The Scroll of Life:
Appendix D: Various “Interpretations” of the Lamb’s Scroll of Life
Guessing the Purpose of the Little Scroll of Rev 5.1
A common failing of many commentaries is their attempt to “guess” the contents of the Little Scroll based of what takes place when each seal is broken. The obvious problem with this is the wide variety of effects of each of the opened seals and the fact that—prior to the opening of the scroll in Rev 20—the Little Scroll of Life is nowhere else shown to be opened. We therefore ask the question:
If the scroll is not opened, how is it that expositors can so confidently state what the scroll contains?
Expositors are likewise quite creative when describing how the Little Scroll of Life is sealed with 7 seals yet permit increasing portions to be opened and revealed. (This is a favorite strategy with at least one Amil expositor, namely Gregory Beale.)
Then, there is another group of expositors that simply give up and maintain that the scroll remains a mystery that was never revealed—though given so much content in the Revelation. Why did the LORD show this to John, then tell him:
Rev 22.10
And he said to me, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.”
The details of the Little Scroll of Life are an important part of that prophecy which, in the context of Rev 22, is the book of the Revelation! Its details appear in chapters 3, 5, 6, 7, 13, 17, 20, and 21. There is simply no way that the LORD would show all this to John, then say (in effect),
“That’s it. I’m not telling you anything more about the Little Scroll of Life. You just have to guess.”
"Suggestions" for the Purpose of the Little Scroll of Rev 5.1
Expositors past and present offer a wide variety of opinions on the purpose of the Little Scroll of Rev 5.1. The problem with essentially all of them is just that: they are opinions not grounded in the Scripture, nor in the context of the chapter itself.
A More Detailed View of Several expositors
Like so many other details of the Revelation, expositors past and present move well beyond the proper exposition of the text and instead present a multitude of biblically unsupportable “interpretations”—speculations, really—regarding the nature and contents of the scroll introduced in Revelation chapter 5:
Rev 5.1
I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll …
As detailed in this article, this scroll is unique among all the other scrolls mentioned in the Revelation; regarding that truth all the expositors cited here appear to agree.
Since this event has not yet taken place (within our timescape), and since there is no indication in the text of Revelation that the One on the throne received the scroll from anyone else (as strongly implied by Eph 1.4), we can safely maintain that it has always been and will be until that point in “time” in the right hand of the Father.
The following is a summary of several interpretations that I found in various commentaries that I own as well as on the web (chosen at random from the many available).
William Hendriksen
More than Conquerors
Baker Book House, 1940
pg. 89
“On the right hand of the Father lies a scroll (cf. 6: 14). It represents God's eternal plan, His decree which is all-comprehensive. It symbolizes God's purpose with respect to the entire universe throughout history, and concerning all creatures in all ages and to all eternity. It is full of writing on both sides. … The meaning is this: the closed scroll indicates the plan of God unrevealed and unexecuted. If that scroll remains sealed God's purposes are not realized; His plan is not carried out. To open that scroll by breaking the seals means not merely to reveal but to carry out God's plan.”
pg 90
“The Lamb came and took the scroll out of the hand of Him who was seated upon the throne. This very clearly refers to the fact that Christ, as Mediator, at His ascension received authority to rule the universe according to God's eternal decree.”
pg 91
“The words of the song are these: ‘Worthy art thou to take the scroll, and to open the seals thereof; for thou wast slaughtered, and didst purchase for God with thy blood men out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation, and didst make them for our God a kingdom and priests; and they reign upon the earth. ’3 It is the song of redemption.”
Observations:
“If that scroll remains sealed God's purposes are not realized; His plan is not carried out.”
Hendriksen errs greatly here: there never has been nor ever will be a time in which the LORD’s plan is “not carried out”. Such is impossible:
Isa 14.24-27
The LORD of hosts has sworn saying, “Surely, just as I have intended so it has happened, and just as I have planned so it will stand ... For the LORD of hosts has planned, and who can frustrate it? And as for His stretched-out hand, who can turn it back?”
