Revelation Lesson 13: The Throne Room of Heaven

Revelation Chapter 4:2-11

“Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones, I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.

“Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:

“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!’

“Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

“You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created.’”

Last week we talked about the Tribulation and the Rapture. These are events that are soon to happen; and we Christians need to be ready and watching for the Lord Jesus to call us. It is amazing some of the things that are out there. I have very devout brothers of mine that will tell you they have no idea what is going to happen; we will know when it happens. Others were set on one understanding and then changed based on some ‘new’ information. I understand their dilemma.

Just yesterday I saw a short video outlining four (4) views of the end times; and if you were not familiar with the scripture, maybe a newly born Christian or an inexperienced one, it would be easy to find yourself confused or maybe not even willing to investigate because you think it does not matter. There are some important things that help us to frame our thoughts and come to the right conclusions on a matter in the scripture.

Last week we mentioned Enoch and Elijah; these two men for sure were ‘caught up’ to be with the Lord. So, we have clear examples of the rapture in the scriptures. In the New Testament, we are told often by Jesus that we are to watch (Matthew 24:42-44). The idea of watching is paired with the fact that we do not know the ‘hour’ that the Lord is coming back. If, as some teach, the Tribulation begins and then Jesus comes for us, we could predict with some degree of accuracy when Jesus would return for us.

In Daniel 9:27 we are clearly told that they, the world system at the end, will sign a treaty with Israel for 7 days (7 years); and in the middle of the week (3.5 years), the agreement will be broken. There is no mystery here. If the world system announces, and they will, that a Peace Agreement has been met and we see the Temple being built, we could literally count 3.5 years and know exactly when Jesus would return for us. We would know the ‘hour.’ The same is true for any scenario that happens after the Tribulation starts and we are still here.

We are told over and over again exactly how long that period is. There are some that believe that the events of the Tribulation have already started and we have been experiencing them since Jesus left. But the Apostle Paul was very clear that this was not the case; and in fact, he believed that Jesus could return in his lifetime. In 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17 when talking about the return of the Lord to get the ‘dead in Christ’ and ‘we’ that remain, Paul uses the term ‘we’ 4 or 5 times to refer to the immediacy of the Lord’s return. He thought that Jesus could come at any time, even in his time; and he expected it.

This epistle, 1 Thessalonians, was written in about 52 AD. The city of Jerusalem had not even been sacked by Rome as yet; but Paul taught that Jesus’ return was imminent. This should be the position of the New Testament church; any other scenario leaves no room for the idea of immediacy.

Finally, the rebirth of Israel puts us on a direct path with prophecy. There is an Israel around that will require a ‘covenant’ as explained in Daniel 9:27. If you have been alive in the last 50 years and care to know, the world led by the US has made 11 attempts since 1967 to get a lasting peace treaty with Israel. And, as I write, the current US administration is working to this end. If Paul was still around, he would be outside doing jumping jacks as rapture practice.

His Majesty

John leaves the earth and its confines and finds himself in the Throne room of the Living God. There is a Supreme Being to whom we will all answer. God is that Person. Mankind hates the idea that we have someone to answer to. We love the idea of being the captains of our own ships, but this is not the truth.

John sees a throne and One who sits on it. He is covered in jasper (bright white) and Sardis (red). These are also the first and last stones in the High Priest’s breastplate (Exodus 38:8-13) and may give us the idea that the One on the throne is both the First and the Last. John sees an emerald green rainbow over the throne, God’s reminder to us that He will never again destroy the earth by the means of a global flood.

While we do have a few monarchs still living today, the idea of absolute sovereignty is lost on them. We in Canada have the Queen of England as a head of state, but she does not command life and death like monarchs in the Biblical days. Even the POTUS is not absolute; he has the Congress and the Senate to answer to, so to speak. But the One who sits on the throne in Heaven is an absolute ruler; no one will judge Him. He in turn judges everyone from Adam to the last person on earth, to Lucifer and his minions and his earthly counterparts, the Antichrist and false prophet. There is an absolute and final authority, the King of Heaven.

John sees 24 other thrones and 24 elders who sit on them. There is much speculation about these; and I will admit that I am still researching them, but in Matthew 19:28 we find this verse and a promise from Jesus,

“Jesus said to them, ‘I assure you: In the Messianic Age, when the Son of Man sits on His glorious throne, you who have followed Me will also sit on 12 thrones, judging the 12 tribes of Israel.’”

The apostle Peter testifies to having left all to follow Jesus during his earthly ministry, and Jesus promises him, ‘I assure you’ that he would sit on one of the 12 thrones in heaven judging the 12 tribes of Israel. From the context, we can get that Jesus was addressing the 12 apostles.

We know that Judas was not going to be in heaven; and that later on they added Matthias in Acts 1 to replace Judas; and then God called Paul, and he was an apostle out of season. In 1 & 2 Timothy, Paul introduces himself as an apostle. So, it is God who knows who makes the final cut. But those who followed Jesus during His earthly ministry would have 12 thrones to judge from.

I still do not know who will be on the other 12; they may be for the nation of Israel representing the two vessels of the Gospel, Israel and the New Testament church. John sees lightning, and he hears thunder and voices. He sees the Holy Spirit represented in Seven lamps of fire and Seven spirits. In Isaiah 11:2,

“And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.”

We see seven workings of the Holy Spirit mentioned here in Isaiah, beginning with the “Spirit of the Lord,” and then 6 other functions of the Holy Spirit. He is also like Jesus, a source of Light to the world. He illuminates us and lives in us, bringing understanding and wisdom into our frail and failing bodies.

John sees the Majesty of the Throne Room; it is bright and filled with the power of God. We are in for a sight in Heaven when we get there. As Paul says 1 Corinthians 2:9, “Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

His Praise and Worship

With His Majesty, God deserves praise and worship. His glory, His holiness and His goodness are worthy of constant praise. I do not think that the ones praising Him are doing so out of compulsion but out of a genuine regard for the Majesty of the One on the Throne.

We will look at the two songs that are sung:

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God almighty who was, and is and is to come” – this song marks God as one with neither beginning nor end and one who is ever present. There is no time outside of God, and God is not bound by time. We have past, present and future; God simply IS! He sees the beginning and the end at the same time since He is not bound by time. As such, He can reign supreme over every stage of man’s existence and have His sovereign will executed as he pleases.

The second song celebrates His creative power and that He and He alone sustains us.

We live in an arrogant time; we, mere men, have this idea that we can – through some power of our doing – destroy God’s creation. As if we can destroy what God intended to last for an eternity. As if we can destroy what God has built. God is the God who created and sustains the earth, and one day He and He alone will melt it back to its foundations and build a new one.

God is worthy to receive praise because He made all things and He keeps all things. But, as a society, we have forgotten God; and our pride has fooled us into thinking we can destroy God’s work. How God must laugh at these pundits who rail at Him in futility. Sadly, a lot of so-called evangelical Christians have fallen into this trap of the devil. This is not to say that we should not be careful with creation. God has given us the earth to feed us, bewilder us with its beauty, and its primary purpose is to bring glory to God. “The heavens declare the glory of God,” we are told by the Psalmist.

In the midst of these thrones and the constant worship are four living creatures. There is much discussion as to what these represent, and each one sounds so well laid out as you read it. But as I was studying, two of the ideas made the most sense to me and seemed to tell the story that we are to get here. These 4 represent the height of creation in four areas according to Rabbi Anin,

“There are four which have principality in this world: among intellectual creatures, man; among birds, the eagle; among cattle, the ox; and among wild beasts, the lion: each of these has a kingdom and a certain magnificence, and they are placed under the throne of glory, Ezekiel 1:10, to show that no creature is to exalt itself in this world, and that the kingdom of God is over all.”

But then we see that the person of Jesus can also be seen in these 4 creatures; and as this is the Revelation of Jesus, this may also work together with the previous ideas,

“The four different faces of the cherubim are often taken as symbols of Jesus as represented in each gospel. In classical church architecture, these four “characters” are repeated often as a motif that signifies both heaven and the four gospels.

