Jesus - Melchizedek - Lion & Lamb, King & Priest
August 3, 2003
480 Crown him with many crowns
Gen. 14:17-23, p 15
Heb. 7:1-3, p 1205
45 With hearts in love abounding
Zech. 6:1-5, 11-13, p 953
Rev. 5:1-6:2, p 1237
972 The Lion of Judah
C 656 O Sacrifice of Calvary - Tune HTC 424
[sing: I come instead of I kneel ]
I need to tell you at the beginning what I am teaching:
The Lord Jesus is the only one in Scripture who holds the two offices of King & Priest.
As King he is all-victorious;
As Priest he offered himself, once only, as the sacrifice; fully acceptable to God.
I believe both Genesis & Revelation to be Scripture.
Genesis records creation & the fall of mankind into sin, and shows the beginning of God's plan of redemption.
Revelation shows the conflict between God & Satan, between the followers of the Lamb & those who oppose both Christ & his people. It shows the final & complete triumph of the Lamb in the New Heaven & the New Earth, the home of righteousness.
Hebrews links the Old & New Testaments in a special way, showing how Christ is revealed in the Old Covenant characters & ceremonies.
I want to draw these Scriptures together, to focus on the LORD Jesus Christ, King & Priest.
I will concentrate on Revelation 5.
First John sees a scroll in the right hand of God. It is written with the plans & purposes of God, and sealed with 7 seals.
The scroll remains sealed unless one can be found in heaven or earth who is worthy to open them. At first no-one can be found. No created being in heaven or earth is worthy to open the scroll & reveal God's plans & purposes for his creation.
John wept & wept. He has a glorious vision which is sealed up & cannot be revealed!
Then one in the centre of the throne is found worthy. God the Son reveals the secrets of God the Father.
Listen: 5Then 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."
6Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne.
The mighty Lion of Judah, the great King, has triumphed, but when John looks he sees a Lamb bearing the marks of sacrifice, but gloriously alive.
He sees Jesus, King & Priest, who ascended to his kingly throne after his cross.
His death was his glorious victory. He is alive for evermore.
Listen to the praise which resounds to Jesus' glory:
9
And they sang a new song:11
Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.12
In a loud voice they sang:How wonderful it will be to join the praise of the heavenly hosts when we are in glory. Even now, our praise in the name of Jesus is fully acceptable to God, & he delights in our praises.
John sees the Lion & the Lamb, the King & the Priest. Where do we find in Scripture a king who is also a priest? Not in the books of Samuel, Kings & Chronicles, which are the books which tell the story of the kings of Israel & Judah.
King Saul offered sacrifices & was immediately rejected as king. (1 Sam. 13)
King Uzziah tried to offer incense in the temple, & was struck with leprosy. (2 Chron. 26)
No human king could be a priest.
We read of Melchizedek in Gen. 14 & Hebrews 7. He was King of righteousness & King of peace, who had given Abram his victory. Melchizedek was surely the LORD Jesus appearing in human form before his incarnation as a baby that first Christmas.
Remarkably, Melchizedek gives Abram bread & wine. Later this morning we will take bread & wine, which remind us of the body & blood of our crucified & risen Lord.
We read of Joshua the priest who is crowned as king in Zech. 6. Again that is a vision of Jesus - the name Joshua is the Hebrew form of the name we know & love as Jesus.
13
It is he who will build the temple of the LORD, and he will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on his throne. And he will be a priest on his throne. And there will be harmony between the two.'There are other references to kings & priests. We read one of them in the praises to the Lamb:
9
And they sang a new song:The redeemed people of God are a kingdom & priests to serve our God.
This was promised to the people of God in Ex. 19:
5
Now if you obey me fully and keep my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. Although the whole earth is mine,The people of Israel never obeyed God fully, never kept his covenant. They failed to experience these glorious promises.
The redeemed people of God now do enjoy IN CHRIST what could never be gained by keeping the Law. As Peter writes (1 Peter 2)
9
But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.We do not have to wait to get to heaven to enjoy that promised privilege. We are now a royal priesthood, as the redeemed people of God.
We have the position of heirs of the King of kings & Lord of lords.
It may not seem like it to us now.
When a future king is a child, he is under the instruction & care of servants, teachers, until the appointed time. Then their status will be seen by all. (Gal. 3)
We are future kings, and in Scripture we can see our glorious position as heirs of God, & joint heirs with Christ. (Romans 8)
We also have the status of priest. We come to God in Christ, & have no need to bring offerings & sacrifices for others to offer for us. Jesus is our Great High Priest, & we come to God through him.
We will move on to see the opening of the first seal:
Revelation 6
1I 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!" 2I 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.
I do not like that translation. It makes him sound like a military leader. If you listen to the American preachers on Premier Radio, you will hear them identify the rider of the white horse as the antichrist.
Most of the older commentators & some of the new identify him as Christ. That I'm sure is right.
Other translations have "he went out conquering and to conquer."
The Greek word for "conquer" is the same root word used in 5:5 & translated "triumphed." The triumphant Lion of Judah rides out to complete his victories by conquering all his enemies.
The vision here of the four horsemen relates to the vision of the four chariots in Zech. 6, where they are identified as the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.
Christ conquers the hearts of his people by his Gospel, so that we become a royal priesthood and share his triumph.
He ultimately conquers Satan & all those who reject the Gospel by his judgements.
He conquers death, first by his own resurrection, and then the resurrection of all, for life or condemnation.
He conquers all the troubles of this sinful world by establishing a New Heaven & New Earth, the home of righteousness.
We are here as a royal priesthood to glory in his triumph. His victory was gained by death. Not the death of his enemies, but his own death. By that death, we, who were once his enemies are now his people, & share his victory.
