<p>5:6- see on Jer. 1:11,12.</p><p><i>And I saw in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing, as though it had just been slain-</i> The living creatures, representing the victorious believers, are in the midst of the throne (see on 4:6). We are set down with the Lord in His throne (3:21). But superimposed upon them is now the ever stronger image of the Lamb standing and not sitting. He is at our centre, in Him He is us and we are Him. For in no other way can we be portrayed as sitting upon the throne. The slain lamb is still standing, rather than lying down as a dead body. Perhaps the idea is that the Lord died on the cross in a vertical position, as if dead whilst still standing in victory.</p><p>The lion&rsquo;s triumph is only because He had previously been the sacrificial lamb; but He is portrayed as a rather aggressive looking lamb, having seven horns and seven eyes (5:6). Again we note that the beast with his ten horns and a little horn with eyes (Dan. 7:20) is an anti-Christ, a parody of the real Jesus. We note the sustained emphasis that the Lamb alone was &ldquo;worthy&rdquo; to open the scroll of life (4:11; 5:2,4,9,12); but the Lord graciously says that His redeemed people will walk with Him because they too are &ldquo;worthy&rdquo; (3:4). This is a deep insight into the extent of imputed righteousness, and what it means to be counted as &ldquo;in Christ&rdquo;. The marks of His sufferings will be in Him eternally, and thereby we will be eternally reminded of the things we now only dimly appreciate (Rev. 5:6; Zech. 13:6). See on Mk. 9:47.</p><p>Rev. 4:9 alludes to the Isaiah 6 vision, and applies it to the future judgment. Yet silhouetted within the vision of the judgment throne is a slain lamb (Rev. 5:6), as if before the judgment, all will be aware of the Lord&rsquo;s sacrifice. The accepted will utter praise immediately after realising the wonderful verdict pronounced for them- in terms of praising the Lord Jesus for his sacrifice, and recognising their eternal debt to the blood of His cross (Rev. 5:9). The cross and the judgment and reward are connected. This is why the Sephardim called the Day of Atonement, with all its typology of the cross, &ldquo;the day of judgment&quot;. To come before the cross is to have a foretaste of judgment; there and then was the judgment of this world.</p><p><i>The lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth</i>- The Lord's death meant that the Spirit was given to all His people (Jn. 7:39). And it was in the power of the Spirit that they went out into all the earth with the Gospel, in fulfilment of the great commission. I noted throughout Jn. 14-16 that the Comforter has especial relevance to the fulfilment of the great commission. And yet the reference is also to the Lord Jesus becoming Lord of all Angels, becoming Himself &quot;the Lord the Spirit&quot; (2 Cor. 3:18). His Spirit is therefore sent forth into all the earth, just as His followers go into all the earth with Him and the message of His Spirit.</p><p>And yet a specifically latter day interpretation is also discernible once we perceive the allusions to Zech. 6:5-7, where the horsemen spirits of the Lord go forth throughout the earth / land promised to Abraham. This theme will be later developed in the seals, trumpets and vials. But at this stage the comfort is that in the awful situation to come upon that area in the last days, the details of which we are to read about in the next chapters, the Lord's Spirit is intensely present, preserving and empowering His people.</p><p><b>The Chronology And Structure Of Revelation</b> <br />The lamb slain is clearly a reference to Passover. I suggest that the key to the interpretation of Revelation is in understanding how its structure is linked to its interpretation. This doesn't mean that interpretations which ignore the structure are wrong; the book is open to multiple fulfilments, as most Bible prophecies are. The New Testament often quotes the Old Testament out of context- phrases and verses are taken up and given an interpretation which can't be extended to the surrounding context of the Old Testament passage. And so it's surely legitimate to likewise interpret Bible prophecy in a similar piecemeal manner. However, this doesn't preclude a hermeneutic scheme of interpretation which takes an entire book and seeks to make sense of it from start to finish. <br />Throughout latter day Bible prophecy, there is mention of a 1260 day / 42 month / three and a half year period of final tribulation. The Jews had a three and a half year reading cycle, similar in principle to the annual <i>Bible Companion</i>, whereby there were specific readings from the Pentateuch and prophets, with a Psalm read every Sabbath. This system was based around the feasts. The book of Revelation is likewise based around the feasts. It should be noted that the Gospel of John, which appears so similar in style to Revelation, was likewise based around the Jewish feasts; and a case can be made that it was intended to be read over a three and a half year cycle along with the Jewish lectionary readings (Aileen Guilding, <i>The Fourth Gospel And Jewish Worship</i> (Oxford: O.U.P., 1960)). Hence John's account of events seeks to place them all within the period of the various feasts; and his material can be seen as a kind of exposition of the Old Testament 'readings for the day' according to the Jewish triennial reading cycle.