The Amil proponent maintains that the Lord Christ currently rules spiritually from His throne in heaven and will rule on the earth when He returns to conduct the "final" judgment and initiate the eternal kingdom. Hendriksen’s assertion (“received authority to rule the universe”) is misleading and tends to deemphasize the coming earthly rule of the Lord Christ on the throne of David in Jerusalem.:
Psa 110.1
The Lord says to my Lord:
“Sit at My right hand
Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”
The Lord Christ will receive authority, but not to “rule the universe”, at least in the context of this Psalm.
There is one more point regarding Hendriksen’s commentary which I need to make which concerns his comments on Rev 5.13+:
“Finally (verse 13), the entire universe in all its parts and with all its creatures joins the chorus of praise. We have in this verse the climax of what is found in chapters 4 and 5. Chapter 4 relates to God and creation; chapter 5:1-12, has reference to the Lamb and redemption. Hence, these last two verses, 5:13-14, relate to the conjoined glory and adoration of God and the Lamb. All the universe praises God and the Lamb because of their work in creation and redemption.”
One of the glaring errors of those of the Amil position is the complete lack of realization of exactly what it is that John declares in Rev 5.13-14 and what it means to Amil timing.
Here is the problem:
Those who hold to Amil eschatology maintain that the Kingdom of Heaven is present and active now—that is, as a spiritual Kingdom. Would not the inauguration of that Kingdom be the perfect—and only—opportunity for this great declaration of Rev 5.13-14 to take place? But we here on earth have yet to experience it in the nearly 2000 years since the resurrection of the Lord Christ and the claimed arrival of the Kingdom.
Could we have missed it? Could the Lord Christ and the Father on the throne have received such adoration and praise from everywhere and everything except from those of us on the earth? Absolutely not!
My questions, of course, are ridiculous in the extreme. Regardless, this is what the Amil eschatologist would have us believe. So, to them Rev 5.13-14 becomes an eschatological event whose fulfillment is not even considered. Rather, it is merely unbounded praise from John instead of an event which is on the LORD’s calendar for some time yet in the future.
The Revelation Record
Henry Morris
Tyndale House Publishers, Inc
Wheaton, Illinois
Creation-Life Publishers
San Diego, California
Copyright 1983
ppg. 96-97
“But what is this remarkable scroll? It is nothing less than the title deed to the earth itself. This is not explained in the immediate context, but it is clearly the antitype of all the rich typological teaching associated with the divinely specified procedures for land redemption in the Old Testament.
In the first place, the earth is permanently God's possession by right of creation, and nothing can ever alter that fact. "The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods" (Psa 24.1-2) ...
Whose World Is This?
This is the background of the marvelous drama that now unfolds in Revelation. The Lamb has paid the price to reclaim the lost world and has delivered over the title deed, as it were, for safekeeping to its Creator God until He could return to cast out the invader and consummate the full redemption of His dearly purchased possession.
... It's contents are evidently brief, recording only the fact that the price for the whole world has been paid and the Lamb has right to the inheritance, but it is sealed tight with seven seals. ...”
I must prefix my comments with an expressed love of and respect for Dr. Morris and his very important creation science work he founded, but he is clearly wrong here and has fabricated a fantasy.
Dr. Morris only proves from Scripture that the earth belongs to God by right of His being its Creator. The statements regarding the “back and forth” possession of the “title deed” make no sense. They are silly and have no biblical support.
Moreover, there is an implicit contradiction for the reason for a “title deed” at all—which the Lord Christ had in his possession—but then Christ gives God the title deed for “safekeeping” !?!? Safekeeping from whom!?!? Who would presume to take the “title deed” from Him?
Is the Lord Christ somehow incapable of keeping the deed safe Himself? Moreover, when did the Lord Christ “deliver over” the title deed in the first place? The text says that the Lamb took the scroll from the right hand of the One on the throne; nothing is stated regarding when and how the One on the throne received the scroll.
