After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

Revelation 4:1

The vision of “what is now” has ended with the letters to the seven churches, and from this point forward, we will be looking at what will come later. “After this” the dictation of the seven letters, John hears that voice again, the one that was loud like a trumpet telling him to come on up and see what will soon take place. With this, we begin a new vision, the second in Revelation.

From this, John sets the scene through chapter 4 and into chapter 5. In chapters 6 and 7 there will be plenty of action.

At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.

Revelation 4:2-3

The Spirit comes to John and he is once again able to use his prophetic gift; he finds himself in the throne room of God. This is a place that will become familiar to us as we continue through this book, and it is quite significant in itself, for it shows us that throughout the sweep and scope of history, God is in command and control of the things that will come to pass; we need to keep this in mind as we study Revelation, and we should also keep it in mind as we observe not only history, but the present day. Notice that John doesn’t identify who sat on the throne right away, instead he jumps right into a description of the appearance; a description that will reveal “the one who sat there.”  This description has parallels in Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 7:9-10 as well as in 1 Enoch 14.

The first element of this description is that he has the “appearance of jasper and ruby.” It is difficult to nail down exactly what stones are intended from the Greek. Jasper is also mentioned in Rev. 21:11 and seems to have been sparkling, radiant and transparent; it could be diamond. Carnelian (new NIV, “ruby) was translucent and fiery red, as is a fine ruby. The throne is encircled by a rainbow that shines like an emerald. Thus we have the shining forth of God’s glory. In this radiance we have the sparkling light of God’s holiness, the fiery red that reminds of the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the rainbow which is the sign of God’s covenant with Noah symbolizing God’s faithfulness and mercy and the green light that symbolizes life. Yes, the radiance of God’s glory in this vision is a marvelous thing to contemplate!

Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.

Revelation 4:4

As always, opinions vary concerning the 24 thrones and 24 elders. We have already seen that in Revelation multiples of 12 represent the people of God. In my view, they represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 Apostles of the church. They are wearing robes of white, and as we have previously seen, these white garments represent purity and holiness. Those crowns on their heads we have also seen before, they are the crowns of victory made from gold which never degrades or tarnishes. Therefore I would suggest they represent the entire people of God who have “overcome” this world: The throne of God is in the midst of His people, just as Christ was in the previous vision, in the midst of His Church.

From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

Revelation 4:5-6a

The lightning and thunder remind us of Ex. 19:16-19 where the people saw the lightning and heard loud peals of thunder coming from Mount Sinai announcing the presence of God. Those 7 lamps are the same as the seven spirits in the first vision; the Holy Spirit is present here, along with the Father on the throne, the radiance of God is shining forth, and in front of this scene is a sea of glass. The sea is an ancient Near Eastern symbol of chaos and evil. Often in Scripture it is used to illustrate the churning and tossing of this world as it strives against God; we will have more to say about this in future texts. This sea, however is crystal clear being situated as it is before the throne of God. There is no evil in God’s presence, there is no striving against Hi purpose in His presence; He always brings order and peace out of chaos and turmoil… thus, the sea has been calmed.

When we get together next time, there is much more to see in the presence of God, interesting creatures and wonders galore, see you then!