God’s judgments Archives » From Daniel to Revelation

THE SEALED BOOK

John saw a book—sealed up with seven seals—in the right hand of “Him who sat on the throne” (Rev 5:1; cf. 4:11). The One on the throne is called, “the Lord God, the Almighty” (Rev 4:8-9).

This is not a literal book. A book symbolizes knowledge and a sealed book symbolizes concealed knowledge or things that are not understood. The seals of the book are the things that prevent understanding. To break the seals means to remove the barriers to understanding. To open the book means to understand or explain this mystery.

Nobody can open the book.

A search is made but no one is found “worthy” to break the seals and open the book (Rev 5:3). “Our Lord and our God” (the Father) is “worthy” because He created all things (Rev 4:11) but not even He was “worthy” to open the book.

Causing great sorrow in Heaven

John “weeps greatly” because nobody is able to open the book (Rev 5:4). Since John is now in heaven (Rev 4:1), his weeping symbolizes the sorrow of the beings in heaven because they do not understand. That John weeps “greatly” indicates that understanding these things is vital for the happiness of the universe. Should no-one be found to open the book, the consequences would be severe. This is a crisis in heaven.

Christ’s death ends the Sorrow.

But then, in verse 5, the sorrow turns into joy, for “the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah … has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals” (Rev 5:5). The Lion is Jesus Christ and this verse refers His victory on earth (cf. Rev 3:21).

Revelation 5:1-4, therefore, describes the time before Christ’s victory on earth. Jesus died between verses 4 and 5. A previous article has concluded that the remainder of Revelation 5 describes what happens in heaven after Jesus has ascended.

Jesus breaks the Seals.

Jesus takes the book (Rev 5:7) but He does not open the book immediately. In other words, the mystery remains unsolved.

In Revelation 6, Jesus begins to break the seven seals one by one, resulting in catastrophes on Earth. In other words, He opens the book THROUGH catastrophes on earth. To understand these catastrophes, we need to understand what the Sealed Book is.

Christ will return when the book is open.

The sixth seal begins with the signs of Christ’s return (Rev 6:12-14) and ushers in Judgment Day (Rev 6:15-17). In other words, Christ will only return when the contents of the book are fully understood.

THE BOOK OF LIFE

The Sealed Book is the Book of Life.

Revelation mentions the “book of life” 6 times. It will be opened in the last judgment; 1000 years after the return of Christ (Rev 20:12; cf. 19:11; 20:7). It identifies the people who will inherit eternal life (e.g., Rev 21:2, 27; 20:14-15; cf. Psa 69:28; Phil 4:3; Rev 3:5; 13:8; 17:8; 20:15; 21:27).

The main purpose of this article is to show that the Sealed Book and the Book of Life are one and the same. This is an extremely important concept that will impact greatly our interpretation of the seven seals. It is justified as follows:

1) Both books are written by God.

The Sealed Book is in God’s hand (Rev 5:1; cf. 4:11), implying that He wrote it. Since the Book of Life contains the names of the redeemed and since God is the judge, He also writes that book.

2) The slain Lamb receives both books:

The “book of life” is described as “the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain” (Rev 13:8; 21:27). Since Jesus receives the Sealed Book when He appears as “a Lamb … as if slain” (Rev 5:6-7), this is a clear indication that the Sealed Book is the Book of Life.

3) Both books are necessary for redemption:

Jesus died to “purchase” people for God (e.g., Rev 5:9). He died, therefore, for the people in the Book of Life. But He also died to be able to open the Sealed Book (Rev 5:5, 9). Opening this book, therefore, is also required for the redemption of God’s people.

4) Both are opened AFTER Christ’s return:

Since the sixth seal begins with the signs of Christ’s return (Rev 16:12-14; cf. Matt 24:29-30), the Sealed Book will only be fully open at or AFTER His return. The Book of Life, similarly, will be opened in the final judgment (Rev 20:12).

5) Both separate the living from the dead.

The sixth seal describes the inhabitants of the world, hiding in the mountains (Rev 6:15-17), soon to be put to death by Christ (Rev 19:21), and God’s people, standing before the throne and before the Lamb (Rev 7:9). It separates, therefore, the people of the world into two groups. “The book of life,” similarly, will separate those who will be “thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:15) from those who will enter the New Jerusalem (Rev 21:27).

For these reasons, the Sealed Book is the same as the Book of Life.

REVELATION 12

Revelation 12 explains the Sealed Book.

