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Revelation 4–7.
Seven seals on a heavenly scroll, opened by the Lamb
The writer returns to the visionary, this time, a vision of heaven: God sits
on His throne. According to Edwin D. Reed in The New Testament: A
Critical Introduction (Wadsword, 1991), "The point of chap. 4 seems to
be that as creator of all things, God is worthy 'to receive glory and
honor and power' (4.11)." The writer, again, strains language in his
attempt to render his vision communicable. The reader encounters torches,
elders, trumpets, singing, and incense. God is sovereign. One recalls Ezekiel's
vision: "the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that
spake." Note: Ezekiel is no stranger to the complexities of representation
and describes only "the appearance" of "the likeness" of a
something--in this case, "the glory of God." The vision continues into
chapter five as an introduction to the seven seals.
H.A. Buster Dobbs Outline http://www.bible-infonet.org/bin/outline/bible/outline_index.htm
Visions (4:1 to 19:21). A. The seals (4:1 to 8:1). 1.
Invitation to enter the throne room of God (4:1). a. Saw a door opened in
heaven (4:1). b. A trumpet voice saying, Come up here (4:1). c. John to see in
prophetic vision the things which will come to pass in the future of the world
(4:1). 2. The vision of heaven (4:2 to 5:14). a. John was in the spirit (4:2).
b. John saw Jehovah sitting on his throne--he was radiant and glorious and
dazzling (4:2-3). c. The 24 elders surrounding the throne (4:4). d. The
sevenfold Spirit (4:5). e. The sea of glass and the four living creatures
(4:6-8; see also Ezekiel 1:4-28). f. The cherubim and elders worship the
triune God (4:9-11). g. Jehovah holds a book sealed with 7 seals (5:1). h. No
one in all the universe was worthy to break the seals and open the book
(5:2-3). i. John wept because the book was unopened (5:4). j. The Lamb of God
advances to open the book (5:5-8). k. The heavenly host worships the triune
God (5:9-14). 3. First seal opened (6:1-2). a. A white horse and its rider
appear (6:2). b. The rider had a bow and a crown--he came to conquer (6:2; see
Rev. 19:11). 4. Second seal opened (6:3). a. A red fiery horse of war appears
with his rider taking peace from the earth (6:4). 5. Third seal opened (6:5).
a. A black horse, representing economic hardship, appears (6:5). b. Its rider
has a balance in his hand--food is scarce and expensive (6:6). 6. Fourth seal
opened (6:7-8). a. A pale (livid or greenish) horse representing death
followed by Hades appears (6:8). b. People are killed by sword, famine and
wild beasts-- suggesting persecution--others died of pestilence (death) (6:8).
7. Fifth seal opened (6:9-11). a. The martyrized saints under the altar are
crying for vengeance (6:10). b. They are given white robes (representing
purity) and told to wait for a little time until their brethren had fulfilled
their course (6:11). 8. Sixth seal opened (6:12-17). a. This vision represents
the final judgment. It shows the atmosphere around the earth removed, the
earth shaken, stars falling to earth, and people of every class terrified
(6:12-17). 9. Seventh seal opened (7:1-17). a. The destruction is suspended
until the saints are sealed on their foreheads (7:1-3). b. The number of saved
includes many Jews from every tribe, but a limited number--not all (7:4-8). c.
In addition there was a great, uncountable multitude and of every nation and
tribe (7:9-10). d. The angelic host, the 24 elders and the cherubim again
worship the triune God (7:11-12). e. The saved, composed of a limited number
of Jews and a great mass of Gentiles, having washed their robes in the blood
of the Lamb, stand before the throne and are comforted (7:13-17). f. There was
a silence in heaven for about the space of half an hour (8:1).
What is it John sees? He sees heaven and a door opening into
it (4.1). He is, however, to get a closer look! "Come up here,
andI will show you what must take place after this" (4.1b). In
the spirit, in heaven, John sees a throne with one sitting upon it who looks like
jasper and carnelian, framed by a rainbow that looks like emerald.