</p><p>There are many connections between the various sections of Revelation and the Jewish feasts. Here's a summary:</p><div align=center><table border=0 cellspacing=3 cellpadding=0 width=1164>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td width=119>            <div align=center><b>Revelation</b></div>            </td>            <td width=140>            <div align=center><b>Feast</b></div>            </td>            <td width=599>            <p><b>Allusions</b></p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>5</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Passover</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Rev. 5:6,9 = Ex. 12:13</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>7</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Tabernacles</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Rev. 7:9,15,16 RV = Ex. 23:16; 34:22; Zech.   14:16-20</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>8,9</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Day Of Atonement</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Lev. 16:31; more detailed links in Harry   Whittaker, <i>Revelation: A Biblical Approach</i> pp. 104,105.</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>11</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Dedication &amp; Purim</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>The Torah readings for these feasts were Num. 7   and Zech. 2- 4 about the dedication of the temple; Rev. 11:10 = Esther 9:19,22.   The period from Tabernacles to Purim is exactly 5 months- as mentioned in   Rev. 9:5</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>12</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Pentecost &amp; Passover</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>The Jews traditionally ask: &quot;On this   Sabbath, shall I reap?&quot;</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>14</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Tabernacles</p>            </td>            <td>                        </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>15 + 16</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Atonement &amp; Passover</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Lev. 16; Ps. 118 the Hallel Psalm</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>19</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Passover</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Ps. 113,114 Passover Psalms</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td>            <p>21,22</p>            </td>            <td>            <p>Tabernacles</p>            </td>            <td>                        </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div><p>Laying out the material chronologically, we have:<br />Chapter 5: Passover<br />6 months</p><p>Chapter 7: Tabernacles<br />Chapters 8&amp; 9: Atonement and Tabernacles<br />1 year<br />Chapter 11: Dedication 5 months (Rev 9:5)<br />Chapter 11: Purim<br />Chapter 12: Passover and Pentecost<br />Chapter 14: Tabernacles<br />1 year<br />Chapter 15: Atonement<br />Chapter 16 &amp; 19: Passover <br />Chapter 21 &amp; 22: Tabernacles<br />1 year</p><p>The conclusion would therefore be that we have in the book of Revelation a literal account of the three and a half years tribulation, with the Jewish feasts being the key marker points. And it would appear there will be an especial period of five months tribulation as described between chapters 9 and 11.</p><p>Not all prophecy has to be predictive. The Lord Jesus spoke of His future sufferings and commented that once those things happened, the disciples would be able to make sense of them <i>at that time </i>because of His previously spoken words about them (Jn. 8:28; 13:19; 14:29; Acts 11:16). And so it may be futile to try to work out precisely how things will be before they actually happen; but as we pass through the final three and a half years, those who understand will be amazingly encouraged as they see everything falling into place. It will be the most amazing, detailed and practically encouraging fulfilling of prophecy that anyone has ever lived through. And given the whole nature of the tribulation, it will be encouragement that the faithful will sorely need.</p>