The Throne in Heaven
Having shown John the conditions of the seven churches, God now goes on to show him that will come to pass in the due time. This chapter not only presents John as a type of the bride of Jesus Christ being brought up into heaven as the church closes out but also shows the bride being brought up in the Spirit of revelation.
Verse 1: After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."
The “first voice” was the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:10-11). Like a trumpet that is blown to call one’s attention, the voice had shown John’s attention to an open door in the heaven right after Christ had shown the conditions of the seven churches. Because the bride of Jesus Christ is called out of the apostate system of the church, she is no longer living in the realm of the Laodicean church. So God set an open door for her to enter the heavenly realm.
“After this” or “after these things” denotes the transition from one part of the vision to another – it marks the succession of the visions and not of time. “Things which shall be hereafter” means after “the things which are”, that is, the conditions of the seven churches in Asia Minor shown to John who was asked to write a letter to each of them. See Revelation 1:19. Simply, it means the things which would come to pass from John’s time forward into the future.
Verse 2: At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
Straightaway John was caught up in the Spirit of Revelation. He was caught up into heaven in a vision and saw the Almighty sitting on a throne. Let me emphasize once again that the spirit of John was not transported into the future, to every century, to witness the events literally as they happened. Unfortunately, this is what some preachers are teaching.
“And one sat on the throne”. This is a self-evident statement: John saw One sat on the Throne because there is only One God. If there is a trinity (of Gods) John would have seen three Gods sitting on three thrones in heaven. If you are a believer of a Holy Trinity, you should now realize that you are being deceived by traditional theology of man.
Verse 3: And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.
Christ Jesus, Who is sitting on the Throne, is full of the glory of God. He is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Jesus Christ is the visible form of God that man could see. For the Almighty God is an invisible Spirit Whom no one can see (1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16)
Verse 4: Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
These twenty-four elders represent the Old Testament and the New Testament Church of God. They characterize the twelve patriarchs or Israel of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ of the New Testament. These two groups of twelve speaks of the following: “2” testifies of witness and “12” signifies the perfect government of God.
Verse 5: From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.
In the Old Testament era, when God met with the people of Israel on Mount Sinai and when He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, there were lightning, thunders, a thick cloud, the voice of trumpet and earthquake, smoke and fire (Exodus 19:16-18). Such phenomena show the awesome omnipotence of the Almighty God particularly when God is about to pass judgment or show His wrath from His throne.
Notice that John also heard voices coming from the throne. These voices denotes revelations proceeding from the throne. Every true revelation must originate from the Throne of God.
Verse 6: Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.
Verse 7: The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.
This “sea of glass like unto crystal” denotes a sea of people who are pure and holy. These are the chosen few who are the redeemed and the over comers of every age. They stand before their Lord and Master and await their rewards (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Later, they will sit on thrones set up for them (Revelation 20:4)
There is another “sea glass” in Revelation 15:2 but it is mingled with fire. The “four beasts” should be called the “four living creatures”. They are guardian angels with great intelligence. In the New Testament, we have the Four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Respectively, these four books reflect the nature and characteristics of Jesus Christ as the lion, which represents His royalty and kingship; the ox represents His patience and sacrifice; the man, which represents His sympathy and humanity and the flying eagle, which represents His glorious majesty and divinity.
Verse 8: Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
These living creatures were not created and program by God to worship Him day and night, saying “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come” Some preachers, in an effort to ensure that their teachings stick, have literally made a nonsense of certain scriptural doctrines. They teach that the angelic beings were programmed to worship God robotically.
Verse 9: Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever,
Verse 10: The twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
Having shown John the conditions of the seven churches, God now goes on to show him that will come to pass in the due time. This chapter not only presents John as a type of the bride of Jesus Christ being brought up into heaven as the church closes out but also shows the bride being brought up in the Spirit of revelation.
Verse 1: After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."