His comment “It's contents are evidently brief...” is unsupportable, since there is no record in Rev 5 that the scroll was ever opened. (Dr. Morris made no claim that the scroll was the Little Scroll of Life.) How then are its contents known to be “brief”?
[In preparation for this article, I revisited this site. This link (which I reviewed originally in 2013) no longer exists (or any exposition of the Revelation, at least that I could find).
People change their minds as they grow in grace and knowledge (2 Pet 3.18). He might no longer believe what he wrote, or he still does believe what I reviewed in 2013 and placed the contents elsewhere (which I didn’t find). Beyond this, I won’t speculate or reproduce it from my original notes.]
“This sealed scroll is the Father’s deed to the earth and all it contains, Psa 2.2-9, Mat 21.33-46. This is when the Father gives dominion to the Son as recorded in Daniel 7.13-14.”
None of the three proof texts cited by the author actually support his claim of the “scroll is the Father's deed to the earth”. They do make it very clear that the Son is to rule the earth by the Father's appointment, but in none of the texts cited is there either inference or mention of a scroll or title deed. His references are, therefore, used out of context.
“This is, as I will go on to show, is the mortgage title deed to the inheritance of the kingdom of God. And it's a mortgage that pertains to eternal life in the position of reigning with Him, as He had designed from the beginning. God intended for there to be a kingdom and for there to be inheritances in that kingdom; but they were mortgaged; they were lost because of sin.
… Now some more light on this custom of the mortgage scroll or a scroll pertaining to a title deed is given in Jeremiah 32:6-15.”
This notion of the inheritance of the kingdom of God being “mortgaged” is clearly unbiblical. Mortgaged to whom? Is the author implying that God owes something to someone else? Or, is the author implying that the Lord Christ “owes” the Father something in lieu of the Title Deed, that the earth would continue to belong to the Father alone until the Lord Christ was crucified? The entire thought process is irresponsible at best, blasphemous at worst. He certainly offers no biblical proof for this outrageous claim.
He does not prove that the title scroll of Jer 32 applies to the scroll of Rev 5 (and therefore uses Jer 32 out of context). Moreover, the gravity and scope of the scroll of Rev 5 would preclude such a relatively insignificant interpretation.
[This link exists, but no longer contains anything about the scroll of Rev 5.
The same comment I made about http://www.discoverrevelation.com/Rev_5.html apply here as well.]
“Sealed scrolls were used for property records in ancient Israel, one copy would remain open and the other copy sealed and stored to verify the true owner of the property. (Jeremiah 32:9-14) The scroll in the right hand of God is the sealed property deed. In Jeremiah 32, Babylon is about to conquer Judah and Jeremiah has a cousin Hanamel who has property he wants to sell, which he feels will be worthless after the Babylonian invasion. God instructs Jeremiah to buy the property, as cousin, Jeremiah has the right of redemption. Jeremiah buys the property and the deed is sealed before the court.
This sealed scroll is property deed which requires the right person to claim ownership of the said property.”
The author presents no biblical proof of this claim. As noted earlier, Jer 32 does not apply and is used out of context relative to Rev 5.
“The Scroll (Revelation 5:1-6)
The Scroll’s Identity
Before we can move forward, I think we must ask an important question. What is this scroll? Where did this scroll come from? There are two choices: either we know nothing about the scroll and we are going to find out the meaning of the scroll now, or this scroll is the same scroll that we have seen elsewhere in the scriptures.
Typically, the book of Revelation has been studied as if this scroll has no reference to any scrolls in the Old Testament. Many scholars and writers do not examine the significance of this scroll in the scriptures. However, there are many reasons to consider that this scroll in Revelation 5 is the same scroll found in the book of Daniel.”
