1. Jesus is coming. . .soon! Are you ready?

2. In chapters one through three of Revelation God presented to John
the conditions of His CHURCH on earth

3. In chapters 4 and 5 John’s attention is directed to a symbolic vision of God’s THRONE in heaven

4. Throne Room Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
• Door IN heaven is opened (not a door opened into heaven); this door opened a view to the most holy place
• “Thus saith the Lord GOD; The gate of the inner court that looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days; but on the Sabbath it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened
What door is opened?
It is the inner east gate that Ezekiel is referring to in this statement; this gate was shut the six regular working days of the week, but was opened on the Sabbath for one particular reason.

5. Throne Room Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
“And the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of that gate without, and shall stand by the post of the gate, and the priests shall prepare his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate: then he shall go forth; but the gate shall not be shut until the evening.” Ezekiel 46:1, 2
The prince (or king) was to come on the Sabbath with his offering, and he was to stand at the threshold of this east door that was now left open for him, so he could see what the priests did with his offering. He could see all the way through the holy place to the curtain of the most holy place.
The next slide shows a diagram of this temple structure.

6. Altar of Burnt Offering
Throne Room Vision
Plan of Ezekiel’s Temple
Holy Place
North Gate
Ezekiel spends nine chapters describing the Temple that was to be constructed AFTER the return from Babylonian captivity (Eze. chp. 40 to 48)
East Gate
One very significant point we need to glean from this —
Remember at the beginning of the study we discussed what the “Lord’s day” meant? And how it had to be the seventh-day Sabbath?
Well, this verse in Ezekiel proves that John’s vision was given on the Sabbath because that was the ONLY day that this door was opened; the typical proves the antitypical; line upon line, here a little and there a little; the Bible is its own expositor.
The prince (or king) was to bring his offering to the Temple on the Sabbath day, and he was to enter through the East Gate, where he would hand over his offering to the priests; the prince would then stand at this East Gate, which was opened for him, and he could peer into the Sanctuary proper, being now able to look straight into the holy place, all the way to the curtain of the most holy place.
Every other day of the week, this east gate was to be closed, and people who would bring their offerings to the south or north gates would only see across the inner courtyard, and the only object of the sanctuary that was in their line of vision was the brazen altar.
Prince stood here
Altar of Burnt Offering
South Gate
Most Holy Place

7. Altar of Burnt Offering
Throne Room Vision
Plan of Ezekiel’s Temple
Holy Place
North Gate
Ezekiel spends nine chapters describing the Temple that was to be constructed AFTER the return from Babylonian captivity (Eze. chp. 40 to 48)
East Gate
What do you think is the meaning of this? It seems quite specific and pointing to something important. Could it have any prophetic significance, pointing to something that Christ would accomplish? Just something to think about.
Prince stood here
Altar of Burnt Offering
South Gate
Most Holy Place

8. Altar of Burnt Offering
Throne Room Vision
Plan of Ezekiel’s Temple
Holy Place
North Gate
East Gate
Ezekiel uses a unique term in the opening of chapter 40, a term that is used no where else in the entire Bible
Ezekiel uses a very unique term in the opening of chapter 40, a term that is used no where else in the entire Bible.
Altar of Burnt Offering
South Gate
Most Holy Place

9. Altar of Burnt Offering
Throne Room Vision
“In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.”
Holy Place
North Gate
East Gate
That term is ROSH HASHSHANA which is the term used by Jews today for the New Year — civil year, not the beginning of religious cycle of feast days. On Rosh Hashshana the trumpets are blown announcing the coming of the day of atonement, which follows in 10 days. The blowing trumpets warned the people that judgment was near, and that they should get ready in the time which remained until the day of atonement.
Altar of Burnt Offering
South Gate
Most Holy Place

10. Altar of Burnt Offering
Throne Room Vision
“In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after that the city was smitten, in the selfsame day the hand of the LORD was upon me, and brought me thither.”
Holy Place
North Gate
East Gate
“In the five and twentieth year of our captivity, in the beginning of the year, in the tenth day of the month . . .”
What Ezekiel said here in this opening verse is that he received this vision on the tenth day of the new civil year — that would have been the Day of Atonement in the year 573 B.C.; 25 years after Nebuchadnezzar had taken the first captives to Babylon, captives which included Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, and Mishael, and 14 years after Nebuchadnezzar razed the city because Zedekiah had continually rebelled against him.
Altar of Burnt Offering
South Gate
Most Holy Place

