THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB BOUGHT ALL PEOPLE FOR GOD

THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB BOUGHT ALL PEOPLE FOR GOD

By Fr. Felix (African Times Guest Writer)

After the vision of God seated on the heavenly

throne comes the vision of the Lamb standing

in the middle of the throne, that is, in the place

of God.

Who is this Lamb? In Paul there is strong

teaching that Christ our Passover is sacrificed

(1 Corinthians 5.7), which is echoed in John by

the Baptist’s greeting, ‘Behold the Lamb of God’

and by the stress in John’s Passion Narrative

that Christ is the paschal lamb, none of whose

bones shall be broken (Exodus 12.46).

In Revelation a different Greek word is used,

which really means a ‘ram’, a more forceful

image than the gentle lamb. This builds in a

different symbolism, of strength and lordship,

for the ram/lamb has seven horns and seven

eyes, the symbols of total strength and total

wisdom.

The Lamb is shown to be God, not only by the

position, standing in the middle of the throne of

God, but also (partly after the end of our

reading) by three consecutive doxologies

(summary expressions of complete faith in

God). First the living creatures and elders chant

a doxology echoing that to the Lord God.

Then the angels, living creatures and elders, in

numberless thousands around the throne,

loudly chant a sevenfold doxology to the Lamb.

Thirdly every creature everywhere chants a

doxology to ‘the One seated on the Throne and

to the Lamb’, the two in equality.

There is, however, an additional dimension,

bringing this vision down to earth. It begins with

the scroll, written on back and front and sealed

with seven seals, in the hand of the One seated

on the throne.

This is the scroll of history, taken from Ezekiel

2.9-10. Then comes a question, like the

question in the prophet Micaiah’s vision of the

heavenly throne-room (1 Kings 22.20-21) and

Isaiah’s vision of God in the Temple, ‘Whom

shall I send?’ (Isaiah 6.8).

Only the Lamb can be found to open the scroll

of history, because he has conquered and is

therefore worthy to control and open out the

history of the world.

Thus the Lamb is seen, not only to be divine,

but as God to control also world-history, having

received the scroll of history from the hand of

the One seated on the throne. Next, the Lamb

will open the seven seals of history to reveal the

disasters and the triumph of history.