Episode 59 – Pulling Back the Curtain
Welcome everyone! We are on episode 3 of our 12 part series, Deciphering Revelation. In the last episode, we looked at the letters John wrote to 7 churches. In this episode, and in the subsequent episodes, we are going to tackle 1-2 chapters per episode. As we’ve said before, we don’t have enough time to really delve into every verse in every chapter, but we can give an overview, unlock some of the apocalyptic language, and debunk some of the false teaching that is out there.
And, hopefully, armed with all that, it will encourage many of you to dive in deep on your own. In fact, at the end of the series, we will give you some excellent resources to do just that. Okay, let’s get started. Chapters 4 – 19 in the book of Revelation deal with God’s judgment. But before God has John record what God’s judgment on the world will look like, he gets a vision in chapter 4 & 5. Jesus draws back the curtain and gives John a glimpse into heaven. In both of these chapters we are shown God’s throne room in heaven. But more than that, they show us that what goes on in that heavenly throne room has never and will never change.
And that’s important to know. We know that God is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow and that He never changes. These chapters show us that the same is true as to what goes on in heaven. This should be a huge comfort to us, especially in a time like now when things in the world seem chaotic. Knowing we serve an orderly God who has never and will never change, and who is intentional about everything, working all things, even the most evil things out for our good, for His plans and purpose, and for His glory should give us encouragement, hope, confidence, and courage as we face whatever is ahead for us. We can live our day to day life on earth – no matter what it looks like or how painful it is – we can endure it because we know there is something magnificent going on in heaven right now and will still be going on when we get there!
Okay, Chris, let’s dive into the text. Rev. 4:1 – 6a says, “After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings[a] and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.” Chris, this is a pretty descriptive passage, but notice it doesn’t describe the appearance of God.
No it doesn’t. It says things like in 4:3, “He who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian and around the thrown was a rainbow that had an appearance of an emerald.” John uses these precious stones to give us an idea of the magnificence and majesty of God without actually giving a physical description.
And why is that? Because God said in Exodus 20:4 and in Deuteronomy 5:8 in the 10 commandments, “4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.” In the teaching video that accompanies chapter 5 of our book, No Half Truths Allowed, we go into this very issue in great detail, but to put it very simply, there is no physical description of God because God said there were to be no physical descriptions of Him.
That’s right. Because I said so! Can you imagine if John had physically described God? We’ve already been overwhelmed with statues, paintings and drawings depicting what artists think Jesus looks like – and we showed a few of those paintings in that extra teaching video you mentioned. Just imagine what it would be like if John had given an actual description of Him or God the Father! Instead, John describes for us the throne room of God which is unlike anything any of us have seen on earth. And, of course, that’s because God is unlike anything we have ever seen on earth.
There is a rainbow around the throne. Going back to the OT, as the book of Rev. constantly does, the rainbow is the symbol of the covenant God made with Noah, called the Noahic covenant, which in a few lines said basically that God pledged to never destroy the earth in a flood again, thereby preserving the stability of nature. This was important because this stability was necessary if Jesus was going to enter history to save His people. And since all living things would never again be destroyed by a flood, the whole earth was the beneficiary of this covenant. The Noahic covenant symbolized by the rainbow that is around the throne of God demonstrates God’s love for all of His creation, and it shows us that one day God will set the earth back to where it was always meant to be – before the fall.
We mentioned that colors are used as symbols in this book, too. It says that there is the appearance of emeralds all around. Emeralds are green. Green is used as a symbol of nature, and again points to God renewing the earth.
We don’t have time to go too much deeper into the first 6 verses, but one thing we want to note is that there are 24 elders around the throne. These 24 elders represent all of the people of God. Remember 12 is a number of completeness, and 12 is often used to represent the tribes of Israel (meaning those God chose from the nation of Israel). Twelve is also used to represent the Apostles who preached the Gospel to the Gentiles. So 24 is all of the people God has chosen to save. They are seated next to God in robes of white with gold crowns on their heads. They are enjoying fellowship with God. The white robes show the righteousness and holiness that was imputed to them by Christ; and we see a reference to the gold crowns again back in Isaiah. Isaiah 28:5 says, “In that day the Lord of hosts will be a crown of glory, and a diadem of beauty, to the remnant of his people.”
The crowns represent the people of God sharing in the glory of God. Remember this because we are going to see what they do with these gold crowns in a minute. But first, let’s read verses 6b - 8.“And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!”
This is the apocalyptic language we were talking about that tends to trip people up. Here, we see various creatures described; creatures that are hard for us to envision – eyes all over the front and back of them, 6 wings, etc. But we don’t have to get frightened or wigged out about these creatures. These are basically the worship leaders in heaven. I’m sure we’ve all experienced some pretty funky worship leaders! They lead everyone in heaven in the worship of God by saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come.” And, Chris, if you know your Old Testament, you know that this is not the first time we see creatures like this, nor words of worship like this.
