The Revelation of Jesus Christ – Jesus has set the stage of Heaven in Chapter 4. We have seen the throne, those around the throne, lightnings, thunderings and voices. The four living creatures and the 24 elders are worshipping around the throne, casting down the crowns. The stage is set for the entrance of the the next player in this drama, we know Him, and it is because of Him that we can even see and participate in this drama.

Revelation Chapter 5

In the right hand of Him (God) who sits on the throne is a scroll. This scroll is written inside and on the back and sealed with seven seals.

I learned a bit of Hebrew History which blew my mind and also sheds insight on the scroll.

In John’s day scrolls were made of papyrus, and one side was smooth, one side bumpy. Papyrus was about 8 – 9″ wide. A small book like Jude would be on one sheet of papyrus, but a larger book like Revelation would be about 15 feet long, rolled up and carried.

Because of the bumpy side most scrolls were only written on one side, the smooth side with the following exception, the title deed of a piece of property.

When a person had financial troubles and needed to borrow money, they might hand their title to a bit of land over to a lender. On the outside of the rolled up scroll would be written the conditions to redeem the property, and those conditions were sealed with seven seals. To reclaim the property you had to meet each and every condition, and then you could gain back your property.

An example of this is Jeremiah 32:6-29 in verse 10 – he signed the deed and sealed it.

So what is this scroll? As we read on we will see that it is the title deed for the earth. In Genesis, God gave Adam dominion over the earth, and Adam was in charge. He was told not to eat from the two trees in the Garden. When satan came in and convinced Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit, and Adam chose to eat as well, he gave the title deed over to satan. That is why satan is known as the prince of this world, and even Jesus called him that. He is also called the commander of the spiritual powers of the air. Satan was thrown down from Heaven when he rebelled against God, Isaiah 14:12-17 describes this fall. When Adam disobeyed God, he opened the way for satan to begin to influence the earth. Right now, we face the repercussions of this original sin in the form of disease, death, natural disasters, etc. Satan has set about to separate and destroy anything that is special to God, which includes us.

Once satan is defeated we will look upon him and say, Isaiah 14:16 “..Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world as a wilderness and destroyed its cities?” The problem comes in that satan used to be called Lucifer and he was the praise and worship minister in Heaven, was the angel of light. He was also very beautiful in appearance, and often when he shows himself on earth we see beauty and light, not the ugliness that he embodies. Trust me in this, many of his disguises are hard to see through, and it is easy to be tricked by him, which is why we must stay very grounded in the Word. What God does, satan imitates, and many are fooled by supposedly good works that are not from the source of God, but of satan.

I remember when I first talked with Pastor Don I considered myself a good witch. (my testimony is on 10/705) I only did healings, and helped people. I didn’t curse or do anything that seemed wrong. Pastor Don pointed out to me (and it took me some time to see it) that satan is the source of sickness and disease and if I pray to any diety that isn’t God, or lay hands on a person and put forth “good energy” from myself, or channel the forces in the universe, etc, and the person gets healed, that does not mean that the healing came from God or was permanent. Yes, a removal of symptoms might have occurred, for if satan can put a hand of sickness over a person, he can also remove that hand and cause a supposed healing. We really have to consider the source of what happens, if it isn’t of God, it can’t be trusted.

So right now satan has the title deed of earth in his possession which is why, in Matthew 4 when Jesus was in the wilderness being tempted by satan, that satan could offer Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Until Jesus redeemed the earth, those kingdoms did belong to satan, but Jesus has met all the conditions for redemption of the title deed to earth. (but I give away the exciting plot).

Stay tuned until tomorrow to see who is worthy to take the scroll. Note, this is not who is willing to take the scroll. On earth we had many who were willing to take the scroll – Napoleon, Hitler, Charlemagne, Alexander, but the scroll was not released to the ones willing to take it, God would only give it to one WORTHY. Tomorrow we will join John who is crying tears and wondering if anyone was worthy to take the scroll.

Heather

If you are ever looking for a fun movie, we rented one from a video store that has tons of old vhs tapes. This movie was Dr. Satan, who is an evil scientist, and it was a series of 15 cliffhangers from the black and white movie era. What fun, the robot rivaled Robbie the Robot, and after awhile we had fun watching the ending of one episode and the review at the beginning of the next and noticed differences in the action. The movie was classic good vs. evil and good won. I guess in a way that is the way the Bible works too. I have read the last page and guess what, good wins.

