Participants:
Series Code: ARSS
Program Code: ARSS190003S
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00:16 Well, I trust that you had a good lunch.
00:20 Hopefully not too much. 00:23 I wouldn't want to... 00:25 I wouldn't want to rebuke anyone who goes to sleep 00:28 during this session. 00:30 But anyway, we are going to go to page 17 in our syllabus, 00:36 and we're going to study the notes on Revelation 4. 00:40 And then we will, in our second session we will go into 00:45 the notes on Revelation 5, which I don't think 00:47 we'll be able to finish in the second session this afternoon, 00:51 We'll have to pick up on the same chapter tomorrow. 00:55 But let's have a word of prayer before we begin. 00:58 Father in heaven, thank You for the good rest 01:00 that we've been able to have, the good meal. 01:03 Now as we gather together once again to open Your Word, 01:07 we ask for the presence of Your Holy Spirit. 01:09 We claim that promise in the precious name of Jesus. 01:13 Amen. 01:17 Revelation 3:21... 01:19 I'm going to follow the syllabus quite closely. 01:21 I've written everything out in a way which I hope everyone 01:26 will be able to understand. 01:27 Revelation 3:21 makes a clear distinction between two thrones. 01:34 The first throne is the Father's throne. 01:38 It's His alone. 01:40 And that is mentioned in Revelation 4:1-2. 01:44 When Jesus ascended to heaven, Revelation tells us that He sat 01:49 with His Father on His Father's throne. 01:52 So that's the first throne. The Father's throne. 01:55 When Jesus ascended to heaven, 01:57 He sat with His Father on His throne. 02:00 The second throne belongs to Jesus alone. 02:04 And this is the throne that Jesus will have 02:07 in the coming kingdom. 02:09 At the second coming He will receive His own throne. 02:13 So there are two thrones: the Father's throne; 02:17 Jesus sits with the Father on His throne 02:19 until all of His enemies are made His footstool, 02:22 and then after the millennium Jesus will sit on His own throne 02:28 above the holy city. 02:30 That white throne that Ellen White mentions 02:32 in the book, The Great Controversy. 02:34 Now the Bible sometimes depicts Jesus standing 02:38 and it depicts Him sitting 02:40 in the work that He's presently doing. 02:43 What we need to understand is that these positions 02:47 are meant to define function more than location. 02:52 In other words, Jesus sits at the right hand of the Father 02:56 because He is King of the kingdom of grace. 03:00 However, He stands before the Father because He is the 03:04 High Priest that intercedes for His people. 03:08 So He sits as King and He stands as High Priest. 03:13 The emphasis is upon function. 03:16 The emphasis in Hebrews is upon Jesus as the High Priest, 03:21 as the Intercessor. 03:22 The emphasis in Revelation, particularly in the second half 03:25 of Revelation, falls upon Jesus as the King 03:30 of the kingdom of Grace, and then of the kingdom of glory. 03:34 Genesis 14:18 mentions a being called Melchizedek. 03:39 And Melchizedek is described with both functions. 03:43 He is the king of Salem and he is also the high priest of God. 03:49 So Melchizedek has both functions. 03:52 And of course, Jesus is the High Priest according 03:56 to the order of Melchizedek. 03:59 Now we need to understand why the priesthood of Jesus 04:02 is not according to the priesthood of Aaron 04:03 but according to the priesthood of Melchizedek. 04:06 The reason is very simple. 04:08 Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. 04:11 And kings came from the tribe of Judah. 04:14 But those from the tribe of Judah could not serve as priests 04:18 because the priests came from the tribe of Levi. 04:21 And so Jesus is King after the order of David, 04:26 and He is Priest, not according to the order of Aaron, 04:29 but according to the priesthood of Melchizedek, 04:32 which gives Him the right to be Priest 04:34 because He's not a member of the tribe of Levi. 04:39 If you read Zechariah 6:12-13, once again you'll find the idea 04:45 that Jesus is both King and Priest in those verses. 