11. Altar of Burnt Offering
Throne Room Vision
Holy Place
North Gate
Plan of Ezekiel’s Temple
East Gate
Chapters 40 to 48 constitute one continuous prophecy of a unique character in that they present a vision of a NEW temple that God intended His people to construct when they returned from Babylonian captivity at the end of the 70 years, which was still (at the time of the vision) 45 years in the future. Why did God give such a detailed vision to Ezekiel? And how are we to interpret the instructions for constructing this temple, building the new city of Jerusalem, and dividing of the land among the people?
(1) This temple was NEVER built — when the Jews did return from Babylon, only a comparative handful came back (that remnant we studied about last week), and those few DID NOT refer to Ezekiel’s vision in the construction of the temple that they did build.
(2) There are three views of interpretation of this vision of Ezekiel and the temple —
(a) The first idea is that the vision is to be understood literally — that God INTENDED that His people would rebuild the temple, institute their worship services, and divide the land according to this very detailed vision (instruction).
(b) The second idea is that the vision is merely allegorical, a story with some other meaning that can not be clearly understood.
(c) The last idea is that the vision can only be understood as pointing FORWARD to the FUTURE rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem when the Jewish nation has full control of Palestine (based in futurism).
Altar of Burnt Offering
South Gate
Most Holy Place

12. Altar of Burnt Offering
Throne Room Vision
Plan of Ezekiel’s Temple
Holy Place
North Gate
East Gate
Ezekiel uses a unique term in the opening of chapter 40, a term that is used no where else in the entire Bible
What is the truth? The obvious truth is that if God gave this vision and gave it in such detail, then He MUST have intended for this thing all to come to pass. It was God’s desire that this sanctuary was to be constructed, then why wasn’t it?
As we said last week, God has always had a hard time keeping His people on task. Distractions abound, and we are so flighty that we can’t seem to keep our attention focused on Him and His agenda. After the Babylonian captivity ended, the city of Jerusalem and a temple were reconstructed, by only after several fits and starts. By the time of Christ, the Jews were quite proud of the massive structure they had developed.
Altar of Burnt Offering
South Gate
Most Holy Place

13. “Herod’s Temple” at the time of Christ
Throne Room Vision
This is Herod’s temple, which is an expansion of the 2nd temple built under Ezra and Nehemiah. In the far background you can just see the actual sanctuary proper; the town of Jerusalem is in the foreground and up the left side; the Mount of Olives is off to the upper right.
This structure was NOT perfectly square and we know this because all four foundations are still visible. Ezekiel’s vision was of a perfectly square temple and city surrounding it.
Western wall — 1601 feet = that’s more than a ¼ mile long!
Southern wall — 922 feet
Eastern wall — 1530 feet
Northern wall — 1042 feet
You can understand why the Pharisees, and even Jesus’ disciples, found it incredible to think that this would all become just a pile of rubble if Jesus’ prophecy concerning its destruction were to come true.
See these stones here? They look small in this diagram, but each one of them weighed TWENTY TONS! So that gives you some kind of an idea of the massive size of this structure.
NORTH
“Herod’s Temple” at the time of Christ

14. Altar of Burnt Offering
Throne Room Vision
Ezekiel was given a plan that parallels the vision John received and which is recorded in Revelation 21
Holy Place
North Gate
East Gate
Ezekiel’s vision is a pictorial prophecy; it is a sketch of God’s will for His people. It WOULD have been fulfilled had God’s people been faithful to their trust, but because of the continual failings of the Jewish nation, the prophecy cannot be fulfilled in its original intent. The futurist position which claims that this vision is concerning a new temple that will be built during that “future” 3 ½ literal years under the direction of the man who later becomes the antichrist is unsupportable — can’t be supported by the teaching of the Bible, nor by history, nor logical reasoning.
Christ has fulfilled the Old Testament sacrificial system, to the letter, and it is impossible to conceive that animal sacrifices could ever again be a part of God’s plan for mankind. That would be making the sacrifice of Christ of “none effect” as Paul said. Christ is the sacrifice for the WHOLE WORLD and that includes Jews, Gentiles, Muslims, Hindus, even atheists. There is NO OTHER name by which people are saved, and if Christ ALREADY fulfilled the Old Testament types by His own sacrifice, then reinstating the Old Testament sacrificial system in a newly constructed temple as the Futurists claim is going to happen, is really saying that Christ’s sacrifice was not sufficient for all mankind.
Altar of Burnt Offering
South Gate
Most Holy Place