All these are precious gems. John farther sees twenty-four thrones
surrounding the central throne, holding twenty-four elders dressed in white
robes with golden crowns. How close is John? He is not so close as not to
be separated from the throne by flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of
thunder; in front of the throne, between lightning flashes, John sees seven
flaming torches which are the seven spirits of God; between John and the throne,
there is something like a sea of glass. This sea of distance between John
and God is important; as Revelation unfolds, the sea disappears (21.1):
" "Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth for the first heaven and
the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more." In the new
heaven and earth, the home of God is among mortals. Distance, turbulence
and unrest, have ceased to trouble the human spirit which in the New Jerusalem
no longer dies (21.4). Around the throne, too, John sees four living
creatures (cf Ezekiel 1.5, 10) full of eyes in front and behind, one like a
lion, another like an ox, one with a face like a human
face, and th fourth like a flying eagle. John's focus is again on the
eyes, "all around and inside"4.8). The creatures are giving
glory, honor, and thanks to God while the twenty-four elders are casting their
golden crowns before the throne and singing "You are worthy, 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" (11). John seems to acknowledge by
"existed" and "were created" that creation has existed in
the mind of God from eternity. TheRSV suggests the many eyes of the
creatures suggests unceasing watchfulness and the four living creatures are
angelic beings representing humankind and all beasts. The twenty-four elders are
the twelve patriarchs of the Old Testament and the apostles of the New
Testament.
John's vision is, indeed, sublime, invoking majesty and
awe. Chapter five continues the vision of God with a scroll in His right
hand, a scroll containing the fixed purposes of God in the future but sealed,
unalterable and unknown. We will learn no created being will be found
worthy of understanding or carrying out God's plan. Only the Lamb of God
(5.8) will be found worthy, this Lamb the "Lion of the tribe of Judah, the
Root of David, " the Messianic King. This is once again a
proclamation of Christianity and the role of Christ.
http://www.revelationillustrated.com
Art used by permission by Pat Marvenko Smith, copyright 1992.
Click here to visit her "Revelation Illustrated" site.
See
symbols in the Bible. (Word file)
Here is yet another outline and approach to this chapter: http://ccel.wheaton.edu/contrib/exec_outlines/rev.htm
Mark A. Copeland
I. THE THRONE SCENE (1-8)
A. JOHN TAKEN TO HEAVEN (1)
1. After seeing the Lord and hearing the letters
addressed to the
seven churches
2. Upon seeing a door standing open in heaven,
and hearing a
trumpet-like voice
a. Being told "Come up
here"
b. In which he will see
"things which must take place after
this"
B. HE DESCRIBES THE THRONE SCENE (2-8)
1. The One on the throne
a. Like a jasper (sparkling
white)
b. And a sardius stone (fiery
red) in appearance
c. With an emerald rainbow
(various shades of green) around
the throne
2. The twenty-four elders
a. Sitting on twenty-four
thrones around the throne
b. Clothed in white robes
c. With crowns of gold on their
heads
3. Other elements around the throne
a. Lightnings, thunderings, and
voices proceeding from the
throne
b. Seven lamps (the Seven
Spirits of God) burning before the
throne
c. A sea of glass, like
crystal, before the throne
d. Four living creatures in the
midst and around the throne
4. The four living creatures
a. Unique characteristics
1) The first
was like a lion
2) The second
was like a calf
3) The third
had a face like a man
4) The fourth
was like a flying eagle
b. Similar characteristics
1) Each had
six wings
2) Full of
eyes in front and back, around and within
3) Do not
rest day or night, praising the holiness of the
Eternal God
II. GOD PRAISED AS THE CREATOR (9-11)
A. PROMPTED BY THE LIVING CREATURES (9)
1. Whenever they give glory, honor, and thanks
2. To Him who sits on the throne, the Eternal One
B. OFFERED BY THE TWENTY-FOUR ELDERS (10-11)
1. Who fall down before Him who sits on the
throne
2. Who worship Him who lives forever
3. Who cast their crowns before the throne
4. Who proclaim God worthy to receive glory,
honor, and power
1) For He created all things
2) And by His will they exist
and were created
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