04:50 And in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28 the apostle Paul tells us that 04:58 Jesus sits at the Father's right hand until His enemies 05:03 are made His footstool. 05:05 So in other words, Jesus is going to sit with the Father 05:07 on His throne until Jesus gains the kingdom at the 05:13 very end of time and He becomes ruler over the kingdom. 05:18 Empirically. 05:19 Not only in terms of sentence, but also in terms of actuality. 05:24 Now let's read Revelation 3:21. 05:27 This is a very important verse. 05:29 It's actually the concluding verse to the churches 05:32 and it's the introductory verse to the seals. 05:40 It's a present active participle. 05:46 Future active indicative. 05:52 See, Jesus is going to have His throne, right? 05:54 With those who overcome. 05:56 And then Jesus says, "as I overcame..." 05:59 When did He overcome, and where did He overcome? 06:03 When He was on earth, right? 06:07 When did He sit down? 06:09 When He went to heaven. 06:13 And in between those two points of time 06:15 you have the seven seals. 06:18 In other words, the seven seals are between the time 06:21 when Jesus overcomes, sits with His Father on His throne, 06:25 and then we, during the period of the seals, overcome 06:28 and then we sit with Jesus on His throne. 06:31 So Revelation 3:21 gives you the beginning point, 06:34 it's when Jesus overcame and sits on His Father's throne, 06:37 and the ending point when we overcome during the course of 06:41 the seals and sit with Jesus on His throne. 06:46 Now Jesus resurrected and He spent 40 days upon this earth 06:52 before He ascended to heaven. 06:54 And the book of Acts 1:3 tells us the reason why. 06:58 Two reasons. 06:59 Number one, to give irrefutable proof that He had resurrected. 07:04 He appeared to many as proof that He had resurrected. 07:07 And the second reason is because He taught the disciples 07:12 things concerning the kingdom of God. 07:14 In other words, there were many prophecies 07:16 that the disciples did not understand. 07:18 They needed to understand, for example, the verses that 07:20 deal with the feast of Pentecost. 07:22 During those 40 days Jesus explained the prophecies 07:26 they had misunderstood and the prophecies that were about to be 07:29 fulfilled on the day of Pentecost. 07:32 And then Jesus gathered with His disciples at the end of the 07:35 40 days upon the top of the Mount of Olives 07:39 and He is about to return, the war Hero, 07:43 to heaven from where He left precisely 33 years before. 07:47 I said 30 this morning. I was speaking in round numbers. 07:50 33 years, Jesus now is going to return to heaven. 07:54 Now do you suppose that the heavenly beings were really 07:58 excited about the idea of the war Hero coming back? 08:02 Absolutely. 08:03 33 Years before, He had said, "Hey, I am going to go 08:07 to that earth, I'm going to take human nature, 08:10 I'm going to develop a perfect character living as a man. 08:13 I'm going to weave a perfect robe of righteousness. 08:16 Then I'm going to take all of their sins upon Myself 08:19 and I am going to pay the price of their redemption. 08:22 But I assure you that at the end of that period 08:26 I will be coming home. 08:28 So you better start preparing the party." 08:31 So as Jesus was 40 days upon this earth, 08:35 heaven is preparing to receive Jesus, the war Hero. 08:40 So the Bible tells us in Acts 1:9-11 that a cloud 08:45 caught Jesus up. 08:46 And of course, that cloud represents the angelic hosts. 08:50 They caught Jesus up, and Jesus ascended to the throne 08:56 of His Father. 08:58 Now Revelation 4 describes the heavenly throne room 09:02 being prepared before Jesus arrived. 09:07 In other words, Revelation 4 and 5 describe the same location. 09:11 But Revelation 4 is before Jesus arrives with the angelic hosts 09:15 and Revelation 5 describes the time 09:18 when Jesus arrives in heaven. 09:21 So let's take a look verse by verse at Revelation 4 09:26 so that we can kind of look at the historical 09:30 context of the seals. 09:31 Because Revelation 4 and 5 are the introduction 09:35 to the seven seals. 09:36 That's why we're studying the introductory vision. 