Rev 4:3-5 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. (4) And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. (5) And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Good morning, reader! As I sit here sipping my coffee, I am thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ. Without Him, I would be lost and on my way to hell. 😥 There is nothing that I can do on my own to gain me entrance into Heaven. In fact, no one can say that they can – at least not without Christ. Romans 3:10 says: As it is written, there is none righteous, no, not one! If Christ had not come to shed His blood and take our punishment, we would all be goners. Instead, every born-again believer can rejoice because we can now enter into this wonderful place, Heaven, because of what Jesus did for us! John 3:16 says: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Anyone who has accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour, can rejoice in the fact that we will have eternal life with Him! What comfort and joy this brings to me every morning! It may be raining outside at the moment, but my heart is lit up with Christ’s light!
As we return to this devotional, we will be focusing on the things which “shall be hereafter” found in Revelation 1:19. We see that chapters 4 and 5 take place in Heaven and the rest of the chapters occur here on earth. Just in chapters 4 and 5 alone, the word throne appears 17 times. It appears 19 more times from Chapter 6 through the rest of the Book of Revelation! These visions speak nothing about the great and terrible day of the Lord (Joel 2:31). John had learned about Heaven and had been preaching about it all his life. Now he was seeing it for himself! Can you just imagine??? Now he was one of the few people in history that was allowed to have a vision of the throne room: Isaiah was one (Isa. 6:1-3); Ezekiel shared in that experience in Ezekiel 1:26-28 and 10:14; Daniel was another in Daniel 7:9 and Daniel 7:13-14; the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:2-5; and lastly, John the Apostle here in Revelation!
These two chapters seem to be parenthetical – in other words, they reveal to you what occurs in heaven, not what’s going to happen on earth. We know there’s no date for the Rapture; it could happen today or in 20 years. One thing is for sure is that this generation will not pass away before the blessed event occurs!!! The Tribulation begins the day that the antichrist signs a peace treaty with Israel (Daniel 9:27). We know that the Tribulation’s start date is certain once that event occurs, as well, seven years later Jesus returns to earth! Between the Rapture and the Tribulation, events occur in heaven with the Saints. It’s a blessing to read these verses describing believers spending eternity with their Saviour!
The Apostle John is in the Throne Room and the first thing He sees is God the Father on the throne. (Jesus will make His entrance later.) He sees Heaven in amazingly brilliant colors. This captures his attention and he describes what he’s seen. He sees Someone on the throne and the throne is like “jasper and sardine stones.” It’s interesting to note that the jasper and sardine (similar to the carnelian stone) in Revelation 4:3 are the first and last stones on the High Priest’s breastplate (Exodus 28:20). The sardine stone is the first of the twelve counted in the foundations of New Jerusalem (Revelation 21:19) and it is also used in the wall of the Heavenly City in Revelation 21:18! It will be exciting to behold this with our own eyes, won’t it? My curiosity will finally be put to rest when I find out from the Lord what each of these stones represent! John also sees a rainbow about the throne. The rainbow is only used twice in the King James Bible – in Genesis 9:13-14, and Genesis 9:16 and here in Revelation 4:3.
We will discuss the twenty-four elders in our next post as verse 10 repeats this. We now read that John hears thunderings and voices along with seeing the lightning. Can you put yourself in his shoes? His senses are barraged! Why do I think that? These visions are nothing like he’s ever seen before. After all, who can say that God has blessed them with a glimpse of Heaven? As I noted above, only five people received these glimpses as indicated in the Scriptures. I’m sure we could do no better at describing these visions than John. We have the privilege of reading about his visions with hindsight. I’m not claiming to know every single meaning of the symbolism described in Revelation because I am far from being an expert. However, I was saved because of this topic in 1980 and have studied and heard many a message on it. I’m certain there will be those who disagree, and that’s OK. I just want to share with you what excites me about what is about to come upon the whole world and to lead as many to Christ so they won’t have to experience these horrible times.
Friend, it is no coincidence that God has placed you here for such a time as this so that you may be saved if you are not already. Please click here and the link will open up in a separate tab to You Can Be Born Again and Know It!