I understand the logic for the first choice (“we are going to find out … now”), but there is no contrasting and compelling reason for the second choice (“this is the same scroll …”). This is the revelation of the Lord Christ: everything that John sees and records for us is new! So, in principle neither “choice” is applicable, though as I detail in this article in the totality of the Revelation we do come to understand the Little Scroll. Moreover, there is no reason to assert that "we have seen [the scroll] elsewhere in the scriptures". Why should this be the case, when John tells us, in chapter 20, all that we need to know of the Little Scroll of Life.
Remember, the Little Scroll of Life is first seen in Rev 3.5.
“We mentioned at the beginning of our study of the book of Revelation that the word “revelation” means an unveiling of things previously concealed. The name of the book has the very idea built into it that this book is revealing previously concealed information. The scroll in Revelation 5 is the visualization of this truth. The scroll, something that has been sealed with seven seals, is now opened. The scroll has writing on both sides, but no one knows what the scroll says until the scroll is opened.
Contrary to this author, the Little Scroll is not opened in Rev 5 and the seals ore not broken until the section Rev 6.1-Rev 8.1. The fact that the scroll was not opened also applies to the next point.
Expositors must refrain from assigning physical attributes (like “both sides”) to the adverbs ἔσωθεν and ὄπισθεν. We simply don’t know how to visualize the appearance of the scroll beyond what John described.
The scroll in Daniel 12 appears to be the same scroll that is in view in the book of Revelation. Turn to Daniel 12:4-9. Daniel is told that the words of the book are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Then we see a man clothed in linen standing above the waters of the stream. He raises his right hand and left hand toward heaven and makes an oath that it will be a time, times, and half a time when “all these things would be finished.” Daniel does not understand and it is repeated to him that the words are shut up and sealed until the time of the end. Now look at Revelation 10:5-7 and notice the image is the same. The angel is standing on the sea, just like the angel in Daniel 12. The angel in Revelation raises his right hand and makes another oath, just as he did in Daniel 12. This time the angel gives an oath that there will no longer be a delay when all these things would be fulfilled. The angel in Daniel said that there would be a delay. The delay was a time, times, and half a time (a time marker that we will examine later in the study of Revelation). Now, the angel in Revelation says that there will no longer be a delay. To show the connection further, this information in Revelation 10 comes after the seventh seal is opened on the scroll. The seventh seal reveals seven trumpets that are about to sound. The angel in Revelation 10:7 says that when the seventh trumpet from the seventh seal sounds, all of these things are accomplished concerning the mystery of God. The mystery of God, that is, the things previously sealed by God, would now be revealed and fulfilled. In Revelation 10:8-9 John is told to take the scroll and prophesy its contents. We will look more closely at these images when we get to Revelation 10. But I want you to see right now the strong connection of the sealed scroll in Revelation 5 with the sealed scroll in Daniel 12.
This paragraph makes a major and unproven assumption that the Little Scroll of Rev 5.1 is the same scroll as Rev 10. As this article details, it is not and cannot be the same. (Remember, the author is proceeding with the logic that the scroll of Rev 5.1 must be something we've seen before, which is a false requirement.)
Homer Hailey in his commentary on Daniel observes that the angel in Daniel 12 is the same angel in Revelation 10, speaking about the same things (Hailey, 247). Other scholars see this connection as well.”
Whether Homer Hailey (whoever he is) believes “that the angel in Daniel 12 is the same angel in Revelation 10” is irrelevant. Prove your point from the Scripture that the Little Scroll of Rev 5.1 is the same scroll of Rev 10. (It seems that this author has lost his way.)
“The idea of sealing and opening books in connection with end-time happenings is found in the OT only in Daniel 12 and 7.” (Beale, 339). Beale continues later in his commentary making the same point. “Most futurist commentators would disagree with my argument thus far, which has been that Revelation 5 portrays a vision of inaugurated fulfillment of OT prophecy. The metaphor of seals can be found outside Daniel elsewhere in the OT and Jewish apocalyptic, but the seals in Rev. 5:1ff come from Dan. 12:4, 9.” (Beale, 347).
