How can the elder, the angelic leader, say that the root of David, the shoot from the roots of Jesse, a shoot from his stump,1 has already conquered? John was aware of the suffering of the church of Christ in the persecutions. Had he not just received the seven missionary letters containing warnings and admonitions and encouragements, as a message to the Church throughout all the ages? Did they not speak of great promises for the ‘overcomers’, the ‘victors’, which will become reality, but only in the future? Did he not weep because the whole of Creation is in the grip of evil with all its consequential suffering and because no one was able and worthy to unroll the scroll and to bring it to its close? And had Isaiah not prophesied that the Spirit of God was to rest on the root of David and pronounce judgment and one day give justice to the humble and the discouraged? Moreover He would judge the earth and kill the godless; the wolf and the lamb would feed together and the leopard would lie down with the goat, and that the calf and the lion and the yearling would lie down together and be led by a little child? Then, an infant would play near a cobra’s den, that the earth would be full of the knowledge of the Lord and that the nations would seek the root of Jesse, the conquering Messiah because the place of rest with Him would be glorious?2
One does not see anything of this in the world at present though. Right? However, salvation in the Bible is not only a matter for the individual soul and its blessedness in Heaven. It extends to the world and the whole of Creation as well. Salvation will be brought about by the Lord’s Anointed, worldwide, one day in the future. But where is His Kingdom now? The elder knows precisely what he is saying, however. He had said: ‘The Lion of Judah, the root of David has triumphed!’ The death of Christ on the cross is the beginning of the victory over all the enemies of God’s children. Satan, sin and death are conquered. Through His death He destroyed the one who had the power over death—the devil—and He set free all those who, all their lives, had been held in slavery by their fear of death.3 “And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them.”4 He has bound the strong man.5
When the seventy(-two) who were sent out by Jesus, returned to Him enthusiastically and said that even the evil spirits submitted to them, He said: “I saw Satan fall like lightning from Heaven.”6 Now the verdict, the final decision is falling upon the earth, Jesus says. “Now the ruler of this world—the devil—will be thrown out,” He said, when He spoke of His approaching death.7 He has dismissed death and brought life and immortality.8 He has provided purification for all sins and is seated at the right hand of the Majesty in Heaven in full authority.9 The future and final victory of the Anointed One, the Christ, the Messiah, is nothing else than the extension of the power He already possesses now, on the grounds of the victory He won through His incarnation and His death on the cross. He has been declared, proclaimed to be the Son of God in power by His resurrection.10 The slain Lamb is the Victor. And one day Satan, the beast, the false prophet, death and the realm of the dead, and all the godless, will be thrown into the lake of fire.11
• The seven horns are symbolic of His power. Seven is again the number of fullness, completeness. It is said of Ephraim (the son of Joseph) that his horns are like the horns of a wild ox. With them he will push the nations, even to the ends of the earth.12 The seven eyes point back to Zechariah 4:10, to the lampstand with the seven lamps. The seven eyes of the Lord are the seven eyes of the Lamb! God looks at this world and at us through the Lamb.
• The Kingdom will develop in stages. First the signs of the Kingdom in Israel performed by Jesus the King Himself, as pockets of light in the surrounding darkness. Then the signs of the Kingdom will be manifested in the whole world by the power of the Holy Spirit during the preaching of the Gospel of the Kingdom to all the nations of the earth, Matthew 24:14. With again: signs of the Kingdom and wonders, as pockets of light in the surrounding darkness.
• And ultimately, the Kingdom of peace and righteousness worldwide, when the King will again be among us and will sit on the throne of His father David and rule over the House of Jacob (Israel) Then peace will flow forth from Jerusalem and the nations will train for war no more, Isaiah 2:2-4. And ultimately “of His Kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:33 KJV) because He has been resurrected from the dead and lives forever.
Bible References:
1.Isaiah 11:1 2. Isaiah 11:2–10 3. Hebrews 2:14–15 4. Colossians 2:15 5. Matthew 12:29 6.Luke 10:18 7.John 12:31 and 16:11 8.2 Timothy 1:10 9.Matthew 28:18; Hebrews 1:3; Acts 2:34–35 10. Romans 1:4 11.Revelation 22:10, 14–15, 21:8 12. Deuteronomy 33:17
