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JOHN 5

JOHN 5

Survey of the chapter
John chapter five records three important matters. First, in verses 1-15, the healing of an impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem; second, in verses 16-29, the Lord’s discourse explaining the issues which come out of that miracle; third, in verses 30-47, the vital matter of witnesses to the truth.

Structure of the chapter

Section 1	5:1-16	Work by the Son and the Father
Section 2	5:17-30	Word about the Son and the Father
Section 3	5:31-47	Witness to the Son by the Father

Section 1 5:1-16
Work by the Son and the Father

5:1
After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem- when the religious feasts were detailed in Leviticus 23, they were called the Feasts of the Lord. Here, however, John can speak only of a feast of the Jews. It is as if the Lord has been sidelined, and the Jews have come to the fore. God has been removed from the centre of the life of the nation, and man is now prominent. This situation is about to be challenged, for God manifest in flesh is about to move in the very centre of the religion of the Jews, and set out His claim to be in control, on behalf of His Father.

John records more of the Lord’s ministry in Jerusalem than any of the other gospel writers. He tells of one who has come to His own things, 1:11, and this includes the capital city of His own country, and the temple, which was the focal point of the religious life of the nation. It is also important for the Lord to be found in Jerusalem, for that is where, in the Old Testament, God had placed His name, Deuteronomy 12:11; 1 Kings 8:29. Now the one who comes in that name is present personally.

The repeated mention of Jerusalem in John’s gospel is in striking contrast to the lack of mention in Matthew’s gospel, which is the gospel of the king. The Lord Jesus is not found in Jerusalem, (which He Himself described as the “city of the great king”, Matthew5:35), until He goes there to die. It is true that the Devil took Him to the pinnacle of the temple during the temptation, but that can hardly be called a visit.

Returning to John chapter 5, we notice that John does not tell us what feast it was. This might puzzle us, until we remember that the list of seven feasts in Leviticus 23 is preceded by the mention of the sabbath, which is classed as a holy convocation, just as the other seven feasts are. The healing of the impotent man was done on the sabbath, and provoked the hostility of the Jews, and provided the starting-point for the Lord’s discourse about His work and the Father’s work, which continued even on the sabbath, the day of rest for Israel.

As believers, we are happy to not keep the feasts of Leviticus 23, since we have come into the good of their spiritual counterpart. So Christ our passover is sacrificed for us, 1 Corinthians 5:7; and He is the firstfruits in resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15:23; and will come with the sound of a trumpet to call us to heaven, 1 Thessalonians 4:16. And all this on the basis of the fact that His atoning work avails to cleanse us from our sins. This being the case, it is easy to see that we have come into the good of the sabbath in a spiritual way also, for we have gone to Him for rest, Matthew 11::28.

5:2
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.

Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches- as he builds up a picture of the scene for us, John is using Old Testament ideas to help us understand the significance of the miracle he is about to relate. Thus he speaks of Jerusalem, the capital city established under David and Solomon; the sheep market, where animals would be bought to be used as sacrifices; and even the name of the pool in the Hebrew tongue, the language of the Old Testament. Later he will mention the period of thirty-eight years, the period of time that the Israelites wandered in the wilderness after they refused to go into the land.

John describes Christ’s miracles as signs, for they had deep spiritual significance, and they demonstrated that the historical Jesus was the Christ or Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament, and that He was indeed the Son of God, as expounded in the New Testament; see John 20:30,31. The miracle after Christ’s resurrection was to demonstrate His Lordship, which is referred to eight times in John chapter 21.

These miracles were not only performed so that unbelievers might learn from them and believe. They were done “in the presence of his disciples”, John 20:30, which assures us not only that they were witnessed at first hand, but also that the miracles have a lesson for believers as well as unbelievers. As the Lord said to His disciples, “Believe me that I am in the Father, and the Father in me: or else believe me for the very works’ sake.” John 14:11.

So it is that in the city of Jerusalem, near to where the sheep would be brought from the market to be sacrificed, the Lord finds a sorry collection of infirm folk. And all this at a pool called Bethesda, a name which means loving-kindness.

Notice that John writes “there is in Jerusalem”, and not “there was in Jerusalem”. So it seems that Jerusalem was still standing when the gospel of John was written. There is no reason to think that it was written when John was very old, but this verse gives reason to think it was before the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. It is very probable that Matthew, Mark and Luke were written before this, (which John himself implies with the words, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book”, John 20:30, implying they were written in other books), so the gospel accounts were circulated within a few years of the events they record. A fragment of Mark’s gospel has been found in a cave at Qumran in the style of handwriting current in the decade beginning 50 AD.

5:3
In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water- impotent folk are people who have no strength, and the way in which this lack of strength manifested itself is told us, for some were blind, some were unable to walk properly, and the energy of some had completely sapped away. How like Israel under the law this was. For Romans 8:3 speaks of the inability of the law to enable men to walk in obedience to God, and the cause of that inability was not a fault in the law, but rather the weakness of the flesh. The word the apostle used for “weak” is the same as is here translated impotent. Man, weakened by sin, is unable to deliver himself from his condition. As we shall see, the three particular infirmities mentioned here have special significance in connection with the thirty-eight year period.

5:4
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had- there are those who suggest that this verse should be omitted. It is not thought to be “scientific”, and some think it to be the stuff of legend and superstition. But it is not up to us to decide what should be in the word of God and what should not. The last chapter of the Bible warns us against tampering with the words, with a fearful curse pronounced on those who do so. The context of those verses at the end of the Book of Revelation is the coming of Christ, so it is strongly implied that it will be possible to know exactly what the word of God is even until the end of the age. If it is not possible to know what the word of God is, it would not be right for those to be judged who in fact deviated.

Moreover, if the apostle John did not write these words, how is it that four of the “church fathers” quoted them? No church father who lived before 400 AD and who quoted the passage omitted this verse, showing that before the time when the corrupt text on which modern translations are based was produced, believers were familiar with these words.

Those who reject this verse must explain why the multitude of sick folk are at the pool at all. (We learn they were there from verses that are not disputed). What maintained their hopes? If nothing ever happened and it was all a superstition, there is no explanation as to why they were present.

If the pool was simply a spa, and the water contained some minerals that imparted some good, then why did people with major handicaps go there? How could minerals cure blindness and lameness? And why should it be only the first one to step into the water who gained the healing if the water was the same for everyone?

Furthermore the impotent man, in a verse that is not disputed, testifies that the water was troubled sometimes, and others had stepped down before him, with the implication that they were healed.

Special note on the angel
We read in Revelation 16:4 of “the angel of the waters”, who had control over the rivers and fountains of waters, verse 3. It is no surprise then to find an angel influencing the water of this pool. But there is a greater significance to the angel that his physical control of water. Given the factors that combine together in this incident, we could see in this angel a representative of the law, (remembering that the law was “ordained by angels”, Galatians 3:19, and was received by Israel “by the disposition of angels”, Acts 7:53). There were five instances in the journey of Israel from Egypt to Canaan involving angelic intervention, as follows:

1. At the commissioning of Moses to be their leader. “And when forty years were expired, there appeared to him in the wilderness of mount Sina and angel of the Lord in a flame of fire in the bush”, Acts 7:30. By this the people learned the name of the Lord, Exodus 3:14.

2. At the time of the Exodus. “This Moses…did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush”, Acts 7:35. By this the people learned the power of God.

3. At the crossing of the Red Sea. “And the angel of God, which went before the camp of Israel, removed and went behind them”, Exodus 14:19. By this the people learned the protection of God.

4. At Sinai when the law was given. “The Lord came from Sinai, and rose up from Seir unto them; he shined forth from mount Paran, and he came with ten thousands of saints: from his right hand went a fiery law for them”, Deuteronomy 33:2. By this they learned the righteousness of God.

5. During the wilderness journey. “Behold, I send an angel before thee, to keep thee in the way, and to bring thee into the place which I have prepared”, Exodus 23:20. They learned the faithfulness of God.

What Israel learned through the ministry of an angel, was learned in a fuller way by the impotent man, but not through the angel, who did nothing to help him, by the Lord of angels Himself. By His actions that day, the Lord Jesus displayed to the full the attributes of God, which are summed up in His name. And He did it in Jerusalem, where God’s name should have been honoured, but where, in fact, it was shamed. The man felt the power of God in that he was healed, and enabled to walk. He knew the protection of God, for the Lord diverted the hostility of the authorities against the man for carrying his bed on the sabbath day onto Himself, so that they sought to kill Him. He learned the righteousness of God, for the word came to him. “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon thee”. He was in the presence of one who knew his heart and his record, and could rebuke him for his sin. Finally, he knew the faithfulness of God, for the man was made “every whit whole”, John 7:23. In other words, he would never be found as a lame man at the pool again, for his entire being was fitted to live to the glory of God.

5:5
And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.

And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years- this is the man that the Lord singles out. But why? Because of the time he had been infirm. Thirty-eight years was the period of time that the nation of Israel of Israel had wandered in the wilderness after they had refused to go into the land because of unbelief. That land represented the rest that God had planned for them from the foundation of the world. In fact He called it His rest, but the people refused it. So the Lord chose the man, (at first at least, for He may have healed many more at the pool afterwards), because of the time he had been infirm, and He chose the day, because it suggested the idea of rest. It will be the same later in the Gospel, when the Lord times His invitation to those who were thirsty to come to Him, just as the priest returned from the Pool of Siloam with a golden churn of water, for He is the counterpart of the rock that yielded water for the thirsty Israelites in the desert. Or when He presented Himself as the light of the world, the day after the lampstands in the temple courts had been extinguished and dismantled, for He is the fulfilment of the pillar of fire that led Israel through the wilderness.

Special note on the thirty and eight years
It would be helpful to set out the time-line of the movements of Israel prior to arriving at the brook Zered, which marked the close of a thirty-eight year period.

Having been delivered from Egypt, the children of Israel arrived at Sinai, or Horeb, in the third month of the first year of their journeyings, Exodus 19:1.

They journeyed from Sinai, and arrived at Kadesh, in the wilderness of Paran, on the south border of the land of Canaan, in the second year, Numbers 10:12. At this point Moses sent the spies into Canaan to see the land, but the people refused to enter in.

In His wrath God determined that all those who had come out of Egypt when they were at least twenty years old, and who were men of war, would not enter the land, but would die in the wilderness. The only exceptions being Joshua and Caleb, the faithful spies, Numbers 14:22,23.

Then began a long period of wandering in the desert, until they arrived back at Kadesh in the fortieth year.

We know the length of time this took from the words of Moses, when he recalled the movements of the camp of Israel in the wilderness, “And the space in which we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the Lord sware unto them. For indeed the hand of the Lord was against them, to destroy them from among the host, until they were consumed.” Deuteronomy 2:14,15.

So the period of thirty and eight years had great significance, for it was the period during which those who had refused the land died because of unbelief. They had refused to enter into God’s rest. And even when the next generation entered under Joshua, that was not the rest under the Messiah, but only a foretaste of it.

Now in the Epistle to the Hebrews a connection would be made between God resting on the seventh day after His work of creation, and the rest of the Messiah’s rule. This is the rest that Israel will enjoy when they eventually receive their Messiah and enter the land under His benevolent rule. They will then enter into the kingdom-rest that God had prepared for them from the beginning of the world.

The sabbath day, therefore, was a reminder that God had rested, but also that “There remaineth now a rest for the people of God.” Hebrews 4:9, where the particular word for rest means “a keeping of sabbath”. The Lord Jesus is working to bring them into that rest. Hence the discussion a few verses later in the chapter about the sabbath, and work, for He must work so that His people may enter into rest.

Man is infirm, like the man at the pool of Bethesda and unable to earn that rest. Only God sending His own Son can remedy the powerlessness of man, Romans 8:3. Man is lame, and cannot enter the kingdom. It is striking that the starting and finishing point of the thirty-eight years wandering was the same, Kadesh Barnea, Deuteronomy 1:19; Numbers 33:36. In other words, they made no progress at all, just like the lame man laying by the pool.

5:6
When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?

When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? Joshua said that the people had “dwelt in the wilderness a long season”, Joshua 24:7. Similarly, this man has been unable to enjoy the rest of the sabbath because of his disability; he is still “in the wilderness”. It is strongly implied in the words the Lord spoke to him afterwards that his infirmity was the result of some particular sin, which he is commanded to forsake, verse 14. So, too, the people of Israel had, by their own confession, sinned by not entering the land when God commanded, Deuteronomy 1:41, and as a result wandered outside of the land, (the “rest”), for thirty eight years.

The Lord’s words to the man served to introduce the subject of being made whole, and caused him to review his options, either self-help to get into the pool, or the help of another. As yet, he does not realise there is a third option, which will enable him to be healed without recourse to the pool. In the Old Testament angelic interventions had occurred fairly frequently, but now the Lord of the Hosts of angels is present in loving-kindness, and makes Bethesda live up to its name, “the House of Lovingkindness”. The words of the apostle Paul are appropriate, “the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared”, Titus 3:4.

5:7
The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.

The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me- what a sad commentary on the men of religious Jerusalem! Obsessed with their rituals, they forgot the weightier matters such as mercy, Matthew 23:23. What better way to remember the sabbath day and sanctify it to sacred uses, than to lower the man into the pool, if the waters moved that day. He would then have been able to keep sabbath, and worship God in an undistracted way. On two occasions the Lord found it necessary to quote the words of Hosea 6:6 to the people, “I desired mercy, and not sacrifice”. By which is meant not that there was a choice between bringing sacrifice or showing mercy, but rather, that sacrifice without mercy was not pleasurable to God. The people should have reflected on that as they passed the impotent folk as they went to the sheep market to buy their lamb for sacrifice.

What the people were not prepared to do, that is, help the man, Christ was prepared to do. He was not bound by the petty regulations of men, but had come to magnify the law of God and make it honourable, as the prophet said He would, Isaiah 42:21. The sabbath was God’s provision for Israel so that they would have rest from their daily toil, and have opportunity to come before Him in synagogue and temple. This impotent man could not do this until the Lord of the sabbath dealt with his case, and he was afterwards found in the temple, able to sanctify the sabbath to holy purposes. It is noticeable that the angel that came down to trouble the pool did nothing to help the poor unfortunates laying around it.

5:8
Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk- the three things the man is commanded to do have special significance, since the Lord refers to greater works in verse 20, implying that there is a contrast. He who can cause a man to rise from his bed, can also raise men from the dead. He who can give a man strength to carry his bed in ordinary life, can also quicken with eternal life. He who can warn the man that if he sins further a worse thing will come upon him, verse 14, will bring worse things by way of judgment on all unbelievers at the Great White Throne, verse 29.

These three things also have significance when we link them to what the Lord Jesus said about this miracle months afterwards, in John 7:19-24. The Jews were angry about what He had done. The Lord, however, exposed their inconsistency, for they were fully prepared to circumcise a male child on the sabbath day if he was born on a Friday, in order that Moses’ eighth-day rule be not broken. But that work of circumcision only gave the boy nominal entrance into the nation of Israel under the Old Covenant, whereas the truth expressed by Christ’s healing of the impotent man makes “every whit whole”, and gives entrance into the rest of God. Moreover, circumcision is a wounding, and partial, and physical, whereas Christ’s work is restorative, and complete, and spiritual.

Pursuing this line a little further, we may compare the three commands to the man with the three aspects of circumcision presented to us in Scripture, seeing that the Lord will connect this miracle with the idea of circumcision in John 7:21-24. The first command was “Rise”, and we may link this with the circumcision of Joshua, to whom the word came, “Moses my servant is dead; now therefore arise, go over this Jordan”, Joshua 1:2. Having done this, the people were circumcised at Gilgal, on the further bank of the river. The circumcision of Christ brings into the reality of this, as Colossians 2:11,12 indicates, for the believer is associated with a risen Man, and as such is spiritually circumcised, being cut off from his former life. This is better even than entering an earthly Canaan.

The second command was “Take up thy bed”. By saying these words, the Lord Jesus deliberately set His authority against that of the Jews. They had hedged the sabbath about with their regulations, which they had elevated almost to the level of the law itself. The man, as he obeyed Him, becomes a living example not only of the superior authority of Christ over the leaders in Israel, but also of the superiority of grace over law. The circumcision of Christ not only frees us from our past, but also from the traditions of men, and even the law of Moses itself, which the circumcision of Moses placed men under. See Galatians 5:1-6; 6:12-16.

The third command was “Walk”. This would remind us of the circumcision of Abraham, for the apostle Paul speaks of him as “the father of circumcision to them who are not of the circumcision only, but who also walk in the steps of that faith of our father Abraham, which he had being yet uncircumcised”, Romans 4:12. The walk of a believer should be a separated one, following in the footsteps of a man committed to walking by faith in the path marked out for him by God. Taking all these things together, we see what the Lord means when He speaks of making the man every whit whole.

There is yet another way we may look at this three-fold command, bearing in mind that the man is now able to advance into new life. God said to Abraham, in relation to the land of Canaan, God’s rest, “Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed for ever…Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee”, Genesis 13:14,15,17. So he was to look, arise, and walk. Some of the men and women at the pool were blind, so could not look; some were halt, so could not arise; some were withered, and so could not walk. Now that he has come into contact with Christ, the once-impotent man will be able to see spiritual things, and advance into the enjoyment of them. He will be a true son of Abraham, able to look, arise and walk.

