CHAPTER
FOUR In
the first Chapter and verse 19 our Lord told John to “write the things which thou hast seen, and
the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.”
John
wrote what he had seen in Chapter One. Then he wrote the things which
are in
Chapters Two and Three. Now, beginning with Chapter Four he writes the
things
which shall be, not hereafter, but after these things. The word “hereafter” could mean some indefinite
time in the future, but the Greek expression META TAUTA
used here seems to speak of a definite time. John is
commanded to write about the things which are to take place, or come to
pass
after the things which are, that is, after the churches, or the church
age.
Since the Lord of glory made these divisions there can be no room for
error.
Therefore, it would seem to me that the rapture of the saints (I
Thessalonians 4:16-17)
must of necessity take place before the things recorded in Chapters 4 through 22 can
begin to
come to pass. I see no room for them to run concurrently even for one
short
hour. If these two overlap, how can one of them be after the other?
Furthermore, our finding the expression META
TAUTA again here at the end of verse 1
seems to me to be proof positive that what takes place from this point
on must
take place after what had taken place in Chapters Two
and Three. The very
first phrase in this chapter, “After
this,” or better “After these things
I looked” would seem to prove that all this takes place after the
church
age has ended with the rapture. If our Lord is not coming for us until
the
middle, or the end of the great Tribulation, why should I be looking
for Him
today? I assure you, however, that I am looking for Him today. If he
does not
come today, let’s look for him tomorrow.
In
the latter part of Chapter
Three we see some of our Lord’s own churches leaving Him completely
out of
their activities. He is knocking at their door. When this has gone far
enough a
door is opened in Heaven and all the Saints of all the ages from the
death of
Abel to that time will hear that glorious shout, “Come
up hither.” John looked and a door was opened in
Heaven. The door did not open as a result of his looking, but he was
expecting
that door to open, therefore, he was looking. “Unto
them that look for Him shall He appear the second time” Hebrews
9:28. Just as John was called up to heaven here in
this chapter
before any of the judgments are recorded, so in like manner I believe
the
Saints will be raptured before these judgments come upon the earth. Our
Lord
tells the church at Philadelphia that He will keep them “EK”
that is, “out of”
this terrible time, Revelation 3:10. John
says that immediately he was in the Spirit. This reminds us
of 1 Corinthians 15:52 where we learn that we who are living
when our
Lord comes for us will be changed in such a short time that our
translators had
to just say, “In the twinkling of an eye.”
The word “moment” here in this verse
is from ATOMOS from which we get our
word “atom.” It originally meant a period of time that was so short
that it
could not be divided. So could not John’s saying, “Immediately
I was in the
Spirit” be a type of our change “in
the twinkling of an eye” when our Lord comes in the air for us? I
believe
we shall hear the same words that John heard here in verse 1.
The trumpet like voice here reminds us of our Lord’s loud voice
in John 11:43 when He called Lazarus from the grave. We would
not for
one moment think that He had to cry with a loud voice in order for
Lazarus to
hear Him but that is the way He chose to do it. The
first thing that John saw in heaven was a throne upon
which One sat. No one should have any trouble recognizing this One who
sits
upon this throne. He is the Lord of glory, the judge of all the earth.
This
reminds us of Daniel 7:9 where we read, “As I
looked, thrones were placed and One that was ancient of days took
His seat” (R.S.V.) John saw a rainbow round about this
throne which
was quite different from our rainbows. The ones we see in the heavens
are made
up of all the basic colors of our light spectrum. But the one he saw
here was a
light green color. This light green stone, the emerald as we see in Revelation
21:19 is the fourth stone in the foundation of the wall of the New
Jerusalem. The number four is the earth number, and its being mentioned
here
may very well speak of our Lord’s dealing with the earth in judgment
during the
awful Tribulation. In
verse 4 we meet the
twenty-four elders for the first time. Here John saw twenty-four
thrones (not
seats), and on these thrones he saw twenty-four elders. For many years
I
followed the teaching that is so common among Bible commentators on the
subject
of these elders. This teaching that the elders are representative of
all the
saints of all ages is firmly supported by the King James translation.
In Revelation
5:9 these translators have these elders say that God hath redeemed
us. Then
in verse 10 they have these elders
saying that God “hath made us” “kings
and priests” “and we shall reign on the earth.”
So, it
was only natural to say that since these elders had been redeemed and
were to
reign on the earth that they had to be some of the saints and therefore
representative of all the saints. But, since all men are prone to err,
we find
that these translators made a glaring error in these two verses in that
they
use the first person where it should be third person. These elders are
not
saying that God hath redeemed us, but rather that He hath redeemed,
that is,
His saints. Then in verse 10 where
we have “us” and “we” it should be “them” and “they.” Since
these elders are not among the redeemed and not among those who shall
reign on
the earth they must, I believe, be an order of created beings who were
created
for the specific purpose of praising God. Their sitting on thrones and
wearing
crowns of gold could mean that they are to reign with Christ in Heaven
as we,
the redeemed, are to reign with Him here on earth.
In
Hebrews 4:16 we are told to “come boldly unto
the throne of grace”, but here in verse 5 we see
no “welcome mat.” What we see
here would deter any who might wish to approach this throne. When this
time
comes the throne of grace to which we are to come boldly is no longer
in view.
