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About Jesus Steve Sweetman This Section - Chapter 4 The
Throne Of Heaven (ch. 4:1-11) In
Revelation 1:19 John is told to write what he has seen; what is now and
what will be. Many Prophetic
Futurists say that what is now is in reference to the contents of chapters
2 and 3, meaning the letters to what they call to the seven churches.
Then, they say what will be is found here in Revelation 4:1.
They say this verse begins the future aspect to the book of
Revelation. I am not convinced
of this. What "now
is" as seen in Revelation 1:19 might well be the portrayal of Jesus
as the mighty warier as seen in Revelation 1 and not the messages to the
seven churches. Verse
1 begins with the words "after this".
Like most things in the book of Revelation, these two words have
been well debated. Does
"after this" refer to time, as in, this is what will happen
about what John saw in chapter 3? Thos
who believe this usually believe the seven letters are seven letters
directed to seven periods in church history.
This links the Laodicean letter to the last church of the age, just
before the tribulation begins, as we're about to see in the rest of the
Book Revelation. On
the other hand, at least at the moment, I believe "after this"
is in reference to the sequence of the visions John was seeing, or, was in
the midst of. The seven
letters was one thing he saw, and now, what he sees here in chapter 4 is
the next vision he sees. It
has nothing to do with periods of church history, but simply the sequence
of things and events John saw throughout this series of visions.
In
verse 1 a voice tells John to come up to God’s throne.
From there John will see the "things that must take place
after this." The voice is
said to sound like thunder. I
suggest that this clearly shows the power behind the voice.
You might remember that the voice of Jesus back in chapter 1
sounded like thunder. Heavenly
voices may sound like thunder to our mortal physical ears.
Once John heard the voice, he saw an open door into heaven.
The curtain had been drawn back and John literally saw what heaven
was like. Some suggest that
this is not as literal as I suggest. They
say John saw a representation of what heaven is like, not the real thing,
because heaven is a spiritual place, not a physical place.
That's a matter of interpretation and a matter of debate. Whether
this coming up is a literal coming up into Heaven or simply a spiritually
coming up in a vision has also been debated for centuries.
Some
suggest that chapter 4 and onward is actually a history of the church and
the world prior to 70 A D when Another
view point of Revelation is called the Historical view.
This view sees the events of Revelation taking place right after
the vision came to John, right up to the end of this age.
In other words, the book of Revelation is a book of history of the
last two thousand years. This
view does not seem logical to me either since it is difficult for me to
believe the things written in Revelation have already taken place.
Some
claim that the whole vision that John saw is mere symbolic of the fight
between good and evil and has no real prophetic significance. This
view is often called the Idealist view.
This view also has little logic in my thinking.
Revelation 4:1 specifically states that what John was about to see
would take place in history future. What
John was about to see were real live historical events. Still,
another view is called the Futurist view.
This view claims that the events of chapter 4 through to the end of
the book are still in the future and will happen in the few short years
before Christ’s return. This
is the view that I hold to. Also,
some scholars who are of the Futurists view say that when John goes up
into Heaven, as seen here in chapter 4, verse 1, this represents the
rapture of the church prior to the horrific events of the tribulation
period as we will see coming up next in Revelation.
We must realize that this thinking is interpretation.
The text does not specifically say this to be the rapture of the
saints. The text simply says
that John was called up into Heaven. The
text does not say that you and I will be called up into heaven.
There is no mention of a pre-tribulation rapture.
I do understand how and why some see this as the pre-tribulation
rapture, especially if you view chapters 3 and 4 as being the history of
the church. Those
who believe that Revelation 4:1 speaks of the rapture of the church before
the tribulation period will also say that the church is mentioned a lot
prior to chapter 4, but from this point on to chapter 19, it is never
mentioned at all. They, thus,
believe the church has been taken out of the world in order for God to
deal with From
Revelation 4 to the end of the book, this book looks more like an Old
Testament Jewish writing, especially because of the imagery used.
Most Prophetic Futurists say this is the case because the
tribulation period deals with God's last judgment on Over
the years I have struggled with the idea of a pre-tribulation rapture, but
in recent years I've come closer to believing the teaching.
I totally understand all of the reasons why most Prophetic
Futurists believe Revelation 4:1 symbolizes the rapture of the church, but
still, the text does not say it is the rapture of the church, and we
cannot ignore that fact. So, I
do question that there is a secondary meaning to verse 1 here in chapter
4. I
believe I can safely say that since John is caught up into heaven.
What he sees in the rest of this vision is from a heavenly
perspective, not an earthly perspective.