09:39 You can't really make any sense out of the seals 09:41 unless you understand where they start and what Jesus is doing 09:45 before the seven seals begin to be broken. 09:50 Now let's go to verse 1. 10:09 So some people say that the, "must take place after this," 10:13 then this can't refer to the ascension of Christ to heaven 10:16 because it's talking about things that will happen after 10:20 the series of the seven churches. 10:22 Because in chapter 1, 2, and 3 you had the seven churches. 10:26 So in Revelation 4:1 it says, "I'm going to tell you 10:28 the things that happen after this." 10:30 So does this scene take place after the 10:34 seven churches are fulfilled? 10:36 It can't be. 10:37 Because after the seven churches are fulfilled, 10:40 history has come to an end. 10:42 So what does it mean when it says, "I will show you 10:44 what will happen after this." 10:46 It simply means that God is going to show John 10:49 what is going to happen after John 10:53 is taken in vision to heaven. 10:56 So in other words, what the verse is saying, 10:58 "I saw a door standing open in heaven." 11:00 Because the voice says, "Come up here." 11:02 And of course, he's not coming personally. 11:04 He's coming in vision. 11:05 "And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet 11:08 speaking with me saying, 'Come up here, and I will show you the 11:10 things which must take place after this.'" 11:13 In other words, what takes place after John 11:17 is taken to heaven in vision. 11:19 Are you with me or not? 11:20 So that's the key point that we need to understand, 11:23 because some are saying this deals with Revelation 4 and 5, 11:27 it's talking about the investigative judgment 11:29 that begins in 1844. 11:31 And we're going to give several reasons why this is speaking 11:34 about the inauguration of Christ, it's not speaking about 11:37 the beginning of the investigative judgment in 1844. 11:41 Now let's read the note on page 19. 11:45 John sees a door that stands open in heaven. 11:50 The text provides no evidence whatsoever that the person 11:53 who is sitting on the throne moved there 11:57 from any other place. 11:59 That's a very important point. 12:01 There's no indication that the person who is sitting 12:03 on the throne was in some other place and then he moved 12:06 to that particular throne. 12:08 The person is simply there. 12:11 The door obviously leads into a what? 12:15 Into a building. 12:16 You know, you don't have a door without a building. 12:19 In fact, that would be kind of ridiculous 12:20 to have just a door, right? 12:21 The door leads to some location. 12:24 And it's clear that we're talking about 12:26 the heavenly sanctuary. 12:28 Right? 12:29 Now how many doors does the heavenly sanctuary have? 12:33 The heavenly sanctuary has two doors. 12:36 It has a door that leads to the Holy Place, 12:38 and it has a door that leads to where? 12:41 It leads to the Most Holy Place. 12:44 So the question is, which of these two doors 12:48 is John referring to when he writes in Revelation 12:52 that there is a door that is open in heaven? 12:55 There's no doubt whatsoever that you're dealing with 12:58 the door that leads to the Holy Place of the heavenly Sanctuary. 13:03 And we're going to see that very clearly as we go along. 13:06 So John is taken in vision, 13:09 after he sees the vision of the seven churches, to heaven. 13:13 And there he sees this open door that leads into the Holy Place. 13:17 And then he sees a throne that is set there. 13:20 There's no movement of the throne. 13:22 The throne is simply there. 13:24 And he sees one who is sitting on the throne. 13:29 The one who is on the throne is never identified. 13:33 It doesn't say, "Well, the one who is sitting on the 13:35 throne is God the Father." 13:36 But it becomes very obvious as you look at the entire chapter 13:40 that the one who is sitting on the throne 13:42 is God the Father. 13:45 Now let's go to verse 3. 13:47 The appearance of the person on the throne. 13:50 It says in verse three... 14:02 So you have this being who looks like a 14:06 jasper and a sardius stone. 14:08 Now what does jasper look like? 14:11 A jasper stone is a reddish stone with black veins. 