Gregory Beale is an Amil commentator. A great deal of what he presents in his massive commentary (1200+ pages!) is useless fluff that purports to pass as “scholarship”. Beale is no more authoritative than Haley.
Finally, the phrase found in Daniel, “Time of the end” is the same as “the last days” in the scriptures. These are descriptions of the time of the coming of the Messiah who would set up his kingdom. “The time of the end” is describing the events that will lead up to and bring about the coming of the Messiah. Revelation as the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecies is appropriate to the time frame that the angel gives.
Consider this: if Revelation is not “unveiling” the sealed scroll of Daniel, then what is the book of Revelation unveiling? Further, if Daniel’s prophecy that was sealed “until the time of the end” was not revealed to John in the book of Revelation, then Daniel’s scroll was never unveiled in the days of the Messiah. We do not know what Revelation is revealing nor do we have Daniel’s prophecy unsealed. However, the book of Revelation is showing us that this revelation given to John is unveiling the sealed prophecy of Daniel.
“… if Revelation is not “unveiling” the sealed scroll of Daniel …”. The author apparently misses John’s own testimony on this very topic, the very first verse:
Rev 1.1
The Revelation of Jesus Christ …
The scroll he was writing was the account of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, and not the contents of the Little Scroll of Rev 5.1 nor the Scroll of Daniel!
Once again, the author appears to have wandered far afield and has conflated the record of the Revelation itself with one of the components of that Revelation, the Little Scroll. (This small detail would require that the Little Scroll in the right hand of the One on the throne would be the Revelation that John was writing: How would that work, exactly?? That notion is nonsense.)
Also, it is true that Daniel was told to seal the book he wrote (Dan 12.4), and that John was told to not seal the scroll which he was currently writing (Rev 22.10, our book of the Revelation), but the scroll John was writing was not the Little Sroll of Rev 5. That scroll was sealed and was of such a nature that no one in the creation beyond the Lamb could gaze upon it. How then, could that be the same scroll as John's scroll?
The author titles his article “The Scroll (Revelation 5:1-6) “ but conflates it with Daniel’s scroll and the scroll of the Revelation which John was writing!?!? Which is it? This author got stuck in the eschatological weeds. The blog is mostly nonsense.
http://www.thepropheticyears.com/The%20book%20of%20Revelation/Revelation%20chapter%205.htm
“The inside of the scroll contains the events that must occur in heaven and on earth before man can be restored to administrate the creation of God. As the scroll is unrolled it sets in motion the events that must take place for this restoration to occur. All sin from the time of Adam must be paid for and indeed has been paid for by the sacrifice that God fulfilled through the death of His Son Jesus on the cross. Those who accepted the free gift of God's sacrifice for all sin during the acceptable year of the Lord (Luk 4:19), will not experience the wrath from God that must come on the enemies of God who reject the only provision God gave to save and restore mankind. This plan of restoration comes through the second Adam (Jesus) and He must come and rule on earth in order to defeat all of the enemies of God. If Jesus did not come to save the world, the world would come to total destruction through the deception of Satan (Mat 24:22).
There is a great deal of error in this relatively short paragraph:
“… before man can be restored to administrate …”
This is the Revelation of the Lord Christ! The Lord Christ will rule, not man!
“All sin from the time of Adam …”
It is unclear why the author included this. What other sin would be included, or not included?
“He must come and rule on earth …”
The author contradicts his earlier assertion (“…before man …”)
The author’s use of Mat 24.22 is out-of-context. The text does not say “the world would come to total destruction”; it says:
Mat 24.22
Unless those days had been cut short, no life would have been saved; but for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.
