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Dear Family in Y'shua,
In Rev 5 an angel asks who is worthy  to open the book... John looks and no one can be found in heaven or earth to open it, then Christ shows up. Where was he?

Jesus is God, not man at this time (His humanness has a distinct beginning). Perhaps you are making an assumption here that God could open the book? He could not, for it says that no one in Heaven was worthy to open it. I doubt you believe that God is not worthy. It had to be that there were conditions on the book that God as God could not fulfill.

Obviously, the book had to be opened by a man. Satan's plan seemed to have worked well. No man up to Christ was worthy (sinless) to open the book, not on earth, not in Heaven. (Perhaps the strong angel was Satan asking the question. I notice the strong angel disappears after getting an answer.) Then God was manifested in the flesh: one of the members of the Trinity became a man to fulfill the prophecies that said God would redeem man. As a man, God now met the criteria to open the book, mainly that a sinless man had to open it. By the way, the Old Testament parallel to this is Zechariah 3.


Then, in Heaven is heard:
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power and riches and wisdom,
And strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
-Revelation 5

Notice God is allowing the Lamb to be worshipped in Heaven. Why is it acceptable for the Lamb to be worshipped in Heaven, but God threw the head of all angels, Lucifer, down for trying to have the same done for himself (Isaiah 14)? There is only one conclusion that can be drawn.

You ask a great question. Hope I answered it your satisfaction. What I like best is that the answer shows that Jesus was God and that God saved us by His works since ours were incomplete. What prompted you to ask it?

Yours,
Revelation320

Well, time out. Who was the man Abraham ate with? So, if the Lamb of God was slain before the foundation of the world, couldn't Jesus as God also be the Son of God (God the Son) and the Son of Man?

Throughout the Tanakh and the New Testament, angels seem to have the ability to appear as men. Does this mean angels are men? No. It means that they can temporarily appear as men to us. I don't think that He is a man in Heaven until after the cross, though He might have the appearance of a man, which might explain how God makes us in His image--though I think making us in His image has another meaning, not a physical one.

I believe that Jesus was the "man" that Abraham ate with, that Joshua encountered near Jericho, and that went through the fire with Meshach, Shadrach, and Abed-Nego. But I don't believe He was a fleshly man until the virgin birth.

I can't find your reference to the Lamb of God being slain before the foundation of the world. My understanding is that the Lamb of God was slain on the cross. (Perhaps you are getting two different verses confused? Let me know. I really couldn't find your reference.) Jesus certainly existed before the foundation of the world, but not, I think, as a man. The whole point of the virgin birth and the incarnation of Christ is that He entered the world as a true man of flesh for the first time.

Do you understand all of this differently?

DO you think I am going to read my bible and twist it to fit someone elses interpretation, 321 I think is the right reference to keep someone busy explaining.

Read it backwards: Come quickly Lord Jesus or vice versa. In the beginning He was and is already there.

Huh?

Maybe you could explain yourself more clearly. I have no clue what you're saying.

He can be puzzeling sometimes...
the quote you are looking for is in Revelation
.  
Rev 13:8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world
Jesus is sitting on the throne...where else would He be?

Seems Goy was right. Sorry, Goy, for doubting you.

But I have a question about this verse: what is the antecedent of "from the foundation of the world"?

If we say it is the Lamb slain, then aren't we saying that Jesus was crucified twice? Which then would lead to two resurrections. Which also suggests that there is death in heaven. Which all seem suspect to me.

I just don't understand how that works if the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. I also don't understand the Virgin birth if Jesus was a man before He was born. And I also have problems then understanding 1Timothy where it says that "God was manifested in the flesh."

If we say it is the book of the Lamb slain--I understand this to be the Book of Life--then the antecedent is "the book." This would seem to fit better with the Christian doctrine that says we were predestined to come to Christ.

Is there a way to tell from the Greek text what the antecedent is supposed to be? If not, we will have to rely on scripture and logic, correct?

So while we wait for someone to tell us if Greek will help us, let's look at the scriptures first. Is there any other reference in the Bible to the Lamb having been slain before Christ was born? I had trouble finding this one; perhaps there are others that I am missing.

By the way, going back to Prophet Daniel's original post, if the Lamb was slain from the foundations of the world, wouldn't the part PD quoted by irrelevant? That is to say, why would anyone ask who was worthy enough to open the book if everyone already knew that the Lamb had been slain previously? Or for that matter, why would anyone ask the question if Jesus--a man?--was already in heaven previous to His birth, death, and resurrection, since we all agree Jesus was completely righteous?

The more I'm thinking about this, the more I'm leaning to the book being before the foundation of the world.

A lot of the questions were rhetorical or out of John's fear, like when Peter saw the transfiguration.