This is the beginning of the 3rd section of the Book of Revelation.
In Chapter 1 vs 19 we seen the outline of the Book .
“Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter”
In the Greek the phrase used for hereafter is “meta tauta” also translated “after these things”
Section 1 was the first chapter - the vision that John saw in chapter 1
Section 2 was chapters 2 & 3 - the letters to the 7 churches as we seen they not only refer to the churches of that day, but also to our own individual lives and also to periods of time in the history of the church.
Section 3 is then from chapter 4 to the end of the Book. The very first words in Greek of this chapter are the words “meta tauta” therefore signifying that this is the third section referred to in chapter 1 vs 19
An interesting thing to note here is that up until the end of chapter 3 the church has been mentioned 19 times, from chapter 4 on it is not mentioned again.
Also from chapter 4 onwards the Book becomes more Jewish in its references, format and outlook. Paul in his epistles divided the people into 3 groups - Jews, Gentiles and the Church, he argued that if you were in the Church you were neither Jew nor Gentile, you were in the body of Christ.
So chapters 2 & 3 are the things which are, Jesus now focuses, through John on the things which are after these things - meta tauta.
After what things? - After the Church
Chapter 4 marks the end of the Church, the rapture has happened and the Church is away.
In chapter 4 we also will see a shift of scene ;
in chapter 1 John was on Patmos seeing a vision of Jesus
in chapter 2 & 3 he was receiving the letters
in chapter 4 the scene shifts to Heaven
Verse 1
“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.”
As we have seen it starts with “after this” or meta tauta - after these things. The last words are also meta tauta .
Verse 2
“And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.”
So this is the throne room of Heaven that John enters.
The word throne occurs 45 times in Revelation and 15 times elsewhere in the New Testament
The throne that John sees is the Throne of God, the Father
This reminds us that no matter what happens, God is still on the Throne.
In chapters 4 & 5 we are mainly in the Throne room of Heaven.
Verse 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.”
We notice that what John sees on the Throne is not clear, he does not see a man sitting or any form of any kind.
What he sees is bright coloured light. His way of describing this is by using precious stones.
We can see this use of gems all through the scripture.
The problem that we have when trying to look at these gems is that throughout history their names have been changed so often and they are called different names by different cultures; so a jasper in one culture might be a gem of a purple colour, while in another culture it would look more like a diamond.
So here the main point is that there was a variety of colourful bright shining lights.
Verse 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.”
This verse leads to one of the major controversies of the Book of Revelation.
Who are the 24 elders?
The word elder in the Greek is “presbyteros” which is used in the New Testament for the highest officials of the church. In Titus 1;5, Acts 15 and other occasions they represented the whole church when they were assembled.
They are wearing crowns of gold, the crown mentioned here are not ruling crowns, but are victors crowns, the Greek is “stephanos”, the crown had been earned or won.
These elders cannot be angels because the crowns are never promised to angels, and the crowns are awarded by Christ to the faithful.
He elders are also clothed in white raiment which suggests that they are righteous. Rev 3;5
It all suggests that these 24 elders represent the presence of the church.
Verse 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.”
These seven Spirits of God are the same as what we looked at in Ch 1 vs 4, which represented the Holy Spirit.
The lightnings and thunderings and voices appear 4 times in the Book of Revelation, but you will also see them mentioned in Exodus 19 at Sinai when the law was given.
When we see lightening and hear thunder we expect a storm to arrive, in the next few chapters we will see such a storm as the earth never endured before.
Verse 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."
In the Tabernacle there was a great vessel of brass filled with water, in which the priests were to wash when they went to minister before the Lord, this was called a SEA . In the Church the sea or laver used for cleansing or purification is the blood of Jesus.
The word for beasts here -” zoon” can also be translated “living beings” they are not beasts as in cruel animals. These four creatures are very similar to the 4 Cherubim that Ezekiel mentions in Ch 1 & 10 and to the Seraphim that Isaiah talks about in Ch 6. Some argue that both Cherubim and Seraphim are the same, whilst some say the Cherubim are around and below the Throne of God while the Seraphim are above the Throne.
Verse 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.”
This description ties in with the Cherubim. They first show up at the Garden of Eden. Genesis Ch3 vs 24. To guard the way of the tree of life. Why were they there? Most think to guard the way from letting Adam and Eve in again, but a Cherubim would not be needed to do this, they were there to protect the way from Satan and his angels.
They are unusual in their looks and description.
These four faces can be suggestive of the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.
Matthew presents Jesus as the Messiah Lion for the tribe of Judah
Mark as a servant Calf or ox traditional symbol of service
Luke as the Son of Man Face of man
John as the Son of God Eagle is the greatest of the flying foul
Also if you study the camp of Israel as they were wondering through the wilderness we see some amazing things again.
There were 13 tribes - the tribe of Joseph was split into 2 Ephriam and Manassah. So even if you left one out you still had twelve tribes.
When camped the Tabernacle was to be in the middle of the camp, this was looked after by the tribe of Levi, the other 12 tribes were to camp around the Tabernacle in camps of 3 tribes each.
On the East side the tribe of Judah along with the tribes of Issachar and Zebulon, these were to be called the Camp of Judah, and they were camped under to rally around the ensign of the tribe of Judah, which was a lion.
On the West there was the Camp of Ephraim, this included the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh and Benjamin, and the ensign was that of an Ox.
On the South side there were Rueben, Simeon and Gad, being the Camp of Ruben with the ensign being a Man.
To the North were Dan, Naphtali and Asher in the Camp of Dan, under the ensign of an Eagle.
They applied these instructions of how to camp very strictly, therefore when they were camping they would not go outside their allotted space, if they were to camp South of the tribe of Levi, which were to surround the Tabernacle, then they would camp directly South and not go any wider than the width of the the Levi’s camp, because then some of them would not be directly South of it.
In Numbers Ch 1 & 2 we have a detail count of all the tribes given to us, so from this we can work out the population of each of the Camps.
So if we take the tribe of Levi’s camp as a unit, then work out the numbers corresponding to the tribe of Levi, and we get the layout of the camp as shown below.
When looked at from above we see the shape of the Cross.
Verse 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.”
Again we see a similarity with those mentioned by Isaiah in Ch6 vs 2. Where two wings covered their face, two their feet and with two they flew.
Here they are praising the Trinity, with the 3 Holies, one for the Father, one foe the Son and one for the Holy Ghost.
Verses 9 - 11
“And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat
on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever. 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, 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 worship by the Cherubim continues and they are joined by the 24 elders (the church)
Why was everything on the Earth created?
For God’s pleasure, how much it must bring sorrow to him when we do not show love to him, and do not do what he asks of us.
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