15. Altar of Burnt Offering
Throne Room Vision
Ezekiel was given a plan that parallels the vision John received and which is recorded in Revelation 21
Holy Place
North Gate
East Gate
God gave this vision of the temple to Ezekiel for the purpose of reminding the people, who were still in captivity, of their high calling — God’s higher purpose for them. This was encouragement for the faithful in captivity because it showed them that God still had them in His sights and He still was their God, even though they were suffering under Nebuchadnezzar’s captivity.
So, what does all this have to do with the throne room vision of John?
Altar of Burnt Offering
South Gate
Most Holy Place

16. Throne Room Vision
“ . . .and round about the throne were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle” Rev. 4:6, 7
We’re going to get a little ahead of ourselves here for just a moment, but while we’re talking about Ezekiel’s vision it seems best to deal with this point right now.

17. Ezekiel’s vision of the temple and the new Jerusalem (to have been constructed after the Babylonian captivity ended) parallel the description of the New Jerusalem in Revelation chapter 21. The vision of Ezekiel in chapter 10 paints a picture of the heavenly throne room that parallels the description given by John in chapter 4. In these two throne room visions, four angels of a special kind (cherubim) are seen, each with a different face. These same visual representations were used to organize the wilderness camp of Israel — which was arranged foursquare around the sanctuary, just like Ezekiel’s vision.

18. Each face reveals something of the character of Christ —
(1) Lion — Jesus is the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the future King prophesied to come through David’s lineage, to be born in Bethlehem; this perspective used by Matthew in his Gospel as he wrote of Jesus as the King of the Jews
(2) Man — Jesus called Himself the “Son of Man” to emphasize His connection to all humanity; He took upon Himself our fallen nature that He might in all points be tempted as we are, and overcome all temptation, just as we can through faith in His power over Satan; this perspective used by Luke, who used a different genealogy from Matthew, pointing Jesus all the way back to fallen Adam, and it had to be “fallen” Adam that the genealogy pointed to because the unfallen Adam did not produce any children and therefore had NO genealogy
(3) Ox or calf — the bullock offering was the most expensive offering allowed in the sacrificial system and pointed to the extravagance of God’s work in saving mankind through the gift of His Son as the eternal sacrifice; as man Jesus worked (“toiled” day and night) to save man from sin; perspective used by Mark who places emphasis in his Gospel on the many miracles that Jesus worked in healing the people
(4) Eagle — in many places in the Bible God uses the imagery of an eagle who protects, shields, feeds His young to describe His loving care for His people; John wrote his Gospel account of Jesus from this perspective — a soaring account of the greatness of God in sending His only Son to redeem mankind

19. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
Chapters 4 and 5 are highly symbolic and must be understood and explained with this in mind
There are so many symbols in these two chapters that we need to take a look at them. They describe the work of Christ as our sacrificial Lamb.

20. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
• Throne of grace is seen—the mercy seat where the Lamb’s blood was ministered for the sins of the people (Leviticus 16: ; Revelation 5:6)
Back to verse 2 — (read it)
There absolutely is a throne of grace in heaven — it is where God dwells, but the description of it can only be given in highly symbolic language because it is so fantastic to look upon.
This vision of John’s finds its parallel in Daniel chapter 7. We’ve read this before, but let’s take a look at it again.

21. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
“I beheld until the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool: His throne was like the fiery flame, and His wheels as burning fire.” Dan. 7:9
The “Ancient of days” is God Himself
The thrones were “cast down” which in the Hebrew literally means “set in place”
The description — garment white as snow, hair like wool — are echoed in John’s description of Christ in Rev. 1:13 to 15
The description of throne as being like a fiery flame with wheels of fire echo Ezekiel’s vision in chapter one
So what we have discovered here is that the three main prophets who were blessed with an actual vision of God in His majesty, all used the same highly symbolic language to describe what they saw.
BUT — what do the symbols mean? Can we know without speculating?

22. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
“And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” Rev. 4:3
Jasper is an agate stone that is multicolored — like this (next slide)

23. John’s Third Vision Sanctuary type meets antitype
The stone on the left is red jasper; on the right is poppy jasper; jasper is found in many color variations

24. John’s Third Vision Sanctuary type meets antitype
This is a sardine stone, which is really beryl and is kin to emeralds, rubies, and aquamarine.

25. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
“And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.” Rev. 4:3
John is saying that the Person he is seeing looks like so fantastic and is so impossible to describe that what come to his mind is a many-colored stone and like a red stone (the sardine is red), and shimmering flames of fire that change constantly. Have you ever sat and intently watched flames of a fire? It’s incredible how they change continuously, moving, flickering, returning. Sometimes red, sometimes yellow, sometimes even bluish or pale, nearly white.
And around this Being on the throne was a green rainbow. Why green? On earth the rainbow has 6 primary colors that are created when the sun’s rays glint through water droplets which act like a prism, splitting the light into its spectrum. Here we find a GREEN rainbow? Why? What does the rainbow signify?

26. Full rainbow over Nashville
When God have Noah that heavenly sign it was AFTER the rains had been stopped for many months. There was NO water or rain in the sky to create a multicolored rainbow like we see today after a rain shower
Full rainbow over Nashville

27. Noah receives God’s everlasting covenant promise with the sign of the bow in the sky
When God gave Noah that heavenly sign is was AFTER the rains had been stopped for many months. There was NO water or rain in the sky to create a multicolored rainbow like we see today after a rain shower. God just created this bow — for what? For what purpose was the bow given?
Genesis 9:12 to 17: “And God said, This is the token of the covenant which I make between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: I do set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This is the token of the covenant, which I have established between Me and all flesh that is upon the earth.”
How many did God save? — “all flesh” — the sacrifice of Christ was given for ALL MEN, not just a chosen handful.

28. “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.” Eze. 1:28
Ezekiel also saw a bow around the throne in his vision of heaven.
So, what does this bow signify? EVERLASTING COVENANT promise to redeem mankind from sin.
When John saw it, it appeared to him to be completely green in color, like an emerald. Colors have meaning — red means warning, fire, danger; white means purity; yellow means joy, happiness, energy; and green means faith, hope, and safety.
God put more green on this planet than any other color.
Here in Revelation 4:3 we find the reminder of the everlasting covenant promise of God and encouragement for our hope in Christ, as a green bow around the throne of grace.

29. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
“And before the throne there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal . . .”
For the moment I’m going to skip ahead to the other elements of the sanctuary that are mentioned in this chapter, then we’ll come back to the 24 elders.
John saw a “sea of glass” — this is a description of a very smooth body of water, you’ve hear this term used. Just outside the entrance to the holy place was the laver, which is also called “the sea” and the Hebrew word means a basin for water —
2 Kings 25:13 — “And the pillars of brass that were in the house of the LORD, and the bases, and the brasen sea that was in the house of the LORD, did the Chaldees break in pieces, and carried the brass of them to Babylon.”
This is referring to the LAVER where the priests washed their feet and hands before entering the sanctuary.
The LAVER represented the cleaning which Christ accomplished through His shed blood.
Laver — the “sea of glass” which is a symbol of cleansing

30. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
“ and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.” Rev. 4:5
The Holy Spirit in His completeness is symbolized by the seven-branched candlestick; it is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring illumination about God to every human heart. Jesus told us of His work —
John 16: 8-13 — “And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment: of sin, because they believe not on Me; of righteousness, because I go to My Father, and ye see Me no more; of judgment, because the prince of this world is judged. I have yet many things to say unto you, but ye cannot bear them now. Howbeit when He, the Spirit of truth, is come, He will guide you into all truth.”
Seven lamps of fire—the seven-branched candlestick which represents the complete work of the Holy Spirit, searching out sin to convict us (2 Chronicles 16:9; Proverbs 15:3; John 16:8 - 13)

31. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
Twenty-four elders — these are both symbolic and literal
In the ancient temple service there were twenty-four courses of the Levitical priesthood 1 Chronicles 24: Chronicles 8:14
“Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children: therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priest's office. And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their offices in their service. And there were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and thus were they divided. Among the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen chief men of the house of their fathers, and eight among the sons of Ithamar according to the house of their fathers. Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for the governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the house of God.”
That’s 16 and 8 = 24; 24 courses of priests.
You remember that Luke talked about Zechariah serving the temple? “And it came to pass, that, while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, according to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the LORD.” (Luke 1:8, 9). He was going to burn incense at the altar of incense that stood before the curtain separating between the holy place and the most holy place. So we see that this division of priestly function continued from the time of David down to the time of Christ.

32. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
All the types of the Old Testament are here seen fulfilled in the antitypes; redeemed men who participate in the judgment of the earth
Let’s read a few of these verses —
Daniel mentions THRONES (plural) were set in place; John said that there were “four and twenty seats” around the throne
Where did these men seated here come from?
Isaiah tells us that the Messiah would come and “proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound” — this is symbolic and prophetic; what does Isaiah mean? By what are we kept bound? And what is the prison? Then what is the liberty here spoken of?
Probably the first time Jesus spoke in the synagogue after His ministry began, He read this very verse from the book of Isaiah and told the congregation that He was the fulfillment of that promise (Luke 4:16-21). He was the One who had come to set people free FROM their sins; from the penalty, power and ultimately the very presence of sin.
Isaiah also prophesied that “dead men shall live, TOGETHER with My dead body shall they arise” (26:19). So it was prophesied that this resurrection of men would occur at the time Christ rose from the dead.
Dan. 7:9; Isa. 61:1; Isa. 26:19 Matt. 27:52, 53; Eph. 4:8; and 1 Cor. 15:20

33. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
All the types of the Old Testament are here seen fulfilled in the antitypes; redeemed men who participate in the judgment of the earth
Matthew says that because of the earthquake their were graves were opened at the time of Jesus’ death, but not until Christ was resurrected from the grave on the first day of the week did they receive their life back, after which they went about among men as a witness of the power of Christ over sin and death. Why were they not resurrected on the day that Christ died? We’ve studied this before. Christ was the wave sheaf and had to be “waved” before His Father on the first day of the harvest as the assurance of the future harvest of the earth.
By the way, do you remember what Christ told Caiaphas during His trial? “Hereafter shall ye see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” (Matt. 26:64). Caiaphas was a Sadducee and did not believe in the resurrection. You can imagine what these words did to the stony heart of the man who also said that it was better “that one Man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not” (John 11:50). Caiaphas uttered this prophetic statement after he heard about the resurrection of Lazarus. It had to have shocked him to the core when Christ was resurrected, and all these other men also were found walking around among the people of Palestine after Christ was resurrected. But you can bet that he did not repent.
Dan. 7:9; Isa. 61:1; Isa. 26:19 Matt. 27:52, 53; Eph. 4:8; and 1 Cor. 15:20

34. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
All the types of the Old Testament are here seen fulfilled in the antitypes; redeemed men who participate in the judgment of the earth
Paul tells us in Ephesians, quoting from Psalm 68:18: “When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive, and gave gifts to men.”
Christ continued to work with His disciples for 40 days after His resurrection, and during this time, these 24 men who had been resurrected with Him were also working among the people witnessing of the power of God over sin and he grave. When Christ ascended, so did they, as part of the first fruits of the harvest of the earth. As trophies of His victory over Satan, sin, death and the grave. These, said Christ, are no longer captives of Satan; He bought them with His precious blood and they are to reign with Him forever.
The antitypical priesthood of Christ is a fulfillment of the typical in the Old Testament sanctuary services, therefore when Christ ascended into heaven to begin His ministry as our High Priest, He had to take with Him 24 elders who would fulfill that portion of the antitypical service.
Some of you have the handout that was prepared outlining the ten days between Christ’s ascension and Pentecost, if you never got a copy of this, there’ll be some after class.
Dan. 7:9; Isa. 61:1; Isa. 26:19 Matt. 27:52, 53; Eph. 4:8; and 1 Cor. 15:20

35. John’s Third Vision
Sanctuary type meets antitype
All the types of the Old Testament are here seen fulfilled in the antitypes; redeemed men who participate in the judgment of the earth
In Corinthians chapter 15, Paul speaks at length of the meaning of Christ’s resurrection.
First he says “that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures” (15:3, 4). “According to the Scriptures” all that Christ did fulfilled the prophecies concerning His work for mankind. And they fulfilled the promises of the Everlasting Covenant to save us FROM our sin — FROM the penalty and power of sin, in this life, right now, not later, but NOW.
Then Paul says: “If Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” (15:17, 18). “Your faith is vain” means that it is worthless because if Christ really didn’t get out of that grave, then no one else will ever get out either. All that “are fallen asleep are perished” — eternally perished, never to live again.
“But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the first fruits of them that slept” (vs. 20). He fulfilled that wave sheaf offering.
Paul goes on with: “The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (vs. 26), and finally he says: “death is swallowed up in victory” because Christ overcame the power of the sin and the grave (15:54-57).
Dan. 7:9; Isa. 61:1; Isa. 26:19 Matt. 27:52, 53; Eph. 4:8; and 1 Cor. 15:20

