The Scroll and the Lamb: Who Is Worthy to Open the Seven Seals?

Before a single seal is opened, before the first horseman rides, Revelation pauses on one question. Who is worthy to open the book? The whole drama of the seals turns on the answer, and the answer is the heart of the gospel.

John is shown a scene in heaven. God sits on the throne, and in His right hand is a book, a scroll, sealed shut with seven seals.

And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon. 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.

Revelation 5:1–5

Read what happens. A search goes out across all creation for someone worthy to open the book, and no one is found. Not one person in heaven, on earth, or under the earth. John weeps, because if no one can open the book, its contents stay sealed forever. Then an elder tells him to stop weeping. One has prevailed. The Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David.

But when John turns to look for a Lion, that is not what he sees. He sees a Lamb, "as it had been slain" (Revelation 5:6). The Lion and the Lamb are the same person. The One who prevailed did not conquer the way the world conquers. He prevailed by being slain. And He comes forward and takes the book out of the right hand of God on the throne (Revelation 5:7).

Why He alone is worthy

Heaven sings a new song the moment He takes the scroll, and the song explains why He, and no one else, is worthy:

And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation.

Revelation 5:9

That is the qualification. He is worthy to open the seals because He was slain and bought us back with His blood, out of every nation on earth. No angel qualifies. No prophet qualifies. Only the One who paid for the world has the right to unseal its history and set its final events in motion. This is why every seal that opens, opens by His hand. The timeline belongs to Christ.

What the sealed book actually is

So what is inside this book that only Christ can open? Joseph Smith was shown that the sealed book contains the record of the earth's seven thousand years, the hidden things of God's dealings with this world (Doctrine and Covenants 77:6). It is the full history, beginning to end.

That description lines up with a sealed record described in the Book of Mormon. Nephi wrote that the book would hold "a revelation from God, from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof" (2 Nephi 27:7), and that it would stay sealed until the Lord's own time:

But the words which are sealed he shall not deliver, neither shall he deliver the book. For the book shall be sealed by the power of God, and the revelation which was sealed shall be kept in the book until the own due time of the Lord, that they may come forth; for behold, they reveal all things from the foundation of the world unto the end thereof. And the day cometh that the words of the book which were sealed shall be read upon the house tops; and they shall be read by the power of Christ; and all things shall be revealed unto the children of men which ever have been among the children of men, and which ever will be even unto the end of the earth.

2 Nephi 27:10–11

A book sealed by the power of God. A revelation from the beginning of the world to the ending thereof. Kept until the Lord's due time. Read, when that day comes, by the power of Christ. It is the same picture John saw in heaven. The Brother of Jared was shown all things from the foundation of the world to the end, and his record was sealed up to come forth in the Lord's own time (Ether 3:25–26; 4:4–7). The sealed scroll in God's hand and the sealed record of scripture are describing the same thing: the complete account of this earth, locked until the One who is worthy opens it.

Why this matters before any seal opens

Here is the point people miss when they argue about which seal we are in. The book is still sealed. The Lamb is worthy, and He has taken it, but the seals open on His timeline, and that opening is still ahead of us. Revelation 5 is the setup. Revelation 6 is what happens when He begins to break the seals one by one. We are still in the quiet before the first seal.

When that first seal breaks, it will not be a mystery handled by scholars. It will be Christ Himself, the slain Lamb who was found worthy, opening the history of the world and beginning its final chapter.

The Lamb is worthy and the scroll is in His hand, but not one seal has been broken. I lay out the whole sequence, and why none of the seals has opened, here.

This is my own study of scripture, offered so you can test it against the word of God yourself. Open the passages I cite, read them carefully, and take them to the Lord.