This section shows that the “war in heaven” in Revelation 12 also identifies the Sealed Book as the Book of Life. In brief, it shows that:

(1) Both Revelation 5 and 12 describe a crisis in heaven that is caused by things that are not understood.

(2) In both chapters, Christ’s death resolved the crisis in heaven BUT NOT ON EARTH.

Consequently, these two chapters describe THE SAME CRISIS. By identifying the nature of the crisis in Revelation 12, this section then finds additional support for the conclusion that the Sealed Book of Revelation 5 is the Book of Life.

The identification of the Sealed Book as the Book of Life does not explain why nobody was able to open that book, what the seals are, or what breaking the seals means. But Revelation 12 does explain all of these.

Overview of Revelation 12

Another article series discusses Revelation 12. Very briefly:

12:1-4 – Before Christ

The chapter begins by describing a pure woman who is expecting the Son (Rev 12:1). She represents God’s people before His birth (Rev 12:1-4), waiting for the Messiah. During that time, the dragon (symbolizing Satan – Rev 12:9) stood ready to devour Christ as soon as He is born (Rev 12:4).

12:5 – Christ’s Death

Revelation 12:5 describes Jesus’ life, death, resurrection, and ascension in a single verse. It describes His life and death as a victory: The dragon attempted to devour Him (Rev 12:4) but Christ escaped and was “caught up to God and to His throne” (Rev 12:5).

12:7-12 – War in Heaven

Revelation 12:7-12 describes the war in heaven between Michael and his angels and the dragon and his angels. Since Satan brought rebellion from heaven when he deceived Eve, that “war in heaven” (Rev 12:7) began before humankind was created. ¹

Since an appreciation of the nature of the war in heaven is critical for the interpretation of the Sealed Book, the reader is advised to read some of the articles in the series – The Origin of Evil; particularly the article – Why Satan thought he could win against God. The series of articles on Revelation 12 is also important.

Christ’s death ended the War in Heaven.

Satan and his angels were defeated, driven out of heaven, and “thrown down to the earth” (Rev 12:9-10). “There was no longer a place found for them in heaven” (Rev 12:8).

The article – When did the war begin and when was Satan thrown out of heaven? – shows that Satan was driven out of heaven because of and immediately after Christ’s victory on earth (cf. Rev 12:13). ²

This means that Jesus died to make an end to this war in heaven. Without His death, it would not have been possible to refute Satan’s objections to God’s judgments. (See also – Why Jesus had to die.)

But War continued on Earth.

Christ’s victory made an end of the war in heaven but the war continued on earth. ³

“Rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them.
Woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has come down to you,
having great wrath,
knowing that he has only a short time” (Rev 12:12).

A War of Accusation

The most important point from Revelation 12 is that the nature of the “war in heaven” is explained by the identification of Satan as “the accuser of our brethren” (Rev 12:10). The war in heaven, therefore, is caused by Satan accusing God’s people “day and night” (Rev 12:10). He does not accuse his own followers but specifically God’s people, showing that they are sinners and deserve to die. ⁴

Job – We see this war in heaven in the Book of Job. “The sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came among them” (Job 1:6). In their presence, God described the man Job as “blameless and upright” (Job 1:8) but SATAN ACCUSED JOB, saying “touch all that he has; he will surely curse You to Your face” (Job 1:11). For a discussion, see – Why Satan thought he could win against God.

Joshua – Another example is when Joshua the high priest stood before the angel of the LORD, and Satan stood “at his right hand to accuse him” (Zech 3:1).

Romans 3 – Similarly, in Romans 3:25-26, Paul explains that Jesus died as a public demonstration of God’s “righteousness because … He passed over the sins previously committed.” In the light of the above, Satan accused God of bad judgment by pointing out the sins of God’s elect. Therefore, Jesus had to die. For an explanation, see – Why Jesus had to die. ⁵

A War over God’s judgments

By accusing God’s elect, Satan accuses God of unfair judgment. But “Michael and his angels” (Rev 12:7) oppose Satan. They, therefore, defend God’s judgments and protect God’s people (cf. Dan 12:1). ⁶ This “war in heaven,” therefore, is not decided by who has the most physical power. See – Why Satan thought he could win.

The angels do not understand.

If we remember that many of the mighty angels have accepted Satan’s arguments (Rev 12:4, 7; cf. Isa 9:15), we must realize that his arguments are very convincing. Consequently, not even God’s loyal angels are certain that God’s judgments are ALWAYS perfect.

