The
Throne Room of God
Now from chapter four the church becomes conspicuously absent from the
narrative of future things. In fact, in the first three chapters of the book of
Revelation the noun EKKLESIA [e)kklhsia], which is the word translated “church,” was
used some 18 times. The word is not found again until we come to Revelation
22:16 which is the close of the book when
John is again reminded to give this message to the church. So even
though most of the events in the book of Revelation don’t take place until the
future time of the seven-year Tribulation they are to be communicated to church
age believers during the church age. There is not even an allusion to the
church between chapters 4 and 22, other than the reference to the bride of the
Lamb in 19:7 as the Lord Jesus Christ takes the church as His bride and
prepares to return to earth from heaven.
So there is this heavy reference to the church in the first three chapters and
then silence about the church, indicating that the church is not there, not
present during the Tribulation. Furthermore, of these 18 times that the word
“church appears in the first three chapters, 7 of them are in the phrase, “He
who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” We have
that phrase one more time when we come to 13:9, but the phrase appears in an
abridged version to “However has an ear, let him hear.” What is not said is
what the Spirit says to the churches. So once again the church is conspicuously
absent.
Furthermore, the pictures, the words and the symbols that are used to
describe God in chapters four through nineteen are words that are more common
to the Old Testament and less so in the New Testament. God is referred to as
God, the Lord God, and the Lord God Almighty, titles that are predominant in
the Old Testament but not so in the New Testament. The word “Father” is not
used of God’s relationship to believers in this part of the book of Revelation
which is similar to the Old Testament where the relationship of God as a
personal Father is not part of the Old Testament imagery. That is something
that is emphasized because of the relationship to the church to the Father.
Also throughout the church age we have seen that Jesus is seated on the
Father’s throne. Cf. Revelation 3:21.
Chapters four and five are one singular event that is taking place in
heaven. It is unfortunate that a chapter break has been put between them. What
we see is suddenly the Lamb takes center stage. He comes off His position as
being seated with the Father on the Father’s throne because now we are going to
see the outworking of the judgment from Jesus Christ, from His justice and
righteousness, on the earth. In Revelation chapter six we see that the very
beginning of these judgments on the earth are described as the wrath of the
Lamb. So again, with this title the Lamb which is used 29 times in the book of
Revelation, we see a return to a very familiar Old Testament Jewish imagery,
the Passover lamb that is brought to the sacrifice, we see a reference in the Gospels
when John the Baptist announced the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the
world. But this imagery of Jesus as the Lamb disappears from the epistles, with
a couple of exceptions. It is not a predominant image in the New Testament
until we get to revelation when there is a return emphasis during the
Tribulation period to
We see in this section the emphasis on the wrath of the Lamb and the
wrath of God. The seven-year period is portrayed as the wrath of the Lamb first
and the wrath of God second. So we have to ask ourselves what this term “wrath”
means. What does it picture? It is a figure of speech for the outworking of
God’s justice, and we see this all the way through the Bible from Genesis to
revelation, this terminology related to the wrath and the anger of God. But
wrath and anger as we understand it in the human sphere is the response or
reaction to something that has happened or to something that we learn. But we
have to remember that God is omniscient, He has always known everything. When
we see these expressions they are showing that God’s justice is being poured
out finally upon all of the sin and evil in human history.
Even though we don’t see the resolution of evil and suffering and
injustice in our life, and even though we see unbelievers who are hostile to
God who appear to go through life without any divine discipline, without any
judgment from God, what Revelation tells us is that there eventually is
judgment coming, and God has forestalled that judgment in order to give more
and more people the opportunity to freely respond to His grace and to His
provision of salvation. Because once God judges, volition ceases, human history
ceases, and there is judgment on all those who have rejected Him. So as long as
He gives man freedom, and that includes the freedom to reject Him, there will
be sin and suffering and death and injustice in the world.
Revelation 4:1 “After these things I looked…” a word common to prophetic
literature indicating a vision. An old English word used of a prophet was a
“seer,” someone who sees into the future. “…and behold, a door {standing} open
in heaven…” The word “standing” is not in the original. The English
translation, though, is trying to make clear the grammar of the test. The verb
for “open” is ANOIGO [a)noigw] which is a perfect participle in the original. A
perfect participle is a participle whose action precedes the main verb. The
main verb here is “I looked.” The image that we see is that when John sees this
and he sees that open door, it is already open. It is prepared and ready for him
to enter, so we could translate this, “a door was already opened in
heaven.”
“…and the first voice which I had
heard, like {the sound} of a trumpet speaking with me, said, ‘Come up here, and
I will show you what must take place after these things.’” This is the Lord
Jesus Christ. John doesn’t hear a trumpet, he is just comparing the volume and
the intensity of this voice, its sound, to the blast of a trumpet. There are
four openings in the book of Revelation and this is the first. What follows the
open door in 4:1 is the bringing forth of the seven-sealed scroll. The seven
seals on the scroll are the seven judgments that take place in the book of
Revelation. This scroll, as we will see, is a title deed, that which gives the
kingdom to the Lord Jesus Christ. But in order to activate the title deed He
has to open the seals. That is the judgment that purifies the earth in
preparation for the return of the Lord Jesus Christ to establish His kingdom on
the earth. So the open door of 4:1, first “open” in Revelation, precedes the
judgment of the scroll. When we get to
Revelation 4:2 NASB “Immediately I was in the Spirit; and
behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.” John
is transported mentally (possibly physically, he doesn’t make it clear) into
the throne room of heaven. We see this initial scene in chapters four and five.
