16 Dec (Revelation 4-5)

Revelation 4

(v.1) ...after these things...here we go into another phase of the book. In chapter one, John wrote about what He saw concerning Christ and visions. In chapters two and three, he wrote about the state of the Church in his day. Now, Jesus is showing John what will happen in the future.

Come up here...this is another reference to the Rapture, and it seems that John was spirited to heaven to see the last days! Remember, God had done this in Scripture quite a few times with Phillip, Paul and others.

(v.4) Another reason I believe that the Church is raptured before the Tribulation, is that the 24 elders represent the Church...and they are in heaven before the Tribulation starts. Elders in the church are the leadership, and David initiated the meaning of the number 24 in 1 Chron 24:1-19

If you look at the appearance of the elders, they fit with the Church and the faithful saints who believe in Christ...that's us!

(v.7) Here we need to remember the Jews in the Wilderness, and the camps of Israel as they traveled. Each face of the angels in heaven represent the four faces of the camps of Israel. Also, they represent the four gospels. Look at the Gospels part of this blog to study up on that.

(v.8) Holy, holy, holy...this is another reference to the Trinity! God is called Elohim in Hebrew, which is a singular noun in the plural tense...three in one!

Revelation 5

(v.1) The Father has the scroll in His hand.

(v.3) No man...not Peter, nor Paul, nor any pope, nor Martin Luther, nor Billy Graham, or anyone...can fulfill the Law and take the scroll. It took God Himself to do it...Jesus!

(v.5) Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah is worthy to take the scroll!

(v.6) The Lion of the tribe of Judah and the Lamb are the same...Jesus! When we get into heaven, we will see the scars and cuts on Jesus for His love for us on the cross! I believe this will be the cause of our tears, and He will wipe them away and we will forget all our sins for eternity!

(v.10) We must be clear with this verse to our kids...we will not be gods like Christ, but we will be kings and priests like Him. Because like Him, we were redeemed to the Father, we are kings and priests forever...He is our Kinsman Redeemer!