The Scroll Which Only the Root of David Can Open

The Christian Bible, with an estimated 5 billion copies sold, holds the title of the best-selling book of all time. In a world of 8 billion people, almost everyone is at least familiar with the Bible or its stories. Despite its global reach and widespread readership, the Bible remains one of the most controversial texts, spawning countless interpretations across numerous Christian denominations, each shaped by different Biblical scholars. Though it is a single book, finding agreement in beliefs even between two Christians can be challenging. How can there be such a vast array of denominations and interpretations of this one sacred text?

Amazingly enough, the Bible itself contains the answer to this question. God made it clear that the mysteries of the Bible are not something that we can understand by simply believing in God.

Isaiah 29:13-14 “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”

Based on the above verse, we can see that God promises to take away the wisdom and intelligence of those who claim to believe in God, but offer up worship to Him through man-made rules. For the ones who worship God with human traditions rather than keeping the commands of God, the Bible explains that the words of the prophets are nothing but words sealed in a scroll.

Isaiah 29:11-12 For you this whole vision is nothing but words sealed in a scroll. And if you give the scroll to someone who can read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I can’t; it is sealed.” Or if you give the scroll to someone who cannot read, and say, “Read this, please,” they will answer, “I don’t know how to read.”

The visions revealed to the prophets, which are contained in the Bible, are words sealed in a scroll to those who offer up worship to God via man-made traditions. As God stated, “The wisdom of the wise will perish, and the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish,” no matter how many times they read the Bible, they cannot understand it.

Then, among the Christian denominations which offer up worship to God via man-made rules, we can see that such denominations cannot understand the Bible, even if they read it thousands of times over.

Then, in order to find a Christian denomination that can understand the Bible, we first must understand what kind of worship the early church offered to God. Let’s see what their weekly day of worship was.

Luke 4:16 He [Jesus] went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. He stood up to read . . .

Acts 17:2-3 As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said.

Like this, we can see that the early church established by Jesus Christ had a custom of keeping the Sabbath Day every Saturday. Not only does the Bible testify to this, but even extra-biblical sources testify that the early church kept the Sabbath on Saturday.

Joseph Bingham, The Antiquities of the Christian Church, Book 13, Chapter 9, Section 3

We always find in ancient writers frequent mention made of religious assemblies on the Saturday, or seventh day of the week, which was the Jewish Sabbath . . . For Athanasius, who is one of the first that mentions it, says, “they met on the Sabbath, not that they were infected with Judaism, but to worship Jesus the Lord of the Sabbath.“

Socrates Scholasticus, Church History, Book V, Chapter 22

Almost all churches throughout the world celebrate the sacred mysteries on the Sabbath of every week, yet the Christians of Alexandria and at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition, have ceased to do this.

So we can see that the early church kept the Sabbath day every Saturday. However, the church at Rome, on account of some ancient tradition (Not a verse in the Bible) ceased to keep the Sabbath Day. That church in Rome, later known as the Roman Catholic Church, to this day testifies that the reason they stopped keeping the Sabbath Day was because they simply decided to do so – not because they discovered a verse in the Bible that testified to Sunday observance.

James Cardinal Gibbons, The Faith of our Fathers, p. 72-73

. . . But you may read the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, and you will not find a single line authorizing the sanctification of Sunday. The Scriptures enforce the religious observance of Saturday, a day which we never sanctify.

John A. O’Brien, The Faith of Millions, p. 137

I have read the Bible from the first verse of Genesis to the last verse of Revelations, and have found no reference to the duty of sanctifying the Sunday. The day mentioned in the Bible is not the Sunday, the first day of the week but the Saturday, the last day of the week.

John A. O’Brien, The Faith of Millions, p. 400-401

But since Saturday, not Sunday, is specified in the Bible, isn’t it curious that non-Catholics who profess to take their religion directly from the Bible and not the Church, observe Sunday instead of Saturday? Yes, of course, it is inconsistent; but this change was made about fifteen centuries before Protestantism was born, and by that time the custom was universally observed.

They have continued the custom, even though it rests upon the authority of the Catholic Church and not upon an explicit text in the Bible. That observance remains as a reminder of the Mother Church from which the non-Catholic sects broke away – like a boy running away from home but still carrying in his pocket a picture of his mother or a lock of her hair.

Based on the Biblical text, historical sources outside the Bible, and statements from the Catholic Church, it becomes clear that Sunday worship is a tradition not rooted in the Bible. Instead, it is a man-made practice introduced by the Catholic Church. As such, since Sunday Worship is a human tradition, we can understand that any Christian denomination which observes Sunday worship will not be allowed by God to understand the Bible, as we have previously seen in the prophecy of Isaiah 29:13-14.

Another significant Christian holiday is Christmas, celebrated on December 25th as the birth of Jesus Christ. However, it is now widely recognized that December 25th is not the actual birthday of Jesus, but rather aligns with ancient pagan traditions honoring the sun god. As a result, Christmas is also a man-made tradition not rooted in the Bible. Therefore, any church that observes Christmas will likewise be prevented by God from fully understanding the Scriptures.

Sunday Worship and Christmas are two prime examples highlighting the takeover of the early church by man-made customs and doctrines. We cannot find Christian denominations which do not celebrate these traditions. Meaning, we cannot find biblicists, doctors of divinity, pastors, or theologians who can understand the Bible. As Sunday worship and Christmas have become prevalent, and all men began worshiping God with human rules, the Bible became a sealed book to mankind, and the Bible prophesied about this situation in Revelation 5

Revelation 5:1-4 Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll with writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals. And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, “Who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside it. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.

Referring to Revelation 4:11, we can see that the One on the throne holding the scroll is none other than God Himself. God is possessing a scroll in His right hand, which is perfectly sealed, and the Apostle John is weeping because nobody was found who could open the scroll. Although God’s scroll (The Bible) is the most widely read and distributed book, it is described as sealed. Why is that? It is because in a world which keeps man-made rules, not a single person alive would be given the wisdom or intelligence to understand God’s scroll, as seen previously in Isaiah 29:11-14.

The fact that the Apostle John was weeping over the fact that the Bible was sealed shows that he was lamenting over mankind who would not be able to receive salvation due to not understanding the Word of God.

Then, is there no hope for mankind at all?

Revelation 5:5 Then one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep! See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

No man on earth, under the earth, or any being in the heavenly realms could understand the Bible, except the Root of David. Who is this Root of David?

Revelation 22:16 I, Jesus, have sent my angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, and the bright Morning Star.”

None other than Jesus Himself is the Root of David. Thus, the Bible prophesied about a period of time where mankind would be in darkness, unable to understand the contents of the Bible. However, the Root of David, the 2nd Coming Jesus, will come and reveal to us the mysteries of the Bible for our salvation

Hebrews 9:28 so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him.

Since the Bible says Christ will appear a second time to bring salvation. We can see that the 2nd Coming Jesus will appear and reveal to us the mysteries of the Bible which lead us to salvation, which had been hidden for centuries. How can we recognize the 2nd Coming Jesus, then?

John 5:39-40 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.

Let’s study the prophecies about the 2nd Coming Jesus so that we can recognize Him.