“Most have seen Matthew as the “Lion” gospel, showing Jesus as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Mark is seen as the “Ox” gospel, showing Jesus as a humble servant, a worker. Luke is seen as the “Man” gospel, showing Jesus as the perfect man, the second Adam. John is seen as the “Eagle” gospel, showing Jesus as the man from heaven, the sky.”

Whenever these creatures gave thanks, honor and glory to the One on the Throne, everybody chimes in. The elders throw their crowns on the floor, and the whole group raises their voices to praise and worship the One on the Throne. Heaven is loud, bright and busy. God is the center of the universe, and we need to understand that and appreciate that.

What does this mean for you and me?

Is the Lord God the Majestic Ruler of your life? Have you and I given in to His Sovereignty over every aspect of us?

We have been bought with a price, and we are not our own. Jesus paid for redemption with His precious and priceless blood. Yet so many of us live as if we rescued ourselves and we are not owned by someone else. We are free in Jesus, but not just free to ourselves. We are free to serve Him.

And lastly, how is your praise and worship? Do we praise God with fervour and effervescence? Is it genuine and from a truly thankful and reverent heart that simply cannot but cry out in praise, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God almighty?” Or, “You are worthy O Lord to receive glory and honor,” and we mean it.

I make a joke every now and then that a lot of Baptists like me are going to be a bit out of place for the first while in Heaven – some who like it as just piano music only, with a reverent level of singing. Heaven, as I said before, is loud, bright, musical and filled with awe. For too many of us ‘old’ Christians have lost the ‘awe’ of God. We have forgotten that it is okay to praise God with the same energy that we cheer our favorite team or band. It is okay to sing at the top of our lungs and to sing the angels quiet because they have no clue what redemption is.

I have attached the Revelation Song performed by the Newsboys; crank it up and get ready to sing in heaven. If you don’t like the style of music, there are multiple versions online.

“Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!”

https://youtu.be/wprJfbw2zMI

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca

 

Revelation Chapter 4: 1-2

“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.’ Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.”

We ended up last week with a look at the church at Laodicea. This church, we find in Colossians 4, is known by the Apostle Paul; the church there is thriving and, in fact, the letter to the church at Colosse is to be read in Laodicea as well according Colossians 4:16. This was a vibrant church filled with people that loved the Lord, loved the apostle Paul and hungered for the word of the Lord. But a mere 50 years or so later, we find it ‘self-reliant’ and that Jesus is on the outside of the assembly asking to be allowed in.

It does not take but a generation to destroy a church. We need to be diligent to pass on the truths that keep us and empower us. We need to remember that Jesus is the central Person and Power of any local church. We need to seek Him first and often.

Today we will begin to look at the ‘post-church’ era. This era, by the time that Revelation 4 comes to pass, will be about 2,000 years old. As we begin this, I will tell you that for most of my life I have been a Pre-Trib rapture believer. I was taught this in church in Barbados and then in the church that I attended in Canada. It was not until I went to seminary that I encountered anyone who did not believe in the Pre-Trib rapture.

Some of my professors were ‘Mid-Tribbers” and some were ‘Post-Tribbers;” and for sure it shook me a bit as it did some of my fellow seminarians. When a highly respected professor with a lot of credentials after his name says something, we wide-eyed teenage preachers just soaked it up and often became confused. I have dear friends, fellow preachers that are die-hard Mid-Tribbers;’ they expect to be here for the first part of the Tribulation.

What is the Tribulation? Often, those of us who have grown up in church use these terms that we assume everyone knows, and we say them and end up confusing people and losing people. So, let us get on the same page, so to speak. The Tribulation is a period of seven (7) years that occurs after the church age has been completed.

In Revelation 1–3 we just looked at 7 churches that represent the entirety of the church age. The end of the church age, which is dominated by churches just like the one in Laodicea, is all around us. The New Testament church is the vessel by which the Lord primarily reaches people. When Jesus began His public ministry by calling out Peter, James, John and Andrew to follow Him and to become fishers of men, the church age began. In Acts 1:8, the church was commissioned go into the ‘uttermost parts of the earth’ and be witnesses of Jesus; and in Acts 2, they are empowered by the Holy Spirit to do just that.

