lders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and
ever.

The vision of this chapter is but a continuation of the preceding one,
being a sublime description of the exaltation and office-work of Christ
in his two-fold character as the Lion of the tribe of Juda and as a
sacrificial offering for the sins of the world. The Apocalypse opens
with the words, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto
him," and it is fitting that his special prerogatives and
characteristics, together with the true position he occupies, should
first be revealed. This was especially necessary in view of the fact to
be revealed, that another would soon arise usurping the rights and
prerogatives belonging to Christ alone, claiming to be supreme head of
the church, sitting as God in the temple of God, and "showing himself
that _he_ is God." 2 Thes. 2:4.

The attention of John was directed to an object "in the right hand of
Him that sat on the throne"--a book sealed with seven seals--and to a
mighty angel calling with a loud voice for some one to come forward and
loose the seals and open the book. No created intelligence of earth or
heaven dared to step forward and declare himself able to accomplish the
result required, and because of this John wept much.

The form of books in use when the Revelation was given was unlike those
used now. They consisted of strips of parchment or other material,
longer or shorter, rolled up. The book in the symbolic vision before us
consisted of a roll containing seven pieces each one rolled and sealed
separately, so that the outer seal could be broken and the contents of
its strip read without disturbing the remaining ones. Had the seals all
been on the outside, nothing could have been read until they were all
broken; whereas the loosing of each seal was followed by some discovery
of the contents of the roll.

This book in the hand of God is symbolical of something. Most of the
commentators think it represents the book of Revelation, in which case,
of course, it would not include the present description of the book
itself, but only of its contents as applied to subsequent chapters. But
this view, of itself, is unsatisfactory for many reasons. The rules
governing the use and the interpretation of symbolic language would
forbid the thought of one book's symbolizing another book; for the main
idea conveyed by the term _symbol_ is, that the symbolic object stands
as the representative, not of its