The Throne in Heaven
1After 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." 2At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. 4Surrounding 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. 5From 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.
Dig Deeper
As we were walking across our college campus, my friend was venting how frustrated he was that it was his birthday and no one had even mentioned it or said "happy birthday". As he continued on, we made it into the building that housed the dining commons. He was continuing to vent anger and frustration, but he was more hurt than anything. What he didn’t know was that a rather elaborate surprise party had been orchestrated for him and was waiting just behind the doors where we were standing. In fact the party had been prepared in that room the entire time, he just was not aware of it. Suddenly, when I decided that the time was right, I opened the door and he was allowed to enter into the room and see the party that had been there all along.
Many Christians are a little bit fuzzy about heaven and seem to think that perhaps it is some grand, celestial city floating around in the sky somewhere. The only thing is that this just doesn’t jibe up with what the Bible reveals. Heaven, rather is the place of God’s presence. It is in a different dimension of sorts that is always within our midst, but we are unable to see it or be aware of its presence unless the curtain of separation is pulled back and certain individuals are allowed to peer in and glimpse heaven (2 Ki. 6:17; Mark 1:10; Mark 7:34; Acts 2:2; 7:55-56; 9:3; 10:11). John was being given a message from Jesus for His churches when he suddenly looks up and sees that a door to heaven has been left opened. The curtain into God’s presence has been pulled back and John is about to enter in and see the most amazing things he has ever experienced.
4:1-3 - This verse is nearly universally cited by those who read the concept of a rapture into the Bible due to the command to come up here. They will also claim that it is significant that the word "church" is not used from this point on until the end of the Revelation. Just because the word does not appear, however, does not mean that the concept of the church is not rife through the chapters of the Revelation. John uses the word "church" to refer only to specific congregations not the entire body of Christ, which is the subject of the rest of the book. Those wishing to read a rapture into this verse, particularly, are forcing into the text something that is simply not there. The only one called up is John to receive the vision that comprises the remainder of Revelation. John is allowed to see into the realm of heaven to witness a worship service on the" Lord’s Day." This is an image of the entrance of the Church into heaven every Sunday where we join in the communion of the saints (Heb. 12:22-23). Truly it is the call of the Church to enter in spirit into the realm of heaven. If we are faced with the feeling that are worship services aren’t going anywhere it is quite likely because we haven’t gone anywhere, namely into the presence of God.
As stated earlier, being in the Spirit is technical prophetic language. The critical event in the formation of a prophet was a personal encounter with the Spirit. The prophet emerged as a man who then reflected the divine glory of God. Being caught up in the Spirit was to be caught up in the divine assembly. The true prophet had stood before God and been transformed. Those under the New Covenant now have this once rare privilege. Surely Moses’ desire was fulfilled with the coming of the New Covenant: "I wish that all the LORD's people were prophets and that the LORD would put his Spirit on them" (Numbers 11:29). The rapture theory is based largely on a misunderstanding of the ascension of the church. The first ascension for the Church takes place positionally in and with Jesus Christ (Eph. 1:20). The progressive ascension of the church takes place when we worship Christ each week (Heb. 12:22-24). The individual Christian will ascend into God’s presence spiritually at death (Rev. 20:4), and will be fully in His presence bodily at the consummation of all things (1 Cor. 15:50-55; 1 Thess. 4:17).
John is caught up in the Spirit and is about to see things from the perspective of Christ himself, who is on His throne in heaven. John sees a rainbow (literally "bow") that encircled the throne. The three stones mentioned, jasper, carnelian, and emerald represented three of the twelve tribes of Israel that were on the breastplate of the high priest (Ex. 28:17-19). They were also among the stones mentioned in the imagery used in describing the Garden of Eden (Ezek. 28:13). John’s vision here is quite similar with Ezekiel’s description of his vision (Ezek. 1:26-28) which lets us know that John was seeing the same true, heavenly Temple that Ezekiel saw.
4:4 - John reports that surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. There has been much speculation as to what this passage means, but it seems best to interpret this as a representation of the people of God as a whole, and specifically of the Church. The term elders indicate that these twenty-four beings represent the people of God as elders played a part in both Israel and the Church. They are seated on thrones and we have already been told that Christians are reigning with Christ (Rev. 1:6), that they wear crowns (Rev. 2:10; 3:11); that they have been granted authority with Him over the nations (Rev. 2:26-27), that apostates will bow before them (Rev. 3:9), and that they are seated with Christ on His throne (Rev. 3:21). Another indicator that this is referring to the Church is that twenty-four is a multiple of twelve, which is a number associated with the people of God. Thus, this is a double-portion of twelve. It is also true that in the Old Testament there were twenty-four divisions of priests (1 Chron. 24) and twenty-four divisions of singers in the Temple (1 Chron. 25). These were the leaders of worship of God’s people for over a thousand years. What John is communicating is the royal priesthood of the Church. The elders sit on thrones as kings, and number twenty-four as priests.
4:5 - John sees the typical phenomena that accompanies the presence of God and the glory cloud (Ex. 19:16-19), as he sees flashes of lighting and peels of rumbling thunder. Before the throne, John sees the seven lamps which represent the seven-fold Spirit in the completeness of His activity.
Devotional Thought
The New Testament teaches that we, in the Church, actually join the communion of the Saints in worship of God on the "Lord’s Day." What does this thought do for your conception of what it means to go to church on Sunday? How does this change the specifics of how you might behave or think on Sunday at your Sunday church service, and throughout the day.
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