 Okay, welcome back to the continuing lecture today for BC 308 on Revelation and Daniel. We are going to start with chapter 4 of Revelation. Any questions before we get started on chapter 4? Any questions so far on the seven churches or any thoughts that you want to share? So, let's go ahead with chapter 4. Could somebody read for us the first five verses, please? Revelation chapter 4 verses 1 through 5. Thomas, can you read it? Go ahead, Kiran. After these things I looked and behold our door is standing open in heaven and the first voice which I hear was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, Come up here and I will show you things which must take place after this. Immediately I was in the spirit and behold our throne set in heaven and one set on the throne and he who said there was like a jasper and a sardis stoned in appearance and there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance like an emerald around the throne where 24 thrones and on the throne I saw 24 elders sitting clothed in white robes and they had crowns of gold on their heads and from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings and voice seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God. Thank you. Alright, so Revelation chapter 4 verses 1 through 5. So the Lord has soon drawn about these seven churches and then he says after these things I looked. That means it's the beginning of a fresh vision so it's like one segment is over about these seven churches that's over and now a new movie or a new segment is starting so that's what he means. I'm seeing something new is starting so he says I looked and now he sees it's like a door open in heaven and he hears a voice like the sound of a trumpet meaning a very, very powerful voice but it is articulated means he can comprehend it is saying something and voice come up here so God is calling John. Now at that moment when he says come up here in the spirit he's entering through this door into heaven into heaven and so the voice hears a voice and come up here I'm going to show you things which must take place after this so these are the things out in the future things which must take place so remember in chapter one and in verse 19 the Lord spoke to John and said you know there are things you have seen things that are and things that will take place so Revelation 4 1 is the third part things that will take place he says things which must take place after this so these are things out in the future so he's getting a vision he's going into a vision come up here sees a door he's going through the door and then he's saying these are the things that are going to take place from in the future and verse 2 John says Revelation 4 2 John says I was in the spirit that means now this is you know he's physically in the island of Patmos he's probably sitting and writing these things down but spiritually his spirit is now in a vision and he is seeing these things so spiritually he's seeing these things he's hearing what's happening in the spiritual realm physically he's most likely you know sitting somewhere on the island of Patmos and writing these things down so what does he see verse 2 he sees a throne and there one seated on the throne he's seeing a throne saying God's throne so this we often refer to as the throne room scene and he is seeing the throne room very throne room of God and then in verse 3 he begins to describe what he sees using colors but he is using precious stones stones that he knows about to describe the colors he is saying so this is a very grand grand great and grand scene of a throne room and there's a lot of vibrant colors a lot of colors different things that he's seeing and hearing and experimenting there's there's majesty there is something very majestic about this throne room and all John can do is he can talk about some precious stones to to reference those colors that he is seeing so he sees he says in verse 3 he sat was like Jasper and a sadist stone in appearance that means he's saying you know I'm seeing this person on this throne and there is colors like Jasper and a sadist coming out so Jasper most likely refers to something very clear and brilliant something like you know what you would say of a diamond and something very brilliant so it's clear and brilliant sadist is a stone it's a red color red like ruby so he's seeing brilliant white or clear brightness and red both these colors coming out of the being on the throne now he's just describing it using you know stones and what he knows about that stones he's saying it's like I'm seeing somebody who's like this Jasper and sadist stone and appears you know it doesn't mean God is a stone it doesn't mean that you see I'm seeing these colors coming out of this person now if you go by the premise that everything God is doing is fit is intentional then the reason God is getting John to see this should have some meaning and so this white light or brilliant light is talking about purity there's no uh or to say no dirt like diamond it's it's you know perfect no dirt brilliant white light clear and red of course talks about redemption because it talks about blood right there's so if you if you go by the meaning of the colors he's the redeemer he's the he's the one who redeems red blood you're trying to interpret the colors okay but we don't want to get too fixated on we know God is absolutely pure we know God is absolutely is is our great redeemer we know that already but we're just trying to put some meaning to these colors we can do it we don't do it it's fine our theology is not based on that our theology is based on the rest of scripture okay but i'm just trying to say like okay if God is doing all of this intentionally what would these things mean we can deduce some ideas and he says there was a rainbow around the throne in appearance like emerald emerald emerald is like greenish color this emerald stone it's like greenish color and so he's saying i'm seeing a something like a rainbow you know actually rainbow is multicolor seven colors but this thing around the throne is having predominantly this