Lamb of Israel
Jesus is the “slain Lamb,” the true Messiah of Israel sent by God to redeem humanity and “shepherd” the nations.
The Book of Revelation
is addressed to the “churches of Asia” and begins with salutations from God, the “seven
spirits that are before His throne,” and especially from Jesus Christ, the “faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of
the kings of the earth.” These labels not only establish his royal
“credentials,” but point to how he obtained sovereignty over the earth.
“Faithful witness”
refers to his sacrificial death and “firstborn of the dead” to his resurrection.
This is borne out when the passage describes how he “loosed us from our sins”
and made us a “kingdom of priests” by “his blood” - (Revelation
1:4-6).
Not coincidentally, he reiterated this claim to the church at Smyrna,
where “my faithful witness, Antipas” was martyred and the congregation
was facing even more “tribulation” - (Revelation 2:9-10).
At the end of his letters to
the “churches of Asia,” Jesus promised that every saint who “overcame”
would be seated to reign with him on his throne, “just as I overcame and
took my seat on my Father’s throne.” And he “overcame” and received
his right to rule through his death and resurrection - (Revelation
3:21).
This sets the stage for what
is arguably the most pivotal vision of the book. After describing the “throne”
at the center of the universe, John saw a “scroll sealed shut with seven
seals” in the right hand of the “one who sits on the throne.” When
no one could be found in the entire Cosmos who was “worthy” to open it, John began
to weep bitterly - (Revelation 5:1-4).
At that point, one of the “twenty-four elders” ordered him to
cease weeping, “for the lion from the tribe of Judah, the root of
David, has overcome to open the
scroll and its seven seals.” THAT is what John HEARD.
But instead of a lion, what he “saw” was a “Lamb standing, as though slain.”
What he “saw” interpreted what he first “heard.” Jesus is the
Messiah from Judah, the son of David destined to rule the nations, but he
fulfills that role as the “slain Lamb” - (Revelation 5:5-5).
In doing this, Revelation subverts many traditional and popular
expectations about a militaristic and conquering Messiah. The Greek term
rendered “overcome” can also mean “conquer,” but Jesus has “conquered
and qualified to reign from the Davidic throne by sacrificing his own life
rather than taking the lives of his enemies.
This is the first time he is called “Lamb” in Revelation.
Elsewhere, the name “Jesus” occurs fourteen times (7 x 2) and the title
“Christ” seven times (7 x 1), and not coincidentally, both numbers are
multiples of seven. Yet from this point forward, “Lamb” becomes the
primary designation for Jesus, right up to the final vision of New Jerusalem,
appearing a total of twenty-eight times (7 x 4). And in the book, the number ‘7’
points to completion and the number ‘4’ to that which is universal (e.g., the “four
corners of the earth”). Thus, most likely, the mention of “Lamb”
twenty-eight times points to his sovereignty over all things. In contrast,
neither “lion” nor his descent from “David” is ever mentioned
again.
Immediately upon his arrival at the “throne,” the “Lamb”
took the scroll and began to “open its seven seals.” That his elevation
to the “throne” was based on his sacrificial death was confirmed when
the “four living creatures” and the “twenty-four elders” sang a “song”
declaring him “worthy” to open the scroll because “you were slain and
purchased for God with your blood men from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation,
and made them a kingdom, priests for our
God.”
Moreover,
this “song” of praise was
followed by a myriad of voices from
throughout the creation declaring the “Lamb that has been slain” worthy
to receive all power and dominion - (Revelation 5:11-14).
As he began to reign from the “throne,” Jesus did not cease to be the “slain Lamb” or transform himself into an all-powerful tyrant. In chapter 6, it is the “Lamb” who breaks open the first six “seals,” not the roaring “lion of Judah.”
This does not mean that he is no longer connected to or concerned with
Israel. In chapter 7, the “servants of God” are “sealed,” twelve
thousand males from each of the “twelve tribes of Israel.” Not just from
Judah, but from the entire nation of Israel. But that is the “number”
that John “heard,” a total of 144,000 Israelites. But when he looked, he
“saw” was a multitude so vast that “no man could number
them,” and it was comprised of men and women redeemed from every
nation and people. As before, what John “saw” interpreted
what he first “heard” - (Revelation 7:1-8).
Yahweh
always intended for Israel to become the “first-fruits” of the earth. If the nation kept His covenant, He would make
Israel His very own “possession from among all peoples, for all the
earth is mine, and you will be for Me a kingdom of priests” to mediate His light in all the earth.
