lamb

COVENANT LAWSUITS AND ROMAN WILLS (Revelation 4-5)

The visions from Revelation 6 onward flow from the vision that begins in chapters 4 and 5. When a scroll is opened. It has a lot – a lot – to say. Scott gave us a ton of insight into those chapters last Sunday; I am going to build on that and unpack some narrative imagery that will, I think, come in handy down the road.

Chapters 4 and 5 are a blend of a) Old Testament imagery and b) temple and throne-room scenes from the Ancient Near East/Roman Empire. [1] Scott focused on the former; here’s some examples of the latter: 

  • the presence of attendants around the imperial throne

  • the offering of hymns and acclamations to the emperor

  • the practice of attendants and lesser kings giving golden crowns to him.

  • the title “our Lord and our God” (4:11) is from the title Dominus et Deus Noster, which was how people referred to Domitian

First point: This imagery is purposeful. We have already heard hints of the power struggle (the kingdom of God against the kingdoms of the world) in the opening three chapters. Now, by strong implication, we are being invited to see that the powers of the world are simply parodies, cheap imitations, of the one Power who really and truly rules in heaven and on earth.[2] John sees that His kingship is an inaugurated reality.[3] There is a sense in which Revelation is deeply political: John wants to leave no question about whose in charge of the world. It’s not emperors no matter how much they are worshipped. It’s as if John is the Crocodile Dundee of prophets: “That’s not a king? THIS is a king.”

Second point: This is a 1st Century Paw Patrol[4] courtroom scene. Biblical scholar Michael Heisser thinks (and I think he’s on to something here) that this is a courtroom scene best understood as a ‘covenant lawsuit’ familiar to John’s largely Jewish audience.[5]

We’ve got two trials in the national spotlight right now: Kyle Rittenhouse and the shooters of Ahmaud Arbery. We know how this works: the prosecution presents a case, the defense counters, a verdict, a judge oversees the process, a jury reaches a conclusion, a decision is rendered.  

John’s audience would recognize the start of Revelation God (as judge, jury and prosecutor) bringing a rib (pronounced ‘reev’) or lawsuit against his people for violating their covenant with him. You can see this numerous times in the Old Testament:

  • God ‘files a lawsuit’ because of Israel’s breaking of the covenant agreement.

  • A prophet (the baliff?) leads Israel into the reality of the celestial courtroom and reads the indictment of the people of Israel.

  • God begins to build a case against his people Israel. 

  • The people can state their defense

  • A verdict is rendered, with the accused either being cleared of charges or assigned a punishment. 

The prophets are using the known mechanisms of human justice through the court system to show how God’s actions are functions of divine justice.

(Side note: this might sound harsh to us, but for Jewish people in the Ancient Near East, that idea that God would make clear his expectations, and the make clear their success and failures, and methodically explain why what was going to happen to them was going to happen to them was fantastic news in a world of capricious and moody gods.) 

Most of the book of Hosea, for example, is an extended covenant lawsuit. The lawsuit starts in chapter 4 (in the NET version, the title is “The Lord’s Covenant Lawsuit against the Nation Israel.”) We don’t have time to read that this morning, but portions of Micah 6 and 7 lays out another example of God bringing a case against His people.[6]

The Prophet’s Intro

Listen to what the Lord says: “Stand up, plead my case before the mountains; let the hills hear what you have to say...For the Lord has a case against his people; he is lodging a charge against Israel.

The Lord’s Case Against Israel

 “My people, what have I done to you? How have I burdened you? Answer me.4 I brought you up out of Egypt and redeemed you from the land of slavery. I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.My people, remember what Balak king of Moab plotted and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, that you may know the righteous acts of the Lord.

Israel’s Non-Answer (they have no defense)

With what shall I come before the Lord and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?

The Prophet’s Response To Their Non-Answer
He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you?
To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God… 

God Continues
10 Am I still to forget your ill-gotten treasures, you wicked house… Shall I acquit someone with dishonest scales… 12 Your rich people are violent; your inhabitants are liars and their tongues speak deceitfully.[Read: “You did not do justly and love mercy.”] Therefore, I have begun to destroy you, to ruin you because of your sins.