green greenish color so it's just a vibrant colors that he's seeing and then verse four he says around the throne are 24 thrones and he says 24 elders who are sitting so these elders what can we say about these elders first of all they are sitting on each one of them are sitting on a throne they are clothed in white robes and they had crowns of gold on their heads now obviously the question we would ask is who are these elders what does all this mean so first of all who are these elders so we tried to understand from Revelation four and verse four these are people who are sitting on thrones they're wearing white robes they're having golden crowns and then if you look at other places in Revelation so if you go with me over to Revelation 19 and verse 10 they're one of these elders so through the book of Revelation there are times you know an angel talks to John there are times an elder speaks to John so we have two records here in Revelation 19 10 where John is speaking with the elder and again in Revelation 22 and verse 9 again there's this elder speaking with John and if you look at both these verses Revelation 19 10 the elder says I am your fellow servant and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus so you're saying I'm your fellow servant and your brethren that means one of your Jewish brethren and I am I have the testimony of Jesus that means I also give testimony to Jesus then you again see in Revelation 22 and verse 9 the elder one of the elders says I am your fellow servant and of your brethren the prophets of those who keep the words of this book worship God so saying I'm your fellow servant and I'm one of the old one of the prophets could be the old testament prophets so based on these scriptures we can say that these elders are people they're not angelic beings or they're not some others they are people who died who are now there in heaven and also what else can we say we say that these elders have received their reward because they're wearing a crown and we see that the crown is promised as a reward to the believer and we are seeing them sitting on the throne now we just read in Revelation 3 21 that the throne is promised to a believer who overcomes and we see that these elders are wearing white robes so again white robe is promised we saw this earlier in Revelation 3 and verse 5 it is promised to a believer who's an overcome white robe so crown is given to a believer who overcomes the throne is given to a believer who overcomes and the white garment is given to a believer who overcomes so just based on all of these you know clear indicators we can say that we can say that these elders are actually believers in Jesus Christ who have overcome who have received their rewards so what else do we what else can we identify about these elders now based on Matthew 19 verse 28 Jesus told his 12 apostles he said you will sit with me around my throne Matthew 19 28 he told his apostles so it is likely that 12 of them could be the 12 apostles of the lamp likely i'm not saying for sure i'm just trying to connect scripture try to get some clues on who are these 24 elders we have established the fact that they're definitely human beings they're not angelic beings um one of the elders said i'm your fellow servant and your brethren meaning he's a Jew another elder said i'm your fellow servant and of the prophets so it gives us some clues Jesus told Matthew 28 19 28 to the apostles you will all sit with me on on thrones with me so it could be 12 of them are the 12 apostles that's not including Judas of course Judas was replaced by Matthias and the other reason we see is that in Revelation chapter 21 the 12 tribes are mentioned Revelation 21 verse 12 and Revelation 21 verse 14 the 12 apostles are mentioned so in the new city of Jerusalem the 12 apostles are honored by being the 12 foundations of the city the 12 tribes are honored by being given the names at the gate of the city are given the names of the 12 tribes so and also if you look at what we saw earlier Revelation 21 verse 22 verse 9 one of the elders said i am your fellow servant and your prophets so maybe is the other 12 are you know all testament prophets whom God has chosen so this is only you know this is just trying to guess okay i'm not saying for sure but based on all these scriptures what we can say for sure is these 12 these 24 elders are people they're not angels because they've already identified themselves i'm your fellow servant what we can guess is 12 of them are the 12 apostles the other 12 could be prophets from the Old Testament the whom whom whom or sorry whomever the Lord has chosen from the Old Testament because you know what we read in 22 Revelation 22 9 he said i am your fellow servant and of the prophets so based on that clue but the other thing that we can conclude yes Revelation chapter 4 is giving us a scene in heaven after believers have received the rewards which are why because these people are seated on the throne which is a reward these people are wearing crowns which is also a reward and they're waiting wearing white comments which is also a reward so that's what we are saying Revelation 22 or Revelation chapter 4 is starting from the time when the believers are in heaven and they are they have been given their rewards so this leads us to the conclusion that the rapture has already taken place before the scene of Revelation 4 because the believers are in heaven now we know that when a believer dies right now the body disintegrates on earth the spirit goes into heaven and we know that there is coming a time when believers will be judged this is first Corinthians chapter 3 second Corinthians chapter 5 and they will be given rewards so what we are again thinking through on this right it's not stated here but we're thinking through based on what we're seeing that most likely by the time Revelation 4 the scene in the future is being shown to John the rapture has taken place believers are up in heaven rewards have been given and these 24 saints perhaps 12 of them Old Testament saints 12 of them the apostles have been ushered into