No, it’s not. Ezekiel, chapter 1 & Isaiah 6:2 describe having a vision of creatures that are similar to these when Ezekiel and Isaiah also get a glimpse into heaven. Isaiah tells us that they are seraphim, which are angels. And the words of worship used should make us think of the very next verse in Isaiah, Isaiah 6:3 which says “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.” So this vision given to John was not something new. It had been given to Ezekiel and Isaiah. Remember, the New Testament is a fulfillment of the Old Testament, not a bunch of crazy, new teaching.
And just to note so there’s no confusion,Daniel also has a vision of funky creatures in Daniel 7. Those creatures are very different, and when you put those verses into context, you see that they are earthly kingdoms, not heavenly worshipers. Okay. Let’s finish reading chapter 4. Verses 9 – 11 say,
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
So first thing is we see the people of God (the 24 elders) casting their crowns back to God. They are giving the glory back to God. We said earlier that God is giving us this glimpse into heaven to encourage us and give us hope. That would have been very needed in John’s time. The Roman Emperors thought of themselves as gods and demanded to be worshipped. That’s why they hated Christians and Christianity. They wanted everyone to bow down to them and look to them for their authority. And when they didn’t, they were tortured and killed. It would have been very tempting for early Christians to give in and bow their knee to Caesar. At the very least, they may have watered down the Gospel so that it wasn’t too offensive.
That’s right. But this glimpse they were given showed them (and shows us) that there is something much bigger than us, or any governing power, at work. God the Almighty is sovereign and on the throne. And someday, we will be at that throne worshipping Him face to face! Knowing that should strengthen and empower us to be able to stand against anyone or anything that oppose the things of God! Dr. Voddie Baucham gives us another jewel, “When the world is going to hell, change your perspective.”
Regardless of what happens in November or on any other day, God’s people will prevail. And, again, this isn’t a new teaching. Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar realized this very same thing. As punishment, God had given him the mind of an animal for 7 years. At the end of those 7 years, he says in Daniel 4:34, 34 At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever for his dominion is an everlasting dominion,and his kingdom endures from generation to generation;
Okay, let’s move onto Chapter 5. Revelation 5:1 – 5, “Then I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne a scroll written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming with a loud voice, “Who is worthy to open the scroll and break its seals?” 3 And no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look into it, 4 and I began to weep loudly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll or to look into it. 5 And one of the elders said to me, “Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Chris, here we go with more apocalyptic language, numbers, and symbolism.
Let’s start with the very first verse that said, “I saw in the right hand of him who was seated on the throne.” This verse is a great example of why taking the approach that everything in the book of Rev. is literal causes a problem. God, the Father, is seated on the throne. We know that because as we are going to see in a moment, Jesus is standing amongst the elders. God the Father is an essence, a Spirit. He does not have a physical body. Jesus does, but He does not. So John using “right hand” is just giving God human qualities to make Him more understandable to us. This is called anthropomorphism. We see it in several places in Scripture like Psalm 89:10 which says, “you scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.” Anthorpomorphism is a literary tool used to help us better understand God and His actions.
Good point. Moving on, we get a courtroom feel from the next verses. The angel proclaiming loudly, who is worthy to open the scroll? The Bible uses this “courtroom” feel in several places. It’s used in the prophetic books to convict the Israelites of their guilt before God, and it’s used in Daniel 7 which is a vision of this very scene. The scroll, too, is mentioned in OT books including Daniel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. Does the scroll have literally 7 seals? Maybe, maybe not. The point is that it is completely sealed. Why does John weep when there is no one to open the scroll?
He weeps because he knows it contains God’s judgment on His enemies, redemption for God’s people, and the last will & testament of the earth. If no one can open it, then things will not brought to their full conclusion as God intends. There will be no end to the persecution for the church, there is no justice for God’s elect, and no redemption for God’s people.
But then the angel tells him to stop crying. There is one who is worthy to open the scroll. The Lion of Judah and the root of David. Of course this is Jesus, but is Jesus described this way here. The Lion of Judah is from Gen. 49:9 - 10 which says, “Judah is a lion's cub;
from the prey, my son, you have gone up.
He stooped down; he crouched as a lion
and as a lioness; who dares rouse him?
10 The scepter shall not depart from Judah,
nor the ruler's staff from between his feet,
until tribute comes to him;[a]
and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”
And the root of David is from Isaiah 11:1 – 5 which say, “There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
2 And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
3 And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
4 but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
5 Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
and faithfulness the belt of his loins.
We weren’t kidding when we said the book of Revelation is the fulfillment of the Old Testament! Okay, let’s move onto Revelation 5:6 -10 which says, “And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. 7 And he went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who was seated on the throne. 8 And when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each holding a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song, saying,
“Worthy are you to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation,
10 and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”
There’s a lot to unpack here. And this is definite symbolism John is using. Let’s start with the Lamb who was standing there as though it had been slain. This is obviously Jesus. This is how we know it wasn’t Jesus sitting on the throne handing the scroll with His right hand. But these verses say a lot about Jesus. First, He is the Lamb who looks as though He has been slain. Jesus, fully Man, was slain, but He didn’t stay that way! As we know, when He appeared to the Apostles after His resurrection, He still had the scars from His wounds, but they weren’t the deadly wounds many had thought they would be.
