4:1-5:14. THE FIRST VISION IN HEAVEN.
D¹ A 4:1-8-. The throne, the elders, and the zoa.
B -8-11. The utterances of the zoa and the elders. Theme:creation.
A 5:1-7. The throne and the book: the Lion and the Lamb
B 8-14. The new song of the zoa and the elders. Other heavenly utterances.Theme: redemption.
Revelation 4)
1: After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened (i.e already opened) in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, “Come up to this place, and I will show you things which must be hereafter.” (John only taken to the presence of God in heaven. NO "rapture" of the church)
2: And immediately I came to be in the Spirit (i.e. in or by the power of the Spirit): and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.
3: And He That sat was to look upon and a like a jasper and a sardine stone (First and last stones in breastplate) and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like to an emerald.
4: And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders (i.e. probably the 12 Patriarchs and the 12 Apostles) sitting, clothed in white clothing; and they had on there heads crowns of gold.
5: And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6: And before the throne there was a sea of glass (= purity) like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind (4 creatures = the four camps of the tribes of Israel that surround the Tabernacle. see Num. Chapter 2:3,10,18,25. We are creatures are we not?).
7: And the first living creature was like a lion (= Judah), and the second living creature like a calf (= Dan), and the third living creature had a face as a man (= Rueben), and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle (= Ephraim).
8: And the four living creatures had each of them six wings about him (compare with our space-craft today, they have wings); and they were full of eyes within (ever see people in an airplane): and they rest not day and night, saying,
“Holy, holy, holy (God's holiness proclaimed before judgment), LORD God Almighty, Which was, and is, and is to come.”
9: And when the living creatures shall give glory and honor and thanks to Him The One sitting on the throne, Who lives for ever and ever,
10: The four and twenty elders shall fall down before Him The One sitting on the throne, and worship Him That lives for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11: “You are worthy, O LORD, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: for You have created all things, and for Your pleasure they are and were created.” (If anyone asks you why God created us, here is your answer. Have you pleased Him lately? Tell Him you love Him today)
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