Neither is our Lord’s love, His great mercy nor His long suffering in
view at
this time. This does not mean that He has changed. It just simply means
that He
has taken His place on the throne of judgment and is now ready to deal
out
judgment upon His enemies during what we call the great Tribulation. Since
there is but one Holy Spirit, the “seven lamps”, “which are the
seven Spirits of God” must of necessity mean the sevenfold Spirit,
or the
seven functions of the Spirit. In Isaiah 11:2 we find six of
these
functions. He is the “Spirit of wisdom
and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of
knowledge and
of the fear of the LORD.” Then in John 16:8 He is the
Spirit of
reproof, or conviction. In
verse 6 the “sea of glass” calls to
our mind the
molten sea in Solomon’s Temple. In II Chronicles 4 we learn of
this
great huge vessel that contained about 24,000 gallons of water. On the
right
side of this great huge molten sea there were five layers, or basins,
and on
the left side there were five more layers. It was in these layers, or
basins
that the slain animals were rinsed before they were burned as the burnt
offering. But the molten sea itself was reserved for the priests to
wash in. In
other words the priests came to this molten sea for their cleansing.
Then for
us to see what this molten sea typified let us turn to Psalms 119:9
where we read, “Wherewithal shall a
young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to
Thy Word,”
and to John 15:3 where we are told, “Now ye
are clean through the Word which I have spoken unto you.”
Since the Word of God cleanses His people like water, we should be able
to see
that this molten sea speaks of the Word. Here
in Revelation 4:6 this sea of glass is not occupied so
far as we are permitted to see. But, if we turn to the fifteenth
chapter and
verse two we see our Lord’s martyred saints as they stand on the sea of
glass.
Not only is the Word for our cleansing in this life, but it is our firm
and
steadfast support now and forever more. In Isaiah 40:8 we are
told that “The Word of our God shall stand for ever.”
There is nothing of a temporary nature about God’s precious Word.
Also
in verse 6 we see
in the midst of the throne, and round about it the four living
creatures. The Authorized
Version calls them “beasts”, but
other translations call them “living
creatures” as they should. It is a far cry from these wonderful
creatures
who praise God day and night to the terrible beasts of Revelation 13
who
labor relentlessly against our Lord and His people. In Revelation 13
these beasts are THERION in the
original. This word means wild, untamed beasts, but here in Revelation
4:6
these creatures are ZOON in the original, and this word means living
ones, or
living creatures. So why not write in your Bible the words “living
creatures” where you find the
word “beasts” here in Chapters Four
and Five? To call these wonderful creatures who rest
not day nor night
from praising God by the name of “beasts”
is, in view of our present day usage of the term, awfully close to an
insult to
them. Their being “full of eyes” may
speak of their being guardians of the throne. Some see them as
guardians of the
gospel, but be that as it may, we must admit that they are well
equipped for
whatever task may be theirs round about that precious throne. The
first one of these wonderful creatures “was
like”, or in some way
resembled “a lion.” We believe these
“four living creatures” set forth
the fourfold ministry of our Lord in His earthly ministry. The lion is
considered the king of the forest. So this first living creature “like a lion” sets forth our Lord’s
ministry in the gospel of Matthew. In this book He is set forth as the
King of
the Jews. And while there are many truths in Matthew that apply to us,
still
this book was written primarily to the Jews to show them that this
Jesus of
Nazareth was in reality their promised Messiah. The second of these “living creatures” was “like a calf.” In Ezekiel
1:10 it
is an “ox.” The “ox” is a beast of
burden, a servant of
man. So this second living creature sets forth Christ in the book of Mark.
Here He is the servant. In chapter 10 and verse 45 He
says, “For even the Son of man came not to be
ministered unto, but to minister.” You find no genealogy in
Mark,
for after all, who is looking for royal blood in a servant? The third “living creature” was “like a man”, and
this sets forth our
Lord’s ministry in Luke. Here in
this book He is “the man Christ Jesus”,
or the man who was God. The fourth “living
creature was like a flying eagle.”
The eagle is called the bird of heaven because of its living so high
above
other birds. So this all speaks of our Lord’s ministry in the book of John where He is the one who “came down from
Heaven.” In this book He
is God who was man. These
wonderful creatures praise continually “Him who
is and who was and who is to come.”
He was from everlasting to everlasting without
beginning or ending of days. He is today on the right hand of the
Father
interceding for His people. And He is to come, not only to reign for
one
thousand years, but Revelation 21:5 leads me to believe that He
will
dwell with men on the new earth. Could it be that when all traces of
sin have
been removed from the earth that Heaven itself will be transferred to
the new
earth and, instead of our spending eternity in Heaven with our Lord He
will
spend it here on earth with His people? “When these living
creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits on the
throne,
the one who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down
before
Him and worship.” These elders cast their crowns before the throne,
and
worship Him as creator. No one can worship Him as redeemer except those
who
have been redeemed by the precious blood of the lamb. No one can sing
the song
of redemption but those who have experienced His wonderful redemption.
But
every creature whether in Heaven, on the earth, or under the earth will
have to
worship their creator in that coming day. “Every knee shall bow
to me, and every tongue shall confess to God,” Romans
14:11.
Those who hate the ground our Lord walked on, and who hate the ground
His
saints walk on today will someday bow their knee to Him and confess
that He is
God. Go
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