Revelation Chapter 4

[Pastor Dave Honey]

Taken Up Into Heaven!

Rev 4:1
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice
which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up
here, and I will show you things which must take place after this."

There are those who have said that verse one does not picture the "Rapture of
the Church". I say..."What else could it picture?" The book of
Revelation, for the most part, is written as a series of future events,
mapped out in order of events. We have just completed chapter three,
which brought us to the end of the "Church Age". This first verse in
chapter four finds John taken up into heaven. Here we will read that
John witnesses the church, represented by the "Twenty Four Elders". It
shouldn't surprise us that we won't see the church (body of redeemed
believers) on earth again until she returns with Christ at His second
coming in chapter nineteen. Clearly, John being taken up into heaven at
this point in time is a representation of the rapture of the church! We
will see in coming chapters that this event precedes the coming of
Anti-Christ and God's wrath poured out on the earth!

2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 talks about a restraining force that must be taken
away before the son of perdition is fully revealed. Who is the "son of
perdition?" Antichrist will be filled by the same spirit that Judas
Iscariot when he betrayed Jesus. The "son of perdition" is a term used
to identify one filled with the spirit of Satan.

2 Thess 2:1-12
Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our
gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind
or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as
though the day of Christ had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any
means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first,
and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, 4 who opposes and
exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so
that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is
God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you
these things? 6 And now you know what is restraining , that he may be
revealed in his own time. 7 For the mystery of lawlessness is already at
work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the
way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will
consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of
His coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is according to the working
of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, 10 and with all
unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not
receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. 11 And for this
reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the
lie, 12 that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth
but had pleasure in unrighteousness.

There is One whose presence prohibits Satan from filling the one who would be the
Antichrist, and that is the Person of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit
was sent here by the Father at Pentecost, and has remained to fulfill
God's plan throughout the "church age." At the "rapture of the church"
the hindering force, the net, the Holy Spirit will step aside and Satan
will have full access to ravage the world through the Antichrist!

Rev 4:2
Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.

This was not a dream, or even a vision. John was supernaturally transported
into heaven and into the presence of God! Another compelling argument
that this event is a picture of the rapture, is that John is actually
taken up into the presence of God. let me back up just a bit. way back
in the book of Genesis, mankind fell into sin, and fellowship with the
Father was broken. By His very nature, God cannot be where sin is. If
you are not absolutely convinced of that, just look what happened when
Jesus, the Son of God became sin in our place! Mark 15:34 records Jesus
crying out from the cross; "Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?" which is translated, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?" God
had to turn away from even His Own Son, at the very moment Jesus became
sin in our place! If we take a closer look at the rapture of the Church
as illustrated in 1 Corinthians 15:50-55, we may conclude that the rapture and the resurrection
are the same event. At this event, we are given new spiritual bodies,
free from sin and fitted for eternity! This is, in my estimation, one of
the most exciting events we as believers have to look forward to!

1 Cor 15:50-55
Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the
kingdom of God; nor does corruption inherit incorruption. 51 Behold, I
tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed
— 52 in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For
the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and
we shall be changed. 53 For this corruptible must put on incorruption,
and this mortal must put on immortality. 54 So when this corruptible has
put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall
be brought to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up
in victory."
55 "O Death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory?"

That John is taken in spirit into the presence of God, must mean that God
supernaturally transformed him, even if for a period of time for the
purpose of revelation.

Rev 4:3
3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was
a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.

The imagery of God's Throne is like that which is described in Ezekiel's vision found in Ezekiel 1:26-28.

Ezek 1:26-28
26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a
throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the
throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27
Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the
color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and
from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the
appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of
a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the
brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the
glory of the LORD.

We can only describe the beauty of the LORD with the imagery of the most beautiful and precious things in life!

Rev 4:4
Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw
twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns
of gold on their heads.

The question here is...who are these twenty four elders? The imagery of white robes and gold crowns
point to the redeemed. But which group of redeemed do they belong to?
Israel has not to this point been saved. That will happen at the end of
the seven year tribulation period, as we shall see. It is still too soon
for the tribulation saints for obvious reasons. The only group left is
the church. This make perfect sense as we have observed that the church
has just been raptured up into heaven. So John now finds himself in
heaven in the very presence of God, as well as the church!

Rev 4:5
And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.
Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven
Spirits of God.