Chris, there is a Puritan theologian named Joel Beeke gives a great commentary as to why only Jesus was worthy to open the scroll. He said,
“A human person had to open the book because the promise (contained in it) was made to humanity, but no person could open it because all have sinned and stand under the judgement contained in the book. But Christ was found worthy because He suffered the final judgment as an innocent on behalf of His people whom He represented and consequently redeemed. He is able to open the scroll and our inheritance because He is the God-Man who was slain.”
So what’s with the 7 horns, 7 eyes, and 7 Spirits? No, Jesus does not physically have 7 horns and eyes. Let’s start with the horns. Horns are used many places in Scripture to represent authority. Deuteronomy 33:17 for example says, “A firstborn bull—he has majesty,and his horns are the horns of a wild ox; with them he shall gore the peoples,all of them, to the ends of the earth;” And remember that 7 is a number of completeness. So the symbolism of Jesus having 7 horns means He has complete authority.
And along that same vein, Jesus having 7 eyes, means that He sees and knows all – He is Omniscient.
And the 7 Spirits means that He is completely God – He is all powerful or Omnipotent. And, if all of what we already mentioned wasn’t enough to convince you this is Jesus, the fact that everyone in heaven falls at His feet to worship Him should seal it for you.
So what about these golden bowls of incense? We are told that they are the prayers of the saints. More specifically, they are the prayers of the martyrs and those who have been persecuted for the name of Jesus. This is a little complex to explain but we know this because the scroll contains God’s judgment and God’s justice, as we will see this when we get to chapter 6. There is one prayer that demands God’s judgment and God’s justice and that is vindication for those who have been persecuted and / or killed for proclaiming Jesus as Lord.
It’s not that those who have given their life for their faith are better or more important than those who didn’t, but remember, the entire Bible points to Jesus. Jesus is the ultimate martyr! He, more than anyone else, deserves to see God’s judgment and justice for how He was treated and killed. These verses show us that those who are enemies of God will be dealt with justly.
And, Chris, is there anything more comforting and encouraging than that? Sometimes I look at some of the evil and wickedness going on today and it makes me physically sick. I wonder why is God allowing it. Well, the answer is, He is only allowing it for a time. Those perpetrating the evil will be called to account if God does not regenerate their heart first.
Yeah, this also means that we are free to love our enemies. We don’t have to avenge ourselves. We can freely show grace and compassion to everyone – no matter how wicked they are – because God will bring His justice to pass. That doesn’t mean that we don’t fight against evil – like abortion. We should absolutely fight against the things that are perverting the Word of God. But, we can show grace to individuals. If anything, we should feel sorry for those who do not belong to Jesus.
Absolutely. We can get frustrated seeing really rotten people having money, fame, power, whatever; while so many decent people are struggling and oppressed. But, Chris while we are always bashing Joel Osteen for telling Christians to live their best life now, if you think about it, his message is perfect for unbelievers because their time on earth is their best life! Things are not going to be pretty for them when the end comes.
Okay, just to finish up these verses, Revelation 5:9 - 10 says, “for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for Godfrom every tribe and language and people and nation,and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,and they shall reign on the earth.” These verses don’t say that God will save everyone – note that it says Jesus’ blood ransomed people for God, not everyone, just those God has chosen. What it does say is that God has chosen people from every tribe, every language, every people group, and every nation. Four is the number used to represent creation and the earth. If you notice, there are 4 groups listed – every tribe, every language, every people group, and every nation. So this is ALL the people God has chosen to save. All will reign with Christ when He returns.
Okay, let’s finish up chapter 5. Revelation 5: 11 – 14 says, “Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands, 12 saying with a loud voice,
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”
13 And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lambbe blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!”
14 And the four living creatures said, “Amen!” and the elders fell down and worshiped.
Chris, things are about to get harsh beginning in chapter 6 when we move onto the woes.
They are. We will see just what God’s judgment and justice looks like. So John is given chapters 4 & 5 as encouragement and hope that God is sovereign over everything and that He is securely on the throne and Jesus is ready to return and bring to completion the victory He has already won over Satan, sin and death. And He will bring to consummation the Kingdom of God and His reign as the One True King.
That’s a great place to end today. We hope you have been encouraged and blessed by today’s episode. May knowing that our sovereign Lord has what may seem like an uncertain and scary future to us firmly in His grasp and firmly under His control bring you peace. If you like what you hear, please rate and review this podcast on whatever platform you are listening on. We would greatly appreciate it. And don’t forget to subscribe to this podcast so you won’t miss an episode.
You can also like and follow us on our Proverbs 9:10 Facebook page, or on Instagram, Twitter, Parler, or on our website proverbs910ministries.com. Have a blessed day, everyone!