14 You will eat but not be satisfied…You will store up but save nothing…15 You will plant but not harvest; you will press olives but not use the oil, you will crush grapes but not drink the wine. 16 You have observed the statutes of Omri and all the practices of Ahab’s house; you have followed their traditions. Therefore I will give you over to ruin and your people to derision; you will bear the scorn of the nations.”[7]

This is the courtroom, the covenant lawsuit. The Israelite reader knew that Judah was on trial then.  Revelation 2-5 works in the same genre. Someone is on trial now in an investigative-type judgment, God’s forensic examination of his covenant people.  (“I like this…. I have this against you”). They get praise, warnings and indictments, including being connected to Balaam and Jezebel,[8] which Micah 6 and 7 also noted.[9]

God the Father functions as both the prosecutor and judge. God the Son – Jesus, the Son of Man, the Lamb- is a witness,[10] a vindicator,[11] a mediator,[12] an intercessor,[13] and an advocate before God.[14]

The 1st century readers knew the history of covenants God made with humanity, and they knew how often they had been broken. And now, even with a reboot with the New Covenant, it only took 50 years for the church to be found wanting with that brand new covenant. It turns out we are really proficient covenant breakers.

So that’s the setting.  What is happening with Jesus opening the scroll, and how does this tie in to what I just presented? Let’s refresh our memories.

Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.[15] And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth[16] could open the scroll or even look inside it.[17] 

I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.” 

Then I saw a Lamb[18], looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders… 9 And they sang a new song[19], saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. 10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.”[20]

This scroll is really, really important in this trial. The contents need to be revealed before the verdict can be rendered.  Unfortunately, no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. Is there anybody out there who deserves to open this scroll? Is there anybody who has not, themselves, contributed in some way to the problems of creation, to the age-old spoiling and trashing of God’s beautiful world? 

John’s answer shows that he, like the other New Testament writers, had a realistic view of the deep-rooted problem of all the human race. There are no covenant breakers who deserve to open the scroll.[21]

But God’s covenants with His people had always pointed toward a remarkable promise about the salvation of humanity. There was always a Messiah somewhere on the horizon. There was someone who would heal, vindicate, make righteous; someone who would free and rescue them from bondage; someone who would make right the broken covenants on their behalf; someone who would lead them to a Promised Land that would surpass the mere acreage of the Old Testament. 

I didn’t give you a key passage from Micah 7, which follows God’s riv against His people:

But as for me, I watch in hope for the Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear me. Do not gloat over me, my enemy! Though I have fallen, I will rise. Though I sit in darkness, the Lord will be my light.Because I have sinned against him, I will bear the Lord’s wrath, until he pleads my case and upholds my cause. He will bring me out into the light; I will see his righteousness. (7:7-9)

The plan for resolution in which the guilty will rise into a forgiveness granted not earned, in which God pleads the sinner’s case and brings them into the light so that they can see his righteousness and participate in it – this plan is found in the scroll. 

Greg Beale believes this scroll is best seen as a Roman will.[22]  Such wills were witnessed or sealed by seven (#lovemesomesevens) witnesses with the contents sometimes summarized in writing on the outside of the document to protect against changing or falsifying the document. Only upon the death of the testator (one who makes will) could the will be unsealed and the legal promise of the inheritance be executed. A trustworthy executor (the person named to carry out the wishes of the deceased) had to be found for the will to take effect. 

God’s plan to wipe away all tears from all eyes (7.17; 21.4) begins here. ‘Don’t cry,’ says one of the elders. ‘Here is the one who can do it.’ Here is the one who can unveil the full contents of the document and put the will of the one who died into force.  Jesus is both testator and executor: he made the will, died, then returned to life and carried out his own wishes so that the plan could be put into effect.

Daniel was told this would sealed up until the end time; now the ‘end time’ has come, and now, we discover what was “in God’s will,” so to speak: the solution to the problem of covenant breakers.[23]  

It’s Jesus, of course (spoiler alert). The Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. The Lamb whose sacrificial death (5:6) has redeemed people from all nations (5:9–10). This image draws on both the Passover lamb (Exodus 12) and the suffering servant of God, who is led like a lamb to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7; Jeremiah 11:19).[24]

Jesus is found worthy because he – as the perfect human – fulfilled the stipulations of the broken covenant by suffering the judgment of covenant-breakers on behalf of his people, whom he represented and consequently redeemed.[25] So Jesus is both the executor and the inheritor of the promise just like he is both the high priest and the sacrifice. His death and Resurrection have resulted in the redemption of believers and their present participation in a priestly kingdom.[26]

No wonder the everybody watching this worships. Three doxologies are sung by ever-increasing choruses:  

  • The first group sing a new song – a song of Christ’s redemption -  more perfect than any hymn before, to the Lamb (Christ), for He has inaugurated the new age (21:15Is 42:10), rescuing  people by his death so that they could participate in God’s royal and redemptive purposes (‘kingdom and priests’) for the wider world.

