Introduction
In this article, we’re privileged to see “A View of Heaven.”
The apostle John is going to describe for us what he saw when the Lord Jesus Christ told him to “come up here,” to heaven to receive the revelation.
Now, bear in mind, that there will be times when John might be lacking the words to describe the awesome things that he sees. So, he uses whatever words he can to tell us what he is looking at and how things appear to him.
Chapter 4 focuses on God the Father, who delivers the sealed scroll of chapter 5.
In chapter 5, the focus is on the Son, the Redeemer, the only one found worthy to take the scroll and open the seals.
Chapter 4 describes John's transition into a state of consciousness that enabled him to view the heavenly scene.
The Scene In Heaven
v.1, “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.’”
· John sees the vision of the heavenly throne after he heard the messages to the seven churches:
o The time marker is indicated by the expression “after these things,” that is, after receiving the messages to the churches.
· The scene now changes from a picture of a glorified Christ, walking among the churches on earth, to that of the Father in the courts of heaven.
· v.1a, Johns says, “I looked”:
o John recognized an object that was before him in this prophetic vision.
· He sees, “a door standing open in heaven”:
o This is like a door set in the sky, permitting entrance to the heavenly realm.
o This is the dwelling place of God.
o This is where Christ ascended to, after His resurrection.
o John spends most of his time in heaven throughout the remainder of the Revelation.
· v.1b, “The first voice which I had heard was like the sound of a trumpet”:
o He first heard this voice back in Revelation 1:10, remember?
Ø It was Christ speaking to him again.
Ø In 1:17, He calls Himself the “first and the last.”
Ø In 1:18, He calls Himself the “living one”.
Ø In 1:18, He describes Himself as the One who “was dead and is now alive.”
Ø In 1:18, He says that He holds the “keys of death and hades” symbolizing the fact that Christ has ALL authority.
o The voice was “like the sound of a trumpet” just like the voice John heard earlier in chapter 1:10:
Ø You all know what a trumpet sounds like.
Ø It gets your attention!
Ø It’s a commanding sound.
o The loudness also carries with it the idea of authority.
o The voice that summoned John upward was the authoritative voice of Christ Himself.
· Jesus says to John, “come up here.” Where is up here?
o Heaven!
o Can you imagine?
o It’s in heaven that John will see the things that are going to occur at a future date.
o There’s no mystery here. The things that John is about to see, the cataclysmic events that will be revealed to John, have never happened in the history of the world:
Ø This is new revelation from Christ.
o This summons, somewhat similar to the one given to Moses at mount Sinai, has at times been understood as more than a summons to just John the apostle.
o Because the Rapture of the Church comes at a time, just prior to the events about to be revealed, some godly men and women, have taken this as a symbol of a summons to the entire Church into heaven at the future moment when Christ returns for His bride:
Ø They believe John’s call is symbolic of the future Rapture (the catching away) of the Church, the true believers still on the earth when Jesus comes in the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:15-17).
o However, there is no reason for connecting John's summons with the Rapture of the Church. In fact, the two events are quite different, in that, John's body remained on the island of Patmos throughout his experience, whereas at the Rapture of the Church, the bodies of the saints will be caught up to heaven.
o Another basic difference is that John's call is a command for the purpose of receiving new revelation. But the Church’s call is one that accomplishes the culmination of salvation for all the redeemed of the body of Christ.
o So, this call upward is best understood as an invitation for John only, in order to get a new vantage point for the sake of the revelation he was about to receive.
· Jesus says, “I will show the things that must take place after these things”:
o The time has come to reveal what God has ordained for the future.
o The events predicted are not just likely to occur. They are fixed and certain because they are the outworking of God's will.
· The words “I will show you what must take place after this” are similar to those in 1:19, “what will take place later”:
o But there’s a key difference.
o Whereas, 1:19 indicates that the events will take place, here, the Greek word used means that the events must take place -- there’s no question about it.
o This not only points to the future, but also to the Sovereign purposes of God:
Ø These things must happen because God has so ordained them to happen.
Ø There can be no escaping them!
o The similarity of the two verses also confirms the sequence of events given in 1:19, when Jesus said, “Write therefore the things which you have seen [past], and the things which are [present], and the things which shall take place [future] after these things.”
o John is about to see the prophecies that describe what must happen after the Church age comes to an end.
v.2, “Immediately I was in the spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne“:
· “Immediately I was in the spirit”:
o John was instantly translated into some other degree of consciousness in order to be able to receive the prophetic view of the heavenly realm.
o "in the spirit" describes the trance-like state into which John's spirit entered.
o It’s interesting to note that all of John’s senses were operative:
Ø His ears heard.
Ø His eyes saw.
Ø His emotions were as real as though his body was literally in heaven instead of remaining on Patmos.
· "A throne standing in heaven":
o He sees the central point of the first part of his glimpse into heaven:
Ø Indescribable beauty with God Himself as the central figure.
o The throne of God is very prominent throughout John's prophecy, being mentioned in almost every chapter.
o The major focus of chapter 4 is upon the throne and its symbolism of God's Sovereignty, which is exercised in judgment.
o From here, from His throne, comes God's wrath described later in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ.
o Though evil seems to be winning at times on earth, God will ultimately prevail.