5:9
And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath- instead of waiting for intermittent angel-ministry, or the help of men who are largely indifferent to his plight, the man finds someone who shows him kindness, so that Bethesda truly was the House of Loving-kindness that day. He is now in a position to enjoy the sabbath. Truly the kindness and love of God our Saviour appeared, as the apostle wrote, Titus 3:4. At last Bethesda has lived up to its name, but it was not because of the worshippers helping the man, or the angel assisting him into the pool, but the very Son of God, sent forth into the world to do for men what they could not do for themselves.

Special note on miracles on the sabbath day
The gospel records tell us of seven occasions when the Lord Jesus worked a miracle on the sabbath day. They are as follows, with the principles behind what He did:

1. Man with unclean spirit delivered, Mark 1:21-28

Christ’s authority over the powers of evil was total.

He was not limited in His actions by the fact it was the sabbath day.

The people said, “with authority commandeth he the evil spirits, and they do obey him”, verse 27.

2. Healing of Peter’s wife’s mother, Mark 1:29-31

Spiritual exercises must be foremost. The afflicted woman was not able to sanctify the sabbath day to holy uses if she was sick of a fever, and could not go to the synagogue as others in the family had.

3. Man with withered hand healed, Mark 3:1-6

It is a moral imperative to do good, and to save life. On this basis the Lord was at liberty to deliver this man, and to do him good.

4. The impotent man at Bethesda is healed, John 5:1-9

The Son and the Father are equal, and work regardless of the day. God is not bound by the regulations of the sabbath. Since He is equal with God, the Son is not bound by them either.

5. The blind man has his sight restored, John 9:1-41.

As the Lord said at the end of the incident, “For judgement I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind”, verse 39. The blind man went from blindness to sight physically, but also spiritually. The Pharisees, claiming to see spiritually, are shewn to be blind spiritually, for they did not recognise and honour the one who could give sight to the blind.

6. The woman with the spirit of infirmity loosed, Luke 13:11-17

If a man looses his ox so as to lead him to drink, should not a woman be loosed from her tie, even if it is the sabbath day, especially if it is Satan that has bound her?

7. The man with dropsy, Luke 14:1-6

A man pulls a sheep out of a pit, even if it is a sabbath day, because it is required by the law of Moses to do so, Deuteronomy 22:4. The question the Lord asked settles the matter, “How much then is a man better than a sheep?” The sheep is but a beast, whereas the man is in the image of God, so that is the measure of how much a man is better than a sheep. By the application of simple logic, the Lord rebukes the wickedness of the ruler of the synagogue.

5:10
The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed- note that the Jews are not overjoyed that the man has been made whole at last, and is strong enough now to walk and carry his bed. They are only concerned with the fact that he is carrying his bed on the sabbath day. In fact to carry one’s bed on the Sabbath day carried the death penalty according to their regulations. There is a conflict here between the laws of men and law of God, and it one of the purposes of the miracle to highlight this.

5:11
He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk- though the Jews ignore the fact that the man is now whole, the man himself cannot, so connects the healing with the command. If his benefactor had power to make whole on the sabbath, He must have power to command to take up a bed on the sabbath, so he reasons, and rightly. It is a question of authority that is developed in the next section. The Jews feel that their authority is being questioned and overturned, and that at feast time, when Jerusalem is crowded with people.

5:12
Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? The healed man would realise that his benefactor was in danger of His life, for the authorities would try to impose the death penalty on those who broke the sabbath. To relieve him of the dilemma, the Lord had deliberately moved away, so that the man genuinely did not know His identity. The man was now protected. The good shepherd has put Himself in danger to protect the sheep.

5:13
And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place- taking advantage of the crowds, the Lord had conveyed Himself away, no doubt in order that the questioning of the man might take place, and the issues involved might become clear. He is not interested in the praise of men for what He had done, but rather that they see the significance of what He had done, and, believing, come into the good of the rest of heart and conscience He bestows. Only in this way could they know true “sabbath”. No doubt this was also a test, to see what the man would do with his new-found strength and ability.

5:14
Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple- this shows that the miracle has achieved its object, for the man is now able, after thirty eight years, to enter into the blessing of a sabbath in the temple at feast time. This is the true purpose of the sabbath, to enable men to serve God without distraction. The man was hindered before, and those who were going in and out of the sheep market to buy lambs for sacrifice showed no pity on him, showing they had not learned the lesson, “I will have mercy and not sacrifice”.

And said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee- not only does the Lord identify Himself as the man’s healer, but also as his judge if he should return to his sin. And this is very relevant, for in His subsequent discourse, He shows that He not only has power to give life, but also to judge as well. Grace heals him physically, and truth adjusts him spiritually.

5:15
The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.

The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole- perhaps it is understandable that the man should have a certain amount of fear for the authorities, given that, as already mentioned, they demanded the death penalty for sabbath breaking. And not just sabbath breaking in the sense of breaking God’s law, but also for breaking their additions to the law. We know from the healing of the blind man in chapter nine that the penalty for belief in Christ was very severe. Perhaps the authorities had threatened him if he did not tell them who had healed him. This verse serves to introduce the next section, with its teaching as to who Jesus really is. The Lord has ordered events so that His discourse on His Sonship is spoken to the authorities, and not just to the man.

5:16
And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the sabbath day.

And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the sabbath day- if the man was in danger of the death penalty, so was the Lord Jesus, in their view. They thought they had the precedent of the man who had gathered sticks on the sabbath day, and was stoned for it, Numbers 15:32-36. But that sin was an example of the sort spoken of in the previous verses of that chapter, the act of one who despised the word of the Lord and broke His commandment, verse 31. The Lord Jesus had done neither of these things. He had loved God’s law, for it said, “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself”, Leviticus 19:18, and this is what He had done by healing the man. This is one of the two great commands of the law, which over-ride lesser laws, Matthew 22:34-40. Nor had He broken the sabbath commandment, but had enabled the man to be free to keep the sabbath day without his handicap. That He had the authority to work on the sabbath day is established by the discourse which follows.

Section 2 5:17-30
Word about the Son and the Father

Survey of the section
Because He did the miracle on the Sabbath day, and also because He commanded the healed man to carry his bed, the Lord Jesus was met by the hostility of the Jews, which in John’s gospel means the Jewish authorities. Compare John 7:11 and 12, where the Jews are distinguished from the people. They had added to God’s simple command to “remember the sabbath day to keep it holy”, and by so doing had made the word of God of no effect by their tradition, as they had done in other connections, Mark 7:13. They failed to realise that God desires “mercy and not sacrifice”, Matthew 12:7, and if they had gone to the Pool of Bethesda and carried the sick folk from that place to the feet of the Lord Jesus they would have sanctified the sabbath day to sacred uses, and thus have obeyed God’s command.

So the discourse of the Lord Jesus revolves around the matter of working, and is given, significantly, on the day of rest. Notice the words for working and doing in verses 16,17,19,20, and also the reference to this miracle as a work in John 7:21.

That God is not indifferent to the breaking of the Sabbath is seen in the stoning of the sabbath-breaker in Numbers 15:32-36, and the carrying away of the Jews so that the land could enjoy seventy years of sabbath after four hundred and ninety years of neglect of the sabbath, 2 Chronicles 36:21. In no way, however, were the works done by Christ on the sabbath a transgression of the sabbath law, but were rather the exercise by Christ of His Divine rights.

The discourse which follows is the first public one in John’s gospel, and is entirely in keeping with the general theme of the gospel as a whole. It is interesting to notice the first discourses in the other gospels, and to notice how they fit the scheme of the writers also. In Matthew, the first discourse is the address in Matthew chapters 5 to 7 on the mountain, (itself a symbol of His kingdom), in which He sets out the terms of citizenship in His kingdom. In Mark’s servant gospel the first discourse, (as opposed to responses to objections), is in connection with two parables on the subject of the sowing of seed, Mark 4. In Luke the first recorded discourse is in the synagogue of Nazareth, in which the Lord claims to be the one of whom Isaiah spoke, that He would be a sympathetic Saviour, the theme of Luke’s gospel, Luke 4:16-30.

In the first public discourse that John records, Christ made a eight-fold claim to Deity. The whole discourse is in the third person, as if He stands back from His relationship with the Father to view it in its entirety in the same way as believers may. We may summarise His claims as follows:

First claim: Equality of action
He said, “The Son can do nothing of himself”, John 5:19. God is one, and the persons of the Godhead do not, and indeed cannot, act independently of one another. The act of one can be said to be the act of the other.

Second claim: Equality of affection
“The Father loveth the Son”, verse 20. God is love, 1 John 4:8, but love must have an object. The Son has been the object of His Father’s love for all eternity.

Third claim: Equality of perception
The Father “sheweth him all things that himself doeth”, verse 20. The Son of God has the ability to comprehend all the things that God does.

Fourth claim: Equality in resurrection
“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will”, verse 21. Since when a man dies his spirit returns to God, then the one who retrieves that spirit and gives it back to the dead man must Himself be God. Of course, prophets in the Old Testament and apostles in the New Testament raised the dead, but only with delegated authority. That Christ’s authority is not delegated is seen in the phrase “even so”, meaning He acted in exactly the same way as His Father. And also in the phrase “whom he will”, for His will is to raise from the dead, in harmony with the Father. This is why Christ’s works were “works none other man did”, John 15:24.

Fifth claim: Equality in jurisdiction
“The Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son…and hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man”, verses 22 and 27. Abraham described God as the judge of all the earth, Genesis 18:25, so He that judges all the earth must be God.

Sixth claim: Equality of recognition
He has been given judgment over all men “That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son, honoureth not the Father which hath sent him”, verse 23. One day every knee shall bow to Christ, and confess that He is Lord, Philippians 2:10,11. But God has said that He is the one to whom every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear, Isaiah 45:23, so Christ must be equal with God.

Seventh claim: Equality in communication
He said, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life”, verse 24. To hear the word of the Son is to hear the word of the Father. To believe the Son is to believe the Father.

Eighth claim: Equality in administration
The Father has “given to the Son to have life in himself”, verse 26. He has also “given him authority to execute judgement also”, verse 27. As God’s Firstborn Son, the Lord Jesus has been given things to do. First, He has been given life for others, those who believe. Of course He has life in Himself, as the verse says, but He has it for others too. He also has been given the task of judging.

Structure of Section 2

(i)	Verses 17-19	Equality of action
(ii)	Verse 20(a)	Equality of affection
(iii)	Verse 20(b)	Equality of perception
(iv)	Verse 21	Equality in resurrection
(v)	Verse 22	Equality in jurisdiction
(vi)	Verse 23	Equality in recognition
(vii)	Verse 24	Equality in communication
(viii)	Verses 25-30	Equality in administration

(i) Verses 17-19
First claim: Equality of action

5:17
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.

But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work- the Jews persecuted the Lord for His miracle, for they believed He had broken the sabbath, or in other words, was loosing the binding force of the commandment. This statement is Christ’s answer to this persecution. Far from admitting a transgression of the law, He asserts that what He had done was but a sample of the ongoing work which He and the Father performed constantly, even on the sabbath day. The tense of the word “worketh” is present indicative, meaning continuous action, and even on the sabbath day. The original sabbath after the six days of creation was not the rest of exhaustion, but of enjoyment, as the Creator contemplated the work of His hands. Despite this resting, however, creation was still maintained and preserved by Him, whether it was the sabbath day or not.

What the Lord states here is that this is His work, too. God also worked in other ways, as He intervened in the affairs of men, whether restraining, judging, blessing, forming and preserving the nation of Israel, entering into covenants, or preparing the way for the coming of Christ. The Son claims here to be involved in this work on an equal basis. As John has already told us, the Word was in the world in a very real sense before He became incarnate, John 1:10.

5:18
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God- Christ’s statement was clearly understood by the Jews, even though they did not believe it, for they correctly deduced from the words “My Father” that He was claiming a unique relationship with God the Father. (They had heard Him call the temple His Father’s house, 2:16). They immediately realised that He was saying God was His Father in a unique and special sense, for such is the force of the word “his”, meaning “his privately, exclusively”. The Jews felt bound under the terms of the law of Moses to kill such a blasphemer, for this they mistakenly thought Him to be since they refused His claims. That He is in fact “equal with God”, the Lord Jesus goes on to prove.

5:19
Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you- note the double use of the word verily. This phrase, unique to John’s gospel, has a five-fold significance. First, it introduces doctrine that is a development, different to all that had gone before. Second, it assures us of the definiteness of the truth made known, that there is no doubt about it. Third, it prepares the way for something difficult, and beyond the mind of mere man to conceive. Fourth, it pre-empts denial, the “Nay, nay” of any who refuse to believe what is taught. Fifthly, it denotes that what follows is Divine truth.

The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do- having thus assured His hearers of the truth of what He was about to say, the Lord Jesus first of all makes clear that as the Son of the Father, He cannot act “of himself”, that is, independently. So when He made the man whole on the sabbath day, He was not acting in independence of God, much less at variance with Him and contrary to His law. It is impossible for Divine Persons to act independently of one another, or else they would not be “one Lord”, Deuteronomy 6:4.

That this “cannot” is not specifically because He has come into manhood is shown by two things. First, it is as Son that He cannot do anything of Himself. When the word Son is used on its own, it means Son of God, not Son of man. The Lord speaks of Himself here in the third person, thus emphasising the abstract character of what He is saying, and separated from other considerations such as that He has become man.

Second, it is said of the Spirit that He does not speak “of himself”, John 16:13, (and the same preposition is used there, meaning sourced in himself), but the Spirit obviously has not become man. Hence the emphasis in the phrase “of himself”, is on the character of Divine persons as such.

So the Son does nothing except what He sees the Father do, and by seeing is meant spiritual, Divine insight, which involves knowledge of the reason for what is done, as well as the action itself. Only a Divine person has full insight into the purpose of God. The Son has this insight, for He is in the bosom of the Father. Furthermore, “doeth” is in the present tense in each case, and therefore at any given moment the Father and the Son are both at work. The Son does not begin after the Father has started, nor when the Father has finished.

For what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise- the work of the Son is not additional to the work of the Father, but He acts together with the Father, and acts in the same way identically, this being the force of the word likewise. It is not mere imitation, nor is it a modification. This is seen, for example, in the way Scripture speaks of the creation and preservation of the world. Compare Romans 11:36 with John 1:3, and also Psalm 104:30, Nehemiah 9:6, with Hebrews 1:3, Colossians 1:17.

Note it is “whatsoever” the Father doeth, for there is no limit to the work that the Son is able to do in harmony with His Father, for their powers are co-extensive. In the context of the miracle just performed, the Lord is saying that the God whose honour they claimed to be defending by seeking to stone Him, was in fact fully in harmony with His Son. The miracle was the outward evidence of the Father working.

(ii) Verse 20(a)
Second claim: Equality of affection

5:20
For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth:

For the Father loveth the Son- the word for love here is phileo, which is love where there is a correspondence and likeness between those loving. The other major word for love in the New Testament is agape, which speaks of love because the object is valued. Both words are used of the love of the Father and the Son, so we should beware of thinking of one as being a lesser sort of love than the other. Such is the love between the persons of the Godhead that they withhold nothing from each other. Love may be defined as “The expression of an attraction”.

Note the occurrence of the word “for” in verses 20-22, giving proofs of His equality with the Father:
“For the Father loveth the Son”, verse 20.
“For as the Father raiseth the dead”, verse 21.
“For the Father judgeth no man”, verse 22.

(iii) Verse 20(b)
Third claim: Equality in perception

And showeth him all things that himself doeth– the word “showeth” is the same as in John 14:8, “show us the Father”. Note the reply, “He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father”. Clearly the Father cannot be physically seen, (so neither the physical appearance of the Father nor of the Lord Jesus is in view), but He can be discerned spiritually as a result of knowing and understanding the person and ministry of the Lord Jesus. So here, the Father shows the Son what He is doing in the sense that He hides nothing of the purpose of His acting from Him. Because He is the Son, and therefore shares the nature of Deity, the Lord Jesus has infinite capacity to understand the Father’s purpose and actions. The work He performed on the impotent man was a very wonderful thing, therefore, for it was the reproduction of what the Father was showing the Son, and therefore was a perfect expression of Divine communications, and an evidence of the Father’s love for the Son, and His total confidence in Him.

(iv) Verse 21
Fourth claim: Equality in resurrection

5:21
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them- we should not deduce from these words the idea that the Father raised and quickened in Old Testament times, and the Son does it in New Testament times. Rather, two statements are made, one about the Father and one about the Son, and both are true at all times. The point is they do the raising according to their Divine will.

Even so the Son quickeneth whom he will- in verses 21 and 22 there is a two-fold justification for the claim to be able to do greater works, each prefaced by the word “for”. Of Nebuchadnezzar it was said, “Whom he would he slew; and whom he would he kept alive”, Daniel 5:19, but God declares “I kill, and I make alive”, Deuteronomy 32:39. The Egyptian magicians had to admit that to bring life out of the dust was a work of God, Exodus 8:16-19. See also 1 Samuel 2:6.