In the mean time I am learning just how much the tongue can get one in trouble. Sometimes I say things and wish I could take them back. Today is one of those days. It is very humbling, and even after apologies are made, it is still tough to realize that when you speak without thinking there are consequences. Some days are just harder than other days, and today was one of those.

I promised to talk about the crowns in Revelation 4. I am not a wearer of hats ordinarily even on the coldest days, but for some reason crowns are important in Revelation. Started me thinking about the different crowns mentioned in the Bible. Here are a few of them.

THE CROWN OF RIGHTEOUSNESS 2 Tim 4:8 Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give me on that Day, and not to me only but to all who have loved His appearing.

THE CROWN OF LIFE: James 1:12 Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

THE CROWN OF GLORY: 1Peter 5:4 “…And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away.”

THE CROWN OF REJOICING: 1 Thes. 2:19 For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Is it not even you in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming?

THE CROWN OF LIFE: Rev. 2:10 Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer. Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.

In Revelation the elders were casting their crowns at Jesus’ feet. Now one might ask, if we have earned crowns just to cast them at Jesus feet, why bother? Frankly, the crowns are earned for believing and loving God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit. If we are honest, all the good that we do is not of our own volition but of the Spirit working through us. They are not our crowns, but crowns we got obeying God. I just pray that my actions on earth are such that I have crowns to cast. God would love me whether or not I have crowns, but I really desire to do His will and work.

The crowns of the elders are gold. 1 Corinthians 3:11-15 For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ, Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is. If anyone’s work which he has built on it endures, he will receive a reward. If anyone’s work is burned, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.

In the Day (the Day of the Lord) God will look at what we do and determine it’s worth. The work that God wants us to do is to believe on Him whom He sent (to believe on Jesus), but also to love, for that is how people will know us, by our love. Our works should be to honor God, to do God’s will. Sometimes when we work in our own understanding, even though the works are good, they may not be God’s best. If we are doing good works for praise, for elevation, for anything other than the serving of God, those works will not be enduring. I am praying that when the refiner looks at my works he sees his reflection in gold, or silver or precious stones. But please notice that God still loves us even when we muck up.

God is good in that He will look for the good in what actions we do for Him. Two examples. The Faith Chapter Hebrews 11, talks about various people who did actions by faith. An interesting study is to examine some of the lives of those mentioned as having great faith, even the stellar ones like Abraham (lied several times claiming Sara was his sister), but some of the others mentioned, Barak (whom Deborah had to shame into acting bravely – following her into battle), Samson who got seduced and disobeyed God’s commands for him, Gideon who laid down many fleece, Rahab who became part of Jesus’ geneology, but she lied to save the spies. God examined these people, mistakes and all and only recorded their acts of faith in Hebrews 11, no mention of the mistakes. I am hoping that when God looks at my life, He too looks at the moments of faith and points them out, not my multitudinous mistakes.

Beth Moore in her Believing God Bible study says that we should add verse 41 to this chapter “By faith (fill in your name) and then fill in what you did for God by faith.

Also, when Jesus fed the multitudes the disciples did not have the faith to provide food for them, so Jesus met them where they could do works for Him. He had the disciples seat the people in order, and then to serve the food. Perhaps it is not the greatest service they could have done (for they could have had the faith to pray for provision for the multitudes), but they did what Jesus told them to do in obedience.

We have moments where we exhibit faith and are following God’s will, and moments when we are acting in our own understanding. God desires obedience, not sacrifice. He values our obedience to His Will.

As we grow in faith and learn to obey, we will be building our crowns to cast at Jesus’ feet. What a glorious day that will be.

Praying you have an awesome weekend.

Heather

Still about the throne room of God, Revelation 4

Jeremiah 17:12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.

There is a song that I love. A few of the lyrics are I can only imagine, what it will be like. And it the lyrics contemplate what we will do when we are in God’s presence. Will I stand, to my knees will I bow, will I sing Hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all. We can only imagine what the throne room is like, what Heaven is like. A few have seen images of Heaven, but I strongly suspect that their images are limited by their current understanding. There is a book called Flatland, which talks about two dimensional figures like lines and triangles imagining that there might be a third dimension, but their only way of seeing the third dimension is at one point of time when the figure would intersect with the line. I think it is this way with Heaven. We see tiny intersections of Heaven with our earthly vision, but no way can we really conceive of the majesty of the Kingdom of Heaven and God’s throne.

Isaiah 6:1-3 gives a description…..” I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; The whole earth is full of His glory!’”

combine that with Revelation 4, and you get a larger picture.

There was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald. This rainbow is a reminder of Noah and his time, with the everlasting covenant that God gave us.