Over the last 2,000 years, the local New Testament church has been the only authorized agent of Jesus to preach the Gospel. Now the Gospel is preached by many outside the church, and God always honors His word. To be a part of a church, one needs to be saved (to have trusted in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection for the FULL payment for our/your sins) and baptized (by immersion, completely immersed in water and then brought out again) of one’s own volition. There is no teaching or examples of infant baptism in the scriptures. One must be able to make the choice for themself.

The local church is the one that is supposed to be doing these things: teaching the Gospel, winning the lost, baptizing the saved and then discipling them into mature Christians. This is our mandate.

Matthew 28:18-20 “And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen.”

But, God made some promises to a few fellows – men we call the Patriarchs: Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; and as such, God often refers to himself as the God of these three men. We see this in Exodus 3:6 and then reaffirmed in Matthew 22:32. God made a promise to these men. The first to Abraham is found in Genesis 15:18-21, then to Isaac in Genesis 26:3, and then to Jacob in Genesis 28:13. God promised them the Holy land of Israel where the nation now dwells.

We are told in Romans 4 that Abraham is the ‘father of all who believe’ by faith. He trusted God to give him a son in his old age; he trusted God even further to give him back his son if he was killed, since God cannot lie (Genesis 22). Here in Genesis 22, we have the picture of the substitute: God sends a ram to take the place of Isaac on the altar (verses 8-13).

The prophetic verse 8, “God will provide himself a sacrifice,” is a dual prophecy. God did provide for himself that day on the mountain a sacrifice; but God would also provide Himself in the person of Jesus to be our sacrifice, our ram, our substitute when we deserved death and hell.

When the Jews rejected Jesus in Matthew 27:21-25…

“The governor answered and said unto them, whether of the twain will ye that I release unto you? They said, Barabbas. Pilate saith unto them, what shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified. When Pilate saw that he could prevail nothing, but that rather a tumult was made, he took water, and washed his hands before the multitude, saying, I am innocent of the blood of this just person: see ye to it. Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.”

The Jews rejected Jesus and they put a curse on themselves; for truly His blood has been on them and their children for the past 2,000 years. But God loves the nation of Israel, and He desires for them to repent. The Apostle Paul in Romans 9–11 speaks of his desire for Israel that they would repent and turn to Jesus. Over the 2,000 years of the church age, many Jews have come to know Jesus as Savior. The very new New Testament church was first populated by Jews; but, by the end of the first century, the church became a predominantly Gentile entity, and it has remained so until now.

BUT, as we mentioned, that era is coming to an end; and God will go back to dealing with the Jews. A simple example of this is found in Revelation. In the first 3 chapters, there is reference after reference to the church. But after John enters the door that is opened in chapter 4:1, the New Testament church is not mentioned again in the Revelation. That era has ended. But what we do see is a renewed emphasis on Israel. So, the Tribulation period is about Israel and her relationship to Jesus. She is still looking for her Messiah, and she will find one called the ‘Man of Sin’ in 2 Thessalonians 2:3…

“Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition.”

The nation of Israel will think that the peace that is offered along with the permission to build the Third Temple will mean that the world is finally at peace with them. But they will be sadly mistaken, and only then will they turn and look for the real Messiah, Jesus, the King of the Jews. The Tribulation is a period of 7 years, called Daniel’s 70^th week, in which God will rain His judgment on the earth and basically drive Israel to a place where they will begin to look for Jesus; and then He can finally completely fulfill the promises He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In Revelation 4:1, a door is opened and John is immediately transported to Heaven. This is what we are waiting for in the church age. This event is called the Rapture. As I mentioned, seminary was very unsettling to me about the Rapture. But over the years of study and research, I have come to the conclusion that the Rapture is at the beginning of the Tribulation.

Now, I may differ with some as to when the Tribulation will start. Most Bible teachers teach that the Tribulation, that specific 7-year period we just talked about, will immediately follow the Rapture. I do not hold to this; I do hold that the Rapture is before the Tribulation and that the Tribulation will begin soon after.

In the Old Testament, Leviticus 23, God gives the nation of Israel 7 feasts that they are to observe throughout the year, beginning with the Passover and so one. Each feast represents something to do with the entire story of mankind and Jesus’ work for us. Jesus is our Passover; He is our sacrificial lamb. And when we are covered (washed in His blood), we are passed from death to life; Jesus takes away our sins (Micah 7:19).

