The Revealing Of The Lamb

Uplook – November 2015 — Grace & Truth Magazine

The Revealing Of The LAMB

The Lamb is worthy! The Lamb is mentioned throughout Scripture – at least 28 times in Revelation alone! In that last book of the Bible we see that the Lamb is worthy of our worship because of who He is and what He has done!

Worship The Lamb
One of the main themes of the book of Revelation is that only God is to be worshiped. Idolatry, the worship of demons and objects of stone, gold or silver, is condemned (9:20). The war pictured in that book is a battle between the Lamb and the Beast, who himself demands worship from the inhabitants of the earth (13:4,12,15, 14:9,11, 16:2). Who will be worshiped: God and His Lamb or the Dragon and his Beast? The Lamb deserves all worship, which is appropriate to only God Himself.

This theme is emphasized in Revelation. On two different occasions John fell down to worship an angel (19:9-10, 22:8-9). Both times the angel protested saying he was simply another “servant” of God. The command was then given which echoes even now: “Worship God!” The teaching is clear: only God is to be worshiped! Only divine Persons, including the Lamb, are worthy of worship. In Revelation 5:13 and 7:10 we see God and the Lamb are worshiped together.

The worthiness of the Lamb is found in both His person and work. His work is mentioned in Revelation 5:9 and is directly related to His redemptive work, that of the slain Lamb. Yet, His work of redemption is intimately tied to who He is since it depends upon His person. The Lamb was able to redeem only because of who He is – the divine Son of God who became man.

The worthiness of the Lamb lies in the perfections of His person. The Lamb is worthy because He is divine: He is God, the Son of God (2:18). His deity is asserted by the titles He is given in Revelation. The titles “Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last” are directly ascribed to Jesus (22:13 NKJV; see 1:8,17). He is “alive forevermore” (1:18) and the one “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty” (v.8). This ascribes to the Lamb the nature of Jehovah Himself: “I AM WHO I AM” (Ex. 3:14; consider John 8:58).

The Lamb shares the nature of the LORD. He is, along with the Father and the Spirit, Jehovah, as verified by the title “First and Last” in the Old Testament. Read Isaiah 41:4: “I, the Lord am the first; and with the last I am He.” Again: “I am the First and I am the Last; besides Me there is no God” (44:6; see 48:12). The Lamb shares in this oneness of the divine nature, and He receives the worship of angels and His followers as one deserving the worship which belongs only to God.

The Redeeming Lamb
The worthiness of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus, also lies in His redemptive work. He is the Lamb of God “who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). “You are worthy,” the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders sing, “for You were slain and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation” (Rev. 5:9).

We see that the Lamb is worthy because He has bought us by His blood. First Peter 1:18-20 reminds us “that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you.” He bought us with His precious blood out of the slave market of sin! We are now not our own, but belong to Him (1 Cor. 6:19-20).

He has also taught us that we are kings and priests to our God. Because of the finished work of the Lamb of God we have been reconciled to our God, having been made fit for His presence! Paul elaborated on this in Romans 5:1-2 when he wrote, “Having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.” Now by faith we may behold the glory of God shining in the face of the Lord Jesus, looking forward to faith’s giving way to sight.

As a kingdom of priests we are already able to offer up spiritual sacrifices of praise to the Lamb and to the Father (Heb. 13:15; 1 Pet. 2:5). Is it any wonder we can declare, “Worthy is the Lamb!”

The Warring Lamb
The Lamb is at the center of the judgment scenes in the book of Revelation, where we see Him as the Warring Lamb. In this view the Lamb is horned – with seven horns (5:6). The horns are a symbol of perfect power, of omnipotence. The Lamb is also pictured as a Lion (5:5), a powerful beast which is able to overpower and destroy its enemy. The horned Lamb picks up the encouraging message of the mighty Messiah, the powerful King who will rule the nations (Gen. 49:9-10).

Even the blood of the Lamb in the book of Revelation is understood as the definitive expression of the power of the Almighty God. It is not a symbol of weakness. The cross is the expression God’s love (1:5) and power (5:6). The Lamb is the Lord Jesus Christ as Victor through the cross. He expresses His power through the shedding of His blood.

The cross was God’s victory over Satan. While Satan stands as the accuser of the people of God by pointing to their soiled garments (Zech. 3:1-10), the work of Lamb on the cross overcomes him. The voice in heaven proclaimed that “salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ” had come when they overcame Satan “through the blood of the Lamb” (Rev. 12:10-11). The war has been won; it was won at the slaying of the Lamb. It was not weakness; it was victory. It was not victimization, but triumphant redemption!

The picture of the Lamb’s wrath immediately strikes us as inappropriate. A lamb is a gentle figure whose innocence is most apparent. Who would ever be afraid of a lamb? But this Lamb is horned, powerful and righteous. He is a just judge. His anger will be vented upon those who make war against His people, against those who worship the beast. Individuals who do not repent of their sin (9:20-21), glorify God (16:9) and follow the Lamb (14:4) will suffer the wrath of this powerful and triumphant Lamb. It is the “wrath of the Lamb” (6:16) that is poured out on the rebellious inhabitants of the earth. The wrath of God is that of the Lamb, and “in righteousness He judges and makes war ... He Himself treads the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God” (19:11,15). This wrath is poured out on those who worship the Beast when it is the Lamb whom they should worship (14:9-11).

The Lamb makes war against the Beast, who makes war against His people, His followers. This is clearly pictured in Revelation 17:14. While the kings of the earth gather with the Beast to make war against the Lamb, the Lamb will overcome them “because He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are His called, chosen, and faithful followers.” The Lamb’s victory is certain because He is “Lord of lords and King of kings” – a divine title which belongs only to God. The Lamb will be victorious because He is the Almighty, and He will win the victory for His people.

The Lamb of God is not only a sacrificial victim, but a reigning and victorious King. He rules with a rod of iron to punish the wickedness of the nations and to rescue His people (2:26-27, 19:15). He is the warrior Lamb who leads the heavenly hosts in the battle against evil. His victory is final.

The Shepherding Lamb
The image of the Lamb as a warrior is very peculiar, but so is the image of the Lamb as a Shepherd who leads His people into rest and peace (1 Pet. 2:25; Heb. 13:20). This picture of the Lamb is given in Revelation 7 where John sees the great multitude that no one can count in the presence of the throne room of God. They are praising God and the Lamb, and wearing robes made white in the blood of the Lamb. One of the twenty-four elders describes the condition of these saints as they are being shepherded by the Lamb (7:17). The Lamb is at the center of the throne and He “will be their Shepherd, He will lead them to the fountains of the waters of life. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” As a result, they will never hunger or thirst again. Instead, they will serve God day and night in His temple because God has spread His tent over them and dwells with them as with His own people.

It is very possible that the imagery of Revelation 7:17 is drawn from Psalm 23 and Ezekiel 34:23. The Lamb is the one who will lead His people through the wilderness into times of refreshing through living water. Those who are thirsty can answer the invitation of the Lamb who will provide living water (Rev. 22:17), which flows from the throne of God and the Lamb (22:1), for them.

The people of God are followers of the Lamb, following His witness for God, His martyrdom and His patience. This picture is vividly portrayed in Revelation 14:3-5. They are to be pure, chaste and blameless; and they are “offered as first-fruits to God and the Lamb.” The saints in that day are chosen and called to the same patient endurance that characterized the Lamb Himself (12:17, 13:10, 17:14). Their names have been written in the Book of Life since the foundation of the world (13:8).

Christ is a Shepherd to all of His people of all ages. We too are to follow Him, even to the point of giving the same witness He gave. His victory is to be our victory.

By Timothy P. Hadley