Epaggelia

“a door open in Heaven”, v1, Be thankful it is open, Jesus said, he was the door of the sheep, John 10:9. Later as John’s focus in the vision goes past the door, it’s meaning will be portrayed by the Lamb, 5:6. The open door is open access to the power and privileges of Him who is on the throne. The Throne which rules our life is not in Italy, Israel or anywhere else on earth, but now Christ rules from the sanctified human heart enthroned.

“the first voice…like a trumpet” Compared to the thunderous volume of a huge waterfall, this is alarming, “I will show you what must take place after these things”, Now that John has written the 7 letters to 7 churches dictated by Jesus the Son of Man, he now has the privilege of seeing what is about to happen in the lifetime of the churches he just wrote to. The Trumpet voice is reminiscent of being called to arms, Ex. 19:5-21.

“Immediately I was in the Spirit and behold a throne”, v2, This throne is mentioned 38 times in the Revelation. The purpose is to make sure persecuted Christians are assured of who is in control, and that will not change, no matter how bad the pain is. Paul tells Christians that we are citizens of Heaven, we are placed in Christ in the Heavenly places and our life now is in Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Throne, Col. 3;1-3, Eph. 2:6 & Php. 3:20. There is an aspect where a Christians life should be lived in Heaven right now, Rev. 13:6. The Throne in Revelation stands for the reign of God in our heart, Luke 17:21. God’s throne in the Old Testament is established in the Temple, Ezk. 43:1-7. In the new covenant it is to be established in the Christians heart, 1^st Cor. 6:19. In the Revelation we see the Throne amongst the new Jerusalem, Rev. 21:22-22:1 Are you there?

“Jasper, Sardius, and a Rainbow” v3. jasper was on the High Priests Ephod. The word for this gem means in Hebrew, “glittering” it is found in various colors but it is also known to be the clearest of the quartz family of stones. In Revelation 21:11, it’s “clear as crystal”, and emblematic of the holy glory of God. Sardius or Carnelian is only found red in color and obviously signifies loving sacrifice which gives blood. The rainbow with an emerald appearance signifies an effect of God on the Thorne, LIFE. This rainbow is not a physical one, but a spiritual circular one. This means even though your physical life seems to be disappearing, at the same time your spiritual life is renewed and gaining strength for deliverance! BTW, in collegiate artwork there are 7 main shades of green, Chartreuse, Sage, Lime, Olive, Emerald, Pear, Shamrock.

“24 Elders” v4, They are royal winners, their crowns are signifying victory after winning a race. Their white garments are indicative of their righteous deeds, Rev. 19:8. What makes them royal? There were Jewish priests from the Babylonian captivity which were crowned in Zech. 6:9-15, which was a sure indication of a royal priesthood in God’s heart, a shadow of our reality in the church. Why 24? There are 24 orders of Priests in the Old Testament, 1^st Chronicles 24:7-18. Therefore this is representative of the Saints ourself. We are in His presence and we are more than conquerors, Romans 8:37. We are the royal priests in 1^st Peter 2:9 & Revelation 4:4. The crowns and torches would highlight yellow, the sea in v6 would highlight blue, the One on the throne would highlight red, the rainbow would highlight green, now try to envision the spectrum of color in this vision.

“Seven Lamps…Seven Spirits” v5, These lamps are torches in the Greek language from Rev. 1:4 and are different from the Lampstands representing the Churches in 1:20. The closeness in symbols shows us clearly that we are to be supporting the light from the Spirit of Christ in our daily lifestyle. The very essence of worship is to live like the One your praising. There are two possible interpretations on the 7 Spirits, it could be the perfect work of the Spirit, or it could be the perfect presence of the Spirit, or maybe both?

“Four Living Creatures” v6 The angelic Cherubim are guarding judges of all who enter or come near the presence of God. Ezekiel envisions God using these creatures as a form of transporting his judgment and glory in Ezk 1:& 10. On the subject of God’s transport, the Psalmist speaks clearly, God rides on the Cherubs, Psalm 18:10. There is a lion (fierce predatory), a bull-calf or ox (powerful fury) an eagle (precise justice), a man (wise intellect) which are all ready to deliver God’s wrath if anything threatens His holiness.

“Worthy Are You” v11, Everything around the throne finds Him upon it, as worthy of praise, defense and sacrifice. Do we feel like God is worth defending and making sacrifices for? Do we only praise Him on Sunday?