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Readings in the Book of
The Revelation
A lateral thought to start with:
Have you ever wondered why there is so much difference in the perceived understanding of Bible prophecies? That’s because there are three different ways of explaining them (with various sub levels), each espoused by a different group of people. The first, mainly championed by the Roman Catholic system since the Reformation, puts the fulfilment of the major prophecies wholly in the past. For example, the ”little horn” of Daniel 7:8 etc. is considered to be Antiochus Epiphanies who dared to occupy Jerusalem and desecrate the temple around 168BC. This technique removes any possibility of a meaning for us in our time and removes the stigma of “Babylon” from the Roman church.
The second method which is favoured by most of the Protestant churches today, is to project all the end-time prophecies into the distant future and expect them to fulfilled literally then. For example, the antichrist will be a real person who will occupy a literal throne in a literal Jerusalem and reign for three and a half years from there. This mode also removes any meaning for us today. (The devil doesn’t mind which of these two we choose!)
Finally, the third is one that I am using.
That allows the prophecies to unfold like the scrolls they were written on, and show us history as it occurs or as it will be. In this method the literal groups and countries of the past become the spiritual groups of the present. This enables Christians of all ages to know where and when they stand in the controversy, and to choose intelligently to help the Son of God in His mission. This is the method the Reformers used up till the early part of the nineteenth century, but which has now been superseded in their churches by the second process.
Anyhow, let’s continue with our study:
We have read about the seven physical branches of the church on earth that the Spirit used to represent the seven spiritual stages the church of God has gone through since Calvary. Now we turn to the eighth branch when the whole comes together for the first time.
(The number seven indicates completeness, or a unit, while the number eight shows a new beginning.)
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Revelation 4:
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first Voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must be hereafter”.
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John’s attention was drawn to the doorway to heaven and Christ invited him to “Come and see”. In this simple manner the great visions of The Revelation began. Whether he was there in body or just in a vision is not explained. But the same experience is mentioned by the apostle Paul.
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2 Corinthians 12:
1 It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory [to boast]. I will come to visions and revelations of the LORD.
2 I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago [probably 43AD], (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) such a one caught up to the third heaven.
[The first heaven is our atmosphere, Genesis 1:20, the second is space, Genesis 1:14; 17, while the third is the planet where God and the angels live, Matthew 5:16.]
3 And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knows;) 4 how that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. 5 Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in my infirmities [and the power the LORD gives me to bear them.]
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Whatever the case, John responded to the call and found himself amidst the hustle and bustle of heaven.
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Revelation 4:
2 And immediately I was in [lifted up there by] the Spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone [bright shining lights]: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like to an emerald [mainly green and blue].
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The first thing John saw was God the Father sitting on His throne. He did not see the Father’s person, for “no man has seen God at any time” (John 1:18), but he knew He was there by the presence of the bright lights on the throne, (aka the “Shekinah” glory) and the rainbow. He had read about such a scene in his Bible, although that had pictured the Son of God.
This is what he had read:
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Ezekiel 1:
26 And above the firmament [space] that was over their [some angels] heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone [coloured with the blue of mercy]: and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a Man above upon it.
27 And I [Ezekiel] saw as the colour of amber [a glowing brown], as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of His loins even upward [His torso], and from the appearance of His loins even downward [His legs], I saw as it were the appearance of fire [His body, unlike that of the Father, could be seen, but not clearly because of the bright lights].
And it [the throne] had brightness round about. 28 As the appearance of the [rain] bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD [the Son of God].
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We know now that since the start of the controversy, the Son of God has shared His Father’s throne [Revelation 3:21], so the two revelations are very similar.
John continued:
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Revelation 4:
4 And round about the throne were twenty-four seats [smaller thrones]: and upon the seats I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
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What was different in John’s vision was that he saw twenty-four humans sitting on smaller thrones on all four sides of God. They were obviously Christians as shown by their clothes, and also kings as evidenced by their crowns. Who were they? John didn’t bother to ask for he already knew – Jesus had told him. One day Peter said to Christ, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed You; what [reward] shall we have therefore?” And Jesus said to them, “Verily I say to you, That you which have followed Me, in the regeneration [the new world] when the Son of man shall sit in the throne of His glory, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging [leading] the twelve tribes of [spiritual] Israel”. Matthew 19:27-28. John therefore knew that he and the rest of the apostles would one day sit like that, and recognised that this group included twelve men from the Old Testament times.
Who they were literally at the time he had his vision, we do not know, but those thrones are reserved for those who will one day lead out in the new world. All the redeemed will wear crowns, of course, as symbols of their positions as guides to the universe, and John had already written about that. “[He] has made us kings and priests to God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen”. Revelation 1:6. Therefore these twenty-four men were from those who had ascended with Jesus, and were occupying the thrones until the rightful owners arrived.
We need to clarify something here. John saw this vision about 2,000 years ago and it was present truth then. As he continued to watch a book was opened (the Book of History as God saw it) and many events of the future were unfolded before his eyes. So he saw the events THEN as in the future, and we as Christians have seen them SINCE as in the past.
Thus there are two ways to read The Revelation from this point on. We can think of John watching the future, or we can see the events for ourselves in the past, as prophecies fulfilled. If we do the latter, then at some point we will need to pass our present and begin to look into the future also. So I’ll try to keep to our perspective, just occasionally reminding us that to John all this was very much in the future.
As we read we’ll notice that many symbols are used in place of literal beings because these revelations were meant to be understood by the uneducated as well as the bright ones of God – by humans as well as the people of the universe. This Revelation was a eye-opener to the universe as much as it has been and will be to us and symbols can be used for various groups of the same persuasion.
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Revelation 4:
5 And out of the [main] throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
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The presence of God is surrounded by activity. There are flashes of energy as messengers arrive and depart, many voices speaking at once – some loud, some soft – for Life must live. But there is no confusion, for God speaks to each one individually and hears each one as if he were the only one in the universe, but He does all this at the same time so the spectator sees “a whirlwind . . . and a fire infolding itself”. Ezekiel 1:4. (God operates rather like a super computer, doing many things at once and with great speed – multi-tasking.)
In the vision John saw the Holy Spirit as seven separate lamps (candlesticks) to denote His care over the seven branches of the church. This allows Him to show that occasionally His light can go out in one branch, but not in all at the same time, for He is ever-present. (See also Leviticus 24:1-4.)
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Revelation 4:
6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like to crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne [surrounding it completely], were four beasts [living creatures] full of eyes before and behind.
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This “sea of glass” is a special audience area in front of the throne of God which is vibrating with light. On it, and all around the throne itself, was a vast concourse of creatures all intently watching the unrolling of the scroll. (Imagine the “sea” of faces you would see before and behind you if you were standing in the middle of a sports stadium.)
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Revelation 4:
7 And the first beast was like a lion,
and the second beast like a calf [of an ox],
and the third beast had a face as a man,
and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
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Lateral thought:
The four gospels are arranged in the same way. Matthew sets out the Son of God as a King; Mark shows Him as a suffering Servant; Luke as the Son of man: and John’s gospel raises Him above all the others as the soaring Son of God.
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Revelation 4:
8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, LORD God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come”.
9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 “You are worthy, O LORD, to receive glory and honour and power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created”.
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Wings denote speed and ability, so six wings (as against four) show more capability on the part of their owners. (Remember the two wings of the lion and the four of the leopard? Daniel 7:4 and 6.) In Ezekiel’s vision of the throne carriers they had four symbolic wings, while Isaiah saw seraphims with six. Isaiah 6:1-2. In the latter case they used two to veil their faces as they stood above the LORD, two to cover their bodies as birds do, and the other two to fly. These are symbols and we should not get carried away with the thought of weird creatures inhabiting the kingdom of heaven. God just wants us to see that His creatures (who are modelled on His form) have varied abilities.
In John’s vision he sees a multitude of redeemed humans with “six wings” praising God for His great mercy. This is a state occasion so the chorus lasts a long time. While they are doing this, the twenty-four men of experience fall on their faces (as eastern people do) in adoration. They cast their crowns away in recognition that He is THE KING, most able to do most for most people. They also recognise the fact that the omnipotent One has made all of His creatures because He likes to share His joy in living.
In John’s time this was the eighth branch of the church in miniature, made up of the multitude who had ascended with Jesus at His ascension. It is written, “But to every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore He [the Spirit] says, ‘When He [Christ] ascended up on high, He led captivity captive [a multitude of captives, margin], and gave gifts to men’ [Psalm 68:18].” Ephesians 4:7-9. Jude quotes Enoch as saying that there were “ten thousands” of them! And that they will return with Him at the second advent. Jude 1:14.
But, after the second coming ALL the resurrected Christians will join them in the reality and the church will be complete.
Bye for now,
Ron
Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library. No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own.
Some of these readings are available at http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/BibleReadings/books_index.html
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There is order in God’s kingdom of the universe and this was reflected in the kingdom on earth. Every one knew his place and every tent was always pitched next to the same one during their forty year wandering. Those of like character were grouped together and found harmony with each other.
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Numbers 2:
1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, 2 Every man of the children of Israel shall pitch by his own standard [flag], with the ensign of their father's house [with the picture of a creature on it]: far off about the tabernacle of the congregation shall they pitch. [Between them and the tabernacle camped the priests and the three families of Levi.]
3 And on the east side toward the rising of the sun [the front] shall they of the standard of the camp of JUDAH pitch throughout their armies [families] . . .
5 And those that do pitch next to him shall be the tribe of ISSACHAR . . .
7 Then the tribe of ZEBULUN . . . These [three] shall first set forth. [The symbol of Judah was a lion, covering all three tribes. See Genesis 49:9; 14; 13.]
10 On the south side shall be the standard of the camp of REUBEN according to their armies [families] . . . 12 And those which pitch by him shall be the tribe of SIMEON . . . 14 Then the tribe of GAD . . . And they shall set forth in the second rank. [The symbol of Reuben was a man. See Genesis 49:3-4; 5.]
17 Then THE TABERNACLE of the congregation [containing the throne of God] shall set forward with the camp of the LEVITES [the thirteenth tribe, made up of the families of Gershon, Merari and Kohath] in the midst of the camp: as they encamp, so shall they set forward, every man in his place by their standards.
18 On the west side [the back of the building] shall be the standard of the camp of EPHRAIM according to their armies . . . 20 And by him shall be the tribe of MANASSEH . . . 22 Then the tribe of BENJAMIN . . . And they shall go forward in the third rank. [The symbol on their flag was an ox. See Genesis 49:22-26; 27.]
25 The standard of the camp of DAN shall be on the north side by their armies: . . . 27 And those that encamp by him shall be the tribe of ASHER . . . 29 Then the tribe of NAPHTALI . . . They shall go hindmost with their standards . . . [The side of the north was shown by an eagle. See Genesis 49:17-18; 20 and 21.]
33 But THE LEVITES were not numbered among the children of Israel; as the LORD commanded Moses. 34 And the children of Israel did according to all that the LORD commanded Moses: so they pitched by their standards, and so they set forward, every one after their families, according to the house of their fathers. [The tribe of Joseph was replaced by his two sons Ephraim and Manasseh, thus freeing Levi to be the thirteenth.] Back
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