Life Project Blog

I won’t blame anybody if they are wondering how we could have covered the final judgment and eternity already, when we aren’t even half way through Revelation; fair question. You might remember that in the introductory posts I went to great pains to make the case that Revelation is neither literal nor chronological in nature; this is why. Remember, there are seven visions in this book, and we don’t have the “complete” picture until we see all seven of them. Remember also the significance of “seven”, it is the number of completeness or perfection.

In this vision, the third one so far, we will see essentially the same story as in the 4:1-8:1, but this vision will be seen from a different angle, thus it will reveal things the last did not reveal. Last time, the vision was structured around seven seals being opened from the scroll that the One seated on the throne held in His hand; this time, it is structured around seven trumpet blasts. Again, remember the significance of the number seven.

Like the last vision, we will see the period between John’s time and the final judgment and eternity. Thus the “present evil age” is shown from the first century forward in 8:2-9:21 (cf. 6:1-11). Next comes the final judgment and consummation in 11:15-19 (cf. 6:12-17; 8:1). Finally, as in the previous vision, there is an interlude in which John tells of the state of Christians in light of their ultimate salvation in 10:1-11:14 (cf. 7:1-17).

A really interesting feature of the vision in 8:2-11:19 is that it has a parallel structure in the story of the Exodus. In fact, the dominant image of this second vision of the future is set within the matrix of the Exodus story to show us the same basic elements of the vision we have just examined but in a different light.  In our next post, I will set out that structural parallel for you with a few additional comments, and then after that, we’ll dive into the text.

See you next time!

The Seal

Revelation 7:1-8

The judgment on the earth is stopped so that the seal of the Lamb can be placed on the foreheads of the 144,000. The seal of the Lamb on their foreheads symbolizes the fact that all of their thoughts, purposes and will have been given to and focused upon the Lamb; Jesus Christ. These are the ones, who have been redeemed, but what of the number? So much has been written on it, surely enough to make anyone’s head spin. Yet the answer is really quite simple; it is found in the number itself… and we’ve already covered it. The number 12 and multiples of 12 symbolize God’s people. There are 12 tribes, 12 disciples, 12 apostles, and around the throne of God are 24 elders. 12 X 12 x 1,000 = 144,000. Remember that 1,000 is a multiple of 10 and means a large and definite number. Thus 144,000 is the large and definite number of the entirety of the redeemed. Verses 5 through 8 indicate there are 12,000 from each of the 12 tribes, which add up to the same thing.

The forehead symbolizes the center of our thoughts, so placing a seal on the forehead symbolizes where the thoughts are focused.

The Multitude of Heaven

Revelation 7:9-17

The scene shifts again suddenly, and this time we once again are in God’s throne room, but this time the entire multitude of the redeemed are surrounding the throne along with the ones who were there before. The redeemed offer their worship to God in verse 10, and the host of angels in verse 12. Then a funny thing happens, one of the elders strikes up a conversation with John, asking him who all those people were. John coyly replies telling him that he knows already; a little cheeky I’d say. Then the elder continues: “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb… With this, we can be certain that we have the scene figured correctly. Yet there is one thing that jumps out: they who have come out of the great tribulation. Once again we have something about which so much ink has been spilled: The Great Tribulation. Looking at our vision from the beginning in 4:1 we do see tribulation, and lots of it, particularly with those horsemen. The Gospel rode forth, and the powers of this world did everything possible to stop it by violence, but God only allowed it for so long, and then He acted.

The period of time covered in this vision is the period of time from the arrival of Jesus into heaven after His ascension and His return to earth for judgment. This world is the great tribulation, we live in it now, just as John did when this was written; it is why he was in exile. It is also why we see beheading videos on the internet. The scene John was looking at here in these verses is after the tribulation of our era is over, in eternity.

Even so, the elder had more to say, this time in one of those songs that come at the end of a vision and interpret it for us. Let’s see if we have it right.

Therefore,

“they are before the throne of God
and serve him day and night in his temple;
and he who sits on the throne
will shelter them with his presence.
‘Never again will they hunger;
never again will they thirst.
The sun will not beat down on them,’
nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”

Revelation 7:15-17

These quotes from Isaiah tell us that we are indeed correct in our understanding; we are looking at the redeemed after the final judgment in heaven in this scene; It is finished.

The only problem is, there’s one more seal!