36. John’s Third Vision
These elders are described as wearing “white raiment” and having “crowns of gold” (4:4) — that white raiment is the righteousness of Christ, their only ticket to heaven. They are NOT there by any good works which they did, they are not even there because they had strong faith — their faith was a gift from God, just like everything else (Rom. 12:3). They are sitting on those seats around the throne of God because of the Lamb who was slain, and they had a true heart appreciation of that precious gift. That’s what true faith is — a heart appreciation of the gift of salvation from sin.
Let’s read it.
Rev. 5:9, 10 —
“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy For Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we SHALL reign on the earth.” They are NOT “reigning” now, but they SHALL reign. Now they have a different job.
Remember what John said in chapter one? “Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father” (vs. 5). And remember how we related that back to the everlasting covenant promise in Exodus 19:4-6? These 24 elders are the first fruits fulfillment proving that we will ALL be a nation of priests and kings when Christ has finished His ministry in heaven.

37. John’s Third Vision
These elders sing two songs while John is watching. The first was a song giving glory to Christ as the Creator: “For Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (4:11).
Then in 5:9, 10, they sang a “new song” giving glory to Christ because He is the Redeemer.
And remember, they are doing all this worshipping on the Sabbath because that’s when John had this vision.

38. “The Lamb of God” by Hubert and Jan van Eyck
The whole point of this vision into the very throne room of heaven, is centered around the Lamb that was slain. This painting was done between the years 1426 and 1432 by the brothers Hubert and Jan van Eyck and is in the Saint Bavo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium.
It shows a lamb full of life with 7 golden horns of light coming from his head, standing on an altar, but with his jugular vein pierced and blood pouring out into a golden goblet.
John said: “And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.”
Zechariah said: “In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness” 13:1). “That day” was the day Christ died on the cross.
“The Lamb of God” by Hubert and Jan van Eyck

39. John saw this book “in the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne” (God), and the book was written inside and on the backside, it was sealed with seven seals. Daniel’s vision of the throne room scene also centered around a book, and Daniel saw the book opened, because the judgment was ready to take place.
Here John sees a book not yet opened; it’s sealed, and the discussion centers around who is worthy to actually open the book. The angel cries out loud “Who is worthy to open the book?” but no man in heaven or on earth makes any reply.
John wept because this seemed like such a serious matter, and there was no one who could deal with it. But one of the elders tells John not to despair because the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, the Lamb who was slain, is worthy to open the seals.
“And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.”

40. “The Lamb of God” by Hubert and Jan van Eyck
That’s when John sees the Lamb in the midst of the throne, and he sees the Lamb come and take the book from His Father that sits upon the throne. Then all the elders around the throne, and the numberless angels in attendance around the throne (same number that Daniel saw), all sing a hymn of praise to Christ because He alone has power, riches, wisdom, strength, honor, glory, and blessing.
What is the power? — in Matt. 28:18, Jesus said that “all power is given unto Me” — what kind of power? Power to do what? Conquer sin and Satan, and the grave where Satan keeps people imprisoned. Satan is a defeated foe.
What are the riches? — in Rev. 3:18 Jesus counseled the Laodicean church to buy of Him those things that will make us truly rich — His faith (gold), His white robe of righteousness, and His spiritual discernment (eyesalve). He has these riches and wants more than anything for us to have them.
Wisdom? — the ability to know and follow God’s will in our lives, so that our characters are transformed into His likeness, this comes from the Holy Spirit
Strength? — Paul said that in Christ he could do all things, “all things” necessary for the fulfillment of the Gospel
“The Lamb of God” by Hubert and Jan van Eyck

41. John’s Third Vision
Sealed book concerns the redemption of men. During the Old Testament times, property or persons could be alienated by reason of severe debt owed to another. The record of the debt was kept in a duplicate format, one sealed the other open to witnesses.

42. John’s Third Vision
The debt could be redeemed either by the original owner or his heirs (Leviticus 25: ; Jeremiah 32:5 - 12). These debts and their redemption required investigation to determine to whom the debt was owed and who was eligible to pay the redemption price (see also the story of Ruth). The sealed books had to be opened by one who was “worthy.”

43. Throne Room Vision The Lamb slain is the only one who is worthy
Next week we’ll study about what those seven seals mean, and what is written on that scroll.
The Lamb slain is the only one who is worthy

44. Christ Opens the Seals
Rider on the white horse going forth to conquer Rev. 6:1 - 2

45. The open door heaven refers
to the heavenly SANCTUARY