END OF TIME PROPHECIES 080

WHO IS WORTHY TO OPEN THE BOOK?   Revelation 5v2-4.

"And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?" And no man in heaven, nor in the earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon".

The challenge goes out to the universe.   It is difficult for us to imagine this, the strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice; crucial business is to hand; the only other time a strong angel is used is in Revelation 18v21 at the destruction of the great city Babylon.   Throughout the entire universe the challenge goes forth  "who is worthy to open the book and to loose the seals thereof?"   The answer is equally loud and clear  "no man in heaven or on the earth neither under the earth was able to open the book, neither to look thereon."    The Greek word for worthy is "axios"  from which we get the word axle. The word was in common use in connection with commercial weighing scales: Worth=weight=value.  Once again the bible uses imagery which leaves us in no doubt as to the issues here.   In the scales and balances of Divine justice, in all of human history there is not one man who has the weight, the moral right, to judge the world.   There is no man in all the course of history who is able even to look into this book let alone open its seals and execute them upon a godless world.   If ever there was a witness to the moral depravity of man it is this.   It is almost like what Jesus said to the Pharisees when they brought the woman taken in adultery  "let him that is without sin first cast the stone."   No one worthy, no one able  to execute divine judgment.

This Divine challenge which exposes universal human inability  brings consternation to the apostle John when he said  "I wept much because no man was found."  .   All he saw was that God could not carry forward His Divine programme at this moment, and many more years, perhaps millennia, before it could happen. All the evangelism, all the suffering, all the martyrdom; must it continue indefinitely?   John sincerely believed there was a real problem here that the earth must go on suffering under the bondage of sin. He could not possibly know what was about to happen. His tears were real. We do well to mourn like the apostles for the plight of the world! 

The rest of the chapter goes on to present Christ as the Redeemer of mankind and in chapters 6 - 19 as the reclaimer of the earth.   An understanding of this passage is gained from a study of the law of redemption in Israel.   Taking the story from the book of Ruth where Naomi and Ruth were redeemed by Boaz with all the land that they had lost, bible scholars tell us that there were four requirements in the law of redemption, which were perfectly fulfilled by Jesus Christ.

• The redeemer must be a near kinsman.
• The redeemer must be able to pay the redemption price.
• The redeemer must be willing to pay the redemption price.
• The redeemer must assume all the debts of the ones being redeemed.

Readers will be able to follow from scripture that Jesus met all these requirements.    Against the background that "no-one was able"  Jesus was able, He was qualified because He became one of us, He was willing to pay the price and He took away all the debts of the redeemed.  

The question is raised as to the worthiness of anyone who can execute the purposes of God.   What is being declared in this chapter is the worth of Jesus Christ, His worthiness to act for God.   The meaning of the word taken from the world of weights and measures suggest that what is being presented here is the true value of Jesus Christ to God and to all mankind.   The call went out at the beginning "who is worthy?"   The emphatic answer will come in the rest of the chapter  "He alone is worthy,"   in all of God's universe, to take this book and carry forward the Divine purposes.  

• His worth is proclaimed by the elders in verse 5.
• His worth is proclaimed by the four living creatures in verse 8.
• His worth is proclaimed by myriads of angels in verse 11.
• His worth is proclaimed by "every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea and all that are in them." verse 13.

In this way the Spirit of God sets Jesus Christ apart from any other created being as He receives universal acclaim.   When He was here in the flesh the high priest valued Him at thirty pieces of silver, the price of a common slave.   The One who was despised and rejected on earth, His value of incalculable worth is proclaimed across the universe. The words by Isaac Watts seem appropriate;


Join all the glorious names
of wisdom, love, and power,
that ever mortals knew,
that angels ever bore:
all are too mean to speak his worth,
too mean to set my Saviour forth.