GOD'S THRONE AND THE COMING JUDGMENT
Study of Revelation Part 2 of 7

SUMMARY
Welcome to Part 2 of our 7 Part study of the Book of Revelation! In Part 1 we read as Jesus dictated letters to seven churches. These letters were sort of a "report card" to the churches.

In this study we'll go through chapters 4 and 5. In these chapters we will read about; God's throne room, the Rapture of the Church, and discover who is worthy to, Judge the Earth.

GOD'S THRONE ROOM (Revelation 4)
"Your throne, O God, is for ever and ever!" - Psalm 45:6

GOD'S THRONE (Rev 4:1-3) At this point, John is in heaven. The first thing he notices is a throne -- the throne of God Almighty. John describes Him as being like JASPER (Which is crystal clear) and a SARDIUS (a brilliant ruby) and an EMERALD RAINBOW around the throne. What a magnificent picture John paints for us! Notice, however, that John is not saying that God IS jasper and sardius rather he his saying that God is LIKE jasper and sardius. John is trying to describe God as best he can.

THE RAPTURE (Rev 4:4) Now, around God's throne are twenty-four other thrones with twenty-four elders sitting on them. Who are these Elders? If you examine them closely you'll discover them to be the believers in Christ -- you and I (Read our study on the 24 ELDERS for the reasons why). It seems that the believers in Christ or the Church has been Raptured and are in heaven with the Lord. The "Rapture" is when Jesus will return for His believers and take them to be with Him forever (1st Thessalonians 4:10). The reason the Church is Raptured is because God is about to judge the earth and as 1st Thessalonians 5:9 tells us, "God has not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ."

Let say that you have two children. One is bad, the other good. You don't punish the good child along with the bad, right? You deal with the bad child only. This is what is happening here; God has removed His "good children" (and we are only made good through Jesus' death on the cross) and is about to deal with the world who has rejected Him. One last observation: The fact that the Church has crowns indicates that they have already received its rewards (the Judgment Seat of Christ - Romans 14:10). So not only will the Rapture take place before the Tribulation, it is possible (though not definite) that it occurs a fair amount of time before the judgment comes.

THUNDER & LIGHTNING (Rev 4:5) John also sees THUNDER and LIGHTNING around God's throne. This is God's storm of judgment which is about to be released upon the sinful earth.

SEVEN LAMPS OF FIRE (Rev 4:5) We read of SEVEN LAMPS OF FIRE. Verse 5 tells us that these are the SEVEN SPIRITS OF THE LORD. In other words, this is the Holy Spirit (Read ISAIAH 11:2. It tells you what the Holy Spirits seven works are).

FOUR LIVING CREATURES (Rev 4: 6-9) "Creatures" is a bad translation. A better translation is "four living beings". These beings, probably cherubim (the highest order of angels) are around God's throne. They worship Him, singing songs of praise! You notice that they look different. They represent Christ. The LION represent Jesus kingship, the CALF represents Him as a suffering servant, the MAN represents Jesus becoming a man so He could die for our sins, and the EAGLE represents His divinity.

SIDE NOTE: In verse 2 John tells us the he was, "in the Spirit". That means he is undergone a physical change. 1st Corinthians 15:50 backs this up, Paul tells us that, "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God."

WHO IS WORTHY TO JUDGE THE EARTH? (Revelation 5)
"And He shall judge the world in righteousness." - Psalm 9:8

A SCROLL WITH SEVEN SEALS (Rev 5:1) Apparently this scroll has seven judgments that are to sent to the world (As we continue this study we find that as each seal is broken a different judgment comes).

WHO IS WORTHY TO OPEN THE SCROLL? An angel asks this question and the entire universe is searched. No one is found worthy to judge -- except Jesus Christ. Jesus comes from His throne and takes the scroll. Jesus is worthy! John says that Jesus come with SEVEN HORNS and SEVEN EYES. "SEVEN HORNS" represent His complete power, and the "SEVEN EYES" represent the fact that Jesus knows all and sees all. Jesus knows what His enemies have done and He has the power to judge them for it.

WORTHY IS THE LAMB! The chapter closes with the believers worshiping and singing praises to Jesus Christ. We will worship Him for saving us from judgment (vs. 9-10) and praise Him because we are in awe of His power and glory (vs.12-13).

Next: The Tribulation Begins! Read Part 3