Revelation: The Throne and the Seals

Sat, Feb 22, 2025

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

Revelation, throne room, 24 elders, seven seals, Lamb of God, living creatures, four horses, great tribulation, white robes, martyrdom, wrath of God, eternal kingdom, , seven spirits.

In Chapter 1, we saw the the vision of Jesus, what he looked like, and how through the second and third chapters, there’s a there’s a pattern where Jesus is greeting the “angel” of the church, the messenger, presumably pastor or elder. He then describes a little bit about who he is based on the vision in chapter one, and then talks about things that he likes and doesn’t like about the church. (Not every church has all of those parts of the pattern. Gives them instructions for “those who have ears to hear,” and then a reward at the end of it, for their for their victory or “overcoming.” 

And then in chapter four, verse one, he sees a door standing open in heaven. So I’m just imagining John on the ground looking way up, and there’s a door, kind of floating in the air. There doesn’t seem to be a ladder or anything to get there. He hears a voice like a trumpet that says, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” Suddenly, he faces a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. So John finds himself now instantly moving from the ground up into heaven before the throne.

The one on the throne glows like Jasper and Ruby. His throne is surrounded by a rainbow that shines like an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne are 24 other thrones, and seated on them are 24 elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.

So the Why would there be a rainbow over the throne, unless to remind us of something, right? What do you think that reminds us of?  God’s promise at the end of the flood that he was not going to destroy the earth anymore, at least not by a flood.

One of our members reminded me that God said that the rainbow was there to remind himself too.

So the the very beautiful implication is that God is keeping his promise. He’s a God who keeps His promises. That’s why the rainbow is part of the description: to remind us that this is promise-keeping God. By the way, that’s a huge contrast with all of the other gods around. The other gods around are pretty shifty.

Now there are 24 other thrones. There are a couple of interpretations I’ve heard about that. The main one that I’ve seen is that there were 24 courses of priests operating the at the temple. And this is God’s throne room, right? So 24 shifts of priests are at work. So this seems to represent something like that. On the other hand, there also happened to be 12 patriarchs and 12 apostles. So that may represent them. Not only are they dressed in white, priestly garments, but they’ve got crowns, so you kind of get the impression of priestly kings. So that seems to be what’s represented here, or maybe the kingly priests.

From the throne, there came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Now, can you remember a time in the scripture when God appears with thunder and lightning? Maybe some kind of mountain somewhere, perhaps somewhere in the Middle East? Right, Mount Sinai.

In front of the throne, Seven lampstands are blazing . They are the seven churches. The stars in Jesus hands are the “seven Spirits of God.” So notice that the margin also calls it perhaps a seven-fold spirit. It depends on the translation, but seven represents perfection. So there’s one spirit that is perfect, right? I think that’s what’s going on there. It’s not that the  God has seven spirits, literally, but it, it’s the seven-fold spirit, or the perfect Spirit of God.

Also, in front of the throne, there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. So if you go back to Genesis one, what does God do to the water? He separates the water, water is below, water is above. And in between is this firmament, whatever that means. But somehow within the firmament, you have the sun and the moon and the stars and everything out there. So, symbolically if not in reality, the throne of God is represented as “above” the entire universe, which is bounded by the “waters above.”.

This is where heaven is. In the center, Around the throne were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes and fronted and back. The first living creature was like a lion. The second was like an ox. The third had a face like a man. The fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night, they never stopped saying, holy. Holy. Holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come. So this reminds you of scenes in Ezekiel in probably Ezekiel one, verse 10.

And Isaiah, chapter six, verse two. The interesting thing is that they’re not described exactly the same way in any of those three. So in one place they got four wings. In another place, they have four faces on each head, but the faces are the same faces as we see here. So it’s almost like it depends on which direction you’re looking. Yeah, if you’re looking from here, you see the front face here, the side face is there, and the back face there.

Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever and ever, they lay their crowns before the throne to say, You are worthy our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power. For You created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.

Of course, that reminds us of that song, right? “For thou hast created, Has all things created. Thou has created all things. So there’s worship going on here. And you just reading this without any kind of background, you might think, well, this is kind of a, a strange thing to be putting your servants through 24 hours a day. But what likely is going on here? This is a, this is a temple worship scene where God is on His throne in the temple. And what happens is that they have services at daybreak and sunset each day, so they’re not constantly putting their thrones on the ground, bringing putting them back on their hands, putting them on the ground. This is the throne room of God, and they are worshiping at appropriate worship times. It says whenever they do this. It doesn’t say that they’re constantly doing this, right?

Chapter 5 opens with:

“Then I saw in the right hand of him who sat on the throne a scroll was writing on both sides and sealed with seven seals,” (and again, number of perfection, right?) “And I saw a mighty angel proclaiming in a loud voice, ‘who is worthy to break the seals and open the scroll?’ But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll or even look inside. I wept and wept because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look inside.

When you think about “under the earth,” we’re talking Moses, right? We’re talking David. We’re talking all the great men and women of the Bible. Nobody’s found worthy to open this book. Then one of the elders said to me, Do not weep. See the lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals.

