<p>4:11 <em>Worthy are you, our Lord, to receive the glory and the honour and the power. For you did create all things, and for your sake they existed and were created</em>- &quot;Our Lord&quot; refers to the Lord Jesus, and is again a subversion of the way Caesar was addressed in this way. His creation of all things recalls the prologue of John's gospel, where clearly a new creation is in view (2 Cor. 5:17), a creation of a world of persons in His image. And as the faithful find themselves accepted and immortalized before His throne, they will realize that indeed the new creation has come to its final term. And they stand there because of His creation of them, and not in their own strength, created of His will NEV &quot;sake&quot;, AV &quot;pleasure&quot; and not their own. The allusion may be to Jn. 1:13, where the Lord Jesus is presented as bringing us into spiritual being not of our will but of His. In :8,11 we read of &ldquo;the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come&rdquo; &lsquo;receiving <em>lambano</em>&rsquo; &ldquo;glory, honour and power <em>dunamis</em>&rdquo;. The only other time we read of this is in Rev. 11:15-17, when the seventh Angel sounds and the Kingdom of God is established: &ldquo;We give You thanks O Lord God&nbsp;Almighty, who is and who was; because You have taken <em>lambano</em> Your great power <em>dunamis</em> and have reigned&rdquo;. The vision here is specifically about the state of the Heavenly throne room at the last day; see on :1.</p><p>This continues the vision of chapter 4, which we have clearly located in the last days. The sealed book of 5:1 is the book of life, which is only opened at Christ&rsquo;s return (Dan. 7:10; Rev. 20:12). The opening of the seals is therefore something which is the opening of the book- and the events associated with them therefore occur at the last hour, when the book is opened. Any appropriacy to events at other points in history is intended and was of encouragement to those of that day, but the essence of the fulfilment is in the last days. The joy of the redeemed that the Lamb has opened the book through His blood is not just joy that prophetic revelation has been given in the seals; it is joy that they have been redeemed because the book has been opened (5:5,9). The Lamb&rsquo;s blood was required to open the book, and it is redemption, a place in that book of life, which was enabled by the Lord&rsquo;s death. The actual opening of the scroll is performed by the Lord Jesus in His role as &ldquo;the lion of the tribe of Judah&rdquo; (see on :5), and according to Gen. 49:5 this refers to the Lord in His latter day manifestation, triumphing over the prey. The redeemed burst into praise when the Lamb takes the book of life to open it- they thank Him for redeeming them, and for making them &ldquo;kings and priests, and we shall reign on earth&rdquo; (:10). This sounds like they are about to start reigning. The time when this is said is therefore that of the establishment of the Kingdom on earth.</p><p>Not every detail has been given of how that end has been achieved, but in chapters 4 and 5 we see a broad sweep from the beginning of the last days right through to the full establishment of the Kingdom.</p><p>That the scroll refers to the book of life was first pointed out to me by Peter Watkins. One of the most compelling reasons is the way that Daniel 7 is being alluded to, and the parallel with the opening of the books at the judgment is in the scroll of Revelation 5 being opened:</p><div align=center><table border=1 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0>    <tbody>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <div align=center><i>&nbsp;</i></div>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <div align=center><b><i>Daniel 7:9, 10</i></b></div>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <div align=center><b><i>Revelation</i></b></div>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>(a)</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>thrones were set</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>the 24 elders upon 24 thrones (R.V.) (4 :4).</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>(b)</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>the Ancient of days did sit.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne   (4:2).</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>(c)</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>His garment white as snow.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>like unto a jasper (4:3).</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>(d)</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>His throne like the fiery flame.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>and a sardine stone.</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>(e)</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>His wheels as burning fire.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>(Ez. 1:15-21. Not mentioned in Revelation except by   implication in connection with the four-fold cherubim-chariot of Rev. 6).</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>(f)</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>a fiery stream issued and came forth from before   Him.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>the sea of glass.</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>(g)</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>thousand thousands ministered unto Him and ten   thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>the number of the angels was ten thousand times   ten thousand, and thousands of thousands (5:11).</p>            </td>        </tr>        <tr>            <td valign=top>            <p>(h)</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>the judgement was set and the books were opened.</p>            </td>            <td valign=top>            <p>I saw the dead small and great stand before God;   and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of   life (20:12).</p>            </td>        </tr>    </tbody></table></div>