Revelations - Heavenly Scene

It comes now to look at where we are in our timeline. There are some who teach and believe that this is the rapture. We are to be taken out of the world before the Tribulation. There isn’t any Scripture anywhere that says this. I have challenged pastors and laymen to show me in Scripture where it mentions rapture anywhere. This is one of those places.

The argument goes that the 7 Churches are 7 periods of time. I have already said this cannot be so. I understand the argument. There are some places that seem valid. However, that is a blanket statement to say that all believers at all times in that period acted like such and such Church. It is simply not true.

The end of the “church age” is at the end of Revelation 3. Revelation 4 starts in heaven, and therefore it must be the rapture. It is a flawed logic. This is one of those times where I believe that we have misunderstood our terminology. What is heaven?

If heaven is a place outside of this Earth that we go to after death, then we have left Scripture. It says in Ephesians 2:6 that we have been raised up with Christ and seated with Him in heavenly places. Jesus said in John 3 while talking to Nicodemus that He was on Earth and in Heaven at the same time.

Heaven cannot be mere place. It has to be reality. It has to be more than a place that we go. Heaven is the spiritual reality that is all around us at all times. If we cannot  experience it here and now, it only goes to show our lack of acknowledgment for the things of God. Thus, when we read Revelation 4 and 5, we must come with the understanding that John is not being taken out of this world, but instead being given vision of the dimension all around us.

Now lets address the first verse here:

After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

The statement of being “taken up” goes back to the Old Testament idea of heaven and hell. There was a place under the Earth called Sheol. People have called sheol “the grave.” This isn’t the true definition, though. Sheol can be defined as the underworld. It was literally a world in which those who have passed on are dwelling.

Jesus refers to this idea in Luke 16 while talking about the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus is taken to Abraham’s bosom, and the rich man goes to the outer darkness. This is the concept of Sheol. It was pretty much the holding tank until the restoration of all things. The Messiah would come and bring the resurrection of the dead.

So this idea of “coming up” is not to be translated as John leaving this Earth. It is a metaphoric expression to say that the dead are below, but God is above. There is the heaven that the birds fly in, the heaven that the stars are in, and then beyond that is the heaven that is God’s world. This is the best I can figure out.

But I remind the reader that we are in that same heaven that God is in right here and now. As you sit and read this book, you are seated with Christ in heavenly places. Do you believe that? Or is it just an expression?

I don’t need to belabor the point. We’ll move on to the next few verses.

² And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

³ And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

⁴ And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.

⁵ And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

⁶ And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

⁷ And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

⁸ And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

⁹ And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

¹⁰ The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

¹¹ Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.

The point of this writing is not to give comment of every detail and expound the symbols mentioned here. The point of this writing is to give a frame of understanding by which the reader can then further develop their own interpretations and ideas. We know that the seven lamps are the seven churches. That was told to us in Revelation 1:20.

The seven spirits are told us in the book of Tobit chapter 12. Tobit is an apocrypha book. It isn’t in the Protestant Bible, but is found in the Catholic Bible. In the story of Tobit, it is said that there are seven archangels that stand before God. These are the seven spirits (personal opinion) that are being mentioned here.

The living creatures described in verses 6-8 are also described in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 3. The different heads are representations of the strongest of their place. The eagle is ruler of the sky. The lion is king of the jungle. The ox is the strongest of cattle. The human is the chief of all creation. The cherub being described in this way is not describing what it looks like. The point is being made that this is chief of the heavenly beings.

We have in the later part of verse 8 a reference to Isaiah 6 with the cherubs flying around the throne singing holy, holy, holy. However, if we check Isaiah 6, we find the word seraphim instead of cherubim. The Hebrew word seraph means “burning one” where the Hebrew word cherub means “mighty” or “propitious one.”

It is in chapter 5 that our plot is developed:

¹And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.

² And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?

³ And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.

⁴ And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.

⁵ And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.

This is that reference to Isaiah 29 that I was referring to earlier. Isaiah 29 makes so much more sense in the context of understanding Jesus as the Lamb that is worthy to open the scroll.

⁶ And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

⁷ And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne.

⁸ And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

This description of Jesus is a reference to Zechariah 3:9 and 4:10:

⁹ For behold the stone that I have laid before Joshua; upon one stone shall be seven eyes: behold, I will engrave the graving thereof, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

¹⁰ For who hath despised the day of small things? for they shall rejoice, and shall see the plummet in the hand of Zerubbabel with those seven; they are the eyes of the Lord, which run to and fro through the whole earth.

Interestingly enough, the Hebrew word Joshua is Yehoshua, which in Greek is Iesous, which then translated to English is Jesus.

⁹ And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

¹⁰ And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

¹¹ And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;

This last passage is a reference to Daniel 7:10. The exact phrase “thousands upon thousands; ten thousands upon ten thousands” is used. That is 100,000,000 martyrs.

¹² Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing.

¹³ And every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.

¹⁴ And the four beasts said, Amen. And the four and twenty elders fell down and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever.