The Revelation Series
Commentary from 12 scholars
OTY: The Revelation (7)A -Revelation Commentary
Previous Section: Chapter Three - The Seven Churches, Part 2
CHAPTER FOUR - HEAVEN
This is called an argument from silence. It is not an argument at all. This type of logic can cut both ways. The term church is also absent from Revelation 20-21, which deals with the millennium and eternity future. The term church is never used to designate an entity in heaven. It is as if the church disappears from history after Revelation 3. However, this is clearly not the case.
A fundamental point of apocalyptic literature is to use nothing that would allow the unwanted to discern the meaning of the essential message. Leon Morris writes,
There appears to have been times when it would have been politically unwise for them to have done so. They evidently trusted that their friends would be able to discern their essential meaning, and that their enemies would not be able to do so. (Morris, Apocalyptic, 38)
It would have been very unwise for John to so identify the church with the future destruction of the kingdoms of the world that the world could easily discern it from his apocalypse. The Revelation was written to comfort God’s people, not provide ammunition for their destruction. We have seen what the enemies of God will do with a little information detrimental to their future (Matt 2:1-12, 16-23).
The fact that the term church does not appear in Revelation 4-19 does not mean that the entity itself is not represented in these critical chapters. All would agree that the reference to wife in Revelation 19:7 designates the church. Revelation 20:4 records, "Then I saw thrones, and they sat on them." This group must contain at least a portion of the church given the Lord’s promise in Revelation 2:26b-27 and 3:21 that overcomers will reign with Him during His physical temporal kingdom on earth (Matt 19:27-30).
There are at least nine different references to the church in Revelation 4-19:
1. Every tribe and tongue and people and nation, 5:9c
2. A kingdom and priest, 5:10
3. Fifth seal martyrs, 6:9
4. A multitude, 7:9; 19:5-6
5. Bond-servants, 11:18; 19:2, 5
6. Our brethren, 12:10
7. The rest of her children, 12:17
8. Saints, 13:7, 10; 14:12; 18:20, 24
9. Wife, 19:7
Each of these designations will be defended as we confront them in context. Please see relevant chapter and verse.
Revelation 4:2-3
Immediately I was (1) in the Spirit; and behold, (2) a throne was standing in heaven, and (3) One sitting on the throne. And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.
1. In the Spirit = the capitalization of spirit by the translators suggests that John is in the Holy Spirit, which is certainly true. However, this is not what John is attempting to communicate here. All believers have opportunity to be in the Spirit, but that does not mean such a one will receive revelation from God. This phrase "is an idiom indicating that John’s revelatory experiences took place not "in the body" but rather "in the spirit," i.e., in a vision trance…(Aune, Revelation 1-5, 283).
2. A throne was standing in heaven = the Greek literally says "and behold a throne was set in the heaven." The difficulty arises with the timing of the verb ekeito. This verb is used 25 times in the New Testament. In the predominate number of cases, it refers to the recent past, as in John 2:6. However, it can refer to the indefinite or distant past, as in 1 Thess 3:3. John uses the term nine times. Seven occurrences refer to the recent past (John 2:6; 19:29; 20:5, 6, 7, 12; 21:9). One reference can refer to recent past or distant past depending on one’s interpretation (Rev 21:16).
There is only one occasion in Scripture that records God the Father taking a seat (Daniel 7:9). Daniel describes the Ancient of Days in the context of the final period of human history, as we know it, taking a seat prior to the judgment of the little horn. Daniel’s thrones are thrones of judgment (Dan 7:9-10). Revelation 4 records the Lamb’s reception of the contract of judgment, which is indicated in the large scroll. Therefore, the scene John is shown occurred in the recent past. For it is only after the Lamb has been slain that He is worthy to open the seals.
Chapter 4 has been described by some as the throne-room scene. This is fitting. What follows in Revelation 4 is clearly focused on a throne. First, John focuses on the One seated on the throne. Second, he focuses on what is around the throne. Third, he indicates what flows out from the throne. Fourth, he points out what’s before the throne.
3. One sitting on the throne = God the Father.
“Rarely is anyone ALL RIGHT or ALL WRONG”
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