When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour. (8:1)

When the seventh and final seal is opened, there is silence, thus the full revelation of the scroll ends in silence. As always, there are many thoughts on this… here’s mine:

There isn’t a direct parallel in Old or New Testament, but there is in Jewish writings of the intertestamental period. According to 2 Baruch 3:7 the universe was originally silent: “Will the universe return to its nature and the world go back to its original silence?” 4 Ezra adds:

And I said, O Lord, thou spakest from the beginning of the creation, even the first day, and saidst thus; Let heaven and earth be made; and thy word was a perfect work. And then was the spirit, and darkness and silence were on every side; the sound of man’s voice was not yet formed. ( 4 Ezra 6:38-39)

Before the chaos, churning, striving and tumult of this world, there was silence in the creation. It would also appear that Ezra saw a return to silence after the end of this age, before God recreated the universe as His eternal kingdom:

After these years shall my son Christ die, and all men that have life. And the world shall be turned into the old silence seven days, like as in the former judgments: so that no man shall remain.  And after seven days the world, that yet awaketh not, shall be raised up, and that shall die that is corrupt (4 Baruch 7:29-31)

While I’m not entirely satisfied that this evidence is conclusive, there does seem to be a similarity between this and Rev. 8:1. Here’s why I think so: In the very beginning, all was quiet in Creation, for there was the absence of everything that brings about noise, for the world was perfect and harmonious between God and His Creation. Along with so many other things, that changed after sin enters into the picture. In Rev. 8:1, sin is gone for good along with its effects, and God and redeemed Mankind are once again in complete harmony. Remember, these are all symbols, not literal things, and in that sense, I believe that John is trying to convey a message of a retune to the way it was before sin. Will it be that this is indicative of a lull between the final judgment, the arrival of all of the redeemed in heaven, but before the new heaven and the new earth? Maybe, and maybe we will gain some clarification as we continue in Revelation that will answer that question for us.

Next time, we’ll pick up with 8:2 and a new vision.

As we begin this episode, I want you to see how many “sixes” you can find in this text. I’ll give you the first one: This is the sixth seal, so that’s one 6. The text begins:

I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth, as figs drop from a fig tree when shaken by a strong wind. The heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. (6:12-14)

In these verses we have calamitous natural phenomena that indicate that God is executing His judgment upon someone. We know this because these same images are used repeatedly in Scripture to indicate God’s judgment. If you would care to check this out yourself, please feel free; it is a really easy word search, and there are simply too many examples for me to try and cite them here. What makes this particular judgment of such note is the scope of it; God is judging much more than a tribe or even a nation, and we will see how we know that shortly. By the way, did you find another “six” in these verses? you should have 2 “sixes” at this point.

Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hid in caves and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and who can withstand it?” (6:15-17)

These verses give us a picture of terrified humanity; note that John mentions several classes of people (you might want to count them) who are, let’s just say, in a bad way. They’ve even gone into hiding, why do you suppose they have done that? I have been in two great earthquakes in my time, and they are without question the most terrifying experiences of my life. I cannot help but observe here, that a cave is among the very last places I would run to in an earthquake, for the only safe place is out in the open, away from falling objects… So why were they hiding in caves?

The answer is that John is showing us a picture of humanity trying to hide from God’s final judgment. I asked before who was God judging, and I gave you a clue; look for sixes. Have you found them?

This is the sixth seal. There are six calamities (6:12-14) and there are six classes of people trying to hide themselves from judgment (6:15-17).

666! This is the  number or Man (Rev. 13:18).

Of course, it helps that the text itself tells us who is being judged…

We aren’t quite finished with the sixth seal yet… and then there is the seventh still to come; see you next time!

The stage is set, all of the players are present, God’s testament is ready to be revealed, the Lamb has it in His hand and the first seal is opened:

I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures say in a voice like thunder, “Come!”  I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest. (6:1-2)

In Scripture, a horse is usually indicative of war. Remember that when a king comes in peace he rides a donkey, when he comes in conquest he rides a horse. This horse is white, the color of purity and holiness as we have already seen more than once. As always, as we try to understand these apocalyptic texts, we search the Scriptures for parallels. We see something similar in Zech. 1:7-15; 6:1-8, but we see an even better parallel in Rev. 19:11…

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice he judges and wages war.

We also have seen the crown before in our study, the victor’s crown that was given to the overcomers among the seven churches, and to the 24 elders who surround the throne of God in this very vision. “Overcoming”, “conquest” and “victory” have been all through the letters to the seven churches, thus I must conclude that this white horse and its rider represent the Lord as He goes out into this world conquering sin, death and Satan through the Gospel that is spread by and through His church. This may sound strange to us today, for we all too often see ourselves as being under some sort of attack from this or that, but the truth is, our side has the ball; we are the ones on the offensive with the Gospel, the other side is playing defense, trying to maintain the status quo of this world.

