Revelation Now :
Daily Devotional Bible Studies in Revelation
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The Lion of Judah opens the Scroll : Day 23 
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. 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 could open the scroll or even look inside it. 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." (Revelation 5.1-5)
John is seeing what he had already studied from the vision of Ezekiel: "And, when I looked, behold, a hand was stretched out to me; and lo, "a written scroll" was in it; and he spread it before me; and it had writing on the front and on the back; and there were written on it words of lamentation and mourning and woe" (1).
Scrolls
In John's day, books were written on scrolls which were pieces of papyrus or vellum up to 30 feet long, rolled up and sealed with clay or wax. The scroll that John sees contains the full account of what God has in store for the world.
We must note that it was a roll and not a book which was in the hand of God. In the ancient world, down to the second century A. D., the form of literary work was the roll, not the book. The scroll was made of papyrus, manufactured in single sheets about ten inches by eight. The sheets were joined together horizontally when a great deal of writing had to be done. The writing was in narrow columns about three inches long, with margins of about two and a half inches at the top and at the bottom, and with about three-quarters of an inch between the columns. The roll commonly had a wooden roller at each end. It was held in the left hand, unrolled with the right, and, as the reading went on, the part in the left hand was rolled up again.
We may get some idea of the dimensions of "a scroll" from the following statistics. "Second and Third John, Jude and Philemon would occupy one sheet of papyrus; Romans would require a roll 11 1/2 feet long; Mark, 19 feet; John, 23 1/2 feet; Matthew, 30 feet; Luke and Acts, 32 feet. The Revelation itself would occupy a roll 15 feet long." (2) It was such a roll that was in the hand of God.
Papyrus
It was written "on the front and on the back." Papyrus was a substance made from the pith of a bulrush which grew in the delta of the Nile. The bulrush was about fifteen feet high, with six feet of it below the water; and it was as thick as a man's wrist. The pith was extracted and cut into thin strips with a very sharp knife. A row of strips was laid vertically; on the top of them another row of strips was laid horizontally; the whole was then moistened with Nile water and glue and pressed together. The resulting substance was beaten with a mallet and then smoothed with pumice stone; and there emerged a substance not unlike brown paper.
From this description it will be seen that on one side the grain of the papyrus would run horizontally; that side was known as the "recto" and on that side the writing was done, as it was easier to write where the lines of the writing ran with the lines of the fibers. The side on which the fibers ran vertically was called the"verso" and was not so commonly used for writing. But papyrus was an expensive substance. So, if a person had a great deal to write, he wrote both "on the front and on the back."
Seven Seals
The scroll "was sealed with seven seals." When a roll was finished, it was fastened with threads and the threads were sealed at the knots. The one ordinary document sealed with seven seals was a will. Under Roman law the seven witnesses to a will sealed it with their seals, and it could only be opened when all seven, or their legal representatives, were present. The roll may be what we might describe as God's will, his final settlement of the affairs of the universe. The seven seals could stand simply for great secrecy. The "seven seals" indicate the completeness and importance of its contents. The "seven seals" are located throughout the scroll so that as each one is broken, more of the scroll can be read to reveal another phase of God's plan for the end of the world.
Mighty Angel
"A mighty angel" asks who is worthy to open the scroll and who can accomplish God's salvation plan. There is despair at first when no one in creation can do it. But John is comforted by an elder who tells him that Christ, called "the Lion" of the tribe of Judah, has won the right to open it. "The Lion of the tribe of Judah" was an ancient title for the Messiah (3). "The Lion", the conquering king Jesus, proved himself worthy to break the seals and open the scroll by living a perfect life of obedience to God, dying on the cross for the sins of the world, and rising from the dead to show his power and authority.
Root of David
"The Root of David" refers to Jesus being from David's blood line, thus fulfilling the promise of the messiah in the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is pictured as both "a Lion" (symbolizing his authority and power) and "a Lamb" ( symbolizing his submission to God's will). The role of Christ the Lion will be to lead the battle when Satan is finally defeated. Christ the Lion is victorious because of what Christ the Lamb has already done.
Meditation
What kind of feelings do the Lion of Judah evoke?
Prayer
Jesus, you are both the Lamb of God and the Lion of Judah
Notes
(1) Ezekiel 2:9, 10 (2) Dr William Barclay (3) Genesis 49
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place."