When a man dies, his spirit leaves his body, James 2:26, and returns to God, Ecclesiastes 12:7, and hence is in the control of God. One who can cause that spirit to return to the body must therefore have Divine authority. Of course prophets in the Old Testament and apostles in the New Testament raised the dead, but they did so only because it was the will of God to use them in this work. Here the Lord Jesus claims to quicken “whom He will”; it is His decision and action, but in harmony with the Father, as ever.

The word quicken has altered in meaning; it means to make alive. Raising the dead has to do with the body as it is caused to stand up again, having fallen in death, whereas making alive has more to do with the return of the spirit into the body. If the departure of the spirit means death, its return must mean life.

(v) Verse 22
Fifth claim: Equality in jurisdiction

5:22
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:

For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son- this is the second example of greater works which the Son performs. His work of quickening is illustrated by the restoration of the impotent man; His work of judgment is hinted at by the words “sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee”, verse 14. The Father is still the judge of all, Hebrews 12:23, and He still judges His children, 1 Peter 1:17, but He does it in and through the Son. The reason for this will be seen in verse 27. That the Son is entrusted with the entire work of Divine judgment in all its aspects shows that the Father is confident of His ability, and this in turn shows His Deity. Only one who is God can judge infallibly, as He must do if He is to have the Father’s confidence. Joseph was able to make predictions about life and judgment, but he was not able to bring them to pass, Genesis chapter 40.

The fact that the Son knows what these works are beforehand, (and it is clear from the next verse that He does), and knows, too, that the Father will show them to Him at the appropriate moment, is further testimony to His Deity.

(vi) Verse 23
Sixth claim: Equality in recognition

5:23
That all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

That all men should honour the Son even as they honour the Father- the ultimate purpose for which quickening and judging is done is here disclosed by the Lord. If He quickens as God does, and has all judgment entrusted to Him, He must be due Divine honours. All men shall have to acknowledge God eventually, and here they are said to honour the Son “even as” they honour the Father; in other words with the same kind of honour; not simply the honour of respect, but of the recognition of Deity.

So the Son is given the authority to judge those who do not honour Him in their lifetime. At the great white throne judgment every knee shall bow to Christ, and this will happen to the glory of God the Father, Philippians 2:10. To honour Him then will be to honour the Father. So men either honour the Son by believing on Him during their lifetime, or by bowing the knee to Him on the day of judgment.

He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him- the Father regards the withholding of honour from the Son as a withholding of honour from Him, since there is unity between them. This honour may be withheld at the present time, but God will see to it that that will not happen in a time to come, for He said, “I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear”, Isaiah 45:23. The apostle clearly had that verse in mind as he penned the words of Philippians 2. So the word that decrees all men shall bow is the word of an oath, (“by myself have I sworn”), it is a word in righteousness, (“out of my mouth in righteousness”), and it is irrevocable, (“shall not return”).

(vii) Verse 24
Seventh claim: Equality in communication

5:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Verily, verily, I say unto you- the phrase “Verily, verily” marks a development in the teaching, which reveals how a person may be quickened or made alive. In this verse, with spiritual life, then in verse 25, (with its further “Verily, verily”), with resurrection life.

He that heareth my word- to hear His word displays a different sort of attitude to the “marvel” of verse 20, for it means to receive the truth of the doctrine He makes known. By “word” the Lord means theme, topic, or subject. The theme in this passage is the equality of the Son with the Father. It is vitally important that those engaged in evangelising the lost should make it abundantly clear who the Lord Jesus is, in order that they may then exhort sinners to believe on Him as one who is utterly dependable, being equal with God. The apostles “ceased not to teach and preach Jesus Christ”, Acts 5:42. They taught who He was, then preached that men should believe. Their preaching was not sinner-centred, but Christ-centred, in accordance with Romans 1:1,3, “the gospel of God…concerning his Son”. Sinners should also be warned of the consequences of refusing one who is thus equal, for the Lord will say later on that “if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins”, John 8:24.

And believeth on him that sent me- the seriousness of the matter is heightened when we consider that to not hear Christ with the hearing of faith, is to disbelieve God, for their testimony is one. Thus by believing the Father when the Son speaks, a person assents to the truth of their equality. On the other hand, to not believe is to deny their equality.

Hath everlasting life- there are few references to everlasting life in the Old Testament, and they refer to life in the Messianic kingdom of the future, Psalm 133:3; Daniel 12:2. Here the Lord is announcing that everlasting life is the present possession of those who believe His word. This fits them to be in the kingdom of God, irrespective of whether that kingdom has been manifested on the earth or not, see John 3:3. This life enables a person to know, initially and progressively, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He has sent, John 17:3.

And shall not come into condemnation- those who know Christ as the Life-giver, as He exercises His Divine right to quicken, shall never know Him as the Judge, nor will they be tried for their sins. Those who remain dead in trespasses and sins, however, rejecting eternal life from Christ, are in grave danger of both the process and carrying out of judgment.

But is passed from death unto life- this is not a passing away from death and towards life, but a passing out of death into life. There are two states in view here. There is the state of being in death, the spiritual death that Adam brought upon us when he sinned; the believer is taken out of that state. There is the state of being in life, for the believer is in the family of God, sharing His life. This is a present reality, and will also be apparent at the judgment day, for when others are condemned, believers will be safe. As the apostle Paul put it, “Much more then, being now justified by his blood, we shall be saved from wrath through him.” Romans 5:9.

(viii) Verses 25-30
Eighth claim: Equality of administration

5:25
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.

Verily, verily, I say unto you- the repetition of “Verily, verily” so soon after its previous use in verse 24 signals a fresh revelation. Having spoken of the present availability of eternal life, the Lord now enlarges on the future availability of life in resurrection conditions. The expression “the dead” is the usual one for those who are in the grave, and is not a description, as in “dead in trespasses and sins”. Verses 25-30 expand on truths previously given in verses 21 and 22.

The hour is coming, and now is- that He is able to raise the bodies of dead saints in a future day is shown by His raising of Lazarus during His ministry, for the hour “now is”. The power is vested in Himself, so if He is present, so is the power. Compare John 11:23-27, where Martha learns that far from needing to wait for the resurrection at the last day, He who is the “I am”, and therefore unaffected by time, can do the work immediately if He so chooses.

When the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God- note that just as to receive eternal life we must hear His word, which involves faith, so also at the resurrection, for the voice of the Lord Jesus will call to His own in the graves to summon them out. This is illustrated by the raising of Lazarus in John 11:43,44, for Jesus “cried with a loud voice…and he that was dead came forth”.

And they that hear shall live- all the dead that hear the voice of the Son of God when He comes for His own will be given resurrection life. Having recognised Him to be the Son whilst they were on earth, they respond to Him in that capacity again. This is why the Lord said “Lazarus, come forth”, for He was making a selection that day, and only one man came forth. At the rapture He will select again, although this time it will be the selection of all who believe in Him of this age. Every believer of this church age who has died shall be raised from the dead when Christ comes into the air with a shout, I Thessalonians 4:16. If the Son of God was glorified by the raising of Lazarus alone, how He will be glorified when He raises all His own at His coming! This subject is further developed in I Corinthians 15:35-58, where the mystery is explained as to how living saints will partake in the resurrection even though they have not died.

5:26
For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;

For as the Father hath life in himself- the life needed to quicken those dead in trespasses and sins, and to quicken their mortal bodies at the resurrection, is sourced in God the Father.

So hath he given to the Son to have life in himself- not only does the Son have life in Himself just as the Father does, as John 1:4 indicates, (“in him was life”), but in addition it is given to Him to have this life in Himself for others. As the apostle John wrote later, “And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” 1 John 5:11,12. He is the vessel full of the water of life, and men are invited to go to Him and drink, John 7:37; Revelation 22:17.

5:27
And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.

And hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man- in verse 22 the right to judge men is vested in Christ’s Deity, for one of the results of that judgment will be that He is recognised as equal with God. Here His right to judge is vested in His manhood, for He is Son of man. But He assures us, nonetheless, that His judgment is perfectly in line with the will of God His Father, verse 30.

As a real man amongst men, Christ has given them the opportunity to react to Him, for He has been on earth to make Himself available, and the record of His life and teaching is available also, now that He is no longer on earth. When He was here, He lived a blameless life, and this condemned the lives of other men, and should have made them abhor themselves, and want to be like Him. As Son of man, Christ is relevant to all men, and has universal rights over them.

5:28
Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,

Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice- that one who possesses Deity shall judge men should not be a cause of marvelling, for God is the Judge of all the earth, Genesis 18:25, and the Judge of all, Hebrews 12:23. The hour mentioned here is not a period of sixty minutes, but a time marked by a certain character. (The word was used by the Greeks for the seasons of the year). Since the theme of verses 27 to 29 is Christ’s authority to execute judgment, the reference is to the Day of the Lord, a period extending from the time when Christ comes in glory to destroy His enemies at the end of the Great Tribulation, until the Great White Throne judgment. Compare Isaiah 2:10-22 with Revelation 6:12-17 for the commencement of the Day, and 2 Peter 3:10 for its end, for the passing away of the heavens takes place during the Day of the Lord, showing that it extends to the end of the millenial reign of Christ, Revelation 20:1-11.

Old Testament saints will be raised when Christ comes to the earth to reign, near the beginning of the Day, (see Revelation 11:18, and also Job 14:13), whilst at the end of Christ’s reign of one thousand years all the unsaved dead of every age will be raised, Job 14:12; Daniel 12:2. Thus they all will be raised in their respective “day”, and “hour”, or season of judgment.

5:29
and shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life; And they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

And shall come forth; they that have done good unto the resurrection of life- those who believed during Old Testament times are described by Paul as “them who by patient continuance in well-doing seek for glory and honour and immortality”, who will receive “eternal life”, Romans 2:7.

For Old Testament saints there will be the announcement of Christ’s verdict on their lives, so it is fitting this should be mentioned in the section that deals with judgment, for all judgment has been committed to Christ, see Revelation 11:15-18. It will not be the sort of judgment, however, which sinners will know when they are raised.

That Old Testament saints will be raised when Christ comes to earth to reign, (an event totally distinct from His coming for the church), is seen from a consideration of such scriptures as Job 14:13-15; Job 19:25-27; Isaiah 26:16-21; Daniel 12:1,2, and Revelation 11:15-18.

Ephesians chapter 3 makes clear the absolute distinction between things revealed by prophecy in Old Testament times, and the mysteries relative to this present church age. Martha expected her brother to be raised along with Old Testament saints when the Messiah came to reign, John 11:24, but she learns there is to be a resurrection before this, John 11:25,26. Note how John 5:29, with its reference to saints and sinners being raised, (albeit at different times), parallels Daniel 12:3.

And they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation- the unsaved dead will be reunited with their bodies and stand before the Great White Throne. For these, there will be nothing but damnation, their last opportunity for salvation having gone when they died, as Hebrews 9:27 makes clear. So the dead are not raised to find out later whether they will receive life or damnation. The matter was settled on earth, for they reacted to Christ with unbelief.

Note that the matter which divides the two companies in this verse is whether they were characterised by good or evil in their lives, for this is an infallible indicator as to whether they had faith, which, if genuine, is always followed by good works; see James 2:21-26, 1 John 3:7,10.

Thus when the righteous and the wicked have been raised, both rights conferred on the Son will have been fully exercised, namely the granting of life to those who believe, and the judgment of sinners. Before believers enter into an eternity of bliss, however, and the unrepentant are banished for ever to the lake of fire, a further thing happens. As the solemn procedures of the “judgment of the great day” come to an end, a name is uttered, even the name JESUS. At the mention of this name, every knee will immediately bow, whether of beings celestial, terrestrial or infernal, Philippians 2:10. At last Christ will be honoured universally as being equal with the Father, for men will realise that when He was called Jesus, (which means “Jehovah the Saviour), it was because that was who He is.

5:30
I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.

I can of mine own self do nothing- this verse links sections 2 and 3 together, for what the Lord Jesus had said about not being able to do anything of Himself in verse 19, is repeated here in connection with judgment.

As I hear, I judge- nothing the Son does is in independence of His Father, but in this verse what He does is judge, but only as He hears His Father judging; their verdict is identical and simultaneous.

And my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me- He singles out the speaking that causes most animosity, that of judging, and assures His hostile listeners that when He judges He does so perfectly fairly and truly, since His will is in harmony with that of God the Father. They would readily admit that Jehovah’s judgment was right, for Abraham had said “Shall not the judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:25. So if He is equal with God, His judgment is right, too. The reference to being sent indicates that He has in mind His present words of judgment, spoken on earth, not just the future ones.

Section 3 5:31-47
Witness to the Son by the Father

Survey of Section 3
In a court of law, statements that are made must be supported by the witness or testimony of others. In Jewish law, a man’s own testimony was not allowed, unless accompanied by the witness of others. This explains the apparent discrepancy between verse 31, and 8:14. The testimony of Christ, if it were unsupported by others, would not be valid, but since it is supported, then it is allowable. And since it is the Father who witnesses in various ways, then the evidence could not be stronger. The case for Christ’s claim to Deity is undeniable.

In verses 30-39 there is the appeal to witnesses, while in verses 40-47 there is the analysis of unbelief. It seems that the Lord anticipates an objection to His teaching with regard to the rules of evidence, and the fact that a witness was not allowed to testify about himself unless there was another to support his testimony. He shows by this that He knows the thoughts of men.

5:31
If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true- the first witness is Himself, although this verse seems to deny it. The sense however, is “If I bear witness of Myself without any support from anyone or anything else, My witness is not allowable as evidence in My case”. Jewish law would not allow a man to testify for himself, unless there was at least one other to support him. That the Son has Another, is seen in the next verse.

5:32
There is another that beareth witness of me; and I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true.

There is another that beareth witness of me- so the requirement of the law is met which said, “at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established”, Deuteronomy 19:15. The Lord will say later on. “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man. And yet if I judge, my judgment is true: for I am not alone, but I and the Father that sent me. It is also written in your law, that the testimony of two men is true. I am one that bear witness of myself, and the Father that sent me beareth witness of me.” John 8:15-18. So Christ claims to not be alone in the witness box, but to have Another standing alongside of Him. It might be objected that the law said “two men”, and the Lord is bringing forward a Divine Person, His Father. However, the apostle John will later write, “If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater”, 1 John 5:9. So the witness of one man and God is a greater witness than that of two men.

And I know that the witness which he witnesseth of me is true- because He is conscious of His relationship with the Father, as set out in verses 17-30, He knows that what He witnesses about Him is true to fact. Those who deny His relationship deprive themselves of the benefit of the proof they give. When he was told that scientists had proved that it was possible for the Red Sea to be parted, a Rabbi said, “To the believer no proof is necessary; to the unbeliever no proof will ever be enough”. Those who doubt the word of Christ ought to provide evidence for their doubt. The fact is they cannot produce that evidence. Those who refuse the testimony of Christ have reasons for doing so, but those reasons have nothing to do with His truthfulness, but everything to do with their sinfulness, and the guilty conscience that goes with it.

5:33
Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth.

Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth- John the apostle never writes of John the Baptist under that title, but always as a testimony bearer. See, for instance, how he introduces him to us in 1:6-8. The words “witness”, “testimony”, and “record”, mean the same. John is a secondary witness, in that he simply passes on what he has been told, either from the Old Testament, (for he knew he was making straight the way of “the Lord”, 1:23, Isaiah 40:3), or through the voice from heaven at Christ’s baptism, Matthew 3:17, and the descending dove, John 1:32-34. They could not say they did not know these things, for they had sent unto John to find them out, 1:19-28. Whichever way John heard the truth, it was from God, and he passed it on faithfully.

5:34
But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved.

But I receive not testimony from man- being only a man, (albeit “a man sent from God”), John’s testimony was valuable, but received from another. As such, in important matters such as the truth as to the person of Christ, his testimony is not the first line of argument.

But these things I say, that ye might be saved- even though John’s testimony was secondary, the Lord advances it if by any means He may bring them to salvation.

5:35
He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

He was a burning and a shining light- in support of this appeal to John, He reminds them that John was a burning and shining light, bearing testimony with enthusiasm (burning), and effect, (shining). But he was only a lamp, as the word light means; for just as a lamp only burns because it has been supplied with oil from another vessel, so John only bore testimony because of what he had been told.

And ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light- they were prepared to rejoice in what John had to say for a time, all the while he raised expectations about a coming King. But when he bore faithful testimony to the people’s sin, and also the kind of person the King was, his message was rejected by the authorities. They wondered whether he himself was the Messiah, Luke 3:15; Matthew 16:14, which shows what a low view of Messiahship they had, for even though John was a great man, Christ was vastly superior in every way. Notice the past tense “was”, for by now John is in prison, his time of testimony over.

5:36
But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me.

But I have greater witness than that of John- there is now an appeal to the works that the Lord Jesus had done. They were not the testimony of fallible men, but the undisputed actions of one who must be God. After all, only the Creator can turn water into wine by His own power.