From the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Remember when Moses went up to the mountain? He spoke with God, but the people heard thundering, lightning.

There was a sea of glass, crystal sea, and around the throne were the four living creatures, full of eyes in front and back.

Lion – Calf (ox) - face like a man, and the fourth creature was like an eagle.

There are several thoughts about what and who these creatures were (the same ones mentioned in Isaiah).

Matthew speaks of Jesus the King – the Lion
Mark speaks of Jesus the servant – the ox
Luke – Humanity of Jesus – the man
John – son of God deity – Eagle which soars higher than any other creature.

These creatures are like the cherubim and seraphim in the Old Testament. They were positioned outside the Garden of Eden after the fall of Adam and Eve to guard the tree of Life, they were mentioned in Ezekiel 1 & 10 and Isaiah 6. There were two angels sitting at Jesus’ head and feet in the tomb. This is reminiscent of the ark of the covenant, and that too is a picture of Jesus and Heaven. There are many parallels:

Door to Heaven Door to tabernacle
Sea of brass for a laver and a crystal sea in front of the throne
Menorah in tabernacle and lampstand in Heaven
altar of incense in both places
etc.

It is the mercy seat that people met God on earth to have sins forgiven, and in Heaven we Have Jesus who provided us with mercy and grace and forgiveness.

When the living creatures give glory to God the elders bow down and worship God, casting down crowns before the throne.

I imagine it would be very hard to be near God and not want to give Him glory and worship.

Tomorrow I will share a bit about the crowns. I wish I had greater knowledge to give a clearer description.

I will try to get to your sites tomorrow, I have been running around all day today and just got a chance to sit down for a bit.

Have a blessed night!

Heather

Revelation is a book that people seem to think is very difficult to understand. People look at it in many different ways, some see it as highly symbolic, some see it as having happened already, some see it as prophetic. It is the only book in the Bible that comes with it’s own outline. Revelation 1:19 Write the things that you have seen (Chapter 1) the things which are (Chapters 2 & 3), and the things which will take place after this. (Chapter 4-22)

The first words in Chapter 4 in the Greek are: Meta tauta which means after these things. Which things? After the Church age Chapter 2 & 3.

Chapter 4 comes after chapters 2 & 3, now John lookes and sees a door standing open in heaven and heard a voice like a trumpet.

This trumpet brings to mind, 1 Thes. 4:13-18 which many see as a passage that talks about the Church being caught up in heaven (and although the word rapture is not used in the Bible, the descriptions in the three primary passages regarding this imply the church being caught up). From Chapter 4 on, everytime we see the saints in Revelation, they are in heaven and in no instance after chapters 2 and 3 is the church on earth mentioned in Revelation. But that is a discussion for another day and time.

1 Thes 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.

In case we miss the fact that this chapter takes place after the Church age, at the end of Revelation 4:1 the voice tells John “Come up here, and I will show you the things which must take place after this.”

What is cool is that after the summons where is John? He is in Heaven IMMEDIATELY, and what is the first thing that He sees? The throne. it it SET in Heaven. It is permanent, anchored, unmovable. In Jeremiah, Jeremiah laments how often Israel is seduced by false Gods, and goes to groves, which move. When one grove dies, it is replaced by another grove. Unlike the idols we worship, God is true, and everlasting. He does not move with the tides, He is set in the truth. Even on earth today we are so swayed by the opinions of others, our belief systems move with the trend, and we sometimes seem to lose sight of the Truth as expressed in the Word.

And after John sees the throne, he sees the One who sits on the throne. This person is like a jasper (diamond) and a sardius (which is a red carnelion). These stones were stones that represented two of the 12 tribes of Israel. Jasper – was Benjamin which means, Son of my Right Hand., which is light, and the sardius was of the tribe of Reubin (Behold a Son) the Sardius was a blood red stone. So this speaks of light and love – the beginning and the end. Reubin was the first born of Israel, Benjamin was the last son born. (Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last). On the Ephod of the Priest were twelve stones, set in rows, the first stone on the first row was the Sardius, and the last stone on the last row was a Jasper. Again the first and the last. And on those stones on the Ephod were the 12 tribes of Israel’s names.

pretty safe to conclude that the person on the throne is Jesus. It is also comforting to find that he is SEATED, He is not nervously pacing and rubbing His hands together, He is not running to and fro, His work is finished. The work was finished on the Cross. And now He is seated at the Right Hand of the father.

Have to stop so my husband can use computer for work, will try to touch base later.

Again, thanks so much for the love and care that you have shared with me as I sort out the issues from my past. You are loved and in my prayers.

Heather