5:6 SEVEN HORNS, SEVEN EYES
“A Lamb as if it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth” (Revelation 5:6). Horns in scripture symbolize the power that is wielded by the head that controls them. For example, in Revelation 17 John saw a scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns. “The ten horns which you saw are ten kings...they will give their power and authority to the beast. These will make war with the Lamb” (Revelation 17:12-14). In these verses the ten horns are ten kings that the beast uses to make war.
In Revelation 5:8-10, just after the Lamb has been shown with His seven horns, the saints (represented by the 24 elders) sing a new song to the Lamb, “saying, You…have made us kings and priests to our God.” God’s people are kings, and as such they are the horns of Jesus. Empowered by His Spirit they invade the territory of the enemy, “pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God” (2 Corinthians 10:4,5).
In chapter four the seven lamps of fire were identified as “the seven Spirits of God.” We saw in 4:5 Seven Lamps, Seven Spirits that the seven lamps symbolize the fullness of God’s Spirit shining in and through His people, illuminating the darkness of the world around them. Here the “seven eyes” of the lamb are identified as “the seven Spirits of God” with the further specification that they are “sent out into all the earth.” Again, it is the disciples of Christ who have been commanded to “go into all the world” (Mark 16:15). The Spirit does not operate in a vacuum; He fills men, women and children who take Him into the world, and both the seven lamps and the seven eyes symbolize the fullness of the Spirit operating in believers.
Jesus pictures Himself as a Lamb with “seven horns and seven eyes” because He has empowered His church to take Him “into all the world.” His Spirit (eyes, lamps) enables His people to see the needs and opportunities around them and His power (horns) enables them to respond effectively.“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).[1] Jesus announced this to be His own ministry through the Holy Spirit—“The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those who are oppressed; to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18,19).
God has “anointed” each of His children to enter into this same work. That is what the gifts and fruit of the Spirit are all about—He empowers those who are born again and then sends them out to “make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19). The early church had this experience—“when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness” (Acts 4:31). God wants nothing less for His children today. The infilling of the Holy Spirit is not so that we can have impressive experiences, but so that we can minister to those who are “oppressed by the devil” (Acts. 10:38).
Thus the “seven horns and seven eyes” of the Lamb refer to Christ’s ministry here in the world, which He carries out through His people. Jesus, presenting His qualification for opening the Book of Life, also presents the Holy Spirit ministering through the church! When we believe, God gives us new life and unites us with His body (the church), and then through the church the Holy Spirit reaches out to lost sinners all over the world. The result is that when He opens the Book of Life there will be multitudes of people whose names have been written in because they accepted the gospel invitation that was given to them by spirit-filled believers, and they will be citizens of the Kingdom of God, our eternal friends and neighbors!.