their place of honor as a reward and they're seated there so to me that that that seems like a very valid thought a very valid conclusion I don't you know find any problem with it so that's why you know that's one of the reasons we say by the time Revelation 4 starts the rapture has taken place the believers have received their rewards and here everything in the throne room is God is seated on this in this magnificent throne these people are all these people have been honored to be given you know 12 thrones on one side 12 thrones on the other side these are the apostles these are the you know Old Testament prophets people are you know are people from the Old Testament who have been honored by God and that's the scene you see and then he says in verse 5 from the throne proceed lightnings thunderings and voices meaning it's something you know John just uses words he says says you know it's like from the throne there is something so powerful it's like a combination of lightning and under and voice sound you know he's just trying to say there is this brilliant light and brilliant sound meaning it's overwhelming it's beyond what he can describe he's only capturing it and you know in words and pictures and language he has that's why he's using you know these are the colors I'm seeing and he's using precious stones and he's saying this is what I'm it's just so awesome so amazing it's like the sound of lightnings and thundering and all voices coming out of the throne very very majestic very powerful overwhelming and there he sees the Holy Spirit what's five he sees seven lamps of fire burning before the throne so seven lamps and he says these seven lamps are the seven spirits of God and we already explained from chapter one the phrase seven spirits of God represents the one Holy Spirit so I mean he's saying look the whole yeah so God is helping him understand that the Spirit of God the Holy Spirit is there in the throne room God the Father on the throne God the Spirit present right there before the throne and he's any and the image the visual image that is used to communicate the presence of the Holy Spirit is the seven lamps with fire you see this is the perfect Spirit of God so in the throne room called the Father brilliant color sound or magnificent sound the throne 24 elders will receive the rewards cloth and white crowns on the thrones and God the Spirit in the throne room okay so far everybody's with me any questions okay I see your yes in the chat clear in the chat okay so that's fine so what does he see happening in the throne room right so verses 6 to 11 somebody could read that please Revelation 4 6 to 11 before the throne there was a sea of us like a crystal and in the midst of the throne and around the throne where four living creatures full of eyes in front of infant and in back the first living creature was like a lion the second creature like a calf the third living creature had a face like a man and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle the four living creatures each having six wings we are full of eyes around and within and they do not rest at night saying holy holy holy Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him the throne believes forever and ever the 24 years fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him lives forever and ever and cast their crowns before the throne saying you are worthy a lot to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things by your will they exist and were created hmm so now verse 6 thank you thank you Thomas so he's seeing there's a crystal clear glass a sea of glass meaning it's like this huge wide you know sea so when you imagine a sea it's like this limitless surface of water in other words he's seeing like I'm seeing something so limitless but it's clear like crystal meaning is it's so perfect so clear and it's it's expanse is limitless around the throne and there he says I'm seeing four living creatures could they have been more could be but this is what he saw and then it's very strange so these of course are referring to angelic beings before living creatures they're angelic beings or other sometimes we refer to them technically as cherubins angelic beings and in verse 7 the sense the john is getting about each of these four creatures now there could be more right there could be more but he's only seeing for like we said you know he only saw seven churches there was a message given only to seven churches when they're actually but you know God is giving him a glimpse he's not necessarily seeing everything in heaven but he's he's seeing a glimpse a piece and he's recording that for us so he's seeing these living creatures around the throne these angelic beings and he's just using you know what he can understand from our earth he's using that to say like it looks like this or has this characteristic so a lion a calf faced like a man and an eagle lion and this was seven revolution four seven the living creature one was like a lion other was like a calf third was like a man had a face like a man and the fourth was like a flying eagle and each of these had six wings all of eyes around them and they do not rest day or night saying now for us as we read these two verses it's like I can't I can't even imagine what these creatures would have looked like like so my my hot hairs let's not worry too much about these living creatures other than they were angelic beings and john is trying to say in a very simple way what he felt about these creatures so talking about lion and talking about something very powerful a calf talking of something very timid man course relating to us people an eagle a flying eagle something that sees from a distance something that you know as a bird is very powerful that's all we can say and and them having six wings if you connect it to what is equal so an is equal chapter one when he saw the cherubim's he saw them moving very fast and so on and so maybe the wings are representing their ability to move very fast and the full of eyes around and within which again it's very very strange you know how do you picture that