The Sergeant Major of Heaven

Good Tuesday morning! There are so many 'buy-me' e-mails this icy morning that I will get on the devotional first and that other stuff can just wait. Something buzzing around in my head for a couple of weeks is going to come out this morning. In Revelation as John is called up to Heaven, an angel asks a question, but not just any angel. "Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?" (Rev 5:1-2) This is the only place in the Bible that I can find a strong angel. Strong's concordance (coincidence there?) lists a couple of mighty angels later in Revelation, but only the one strong angel. Jesus mentioned twelve legions of angels, not strong angels, in the Garden of Gethsemane. So who is this strong angel? We are given no name, but from my experience in the military I tend to think of this angel as the Sergeant Major of Heaven.

This proclamation by the strong angel is a challenge. We can see that Satan does not answer the question. Certainly John doesn't step forward. And none of the thousands and tens of thousands in Heaven step forward. The twenty four elders remain seated. Even the four creatures before the throne do not volunteer. The strong angel may be Michael, but he is named elsewhere in the Bible and not here. Not only is this angel strong, but he is standing before the throne of God. Whoever is deemed worthy is facing more than a strong angel. Worthiness to open the scroll had better be without the slightest doubt if any creature or angel is going to step forward in this case. When none can be found to open the scroll, John begins to weep. What is so important that an unsatisfied curiosity will cause a grown man to weep?

Of course, we know from our Bible study that this scroll is critical to us. John represents all of humanity as he stands there hoping the scroll will be unsealed and read. The strong angel must give way to the Lamb of God, at this time referred to as the Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Root of David. We can imagine the angel bowing as the Lamb comes forward to take the scroll. Jesus takes the scroll from God's right hand and indeed the four living creatures and the twenty four elders fall down before the Lamb in Rev 5:8. The rest is not history but the future.

Be careful driving today, and trust in Jesus! Bucky