For the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me- the works He was doing were what the Father had given Him to do, they were not independent actions. He was given works to finish, or “that He might perfect them”. It is significant that the last miracle the Lord performed was to heal the ear of Malchus, Luke 22:50,51. So work and hearing are brought together at the close of His ministry, just as works with significance, and the teaching of that significance for men to hear, were brought together during His ministry. (Note, however, that John does not record the healing of Malchus’ ear, lest the impact of the climax-miracle, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, should be lessened).

John the apostle makes it clear that “many other signs truly did Jesus in the presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.” John 20:30,31. John is satisfied that the miracles, when the truth behind them was taken in, were enough to bring men to faith in the Lord Jesus as the Son of God. The fact that they were written down means that those who did not physically see the miracles done, may have opportunity to believe also.

5:37
And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me- the direct word, (the Father himself, not the voice of an angel), had come from heaven at His baptism, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:17.

Ye have neither heard his voice at any time- this is a rebuke for their lack of response to John’s preaching of repentance, so they had missed the voice from heaven when He was baptized by John. But they had not heard the voice of God through John’s preaching, and they had not heard the voice of God through Christ’s preaching either. They heard the sounds but discerned not the meaning through unbelief.

Nor seen his shape- when Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses, and said, “Hath the Lord indeed spoken only by Moses? hath he not spoken also by us? And the Lord heard it.” Numbers 12:2. His response was to say this, “Hear now my words: If there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. My servant Moses is not so, who is faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord shall he behold: wherefore then were ye not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?” verses 6-8.

So Moses heard the voice of God directly, and beheld the similitude of the Lord as He spoke with him. The Pharisees had done neither; yet they did not hesitate to criticise Christ, just as Miriam and Aaron had done when they criticized Moses. God had borne witness to Moses, and the Pharisees were willing to respect him because of that. But they were not ready to respect Christ, nor respond to His teaching, even though God had borne witness to Him in a far higher sense.

5:38
And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

And ye have not his word abiding in you- the implications of the word of commendation that came from the Father to the Son at His baptism had not found a welcome in their hearts. The same one that had spoken to Moses had spoken from heaven, commending His Son.

For whom he hath sent, him ye believe not- the proof that they had not received the truth conveyed by the word of the Father at Christ’s baptism is that they did not believe He was sent of God and worthy of their trust. They did not think that Jesus of Nazareth was the one foretold in the Old Testament.

5:39
Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.

Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life- they thought that the more detailed their knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures was, the more correctly they could obey God, and thus earn eternal life for themselves by keeping the law. The Lord does not discourage the search of the scriptures when He implies they searched for the wrong reason. They must continue searching, but with a different object, which He now tells them about.

And they are they which testify of me– they had been searching with the wrong aim, so the Lord commands them to begin to search with the right aim, which was to find Him there. Note the word “testify” is now used of the Old Testament scriptures; they are Divinely-given words that cannot be argued against. As the Lord walked with two disciples on the road to Emmaus, we read “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.” Luke 24:27. Even if they do not see the point of the voice from heaven at Christ’s baptism, let them at least hear the voice of God in the Old Testament scriptures, as they speak of Christ.

5:40
And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life- they were prepared to go to the Old Testament scriptures, to learn how to gain life by trying to keep the law, but they were not prepared to go to Him, to gain eternal life as a free gift. Such is the pride and perversity of the human heart. The clue is in the word “will”. The sense is, “You are not willing to come to me”, so they were too proud to bend their will to His.

5:41
I receive not honour from men.

I receive not honour from men- He makes it clear that He did not invite them to come to Him so that He could gain prestige, but rather so that they might gain life and salvation. This is another instance where He shows He knows what they are thinking. By claiming that the Old Testament spoke of Him, they think He is trying to gain a reputation by false means, for they reject those claims. It is clear that He did not seek honour from men, for when they offered Him fame He turned it away, as will be seen in 6:15, when they wanted to make Him king. John tells us that on that occasion “He departed again into a mountain himself alone”, and this was not the only occasion when He withdrew when it looked as though the crowds were becoming enthusiastic for the wrong reasons.

5:42
But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you.

But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you- because He is the Son of God, He is fully aware of man’s attitude to God His Father. He knew perfectly well that the love of God was not in their hearts, even though they avidly studied the scriptures. This in itself is an indication of His Deity, for only God knows the heart, Jeremiah 17:9,10.

He said later on, “If God were your Father ye would love me”, John 8:42. John would afterwards write, “everyone that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love”, 1 John 4:7,8. Since God is love, those who have life from God will love the Son He loves. The fact that they did not love Christ was evidence that they were in unbelief.

5:43
I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive.

I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not- to come in another’s name is to fully represent that person and his authority. The refusal of Christ is serious, since the person the Son represents is God the Father. The solemn truth is that the very Son of God has come amongst men, manifesting God His Father to them so perfectly that we learn the following things:

To know Him is to know the Father, John 8:19.

To believe Him is to believe the Father, 12:44.

To hear Him is to hear the Father, 12:50.

To receive Him is to receive the Father, 13:20.

To see Him is to see the Father, 14:9.

To hate Him is to hate the Father, 15:23.

To be shewn His things is to be shewn the things of the Father, 16:15.

If another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive- the human heart, perverted by sin, inclines always to error, and is ready to believe a lie before it will believe the truth. (Jacob believed his sons when they told him a lie about Joseph, but when those same sons told him the truth about Joseph, he did not believe them, Genesis 37:31-33; 45:26). As the Lord will say later on, “And because I tell you the truth, ye believe me not.” 8:45. The heart of a man is conditioned to receive error and reject truth, for he is of his father the devil, and of him the Lord said “there is no truth in him”, John 8:44.

There will come one in the future who will present himself to the nation of Israel as their Messiah, and the majority of them will believe him. However, he will be, not Christ, but Antichrist, Matthew 24:24, and he will certainly not come in the name of the Father, but will seek to elevate himself. Perhaps there is a suggestion here that the Antichrist will, by coming in his own name, withhold from men the fact that he really comes in the Devil’s name, and all the while honours Satan in secret, see Daniel 11:38,39.

When Antichrist presents himself to the nation he will claim to be able to bring in the kingdom rest, but it will be a false claim, even though he will seek to support it by the working of miracles through his accomplice the false prophet, Revelation 13:14. The Lord is warning the rulers that the attitude they are displaying to Him personally is the attitude the nation will adopt in the future when the Antichrist presents himself. Their present disbelief in Christ, and their future belief in Antichrist, are both testimony to the fact that they do not have the love of God in their hearts.

5:44
How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only?

How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another- their mindset was only to accept and give honour to one another on a carnal level. So entrenched was this attitude that until they turned from it they could not believe in Him. They “loved the praise of men more than the praise of God”, John 12:43. The praise of God only comes to those who believe His Son.

And seek not the honour that cometh from God only? The honour which only comes from God is the honour of possessing eternal life, and of sharing Christ’s glory. This is the portion of those who believe, John 17:22.

5:45
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust.

Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father- He had not come to condemn the world, for God was intent on their salvation, not their condemnation.

There is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust- having spoken of the witness that there is to His person, the Lord now shows that they are the accused, and the stronger the testimony to His person, the stronger the case against them. They trusted in the writings of Moses to give them light on the subject of being right with God, but those very scriptures accused and condemned them as sinners.

5:46
For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me.

For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me- the testimony of Moses was to one who would come and unfold the truth to them. The rulers wondered if John was this Prophet, 1:21, but it was Christ, as Acts 3:22 and Acts 7:37 show. This is why Moses accuses them, because the one who did not receive the words of the Prophet whom God would send, was to be cut off from the people, Deuteronomy 18:18,19.

5:47
But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe My words?

But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words? Because the testimony of Moses and Christ is identical in this matter, to believe the one is to believe the other. So since they did not believe Moses, but preferred to strive for their own salvation through law-works, they did not rely in faith on what he said about the coming Messiah. And when that Messiah arrived, they still preferred to work rather than believe Him. It is not now simply believing Moses when he wrote of a coming Prophet, but the whole of his writings, which, in different ways led them to expect Christ. The law was their schoolmaster to bring them unto Christ. That is, it was God’s interim word to them until such times as Christ came. Sadly, after He had come, they preferred the schoolmaster of the law, not realising that grace had come, and the law was no longer needed for that purpose, Galatians 3:22-26.

REVELATION 11

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Survey of the chapter
As noted in connection with chapter 10, John may have wondered where the nation of Israel fitted in to the things he was being shown. After all, it is the nation over which Christ shall reign as king, and it is also the nation that will have to pass through “the time of Jacob’s trouble”, Jeremiah 30:7.
The seal judgements have been inflicted on men indiscriminately, but in chapters 10-15, and 17-19, the emphasis changes, and John is given details which are more to do with persons. So to prepare for that more specific action, in chapters 10-12 we are informed about God’s ways with the nation of Israel.

Verses 1-2          Preservation by God of the nation.
John is instructed to measure the temple, and is told that it will be violated by the Gentiles. But the measuring indicates God has detailed concern for it, and those who worship in it.
Verses 3-14        Provision by God for the nation.
Two witnesses are raised up so as to strengthen the believing Jews to be faithful to God, and trust Him. The ascent of the witnesses to heaven will assure the believing Israelites of His involvement in their plight, and that He has not left them without support.
Verses 15-18      Praise of God by representatives of the nation.
The four and twenty elders rejoice at the prospect of the millenial reign of Christ, and the resurrection of Old Testament saints.
Verse 19          Power of God ready to be asserted for the nation.
The chapter begins with a temple on earth, which is about to be trampled under foot, but there is the assurance that this does not affect the temple of God in heaven, the centre of real power.

THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE, THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, AS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION CHAPTER 11, VERSES 1 TO 14:

11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.
11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.
11:3 And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.
11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.
11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.
11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.
11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.
11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.
11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.
11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.
11:11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.
11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.
11:13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.
11:14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

Verses 1-2 Preservation by God of the nation.

11:1 And there was given me a reed like unto a rod: and the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein.

And there was given me a reed like unto a rod- John is going to be assured that the things symbolised in chapter 10, (the thin high cloud that the psalmist used to speak of the extent of God’s faithfulness, power and truth in relation to the nation of Israel), and the sun and the rainbow, (God’s evident witness to His intention to bless the nation), are symbols of reality, and not fantasies.
The reed was a measure of length in old times, being standardised at 12′ 9″, or just under 4 metres. It was a reed like a rod, meaning that it was not a reed unsuitable for measuring with, but straight and strong. A reed is a symbol of weakness, as we see from Luke 7:24, (“a reed shaken by the wind”), but this is an exception, for it is like a rod, the symbol of power. God is going to bring the nation of Israel from a position of weakness to that of power, through their Messiah.
That it was given to John shows he is commissioned to do the measuring, whereas in a similar situation in Ezekiel’s experience it was an angel who did so. Another difference is that Ezekiel was told the measurements of the temple, for it was not then built; nor, indeed has it been built yet, for it is the millenial temple that is in view there. Here, however, it is the measurement of a temple that will exist during the tribulation period.
And the angel stood, saying, Rise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein- the angel is standing, for God’s ministers are ever ready to serve Him. John is bidden to likewise be standing, ready to do this important task that will impress upon him and his readers that God’s interest in the nation of Israel is real.
This measurement is not just of things, a temple and an altar, but people. We might think you cannot measure people with a rod, but you can measure the area that a crowd covers, and God is assessing the extent of interest in Himself that the nation is displaying. To measure the temple is to signify that God takes careful and detailed note of its existence, and the desires for God that its building represented. To measure the altar is to show that God takes account of the exercises of men towards Him. To measure the size of the crowd shows that God is aware of them, and will protect them. There are clearly those who come to the Court of the Gentiles, but who have no offering for God to be placed upon the altar. These are not His people, and are given over to the power of the enemy.
The sad fact is that this temple is going to be defiled by the image of the antichrist. The altar sacrifices are going to be stopped by the same person, (see Daniel 9:27), and he will persecute those who believe, so that they have to flee, as the next chapter will tell us.
Note that although this temple had been built by Israel in unbelief, and they are carrying on the sacrifices as if Christ has not died, nevertheless, it is still called the temple of God. Even though there was much that was of man in the temple of Christ’s day, He still went there, and called it His Father’s house. The principle was intact even if the practice was in ruins.
The religious element in Israel at this time are making preparations for the rebuilding of the temple at Jerusalem on the site of Solomon’s temple. At present there is a mosque on the site, but clearly it will have gone by the time John’s vision is fulfilled.

11:2 But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles: and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.

But the court which is without the temple leave out, and measure it not- the temple area was divided into the inner sanctuary, then the Court of the Priests, the Court of the Israelites, and the Court of the Women. It seems that these two courts are being included in the expression “the temple”, even though the word is strictly “inner temple”, the sanctuary itself. The Jews of Christ’s time regarded the Court of the Priests as part of the “naos”, the inner temple Surrounding these courts was the middle wall of partition, through which Gentiles could not go. So the court without or outside of the temple was this outer court, the Court of the Gentiles, where all could come. This part was not measured, a symbolic omission, to emphasise the difference God was making between those He was mindful of, who were earnest worshippers, (even though misguided, for as yet they had not realised that Christ’s sacrifice had made their rituals obsolete), and the Gentiles in general.
For it is given unto the Gentiles- this unmeasured area becomes a sign of those God is not pledging to protect, for they have no interest in worshipping Him. The fact that it is given unto the Gentiles shows He is in total control, and is allowing events to unfold to glorify Himself in the outcome, which is the defeat of the Antichrist. He controls both the believing and unbelieving part of Israel. The latter side with the Gentile antichrist, and therefore are reckoned as being in the Court of the Gentiles.
And the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months- Daniel was given a vision in which he was told that “the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”, Daniel 9:26. He had already learnt of one who would take away the daily sacrifice, and cast down the place of God’s sanctuary, 8:11. This happens at the same time as the image of the beast is set up in the temple, called in Daniel 12:11 “the abomination that maketh desolate”, which is linked in that verse with the taking away of the daily sacrifice in the temple. The right of the Jews to sacrifice on their altar will be withdrawn.
When the disciples drew the attention of the Lord to the temple buildings, He responded with the words, “There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down”. And when the disciples asked when this would happen, He did not mention anything about the Romans destroying the city in AD 70. Rather, He spoke of things at the end time, and it is then that the city of Jerusalem and the temple shall be destroyed, for the antichrist will attempt to rid the earth of all reminders of God, that he himself might be the supreme object of worship. He will establish Babylon as the capital city of the world.
So the treading under foot by the Gentiles will extend from the middle of the 70th week of Daniel, until Christ comes to earth to deal with His enemies. As the Lord said, “Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled”, Luke 21:22. The times of the Gentiles began when world-government was given to Nebuchadnezzar, and will end when Gentile dominion is ended by the coming of Christ to reign.
This period of time is reckoned in terms of months, because that is how the Jews reckoned time for religious purposes. Month after month will go by, new moon after new moon, and they cannot offer their sacrifices.

Verses 3-14 Provision by God for the nation.

11:3 And I will give power unto My two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.