The “first voice” was the voice of the Lord Jesus Christ (Revelation 1:10-11). Like a trumpet that is blown to call one’s attention, the voice had shown John’s attention to an open door in the heaven right after Christ had shown the conditions of the seven churches. Because the bride of Jesus Christ is called out of the apostate system of the church, she is no longer living in the realm of the Laodicean church. So God set an open door for her to enter the heavenly realm.
“After this” or “after these things” denotes the transition from one part of the vision to another – it marks the succession of the visions and not of time. “Things which shall be hereafter” means after “the things which are”, that is, the conditions of the seven churches in Asia Minor shown to John who was asked to write a letter to each of them. See Revelation 1:19. Simply, it means the things which would come to pass from John’s time forward into the future.
Verse 2: At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
Straightaway John was caught up in the Spirit of Revelation. He was caught up into heaven in a vision and saw the Almighty sitting on a throne. Let me emphasize once again that the spirit of John was not transported into the future, to every century, to witness the events literally as they happened. Unfortunately, this is what some preachers are teaching.
“And one sat on the throne”. This is a self-evident statement: John saw One sat on the Throne because there is only One God. If there is a trinity (of Gods) John would have seen three Gods sitting on three thrones in heaven. If you are a believer of a Holy Trinity, you should now realize that you are being deceived by traditional theology of man.
Verse 3: And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.
Christ Jesus, Who is sitting on the Throne, is full of the glory of God. He is the fullness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). He is the image of the invisible God (Colossians 1:15). Jesus Christ is the visible form of God that man could see. For the Almighty God is an invisible Spirit Whom no one can see (1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16)
Verse 4: Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
These twenty-four elders represent the Old Testament and the New Testament Church of God. They characterize the twelve patriarchs or Israel of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles of Jesus Christ of the New Testament. These two groups of twelve speaks of the following: “2” testifies of witness and “12” signifies the perfect government of God.
Verse 5: From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.
In the Old Testament era, when God met with the people of Israel on Mount Sinai and when He gave the Ten Commandments to Moses, there were lightning, thunders, a thick cloud, the voice of trumpet and earthquake, smoke and fire (Exodus 19:16-18). Such phenomena show the awesome omnipotence of the Almighty God particularly when God is about to pass judgment or show His wrath from His throne.
Notice that John also heard voices coming from the throne. These voices denotes revelations proceeding from the throne. Every true revelation must originate from the Throne of God.
Verse 6: Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.
Verse 7: The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.
This “sea of glass like unto crystal” denotes a sea of people who are pure and holy. These are the chosen few who are the redeemed and the over comers of every age. They stand before their Lord and Master and await their rewards (Romans 14:10; 2 Corinthians 5:10). Later, they will sit on thrones set up for them (Revelation 20:4)
There is another “sea glass” in Revelation 15:2 but it is mingled with fire. The “four beasts” should be called the “four living creatures”. They are guardian angels with great intelligence. In the New Testament, we have the Four Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. Respectively, these four books reflect the nature and characteristics of Jesus Christ as the lion, which represents His royalty and kingship; the ox represents His patience and sacrifice; the man, which represents His sympathy and humanity and the flying eagle, which represents His glorious majesty and divinity.
Verse 8: Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
These living creatures were not created and program by God to worship Him day and night, saying “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was and is and is to come” Some preachers, in an effort to ensure that their teachings stick, have literally made a nonsense of certain scriptural doctrines. They teach that the angelic beings were programmed to worship God robotically.
Verse 9: Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever,
Verse 10: The twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
Verse 11: "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."
What humility! Even with such high positions bestowed upon them, the 24 Elders placed their crowns before the throne, prostrated themselves before the Lord and worshiped Him whenever the four beasts offer glory, honor and thanksgiving to the One sitting on the throne. They offer us an excellent example of humility in respect of our position in the church of God because people tend to get high-minded when they are in certain positions. Some make themselves lords over God’s heritage while others make themselves the chiefest of God’s servants.
Let us really humble and worship the Lord, giving Him all glory, honor and power. Amen.
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