But notice, notice how he is worthy. It’s because he has triumphed and is able to open the seven the scroll of the seven seals. “Then I saw a Lamb looking as if it had been slain.” So this is a lion that really looks like a Lamb standing by the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. So here he is, right up as Daniel describes the Son of man who comes before God’s throne. 

The lamb had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits, or seven fold Spirit of God sent out into all the earth. So remember, John the Baptist says that you know the one who’s coming after me. I’m not even worthy to untie His sandals, but He will baptize with the Holy Spirit, with the one on whom you see the Holy Spirit descend, will baptize with the Holy Spirit. So what we’re getting here is kind of a whole Bible Lesson, right? Just in one vision. He takes the book and starts opening the seals.

Remember in the very first image in chapter one, he even has a sharp two edged sword coming out of his mouth. If you go to Hebrews chapter four, verses 12 and 13, you see the word of God is sharper than a two edged sword, but is able to discern the intent of the heart, right? That’s Jesus.

Oh, by the way, this spirit, the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. So presumably, there are all kinds of people of God scattered all around the earth who have this sevenffold spirit.

“He went and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne, and when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the 24 elders fell down before the Lamb. Each had a harp, and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.” 

So what are they doing for Jesus? Here we’ve already seen that they worship the one who’s on the throne. They’re worshiping Jesus. And again, this is a reminder that He is God.

And they sang a new song, saying, You are worthy to take the scroll to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood, you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.

So there’s a statement of intent there, but notice how this worthy theme comes up with the Father on the throne and Jesus now,

Then he looked and heard this voice of many angels,  [So he’s looking to hear. In other places, he’s hearing to look. There’s just a funny wordplay going on here], numbering, 1000s upon 1000s and 10,000 times 10,000 They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice, they were saying, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.” 

Doesn’t that make one of the themes of Handel’s Messiah come roaring into your head, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, etc, etc.

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them, saying to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb, be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever.” 

So apparently this every creature, including those under the earth, yes, so we’re talking the dead. Even the dead can’t help but worship.

The four living creatures said, Amen, and the elders fell down and worshiped.

“I watched as the Lamb opened the first of the seven seals. Then I heard one of the four living creatures, in a voice like thunder, say, come. I looked, and there before me was a white horse, its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror, bent on conquest.

Now, do you remember what we were taught in the Worldwide Church of God about who, what this, what this represents, the Antichrist, or the false religion? So, what kind of a horse does Jesus ride later on in the book? What color of horse? A white horse.

One could argue that a white horse rider is a counterfeit, but he’s not a counterfeit religious figure. He is a counterfeit Messiah.

Another member said, “Yeah, that makes sense. Yeah. Every time somebody tries to control the world, they present themselves as the savior of some country or region.”

That’s right. So back in those days, they didn’t have such a thing as separation of church and state. Your state had its own gods, right? Your state and religion were combined.

When the Lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature say, come. Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. His rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make people kill each other. To him, was given a large sword.

When the Lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, come. I looked, and there before me was a black horse. Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures saying, two pounds of wheat for a day’s wages and six pounds of barley for a day’s wages and do not damage oil in the wine.

So what you’re what you’re looking at here, is a an economic system that’s upside down. The only thing, the only thing that you can make a profit on is the luxury goods, which means the world is going to be doomed, but the elites are doing just fine, drinking their wine and having their salad.

Let’s go to Matthew chapter 24, this is the Olivet Prophecy. I forgot that the last two chapters are really long.

So when his disciples come to him after he’s told them that this temple was going to be destroyed. In verse four, “Jesus answered, watch out that no one deceives you, for many will come in My name, claiming I am the Messiah.” It doesn’t say “I am the religious figure,” right? This is a false messiah and will deceive many.

“You will hear war of wars and rumors of wars.” Well, that was the second horse.

But see to it that you’re not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth pains.

 So there’s a there’s a pattern here, and we know how that works. You get false messiahs rising up. They start wars against other nations. The other nations fight back, and famine is a result.

Then verse nine: 

You’ll be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you’ll be hated by all the nations because of me. At that time, many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.

Okay, now let’s jump back to Revelation. Does that all sound familiar? Jesus is repeating basically what he told them on the Mount of Olives.

So verse nine:

Then he opened the fifth seal. I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. Now go back to chapter one for a moment. Here’s how John introduces himself in the letter.

In Chapter 1,verse nine, “I John, your brother and companion in the suffering and the kingdom and patient endurance  in Jesus, was on the Isle of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” So these are all killed because of the word of God and the testimony. You see how these become recurring themes.

So the fifth seal is martyrdom. The fifth seal is not Rapture. Okay, it’s not Rapture. It’s not a place of safety, it’s a place of death. They called out in a loud voice, “How long Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood”.

 Isn’t that the cry of all martyrs? How long Lord? How long until you set things right? How long until you punish the wicked? How long until you reward your faithful? 

Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer until the full number of their fellow servants and their brothers and sisters were killed, just as they had been.

He’s writing to seven churches. What do you think he’s warning them about? Persecution? Exactly!

This letter was written toward the beginning of the reign of Emperor Domitian. He was the first one who officially required people to address Him as LORD and GOD, and also Asia Minor was the location that was the center of emperor worship in the empire.