Satan’s purpose is to save himself.

We can assume that Satan’s goal is to save himself. God has condemned Satan (Ezek 28:19; cf. 28:13, 15-16). Satan responds by meticulously listing all the sins committed by the people whom God elected to eternal life, and by arguing that, if he and his angels deserve to be “thrown into the lake of fire” (Rev 20:10), then God’s elect must also die (cf. Rom 6:23; Matt 10:28; See – Hell). But if some sinners are granted mercy, all sinners should be forgiven, including Satan and his angels. In other words, Satan and his angels accuse God of unfair judgment when He forgives some sinners but not others. If it can be shown that God’s judgments are faulty, even to the slightest degree, then Satan and his angels would have grounds for their claim that they have been judged unfairly.

This argument is based on the principle of human freedom. God does not force His intelligent creatures to obey. The suffering and anguish that we see on earth today are the results of God’s intelligent creatures departing from God’s principle of self-sacrificing love. “The wages of sin is death” (Rev 6:23) but God will destroy sinners only when His creatures understand that His judgments are perfect.

God delays Christ’s return.

A single error by God or even the slightest doubt about the perfection of His judgments will limit the perfect happiness of the whole universe for all eternity. If doubt remains concerning only one person, who is condemned to hell, whether that person should have been saved, some sorrow will always remain.

Therefore, for as long as even one of Satan’s accusations remains unrefuted, and until all understand that His judgments are always perfect, God delays Christ’s return and, therefore, the implementation of His judgments, including the resurrection of His people and the destruction of the condemned. To ensure the perfect happiness of the whole universe, God wants all to understand that His judgments are perfect.

This conclusion explains why evil continues to exist in the world today. It also promises a wonderful future (cf. Rev 7:17).

See the series on Revelation 12 for a further discussion.

THE SAME CRISIS

Revelation 5 and 12 describe the same crisis.

As this discussion of Revelation 12 shows, for the following reasons, Revelation 5 and 12 describe the same crisis and the same events:

(a) Both refer to Christ’s death.

In both chapters, the first four verses describe the time BEFORE Christ, the fifth refers to His death, and the rest of both chapters describe the time AFTER His death.

Revelation 12:1-4 describes the time before Christ as a time when the dragon stood before the woman who was “in pain to give birth,” ready to “devour her child” as soon as He is born (Rev 12:4). Verse 5 describes His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. (Rev 12:5)

Revelation 5:1-4 describes the time before Christ as a time of great sorrow when nobody was able to break the seals or open the book. In verse 5, John is told to stop weeping because Jesus “has overcome” to break the seven seals (Rev 5:5). Then Jesus appears in the form of a slain lamb (Rev 6:6), indicating that He ‘overcame’ by dying like a lamb.

(b) In both, the crisis is a lack of understanding.

Revelation 5 symbolizes the crisis as a book that nobody in heaven or earth is able to open, causing John to weep greatly (Rev 5:1-4). The words, “in heaven” indicate that this is not a lack of knowledge on earth but symbolizes something which the heavenly beings did not understand.

Revelation 12 describes the crisis as a “war” between the angels of heaven, namely a dispute over God’s judgments and an inability to refute Satan’s accusations and to show conclusively that God’s judgments are always perfect.

(c) In both, Christ’s death ends the crisis in heaven but not on earth:

In Revelation 5, Jesus “has overcome so as to open the book,” turning the sorrow in heaven into joy (Rev 5:4-5) but the war continued on earth, as evidenced by the seals. For example, “the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God” cry out for revenge (Rev 6:9-10).

Before Christ’s victory, there was no way to bring this crisis to an end. Christ’s death did not end the crisis immediately but did provide the MEANS by which the crisis can be brought to an end. See – Why Jesus had to die to open the book.

In Revelation 12, after Christ’s death, Satan and his angels were driven out of heaven (Rev 12:8-9), bringing the war in heaven to an end but the war continued on earth:

“Rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them.
Woe to the earth and the sea,
because the devil has come down to you,
having great wrath” (Rev 12:12-13).

d) In both, the crisis will only finally be resolved THROUGH God’s people.

In Revelation 5, after Christ had become “worthy” to open the book because He “purchased” people for God with His blood (Rev 5:9), He breaks the seals. The fifth seal shows God’s people under the altar crying to God to avenge their “blood” (Rev 6:9-10). By implication, it was their blood that was spilled in the first four seals. Since the book is opened by breaking the seals, it means that the testimony and consequential deaths of God’s people are required for that purpose.

