Photo by Karren McPherson from Maddiston, near Falkirk.
After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had 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 ESV]
In the first verse of Revelation Chapter 4, we have a complete change of scenery. We are given some clues that this is a new scene. We have the words, 'after this' telling us that we have moved on from the vision of the seven churches which are on earth. We had seen that Jesus in His resurrected glory was present with these churches on earth - the son of man (the term used for Jesus) was in the midst of the seven churches (Revelation 1:12-13). Remember that the seven churches are portrayed as lampstands.
We have another signpost which is sitting close by the first one - 'I looked'. In chapter 1 , John had heard a loud voice like a trumpet and he had turned to 'see the voice' and instead he had seen the seven golden lampstands with Jesus in the middle of them. This time he looks and we are told that John is in the Spirit (which I take to be the Holy Spirit) and John sees right into heaven. Before we follow John into heaven, can I just take a few seconds to point out the third signpost which is the word, 'behold.' If you are using a modern translation which is trying to convey this text in modern English you will probably not have the word, 'behold' in the version you are using. For example, the New International Version avoids the word 'behold' because it is too old-fashioned. But it is a useful word to look out for in Revelation.
So we have a door open in heaven. I am going to suggest that chapters 4 and 5 are very important. We are allowed into heaven for a wee look and what we see there completely transforms everything. I am probably not going to continue with these studies in Revelation for much longer as it appears that some readers are finding the study of Revelation a bit too deep. But I could not leave this amazing book without sharing with you my thrill of reading these two chapters again and seeing a throne in heaven and one sitting on the throne. I needed to be reminded that there is a throne sitter who is still in control of world affairs. God is still on the throne. The Christians in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea needed to be reminded that there was a throne sitter. John had told them that Jesus the son of man was fully aware of the condition of their church. He had conducted an accurate assessment of their spiritual condition. But they may be thinking as they hear the messenger reading out this message from Jesus for all these churches, "But what about the Romans? It is not easy to be faithful to Jesus in a city where everyone is expected to worship the Roman Emperor Domitian. Bad enough to have all these Roman gods and Greek gods but Rome is so powerful." They needed to have a wee look into the real throne room of the universe. They needed to see that the Roman Empire would crumble and fall but the throne sitter was permanently in control of the universe. So earthquakes might be frightening and cause terror if you were living in Philadelphia but God is more powerful than the earthquakes. Their lives are in His hand.
In chapters 4 and 5 of Revelation we have a glimpse at heavenly worship and we see Jesus as the Lamb who has been slain or slaughtered and also the Lion of Judah. There is no worship of the Roman Emperor in heaven nor any powerful ruler who has lived in the last two thousand years. There are no politicians, scientists, philosophers, artists, celebrities etc. being venerated. God the Father and the Son of God are worshipped in heaven. So we have the privilege of getting a foretaste of an eternity where this will be our preoccupation. Presently, we are called to witness for Him in a world which has rejected God.
“Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed, saying, “Let us break their chains and throw off their shackles.””
Psalms 2:1-3 NIV
The world has not grasped the significance of the vision of Revelation 4 and 5. But as Christians, we need to watch the news on our TVs from the perspective of this vision in Revelation. We need to make our plans for the future with this vision firmly before us. We must live our lives with the knowledge that God is still on the throne. This will be a warning to us not to lose our affection for Jesus (as had happened at Ephesus) or be complacent and settle for compromise with the world as had happened at Laodicea. It will also encourage us if we are called to suffer like the church at Smyrna or Philadelphia.