So he was warning those churches that persecution in earnest was about to begin. That’s why the letter was written to them, so that they would understand that the hard times are coming.  And so what does that say about the Laodicean church being “kept them from the hour of trial  that is going to come on the earth?”

He’s going to take them out of the way so they don’t experience the worst of it. So they don’t experience the sun burning them. They don’t experience the rocks falling on them, they don’t experience five months of being in complete agony and not able to die.

I remember the joke that used to be used to be told by Bill Cosby back, you know, before he became the bad guy. The things that parents tell you, right, “I’m gonna beat you to within an inch of your life. You mean, you’re gonna beat me until I’m this close to dead, and then stop?”

I watched as he opened the city. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair. The whole moon turned blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to earth as figs dropped from a fig tree, shaken by a strong wind, the heavens receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the generals, the rich, the mighty, and everyone else, both slave and free, hidden caves among the rocks of the mountains. They called on the mountains and the rocks fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb. For the day of their great wrath has come, and who can withstand it? For the day of his great wrath, is here, and who can withstand it?

Yeah. So this may be a reference to, you know that there are some rich people who have made fortresses for themselves, who have, you know, dug deep into the earth so that they can escape any kind of danger.

So this is where we’re brought to a point of tension, and then the tension is going to be released for a while. So we are about to reach the culmination this point, the seventh seal.

Although we’re only at the sixth seal, the seventh seal will be the wrap up.

But within the seventh seal, there are seven trumpets, and then seven bowls at the end. We’re about to see the short version of this, but the tension is just released here in chapter seven, because now we flash to a different scene.

Now remember, John is still in front of the throne right? So this is all happening in the throne room. It’s kind of like he’s he’s watching from a monitor in the throne room all of these different things going on.

After this, I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth holding back the four winds of the earth to prevent any wind from blowing on the land or on the sea or on any tree. And I saw another angel coming up from the east, having the Seal of the Living God. He called out in a loud voice to the four angels who had been given power to harm the land and sea. Do not harm the land or the sea or the trees, until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of God. Then I heard the number of those who were sealed, 144,000 from all the tribes of Israel.

And again, there’s that number 12 in multiples. How do you get 144,000 12,000 from Judah, 12,000 from Reuben, etc, etc. Each tribe has 12,000 Yeah, they’re all twelves, right? After this, I looked, so now he’s he’s heard this number. He’s heard these numbers.

After this, I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people in language standing before the throne and before the Lamb, they were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands.

Now, at what time of the year do the Hebrews carry palm branches? The Feast of Tabernacles. You’re kind of compressing the whole Bible into these short visions.

Yeah. So this is, this is the grafting in of all the Gentiles into Israel, right? This is what Paul talks about.

Then they cried out in a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne and to the Lamb. All the angels were standing around the throne and around the and around the elders and the four living creatures, they fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God saying, Amen, praise and glory and wisdom and thanks and honor and power and strength. Be to our God forever and forever. Amen. And one of the elders asked me, these in white clothes. Who are they and where do they come from? I answered, Sir, you know. And he said, These are they who have come out of the Great Tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white.

“They’ve washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore they are before the throne of God and serve him day and night in his temple. And he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence. Never again will they hunger. Never again will they thirst. The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat. For the lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.

Of course, we know that the living water will appear chapter 21 or 22 I think it’s 22 but notice he’s not talking about those great raptured who avoided the tribulation, right? They endured the tribulation and came out of it with white robes

But it also mentions that, like John, some technically might still be alive, yeah, but they might be in prisons or various other things, enduring tribulation,

If you are paying attention you might ask yourself, Where are the Raptured saints?

Further thoughts from the congregation follow here:

Wayne:  I mentioned that phrase, “who was and is and is to come.” When we encounter God, he says, “I am.” “ I exist.” There’s no time. Time doesn’t have any bearing. But then he says, The one who was and is and is to come, that’s time based.

In my mind, this is the way I phrase it, God has subjected himself to time in order that humans can go through the fruition of what he wants to do with us and bring us into His eternal kingdom. We are in a time based system. And it says at the at the right time, Jesus came and died for us. So somehow he subjected himself to this time based system for for now, in order that He can transcend into “who was and is and is to come.” That’s time based. So could that be Jesus? I

So somehow Jesus has put this piece of time into his existence where he’s allowing it to go sequentially, because it says Jesus came at the right time, right? So that’s sequential. You can’t get around that.

Then at the end of that, he brings us into His eternal kingdom. Then we come into the same existence, the I Am existence, and I find it interesting, is that’s how we talk about ourselves. Anyways, I am going to go to the store. I am this. I am that we’re appropriating God’s name of himself when we talk that way. So that’s just my personal kind of thoughts about that. And I don’t know right or wrong, doesn’t there’s no it’s not that

Edward: How’s that I’m going to comment. The English language, to me, is the only language that does that. There’s no equivalent in French. For instance, in French you have to say,  I’m doing this.  I am doing that. Okay, that’s in the first person, but, yeah, this language, to me, English is the only language that actually does that.