Study In Revelation 12 A Picture Of Things To Come Series

STUDY IN REVELATION 12

The Picture of Things to Come

Revelation 4: 1-11

In Rev. 1: 19 Jesus told John to “write what you’ve seen, about the things that are, and what is to come.:

So far we have looked at what he has seen (the vision of the glorified Christ). We have looked at that which is, (the churches, their condition and the Lord’s personal message to them).

Now we will begin our journey through the things that are yet to come.

In v. 1-2 Five things happen quickly to John in these two verses.

1. John saw an open door in Heaven. What John was about to see was coming directly from heaven. This means that it was coming from God Himself and not some messenger.

According to this scripture this is not John imagination running wild. He is not some mad man on some remote island suffering from hallucinations. You can trust that these things will happen BECAUSE GOD SAID SO!!

There are 3 doors mentioned in Revelation.

a. The open door. This is the door of evangelism. This door is opened by God to the churches for witnessing and sharing the gospel of Christ. See Rev. 3:8 * acts 1: 8.

b. The door of the human heart. When a person hears the gospel it is up to that individual to open their heart to receive Jesus. Every person has a door that must be opened before Jesus can/will enter. see Rev. 3: 20

c. The door of revelation. Once a person has opened his/her heart to Christ, Christ begins to reveal wonderful things about Himself, God, Heaven and of this world. He even shares a few things about what is to come. In other words things that have to happen before He returns. See 1Cor. 2: 12-14

2. John heard a commanding voice. This was the same voice that heard in the first vision.

3. John was called to come up here. where is here? Heaven.

John was called up to heaven so he could clearly see what was to take place.

The word must in verse one is a very important word. We understand from this that the events that have taken place in history and what will take place are not by chance. God is in control and He will work things out as He sees fit.

4. John was immediately in the spirit. John was experiencing something that few will ever experience.

5. John saw the most wonderful sight any one could see. He saw God sitting on His throne.

In verse 3 John tries his best to describe God. He uses two particular gems to describe the brilliance of God’s appearance. Jasper and sardine.

The jasper stone was different from what we may think of today. It was translucent and when light shined through it the light was absolutely brilliant. This represent the penetrating perfection and purity of Go. In the KJV the other stone is called sardine. Red Carnelian

Carnelian is a precious stone of blood-red color that during Bible History was sometimes called "Sardine stone," or "sardius" because in ancient times it was obtained from Sardis in Asia Minor.This stone represents the justice of God

John used what was considered the most beautiful and valued stone of his day to describe the brilliance of God. God is described in terms of light throughout the Bible. see Ps.104: 2 * 1Tim 6: 16 * Jn 12: 35-36

The rainbow, around the throne, was emerald green and represents the mercy of God. We can’t even come close to imagining the light show that John saw.

Can you imagine the most brilliant light you’ve ever seen, shining through the three gems, all at once?

In verse 4 we see the elders around the throne. How many elders are pictured? 24

There are three things that we immediately notice about these twenty four elders.

1. They are seated on thrones that surround the throne of God.

This give us the idea that they were close to God and have been given a permanent place in the very presence and security if God.

2. They are clothed in white. This means that they are clothed in the purity of Christ and there is no imperfection found in them.

3. They have crowns of gold on their heads. This tells us that these 24 hold positions of authority.

Who are these elders? There are a number of arguments on this subject but we look at only three, that are what some believe are the strongest arguments.

a. they are believed to be a combination of the 12 Patriarchs and the 12 Apostles. In other words the heads of the believers, both Old Testament and New Testament.

Scripture that is used to back up this thought: Rev 21: 12,14 tells us that the names of the Patriarchs are found on the 12 gates of the new Jerusalem and the 12 Apostles names are found on the foundations.