He is our Feast of Unleavened Bread; He is the First Fruit of the Resurrection, fulfilling the Feast of First Fruits; and He sent His Holy Spirit on the Feast of Pentecost to confirm the New Covenant. Thus, Jesus fulfilled the Spring/ Summer feasts.

We await His fulfillment of the Fall/Winter feasts beginning with the Feast of Trumpets (1 Corinthians 15:51-52). The Feast of Trumpets will begin on a new moon in the month of September (10-11 this year), whereas in 2022 it will be September 26-27. It is the only feast that has a subjective beginning depending on the sighting of the New Moon. Then, 10 days later, the Day of Atonement; and 5 days later, the Wedding Feast. We await these last three feasts to be fulfilled.

Today, with modern technology, we can predict the beginning of the Feast of Trumpets; but in the days of the New Testament writers, the feast was said to begin on a day ‘that no man knows.’ They had to wait and look for it to happen. We are waiting and looking for the Feast of Trumpets to be fulfilled, and we know it is near; but we do not know the specific day that this will happen.

I mentioned in the previous paragraph that the Day of Atonement happens about 10 days after the Feast of Trumpets. This is why I do not think that the Tribulation will begin immediately after the Rapture, but a short time after. I believe the Tribulation ends with the Day of Atonement; and if we use a day as a year, then it is a 10-year window.

I was listening to a famous prophetic teacher, Jan Markell; and she said, and rightly so, that the ‘big’ event the New World Order is looking for to implement some of their stuff is the Rapture. They have a plan in place (we will explore this plan as we go through the Revelation), and they need the right catalyst to get it going and to have the world population at a place that they will accept the new rules.

We are told in 2 Thessalonians 2:11 that God will send them strong delusions, that they (the world left behind) will believe the lie. The lie of the NWO will be the framework that will bring in the Man of Sin, establish a peace treaty with Israel, and as soon as they proclaim “peace and safety,” sudden destruction will come (1 Thessalonians 5:13). God will begin His plan to bring Israel to their true Messiah, Jesus, their once rejected King.

Now that we have established what the Tribulation is, we need to take a look at the Rapture. The word rapture is not found in the Bible per se. The action of being raptured is found as we begin in Genesis with Enoch in Genesis 5:21-24…

“When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah. After he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked faithfully with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters. Altogether, Enoch lived a total of 365 years. Enoch walked faithfully with God; then he was no more, because God took him away.”

The last phrase, “God took him away,” is simply that one moment he was here on earth and the next God took him away, instantly. We see another rapture event in the life of Elijah. In 2 Kings 2:11 we find this event…

“As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.”

Elisha knew that his master Elijah would be taken, BUT he did not know when. His job was to watch and wait so that he would get a double blessing on his life and ministry from the Lord. So, Elisha watched and watched and waited, and he saw the Lord take Elijah away in a whirlwind. One moment he was there and the next gone to heaven.

The apostle Paul tells us that “in a moment, the twinkling of an eye” we will all be changed. In Revelation, a door opens and John is caught up to heaven. It was sudden (notice verse 2), ‘immediately;’ this was an instant. This is what we are waiting for. Jesus will send an angel or angels with trumpets; and, at the last trump, we will be immediately taken from here just like Enoch and Elijah were. The dead in Christ will go first, and then we who remain will follow.

The very proof of this is found in the resurrection of Jesus; but often missed in the celebration of Jesus resurrection is this account from Matthew’s gospel, chapter 27: 51-53…

“And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent; And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”

Notice the graves were opened; and we see that these were able to be seen by the people in Jerusalem. Ours is going to be a physical rapture. We will have real bodies that can be touched, seen and be used in the service of the Lord’s kingdom.

Jesus is coming soon! Are you ready to meet the Lord? You need to get saved through trusting and putting your faith in Jesus’ death, burial and resurrection for you. Nothing else will do. After this, find a church that teaches the whole Bible and accepts it as totally true, be baptized (by immersion), and begin growing in the faith. Get ready.

Missionarybaptistchurch76@yahoo.ca