something like that but maybe that's just showing that they could see everything these angelic beings could see everything so what I want to just put forward is don't be so confused or overwhelmed or taken up by trying to figure out exactly what these angelic beings are these living creatures are because it's very confusing to put all of them you know how do you imagine a man an angelic being the face of a man six wings eyes everywhere what is it very strange but if we just take them as this is the sense john got when he saw these living creatures does it mean that these living creatures look exactly like that but the sense that he got when he saw these living creatures we can take it to mean you know this was kind of a character of that living creature one was like a calf very timid and it was it was very you could move anywhere in the spiritual realm and it could see anywhere in the spiritual realm so that's why he said calf with six wings and eyes everywhere one was very strong like a lion wings it could move anywhere see could see anywhere eyes everywhere it could see anywhere so that was that living creature so we take it like that again you know this is only a thought that i'm sharing i'm not you know we can't say anything for sure because it is not very obviously i would say it's very confusing if you're trying to piece versus seven and eight together but there are these angelic beings around the throne we just refer to them as cherubim's seraphim seraphim's and cherubim's seraphim's are primarily worshipping creatures cherubim's are involved in worship but they also go out to do certain things when god wants them to do and then there are their messenger angels and then there are the warring angels so there are different kinds of angelic beings and we are seeing some of them here in versus seven and eight but these angelic beings verse eight are involved in constant worship they they don't rest they are not they're just constantly worshipping before the throne seraphim's and cherubim's they just constantly worshipping and you know they may be sent out to do certain things from time to time and very interesting the one attribute of god that they are constantly worshipping is his holiness holy holy holy it's very interesting that means the throne room is filled with the awe and the sense of the holiness of god the perfection of god and then they say lord god almighty the sense of his power is almighty and who was who is and is to come is eternal attribute he was who is who is to come in he lives outside time so what do we see being mentioned here in the throne room the holiness of god the almightiness of god and the eternal attribute of god the one who was outside time you know just being worshipped saying god this is who you are you're absolutely holy you're absolutely almighty and you're absolutely eternal they're worshipping god and as they are worshipping god the saints the 24 elders who are the redeemed saints who are people who've been honored there in the throne room they have done a worship god and they're saying god you are worthy to receive all the glory and honor and power you are created so they're recognizing you are greater we are created beings and or you will be exist so they are worshipping so in the throne room worship worship is so important now what john does not see and it's not recorded for us is if before the throne is the sea of glass like crystal it's very possible the great multitudes of people are on that sea of glass also involved in worship and we will we will see coming later on in revelation i think 11 again in revelation 15 you will see that on the sea of glass actually i'm looking at revelation 15 verse 2 there are these people who've been redeemed who are standing and worshipping god revelation 15 too so it's quite possible that you know although john has described the throne room with 24 elders and these angelic four angelic creatures it's quite possible there are so many others on the sea of glass like we see in revelation 15 too i'm just worshipping god so what would it be like and you and i are there and you and i are standing on that sea of glass like crystal i'm meaning i i don't know it's probably it's just you know it's hard to imagine what it's like but we are in this presence everything is so clear and there's just pure worship holy holy holy lord god all my thing who was and is and is to come and everybody's just worship the living creatures the elders and all those who are standing on that sea of glass i'm just worshipping god and god is such that you and i may be amongst you know millions of others standing on that sea of glass worshipping but god is such that it's as though you are worshipping him alone so even though there are great multitudes it's like just you and god in that throne room on that sea of glass and you're worshipping i wonder how it feels you know i wonder how it how we would feel when we are there in that but that is coming thank god chapter five he continues his vision so the vision in the throne room continues uh let's read verses one two seven please revelation five one two seven please and i saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a skull right in inside and on the back seal with seven seals then i saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice who is worthy to open the scroll and to lose its seals and no one in heaven or no no the no the earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or to look at it so i wept much because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll or to look at it but one of the elders said to me do not be behold the lion of the tribes of Judah the root of David has prevailed to open the scroll and to lose its seven seals and i looked and behold in the mist of the throne and of the four living creatures and in mist of the leaders stood a lamp as so it had been slain having seven horns and seven eyes which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth then he came and looked the scroll out of the right hand of him who sat on the throne thank you so the the vision is