God’s purpose needs someone to carry it out who can solve all the problems of God. The problems which God had were the rebellion of Satan and the fall of man. As the Lion, Christ has defeated the rebellious Satan, and as the Lamb, He has taken away the sin of fallen man. Since He has solved these two problems for God, He is worthy to open the scroll of God’s economy.
In verse 6 John says that the Lamb has seven horns. Horns signify strength in fighting (Deut. 33:17). Christ is the redeeming Lamb, yet with fighting horns. He is the fighting Redeemer, and His fighting is complete in God’s move as signified by the number seven.
Verse 6 also says that the Lamb has “seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth.” The Lamb’s eyes are for observing and searching. As the redeeming Lamb, Christ has seven observing and searching eyes for executing God’s judgment upon the universe to fulfill God’s eternal purpose, which will consummate in the building up of the New Jerusalem. Therefore, in Zechariah 3:9 He is prophesied as the stone, which is the topstone (Zech. 4:7, Heb.), with seven eyes for God’s building. These seven eyes are “the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth,” running “to and fro through the whole earth” (Zech. 4:10).
In his Gospel John said that Christ was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). But here in Revelation 5 John sees the Lamb as having seven eyes. Although John saw the Lamb that had been slain, he did not see blood flowing. Rather, he saw seven eyes which are the seven Spirits of God. These seven eyes are surely not for redemption. The Lamb in the Gospel of John shed His blood and out of His side flowed water. But the Lamb in Revelation has seven flaming eyes that shine out and reach far to touch people. According to the black and white letters, this is for judgment, but actually it is for God’s building. You may wonder what my basis is for saying that the seven searching, enlightening eyes are for God’s building. The Bible tells us clearly that these seven eyes are the seven lamps (Zech. 3:9; 4:2, 10). The seven lamps are first mentioned in Exodus 25. There, the lamps are neither for searching nor for judging but for God’s building. The seven lamps mentioned there are for the building up of the tabernacle, God’s dwelling place among men on earth. Apparently, the seven flaming eyes of the Lamb are for searching and judging. However, this searching and judging is a procedure to attain the consummate goal of building. Eventually, the book of Revelation is not just for judgment but for building. Most expositions of Revelation say that it is a book of judgment. But this judgment is a procedure which will consummate in the New Jerusalem. What appears after the judgment has been executed? The New Jerusalem. The New Jerusalem issues out of God’s judgment which is carried out by the seven eyes.
As we have already pointed out, a person’s eyes cannot be separated from him, for a person’s eyes are his expression. Our inner being is mainly expressed through our eyes. In like manner, the seven Spirits are the seven eyes of Christ by which Christ expresses Himself. If anyone says that the Spirit is separate from Christ, then he must lack knowledge and be shortsighted. How can anyone say that a person’s eyes are separate from him? This is ridiculous! Are not the seven Spirits the Holy Spirit, and are not the seven Spirits the eyes of Christ? Then how can anyone say that the Holy Spirit, who is the seven Spirits, is separate from Christ? The Son is the embodiment of the Father, and the Spirit is the expression of the Son. The seven eyes of Christ, the seven Spirits of God, are Christ’s expression in a judging way in God’s move for God’s building. Even now, Christ’s burning eyes are flaming over us to enlighten, search, refine, and judge us, not that we might be condemned, but that we might be purged, transformed, and conformed to His image for God’s building. The Lord’s judgment is motivated by love. Because He loves the church, He comes to search, enlighten, judge, refine, and purify us in order to transform us into precious stones. Eventually, this book consummates in the New Jerusalem which is built with precious materials. Where do these materials come from? They come from the seven eyes of Christ, that is, from the life-giving, transforming Spirit.
In the book of Revelation the Spirit is not called the life-giving Spirit or the transforming Spirit, but the seven Spirits which are the seven burning, searching, judging lamps. For the degraded church, the Spirit who gives life must be the sevenfold burning Spirit. Today, the life-giving Spirit must be the flaming Spirit, and the transforming Spirit must be the searching and judging Spirit. His searching and judging are His purifying and transforming. No one can be transformed into a precious stone without being searched by Him. How I look to the Lord that He would search us all. We are not here for doctrine and teaching; we are here under the enlightening of the pure Word and under the searching of the seven Spirits. We all need to be thoroughly searched, purified, and refined. If we are, we shall never be the same.
In Exodus 25 the seven lamps are for the building of God’s dwelling place on earth, and in Zechariah 3 the seven eyes are the seven eyes of the stone. In Revelation we have the Lion-Lamb, and in Zechariah we have the stone. Because in Revelation the seven eyes are on the Lamb and in Zechariah they are on the stone, we may say that the Lamb is the Lamb-stone. The Lamb-stone is for God’s building. That Christ, the Lamb of God, is the building stone with the seven eyes proves that the seven eyes of Christ are for God’s building. In the Lord’s recovery, everyone is under the searching, judging, and purifying of the Spirit of Christ, and today the Spirit of Christ is the sevenfold flaming Spirit. Although He is the life-giving and transforming Spirit, to the degraded church He is the seven burning Spirits. We are not only preaching the Lamb in John 1, but also ministering the Lamb in Revelation 5. We are ministering this Lamb as the building stone with seven Spirits. Our Savior is such a One, having the seven Spirits to spread Himself, express Himself, and infuse Himself into all His members to transform us into precious material for God’s building.