And I beheld, and,
lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the
elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes,
which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. (Rev 5:6)
Commenting on this important text, Leon Morris wrote:
In the apocalypses a lamb might sometimes be used to refer to a mighty conqueror, perhaps because such symbolism would scarcely be expected by the uninitiated. Thus the Maccabees are horned lambs (1 Enoch 90:9). We must also bear in mind that the lamb was the typical sacrificial victim. It was not by any means the only animal offered on the altars of antiquity, but it was offered very often. When John speaks of the Lamb as if it had been slain there can be no doubt that he is thinking in terms of sacrifice. But he does not think of the Lamb as ‘slain’. The Lamb is ‘as though slain’, for he is very much alive. The Greek perfect tense here signifies that the Lamb was not only slain at a point in time, but that the efficacy of his death is still present in all its power. (Leon Morris, Revelation [rev ed.; Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 20; Leicester, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 1987], 94-95, emphasis in bold added)
For more on Rev 5:6 and other related texts, and how their underlying theology refutes Reformed theology (which Morris himself held to), on the nature of the atonement, see:
