Rapture Part 01
Revelation 4:1
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.”
To understand this read the following verse.
Revelation 1:19-20
“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[a] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
We see that Jesus presented to John what he was to write in three parts. If they are,
– ‘What was seen’
– ‘What’s Now’
– ‘What Happens Hereafter’
i. What John saw
What John saw was the vision of Jesus in the seven churches.
ii. What is now
What is said now is the real situation in the seven churches located in Asia Minor at that time, and the instructions, warnings and promises given to them by Jesus.
iii. What will happen next
The things that will happen after this are the things that are going to happen close to the second coming of Jesus.
Thus, what we begin to study today is the revelation of Jesus Christ about what will happen before and after the second coming of Jesus.
Rapture
1. What John experienced
I think it is correct to consider Revelation 4:1-5:14 as an introduction to the part mentioned in Revelation 6:1-20:15. In this passage John is shown before the throne of heaven,
– Jesus, who sacrificed his life for us, is taking full responsibility for the battle against Satan.
– The end of this battle is that he won this battle and Satan was thrown into the lake of fire.
Revelation 4:1
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.”
i. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said
The first voice that is mentioned here is, “Then: I heard a great sound behind me like a trumpet saying: write what you see in a book………
ii. Come up here.
These words are an invitation or a command that John receives. These words bring to our mind, that day God urged Moses to come at Mount Sinai. Then Aaron was invited along with Moses.
Exodus 19:19-20
19 And when the voice of the trumpet sounded long, and waxed louder and louder, Moses spake, and God answered him by a voice.
20 And the Lord came down upon mount Sinai, on the top of the mount: and the Lord called Moses up to the top of the mount; and Moses went up.
Exodus 19:24
24 And the LORD replied, “Go down and bring Aaron with you. But the priests and the people must not break through to come up to the LORD, or He will break out against them.”
Thus, I think it is wrong to conclude that the voice that John heard like the sound of a trumpet and the call that Moses heard as he ascended Mount Sinai is the voice of God.
Therefore, in Revelation 4:1, it is mentioned that God called John to come up there. No word of God is without power. Therefore, according to His word, John was immediately taken to heaven.
Revelation 4:2
At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
In the next chapter we will see how the Bible records how others are taken to heaven like John was taken to heaven.