John had already seen in heaven some very mighty creatures; for example, the twenty-four elders seated on the twenty-four thrones (Revelation 4:4), four living creatures guarding the throne (Revelation 4:6) and now a mighty angel (Revelation 5:2). He’ll shortly see many more creatures in heaven (Revelation 5:11), including saints who had been martyred (Revelation 6:9). No angel (not even Gabriel or Michael) or martyred saint (e.g. Stephen, James) or even Old Testament power figures as Moses or David were worthy to open the scroll. The same is true for those on earth,
whether an emperor or a general or the wisest philosopher or kindest philanthropist in the Roman Empire or in some distant civilization. The same is true for any figure “under the earth,” that realm of the dead where the likes of ungodly power figures as Nimrod (Genesis 10:9) or the Pharaoh of the exodus (Exodus 15:4–5) or Nebuchadnezzar awaited the final judgment. “Under the earth” was also the dwelling place of Satan and his legions of demons. But no one anywhere in God’s creation had the necessary qualifications to approach the throne of almighty God so as to take the scroll and open it.
3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it,