The communion bread & wine was prefigured by Melchizedek when he blessed Abram after his God-given victory.
The communion bread & wine itself prefigures the glorious wedding feast, when we will see again the victorious Christ, crowned with many diadems, all his victories completed.
Amen.
4 Horsemen - study notes
The identity of the 4 horsemen of the Apocalypse is a fascinating study. The white horseman must be one of the very few characters in Scripture who is identified very positively either as Christ himself, or the antichrist. He is also identified as the emperor Nerva, or a period of Roman conquest.
Please read Rev. 5 & 6. The horsemen occur in Rev. 6. They are seen as the first 4 seals are opened. We will need to relate the symbology of the vision to the related visions in the Old Covenant Scriptures, particularly Zechariah 6.
Zechariah 6 shows 4 chariots as the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth. It further shows the crowning of the high priest Joshua as king & priest. He wears a "stephanos" crown. If the "four horsemen" vision relates to Old Covenant prophecy, like much of Revelation, these horsemen must be God's agents. Also in Rev. 7:1, John saw four angels holding the four winds.
Notice in Rev. 5 that the scroll is seen in the hand of God. The scroll contains God's plans & purposes written, but sealed. The opening of the seals will show God's will, not a window into the rebellious activity of man.
The details of the vision are significant:
Note that Christ is revealed as Lion of Judah, echoing the blessing of Jacob, (Gen. 49) for Judah is a lion, & holds the sceptre - Christ is King. He has prevailed (nikao) to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Note also that Christ is revealed as a slain Lamb, alive again. This shows him as Sacrifice & Priest. Christ is seen as King & Priest, & only he combines those offices. (Zech. 6:11ff, Heb. 7.) 1 Sam. 13, & 2 Chron. 26 show the consequences for those kings who usurped the priest's office.
Christ the Lamb proceeds to open the seals, & shows the white horseman:
Rev. 6:2 And I saw, and behold a white horse: and he that sat on him had a bow; and a crown {stephanos) was given unto him: and he went forth conquering, and to conquer. (nikao)
The words of this vision relate to the Lion, (nikao), and the Lamb (the crowned priest-king) (stephanos). He is armed with a bow, which relates to Psalm 45, where Christ in his majesty rides prosperously, uses sharp arrows, and reigns as King forever.
The white horseman can therefore be seen as a vision of Christ himself, riding triumphantly through the Gospel age, saving sinners, conquering evil by truth & righteousness. In Rev. 19, we see him again, now armed with the sword of his mouth - the Word by which all are judged, & the wicked condemned. There he wears many crowns (diadems) for his conquests are complete. All the redeemed have been saved.
The red, black & pale horsemen are God agents, angels of wrath, inflicting tribulation on those who reject the Gospel of the Christ, the white horseman. (The subsequent visions of trumpets & vials show the horsemen in action.)
The fifth seal reveals the dead believers under the altar, wearing white robes, washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, praying & awaiting vindication.
The sixth seal reveals the coming of Christ, and the terror of the wicked as the day of judgement arrives.
The seventh seal reveals first silence, prayer ascending like incense, and then the trumpets begin to sound, putting into effect the tribulation typified by the horsemen.
The teaching of the Lord in Matthew 24, Mark 13, & Luke 21 is consistent with this understanding of the seals.
I have considered & studied other interpretations of the seals vision.
The idea of a succession of Roman Emperors has the attraction of being relevant to the readers of John's time & shortly after but does not allow or bear comparison with other Scriptures, nor is such an interpretation relevant to the ongoing readership. This is an old interpretation, as taught by John Wesley & Darby.
Identifying the white horseman as the antichrist appearing during a future tribulation also does not bear comparison with Zechariah's related visions, nor is such an interpretation relevant to the readers of the present Gospel age who are John's companions in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, . . . for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. This appears to be a relatively novel interpretation, possibly encouraged by the restoration of Jews to their homeland.
Genesis 14
17 After Abram returned from defeating Kedorlaomer and the kings allied with him, the king of Sodom came out to meet him in the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley).
18 Then Melchizedek king of Salem brought out bread and wine. He was priest of God Most High,
19 and he blessed Abram, saying, Blessed be Abram by God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth.
20 And blessed be God Most High, who delivered your enemies into your hand.
Then Abram gave him a tenth of everything.
21 The king of Sodom said to Abram, Give me the people and keep the goods for yourself.
22 But Abram said to the king of Sodom, I have raised my hand to the LORD, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth, and have taken an oath 23 that I will accept nothing belonging to you, not even a thread or the thong of a sandal, so that you will never be able to say, 'I made Abram rich.'
Hebrews 7
1This Melchizedek was king of Salem and priest of God Most High. He met Abraham returning from the defeat of the kings and blessed him, 2and Abraham gave him a tenth of everything. First, his name means "king of righteousness"; then also, "king of Salem" means "king of peace." 3Without father or mother, without genealogy, without beginning of days or end of life, like the Son of God he remains a priest forever.
Zechariah 6
1 I looked up again--and there before me were four chariots coming out from between two mountains--mountains of bronze!
2 The first chariot had red horses, the second black,
3 the third white, and the fourth dappled--all of them powerful.
4 I asked the angel who was speaking to me, What are these, my lord?
5 The angel answered me, These are the four spirits of heaven, going out from standing in the presence of the Lord of the whole world.
. . . .
11
Take the silver and gold and make a crown, and set it on the head of the high priest, Joshua son of Jehozadak.Revelation 5
1Then 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. 2And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, "Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?" 3But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. 4I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside. 5Then 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."
6Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits[1] of God sent out into all the earth. 7He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. 8And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9And they sang a new song:
"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth."
11Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
13Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!" 14The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshipped.
Revelation 6
1I 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!" 2I 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.
Or: he went out conquering & to conquer.