As this scroll is unrolled, we should keep in mind that after the outer seals are broken nothing written in an inner sealed portion can be seen. Consequently, if someone says we are now going through one of the trumpet judgments or vial judgments before the things written about at the breaking of the prior seven seals is fulfilled, do not believe them. No trumpet judgments have yet happened on the earth and none of them are now underway as of this writing. The seals, trumpets, and vials cannot run concurrently as some authors with their own agenda have speculated. They make this error because they simply do not understand the book of Revelation. They also do not understand that the first six seals must be broken before the wrath of the Lamb is even announced. The trumpet judgments are not actually carried out until after all the seals of the scroll are broken. Consequently, the trumpet judgments start after the opening of the seventh seal. (Chapter 8)”
The author speculates “outer” and “inner” seals, but the Word no such distinction; there are simply 7 seals.
At least the author rejects the Amil fantasy of recapitulation. He accepts the naturally linear progression of the seal, trumpet and bowl judgments.
The author assumes an “inside” and “outside” physical representation for the adverbs ἔσωθεν and ὄπισθεν. We must not proceed beyond what John describes.
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Biblical_Studies/New_Testament_Commentaries/Revelation/Chapter_5
“The next piece of information readers are given about the scroll is that it contains writing on both the front and the back. If scrolls were used during this time period, the writing was largely found only on the front of the papyrus. Some scholars, who have studied this image, have suggested that the additional writing apparent on the back merely indicates that the scroll is very full. While this is possible, given that there are other ancient authors such as Martial who indicate that it was unusual and somewhat unseemly to write on the back of scrolls. However, alternate translations show that the writing was "written on the inside, and sealed on the back," indicating that all the writing is inside the scroll.”
Like many authors, he assumes “front” and “back” physical representation for the adverbs ἔσωθεν and ὄπισθεν. We must not proceed beyond what John describes; however, he presumes to tell us the distinction of the “front” and “back” but does so without any support from the Scripture.
Here, many words are used to express nothing useful.
A Commentary on the Revelation of John
ppg. 80-81
“There are several interpretations of the scroll itself. Many interpreters appeal to the fact that in the Roman world seven seals was the usual way of attesting the validity of a last will and testament. A will was witnessed by seven witnesses and seven seals were attached to the seven threads that secured the testament. In life, the execution of a will assumed the death of the testator; and while god does not die, early Christian faith made much of the idea of the inheritance which believers enjoyed and which was grounded on the death of God's Son (Heb 9.15 ff.). Viewed in this way, the scroll is the symbol of the promise of the Kingdom of God which God' people are to inherit. This irrevocable disposition of God occurred long ago, has been documented and sealed, but not yet executed (1 Pet 1.4). The contents of this inheritance have been proclaimed through the prophets, through Jesus and the Holy Spirit in the early church, and are to a certain extent known. However, the full realization of this inheritance is future, when the returning Christ opens the testament and executes it.
This view is attractive, but it faces a major difficulty; namely, that the seals as well as the trumpets do not have to do with the Christian's inheritance but with the plagues of judgment which God will put out upon a rebellious civilization. An adequate interpretation of the scroll must make room for the inclusion of God's judgmental acts as well as the positive aspects of the inheritance bestowed upon the saints.
A second view identifies the scroll as the Lamb's book of life which appears several times in the Revelation (3.5; 13.8; 17.8; 20.12,15; 21.27). The fullness of the writing contained in the book points to the multitude of names included in it (Rev7.9). The breaking of the seals indicates the disclosure of the names of the redeemed. This view is difficult, for it does not correspond with the events which accompany the breaking of the seals, and there seems to be no reason in the context for introducing the book of life at this place.
Here, Ladd assumes that the contents of the scroll correspond to the seal which was broken at that point in time. The obvious problem of Ladd’s view is he must assume that the Little Scroll’s contents are progressively revealed despite the Little Scroll never being opened. Moreover, Ladd assumes that there is a correlation in the first place, something he does not prove from the Scriptures.
A third view which goes back to ancient times is that the scroll is the Old Testament viewed as fulfilled in the New Testament. Jesus went into the synagogue at Nazareth and after reading from the scroll of Isaiah, he announced "Today this scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing" (Luk 4.21). Thus Christ is the One who is able to bring the entire volume of the Old Testament prophetic hope to its divinely ordained fulfillment.