And I will give power unto My two witnesses– it is important at this time that a word of instruction from God be available to the nation, so that they might be given the opportunity to believe in the Messiah. The one hundred and forty four thousand servants of God spoken of in chapter seven have spread out from Israel into the world.
Malachi’s prophecy marks the end of the first period into which Daniel’s 70 weeks are divided, so there is a connection between his prophecy and Daniel’s vision. At the end of his prophecy we read, “Remember ye the law of Moses My servant, which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgements. Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse”, Malachi 4:4-6. Now the two saints that Malachi mentions, Moses and Elijah, were on the Mount of Transfiguration with the Lord, and no doubt the mention of Christ coming in His kingdom, and the presence of Moses and Elijah, prompted the disciples to enquire about the coming of Elijah, for what they had seen on the mount was a preview of Christ coming to reign, and they knew Malachi spoke of those days. The Lord replied, “”Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of Man suffer of them”, Matthew 17:11,12. The disciples understood by this that He spoke of John the Baptist, verse 13. For when John was promised to Zacharias, he was told by the angel “And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God. And he shall go before Him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared of the Lord”.
Note the fact that the angel does not speak of John turning the children to their fathers, but instead says “turning the disobedient to the wisdom of the just”. This may well be the interpretation of the phrase, so that John would turn the children, (that is, those who claimed to have Abraham as their father, Matthew 3:9), unto their fathers, (that is, to the prophets, as they foretold the coming of the Messiah, see Acts 3:25). The disobedient children of Abraham would be turned to the wisdom of the prophetic scriptures, written by just men of old time under the inspiration of the Spirit of God.
But John would also turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. We should not confuse the fathers who turn to the children, with the fathers the children turn to, in Malachi’s prophecy. Nor should we confuse the children the fathers turn to, with the children who turn to their fathers. From the very beginning, God directed men to look for the promised seed. He had promised that Eve’s seed would bruise the serpent’s head. The woman’s seed is primarily Christ, for He is the Ultimate Seed. So all down through the centuries of the Old Testament era, the fathers would be anticipating the child that would be the Messiah. John, by his preaching, turned the children of his day, (those who had turned out not to be the Messiah, but who were children of Abraham), to what the fathers, (the Old Testament prophets), had to say about the Messiah, for He had come and was ready to be revealed to Israel.
So also the witnesses of a future day will turn future Jews to a reading not only of the Old Testament prophets, but also the writings of Matthew and Luke to show the genuineness of the claims of Christ, and the Epistle to the Hebrews to show His sacrifice is superior. This will have special relevance given that those in view in Revelation 11 are in the temple as priests, and in the court where the altar was, as worshippers. Just as in the days of the apostles “a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith”, Acts 6:7, so in the future many of Israel will respond to the ministry of these two witnesses, and distance themselves from a temple-system that is about to be profaned by the Antichrist. Some at least of these will become the company Daniel spoke of as “they that be wise”, Daniel 12:3, who will “turn many to righteousness”. These are the Maskilim, or “wise ones”, and the Maschil psalms are especially for them in that future day. (The Maschil psalms are as follows: Psalm 32;42;44;45;52-55;74;78;88;89;142. It would be a profitable exercise to read those psalms in the light of the situation in which the Jewish remnant will find themselves).
And they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days- this is the same length of time as forty two months, since the prophetic year has 360 days of 12 months each. But it does not refer to the same period as the 42 months of verse 2, for that is the designation for the second half of the 7-year period. The period of the prophesying by the two witnesses is to prepare the nation for that, and therefore must relate to the first half of the seven-year period.
As prophets they have a two-fold ministry. To forth-tell the mind of God regarding what Israelites should do, and also to foretell the impending desecration of the temple, and the subsequent destruction of the city. So the 42 months of treading under foot follows the 1260 days of prophesying, being the two halves of Daniel’s seventieth week.
That their time of prophesying is measured in days reminds us of the words of God to Israel, “Since the day your fathers came out of the land of Egypt unto this day I have even sent unto you all My servants the prophets, daily rising up early and sending them”, Jeremiah 7:25. Every day for 1260 days He will send forth His prophets to His people.
Clothed in sackcloth- John the Baptist was clothed in a camel-hair garment, for the camel is a creature of vengeance, and God was angry with the sin of the people. Here, it is sackcloth, the symbol of mourning, for the nation is in a state of spiritual death, and these prophets feel it keenly. They reflect in their clothing the sadness in the heart of God as He looks upon the nation.

11:4 These are the two olive trees, and the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth.

These are the two olive trees- it was in a Maskil psalm that David wrote, “But I am like a green olive tree in the house of my God”, Psalm 52:8. This would suggest that the two witnesses prophesy in the temple courts, flourishing there as spiritual men amidst the deadness and carnality of the nation, even though they are carrying on their rituals. The bulk of Psalm 52 concerns, in the first instance, a description and condemnation of Doeg the Edomite, who had seen David go into the house of God to get food for himself and his men. Doeg had betrayed David to Saul, who had commanded that the priests be slain. His soldiers would not do this, but Doeg did. This caused David much distress, that he had occasioned the death of the priests. But the psalm goes beyond Doeg, for the terms used are very suited as a description of the Antichrist. David speaks of mischief, deceit, and lying, and these are some of the evil features that will be seen in all their ugliness in the Man of Sin, as Paul calls the Antichrist. As the old preachers used to say, “the sin of man will culminate in the Man of Sin”.
These two witnesses, however, stand firm in the house of God, and as we shall see in the next verse, are able to devour their enemies with fire. This means they will be able to protect the priests, and not allow them to be slain. This David was not able to do, but these will be able.
And the two candlesticks standing before the God of the earth- this would be a reminder to John of the situation in Zechariah’s day, when the temple building was delayed. Zechariah saw a candlestick, and two olive trees on either side of it. The interpretation was that “These are the two anointed ones, that stand by the Lord of the whole earth”, Zechariah 4:14. These two men in Zechariah’s day were Zerubbabel the governor, and Joshua the high priest. Just as the two olive trees supplied oil for the lampstand, so these two men would be used to further the cause of the building of the temple and the full institution of the worship of God. So it is that in a future day, when the temple is about to be destroyed, God will have His two “anointed ones”, who will encourage the nation to realise that the temple system is doomed, and they should separate themselves from it.
When Elijah stormed into Ahab’s palace with a word of condemnation for him, he said, “As the Lord God if Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word”, 1 Kings 17:1. Ahab had begun to stand before an image of Baal, a dead idol, but Elijah represented the God of heaven, and he stood before Him, not only to worship Him, but also ready to receive instructions from Him. Interestingly, the period of time when there was no rain was three and a half years, as James tells us, James 5:17.

11:5 And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies: and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed.

And if any man will hurt them, fire proceedeth out of their mouth, and devoureth their enemies- this is very similar to what Elijah did when Ahaziah the king twice sent a captain with a company of fifty soldiers to arrest him. Twice over Elijah said, “If I be a man of God, then let fire come down from heaven and consume thee and thy fifty”, 2 Kings 1:10. And fire did indeed come down from heaven and consume them. In this way Elijah’s life was preserved. So with the two witnesses, for they will be able to do the same in self-defence, in order that their vital ministry may continue until the moment of God’s choosing.
It is instructive to note the comparison between these two events, one past, and the other future, with what happened during the ministry of Christ. James and John, (surnamed “sons of thunder” by the Lord), wanted to bring down fire from heaven (in their words, “as Elijah did”), upon some Samaritans who had refused to receive Christ. He rebuked His two disciples with the words, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them”, Luke 9:55,56. This highlights very markedly the difference between the present age of God’s grace, the past age of the law, and the future age of God’s wrath.
Note the fire comes out of their mouths, which is another way of saying that they had power to call upon God to send fire. That this fire was effective is seen in that the enemies of the truth are consumed, so thoroughly were they dealt with. The word consumed is used in 2 Kings 2, Luke 9, and this passage, thus linking the three together.
And if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed- there is an imperative reason why this must happen, for it is highly important that God’s interests, as represented by the two witnesses, should be defended. It is also important that the worshippers in the temple courts, whether priests or people, should be preserved so as to have opportunity to obey the prophesying of God’s witnesses.

11:6 These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: and have power over waters to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.

These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy- since it is not going to rain during their time of ministry, then the absence of rain is for the space of three and a half years, the very period of time in which it did not rain according to the word of Elijah, 1 Kings 17:1. It is James that tells us how long the period was, James 5:17. King Ahab had begun to worship Baal, the weather-god, so it was appropriate that God’s control over the weather should be manifest.
And have power over waters to turn them to blood- if the fire and no rain remind us of Elijah, the second two miracles remind us of Moses. He had turned the water of the Nile to blood. Now the Nile was worshipped by the Egyptians, so this was an attack upon their idolatry, as were all the plagues brought against the land at that time, for God said, “against all the gods of Egypt will I execute judgement”, Exodus 12:12.
And to smite the earth with all plagues, as often as they will- Moses was able to plague Egypt, so that Pharoah was eventually forced to let God’s people go. It is said of Antichrist that “the king shall do according to his will”, Daniel 11:36. He finds, however, that these two men have a superior will, for they represent the God of heaven.

11:7 And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them.

And when they shall have finished their testimony- able to defend themselves for a period of three and a half years, their time has come. Their testimony has achieved its goal, for when the abomination of desolation is set up in the temple at Jerusalem, then those who believe will flee.
The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them- this is the first time that the Antichrist has been mentioned in the book. The Book of Revelation is the revelation of Christ, whereas the Book of Daniel, whilst it speaks of Christ’s revelation, is more the book of the revelation of Antichrist, for he is prophesied in chapters 2,7,8,9,10 and 11, and is prefigured by the kings in chapters 1,3,4,5 and 6. Note that he is not called the beast out of the sea, as in 13:1, but the beast ascending out of the bottomless pit. We shall have to enquire what this means at a later point, but suffice it to say at this point that it denotes the Satanic power that is behind him. It would seem an unequal conquest, two men, and a Satanically empowered beast, but the victory belongs to the righteous. He may succeed in killing them, but it can only be because their period of ministry is over, and their power to defend themselves has been withdrawn, or at least, is not exercised. That he makes war shows that there is conflict between the forces of darkness and light, good and evil, and evil seems to triumph.

11:8 And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city, which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also our Lord was crucified.

And their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city- such will be the pent-up anger against these two men, that they will delight to highlight the fact that they are dead. It is an disgrace in the east to not bury the bodies of the dead. Their corpses would soon start to decompose in the hot sun.
The Lord Jesus described Jerusalem as the city of the Great King, Matthew 5:35, but it cannot be called that here. It is only great because it is the focus of great and momentous events.
Which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt- geographically and technically it is the city of Jerusalem, but morally it is no better in character than Sodom or Egypt. At the end of the book John will describe Jerusalem as the holy city, but he cannot do that here. The very city in which the holy Son of God ministered, has sunk so low as to be like Sodom with its immorality, and Egypt with its idolatry.
Where also our Lord was crucified- any city may, sadly, be labelled “Sodom and Egypt”, today, but it is a sad commentary on the low state of the people of Israel in these future days, that those names are appropriate for Jerusalem. He who is the Lord was crucified there, in order to deliver men from their vice and their idolatry.

11:9 And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half, and shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves.

And they of the people and kindreds and tongues and nations shall see their dead bodies three days and an half- no division of humanity will not have access to the sight of their dead bodies. John may have wondered how that would be possible, but today, with universal media coverage of any and every event, this is entirely possible, assuming, of course, that such things will be able to function during the time of tribulation.
Their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the city for as many days as there were years of their ministry. Ezekiel was instructed by God to lie on one side and then the other for a certain number of days, each day representing a year. What Ezekiel did during his ministry, these will do after theirs is over. Their bodies will be a reminder of what they did during those three and a half years,
And shall not suffer their dead bodies to be put in graves- it seems that there were those who wished to bury these bodies, but they were not allowed to do so. It seems also that it was “all people and kindreds and tongues and nations” that were insistent on this, showing the universal hatred of the two witnesses. It was important that they be visible, however, so that the drama of their resurrection might be the greater. It also ensured that everyone know who it was that had been raised, for the bodies had been visible all the time, so God over-ruled.

11:10 And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another; because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth.

And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them, and make merry, and shall send gifts one to another- after Esther had been the means of delivering the Jews from the devices of Haman, two days were set aside “to make them days of feasting and joy, and of sending portions one to another, and gifts to the poor”, Esther 9:22. Here it is the enemies of the Jews who celebrate.
Because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt on the earth- whilst their ministry was no doubt in the temple courts in order to protect those who worshipped there, the effect of their miracles could be world-wide, especially the lack of rain and waters turned to blood.

11:11 And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet; and great fear fell upon them which saw them.

And after three days and an half the spirit of life from God entered into them, and they stood upon their feet- the teaching of Scripture is that at death, “then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it”, Ecclesiastes 12:7. At the resurrection the spirits of men shall be reinstated in their bodies. Here, however, there is a slight difference, because it is the spirit of life from God that comes into them, a very similar expression to that used when God made Adam, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. Perhaps the difference is due to the fact that if Moses is one of these witnesses, he has already died once, and been brought back from the dead to a prophetic ministry on the earth again.
And great fear fell upon them which saw them- the whole world is going to wonder over a beast who has a wound unto death, and his deadly wound is healed, 13:3, but this goes far beyond such a thing, and demonstrates the great power of the God of resurrection. Paul described the revival of the nation of Israel as being like life from the dead, Romans 11:15, and this incident gives a preview of the bringing of the nation of Israel from death to life.

11:12 And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither. And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud; and their enemies beheld them.

And they heard a great voice from heaven saying unto them, Come up hither- this is heaven’s verdict on their ministry being expressed, as well as heaven’s condemnation of the conduct and attitude of their enemies.
And they ascended up to heaven in a cloud- Elijah had been taken to heaven in a chariot of fire, but now it seems he and Moses are taken in a chariot of cloud. Isaiah tells us that “God rideth on a swift cloud”, 19:1, so this may well be His chariot, come to transport His faithful servants to heaven together.
And their enemies beheld them- in the case of Elijah, Elisha was promised a blessing if he saw Elijah go, which he did. It showed where his interests lay. The same is true of the disciples, who saw the Saviour go into heaven, Acts 1:10. Here, however, the enemies watch in amazement as those who seemed to have been overcome by them, inasmuch as they were killed and left unburied, now show themselves victorious as they rise in triumph to heaven.

11:13 And the same hour was there a great earthquake, and the tenth part of the city fell, and in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand: and the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven.

And the same hour was there a great earthquake- men will surely not fail to note the significance of the fact that the earthquake that rocks the city of Jerusalem comes the same hour as the witnesses rise to heaven. The party-making described in verse 10 will come to an abrupt end.
And the tenth part of the city fell- it is a possibility that the Antichrist will not only seek to change times and laws, as Daniel 7:25 says, but will introduce a decimal system, such as prevails in Europe. It may well be, therefore, that Jerusalem will be divided into ten zones, and one of these zones will be destroyed. What is in that zone we do not know now, but it will be known then, and will no doubt have great significance.
And in the earthquake were slain of men seven thousand- note how exact these numbers are- ‘one tenth’, ‘seven thousand’. God is showing very clearly that He has precise control over what happens on the earth. Some commentators seem to think that it is permissible to turn an accurate number into an inaccurate one, and speak of seven thousand as “a great company”. It should be borne in mind that the Greek text is very clear, for read literally it says, “And there were killed in the earthquake names of men seven thousand”. So if their names are noted, they must have been counted; and if there were seven thousand names, there must have been seven thousand persons, no more, no less.
And the remnant were affrighted, and gave glory to the God of heaven- it is difficult to determine whether this remnant is the believing remnant of Israel, who are just about to flee from the city, or whether it means the rest of those who live in Jerusalem who were not killed by the earthquake. But it is also difficult to envisage this latter company giving glory to the God of heaven. When Paul is discussing the fact that there is a remnant in Israel at this present time who know God’s grace, he refers to the situation in Elijah’s day when there were seven thousand who had not bowed the knee to Baal. The re-occurrence of the number seven thousand, this time of those who were not true to God, may be significant here.

11:14 The second woe is past; and, behold, the third woe cometh quickly.

The second woe is past- it is easy to lose track of events in this section of the book, because there are passages that give more detail, to make the record more clear. The last three trumpet-judgements took the form of woes, as 8:13 explains, and the sixth trumpets was the second of the woes.
And, behold, the third woe cometh quickly- it will come quickly as far the fulfilment is concerned, but it will not be recorded until chapter 16, where it is shown that the seventh trumpet involves seven judgements, the seven bowls of wrath.

THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE, THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, AS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION CHAPTER 11, VERSES 15 TO 19:

11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever.
11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,
11:17 Saying, We give Thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned.
11:18 And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.
11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

Verses 15-18 Praise of God by representatives of the nation.

And the seventh angel sounded- the sounding of this seventh trumpet will begin the seven vial-judgements of the final expression of the wrath of God upon the earth, as detailed in chapter 16.
And there were great voices in heaven- before the seven final judgements are poured out, there is anticipation in heaven of what the sequel will be, even the reign of Christ. The temple choir sings a song of triumph in anticipation of the coming of Messiah to reign. So confident was King Jehoshaphat that the Lord would give him victory in battle, that he sent the singers in front of the army, saying, “Praise the Lord; for His mercy endureth for ever”, 2 Chronicles 20:20,21. Such is the case here, for the final victory over the forces of evil is assured, and praise is rendered beforehand to God for it.
Saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord- we are told this before ever the rise and conquests of the First Beast are detailed in this book, such is the certainty of his downfall. He will control the kingdoms of the world, but his power will be broken, and the kingdoms will become God’s again, as the Times of the Gentiles come to an end. This is why the ark is seen in heaven, because the centre of government since the fall of Jerusalem in 606 BC has been in heaven. Now all is about to change. The world of men has been divided by men into more than two hundred nations, but the Divine number is 70, as listed in the table of nations in Genesis 10. He has set their boundaries, but He did so in relation to the nation of Israel before it even existed. Moses wrote, “When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when He separated the sons of Adam, He set the bounds of the people according to the number of the children of Israel”, Deuteronomy 32:8,9. This happened at the scattering after the building of the tower of Babel, and the boundaries were set according to the language each division of mankind was given by God. We still talk today about the language barrier. Immediately after the table of the nations in Genesis 10, we have the record of the Babel incident. And immediately after the Babel incident, we have the first mention of Abraham, from whom the nation would come.
And of His Christ- Satan will have his anti-christ, but God has His own Christ, the one who on His ascension was made Lord and Christ in a fresh way, Acts 2:36. He it is who shall rule mediatorially, so that all things may be subdued to God.
And He shall reign for ever and ever- whereas the kingdoms of men as depicted by the metals of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream-image shall be shattered, and driven away like chaff is by the wind, Christ’s kingdom shall have no end, Daniel 2:44.

