Daily Manna, Year Two · Day 159 · June 8
Weep Not
“And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.”
"Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." These words are spoken to a man in tears. John writes, "And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon." A sealed book lies in the right hand of the One on the throne. A search has been made in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and nobody anywhere is worthy to open it.
Both of the elder's titles are old, and each one brings a family history with it. The lion goes back to Jacob, dying and blessing his sons: "Judah is a lion's whelp: from the prey, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as an old lion; who shall rouse him up?" The next line of that blessing promises that "the sceptre shall not depart from Judah." The root goes back to Isaiah and a tree cut down to a stump: "there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots." Jesse was David's father, so this was a promise that David's cut-down family would grow again. Later in the same chapter Isaiah says, "there shall be a root of Jesse, which shall stand for an ensign of the people."
Then John looks where he is told to look: "And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain." He was told about a lion, and he is shown a lamb with the wound still on it. The song that begins a moment later explains what "hath prevailed" meant: "for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation."
The promise here is narrow, and it is worth holding exactly as it stands. The sealed book will be opened. The One who opens it is worthy to open it, and what makes Him worthy is a death that has already happened. That is all John is told, and it was reason enough for him to stop weeping. It is reason enough for you too, because whatever is still sealed in your life and in the world lies in the hands of the Lamb who was slain for you.
Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 159 is Sanctified Once for All (Hebrews 10:10).