The clue to the meaning of the book is found in the experience of Ezekiel, who in preparation for his prophetic ministry to Israel was given a written scroll, which, like John's scroll, was full of writing on both sides. Ezekiel's scroll contained the "words of lament and mourning and woe" (Eze 2.10). He was then told to take the scroll and eat it, and thus he would be able to prophesy to Israel (Eze 2.1-10).
The easiest identification of John's scroll is that it contains the prophecy of the end events, including both the salvation of God's people and the judgment of the wicked. It is God's redemptive plan for the denouement of human history, the overthrow of evil, and the gathering of a redeemed people to enjoy the blessing's of God's rule. Although John, surprisingly, does not describe the actual opening of the scroll, the breaking of the sixth seal brings us to the end of the world - the last day; and in view of the fact that the opening of the seventh seal is accompanied by no specific event like the first six, we may conclude that the contents of the scroll consist of the material in Revelation 7.1 - 22.21. The events accompanying the breaking of the seals are not the end itself, but the event leading up to the end, while the contents of the scroll are that complex of events, both redemptive and judicial, which will accompany the end of this world and the introduction of the world to come.”
An expositor does an injustice to the Scripture when he presents the reader with two or more options/opinions/interpretations/speculations about what a given text teaches, but then does not present a clear conclusion of which one is biblical, along with why the remaining ones are unbiblical. Ladd presents four possibilities, with a weak tendency to gravitate to the fourth (because it's easiest?!?!).
Which of the many OT prophets presented the Word of the LORD in this manner (a sort of “buffet prophecy—take your pick”)? None of them!
The problem with his “view” is that it really is nonsense: how, exactly, could a sealed scroll contain the “prophesy of the end events”? Don't we already have this in the OT prophets, the prophecies of our Lord Christ in the Gospels, prophesies in Paul's, Peter's and Jude's epistles, as well as the amazing book of the Revelation? If we already have the prophecies, then it makes absolutely no sense that the sealed scroll contains other prophecies which are not explicitly revealed in the text. And since the scroll of Rev 5 is never said to be unrolled in the context of the recorded judgments, how would Ladd know the contents of the scroll? He must assume its contents from the wrath which accompanied the opening of the first 6 seals.
How useless and silly this idea becomes when compared to this text from Amos:
Amo 3.7
Surely the Lord God does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.
G.K. Beale
The Book of REVELATION
A Commentary on the Greek Text
Beale discounts any notion that the scroll introduced in Rev 5 is the scroll of life. As a consequence, he maintains that we simply don't know its contents because we are never told its contents:
pg 126
[Rev]5:3ff. explains that only the lamb is worthy to open the book’s seals and read it, but no mention is made of the actual reading of the scroll after the seals are broken.
As this article demonstrates, Beale is very wrong in this view.
Beale presents several possible theories for the nature of the scroll of Rev 5 (aka., interpretations), including whether the scroll of chapter 5 should be regarded as a scroll or codex:
- a book of redemption (the “Lamb’s book of life”): pg 339
- the Old Testament: pg 340
- a book containing events of the future “Great Tribulation.”: pg 340
- a book containing God’s plan of judgment and redemption.: pg 340
- the book as a “testament. ”: pg 340
- the “book” in ch. 5 should be understood as a covenantal promise of an inheritance: pg 340
- the book as a testament of inheritance: pg 341
- the book as a covenantal promise: pg 341
- the decretive nature of the book [is] the purpose of history: pg 341
- the consensus of most commentators is that the book in Rev. 5-1 is a scroll: pg 343
- The inner contents of the scroll are still for the most part mysterious.: pg 343
- the book of 5:1-2 is to be understood in part against the legal background of Roman wills: pg 344
- It is also possible that John is so creative in his symbolism that [his descriptions] were not meant to be analyzed so thoroughly.: ppg 346-47
- Perhaps the book is a general symbol [and the opened seals] … [reveal the] symbolism..: pg 347
Like George Eldon Ladd, Beale does not take a position on the scroll in his exposition of Rev 5.1: it simply exists. The presentation of multiple “options” is not exposition: it is “confusion” (to borrow a grand old word from the KJV).