Yes, dear reader, we are now dealing entirely with spiritual warfare…

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, “Come!”   Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him was given a large sword. (6:3-4)

On the heels of the conquering Gospel comes trouble. Recalling the letters to the seven churches, which were the ones that we suffering from intense persecution? The answer is the ones that received great commendations from the Lord; the ones that received the greatest condemnation were the ones where persecution wasn’t mentioned… why do you suppose that would be? The answer is simple: They didn’t pose a threat for they were impotent spiritually. Here in our vision, we see the power of the governmental authorities being turned against those who accepted the Gospel in an attempt to quash it, to kill it. This is something we will see again in Revelation, and in Johns day it was an everyday occurrence.

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, “Come!” I looked, and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, “Two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages, and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!” (6:5-6)

This horse represents economic persecution of the church, which we encountered in the letters.

When the Lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature say, “Come!”  I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth. (6:7-8)

This horse represents death in its various forms.

What we have up to this point is becoming clearer: The Gospel goes forth to conquer this world, and the world reacts, and as I have already mentioned, John’s original readers were quite familiar with the reaction. Governmental authorities seek to repress it by any means at their disposal, yet the Gospel continues to go forward. Various interests among the populace seek to repress it by economic or social means, but the Gospel goes forward. There will be all sorts of difficulties and sacrifices, but the Gospel goes forward. In all this, even in the darkest hour, God is in control of events, God is executing His redemptive plan, even though it may not seem like it. Then, the fifth seal is opened:

When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. They called out in a loud voice, “How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?” Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants, their brothers and sisters, were killed just as they had been.

(6:9-11)

Thus far, we have a bleak picture, so this is a very good time for me to remind you that we are not seeing heaven, we are seeing a vision that is there to communicate a message; this is not a literal and historical kind of account at all. When Jesus was with us, what did He promise His disciples that this earthly life would be like? Did He promise them that life would be like a bowl of cherries? No! He promised them that they (and we) would not be treated any differently than He had been, thus this life would be filled with trial, suffering and persecution, and that is what this vision is showing us so far.

6:9-11 is an interesting case. Compare it with Lev. 4. The bodies of sacrificed animals were burned on the altar, and their blood was poured out at the base of the altar. The life (or soul) of the animal was in the blood (Lev. 17:11). In these verses, we see the souls of martyred Christians under an altar, and with that, we can see that they were sacrificed for their testimony of Christ. This is not a sacrifice that is comparable with that of Christ, of course, but through their sacrifices, others have come to believe their testimony. They receive the white robes of purity and await the time when God will judge their oppressors, and that time will come when the next seal is opened.

Revelation 4:6b-11

In these verses John continues his description of the throne room of God from his vision. Please keep in mind that this is not to be understood literally; John is not giving us a play-by-play of the sights, sounds and action in heaven, he is telling us of the character, glory and majesty of God.

To begin with, John sees four rather strange creatures.  John’s description combines imagery found in Isaiah 6 which includes four six-winged creatures he calls seraphim that call out “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory” (6:3b), with Ezekiel 1 in which Ezekiel sees “four living creatures” (called “cherubim” in chapter 10) each of which has four faces of a man, lion, ox and eagle. John’s description also includes their being covered with eyes, signifying that they never sleep, but praise God continually forever.

The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. (4:7)

To John’s original readers, these four represent the apex of a different aspect of creation; man is the crowning glory of creation, of birds, the eagle is supreme, of domestic animals it is the ox, and of the wild animals it is the lion that reigns supreme. Even though each of these representative creatures is “supreme” in one way or another, all are under God’s rule, and together they represent God’s sovereignty over His creation, and the worship that all of creation owes to Him.

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say; (4:9-10)

The living creatures as the whole of creation, give glory and praise to God, what do the elders do? The elders, who represent the whole of God’s people, the church, fall down before God, laying their crowns at His feet.

To fully comprehend this scene, we need to recall Genesis and the purpose for which God created Man. Back in the Garden, God and Man had direct personal relationship; they spoke together. God also gave Man a purpose, to exercise dominion over all the earth and over everything in it. God and Man had relationship with purpose, and relationship with purpose is “fellowship” which was God’s reason for creating humanity. This was broken by the entrance of sin into the equation, but through the work of Jesus Christ on the cross, Man was redeemed and relationship was restored as was purpose. The crowns worn by the elders were attained because they were faithful to God’s purpose, and this faithfulness brought them to glory with Christ. When all Creation sings God’s praise, the elders place their crowns and themselves at God’s feet in worship; this is true worship.

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.” (4:11)

Throughout Revelation the song sung at the end of the vision description serves to tell us the point that the vision seeks to communicate. In the case of the entire vision described in chapter four, the point is verse 11.

Thus, we can say that for the Christian who has been given ability to shape events in this world, and as a group to exercise a degree of dominion in this life, the manner of our living is to voluntarily submit our own will to His, to submit our own purposes to His, and lay all that we are and all that we have at His feet.

As John continues into chapter 5, a new element is added to the scene, we’ll discuss that next time; see you then!

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!