Chapter Fifteen/"Who Is Worthy to Open the Scroll?" -The Worthy One

 Yes, there is someone one worthy to open the scroll! John relates: ""But one of the elder says to me: 'stop weeping. Look! The Lion that is of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered so as to open the scroll and its seven seals.' " (Revelation 5:5) So John, dry those tears! The John class and their loyal companions today have also endured decades of severe trials while waiting patiently for enlightenment. What a comforting reward we now have in understanding vision, and what privilege to share in its fulfillment by proclaiming its message to others!

Ah, "The Lion that is of the tribe of Judah"! John is familiar with the prophecy that Jacob, ancestor of the Jewish race, pronounced concerning his fourth son, Judah: "A lion cub Judah is. From the prey, my son, you will certainly go up. He bowed down, he stretched himself out like a lion and, like a lion, who dares rouse him? The scepter will not turn aside from Judah, neither the commander's staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him the obedience of the peoples he will belong." (Genesis 49:9, 10) The royal line of God's people stemmed from Judah. Starting with David, all the kings who ruled in Jerusalem until the Babylonians destroyed that city were Judah's descendants. But not one of them was the Shiloh prophesied by Jacob. Shiloh means "He Whose [Right] It is." Prophetically, this name pointed to Jesus, the one to whom the Davidic Kingdom now permanently belongs. -EZEKIEL 21:25-27; LUKE 1:32, 33; REVELATION 19:16. 

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