel had proclaimed. One of the elders told him, “Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has prevailed to open the book, and the seven seals thereof.” No further co

REVELATION 5. THE VISION OF HEAVEN (_continued)._ Ch. 4 gives us the vision of the majesty and glory of God, ch. 5 the vision of the Lamb standing as though it had been slain. The theme of Revelation 4 is the creative power of God: the theme of Revelation 5 the redemptive power of Christ. REVELATION 5:1. A BOOK: _ i.e._ the book of destiny, containing the secrets of the future, probably in the form of a papyrus roll, sealed with seven seals for the sake of security. The imagery is taken from Ezekiel 2:9. [The view that the book is the book of destiny is probably correct. Huschke, followed by Zahn, J. Weiss, and Clemen, takes it to be a will. Seven witnesses would attest a will, each affixing his seal. Before the will could be executed the seals had to be broken; hence failure to break

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. T...

THE ROLL IN THE HAND OF GOD (Revelation 5:1) _ 5:1 And in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne I saw a roll written on the front and on the back, and seated with seven seals._ We must try to visualize the picture which John is drawing. It is taken from the vision of Ezekiel: "And, when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me; and lo, a written scroll was in it; and he spread it before me; and it had writing on the front and on the back; and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe" (Ezekiel 2:9-10). We must note that it was a roll and not a book which was in the hand of God. In the ancient world, down to the second century A.D., the form of literary work was the roll, not the book. The roll was made of papyrus, manufacture