As John continues to describe this incredible scene, he is witnessing the glory of the LORD in a dazzling
display of beautiful gems, brilliant flashes of lightning, and powerful
peels of thunder! He is witnessing something that, not only Ezekiel
described in his first chapter, but Mosses encountered on Mount Sinai!

Ex 19:16-19
16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there
were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and
the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were
in the camp trembled. 17 And Moses brought the people out of the camp to
meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Now Mount
Sinai was completely in smoke, because the LORD descended upon it in
fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole
mountain quaked greatly.

Here also is the Holy Spirit! The seven Spirits of God, as before, represents the seven-fold
ministry of the Spirit of God as described in Isaiah 11:2.

Rev 4:6a
6a. Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal.

Although there will be no sea in heaven (Rev 21:1), the crystal floor of the
throne room of God will bring a calming peace to every heart who stands
before it! In mark 4:39 Jesus rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, "Peace, be still!" And the wind ceased and there was a great calm.
If we cry out to the Lord in our time of tribulation, He will bring a
peace which surpasses all understanding to our hearts. I believe that
the throne room's sea of glass will have the same effect when we
actually see it, but can have that that calming effect on our hearts as
we read about it! possibly one of the blessings given to us when we read
or hear the words of this incredible book!

Rev 4:6b-8
6b And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four
living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living
creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the
third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living
creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each
having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not
rest day or night, saying:

"Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!"

This is an amazing scene! Isaiah described a similar scene in his sixth chapter.

Isa 6:1-4
In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne,
high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above
it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his
face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one
cried to another and said:

"Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!"

4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.

And again, Ezekiel described another very similar group of creatures in his first chapter, verses 4-14.

Ezek 1:4-14
4 Then I looked, and behold, a whirlwind was coming out of the north, a
great cloud with raging fire engulfing itself; and brightness was all
around it and radiating out of its midst like the color of amber, out of
the midst of the fire. 5 Also from within it came the likeness of four
living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had the likeness
of a man. 6 Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings. 7
Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the
soles of calves' feet. They sparkled like the color of burnished bronze.
8 The hands of a man were under their wings on their four sides; and
each of the four had faces and wings. 9 Their wings touched one another.
The creatures did not turn when they went, but each one went straight
forward.
10 As for the likeness of their faces, each had the face of a man; each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, each
of the four had the face of an ox on the left side, and each of the four
had the face of an eagle. 11 Thus were their faces. Their wings
stretched upward; two wings of each one touched one another, and two
covered their bodies. 12 And each one went straight forward; they went
wherever the spirit wanted to go, and they did not turn when they went.
13 As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was
like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back
and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of
the fire went lightning. 14 And the living creatures ran back and forth,
in appearance like a flash of lightning.

It is exciting to me that these scenes are repeated over and over again in the
Bible. Certainly this repetition and consistency lends credibility to
the accuracy of the description of how God's throne room appears.

The four living beings are cherubim or angels in God's service to worship
Him. Cherubim were angels employed by God to drive Adam and Eve out of
the Garden of Eden and then to guard the entrance with flaming swords!
Their attributes are in of themselves meaningful! They were full of
eyes so that nothing would escape their scrutiny. From early church
history, poetic application describes the four faces of cherubim as
representative of the four gospels. 1) Matthew presents the lion as
Jesus the King of Kings. 2) Mark presents the calf or ox as Jesus the
servant. 3) Luke presents the face of a man as the humanity of Jesus. 4)
John presents the eagle as Jesus as the Son of God.

Rev 4:9-11
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him
who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four
elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who
lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:

11 "You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created."

The elders, the church in heaven join the cherubim in worshiping God! We
are taught in scriptures of five crowns we may receive. 1. the crown of
righteousness which is given to those who love His appearing (2 Timothy
4:8) 2. The crown of life, given to those who love the Lord (James 1:2)
3. The crown of glory, given for servanthood (1 Peter 5:4) 4. The
soul-winners crown, given to those who share their faith (1
Thessalonians 2:19) 5. The martyr's crown, given to those who lay down
their lives for their faith (Revelation 2:10). Our crowns are not for
our glory....they are for the glory of the One who gives us life! The
One who gave His Life for us! The One who gives us salvation! Our
crowns are for His glory and His glory alone! what a wonderful time it
will be as we worship the lord, elbow to elbow with angels! Just to have
a crown to cast at His feet will be the greatest honor of all! What a
day that will be!

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