NOTES for Rev 5:6-7

The action unfolding at the Throne of glory has a quite definite meaning, expressed in the symbols of the vision opened to John. The Throne of glory itself symbolizes the spiritual center of the Kingdom, and therefore the spiritual center of the world, since the world was originally conceived by God as His Kingdom. The Lamb "as though slain" obviously symbolizes in this picture Christ Himself, who approaches the Throne of glory just as He approaches it in the visions of another apocalyptic writer, the author of the Book of Daniel. As in the Book of Daniel, horns here symbolize power, and eyes symbolize sight and knowledge. Both of these images, in precisely this sense, have roots deep in Yahwist tradition, and not only prophetic tradition. And the number seven in the Bible has always been a symbol of fullness, the fullness of creation that belongs to the world unspoiled by the fall.

It is no accident that the Lamb has seven eyes and seven horns: His power and His knowledge embrace creation in all its fullness, the fullness in which it was conceived by God. As for the scroll, the "book" of the Synodal translation, this image is multivalent. In the exilic and post-exilic period it was primarily associated with the synagogue scroll of the Torah, which in every synagogue was considered the chief sacred object. On the other hand, since the time of Ezekiel and his visions, the scroll also becomes a symbol of prophetic revelation, which the prophet receives and perceives by swallowing the scroll.

The two images mentioned are connected with each other: the Torah was both text and living revelation at the same time, at least for those who did not limit themselves to formal following of the Torah, but took the path of the inner Torah. In addition, it was believed that all the destinies of creation are contained in the Torah, and that its text symbolically reflects and expresses these destinies. A sealed scroll in such a context means that the true meaning of the Torah, both as revelation and as a spiritual path, is hidden from man. And only the Lamb-Christ can reveal it, can break the seals.

At the Throne sounds a "new song" or "song of renewal": historically such hymns were connected with the celebration of the day of Yahweh or the day of the Lord, a special feast probably connected with the sanctification of Solomon's Temple. It was a feast of theophany and of the spiritual renewal of the people. In this case the issue is a spiritual renewal unlike any that had ever existed before, a renewal from which a new era in human history begins, an era when everything conceived by God will be realized, and the world will again become His Kingdom, in fullness and to the end.