14:14 And a sardius stone is a reddish stone with white veins. 14:21 So in other words, the predominant color 14:24 is the color red. 14:25 Because you're seeing the glory of God here. 14:29 And Ellen White has an interesting description 14:32 about this because John actually did not see God the Father. 14:36 He saw the glory that surrounded the Father. 14:40 That's the reason why it emphasizes the color red, 14:44 which is the color of fire. 14:46 Notice this commentary from Ellen White, 14:48 Early Writings, page 54; at the bottom of page 19. 14:51 "I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son. 14:56 I gazed..." Who sat on the throne? 14:59 The Father and the Son. 15:01 "I gazed on Jesus' countenance and admired His lovely person. 15:05 The Father's person I could not behold, 15:08 for a cloud of glorious light covered Him." 15:10 That would be the colors that are mentioned in Revelation 4:3. 15:16 "I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself? 15:21 He said He had, but I could not behold it, for said He, 15:25 'If you should once behold the glory of His person, 15:28 you would cease to exist.'" 15:30 So somebody then wrote to Ellen White and said, 15:33 "Ellen White, don't you know the Bible says that 15:35 no one has ever seen God? 15:37 How can you say that you saw the Father sitting on the throne?" 15:40 So Ellen White had to add an explanatory note 15:44 in, Early writings, page 92, on the next page. 15:47 "I stated that a cloud of glorious light covered the 15:50 Father and that His person could not be seen. 15:53 I also stated that I saw the Father rise from the throne. 15:57 The Father was enshrouded with a body of light and glory 16:00 so that I could not see His person; 16:03 yet I knew that it was the Father and that from His person 16:07 emanated this light and glory." 16:09 See, those are the colors that John saw. 16:12 He's just describing it in a different way 16:13 than Ellen White is. 16:15 "When I saw this body of light and glory rise from the throne, 16:19 I knew it was because the Father moved. 16:22 Therefore said I, 'I saw the Father rise.' 16:25 The glory or excellency of His form I never saw; 16:29 no one could behold it and live; 16:31 and yet the body of light and glory that enshrouded 16:35 His person could be seen." 16:38 So Ellen White saw what John saw. 16:41 Only, she calls it light and glory, 16:43 whereas John compares it with the color of stones. 16:46 Predominately the color red, 16:48 which is similar to the color of fire. 16:52 So you have this door open. 16:54 We still haven't identified where it goes to. 16:57 You have a throne that wasn't moved there. 16:59 It's set there. 17:00 On the throne you have a Being sitting. 17:03 And now we're going to notice that surrounding the throne 17:07 there are the 24 elders. 17:09 That's verse 4. 17:11 "Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, 17:15 and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, 17:20 clothed in white robes, 17:22 and they had crowns of gold on their heads." 17:24 Now we're not going to interpret yet 17:26 what the 24 elders represent. 17:28 But I just want you to get the picture. 17:30 There's the one sitting on the throne, 17:32 you know, there's this glory that's emanating from Him, 17:38 and surrounding the throne are these 24 elders. 17:42 And then verse 5 tells us something very interesting 17:46 about where this is taking place. 17:48 It says in verse 5, "And from the throne..." 18:02 That is, in front of the throne. 18:07 So now I want you to catch the picture. 18:10 There's 24 elders surrounding the throne, 18:12 and now we are told that there are seven lamps of fire 18:15 that are before or in front of the throne. 18:20 Now let's read the note. 18:22 Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne. 18:25 The word for, "lamps," in the Septuagint... 18:29 That's the Greek translation of the Old Testament. 18:31 ...is, "lampades." 18:33 It's the very word that is used in the Old Testament, 18:36 Greek Old Testament, to describe the seven branch candlestick 18:41 in the Holy Place. 18:42 So very clearly this scene is taking place where? 