Revelation 4: 1 –11
Heaven, I’m In Heaven
1 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.”2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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. 6 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. 7 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. 8 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!” 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 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: 11 “ 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.”
You will be involved directly in observing or partaking in what occurs here. Many with dropped jaws will observe these unique sights. You however, will calmly be fully aware of what is going on.
Let me start off by asking a question? What human(s) have seen God’s Throne Room? Well for one thing we know John did. Then we have Moses who took in this Holy Scene, In the book of Exodus 25:9 “Make this tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you. “
The next human to see Heaven’s throne room was David. In the book of 1 Chronicles 28 we read, 19 “All this,” said David, “the LORD made me understand in writing, by His hand upon me, all the works of these plans.”
Paul the apostle tells us in 2 Corinthians 12, “1 It is doubtless not profitable for me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord: 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body I do not know, God knows—such a one was caught up to the third heaven. 3 And I know such a man—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows— 4 how he was caught up into Paradise and heard inexpressible words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 5 Of such a one I will boast; yet of myself I will not boast, except in my infirmities. 6 For though I might desire to boast, I will not be a fool; for I will speak the truth. But I refrain, lest anyone should think of me above what he sees me to be or hears from me.”
Thanks a lot Paul, you are the one who has given us all the great epistles and when you come to see heaven, you cannot tell us anything?
Now many teachers say that Revelation 4 is referring to the ‘Rapture’. I disagree.
Let me give my reasons by comparing what happened to John to the famous ‘Rapture’ section which is from the book of 1 Thessalonians chapter 4. First of all let us look at what Paul says in 1 Thessalonians, “13 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. 14 For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
Here is how I look at the two sections of Scripture;
Revelation 4 1 Thessalonians 4
John All living believers
Voice was Lord Jesus [Rev 1:10] Voice of Archangel
In Heaven Lord Descended from Heaven
John told to come up to Heaven Believers caught up in clouds
The apostle John was transported to Heaven. We hopefully will hear the same words from our Lord and Savior Jesus Chris, “Come up here’ The first sight he caught and the one that we have longed for is to see our Heavenly Father, ‘3 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.’
Our Magnificent and Holy God is a Trinity. That is three distinct Holy Persons in the God Head that we know as our Father [Yahweh and Jehovah], The Son, our Precious Lord Jesus Christ [Yeshua] and the Holy Spirit. What we have a hard time with is the fact that They have always existed.
At some period in existence The Holy Trinity decided to create angels. We read in Psalms 104: 4 this,
“4 Who makes His angels spirits, His ministers a flame of fire.”
Angels are spiritual beings like our God. So how many are there? Psalm 68: 17 tells us a little bit regarding this question,
“17 The chariots of God are twenty thousand, even thousands of thousands; The Lord is among them as in Sinai, in the Holy Place.”
The number is so large that they cannot be numbered. So, at this point every angel was good. The Holy God also established different levels of authority for angels, some higher in responsibility than others. The book of Ephesians chapter 3 verse 10 is one such verse that tells us about the different levels of angels, “10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places”,
We also see in the Throne room of our Holy God – 4 Living Creatures. Now, in the King James version we read that they are beasts. Now this cannot be right, because we learn in the book of Daniel that ‘beasts’ represents kingdoms. So, these 4 are a unique created angels. One has the form of a lion; one a ox; one a man; and the other an eagle.
Now we come to an often debated description. I am speaking about the 24 elders. In researching this group I have come up with numerous descriptions of who these 24 are; I will give you my point of view using the Word of God as my proof text. We can put together the various positions into two categories – men or angels.
Those who take the position that the 24 elders are men are at odds. The principal positions are that these 24 represent Israel; The Church; or both Israel and the Church. In all honesty these cannot be correct. Here is why.
