When the Lamb Opens the Scroll

Readings: Revelation 5:1-7, 6:1-17, 8:1-5, Secrets of Heaven #2959 (see below)
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Photo by Niko Manuelides on Unsplash


Welcome to our continuing series on the Book of Revelation. We recall that what we find in this book, a recounting of a powerful spiritual experience, will not tell us about what is going to happen in human history. It is not the story of the end of the world. It is a vision that speaks symbolically about forces that we observe in each human heart, about forces that we can see play out around us in the patterns of human behavior. It is a mirror, reflecting to us our greatest flaws but also our deepest hopes.

Today we trace the story of the Seven Seals and are introduced to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Since we left John last week, the seven letters were written to the seven congregations. Then, John travels further into the spirit, and sees a vision of a beautiful throne in heaven, with someone sitting on it, and elders and creatures singing praises to the one on the throne. 

Then, we catch up with our text for today, as John notices a sealed scroll in the hand of the one on the throne, that no one could open. We feel the depth of John’s faith and longing as he weeps and weeps that no one was worthy to open it. 

And yet, he is consoled, for the Lamb who was slain can open the scroll. Already we have some potent symbols to guide of explorations. The image of a throne has traditionally represented power and judgment, and I think we also get some sense of God’s omnipotence and transcendance. There are times when the vastness of God can feel somewhat remote, like a scroll that we cannot open or read. Who was it then, who could open the scroll? It is the Lamb, representing Jesus Christ, the one who came to be human with us, who was slain and resurrected. Why is it significant that it is the Lamb who is able to open the scroll? Our humanness might wish to say: Surely it is power and force that gets us what we want, that will mediate the awesomeness of the throne? No, it is in fact, sacrifice, as exemplified in the life of Jesus. This is what opens our understanding of God, and our relationship to God. Jesus lived a life for others, did not grasp for power or dominion, saw those on the margins and had compassion for them, called out corruption and hypocrisy, put his very life on the line for all of humanity. This kind of courageous love is what can open the life of the spirit to us.

Then, as the seals are opened, things get even weirder. Perhaps you have heard the phrase the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? This is where they are from. As the first seal is opened, John sees a white horse with a crowned rider, like a conquerer. As the second seal is opened, John sees a red horse and a rider who has the power to make people kill each other. As the third seal is opened, John sees a black horse with a rider who carries scales for measuring. As the fourth seal is opened, John sees pale horse with a rider named Death. As the fifth seal is opened, John sees souls who had been slain due to their testimony about God. As the sixth seal is opened, John witnesses an enormous earthquake. Finally, as the seventh seal is opened there silence in heaven for about half an hour. 

What is this scroll with its seven seals communicating to us? It is telling us about different ways of being human, different basic impulses and experiences that are part of the human condition. Perhaps we can see them in the world around us, perhaps we can see them in ourselves. 

They feel familiar though, don’t they, in a sad and foreboding kind of way. The first horse wishes to conquer, the second to kill, the third to judge, and the fourth represents where all those impulses will ultimately lead us, to a kind of death, the extinguishing of our spiritual life. These are deep and disturbing images; disturbing because perhaps we do to want to really see what human beings are capable of.

Yet, haven’t we already seen the four horsemen throughout history? Haven’t marginalized and oppressed communities been telling us about them this whole time? Are we not seeing a form of them in our news today? A president threatening to conquer the countries of our allies, a federal force killing with impunity, taking peace from our cities, a justice department whose measures are entirely off; judging without integrity or honesty, the full weight of prosecution or detention for the powerless where there is little to no infraction, a shrug of the shoulders about far worse for the powerful. And where is this all taking us? We can feel it in the pit of our stomach. It is taking us towards the death of our democracy, the death of decency, dignity, and the rule of law, the death of compassion, rationality, and principle. 

And so, in the fifth and sixth seals we see an image of our own horror and disorientation at what humanity can do, our aversion to the idea that any of this can be what God wants. Swedenborg speaks of an earthquake signifying a change in state of being(1), and other times speaks of the concept of vastation or devastation(2) as we heard in our reading - that sometimes our understandings and perspectives need to be stripped away before we can truly learn what God needs us to learn. The challenge is to say stay grounded and faithful in the midst of that process of reorientation and growth.