I, thus, conclude that some of the things we see in the coming
chapters that some say are symbolic might be more spiritual than symbolic.
That is to say, some of the weird looking characters are demons and
shouldn't be interpreted as being some kind of futuristic man made objects
like high tech airplanes. The
first thing John saw was the throne in heaven and someone sitting on the
throne. The text doesn't say
at this point who is sitting on the throne.
However, I believe God the Father is the one on the throne.
I believe this is seen in verse 8 with the words, "Holy, holy,
holy, the Lord God Almighty."
This
is what Heaven is all about. It
is not necessarily the mansions that we will live in, or the angels, or
the golden streets. It is all
about the One on the throne. The
significance of the throne is that the One who sits on the throne is the
One who is the final authority over all things, both physical and
spiritual. There is absolutely
no one greater one than the one on this throne.
He has no rivals and He has no real competition.
He is supreme over all things, and, when it comes to the devil, he
is a tool in the hand of God. In
verse 2 John says, "at once I was in the Spirit."
This is clearly a spiritual experience for John.
Whether John was actually in Heaven or merely was part of a vision
might be somewhat debatable. No
matter the case, what John saw was real and he was in some kind of
spiritual state that was beyond his normal human state. It's
important for us to know that as Christians we have the Holy Spirit living
within us. That being said,
there is more to the Holy Spirit than one body can contain, and that is
why John, although having the Holy Spirit inside of him, can say he was in
the Spirit, as if the Spirit was outside of him.
Anytime the Holy Spirit comes on a person, or, any time one is in
the Spirit, as seen here and throughout in the New Testament, something
dramatic happens. This
occasion is no different. Charismatic
and Pentecostal style Christians should realize that being filled with the
Holy Spirit is for a specific purpose.
It's not just meant to be a blessing or a spiritual high.
Every time the Holy Spirit comes on a person in a special way in
the Bible, or, every time one is in the Spirit, the purpose is to do
something specific in the service of the Lord.
John was in the Spirit to see the future and write what he saw down
for us to read in future years.
John
does not tell us who sat on the throne, only what the person looked like.
We can safely conclude that he saw God the Father sitting on the
throne. John’s description
of God as precious stones gives us yet another majestic picture of who He
is. God is the Almighty
God as we see Him portrayed here in Revelation 4, and, such a portrayal is
purely an Old Testament style portrayal.
Some
suggest the rainbow around the throne is a reminder of the covenant that
God gave to Noah, that He would not bring judgment to the earth with water
again. I'm not sure if that is
the case or not. Somehow
I think the rainbow speaks of the majesty of God. Verse
4 tells us that John saw twenty four other thrones around the throne of
God. On each throne sat an
elder. There is no full
agreement to which these elders are, but most claim these elders to be
men, not angelic beings. Some
claim them to be angels, but not me. Angels
are never described as elders in the Bible.
Men are. These elders
are seen in verse 4 as wearing white robes and being redeemed.
This would make them men, not angels.
Angels have never been redeemed.
I believe Revelation 5:9 clearly suggests that these are men and
not angels. I think the elders
are men who represent all of the redeemed.
Some
suggest these elders consist of twelve Jews, as in the twelve tribes of There
is one more thought I'd add concerning these twenty four elders. In 1
Chronicles 24 we see that the priesthood of In
verse 5 we see thunder and lightening coming from the throne.
To me this speaks of the almighty power of God in judgment.
He not only has the power, as in authority, but He has power as in
strength and might. In the
Bible, thunder often speaks of judgment, the judgment that will soon be
seen in the Book of Revelation. Also
in verse 5 we see the seven spirits of God mentioned again as we did in
chapter 1. I believe this
speaks of the sevenfold Spirit of God, the Holy Spirit.
You can see my notes on Revelation 1:4 for more detailed
information on this point. That
being said, the Greek word translated into English as seven, is not seven
fold. It is seven, as in,
seven spirits. There might
well be seven specific and distinct angelic spirits that are different
from all other angels spoken of here.
It
is interesting to me that the Holy Spirit is symbolized as lamps in this
part of the vision, while the churches, or as I would say, the people of
God, whether Jew or Christian, mentioned
earlier were symbolized as lampstands.
The church, or, the people of God, is the stand for the Holy Spirit
to reside in. When Jesus tells
some the people of God that they are in danger of losing their lampstand,
He is saying that they are in danger of having the Holy Spirit taken from
their midst, making them a mere organization, not a legitimate church.