18:46 It's taking place in the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. 18:51 Clearly this is the case. 18:54 Now let's go to the following page. 18:57 This is very interesting. 18:59 In chapter 4 it says that the seven Spirits 19:03 are there before the throne. 19:05 But we're going to notice in chapter 5 19:09 that the seven Spirits are sent to the earth. 19:13 Let's read this note here. 19:15 In chapter 4, the seven Spirits were standing 19:18 before the heavenly throne. 19:19 God had not yet sent them out into all the earth. 19:23 However, in chapter 5, and we're going to study this more fully, 19:27 after Jesus arrived and the Father installed Him as the 19:31 High Priest, God sent the Holy Spirit into all the earth. 19:36 Clearly, the sending of the Spirits represents the events 19:39 that occurred when? 19:40 On the day of Pentecost. 19:43 The number seven indicates that the Holy Spirit 19:46 spoke to the seven churches. 19:48 You notice that for every church it says, 19:49 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the 19:51 Spirit says to the churches." 19:52 There are seven churches, seven Spirits. 19:55 Now Ellen White clearly identified the location of 19:58 where Revelation 4 is taking place. 20:01 It's taking place in the Holy Place. 20:03 Let's read this statement from, The Faith I Live By, page 202. 20:09 She's referring directly to Revelation 4 and Revelation 5. 20:13 There's no doubt this is not talking 20:15 about the Most Holy Place. 20:16 This is not talking about the investigative judgment in 1844. 20:19 This is talking about things that are 20:21 happening in the Holy Place. 20:23 It says there, "The holy places of the sanctuary in heaven 20:28 are represented by the two apartments 20:30 in the sanctuary on earth. 20:33 As in vision the apostle John was granted a view of the 20:36 temple of God in heaven, he beheld there 'seven lamps of 20:40 fire burning before the throne.'" 20:42 Revelation 4:5 20:44 "He saw an angel 'having a golden censer; 20:47 and there was given unto him much incense, 20:49 that he should offer it with the prayers of all the saints 20:51 upon the golden alter which was before the throne.'" 20:55 In chapter 5 you find the golden censer. 20:58 When Jesus actually arrives. 21:01 Then she explicitly states, "Here the prophet was 21:05 permitted to behold the first apartment of the 21:08 sanctuary in heaven; and he saw there the 'seven lamps of fire' 21:13 and the 'golden altar,' represented by the golden 21:17 candlestick and the altar of incense in 21:21 the sanctuary on earth." 21:25 So is it very clear that this scene in Revelation 4 and 5 is 21:28 taking place in the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary? 21:31 Do doubt whatsoever about it. 21:33 This is not occurring in the Most Holy Place. 21:37 It is occurring in the Holy Place. 21:40 Now there are additional evidences that this is happening 21:43 in the Holy Place. 21:45 Let's notice several of these reasons. 21:48 The first reason that I gave is, the lamps of fire are mentioned. 21:51 And that refers to the seven branch candlestick. 21:54 The second reason that we noticed is that the Holy Spirit 21:57 is there in chapter 4 and the Holy Spirit is sent 22:00 into all the earth after this, 22:03 which takes place on the day of Pentecost. 22:06 The third reason is that we are told that the seven branch 22:10 candlestick is before the throne or is in front of the throne. 22:15 Now let me ask you this. 22:17 What was it that was directly in front of the table of showbread? 22:24 If you look at the sanctuary, the geography, 22:27 in the north part of the Holy Place you have 22:31 the table of showbread. 22:33 In the south you have the seven branch candlestick. 22:38 And we are told that the seven lamps of fire 22:43 were in front of or before the throne. 22:45 So this is clearly evidence that we're dealing with an event 22:50 that's taking place in the Holy Place. 22:52 By the way, where was God's throne located 22:55 in the sanctuary? 22:57 Where is God's throne located? What point of the compass? 23:01 It's north. It's in the north. 23:05 Psalm 48:1-2 tells us it's in the north. 