Vision of the Throne of God
Vision of God sitting on the throne
In previous studies, we began by teaching about the ‘things to come’ mentioned in Revelation 1:20.
Today we begin studying Revelation 4:2-11, and we can consider Revelation 4:1-5:14 as an introduction to Revelation 6:1-20,15.
1. The vision of God sitting on the throne – (Revelation 4:1-11)
As mentioned in Revelation 1:19-20, Jesus told John to present what he should write in three parts.
If they are,
– What John saw
– What is available now
– What happens next
i. What John saw was the vision of Jesus in the midst of the seven churches.
Revelation 1:10-20
10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,[a] dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 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 [b] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches
ii. What is now, that is, there are descriptions of seven churches located in Asia Minor at that time.
Revelation 2:1 – 3:22
iii. Things that will happen after this, which is close to the second coming of Jesus.
Revelation 4:1-22:21.
2. How God showed this vision to John.
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. “After this”
Revelation 4:1 begins with ‘After this’. From Revelation 2:1 to 3:22, among the messages Jesus wrote to seven churches in Asia Minor, the word ‘church’ is mentioned 19 times in this section, but “After this” Revelation church is not mentioned. Therefore, some commentators believe that at the end of Revelation 3, “at the beginning of the things hereafter,” the church will be caught up.
ii. “door standing open in heaven”
Below are some other instances of the opening of the heavens in the Word of God.
Ezekiel 1:1
In my thirtieth year, in the fourth month on the fifth day, while I was among the exiles by the Kebar River, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
Mark 1:10
Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove.
John 1:51
He then added, “Very truly I tell you,[a] you[b] will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on'[c] the Son of Man.”
Acts 7:56
And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.
iii. “The voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said”
Here John refers to the voice he heard in Revelation 1:11. Meanwhile, from Revelation 1:7-20 Jesus calls him.
iv. “Come up here”
In this, God tells John to come to heaven.
v. “I will show you what must take place after this”
God called John to heaven as mentioned above, and showed John in many visions, from Revelation 4:1-22:21, the things that were going to happen near the second coming of Jesus.
In the next section we will talk about “the throne of God that John saw in heaven”.