Episode 10: Revelation 4 - The Sovereign Rule of God

 

You can watch the video of this here. 

We have finished the vision of the 7 lampstands. Remember when you picture the 7 church picture it somewhat like a Menora, with Jesus standing in the middle of it, either behind or in front. Of you can picture it like 7 individual lampstands that circle around him. Either way, the image of 7 lampstands is a famous image of the nation of Israel.

In other words, as we noted, Jesus is saying that he stands within the midst of his people Israel, the Church, and he is judging them and commending them. These 7 churches represent to us a type of the churches we will find throughout history. Orthodox churches which had abandoned their first love. Faithful churches. Lukewarm churches. Faithless churches. And more.

But this is even more important, this whole letter was addressed to these 7 churches. We have to reiterate this, because people forget this,

“9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea” (John 1:9-11).

So these visions that we are picking up for the rest of the book must be viewed in this context. These are visions for these 7 representative churches and they are therefore visions for all churches throughout history. These exist for our edification and sanctification.

Now, I need to reiterate this as well. My approach to Revelation is to look at what the visions are saying, and not the when or the how. We may talk briefly at times about the when or the how, but our chief focus will be on WHAT John is seeing. When we look at this book like this it comes alive for us, and no longer feels like some esoteric hard to apply text.

I have an opinion on the when for many of these things. Not for the precise timing, but the general idea. For instance, I believe the Millennium is for when Jesus returns and establishes the kingdom, as I am a historic premillennialist.[1] But I have no idea when this will be. And I will not even try to work this out, because Jesus told us not to.

I will as we go through this seek to give some time to other perspectives on Revelation, such as Amillennialism and Postmillennialism, and even Preterism. I am technically historical pre-mill and partial preterist, and as a historical pre-miller I agree with much of what the Amillennialists would say, and even some of the Postmillennialists. So, I will give some airtime to different perspectives when they are relevant. As I think this is helpful to help us be humble in how we approach that which is clear.

However, one view I will be pushing against hard is the idea that tribulation is primarily a time for the testing of the Jewish people “Jacob’s trouble” (c.f. Jer. 30:7), and that the Church is raptured out. This view is so novel, and so swings against the general thrust of the Scriptures and what the Bible says about who the people of God are, that I cannot and will not give it quarter. This view must be challenged at every possible opportunity in the Bible.

I know of Christians who are aging and sitting around in every shrinking circles waiting for the rapture, and for the tribulation to come upon this world. This view is responsible a broad range of errors and issues, and I make no apologies for pushing against. This does not mean I do not see room from disagreement in Revelation, there is plenty, but there are views that range outside of Christian orthodoxy and biblical faithfulness that need to be challenged.

So, buckle up and let’s get into the visions of Revelation and see how God can bless us through this.

Some Old Testament passages to consider when interpreting this passage:

Ezekiel 1, Isaiah 6, Job 1 (there are more than this of course, but these three passages reflect a lot of what is in this passage).

Study Questions:

1.     What is your general impression of this chapter and its meaning?

 

2.     Vs. 1 “After this…” What is the “after this” referring to?

 

 

3.     What do you think the voice means by saying, “Come up here and I will show you what must take place after this”?

 

4.     Do you see any way in which the above question from verse one can be used to indicate or support a pre-tribulation rapture?

 

 

5.     “At once I was in the Spirit”. What does John mean by saying he was in the Spirit?

 

6.     Read verses 2-6. There was definitely one seated on the throne, and John as well as we, know who that One was. But notice that John does not describe the one on the throne. Why do you think this is?

 

 

7.     What’s the significance of verse 3?

 

8.     What is the meaning of the verse 4? Who are the elders and what are these thrones? Note there is some help in the context of the previous chapter.

 

9.     Try to visualize verses 5 and 6, what do you think this sight would have been like, and what do you think this verse means?

 

10.  Read Ezekiel 1 and Isaiah 6. What are the similarities between these Old Testament passages and this New Testament one?

 

11.  What are these four living creatures?

 

 

12.  Vs 8, So these four living creatures are full of eyes all around and within, so they can see everything basically, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, Holy, Holy…” What is John telling us here?

 

13.  Do you see how often the word throne is mentioned in this passage? Why is this is? Why the emphasis on God sitting on his throne?

 

14.  Verse 9-11 really capture the essence of this whole chapter. What are these verses trying to teach us and how should we structure our lives around their teaching?

 

 

As you can see the imagery of Revelation is strange but not unknowable. In fact, this whole chapter has deep connections in Old Testament imagery. There is one clear teaching of this passage, what is it?

List of References

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[1] I am not a dispensationalist. I have written about this here: https://younggospelminister.blogspot.com/2024/05/the-millennial-reign.html and I also reflect on this practically here: https://younggospelminister.blogspot.com/2025/06/god-hates-unbalanced-scales.html