23:09 When Lucifer wanted to take God's throne, 23:11 he wanted to take God off of His throne, 23:14 where was God's throne, according to Isaiah 14? 23:17 In the sides of the north. 23:19 Where was the table of showbread in the sanctuary? 23:22 It was in the north. 23:23 The north side. 23:25 And the candlestick was in the south side directly 23:28 in front of the throne. 23:30 Another evidence, at the bottom of page 21, 23:33 is that there was upon the table of showbread, 23:36 which I believe represents the throne of God in the Holy Place, 23:40 you had two stacks of bread. 23:43 Interesting. 23:44 Why two stacks of bread? 23:48 Who gives the bread? 23:50 Well, Jesus said in John 6 that, "My Father gives you 23:56 the bread from heaven." 23:59 And Jesus is the bread. 24:01 Are both the Father and the Son involved 24:03 in giving bread to the people? 24:07 Absolutely. 24:08 So you have two stacks of bread representing the 24:12 bread Giver and the bread Himself. 24:15 And of course, the table of showbread had these 24:18 two stacks of bread. 24:20 Then the next evidence which we find on page 22 24:24 is the expression, showbread. 24:29 It comes from the Hebrew, lahem panim. 24:33 The word, "lahem," means, "bread." 24:36 Incidentally, that's the reason why you have, "Bethlehem." 24:40 It means, house of bread. 24:41 "Beth," is house, "lehem," represents, "bread." 24:45 So Jesus was born in the house of bread. 24:48 Interestingly enough. 24:49 And He grew up in Nazareth. 24:51 The word, "Nazareth," means, "sprout, to sprout," 24:54 because He grew up there. 24:55 And He actually died on Golgotha, which means, 24:59 the place of the skull. 25:00 So the names of the places indicate the function that 25:03 took place at that particular location. 25:06 So you have the table of showbread. 25:09 Incidentally, the word, "panim," means, "face." 25:14 So as you put these two words together, lahem panim, 25:18 you'll notice that really it's the bread of the presence, 25:21 or it's the bread of the person. 25:24 So this is again an indication that upon the table 25:27 of showbread, representing the throne of God, 25:29 there is the presence of God. 25:32 It's the bread of His presence, in other words. 25:35 Another interesting detail that indicates that this is 25:38 taking place in the Holy Place of the sanctuary 25:42 is that the table of the showbread was the only 25:45 article of furniture that had two crowns. 25:48 And you can read this in Exodus 25:23-25 25:52 and chapter 37:11-12. 25:54 In the King James Version primarily. 25:57 Also it's interesting that the height of the table of the 26:00 showbread was identical to the height of the 26:02 ark of the covenant. 26:04 And the table of showbread is described immediately after 26:09 the description of the ark of the covenant. 26:11 Which means that there's a close relationship between the 26:13 table of the showbread and the ark of the covenant. 26:16 Because in the Holy Place, God's throne is represented 26:19 by the table of showbread. 26:20 Whereas, God's throne in the Most Holy Place is what? 26:24 It's the ark of the covenant. 26:25 So why would you have two crowns around the 26:30 table of the showbread? 26:31 Well, because you have two beings 26:33 that are sitting on the throne and ruling on the throne. 26:37 Reason number seven, in the middle of page 22, 26:42 Revelation 5 is a continuation of the events that transpired 26:45 in chapter 4. 26:47 Revelation 5:8 refers to the alter of incense. 26:51 That is the place where Jesus arrived 26:53 when He ascended to heaven. 26:54 So not only are the seven lamps of fire there, 26:58 which were in the Holy Place, but you also have the 27:01 altar of incense that is present there. 27:03 So very clearly we're dealing with an event 27:05 that's taking place in the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. 27:10 At the bottom of the page, Revelation 6:6 describes 27:15 a scarcity of bread during the period of the third horse. 27:21 In other words, flour is extremely expensive. 27:26 A denarius, you could buy very little grain 27:33 with a lot of money. 27:35 A denarius was a daily wage of a common laborer. 