  • More join for the second song, seven-part doxology to the Lamb (5:12). This turns from what the lamb has achieved to what he has deserved: all the honor and glory of which creation is capable.

  • All creation, the whole cosmos, joins in a third song of glory that address the same praise to the Father and to the Son (with the Holy Spirit, as mentioned in 5:6) [27]: “the One on the throne and the Lamb”.[28]

* * * * *

John’s vision of the slain Lamb emphasizes the centrality of the Cross to the plan contained in the scroll. Christ’s overcoming began, counter-intuitively, at his death.[29]  This is why when we celebrate Communion, we remember His body, broken for us. It’s why we remember His death until He returns. 

The slaughtered Lamb reveals how God saves humanity through his sacrificial life and death - and how humanity, in turn, can serve God through the worship of a life lovingly given in a sacrificial response to Jesus and the cause of the kingdom. “This do in remembrance of me” is more than just remembering: it’s reenacting. It’s overcoming in the same way Jesus overcame. 

The cross is both the source and the shape of our salvation. A faithful victory will only come about as we follow the Savior raised from the cross in the way of the cross.

Final thought: There is always hope for covenant breakers

  • The God whose holy justice demands that we give an answer for our covenant keeping also has a holy mercy that provides our divine advocate, who is the covenant keeper on our behalf. 

  • The one who demands our righteousness applies His righteousness to us. 

  • The only perfect sacrifice saves and redeems our imperfect offerings.

  • The one who insists we overcome and endure empowers us to overcome and endure. 

  • The one who knocks from outside the door of our hearts also works on the inside to move us to open it. 

  • The One who will one day make all things new is even now bringing all kinds of dead things back to life.

 There is always hope. Let’s close by reciting they hymns of praise. 

“You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have appointed them as a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” 

“Worthy is the lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and praise!” 

“To the one seated on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power forever and ever!


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[1] Reading Revelation Responsibly talks a lot about this overlap.

[2] N.T. Wright, Revelation For Everyone

[3] The New Testament is both consistent and clear that the last day started with the resurrection of Christ. Acts 2:17-21, citing Joel 2:28-32 as fulfilled. 1st Timothy 4:1; 1st Peter 1:20; Hebrews 1: 1-2; James 5:3; 1st John 2:18; Jude 18.

[4] Remember Scott’s example from last week?

[5] Read “The Covenant Treaty In Ancient Scripture,” at Agape Bible Study for more info.

[6] As I read the book of Hosea and spent some time digging into Micah a bit more, I found myself thinking, “This sounds a lot like Revelation.” They share a lot of language, imagery and focus in common. 

[7] Note how verses 12 and 16 say functionally the same thing, with God active in the first (“I have begun to destroy you”) and passive in the second (“I will give you over.”) Often, God’s harshest judgment is simply giving us over to the consequences of our sins.

[8] She was married to Ahab.

[9] “After you find these passages where he’s speaking against his people, he then turns and says, “Now, Babylon, I’m going to judge because of what they’ve done to you. And Egypt—I’m going to do this to them…” basically saying, “Because they hurt my people, and they work with their idols, I’m going to judge them…” So I argue that there’s a pattern: oracles against God’s people (covenantal lawsuit), oracles against the nations (which are also framed in legal justice language), and then oracles of salvation depicting what God’s deliverance and vindication will look like for his faithful people.” (Michael Heisser) 

[10] Job 16:19

[11] Job 19:25

[12] Job 33:23-24

[13] Isaiah 53:11-12; Hebrews 7:25

[14] Dan 7:13, 27

[15] And when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me, and behold, a scroll of a book was in it. 10 And he spread it before me. And it had writing on the front and on the back, and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe.” (Ezekiel 2:9-10)

[16] Aune, quoted by Heisser: ”In the T. Sol. [MH: the Testament of Solomon] 16:3, Beelzeboul is referred to as the ruler of the spirits of the air and the earth and beneath the earth.” So Beelzeboul is given credit over the spiritual beings in all three zones who are allied with him. And if that’s the case, if that’s what John intends the reader to think of, basically he’s saying, “None of the spiritual bad guys know what’s in this scroll. They’re going to get blindsided too. And they are unable to open it and read it. And it’s in God’s right hand. And only the Lamb can open it.” 

