After the letters were dictated, John was invited by Jesus, the one whose voice was like a trumpet (Revelation 1:10-11), to enter heaven and see some of the future. The description is very similar to the beginning of Ezekiel’s visions (Ezekiel 1:1). John’s spirit goes into heaven while his body remains on earth.<\/p>\n
The very first thing John notices is God on His throne. God is not directly named or directly described. We are told that He is like jasper and sardius. Today, Jasper refers to an opaque variety of quartz, the green variety being very rare. Some believe that jasper refers to opal or diamond. Pliny the Elder, who wrote a natural history about this same time, referred to fourteen different types of jasper [“Iaspis”, Natural History<\/i>, chapter 37]. Theophrastus used “jasper” as a general term for transparent precious stones. “Descriptions and information by Roman sources affirm that\u00a0iaspis\u00a0<\/i>specifies a green, translucent or transparent stone” [“Jasper<\/a>“, biblicalgeology.com]. Sardius refers to a deep orange-red carnelian. The use of precious stones would be used to indicate God’s glory (Revelation 21:10-11). The translucence of these stones helps emphasize that God is light (I John 1:5).<\/p>\n John’s vision starts to take in other details. Around the throne is a green halo or rainbow. It calls to mind Paul’s saying that God dwells in unapproachable light (I Timothy 6:15-16). The green rainbow separates God from all that is around Him.<\/p>\n The throne is encircled by 24 elders in white garments, each wearing a golden crown. The number 24 is associated with those who served God (I Chronicles 24-26). Since there were twelve patriarchs in Israel and twelve apostles in the church, it has also been suggested that they represent the leaders of God’s people in all the ages. Those under the Old Law were saved through Christ (Hebrews 9:15). Their salvation was not separate from our own (Hebrews 11:39-40). Thus, in Christ, both Jews and Greeks are brought together (Ephesians 2:14-18). Later, we are told that the white garments represent righteousness (Revelation 7:13-14). And the crowns are victory crowns.<\/p>\n Our attention is drawn back to the throne where lightning flashes and thunder rolls forth. God’s presence has been marked in the past by thunder and lightning (Exodus 19:16). This time, John notices seven burning lamps. We are told that they are the seven Spirits of God. Seven, being the number for perfection, is a representation of the Holy Spirit. Notice that while everything else is separated from God, the Holy Spirit is next to God, the Father, hinting that the Spirit is also God.<\/p>\n Before the throne was a crystal sea, a barrier before God, this sea will appear a few more times in Revelation, so take note of it.<\/p>\n Surrounding the throne are four living creatures. One resembled a lion, one a calf, one a man, and one an eagle. Each represents the living creatures of God’s creation: the wild animals (lion), the domesticated animals (calf), mankind, and the birds (eagle). They can also be seen as representing what is noblest (lion), what is strongest (calf), what is most intelligent (man), and what is swiftest (eagle). Each creature has six wings. They have eyes all around, even within themselves. These would indicate that they can see everything and can even examine themselves (something Christians are to do – I Corinthians 11:28; II Corinthians 13:4; I Thessalonians 5:21).<\/p>\n The description is very similar to a vision in Ezekiel 1:4-14, but there are also several differences. In Ezekiel 10:20-22, we are told they are cherubim. These are not physical descriptions of these beings because each time they are described a bit differently; rather, the descriptions are meant to give us insight into their character. It was a cherub that guarded the way to the tree of life (Genesis 3:24). Two representations of cherubim cover the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant with their wings (Exodus 25:18). They are not angels because they are listed separately in Revelation 5:11 and Revelation 7:11.<\/p>\n Their description also shares aspects of the seraphim (“fiery ones”). In Isaiah 6:1-4, seraphim are said to have six wings, just as the living creatures in Revelation. But then Ezekiel describes the cherubim as looking like fiery coals (Ezekiel 1:13). The seraphim in Isaiah 6 and the living creatures in Revelation spend their time constantly praising God.<\/p>\n The elders join in the worship. God created all things, so He is the center of all worship (Isaiah 44:6; Psalms 148). The elders cast their crowns before God; that is, they give their honor to God.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPrior Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe Revelation Given to John\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNext Lesson\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Throne in Heaven Revelation 4 After the letters were dictated, John was invited by Jesus, the one whose voice was like a trumpet (Revelation 1:10-11), to enter heaven and see some of the future. The description is very similar to the beginning of Ezekiel’s visions (Ezekiel 1:1). John’s spirit goes into heaven while his…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":3358,"menu_order":11,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3426","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3481,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-revelation-given-to-john\/a-new-heaven-and-earth\/","url_meta":{"origin":3426,"position":0},"title":"A New Heaven and Earth","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"A New Heaven and Earth Revelation 21:1-22:5 A new heaven and earth appears (Revelation 21:1-8) The old has passed away (II Peter 3:7-13). Along with its passing, the sea no longer exists. This refers to the crystal sea that separated people from God (Revelation 4:6; 15:2). The people are no\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3358,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-revelation-given-to-john\/","url_meta":{"origin":3426,"position":1},"title":"The Revelation Given to John","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"The Revelation Given to John by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Three Introductions to Revelation An Introduction to Revelation\u00a0(Revelation 1:1-3) Biblical Numbers The Jesus of Revelation\u00a0(Revelation 1:4-8) The Deity of Jesus\u00a0(Revelation 1:9-20) Seven Letters to the Churches Introduction to the Letters Ephesus\u00a0(Revelation 2:1-7) Smyrna\u00a0(Revelation 2:8-11) Pergamum\u00a0(Revelation 2:12-17) Thyatira\u00a0(Revelation 2:18-29) Sardis\u00a0(Revelation 3:1-6) Philadelphia\u00a0(Revelation\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/Book_of_Revelation_Chapter_1-1_Bible_Illustrations_by_Sweet_Media-300x220.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":70746,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-watchtower-built-on-sand\/shaky-pillar-2-false-hope-of-heaven\/","url_meta":{"origin":3426,"position":2},"title":"Shaky Pillar #2: False Hope of Heaven","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 31, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Shaky Pillar #2 False Hope of Heaven \"So rather than all good people going to heaven, the Bible reveals that only 144,000 tried and faithful persons will be taken there to rule with Christ\" (You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, Copyright 1982 by Watch Tower Bible and Tract\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3477,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-revelation-given-to-john\/the-destruction-of-satan-and-his-followers\/","url_meta":{"origin":3426,"position":3},"title":"The Destruction of Satan and His Followers","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"The Destruction of Satan and His Followers Revelation 20:7-15 When we last talked about Satan, we left him bound in the abyss he originally came from. 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Thus, we continue the series: Seven letters to give instruction Seven seals to reveal Seven trumpets to warn Seven personages to act And now seven bowls of\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3457,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/bible-studies\/the-revelation-given-to-john\/the-seven-personages-the-lamb\/","url_meta":{"origin":3426,"position":5},"title":"The Seven Personages: The Lamb","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 16, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"The Seven Personages - The Lamb Revelation 14:1-20 As you go through this chapter notice the sections are divide with phrases, such as \u201cI looked,\u201d \u201cI saw,\u201d and \u201cI heard.\u201d The Lamb with the 144,000 (Revelation 14:1-5) The scene opens with the Lamb standing on Mt. Zion with the 144,000.\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3426","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3426"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3426\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/3358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3426"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}