Revelation Now :
Daily Devotional Bible Studies in Revelation
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The Lamb of God and the Throne : Day 24 
Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. (Revelation 5:6-8)
The Slain Lamb of God
One of the elders calls John to look at the Lion, but when John turns around he sees "a Lamb" instead. "The Lamb" is the main title for Christ in Revelation, and is used twenty-eight times. The Lamb is pictured with seven horns for power and seven eyes for knowledge. We find it difficult to visualize such a Lamb but Jesus Christ is described in this way. Christ appears as a Lamb, coming to receive the scroll from God, for which he is acclaimed as at a coronation. We may think of the four living creatures forming a circle around the throne and the twenty-four elders forming a wider circle with a larger circumference, and with the Lamb standing in the centre of the whole scene.
The Gentle Lamb
The word the Apostle John uses for Lamb is not used of Jesus Christ anywhere else in the New Testament. John the Baptist pointed to him as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (1). Peter speaks of the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (2). In Isaiah 53:7, in the chapter so dear to Jesus and to the early Church, we read of the lamb brought to the slaughter. But in all these cases the word is "amnos", whereas the word that the Revelation uses is "arnion." This is the word that Jeremiah uses, when he says: "I was like a gentle lamb that is led to the slaughter" (3). By using "arnion" and using it so often, John wishes us to see that this is a new concept.
John sees the Lamb looking as if it had been slain indicating that the wounds inflicted on Jesus' body during his trial and crucifixion could still be seen. The Lamb of God died as the final sacrifice for all sins. Although Christ is a sacrificial lamb, he is in no way weak. He was killed, but now he lives in God's strength and power. There we have the picture of the sacrifice of Christ, still visible in the heavenly places. Even in the heavenly places, Jesus Christ is the one who loved us and gave himself for us. This same Lamb, with the marks of sacrifice still on it, is the Lamb with the seven horns and the seven eyes.
The Seven Horns
The seven horns stand for omnipotence. In the Old Testament the horn stands for sheer power. Zedekiah, the prophet, made iron horns as a sign of promised triumph over the Syrians (4). The seven horns also stands for honor. It is the confidence of the Psalmist that in the favor of God our horn shall be exalted (5). The good man's horn shall be exalted with honor (6). God exalts the horn of his people (7). The Lamb bears the sacrificial wounds upon it; but at the same time it is clothed with the very might of God which can now shatter its enemies. The Lamb has seven horns; the number seven stands for perfection; the power of the Lamb is perfect, beyond withstanding.
The Seven Eyes
The Lamb has seven eyes, and the eyes are the Spirits which are dispatched into all the earth. The picture comes from Zechariah. There the prophet sees the seven lamps which are "the eyes of the Lord, which range through the whole earth" (8). It is an eerie picture; but quite clearly it stands for the omniscience of God. In an almost crude way it says that there is no place on earth which is not under the eye of God.
Christ is the fulfillment of all the hopes and dreams of Israel, for he is the Lion of Judah and the Root of David. He is the one whose sacrifice availed for human beings, and who still bears the marks of it in the heavenly places. But the tragedy has turned to triumph and the shame to glory; and he is the one whose all-conquering might none can withstand and whose all-seeing eye none can escape. We see "the majesty and the meekness" (9) of Jesus Christ and in the one picture combine the humiliation of his death and the glory of his risen life.
Meditation
What do you think of the majesty and meekness of the Lamb of God?
Prayer
Lamb of God. How wonderful you are!
Notes
(1) John 1:29, 36 (2) 1 Peter 1:19 (3) Jeremiah 11:19 (4) 1 Kings 22:11 (5) Psalm 89:17 (6) Psalm 112:9 (7) Psalm 148:14 (8) Zechariah 4:10 (9) Swete
"The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place."