· "and one sitting on the throne":
o This person is undoubtedly God the Father, because He is distinguished from the “Lamb” in other places throughout the Revelation.
o Many have wondered why John didn’t name Him more directly:
Ø It might be a reluctance to mention the Divine name for the same reason it is avoided in the Hebrew writings:
v The name YHWH (“Yahweh”) became “Jehovah” out of reverence, fear and awe of God.
Ø Perhaps it was the impossibility of expressing, in words, the awesomeness of this Person on the throne.
Ø The best explanation may be that, portraying the glory of God was John’s objective, not a detailed description of the Father's appearance.
o The sitting posture shows us that God is active and reigning, not resting.
v.3, “And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance”:
· Details in Scripture are always significant. There must be a reason for the use of these symbols instead of others.
· But, because we’re somewhat unfamiliar with ancient terminology, it makes the exact identification of the stones a little uncertain.
· The “jasper” that John is speaking of was quite different from the modern jasper, which is opaque:
o Not only that, but modern jasper is not very costly as the text seems to imply.
o The ancient jasper may have been more like a translucent crystal, maybe more like a diamond.
· The sardius was a fiery, deep red stone, probably a carnelian, or maybe a ruby.
· Based upon the identification of these stones, some have assigned a symbolic reference to them:
o Some symbolism's have included:
Ø Jasper -- judgment by water and sardius, judgment by fire.
Ø Jasper -- the goodness of God in nature and sardius, His severity in judgment.
Ø Jasper -- Christ’s Deity and sardius, His humanity
Ø Jasper -- the holiness of God along with sardius, the justice of God.
o The picture here is that of His anger:
Ø Because of His holy nature, reacting in response to the sinfulness of mankind, which then results in the judgment He is about to send upon the entire earth.
· "And there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance." What about this rainbow?
o After examining the Greek text and reading several commentaries it to appears that this rainbow is more in the shape of a halo.
o The rainbow was reminiscent of the covenant that God made with Noah.
o It's a reminder that God's mercy is as great as His majesty, that is to say, that there will be no accomplishment of God's Sovereignty at the expense of His mercy:
Ø The sovereignty of God and the mercy of God must co-exist. One cannot be there without the other.
o This rainbow is very different from other rainbows on earth, in that it has only one color – green – it was "like an emerald in appearance."
o The word “emerald,” here, is the same word that we are familiar with today.
o There's a slight problem, however, as a rainbow has seven different colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet.
o Perhaps the best answer is that this rainbow had a number of shades of green, or at least it seemed so to John.
o The symbolism of the emerald seems to lie in its green color, which many believe, represents the grace and mercy of God.
v.4, “And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.”
· "And around the throne were 24 thrones":
o The text does not specify whether these additional thrones were smaller, or placed lower, or both, compared to the one throne:
Ø But they were certainly lesser in authority than the throne around which they were arranged.
o There was one person for each of the thrones.
o In the Greek, these people are called presbyterou, which is the Greek word from which we get our English word “elders.”
o These “elders” are the first group of created beings to come into John's view in this heavenly setting.
o And each one of these “elders” had on a “white garment” and on their head was a “golden crown.”
· Lots of attempts have been made to identify these elders. They fall into two categories:
o They are either human or they are some sort of angelic beings.
o Godly men differ in their opinions.
o There are some very long explanations that we don’t have time to go into in this article. So, we’ll look at this topic briefly.
· John did not identify these 24 elders, specifically, whether they were humans or angels.
· Apparently, the worship they were providing was more significant than who they were.
· Scholars have proposed several possibilities for the identity of the 24 elders:
o First explanation: because there were 12 tribes of Israel in the Old Testament and 12 apostles in the New Testament, the 24 elders (12 plus 12) in this vision represent all the redeemed of God, for all time (both before and after Christ's death and resurrection):
Ø This symbolizes all those -- both Jews and Gentiles -- who are now part of God's family.
Ø The 24 elders show all the redeemed of the Lord are worshiping Him.
o Second explanation: the 24 elders are the heavenly counterpart of the 24 priestly ranks who served at the temple in 1 Chronicles 23:6; 24:7-18.
o Third, and the most likely explanation, is that the “elders,” here, are an angelic group of beings providing worship.
o But the reference to number 24 remains uncertain, because there is no sure description.
o Their continuous praise and worship supports this angelic explanation. And the fact that they serve with, but are distinguished from, the four living creatures (who we’ll meet, later, in 4:11; 5:9-10; 11:17-18; 19:4), adds to this theory.
o These 24 elders are probably angelic beings who live in heaven and worship God directly at His throne.
o Though they are crowned with gold crowns (there’s no prohibition in Scripture that stops angels from wearing crowns) and dressed in white (when angels appear, their garments are described as brilliant and white), they do not represent the Church because:
Ø The Church, as the body of Christ, is still on the earth.
Ø Our crowns haven’t been given to us yet.
o In view of their actions, such as worshiping and offering bowls of incense (which we’ll see in 5:9), they seem to be a special order of angels.
o But this is still part of God’s Sovereign knowledge which we will see for ourselves one day.
May the Lord bless you as you continue to study His Word and grow in your knowledge of who He is.
By His Grace,
Gary T. Dromi, Ph.D, D.Min.