It precedes all of the judgments. Revelation isn’t written from a human perspective
so that we can find out what is going to happen in history, though that is how
many people approach it. What is coming up in history can’t be understood if we
don’t start with God, if we don’t start with divine justice, and we don’t
understand that divine justice has been violated by the sins of both the angels
and man and there needs to be judgment and a resolution of this evil. So to
understand where the future is going we have to understand that this is the
outworking of the judgment of God from His throne. The word “throne” in
reference to God’s throne is used 15 times in chapters four and five. The focal
point of these chapters is the throne of God.
As John’s eyes are drawn to the one who sits on the throne he describes
the throne of God, the presence of God, and the throne room of God, in terms
that are built upon images from the Old Testament, and very similar. We can go
to Isaiah 6:1-4, when Isaiah is commissioned to be a prophet of God he is
brought into the presence of God in heaven. NASB “In the year of
King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with
the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having
six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with
two he flew.
Ezekiel 1:22-28 NASB “Now over the heads of the living beings
{there was} something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal,
spread out over their heads.” Notice that there are living creatures there,
from the Hebrew noun meaning simply “living ones.” They are a classification of
angels, and we know later on that these are cherubs. So not only are there
seraphs, from Isaiah, but also cherubs around the throne of God. Under the
expanse their wings {were stretched out} straight, one toward the other; each
one also had two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other.”
These are four-winged angels, cherubs. “I also heard the sound of their wings
like the sound of abundant waters as they went, like the voice of the Almighty,
a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still,
they dropped their wings. And there came a voice from above the expanse that
was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. Now
above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a
throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne,
high up, {was} a figure with the appearance of a man.
Daniel 7:9, 10 NASB “I kept looking Until thrones were set
up, And the Ancient of Days took {His} seat; His vesture {was} like white snow
And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne {was} ablaze with flames,
Its wheels {were} a burning fire.
Revelation 4:3 NASB “And He who was sitting {was} like a
jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and {there was} a rainbow around the
throne, like an emerald in appearance.” The reference to jasper is not to the
modern term jasper. In the ancient world this word referred to a diamond, like
clear crystal. The sardius stone is translated a carnelian in most modern
translations, and this is a better translation, The carnelian was a stone that
was blood red in color, and the red color speaks of the sacrificial death of
the Lord Jesus Christ. It is His shed blood that made purification possible.
These stones are both used in the breastplate of the high priest of
Revelation 4:4 NASB “Around the throne {were} twenty-four
thrones; and upon the thrones {I saw} twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in
white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.” The word there for “crowns”
is STEPHANOS [stefanoj], not DIADEMA [diadhma]. DIADEMA is the crown of a
ruler; STEPHANOS is an award crown.
So this is a crown that is an award for having victory over something. There is
a lot of discussion about who these 24 elders are. There are some who say that
these are angels; others say they are men, that twelve represents the twelve
tribes of
1) The term “elder” [presbuteroi] is never ever
used of angels anywhere. In fact, it has the idea of being older, and since the
angels don’t age that wouldn’t quite fit.
2) The number 24 is a representative number, a
group that came before God in the Old Testament. In 1 Chronicles 24:3, 4 we see that the priesthood, all of the
numerous priests that
3) The white garments
are the white garments of those church age believers who are rewarded for being
overcomers. Revelation 3:5, 10. In context, white garments are never mentioned
as clothing of angels but as clothing of men, and they part of the reward
package for believers in heaven. They are used later on of Tribulation saints
in the book of Revelation.
4) The golden crown is
a translation of STEPHANOS, which indicates an award or reward crown, not a DIADEMA crown.
5) These 24 elders are
redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. Angels aren’t redeemed. This is not only a
strong argument for understanding that the 24 elders can’t be angels but it is
a fabulous argument that the Rapture must have already occurred. Not only that,
but that the bema seat of Christ is
over with. In Revelation 5:9, 10 we read KJV “And they sung a new
song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof:
for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God
kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.” There are two groups, the
first being the 24 elders. They praise the Lamb and they say: “…and hast
redeemed us to God by thy blood.” In the NASB, NIV, or some of the other modern
translations there is no “us” there. That is really important because there is
actually only one manuscript, and Alexandrian text, that omits the “us.” Most
of the ancient documents, both in terms of the Critical Text and the Majority
Text, have a reference to “us,” first person plural, in this verse. Angels
aren’t redeemed, and the 24 elders are singing “You have redeemed us.” So it
has to be human beings. Then the second group answers—these are the living
beings: NASB “You [Jesus] have made them [the 24 elders] {to be} a
kingdom and priests to our God; and they will reign upon the earth.”
The judgment seat of Christ has
already taken place and now the 24 elders are worshipping God and calling upon
Him to execute judgment on planet earth.
Revelation 4:5 NASB “Out from the throne come flashes of
lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And {there were} seven lamps of fire
burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” There are four
different places in Revelation—8:5;