Apocalipsis 5

VBL · Chapter 5/22

1Vi al que estaba sentado en el trono, sosteniendo un rollo en su mano derecha. El rollo estaba escrito por ambos lados y tenía puestos siete sellos.

2Entonces vi a un ángel poderoso, gritando a gran voz: “¿Quién es digno de abrir el rollo y romper sus sellos?”

3Y nadie en el cielo, ni en la tierra, ni debajo de la tierra era capaz de abrir el rollo y leerlo.

4Lloré mucho porque no podían hallar a nadie que fuera digno de abrir el libro y leerlo.

5Entonces uno de los ancianos me habló y me dijo: “No llores. El León de la tribu de Judá, el Descendiente de David, ha ganado la batalla y puede abrir el rollo y sus siete sellos”.

6Entonces vi a un Cordero que parecía como si lo hubieran sacrificado. Estaba en pie en el centro, junto al trono y las cuatro criaturas vivientes, en medio de los ancianos. Tenía siete cuernos y siete ojos que son los siete Espíritus de Dios que son enviados a toda la tierra.

7Él fue y tomó el rollo de la mano derecha del que estaba sentado en el trono.

8Cuando tomó el rollo, las cuatro criaturas vivientes y los veinticuatro ancianos cayeron postrados delante del Cordero. Y cada uno tenía un harpa y tazas de oro llenas de incienso, que son las oraciones de los creyentes.

9Ellos cantaban un cántico nuevo: “Tú eres digno de tomar el libro y abrir sus sellos, pues tú fuiste inmolado y con tu sangre redimiste para Dios gentes de toda tribu, lengua, pueblo y nación.

10Los convertiste en un reino y en sacerdotes para nuestro Dios, y reinarán sobre la tierra”.

11Y mientras veía, escuché las voces de millones de ángeles alrededor del trono, junto con las criaturas vivientes y los ancianos,

12diciendo juntos, a gran voz: “El Cordero que fue inmolado es digno de recibir autoridad, riqueza, sabiduría, fuerza, honra, gloria y bendición”.

13Entonces oí a cada criatura en el cielo, en la tierra y debajo de la tierra, y en el mar—todas las criaturas, en todas partes—respondían: “Bendito Aquél que está sentado en el trono, y el Cordero, a ellos sea la honra, la gloria y la autoridad, por siempre y para siempre”.

14Y las cuatro criaturas vivientes dijeron: “¡Amén!” y los ancianos se postraron y adoraron.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

A scroll sealed with seven seals appears in God's hand, and no one is found worthy to open it until the Lamb appears, looking as though it had been slain, yet alive. All of heaven's creation bursts into praise of the Lamb, recognizing him as worthy to receive power, wealth, wisdom, and glory.

Explanation

The 'scroll sealed with seven seals' likely represents God's plans and purposes for history, something that must be 'opened' and progressively revealed throughout the chapters that follow. The book's central and most striking image appears here: the Lamb who was slain yet is alive, uniting the symbols of the Lion of Judah (power and kingship) with the sacrificed Lamb (suffering and redemption) in the same figure of Jesus. The new song sung by the heavenly beings declares that the Lamb is worthy because he was slain and with his blood purchased people from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation — a vision of universal, multiethnic redemption. Today's practical application is that Christ's true power is revealed precisely through sacrifice, not in spite of it.

Fun facts

  • The combination of the image of the 'Lion of the tribe of Judah' with the 'Lamb who was slain' (5:5-6) in the same vision is considered by scholars one of the richest symbolic fusions in the entire book, uniting messianic royal strength with redemptive sacrifice in the same person of Christ.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Apocalipsis 5:1Important documents of the time, such as wills or land deeds, were sealed with several seals, and only someone with legal authority could break them. A scroll sealed with seven seals shows that what is written there is something decisive, which no one yet has the right to open.
  2. Apocalipsis 5:2An angel issues an open challenge: who has enough authority to open the sealed scroll and reveal its contents? The question sets up the dramatic answer that comes only a few verses later.
  3. Apocalipsis 5:3No one anywhere in the universe - not in heaven, not on earth, not under it - can either open the scroll or even look inside it, a way of showing just how much authority that act would require.
  4. Apocalipsis 5:4John's weeping expresses the anguish of a revelation that seems stuck, with no one worthy to access it; that tension is only resolved in the next verse.
  5. Apocalipsis 5:5The two titles come from ancient prophecies, Genesis 49 and Isaiah 11, about a king who would come from the line of David. This is how the text presents Jesus for the first time in this scene: using the same royal titles Jewish readers already expected of a messiah.
  6. Apocalipsis 5:6Horns were a common symbol of total strength, and the eyes here represent the Spirit of God sent to every place - nothing literal. The scene deliberately joins two images that seemed opposite: a lamb, weak and slain, and at the same time the most powerful victor in the room.
  7. Apocalipsis 5:7After being presented as “Lion” and “Lamb” in the previous verses, He finally acts: He takes the scroll directly from the hand of Him who sits on the throne, resolving the impasse of verses 3 and 4.
  8. Apocalipsis 5:8In temple worship, the smoke of incense rose visibly upward, which is why it became the natural image for prayers rising up to God. The text itself explains this symbol directly, saying that the incense represents the prayers of those who belong to God, leaving no doubt about it.
  9. Apocalipsis 5:9The “new song” celebrates the reason the Lamb is worthy: not for military power, but for having been slain, purchasing people from “every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation” - redemption language that expands to the whole world the idea of deliverance already used in Exodus for the people of Israel.
  10. Apocalipsis 5:10This repeats the same expression from the greeting in chapter 1, “kings and priests,” which originally comes from Exodus 19 about Israel, now applied to this multitude redeemed from every nation.
  11. Apocalipsis 5:11The scene expands with a countless number of angels around the throne, an image of a multitude that also appears in the vision of the throne in Daniel 7.
  12. Apocalipsis 5:12The list of seven qualities attributed to the Lamb - power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing - mimics the kind of acclamation the Roman world gave to the emperor, only here redirected to the slain Lamb.
  13. Apocalipsis 5:13The worship expands even further, including literally every creature in every place of the known universe, uniting praise to God and to the Lamb in a single celebration.
  14. Apocalipsis 5:14This closes the scene with the “Amen” of the four living creatures and another act of falling down by the elders, repeating the same gesture of reverence already seen in chapter 4.

Chapters

Our apps

Our apps →

Bible in Stories

The Bible told as a story, with audio and videos.

📱 Get the app

World in Stories

True stories of humanity that sound made up.

Feito! Pequenas Vitórias

A light daily routine for people who lose track of the day.