11:16 And the four and twenty elders, which sat before God on their seats, fell upon their faces, and worshipped God,

And the four and twenty elders- after the initial scene of chapters 4 and 5, the elders have not been mentioned again, except in 7:11,13. Here they express worship to God because the kingdom of the Messiah is about to be established, and that will mean that Israel is prominent in the earth again.
Which sat before God on their seats- as representatives of Israel’s interests, they have a settled position before God, (“sat”), and a place of administration, (“seats”). It is fitting that they should become prominent again here, for it is said that “the Lord of Hosts shall reign in Mount Zion, and in Jerusalem, and before His ancients gloriously”, Isaiah 24:23. This suggests a double exercise of government. Messiah will sit on His own throne on earth, which is described as the throne of Jehovah in 1 Chronicles 29:22. But that does not mean God in heaven has abdicated His throne, for He will continue to sit upon the throne in heaven with His twenty four elders before Him.
Fell upon their faces- this is an attitude of extreme submission and adoration. We saw in 4:10 that they had cast their crowns before the throne, thus willingly giving way to the superior right of Christ to wear the crown. Here they show that what they did before, they have not regretted.
And worshipped God- they not only indicate their submission, but they do so intelligently, and to God’s glory, for they grasp the true import of what is happening as God’s judgements proceed.

11:17 Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, which art, and wast, and art to come; because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power, and hast reigned.

Saying, We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty- as representatives of the nation of Israel, they express in heaven the thanks of the nation for God’s intervention on their behalf. God as the Almighty is first mentioned in the word to Abraham, “I am the Almighty God, walk before Me and be thou perfect”, Genesis 17:1. The Almighty is the God who is enough, sufficient for every situation. This He will prove during the time of Tribulation, for no device of the enemy will serve to outwit Him. God said to Moses, “I am the Lord: and I appeared unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, by the name of God Almighty, but by My name Jehovah I was not known to them. And I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan”, Exodus 6:2,3,4. So at a critical point in the history of His dealings with the seed of Abraham, just as He was about to deliver Israel from the bondage of Egypt, He establishes that He is Lord, as well as being God Almighty. Lord will be the title Israel will give Him, whereas God Almighty had been the title the patriarchs had used.
It is entirely appropriate, then, that the four and twenty elders should use this title, for it is a combination of the three names. They are the only ones that do so in the entire New Testament, which goes to confirm that they speak on behalf of Old Testament saints, as will be clear when we come to the next verse. Moreover, it is not an appropriate title for church saints to use. It is not a question of whether He has these titles now, but whether it is fitting that He should be addressed in that way now. The special relationship that believers have is expressed in the fact that they address God as their Father. As the apostle Paul wrote, “And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying, ‘Abba, Father'”, Galatians 4:6. So the indwelling Spirit of God encourages the believer to address God as his Father. The Son of God has come to bring believers of this age into this special and distinct relationship.
Which art, and wast, and art to come- the passage of time does not affect God, but to Him all is one eternal “now”. What He was in Old Testament times to Israel, He continues to be. And because He “is”, then He does not forget them in their scattered and cast-off state. But He is to come, and all that He promised to Israel will surely come to pass. Indeed, the word Jehovah that God specially singled out for use by Israel is said to be composed of three forms of the verb “to be”, namely, yehi, “He will be”, and hove, “being”, and hahyah, “He was”. So by repeating this concept, after having addressed God as Lord God Almighty, the elders are emphasising this aspect of His person.
Because Thou hast taken to Thee Thy great power- speaking in anticipation, the elders celebrate the fact that at last the control of world affairs will be taken from the prince of this world, Satan himself, and his agent, the Antichrist, and God’s will can be done on earth, as it is in heaven. The Lord Jesus taught His disciples to pray for this to happen, and now the elders rejoice that it has, to all intents and purposes.
And hast reigned- when the nation of Israel was taken into captivity, God’s vehicle for expressing His rule in the earth was gone, and the Times of the Gentiles began. That period began with Nebuchadnezzar and will extend up to the Antichrist, but then Gentile rule shall be ended abruptly, and Christ shall come to set up the Kingdom of God upon the earth. These are speaking in the same way as the prophets did oftentimes, stating things to come as if they had already happened, such was the certainty of their predictions.

11:18 And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, and that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great; and shouldest destroy them which destroy the earth.

And the nations were angry- David asked the question, “Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord, and against His anointed, saying, ‘Let us break their bands asunder, and cast away their cords from us'”, Psalm 2:1-3. There was a partial fulfilment of this when men rejected Christ, as the believers indicated in their prayer in Acts 4:25-28, but it will be completely fulfilled when men accept Antichrist.
And Thy wrath is come- as David went on to say in his psalm, “Then shall He speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure”, Psalm 2:5. Woe betide the world when God shows His anger!
And the time of the dead- God has not only appointed the time when men die, but He also appoints the time of their resurrection. The resurrection of the dead will proceed in an orderly fashion, strictly in accordance with God’s timetable. Daniel was told that after the time of trouble for Israel, the Great Tribulation, “many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”, Daniel 12:1-2. Job said, “So man lieth down, and riseth not; till the heavens be no more they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep”, Job 14:12. So the wicked lie down in death, and shall not awake until the heavens are no more, which happens immediately prior to the great white throne judgement at the end of time. John wrote, “And I saw a great white throne, and Him that sat upon it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God”, Revelation 20:11,12.
But Job was different, for he said to God, “O that Thou wouldest hide me in the grave, that Thou would keep me secret, until Thy wrath be past, that Thou wouldest appoint me a set time, and remember me!”Job 14:13. His prayer will be answered, and after God’s wrath is past, at the end of the tribulation period, Job’s set time will come, and he will be raised from the dead. Martha understood that time to be “the last day”, John 11:24, and she was right, for that is the expression the Lord Himself had used in John 6:39,40. Church saints will be raised on the last day of the age that relates to them, which is the present one, and Old Testament saints will be raised on the last day relevant to them, the last seven years of Daniel’s vision. So the dead of Old Testament times shall be raised just prior to the setting up of Christ’s kingdom, for which they waited during their lives.
That they should be judged- no unsaved dead shall be raised before the kingdom is established; their resurrection is to damnation, and is after the first resurrection stages have happened. As Paul put it in 1 Corinthians 15:22-26, “For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ’s at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death”.
So the resurrection of Christ guarantees the resurrection of all men, saved or unsaved. But the resurrection of the just dead will take place in stages, or as Paul puts it, “in order”. First Christ, then church saints at the last day of the church age, then tribulation saints and Old Testament saints at the last day of the time of tribulation, once God’s wrath is over. The word “then” Paul uses in verse 24 means “after an interval”, whereas the “then” of verse 28 means “immediately”. The interval is in fact 1000 years, and then the end of the series of resurrections takes place, as Revelation 20:5 makes clear. Christ’s reign over the earth is mediatorial, in other words He reigns as the Firstborn on behalf of His Father, see Psalm 89:27; Hebrews 1:6. The resurrection of the wicked dead takes place after Christ has subdued everything on earth; it only remains to subdue the power of death completely.
Daniel 12:3 does, on the surface, read as if the just and the wicked dead are raised at the same time. But the correct sense is, (and the Rabbis understood it like this), that those who awake to everlasting life arise from among the dead, leaving the unjust dead in the graves.
So if the unsaved dead are not involved in the first resurrection, it must be the Old Testament saints and the tribulation saints who are spoken of here. The judgement will not therefore be to decide whether they will be in the kingdom; rather, it will be to decide what place they will have in the kingdom, and this will depend on their faithfulness during their lives.
And that Thou shouldest give reward unto Thy servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear Thy name, small and great- there are three classes mentioned here. First the prophets, given first mention no doubt because of their prominent role in the nation of Israel. Then the saints, referring to believers in Israel. They had been separated to God as His special people, and as such were saints, or separated ones. It is to these especially that the kingdom will be given, according to Daniel 7:22. Then there are those who believed God before the nation was formed, and these are described as those who feared God. Whether their fear was large or small, if they believed God according to the light they had, they will be included here, and will be rewarded, like the rest of the just.

Verse 19 Power of God ready to be asserted for the nation.

11:19 And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.

And the temple of God was opened in heaven- the chapter opens with a view of the temple of God on earth, soon to be profaned by the Antichrist in the middle of the seven-year period. This event will be the signal for God to withdraw, just as He did when the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar. Ezekiel saw the glory of God depart and return to heaven. To show that He has thus withdrawn, John is shown it opened, with the ark visible inside.
And there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament- the ten commandments were really the principles on which God undertook to recognise Israel as His nation. Of course the Lord Jesus taught that those in relationship with God would see that it was not mere outward observance of those commandments that counted, but the doing of them in a spiritual way.
Not only were the two tables of stone in the ark, but also the Book of the Law that Moses had written, and which was to be taken out and read every seven years at the Feast of Tabernacles, Deuteronomy 31:10. But that book not only contained the record of God’s dealings with the nation, and His law for them, it contained God’s covenant with them in the plains of Moab, as recorded in Deuteronomy 27-29. Moses set before them the curses that would follow disobedience, and the blessings that would follow obedience. The major curse would be to be carried into captivity. But the promise of God to them was that if they repented, then He would bring them back into their own land. All this comes to mind as the ark of the testament is seen in heaven. God is about to make good His promises to the nation, once they have repented as a nation and turned to Him again.
And there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail- these are the things that accompany the sounding of the seventh angel, as described in 16:18,21.
The lightnings would symbolise great energy, for God stands ready to put forth His mighty power in judgement against Satan and all who side with him.
The voices speak of intelligence, not now expressing praise to God, as in verses 17 and 18, but calling upon Him to exercise His rights over the earth. They may also be a reference to the cherubim-army that Ezekiel saw, whose wings made a sound that he described as “like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the Almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of a host”, Ezekiel 1:24. The hosts of heaven are marshalling their forces for the last and greatest conflict, when Christ comes to earth in power and glory, “and all the holy angels with Him”, Matthew 25:31. As Enoch said, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgement”, Jude 14.
The thunderings warn of the coming final storm of judgement. As David wrote, “the God of glory thundereth”, Psalm 29:3.
The earthquake is well-known as a cause of terror to those who experience it. God is even yet seeking to bring men to their senses.
The hail is unmistakeably from heaven, and God spoke of it to Job with the words, “hast thou seen the treasuries of the hail, which I have reserved against the time of trouble, against the day of battle and war? Job 38:22.

REVELATION 5

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NOTES ON REVELATION 5

Survey of the chapter
Whilst chapter 5 continues to describe the throne room of heaven and events that will take place there, the theme is different. It is the Lamb of God that is prominent, telling us the subject is redemption. But not only does redemption apply to those who believe, but also is relevant to this world, and one day the “redemption of the purchased possession” will take place, Ephesians 1:14, and Christ will come to claim what He purchased at Calvary. In the language of the parable, He bought the field for the treasure that was in it, Matthew 13:44, and “the field is the world”, Matthew 13:38. He is able to deliver creation from its bondage, and proves this ability by delivering from the greater bondage of sin. Redemption is also relevant to Israel, and the nation will be delivered from the dispersion, and brought back to the Land of Promise to enjoy the glorious conditions of the millenial reign of Christ.

THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE, THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, AS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION CHAPTER 5, VERSES 1 TO 7:

5:1 And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

5:7 And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.

5:1 And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book- this chapter centres upon the taking of a book from the hand of God. As becomes evident when the book is opened, this is a book of judgement. In fact the words that Ezekiel used of another book might well be applied to it, “lamentations and mourning and woe”, Ezekiel 2:10. It rests on the hand of God, freely available to any who are competent to reach out and take it. Of course, those who guard the throne of God, the elders surrounding it, (the “gate-keepers”, see comments on 4:4), will not allow any to take it whom they know, in their wisdom, are not qualified to do so.
Written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals- this book of judgement is a scroll, a rolled-up length of writing material; of which sort we are not told. The emphasis is on what it says, and the seals that keep it from being unrolled. The book is completely filled with writing, so there is no room left for any more judgements to be included. When this scroll has been unsealed and unrolled, and its contents made known, God will say “It is done”, 16:17, for His wrath will have been satisfied. The other noticeable feature of this scroll is that it is sealed with, not one, but no less than seven seals. The contents of this scroll are so important, that it must not be read until in the hands of the right person. This is because the reading out of what is written is the signal for the carrying out of the contents.

5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice- note that the angel is strong, and his voice is loud, for he has the authority of heaven behind him. His voice can reach into all parts of the universe, as the next verse will show, and his strength is enough to repel any who dare to advance upon the book without being qualified to do so. He reaches all potential candidates, and he repels all unqualified candidates. There are those who always seem to want to make angels represent the Lord Jesus in the Book of Revelation, (chapter 10 being a case in point); this is clearly not the case here, for the angel is not the one who advances to the throne to take the book.
Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?- it is interesting to notice that opening the book is mentioned before loosing the seals, whereas of course the seals must be loosed before the book can be opened. The great question is who is competent to open the book, for only one capable of judging the world in righteousness can do this. Yet God has already stated that He has appointed the one who will judge the world, and He marked Him out by raising Him from among the dead. Here, however, the question is asked so that all who resent Christ’s position may be silenced. It is the same at the Great White Throne judgement. All who stand as sinners before God that fearful day are clearly not registered in the Book of Life, for it is the dead that stand before God then. But nonetheless the Book of Life is opened that no complaint can be entertained, and justice can be seen to be done.

5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

And no man in heaven- no saint in heaven, (remembering that by the time these events take place the church saints will be in heaven), is competent to judge men.
Nor in earth, neither under the earth- no living men on earth, or dead Old Testament saints in sheol, were able to open the book. All are excluded by these words.
Was able to open the book, neither to look thereon- no-one was competent to judge, and no-one could stand the sight of such fearful judgements as were written in the book. The judgements are so fearful that there is only one great enough to read them.

5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon– we might think that John would be pleased that such a terrible book, full of judgement as it was, would remain unopened. He had the interests of God too much to heart to think that, however. He knew that only by judgement could God deal adequately with the sins of men. His grace through Christ had been spurned too long for Him to ignore the rebellion of earth any longer. Men could have escaped the wrath to come if they had been minded to, but now God’s patience is exhausted. John is only in heaven in spirit, so his weeping does not spoil the joy of heaven, although it is noticed by the occupants of heaven.

5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not- the fact that one of the elders can speak to John on his own shows that the 24 elders do not represent a group. They are individual beings. Ones, moreover, who are able to disclose their insight to John.
Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David- it is interesting that the one who takes the book is described in terms relevant to Israel, thus confirming that the elders have a special relationship with that nation. Long before, Jacob had prophesied that Judah would be like a lion, not only stooping, but going up from the prey, and couching as a lion, with none able to rouse him from his triumphant position, Genesis 49:9. From him the sceptre would not depart. Yet the Judah who heard these words had not prevailed when the test came; neither did he retain the sceptre, for he gave his staff to Tamar, Genesis 38:12-26. There must be another who will fulfil these words. The clue is found in the mention of the Root of David, the one through whom David derives his throne. The Lord Jesus confounded the experts of His day when He asked them how it is that the Messiah can be David’s Son, but also David’s Lord, Matthew 22:41-46. The answer is only known when we take account of His Deity.
Hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof- the one who has prevailed over sin and Satan in His life when tempted, and at the cross when crucified, has the authority to take the book. David prevailed over Goliath the Philistine, 1 Samuel 17:50,51; the Root of David has prevailed over a greater foe, the Devil himself.
Clearly there was no dispute over the fact that Christ was of Judah in the days of the apostles, for the writer to the Hebrews can say “For it is evident that our Lord sprang out of Judah”, Hebrews 7:14. He is, more specifically, of David’s line, (as demonstrated by Matthew in the first chapter of his gospel), and therefore is of David. Yet as the Root of David, David is of Him.
Again the loosing of the seals is mentioned after the opening of the book, although in practical terms the order would have to be the reverse. Notice that He is worthy to loose the seven seals, for He will complete that task once it is begun, such is His competence.