In Revelation 12, to “overcame” Satan, required BOTH “the blood of the Lamb” and the “testimony” of God’s people, “even when faced with death” (Rev 12:10-11). For a further discussion, see – Why has Christ not yet returned? What is God waiting for?

INTERPRETATIONS

The Sealed Book is God’s Judgments.

Book of Life Since the two chapters describe the same crisis, the war in Revelation 12 explains the nature of the concealed information in Revelation 5. In both Revelation 5 and 12, the crisis is caused by a lack of understanding. What Revelation 12 adds is that that lack of understanding, symbolized as a Sealed Book in Revelation 5, refers to a dispute about God’s judgments.

Furthermore, since God’s judgments are contained in the Book of Life (Rev 21:27; 20:15; Rom 8:13), this confirms the previous conclusion that the Sealed Book is the Book of Life, meaning that doubt exists concerning the perfect accuracy of God’s judgments.

The Seals are Satan’s accusations.

The seals symbolize the things that conceal the contents of the book. They are barriers to understanding. Since it is the book of God’s judgments, the seven seals are Satan’s brilliantly presented and informed accusations against the people whom God elected to eternal life.

God’s judgments are known but not understood.

That the book is sealed does not mean that God’s judgments were unknown or not explained but that nobody was able to fully refute Satan’s accusations and objections to God’s grace for the people identified in the Book of Life. Nobody was able to show conclusively that God’s judgments are always perfect.

MFNTo judge between people, who are all sinners, and to decide who should receive eternal life and who will be destroyed (e.g., Matt 7:13-14; Rom 6:23; Phil 3:19; 2 Thess 1:8-9) is highly complex.

MFNThe Sealed Book, therefore, symbolizes things that are not understood, rather than things that are unknown. This is similar to Daniel’s prophecies that were known but sealed up in the sense that they would only be understood in the time of the end (Dan 12:4, 9; cf. Ezekiel 2-3).

God cannot explain because He will not force.

God certainly explains but created beings, without His infinite knowledge and understanding, and in the context of Satan’s accusations, are unable to understand. God is unable to open the book Himself only in the sense that He created intelligent beings who are truly free and He wants His creatures to understand (cf. John 15:15)! He will not force them to accept His judgments. God does not want us simply to accept His word!

John cried because heaven saw no solution.

John’s tears (Rev 5:4) represent the sorrow in heaven in the time BEFORE Christ’s victory for, at that time, it seemed as if God would NEVER be able to execute His judgments, that Satan and evil would have to exist for all eternity, and that God’s people will never be resurrected.

If Christ did not die, evil would exist eternally.

Before Christ, there was a crisis in heaven. The loyal angels were unable to fully refute Satan’s allegations that God judges unfairly and there seemed to be no way to bring the crisis to an end. Christ died to bring an end to this crisis. If Jesus did not “overcome” (Rev 5:5), evil would have had to exist for all eternity.

His death provided the means to the solution.

That Jesus breaks the seals means that He directs events on earth to obtain evidence to refute Satan’s objections. His death did not provide the answers but provided the MEANS by which answers could be obtained.

Reading the Book means to understand.

To open and read the book does not mean to learn WHO is saved, but to understand WHY they and only they are saved.

Christ’ Return is being Delayed.

Until all understand that His judgments are perfect, God delays Christ’s return and the implementation of His judgments.

These concepts are discussed further in other articles. See, for example:

- - Why Jesus had to die to open the book.
  - Why did Christ not yet return?

THE BOOK IN REVELATION 10

One of the possibilities that Jon Paulien lists for the Sealed Book is that it is related to the book of Revelation 10. My main argument against this proposal is that the sixth seal contains the signs of Christ’s return (Rev 6:12-14). This means that the seventh seal will only be broken at or after Christ’s return (Rev 6:17). Therefore, while the book in Revelation 5 remained sealed until AFTER the return of Christ, the book in Revelation 10 is open when it comes down, is eaten (understood) by John, and becomes the basis for his preaching (Rev 10:10-11), which must happen BEFORE the return of Christ.

Furthermore, as Jon mentions, a different word for book is used (Greek: Rev 5 biblion, Rev 10 biblaridion).

Tag: God’s judgments

The sealed book in Revelation 5 is the Lamb’s Book of Life.