‘And I saw in the midst of the throne, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb standing as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God who are sent out into all the earth.'
What a paradox. The great overcoming Lion turns out to be a slain Lamb. The victor turns out to be a bleeding victim. But the lesson is that it was only through His becoming a victim that He has become the victor. Only His death has made possible the fulfilment of the purposes of God.
Yet He is not only the slain Lamb, He is also the Lord of Creation. Under His personal control are seven great powers (horns), seven all-seeing powers (eyes). These are the seven chief angels who control all earthly activity. The horn in prophecy is ever the symbol of power, it is the means by which a beast exerts its authority and accomplishes his will. It regularly represents kings (e.g. Daniel 8:3; Daniel 8:5; Daniel 8:20-21). Here it represents those who are greater than kings.
Reference to Jesus as the Lamb of God is only found in John's writings (John 1:29; John 1:36; and constantly in Revelation, but compare Acts 8:32; 1 Corinthians 5:7; 1 Peter 1:19 and Hebrews). In John He is the Passover lamb, slain as a sacrifice for sin (it was solemnly offered in the Temple showing it was seen as a sacrifice) and as a guarantee of safety from the wrath of God and of deliverance through His power (Exodus 12:1-36). But it is clear that He is also the suffering Servant who has sacrificed Himself for the sins of others, the lamb led to the slaughter of Isaiah 53:7, Who has taken away the sin of the world (John 1:29). It is through His sacrifice on the cross that the purposes of God can unfold.