continuing and john is seeing now he's seeing that on the throne god the father sorry he has in his right hand a scroll and there is something written inside and outside the scroll so the scroll the scroll often is used to represent the word of god the prophetic word things that god is speaking what has he has spoken and very interestingly when we looked at daniel in the 12th chapter the angel told daniel daniel whatever i have spoken to you has been sealed for the end of time you know this is daniel um chapter 12 and uh where's this here verse four the um shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end right so in other words uh and then he says this again in verse nine uh daniel the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end so daniel uh daniel chapter 12 uh verses four and nine the angel had spoken and said to daniel you know daniel they're sealed till the time of the end that means till the time it's on hold it's on pause but then the time will come when those words will begin to be fulfilled so we are there in revelation five one we are there those words that have been spoken by the prophets which god has spoken to the prophets they've been sealed and they're waiting to be fulfilled so that's the scroll and uh they noticed john he says a strong angel with a loud voice see there's a strong angel so a sense of strength he can get and he sees this particular angel and is speaking with a very loud voice very strong voice who can open the scroll and uh the sense john gets is nobody can so he weeps and even this expression is a weeping is in the spirit right because on the earth john is sitting and writing the revelation but spiritually he's having this experience he's seeing his yearning his feeling all these things so um the spiritual man is as real as the natural man the natural man is sitting and writing these things spiritual man is experiencing seeing all these things and um then one of the elders come and say hey john don't weep and he refers to jesus says the line of the tribe of jesus so look at how jesus the son of god or the eternal word how he is uh the titles that are being used the lion of the tribe of juda i mean this is the most powerful one from the tribe of juda he's a root of david that means he's a descendant of david referring to his earthly lineage uh juda also referring to his earthly lineage he is the one who can open the scroll that means to open the scroll means start fulfilling these things the time for the fulfillment of all these prophecies has come so literally when jesus comes forward and opens a scroll he is you know what to say starting the time to fulfill everything that is written in the scroll the prophecies that have been given they've been sealed to the time of the end but now it'll start so john sees verse six he sees a lamb as though it had been slain so again another reference to jesus the lion of the tribe of juda the root of david the lamb as there have been slain in all pictures of jesus so we are seeing in the throne room we have seen god the father we have seen the holy spirit god the holy spirit now we are seeing god the son or the eternal word jesus christ and interestingly in verse six he says this lamb as though has been slain has seven horns seven eyes which are the seven spirits of god so jesus the lamb of god so again remember all these of pictures he's saying but it's actually representing the person of christ the lamb of god christ the lamb of god has seven horns seven represents perfection horns represents dominion power authority that means here is the one who has all authority perfect authority and he's having this the seven horns and seven eyes represent the seven spirits of god he says then verse six so the lamb is anointed by the holy spirit and the holy spirit is represented by seven horns and seven eyes as upon the lamb so we know jesus was anointed a seven spirit of god is the holy spirit seven horns talking about perfect dominion seven eyes talking about perfect knowledge eyes omniscience knowledge so what i want to want you to see is the holy spirit is represented by seven lamps of fire seven horns and seven eyes seven lamps of fire we saw in revolution four verse five seven horns and seven eyes revolution five and verse six all representing the holy spirit so the holy spirit seven spirits of god seven lamps talking about his omnipresence because light is you know travels everywhere seven horns representing omnipotence seven eyes representing omniscience he knows everything seven spirits of god and the lamb has this on him he's anointed by the spirit and this person verse seven comes and takes the scroll he's the one who's going to set these things in motion so he is the beginning of creation he is also here the one who starts the fulfillment of these prophecies so what we will see next week as we continue this is from this point on from this point on as jesus begins to open the scroll all the end time prophecies begin to be fulfilled that is chapter six verse one starts happening but before chapter six verse one has started what has happened the elders have been seated on the throne they have received the rewards the clothing white that means the saints have been given the rewards so something has happened in heaven before these things start here or not okay so we're going to pause here we'll spray in dismission and we will continue this next week somebody could pray for us please and we will dismiss Dave you want to pray Father we thank you Lord Jesus for this time for this class of Jesus thank you that you are with us here and able to learn so much things from from from the book of Rebels and from book of Daniel but we thank you we thank you for the pastor as well Lord Jesus we pray that this all this listen will help us understand more about your kingdom and the day of your kingdom to come Lord Jesus I have this one of us Lord Jesus we thank you for this opportunity once again and we we start with this time and in the name of Jesus I pray amen amen thank you we'll take a break and I'll see you in the next class thank you bye now