5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

And I beheld, and, lo- John not only saw for himself, “behold”, but draws our attention to the sight as well, “lo”.
In the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders- it is no coincidence that this one is central to the throne, and is in the midst of the creatures that surround the throne also. He is central to God’s purpose, just as He was central upon the cross. There He was numbered with the transgressors, now He is numbered with the heavenly worshippers. The four living creatures are also said to be in the midst of the throne, but they cannot stand with Christ, so they must be behind the throne centrally.
Stood a Lamb as it had been slain- no longer hanging upon the cross, as if laid on an altar, but standing in resurrection life and power. God has said to Him, “Sit on My right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool”, Hebrews 1:13. This position is reserved for Him until a certain time. The particular word for “until” used in Hebrews 1:13 means “up to the time when”. This verse does not imply that He cannot come for the church before the defeat of His enemies at His coming to earth, because even 1000 years after that event He will still have enemies that need to be subdued, see Revelation 20:7-9. The fact that He is seen standing indicates that the time approaches for Him to assert Himself, for God is about to make His foes His footstool. The footstool, that is, of His own throne as He reigns on earth, Matthew 25:31; Revelation 3:21.
No doubt John expected to see a lion, but in fact saw a lamb. This illustrates the point that Christ did not triumph over evil by mere force, but dealt with it in a morally satisfactory way. That way was the way of sacrifice, as is indicated by the concept of the lamb, the weak and defenceless one that triumphs through death and resurrection. We see the principle illustrated in the sons of Jacob. Reuben, the first son, forfeited his right to be the firstborn in Jacob’s household through sin, Genesis 49:4. Judah was given the right to rule, but because he fell in a similar way to Reuben, Genesis 38, the firstborn’s right was given to Joseph, who triumphed where the other two succumbed, see Genesis 39, 1 Chronicles 5:1,2. So it is that the two characteristics are combined in Christ- the lion, as Judah, and the lamb, as Joseph. He combines official and moral right in His person. David lamented the fact that his house was not competent to rule because they had sinned, and “he that ruleth over men must be just”, 2 Samuel 23:3,5. In a day to come, when Messiah arrives, the family of the House of David will mourn, no doubt for this very reason, Zechariah 12:12.
Matthew had begun his gospel with the idea of Christ being son of Abraham, (the True Isaac), and son of David, (the True Solomon). Isaac was the youth on the altar like a young lamb, whereas Solomon was the king on the throne, but also as a young man, for David said of him, “Solomon my son is yet young and tender”, 1 Chronicles 22:5.
Having seven horns- this shows that He has sufficient power to execute the judgements that are about to be inflicted on the earth, for a horn in Scripture speaks of effective power.
And seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth- He has seven eyes, for He will judge with perfect discernment, by the power of the Spirit of God. As the psalmist said, “He ruleth by His power for ever; his eyes behold the nations: let not the rebellious exalt themselves. Selah”, Psalm 66:7. But He also has perfect regard for His earthly people, and will redeem them from the hand of the enemy in His good time. “The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward Him”, 2 Chronicles 13:9. “The eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and His ears are open to their cry”, Psalm 34:15.

5:7 And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne.

And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne- just as He had sat Himself down on the throne of God after He had ascended, Hebrews 1:3, so now, with perfect confidence, and without any possibility of challenge, He advances to the throne and takes the book. He thus establishes His intention to take control of the judgements of the earth written in the book. God’s right hand is the hand that elevated Him to the place of highest honour, Acts 2:33, and now the same hand lets go of the book and allows Him to take it.

The Lord Jesus has authority to judge for the following reasons:
1. He is sinless, and therefore is the only one who can judge the sins of others. As He Himself said, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast first a stone at her”, John 8:7.
2. He is Only begotten Son of God, and as such has the same right as the Father to judge, being equal with Him, and due equal honour, John 5:22,23.
3. He is Firstborn Son of God, and as such has had allotted to Him all administration, John 3:3, and judgement is part of that administration.
4. He is Son of Man, and as such has had given to Him the task of judging men, John 5:27. He stands in relation to all men, and has been here as a man amongst them so that they could have opportunity to come into relationship with Him.
5. He was slain, and thus showed His utter determination to deal with the root cause of what invites God’s judgement. Only one who has the complete answer to sin has the right to judge that sin. The heavenly host recognise this, so they say “Thou art worthy to take the book for Thou wast slain”, verse 9.
6. As a result of Calvary, the “prince of this world shall be cast out”, John 12:31, and the judgements initiated by Christ will ensure this.
7. He is risen from the dead, and “God hath appointed the day in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom He hath ordained; whereof He hath given assurance unto all men, in that He hath raised Him from the dead”, Acts 17:31.

THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE, THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, AS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION CHAPTER 5, VERSES 8 TO 14:

5:8 And when He had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

5:14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever.

And when He had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb- these who have a deep interest in the affairs of earth, who know the ravages sin has wrought since the day that Adam fell, greatly rejoice when at last one steps forward to remedy the situation. The heavenly host had rejoiced at His first coming, and now they rejoice again, for “He cometh to judge the earth”, Psalm 98:9. All the angels of God shall worship Him when He comes, and these angelic representatives anticipate that glorious time. Note that they do not hesitate to fall down before the Lamb, even though they are in the presence of the one who sits upon the throne. The Father has decreed that all should honour the Son as they honour him, the Father, John 5:23.
Having every one of them harps- as the heavenly counterparts of the temple choir and musicians in Solomon’s temple they are ready to praise God at this intervention by the Lamb. There were those in the temple who “prophesied with a harp”, 1 Chronicles 25:3, by their singing unfolding the mind of God and thus prophesying, and these do the same.
It is worth noting that those who sing should say something by their singing. The words of the song should have meaningful content, so that the truth of God is made known in some way. The emphasis should always be on the words, and not the tune, although the tune can enhance the words, if carefully chosen.
And golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints- no doubt these prayers are for God’s intervention in the earth, uttered perhaps centuries ago, but yet to be answered in God’s good time.

5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

And they sung a new song- it may be objected at this point that the twenty four elders cannot be angelic beings because it is said that the latter never sing. That may or may not be so in the past, but this is a new song because of a new situation. Is it not feasible that when the work of Christ is in view, praise is elevated to a higher level, so instead of simply saying, they sing? There is a reference to singing at the founding of the earth in Job 38:7, “Or who laid the corner stone thereof; when the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy”. It could well be that the morning stars are angels, for Lucifer was a “son of the morning” before his fall, Isaiah 14:12.
Saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation- these are representative beings, and they sing on behalf of Israel, just as the choir in the temple sang on behalf of the nation. These sing in anticipation of Israel singing for itself. It is true they sing of being redeemed, and reigning on the earth, but they do so representatively, and anticipatively.

In the New Testament the Lord Jesus and the apostles spoke of redemption as deliverance from sin. Illustrations of this are as follows:
“For even the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give His life a ransom for many”, Mark 10:45.
“Who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity”, Titus 2:14.
“In whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace”, Ephesians 1:7.
“There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time”, 1 Timothy 2:5,6.

The Scriptures quoted above show how the idea of redemption, the setting free of the slave on payment of a price, was applied in the New Testament to sinners enslaved by sin, but released through the price Christ paid in blood. In the Old Testament, however, the main idea is of deliverance from a place, whether geographical, as Egypt, or financial, as bankruptcy, as in the case of Naomi and Ruth. Hence we read as follows: “Wherefore say unto the children of Israel, I am the Lord, and I will bring you out from under the burden of the Egyptians, and I will rid you out of their bondage, and I will redeem you with a stretched out arm, and with great judgements:” Exodus 6:7. And the prophets linked this event with a future return of the nation, “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away”, Isaiah 35:10. And, “Art Thou not It which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep; that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass over? Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away”, Isaiah 51:10,11.

The word redeemed is used twice more in the book of Revelation. In chapter 14:3 we read of 144,000 who have been “redeemed from the earth”, and in verse 4 we learn they have been “redeemed from among men”. Now these are men sealed in chapter 7 from each of the tribes of Israel, yet they are said to be redeemed from among men. So this latter phrase has to do with where they were rescued from, not of which nation they were of. They were sent forth as sheep amongst wolves to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom among all nations, Matthew 24:14, but they were safely brought back by God, and are found before Him in chapter 15. Now the full complement of them is in heaven, redeemed from their place of danger. So it is that the twenty four elders anticipate a time when all Israel shall be redeemed from all the places they have been scattered, and brought to Zion.
This scattering is not just that which pertains now, but that which shall be in the future, for they shall be taken into captivity among all nations when Jerusalem is destroyed at the start of the Great Tribulation. Daniel was told that “the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”, Daniel 9:26. Zechariah prophesied that God would “gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken…and half of the city shall go forth into captivity”, Zechariah 14:2. The Lord Jesus spoke of this when He prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, “And when ye shall see Jerusalem compassed with armies, then know that the desolation is nigh…for these be the days of vengeance that all things that are written may be fulfilled…there shall be great distress in the land, and wrath upon this people. And they shall fall by the edge of the sword, and shall be led away captive into all nations: and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled”, Luke 21:20-24. The time-scale of this treading down of Jerusalem is given in Revelation 11:2 as 42 months, the three and a half years of the Great Tribulation.

It is from this captivity that Israel shall be redeemed by the Lord Jesus, for “the Redeemer shall come to Zion”, Isaiah 59:20. From captivity in “all nations”, they are rescued by the power of God. And this the twenty four elders celebrate in advance.

5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth- not only will Israel be redeemed from things, but to things as well. The original intention of the covenant of the law was that they should be “a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation”, Exodus 19:6. They forfeited this privilege, however, by making and worshipping the golden calf. They degenerated further into idolatry until they had to be sent into captivity to judge them. Under the terms of the new covenant, however, they shall all be equal in their knowledge of God, Jeremiah 31:34. Isaiah 61:6 reads, “But ye shall be named the priests of the Lord: men shall call you the ministers of our God”. We know from Ezekiel’s prophecy that priests of the Levitical order shall function in the temple of the kingdom age, offering commemorative sacrifices. But Christ shall be priest upon His throne, Zechariah 6:13, a King-Priest after the order of Melchizedek. The writer to the Hebrews makes an interesting addition to the words of Psalm 110 about this. Instead of quoting “priest after the order of Melchizedek, he writes, “High priest after the order of Melchizedek”, Hebrews 6:20. By this he leaves open the possibility that others would share in that priesthood, for “high priest” supposes people for Him to be high over. Now the priesthood of Christ is founded upon the fact that His life is endless, Hebrews 7:16. Those who have eternal life are therefore qualified to function as priests with Him. This privilege will be known by Israel, for they shall be under the terms of the New Covenant, which involves knowing the Lord, a sign of the possession of eternal life, Jeremiah 31:34; John 17:3. As such they shall reign on the earth with Christ, but they will reign as priests, as Revelation 20:6. Those of Israel who have part in the first resurrection will reign on earth, whereas the church will reign with Him, but not necessarily on earth.
In Daniel 7:18 we read of the saints of the Most High who take and possess the kingdom. The saints in Daniel’s prophecy refers to angels, who have a special ministry to perform as those sent forth to minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation, Hebrews 1:14. The salvation in question being entrance into the kingdom of Christ upon earth. Then in verse 27 we read of the people (in the singular) of the saints of the Most High, who are given the kingdom. This would refer to the nation of Israel as a nation when it is gathered under their Messiah, (for the word “people” emphasises a congregated company).
This is the same scene as Daniel saw in his dream. The Ancient of Days was sitting upon His throne, and “thousands thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him: the judgement was set, and the books were opened”, Daniel 7:10. Then one like unto the Son of Man was brought before Him, “and there was given Him dominion and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed”, Daniel 7:14.

5:11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders- John’s attention is now directed to the massed ranks of the angels. There are one hundred million of them, and more, yet they speak with one voice. There is not a dissenter amongst them as they ascribe honour to the Lamb. This is a reminder of the words of the writer to the Hebrews that “unto the angels hath He not put into subjection the world to come whereof we speak”, Hebrews 2:5. The world to come is the habitable earth which is the subject of chapter 1:6-14, and it is a man who shall administer that. The only one capable of ruling for God is currently at the right hand of God’s throne in heaven, but soon He shall be installed on His own throne of glory upon the earth.
And the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands- when the law was given we learn from Moses himself that “He came with ten thousands of His saints: from His right hand went a fiery law for them”, Deuteronomy 33:2. But as Hebrews 12:26 says, “Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven”. The angels stand ready to come with Him again, this time to judge the earth, for “the Son of Man shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him”, Matthew 25:31. Enoch foresaw this and declared, “Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgement upon all…” Jude 14,15.

5:12 Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

Saying with a loud voice- not only are they united, they are also enthusiastic as they speak with loud voice. The fact that there are myriads of them does not prevent them from heartily expressing their individual appreciation of the Lamb.
Worthy is the Lamb that was slain- they, like the twenty four elders, see the worthiness of the Lamb as being because He was slain. The horror of what earth had done to Him centuries before had not left them. “This is the heir; come let us kill Him!” was the attitude of men, Matthew 21:38, and the angels who looked on, and whose help was not requested, even though it was available, Matthew 26:53,54, have not forgotten.
To receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing- they ascribe seven things to Him. When they say He is worthy to receive, they mean “worthy to receive the credit for”. First, power; this is the dynamite needed to shake the earth to its foundations, in order that a kingdom that cannot be shaken may be established, Hebrews 12:26-29.
Second, riches: the angels know that the Divine resources needed to judge the earth are resident in the Lamb, for to Him all administrative rights are given.
Third, wisdom: the earth’s rulers have been marked by folly. The ultimate expression of this being the crucifixion of the Lord of glory because they were ignorant of Him, 1 Corinthians 2:8. The greater than Solomon in all His wisdom stands ready to rule the world.
Fourth, strength: the glory of this might, this ability to prevail, will be manifested when Christ comes to earth, 2 Thessalonians 1:9.
Fifth, honour: the value placed upon one by those competent to judge. When He came to Israel, they “esteemed Him not”, Isaiah 53:3, or, in other words, valued Him at nothing. They certainly did not think Him to be worthy of the throne of David. God’s verdict is otherwise, and the angels agree.
Sixth, glory: the outshining of inner excellence is pre-eminently His, and the angels are not afraid to express this in the presence of God. Those who glorify Christ in no wise detract from the glory of the Father. He said in the Old Testament, “I am the Lord: that is My name: and My glory I will not give to another, neither My praise to graven images”, Isaiah 42:8. In John 17:5 however, the Lord Jesus prayed thus, “And now, O Father, glorify Thou Me with Thine own self with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was”. That prayer has been answered, and that place of acknowledged glory has been given back to the Son of God. When down here this glory was withheld from Him, as men largely refused His claims, but in heaven He is glorified as He should be. The angels are happy to recognise this.
Seventh, blessing: on earth Christ was cursed and blasphemed by men, but the psalmist had predicted that He would “receive the blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of His salvation”, Psalm 24:5. And so it has come to pass in heaven, and soon on earth as well. Injustice and cursing has been exchanged for righteousness and blessing.

5:13 And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying- the praise of the Lamb now extends universally, as John hears every creature recognising God and the Lamb. This is not to say that all are believers, but all are constrained to admit that God and the Lamb are worthy of recognition. Psalm 148 calls upon all to acknowledge the Lord, and this is the response to that call. All the angel hosts, of whatever rank; all men on earth; all the dead in the grave; all that are sailing on the sea, (for when men are on board ship they often feel as if they are released from the constraints of morality), are united in recognising God and the Lamb.
“All that is in them” is literally “And all the things in them”, so it is not a question of wholehearted response, but universal response without exception.
All recognise that blessing comes from the throne of God. After long centuries of blaming God for evil, they at last realise it was not true. When God was manifest in flesh, He came to bless, not curse. They are forced to admit that the ones who seemed to be so important, as the Antichrist and his false prophet dominated the earth, are but tools of the Devil, and have received their due recompense. At last glory will be given to the God of heaven and His Son. Glory which they refused Christ when He was here, and refused God when He was judging the earth in the tribulation, Revelation 16:9, “they repented not to give Him glory”.
There will be universal admission in that day that God is the God of power, for His judgements will have demonstrated that convincingly.

5:14 And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever.

And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped Him that liveth for ever and ever- the representatives of the earth say Amen to these words, for they have an interest in the name of God and the Lamb being celebrated by all creatures. The worship of the hosts of heaven now gives way to the woes on earth.

REVELATION 6

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SURVEY OF CHAPTERS 6 AND 7

The Lamb now proceeds to unseal the scroll, and so disclose what is written on successive sections of it. The first six seals are broken, and then there is a parenthesis, as we shall see, before the seventh seal is broken. The first four seal-judgements will be introduced by one of the four living creatures, who summon the horses and their riders, for the judgements concern events upon the earth, and come under the jurisdiction of these heavenly representatives of earth’s affairs. Seals five to seven are not put in operation by the living creatures, for they concern matters of a spiritual nature. The seals, trumpets and vials are all grouped in this way, four then three, with a parenthesis of some sort between the sixth and the seventh.

The parenthesis between seals six and seven consists of three things. First, the appointment of 144,000 preachers from amongst Israel, who will go forth to preach the gospel of the kingdom. This is recorded in chapter 7:1-8. Then, second, in 7:9,10, the results of their preaching, as a great multitude stand before the throne and ascribe the salvation they have to God’s power alone. Third, 7:11,12, the angels which stood about the throne give praise to God. They had been appointed as ministers to those who were heirs of salvation, Hebrews 1:14, and now their task is done, and they disclaim any credit for themselves, but give all the glory to God. Clearly, since the white-robed multitude had come out of the great tribulation, verse 14, this second revelation of Christ is now completed, for the vision has taken John to the end of the tribulation period.

STRUCTURE OF CHAPTERS 6 AND 7

(a)	6:1-8	The first four seals broken.
(b)	6:9-17	The fifth and sixth seals broken.
(c)	7:1-8	The 144,000 sealed and sent forth to preach.
(d)	7:9-17	Their converts come out of the Great Tribulation and stand before God.

THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE, THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, AS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION CHAPTER 6, VERSES 1 TO 8:

6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

6:3 And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.

6:4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

6:5 And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

6:7 And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

6:8 And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.

(a) 6:1-8 The first four seals broken.

6:1 And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals, and I heard, as it were the noise of thunder, one of the four beasts saying, Come and see.