Yet, we find in the text that the symbolic kings of the earth, princes, generals, and all who cling to earthliness, or as we would call it love of self and the world, love of wealth, power, reputation, domination, control, in large and small ways, they hide from what they call the “wrath” of the Lamb. But the Lamb has done nothing but open the scroll. The Lamb has done nothing but reveal to us, to humanity, where our worse impulses are going to take us. The kings of the earth want nothing to do with that insight, with that transparency. They would rather the rocks fall on them. Perhaps this also rhymes with what we see in our newsfeed today. Perhaps we can also track it in ourselves? Are there things that we cling to: ego, rightness, material things, nostalgia, shame, apathy, that we are loathe to give up? That feel like we cannot give up? The “wrath” of the Lamb is God’s intention to help us let go, to bring us into experiences that shake us up, that convince us of the effectiveness of the Lamb’s way, that bring us to the silence and peace and spaciousness of the seventh seal. 

Now, those who know Swedenborg will recognize, that while he espouses a similar interpretation of horses two through four, as I have mentioned here, he sees the first horse, the white horse, differently. His interpretation of Revelation is through a religious lens, with particular application to people’s practice of religion. He sees the horses as approaches to scripture; the red horse reading scripture without love, the black horse reading scripture without wisdom, and the pale horse the result of both deficits - that we won’t live a life that cares at all about God or other people, and that means our spiritual death. To him, the white horse represents engaging with scripture in the right way, seeking deep principles of love and wisdom, and actually applying them to our lives in a way that helps us to become free of selfishness and more loving towards others, to actually live the life of the Lamb.

There is space enough for all these interpretations, for they layer upon each other quite effectively, like a painting, providing more and more clarity and detail with each layer. For, the purpose of a vision such as Revelation is to engage us, to make us think, to make us feel, to make us ask questions of ourselves and each other, and so to connect us more deeply with divine realities.

I began by saying this vision in Revelation reflects our deepest flaws and our deepest hopes. We would be forgiven if we feel we are seeing more flaws and darkness than hope in the seven seals today. And there will be plenty more darkness in the chapters to come. So I want to take a moment to speak of the hope, and that I find it in the number seven. Bear with me friends. We will see the number seven cycle through again and again in this book. Seven angels, seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven heads on the great red dragon, and many more. 

Humanity has always held the number seven as a important and auspicious number, often symbolizing perfecton, completeness, or wholeness, and Swedenborg agrees with that meaning (3). God is dedicated to our wholeness. More than even our happiness or our goodness, God wants us to be able to experience the fullness of what it means to be God’s creation, to grow and bloom in wisdom, love, and heavenly connection. Which means engaging in the wholeness of the process that takes us there, the insights that guide us there, the earthquakes that move us there, and the sadness and longing that means our hearts are still open to the journey. Trust the process might have recently become a basketball term, but it is also happens to be a wise spiritual one. God, the First and the Last, is with us all the way, and this is pictured in the number seven everywhere in this book. God will give us everything God has, and everything we need, to become whole in God’s love and God’s presence. It won’t always look pretty, and it won’t always feel good, but it is God’s steadfast committment to the process, and to us, that gives me hope. Amen.

1. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven #3355
2. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Secrets of Heaven #2959
3. Emmanuel Swedenborg, Apocalypse Revealed #10

Readings:

Revelation 5:1-7, 6:1-17, 8:1-5

1 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals.
2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?”
3 But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it.
4 I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.
5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep!  See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
6 Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing at the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. The Lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth.
7 He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne.


6:1 I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”
2 I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.
3 When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”
4 Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword.
5 When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand.
6 Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!”
7 When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”
8 I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained.
10 They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?”
11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.
12 I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red,
13 and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind.
14 The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place.
15 Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains.
16 They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb!
17 For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?


8:1 When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them.
3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne.
4 The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand.
5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake.

Secrets of Heaven #2959

The definition [of devastation] is twofold. One kind occurs when the church is completely destroyed-that is, when there is no longer any charity or faith. At that point it is said to be devastated, or laid waste. The other occurs when people in the church are reduced to a condition of ignorance and also of tribulation in order that the evils and falsities in them can be detached from them and seemingly dispelled. People who emerge from this kind of devastation are the ones who are specifically said to be redeemed, because they then learn about the good urged and the truth taught by faith, and the Lord reforms and regenerates them…