They would be lifeless. In
fact they would no longer be the real people of God. The
seven lamps seen in verse 5 can easily be translated as seven torches.
When reading Revelation we should be careful not to think in terms
of 21st century thinking. These
lamps that John saw didn't look like a lamp we have in our living rooms
these days. In like manor, we
shouldn't view the throne seen in this passage as a big chair.
As a matter of fact, it can't be a big chair if you read verse 6.
There's too much happening within the throne to be a chair.
This is a heavenly throne, and heavenly things are nothing like
earthly things. This is a
place where the essence, the immediate presence, of God is, and, John
calls this a throne. We can't
begin to guess, or interpret, what John had in mind when he used the word
throne here.
In
verse 6 John says that he saw "what looked like a sea of glass."
That sounds like he wasn’t quite sure what this sea was.
It only looked liked a sea of glass.
John doesn’t tell us what this sea of glass is.
I’m not quite sure he knew. Some
suggest that what John saw were the believers before the throne.
This seems to be the most popular thinking among Prophetic
Futurists. There
might be something to consider when attempting to understand what John is
actually seeing. He said he
saw something that looked like a sea of glass.
Remember, John is in the heavenly realm here, and being human, he
might not understand what he sees. If
you notice, all the way through Revelation, any time John hears something
it is very loud. It might not
be loud for those in heaven, but to John's frail human ears it is loud.
The same may be true when John sees things in the heavenly realm.
His frail human eyes may have a hard time focusing and actually
seeing properly. Thus, we have
something that looked like a sea of glass but could well be the brilliance
of the redeemed. From
verse 6 through 8 John describes four living creatures that he saw between
the elders and the throne. One looked like a lion.
One looked like an ox. One
looked like man, and the last one looked like an eagle.
These four creatures were singing praises to God.
Most people believe these living creatures are a type of cherubim
or seraphim, which by the way, are two different types of angelic
creatures. One thing we should
realize at this moment is that the angelic world is made up of all kinds
of sub-categories of angels. There
isn't just one kind of angel. There
are probably many more types of angels than what we are presently aware
of. You
can read Ezekiel 1:6 and following to see what appears to be the same
creatures. In both cases
there are four creatures. One
difference between the two descriptions is that John said each had one
head, and each head was different. Ezekiel
saw each creature having four heads. What
might be taking place here is that each living creature had four different
faces and Ezekiel saw all four on each creature.
Then, from John’s point of view he might have only seen only one
face on each creature. The
difference is in the viewing angle. John
may have stood still and saw them while Ezekiel might have moved around
and saw all sides of the heads. All
that being said, some suggest what Ezekiel and John saw were not the same
creatures, but different creatures altogether.
Again, it is hard to know. It
is hard to be dogmatic. Ezekiel
saw each creature as having six wings, while John saw four wings.
Once again, this might well be a matter of physical perspective,
that is, where John was situated in relation to the creatures.
Maybe he could only see four wings, but again, we might have two
different sets of creatures here. In
verses 9 and 10 we see that every time the four creatures give praise to
God the twenty four elders do the same.
John says that they worshiped Jesus by falling down before Him and
laying down their crowns. True
worship is when we lay down all that is important to us, even that which
Jesus gives us, including our crowns to worship Him.
Worship is much more than mere singing songs.
Worship is giving all of who you are and what you have to Jesus.
This is what falling down prostrate at Jesus' feet means. Crowns
in the Bible often suggest rewards given to the redeemed.
This should tell you that these elders are in fact redeemed men and
not angels as some might suggest. Revelation
2:10 actually tells us what this crown is.
It is not a physical crown. The
crown is in fact eternal, resurrected life. The
song of the elders acknowledges the fact that it was Jesus that created
all things and that all things find their existence in Jesus.
Here we see the Creator Jesus – the Great Eternal Word of God
that spoke all things into existence.
This is the Jesus that we serve. This
is the creator Jesus we see in John 1:1 through 6.
We must know that Jesus has always existed in what theologians have
called the eternal godhead. In
fact it was Jesus, the Word of God that spoke creation into being in
Genesis 1. When people speak
of the Creator today, they should realize that the Creator is Jesus. In
certain segments of North American Christian natives there is a movement
that is confusing the one they call the Creator.
Genesis 1 and 2 clearly tell us that there is a Creator.
I have no real problem calling God Creator, that is, as long as we
understand the Creator to be the Lord Jesus Christ. That
being said, if we have this understanding, I really don't know why natives
want to use the impersonal word "Creator" when we have the name
of the Creator, namely, the Lord Jesus Christ.
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