Later, in his exposition Beale discounts the “Lamb’s book of life” interpretation because:
“… when the book’s contents are revealed in the following chapters they have to do not merely with events surrounding the elect but also, and especially, with judgments on unbelievers.” (pg 339)
This is impossible to prove since the contents of the Little Scroll are not revealed until the end of all things during the final judgment. Moreover, the only Seal associated directly with the elect is Seal 5 when the (dead) martyrs are seen “underneath the altar” (Rev 6.9). His comment “events surrounding the elect” is therefore mostly nonsense.
He also states:
“This emphasis of the book in Revelation 5 is also apparent from the fact that the parallel “little book” in ch. 10 mainly contains events of judgment, which are followed by a narration of events of salvation.” (pg 339-340)
As I detail in this article, the scroll of chapter 10 is not the Lamb’s Scroll of Life, so this is a false comparison.
Additional Thoughts about the “Title Deed” Theory
One of the most serious weaknesses of the “title deed” theory is the simple fact that the LORD already owns the entire creation (which would certainly include the earth). This is made clear by this OT reference:
Psa 24.1-2
The earth is the Lord’s, and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.
For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the rivers.
Those who foolishly hold to the “title deed” theory seem to ignore this reference, recorded through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit by the very same Apostle John:
Joh 1.1-3
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.
Therefore, in the misguided notion of the “title deed” theorists, John must have been very confused. The LORD spoke the creation into existence, but somewhere along the way He lost ownership of that same cosmos (or, at the very least, of the earth)!?!?
Moreover, if He lost ownership, then how can the following texts be true:
Col 1.17
He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
Heb 1.3a
And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power.
In the view of this ridiculous theory, the Lord Christ maintains the operation of the earth and the cosmos but does not own it?! Really?! Or, somewhere along the way the LORD lost ownership? How could this be? Who owns it until the Lord Christ opens the Little Scroll? It should be obvious that those who hold to this theory did “not think it through”.
Continuing along this theory, the Christ of Rev 5 needs the “title deed” of the earth to return as its King! The very idea is beyond laughable and irresponsible. To state the obvious: John knew exactly that Christ already owns the earth. He also came to know the real nature and purpose of the scroll, namely that it is the Little Scroll of Life when he recorded for us the events of Rev 20.11-15.
Additional Thoughts about the “Unspecified Nature of the Scroll” Theory
A few of the expositors above noted “... John, surprisingly, does not describe the actual opening of the scroll ...” (a representative quote from Ladd).
The simple point is this: assuming that the Little Scroll of rev 5.1 is not the Little Scroll of Life, this group says, “I don’t really know.”
[This is better than the speculations of the Little Scroll’s contents, but only just slightly. The question which they make no effort to answer is "Why would the LORD devote a chapter to a centerpiece of which He tells us nothing!? What an affront to the LORD!]
The terrible consequence of this theory is that Rev 5 is a “closed” chapter (since the Little Scroll is its introductory centerpiece. We therefore have no possible recourse but to conclude that Rev 5 is a truly useless link in the revealed chain of events of the great Day of the Lord and could be removed from our Bibles without loss!
This is, of course, patently absurd!
Additional Thoughts about the “It Might be the Scroll of Life” Theory
Of all the above samples of interpretations of the scroll of Rev 5, only Ladd and Beale suggest that it could be the “scroll of life”–but then reject that understanding.
As I point out above, any expositor that presents a “buffet” of choices left to the reader is not a responsible Bible teacher. He should be ashamed of himself; he will be ashamed when he finally stands before the LORD at The Day:
Jam 3.1
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter [great] judgment.
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