What Israel failed to do the “slain Lamb” accomplished. In the interpretation provided in chapter 7, the image of the
144,000 males from the “tribes of Israel” is transformed into a vast
multitude of people from every nation that have “washed their robes in the
blood of the Lamb,” and they now stand before him in New Jerusalem, where
the “Lamb…shepherds and guides them to
fountains of living water.” The original call of
Israel has not been abandoned, but instead, transformed by the “Lamb”
into something far grander and more glorious than anyone could have imagined -
(Revelation 7:9-17).
Later, the same group was seen “standing with the Lamb on Mount
Zion,” where they were singing a “new song before the throne.” No
one else could learn the song, only those men who had been “redeemed from humanity”
as a “first-fruit for God and the Lamb” - (Revelation 14:1-5).
When Satan was expelled from heaven, a great voice declared victory. The
“accuser of the brethren” had been cast out of heaven. This was
accomplished when the messianic “son” was caught up to the “throne,”
pointing to the same reality as the image of the “slain Lamb” who approached
before the “throne.” And the “brethren” overcame the Devil “by
the blood of the Lamb,” not through brute force or military might – (Revelation
12:1-11).
And the saints also “overcame” Satan by “the word of their
testimony, and because they loved not their lives unto the death.” This
points to their faithfulness when witnessing to their neighbors and before
their persecutors, even when doing so meant deprivation and even death.
The “slain Lamb,” is
certainly the Davidic Messiah promised to Israel. As the Psalmist predicted and
Revelation confirms, He is the one destined to “shepherd
all the nations with a scepter of iron.” Only, John
has followed the Greek Septuagint translation of the Hebrew Bible which
changed the original verb for “rule” to the Greek term for “shepherd.”
Jesus does not tyrannize the nations by shattering them with his great iron “scepter.”
Instead, he uses it to “shepherd” them.
And THAT begins
to explain how the “nations” and even the “kings of the earth”
are found in the book’s final vision offering worship to the “Lamb” in “New
Jerusalem.”
The “shepherding” work
of the “Lamb” is seen again in the vision of the “rider on the white
horse.” He was riding across the heavens with his army, “judging and
making war.” The members of his army were all clothed in priestly robes
made from “fine linen, white and pure.” This identified them with the
saints who were redeemed by the “blood of the Lamb” and constituted a “kingdom
of priest” - (Revelation 19:11-21).
The “rider” was called
“faithful and true,” leaving no doubt that he represents Jesus. But the
only “weapon” he carried was the “sword” that flashed from his
mouth. It was identified as the “word of God,” and with it, he was “shepherding”
the nations. And rather than a sword hanging over his thigh was a name written,
“King of kings and Lord of lords.”
What is most remarkable is
that the rider’s robe was stained with blood BEFORE he engaged in
“combat” with the “beast” and his armies. The blood did not belong to
any of the enemies he was poised to slay with his great “sharp sword.”
Yes, he would “tread the winepress of the wrath of God,” but he had not
yet done so. So, whose blood was it, and how did it get there?
The appellation “king of kings” was
applied previously to the “Lamb.” The kings of the earth ally themselves
with the “Beast from the Abyss” to wage war with Jesus, but it was the “Lamb”
who conquered them “because he is Lord of lords, and King of kings” – He holds that
awesome position because he is the “slain Lamb.”
Finally,
in the vision of “New Jerusalem,” he is never called “lion,” “Messiah,”
or even “Jesus.” The city is first represented as the “bride of the Lamb.”
It was built on twelve foundation stones that bore the names of the “twelve
apostles of the Lamb.” There was no temple in it for the “Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb were
its temple.” Neither was there any need for outside illumination for the “lamp
of the city was the Lamb.” The “nations” and the “kings
of the earth” were there, everyone whose name was “written in the Lamb's
book of life.”
And the “river of water
of life” flowed from the “throne” and from the “Lamb,”
and the “tree of life” brought “healing to the nations.” The “curse”
caused by Adam’s sin was no more, and the “throne of God
and of the Lamb” was in it.
Not surprisingly, “Lamb”
occurs seven times in the final vision. Jesus does not at any point cease to be
the “slain Lamb.” It is in that role that he governs the nations and
redeems men from every nation. As the author of Hebrews wrote, “Jesus
Christ, the same yesterday, today, and forever.” That did not refer to his
eternal nature but to the fact that the very same Jesus who died for our sins is
now the heir who, “having achieved the purification of sins, sat down on the
right hand of the majesty on high,” where he has reigned ever since.
By transforming the traditional image of the Davidic
Messiah into the “slain Lamb,” Revelation undermines every
concept of him as a militaristic hero who coerces the nations into submission. In
fact, that is the modus operandi of the “Beast from the sea,” not
that of the “Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world.” Jesus
is the Great Shepherd who uses his “iron scepter” to redeem the nations,
not to grind them into dust.