‘And one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. See, the Lion who is of the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:9-10), the Root of David (Isaiah 11:1), he has overcome so as to be able to open the book and break its seven seals”.'
The opening of the book requires someone very special. He must be the fulfilment of prophecy, the promised Messiah of the house of David, for, as Scripture has made clear, only through Him can God's purposes be fulfilled. And He must be an overcomer. He must have faced every test on earth and have come through it, successful and unscathed. And there is only One such, and He is here for John to see.
The idea of the lion of the tribe of Judah comes from Genesis 49:9-10. The lion was the most splendid and awesome of beasts, the powerful hunter. It thus represented someone strong and powerful, before whom all were afraid. The root of David stresses someone directly descended from David, the prototype of the coming everlasting king.