And I saw when the Lamb opened one of the seals- now begins the process of judgement which the Lamb has shown Himself competent to carry out, and which He has been authorised to perform.
And I heard, as it were the noise of thunder- the storm of Divine judgement is about to break upon the earth, and these thunder-claps announce its approach.
One of the four beasts saying, Come and see- because the first four judgements affect material things upon the earth, the living creatures who represent the affairs of the physical earth before God are commissioned to instigate the judgements. We are not told which beast is in view in each case, they are simply named first, second, etc. Although when the living creatures are first mentioned in 4:6,7, they are described as first…second…third…fourth, so this is possibly the order here as well.

6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer.

It is interesting to notice the correspondence between the prophecy of the Lord Jesus in Matthew 24, and what we have in this chapter. Noticing this will give us help with the passage, for there is very little detail given of the seals, probably because the Lord Jesus had already spoken of the times to which they relate. These are His words:

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man deceive you. For many shall come in My name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many”, Matthew 24:4,5.

And I saw, and behold a white horse- the first seal being broken, a length of scroll is unrolled which tells of the riding forth of a personage on a white horse. In Zechariah 1:8 we are told of a man riding on a red horse, yet in verse 11 he is described as the angel of the Lord. The prophet is being assured that God has the interests of His people Israel at heart, despite the opposition of their enemies. It is the same in Zechariah 6:1-8, where there are red, black, white and grisled and bay horses which go forth towards the four quarters of the earth, to ensure that God’s interests are furthered in the earth. Now we know from Daniel 8 that evil angels seek to counteract the influence of God’s angels, and it is the same here.
The rider is on a white horse, which speaks of righteousness. This might seem to indicate that he comes in righteousness, until we remember that the apostle Paul described the ministers of Satan coming as false apostles and deceitful workers, pretending to be ministers of righteousness, 2 Corinthians 11:13,14. This personage surely represents that spirit of antichrist the apostle John referred to in 1 John 4:2,3. He is coming to deceive, in order that men’s hearts may be prepared to receive the Antichrist when he comes into public view, and claims universal homage.
And he that sat on him had a bow- he has a bow, but no arrow is mentioned. There is the vague threat represented by the bow, but that threat is not yet put into effect, and men are being lulled into a false sense of security; a tactic often employed by the Devil, but here allowed by God as a judgement upon men.
And a crown was given unto him- in the final analysis men only rule because the Most High allows it, (“For there is no power but of God”, Romans 13:1), and whilst this personage is preparing the way for the rule of Antichrist, nonetheless God is still in control. He is allowing the Devil to over-reach himself, so that he may be finally and utterly destroyed. “The Most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever He will, and setteth over it the basest of men”, Daniel 4:17. Antichrist will certainly come into the category of “basest of men”.
And he went forth conquering, and to conquer– he is allowed to go forth to conquer by peaceful means, and to succeed in doing so. This is the activity of spirit-beings who influence the minds of men so as to prepare the way for the reception of the Antichrist, and their activity takes place during the first phase of his rise to power during the first half of Daniel’s 70^thweek. We know this because the Lord Jesus referred to the middle of the seven-year period further on in His prophecy, so it has not yet come when the first seal is broken.

6:3 And when He had opened the second seal, I heard the second beast say, Come and see.
6:4 And there went out another horse that was red: and power was given to him that sat thereon to take peace from the earth, and that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword.

The words of the Lord Jesus about this are as follows:

“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom:” Matthew 24:6,7.

And there went out another horse that was red- the second seal is broken, and a further part of the scroll is unrolled and read. The peaceful conditions that had initially been brought about by the rider on the white horse are now ruined. This no doubt is part of the Devil’s plan, so that Antichrist may assert himself as being the only answer to earth’s troubles. Notice power is given to him, so all is completely under the control of heaven.
And that they should kill one another: and there was given unto him a great sword- we now know why the horse is the colour of blood, for much blood will be shed at this time as nations and kingdoms rise against one another in a time of unprecedented carnage. The great sword is being used, not to execute justice, (for God has only given governments the sword to use as a sword of justice, Romans 13:4), but to wage war.

6:5 And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

And when He had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see- the words of the Lord Jesus about this are:

“and there shall be famines”, Matthew 24:7.

And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand- black is the colour of the skin of those who are starving to death. Jeremiah described the conditions that prevailed during the siege of Jerusalem, and he said, “Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine”, Lamentations 5:10; see also 4:7-10, where mothers were so desperate for food that they cooked their own children, as God had warned they would if they went over to idolatry, Deuteronomy 28:49-57. We shall see in the next verse that the balances are not used to weigh out the meagre food that the poor will be allowed, for the ration is given as a volume, not a weight. The balances are the symbol of commerce, and would indicate that the food supply will be firmly in the hands of the business leaders, and they will control who gets the food. Catherine Bertuo, the Executive Director of UN food distribution, in a speech at the United Nations in September 14^th, 1997, said, “Food is power; we use it to control behaviour…we do not apologise”. If this is true now, what will conditions be like when God judges the earth, and allows sin to have full rein?

6:6 And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.

And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny- the wage of a labourer in John’s day was a penny, as we see from Matthew 20:1,2. A measure is a volume of about one and a half pints. This is approximately the flour needed to make a loaf of bread. A poor man will need to work the whole day to earn enough to feed Himself and his family just with bread. All this is the consequence of crucifying the Man who could feed thousands with a few loaves.
And see thou hurt not the oil and the wine- whilst famine conditions prevail for the poor, the rich are safeguarded from hardship. In this way the turmoil and unrest on the earth will be aggravated, for the poor will be desperate for food, yet the rich have luxuries. The chaos of the French Revolution, when the oppressed and starving poor rose up against the aristocracy, will be repeated on a world-wide scale.

6:7 And when He had opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth beast say, Come and see.

The corresponding passage in Matthew 24:7 is:

“and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows”.

And I looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed with him- this pale horse is pale green, (the Greek word gives us the word chlorine, a green gas). This is the colour of gangrenous, rotting flesh. We are given the name of the rider this time, and it is death, and he has a companion, hell, for death and hell always go together for the unbeliever.
And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the earth- note again that all is under the control of God, for power is given unto him; Satan has not wrested power from God. Either the wrath comes upon a quarter of the earth’s area, or, as is more likely, over a quarter of the earth’s population. Death is allowed to come to those who are the victims of war, (sword); or famine, (hunger); and with death, (as a result of the disease and pestilences that will inevitably break out at that desperate time. Their death will not be accidental, or slow, but will come to them suddenly and without warning). But then another horror, for the decimation of the population and the upheavals of those times will result in wild animals roaming about uncontrolled, with the consequent terror that will bring, to say nothing of the awful of death many will suffer as a consequence.

THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE, THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, AS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION CHAPTER 6, VERSES 9 TO 17:

6:9 And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost Thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

6:12 And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

6:15 And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains;

6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

6:17 For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

(b) 6:9-17 The fifth and sixth seals broken.

The second group, consisting of two seals now comes before us. Whereas the first four had to do with natural calamities, the fifth and the sixth have to do with spiritual matters. The seventh seal opens up the whole of the remaining judgements.

6:9 And when He had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:

The corresponding words of the Lord Jesus were:

“Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for My name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another”, Matthew 24:9,10.

And when He had opened the fifth seal- the Lamb is the one who superintends this event by Himself. The first four seals involved the intervention of the living creatures, concerned as they are with life on earth. Here the matter is beyond them, having to do with the souls of believers.
I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain- the altar in tabernacle days had a network halfway up, on which the sacrifices were laid and exposed to the fire, and when the process was over, the ashes fell through the grating to the area below. These worthies have suffered in the fires of persecution, and they loved not their lives unto death. Yet this is not the end for them; the Lamb takes note of their situation.
For the word of God, and for the testimony which they held- they have not died as a result of the calamities spoken of under the first four seals. They are martyrs who held fast to the word of God, and maintained a testimony in the face of the opposition of Satan. They did this for the sake of the name of the Lord Jesus, the true Messiah.

6:10 And they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?

And they cried with a loud voice- like Abel’s blood, which called from the ground for vengeance upon Cain, Genesis 4:10, these also cry to be avenged. The Lord Jesus spoke of the persecutions of saints of old time using the illustration of Abel and Zecharias, Matthew 23:34-36. Abel’s blood cried for vengeance, and Zecharias called on the Lord to look upon his death and require it at the hands of his slayers, 2 Chronicles 24:20-22. These are the first and last martyrs of the Old Testament. Yet when Stephen, the first martyr of the New Testament era died, he said, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”, Acts 7:60. He had captured the spirit of this current age of grace, and called for mercy for his murderers, just as the Lord Jesus prayed on the cross, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do”, Luke 23:34.
Saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true- they address God in Old Testament terms as Jehovah, a further indication that these are not church saints. They ascribe holiness to God amidst all the blaspheming of God’s name that is going on around them; they ascribe truth to Him despite all the lies that the supporters of the Antichrist are propagating.
Dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? They are confident that if God judges, it will be to vindicate them and avenge them of their enemies. They have learnt the truth of the Imprecatory Psalms, which call down vengeance upon the enemies of God and His Messiah, and being in an age other than the age of grace, they cry to God to ask for vengeance on those who have killed them. See Psalm 74;9,10; 79:5; 89:46; 94:3,4. The duty of the kinsman in Israel was not only to redeem his brother, but also if necessary to avenge the wrong done to him. See Deuteronomy 19:1-6; Joshua 20:1-6.
This call for vengeance is not appropriate for those of this age killed for their faith, but it will be in the tribulation period. John himself had requested that fire should come from heaven to consume the Samaritans who refused to welcome the Lord Jesus. The Lord rebuked him with the words, “Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them”, Luke 9:35,36. This shows just one of the marked differences between the present age and the one to come. These martyrs label the men of earth as “those that dwell on the earth”. This does not simply mean their physical location, but also their moral position. They were settling down on the earth, rejecting all thought of heaven, and waiting for the utopia that antichrist was promising them.

6:11 And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

And white robes were given unto every one of them- they had toiled hard for God in a righteous way, stripping off their garments, so to speak, for earnest labour, so it is appropriate that robes should now be given to them, for their work is over. They had furthered the cause of righteousness in a day when unrighteousness reigned, so the white robe that signifies practical righteous is given to them. They were reckoned righteous by faith, as all believers of every age are, and now each one is personally robed righteously, to honour the character of their testimony for God.
And it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season- their time for reigning with Christ was not yet come, so they must rest after their labours, and do so in the disembodied state. It would only be a little season; in fact not much more than three and a half years.
Until their fellow-servants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled- so God’s reply to their call for vengeance is that they should wait for a little season until their brethren would be killed, and then vengeance would be executed. So there are two groups mentioned here. Linking this with the fact that after the mention of pestilences in Matthew 24:7, (which corresponds to the fourth seal), there is the setting up of the abomination of desolation in the temple, we are able to say that the first group of martyrs is connected with the first half of Daniel’s seventieth week, (“the beginning of sorrows”, Matthew 24:8), whereas the second group consists of those who will be killed during the great tribulation proper, the second half of the seven year end-time period.
These are referred to as fellow-servants, for they will labour in the same way “for the word of God and the testimony which they held”. They are brethren, too, for they share the life of their heavenly Father. They are those the Lord Jesus refers to as His brethren in Matthew 25:40. Men’s reaction to these testimony-bearers will show their reaction to Him. To hate them is to hate Him, to feed and clothe them is to do the same to Him.
Notice that their brethren are going to be fulfilled. This either means that their number will be filled up, or their testimony will be completed, or they will be given a sense of fulfilment when their task is done.

6:12 And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal, and, lo, there was a great earthquake; and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood;

The words of the Lord Jesus regarding this were these:

“Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken: And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory”, Matthew 24:29,30.

And I beheld when He had opened the sixth seal- like the other five previews John was given of the future revelation of Christ, this one reaches on to the end. It tells of the coming of the Son of Man to judge the inhabitants of the earth, prior to the setting up of His kingdom.
And, lo, there was a great earthquake- not only does John behold, he wants us to take note also, hence the word “lo”. God said through Haggai the prophet that in the Day of the Lord He would “shake the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land”, Haggai 2:6.
The sixth seal tells of the reaction of men to the return of Christ to earth, as they face the wrath of the Lamb. This corresponds to Matthew 24:30, where Christ prophesies His return to the earth. By issuing these prophecies He put Himself under test, for a prophet whose predictions did not come to pass was to be stoned to death, such is the seriousness of the offence, see Deuteronomy 18:20-22. If prophets cannot be trusted, the concept of Divine prophecy is undermined, and God rests His reputation on fulfilled prophecy. In Isaiah 41:21-24 He challenges the forces of evil to foretell the future, but if He cannot either the challenge is pointless. As events unfold in the times we are thinking of, the nation of Israel will come to realise He spoke the truth after all. In this way they will be prepared to receive Him, either before He comes or when He does so.
And the sun became black as sackcloth of hair- sackcloth was the garment of mourning, and even the sun laments the wickedness of men that calls forth the wrath of Christ as He comes. Isaiah 50:3 reads, “I clothe the heavens with blackness, and I make sackcloth their covering”. God is able to display in the heavens these warnings to men. Not only does heaven mourn over earth’s sin, but men are called to repent in dust and ashes, and make sackcloth their covering in repentance.
And the moon became as blood- this is quite often the colour of the moon during an eclipse, but this is no eclipse, but the Creator showing His displeasure with the inhabitants of the earth.

6:13 And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind.

And the stars of heaven fell unto the earth- some scientists believe that the stars are moving away from the earth at present. Yet imagine their consternation at the coming of Christ when their instruments say that the stars are now moving towards the earth! Just as God confounded the astronomers of Daniel’s day, so He will do so again. Only the Creator can manipulate the stars in this way; but then, He created them and sustains them.
Even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs, when she is shaken of a mighty wind- fig trees often produce figs in the winter, which, when shaken by strong winds, all fall down at once. They are not proper fruits, but untimely, or unripe. The fig tree is used in Scripture as a figure of mere profession, but the men of earth have not even professed to believe. They produce nothing that will come to harvest. The fig tree is pollinated by the fig-wasp, which lives inside male figs known as caprifigs, which are produced several times a year.

There is such a thing as solar wind, the streams of energy that emanate from the stars. Now it appears that not only are the stars travelling in the opposite way to normal, but so is the solar wind, thus shaking the stars with the very energy they had emitted.

6:14 And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together; and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.

And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together- just as when a scroll is rolled up, the writing appears to be distorted and out-of-place, so with the stars. The familiar constellations disappear as the stars alter their positions relative to one another. The night-sky as men know it is departed, and it is the hand of God that has done it. This is a rebuke to those who thought that their lives were directed by the stars. Superstitious people like that will be terrified by a sight such as this.
And every mountain and island were moved out of their places- not only are heavenly objects affected as Christ shakes the heavens, but Haggai had prophesied that the earth would be shaken too. Mighty underground forces are unleashed which cause mountains and islands, (many of which are the tops of mountains anyway), to move out of position, causing widespread disruption and terror.

And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man- the inhabitants of the earth, of whatever class, are moved with fear as these events take place. They have become used to scientists explaining everything, but now they are confounded. The ruling classes, the kings and great men; the business community, the rich men; the military, whether captains or foot-soldiers; slaves and freemen, employed and self-employed, are affected.
Hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains- the political classes have ensured their safety from nuclear attack by building nuclear bunkers, and now they flee to these “dens”, like frightened wild animals. Those less provided for had to make do with natural caves in the rocks.

6:16 And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb:

And said to the mountains and rocks- they will find that their hiding-places are not enough to shield them from the sight of Christ coming, for “every eye shall see Him”, 1:7. They will wish the very places in which they are hiding would crash down upon them, if only they can avoid His wrath.
Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sitteth on the throne- “the face of the Lord is against them that do evil”, 1 Peter 3:12, and they find that His countenance is angry.
And from the wrath of the Lamb- this is one of the most startling descriptions of Christ in Scripture. He who bled and died upon the cross in deepest compassion for men, is now angry with them. They have spurned His grace, and insulted God in doing so. This wrath is not spite, but righteous anger against sin and sinners.

6:17 For the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?

For the great day of His wrath is come– as is the case with all the vision-revelations John is given, the end of the period is alluded to in some way. Here there is reference to the great and notable day of the Lord that Joel spoke of, Joel 2:30,31. God’s words through the prophet were, “And I will show wonders in the heavens and in the earth, blood, and fire, and pillars of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and terrible day of the Lord come”. The one who has waited patiently for men to repent and come to Him for salvation, is now sent forth to judge the earth. Man’s day is over, and as Isaiah said twice over, “the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day”, Isaiah 2:11,17.
And who shall be able to stand? Well might the question be asked, for these men have no standing in grace before God, and they are totally unable to stand up under the fierceness of the wrath of God. So in one sense the answer to the question is “None”. But in another sense the answer is “Some”, for the next chapter will tell of those who pass through the time of tribulation, and at the end of it is said of them that they “stood before the throne, and before the Lamb”, 7:9. They do this because they have come to know the salvation He died to obtain.

REVELATION CHAPTER 6

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THE WORDS OF THE BIBLE, THE CHRISTIAN SCRIPTURES, AS FOUND IN THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION CHAPTER 6, VERSES 1 TO 17