[17] “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince who has charge of your people. And there shall be a time of trouble, such as never has been since there was a nation till that time. But at that time your people shall be delivered, everyone whose name shall be found written in the book.  But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end. He said, “Go your way, Daniel, for the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. (Daniel 12) 

[18]  “Revelation uses a special word for “lamb” (29 times in Revelation and only once elsewhere in the NT—Jn 21:15). The idea of the lamb as a victorious military leader seems to come from the apocalyptic tradition (1 Enoch 90:9; Testament of Joseph 19:8; see also the warrior ram of Da 8). (NIV Study Bible Notes) “Jewish apocalyptic literature portrayed the Messiah as a horned lamb who would fight for His people and conquer the forces of evil. The Jews, however, never expected this warrior-lamb to suffer and die, and did not consider Him to be God. The warrior-lamb is both with God (in the midst of the throne) and with man (in the midst of the elders), for He is the union of God and man without the merging of the two natures.”(Orthodox Study Bible)

[19] “A new song — Composed on the matters and blessings of the Gospel, which was just now opened on earth. But new song may signify a most excellent song; and by this the Gospel and its blessings are probably signified.” (Adam Clarke) 

[20] Note the allusion to Exodus 19:6. 

[21] N.T. Wright, Revelation For Everyone

[22] In a cache of scrolls found in a trash pile in Egypt, archaeologist found a last will and testament with seven seals on it.

[23] Beale believes this, but takes it further. I don’t disagree; I’m just keeping the focus narrow in this message for the sake of time and, well, focusJ “This open book thus represents a covenantal  promise. It includes God's plan of redemption in judgment formulated throughout the Old Testament, which encompasses the development of all sacred history, especially from the cross to the new creation. What is decreed concerning redemption and judgment is explained in detail throughout the visionary section of Revelation. Christ sovereignty over history, the reign of Christ and the saints throughout the course of the church age and in the new cosmos, Christ protection of his people who suffer trial, his temporal and final judgment on the persecuting world, and so on.”

[24] When God made a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, (and following) He used a standard form of suzerain covenant-making. Interestingly, there were only two stipulations for Abraham: leave his home/the gods of his fathers and follow God, and be obedient to the voice of God (Genesis 22). On the other hand, there were at least 14 very specific promises that God puts on himself (http://www.lifeinmessiah.org/resources/articles/gods-covenant-with-abraham). Abraham killed some animals, cut them in pieces, and arranged them to walk through.  While they were waiting, great darkness fell.  God, the stronger party, passed through (as a fiery pillar) – but never made Abraham, the weaker party, do the same. By passing through the slaughtered animal, God was saying that if He didn’t bless Abraham and honor the covenant, God – the stronger, initiating party - would have to pay the penalty. That alone would be unusual, but that wasn’t the most incredible point. God was saying that if Abraham doesn’t keep the covenant, God would pay the penalty for Abraham. Which God did in the person of Jesus Christ. On the cross, a great darkness descends again, and Jesus fulfilled the conditions of the covenant by paying Abraham’s penalty so that God could receive us unconditionally. We commemorate this every time we partake in communion – His body broken, His blood spilled. The covenant must be honored. Someone must pay for breaking the agreement.

[25] The seven seals point back to Daniel 7, in which there are books of judgment in God's Heavenly Court that contain God's plan of judgment and redemption.

[26] From Revelation: A Shorter Commentary, by G.K. Beale

[27] Pretty sure this was highlighted in N.T. Wright’s book. It was in my notes, and I lost track of where I got it L

[28] As Scott said last week, if you don’t think the Bible makes clear that Jesus is God, you aren’t looking J

[29] He overcomes in the same way in which is people overcome (Revelation 3:21).