For one thing regarding those who say the elders represent the nation of Israel should take note that Israel as a nation is not redeemed until later when the fullness of the Gentiles are completed We read in the book of Romans 11, “25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written: “The Deliverer will come out of Zion, and He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob; 27 For this is My covenant with them, when I take away their sins.”
Now what about the position that the elders represent all church believers? We all have to stop and take a deep breath and think. For one thing our Precious Holy Spirit Is Not the Author of Confusion. We have to understand His consistency. If John actually saw our Holy Father God, Adoni Yahweh, Our Wonderful Master and King, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, and all others things literally, then how would it make any sense that now he sees something not literal but representing all believers.
We know that the twenty-four elders are not redeemed human beings because no man except Jesus Christ (John 3:13) has ascended to heaven where God's throne is. All saved human beings—those who are Christ's true servants—will be given immortality at Christ's coming—when He returns to the earth to rule and reign (I Corinthians 15:22-23).
Now many say that they are a combination of both Israel and the Church, being the 12 original tribal leaders and the 12 apostles. Well, now we have another problem as you can see from the following list;
Tribes of Israel = 14
Reuben.
Simeon.
Levi
Judah.
Zebulun.
Issachar.
Dan.
Gad.
Asher.
Naphtali.
Joseph (often listed as two tribes named for his sons, Ephraim and Manasseh).
Benjamin.
Apostles = 14
Andrew
Bartholomew / Nathanael
James, the Elder
James, the Lesser or Younger
John
Judas [The Betrayer]
Jude / Thaddeus
Matthew / Levi
Peter or Simon Peter
Philip
Simon the Zealot
Thomas
Matthias
Paul
So, whose in and whose out? We know Judas isn’t but there is nothing in the bible to come up with an accurate assignment. And besides wouldn’t somehow John would have seen himself if the 12 apostles we the elders?
There are arguments against the elders being angels for these reasons;
. Robed in white
. Gold Crown
. On thrones
. Serve as priests and kings in heaven
. Called Elders
Angels do wear white as for example in the book of Acts 1:10 “They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.”
The second argument that is made against the 24 elders being angels are the stephanos crowns they wear. In Revelation 6:2 the rider on the white horse wears a stephanos crown, in Revelation 9:7 the demon-locusts from the pit wear stephanos crowns, and in Revelation 12:1, the woman, who represents Israel, also wears a stephanos crown.
The "Thrones" (Greek: thronoi, pl. of thronos) or Elders, also known as the Erelim or Ophanim, are a class of celestial beings mentioned by Paul of Tarsus in Colossians 1:16 , “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. “ They are living symbols of God's justice and authority, and have as one of their symbols the throne
The Hebrew word for priest is "kohen" whose etymological root is connected to the Hebew word "qarab." Qarab means, "draw near." Since the 24 elders surround the throne, they have a role related to the priesthood in being able to "draw near" to the throne of God just as Aaron's sons were able to draw near to the divine presence. Their job as listed is to ‘worship’ our Holy Adoni Yahweh, Father God
The three basic elements of the priesthood are furnished from the above verses. They are:
1. Being chosen or set apart by the LORD.
2. Being holy.
3. Being allowed to come near.
Obviously, the 24 elders meet these three criteria of the priesthood!
The twenty-four elders, then, are a part of the created heavenly host, that is, angels of high rank and honor. They are created spirit beings and have been given positions of responsibility in the government of God, through which He rules the universe. Revelation 5:8 says the elders each have a harp and golden bowls full of incense, symbolic of the prayers of the saints. From these symbols we can perhaps see a little of their function before God.
The harp is a musical instrument, and biblically, it was used a great deal in accompanying the Psalms and in the worship of God (see II Samuel 6:5; I Chronicles 15:16; 25:1, 3, 6; II Chronicles 5:11-14; Nehemiah 12:27; Psalm 33:2; 98:5; etc.). Similarly, the twenty-four elders are responsible for praising God in song, possibly in conducting vast choirs of angels (see Revelation 5:11-12).
