NT Text: Revelation 7:17
OT Source(s):
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): Longitudinal Theme + Typology
Significance: "The Lamb in the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water" (Rev 7:17) brings the Shepherd theme to its astonishing climax: the LORD who is David's shepherd, so that "I shall not want" (Ps 23:1), is now revealed to be the Lamb. David's confidence — green pastures, quiet waters, want lacking nothing — is consummated as the slain-yet-living Lamb leads the redeemed to the fountains of life and God wipes away every tear. The connection runs along the Shepherd longitudinal theme, the canon-wide motif by which Yahweh's pastoral care (Ps 23; Isa 40:11; Ezek 34) converges on Christ the Good Shepherd (John 10), with a typological correspondence as well: David the shepherd-king and David's psalm of the divine Shepherd find their antitype in the messianic Shepherd-Lamb. The escalation is the paradox at the heart of Revelation — the Lamb who was led to slaughter is the Shepherd who leads, the sacrificed one who tends His flock. The telos is the everlasting satisfaction of the redeemed: they "shall not want" because the Lamb Himself is their portion and joy, the consummation of every longing pictured in the shepherd psalm.