Revelation 5:1

The description of the scroll 5:1

John also saw a book (scroll) on God’s "right hand"-suggesting its source, His authority, and power adequate to translate its contents into action-as He sat on the throne. This scroll was the focus of John’s attention in this chapter, and it is what Jesus Christ opens in chapter 6 resulting in the judgments that will come upon the earth. Its contents comprise almost all the revelation that will follow. It was so full of words that John could see writing on the outside as well as on the inside of the scroll (cf. Ezekiel 2:10). Someone, probably God, had sealed it with seven seals, suggesting the profound nature of the revelation it contained. [Note: Charles, 1:138.] Roman law required that people seal wills seven times because they were very important documents. [Note: Ethelbert Stauffer, Christ and the Caesars, pp. 182-83.] The perfect number of seals may also hint at the absolute inviolability of the scroll. [Note: Mounce, p. 142.] In John’s day people used a seal to keep the contents of a document secret, unchangeable, and free from tampering until some authoritative person broke the seal. In this case after Jesus broke the first seal the scroll unrolled until the second seal made it impossible to open it further. Then He had to break the second seal that revealed more of the contents, and so on. Probably the seals were on the edge of the scroll. The book contained the prophecies that follow. It may represent the book of prophecies God instructed Daniel to seal until the end times (Daniel 12:4; Daniel 12:9).