27:39 And therefore, during this period the laborer made only 27:42 enough for one quart of wheat. 27:45 And you say, "Well what does that say to us?" 27:48 Well, according to the Roman historian, Cicero, 27:52 the price that John mentioned for wheat 27:55 would have been 8 to 16 times higher than normal. 27:58 It is clear that there was a famine for bread in the land 28:02 during the period of the third horse. 28:05 In the times of John, barley fed the very poor and the livestock. 28:10 It is no coincidence that the next horse, 28:12 which represents the papal period, 28:15 the yellow one, is the horse of death. 28:18 Because after famine comes death. 28:20 So in other words, the table of showbread 28:23 represents the throne of God. 28:24 And during the period of the third horse 28:26 there is a scarcity of bread. 28:29 Finally, the capstone reason that this is taking place 28:34 in the Holy Place is this statement from Ellen White. 28:39 Let's read, Early Writings, page 54-55. 28:44 "I saw a throne, and on it sat the Father and the Son." 28:48 Where did Jesus sit when He went to heaven? 28:51 He sat on His Father's throne, right? 28:54 So Ellen White says she sees this throne, 28:57 and on the throne is seated the Father and the Son. 28:59 "I gazed on Jesus' countenance and admired His lovely person. 29:04 The Father's person I could not behold, 29:07 for a cloud of glorious light covered Him. 29:09 I asked Jesus if His Father had a form like Himself. 29:13 He said He had, but I could not behold it. 29:15 For said He, 'If you should once behold the glory of His person, 29:20 you would cease to exist.'" 29:22 Now this chapter is the, End of the 2300 Days, 29:26 is the title of the chapter. 29:28 Now notice the next paragraph. 29:30 "I saw the Father rise from the throne, 29:35 and in a flaming chariot go into the Holy of Holies 29:39 within the veil and sit down." 29:44 Are you catching the picture? 29:46 So until 1844, where were the Father and the Son? 29:52 The Holy Place. 29:53 I mean, it clearly says the Father rises from the throne, 29:58 in a flaming chariot He goes into the Holy of Holies 30:00 and sits down. 30:02 Which means that before that He was in the Holy Place. 30:06 She continues, "Then a cloudy chariot with wheels like 30:10 flaming fire, surrounded by angels, came to where Jesus was. 30:15 He stepped into the chariot and was borne to the Holiest 30:19 where the Father sat." 30:20 So where were the Father and the Son 30:22 from the ascension until 1844? 30:25 They were in the Holy Place of the Sanctuary. 30:27 All of these reasons indicate very clearly 30:31 that the scene, the introductory scene of Revelation 4 and 5, 30:35 is occurring in the Holy Place of the sanctuary. 30:39 And I gave you seven reasons. 30:41 The seven lamps of fire are there, 30:44 which represents the Holy Spirit. 30:47 We have also the second reason, which is, the Holy Spirit 30:51 is there and He's sent to the earth, in chapter 5. 30:54 That would be Pentecost. 30:56 You also have, before the throne you have the 30:59 seven branch candlestick. 31:01 The throne would represent the table of showbread 31:03 because the table of showbread was directly in front 31:06 of the seven branch candlestick. 31:09 You have the two stacks of bread. 31:12 You have the expression, lahem panim. 31:16 You have the two crowns on the table. 31:19 You have the altar of incense present there. 31:21 You have a scarcity of bread during this period. 31:24 And of course, you have the table of showbread 31:26 which supplies the bread. 31:28 And then the comment by Ellen White where Ellen White 31:32 very clearly states that the Father and the Son 31:36 were in the Holy Place before 1844. 31:40 Now let's continue interpreting the symbols. 31:44 It says that lightning was proceeding before the throne. 31:49 Now what does the lightening represent? 31:51 You know, we're dealing with symbols here. 31:53 We're dealing with symbols. 31:55 God the Father and the Son don't sit on top of a table 31:57 with piles of showbread. 31:59 It's symbols that represent something 32:03 beyond the bare symbols. 32:05 What does the lightning represent? 32:07 Well, let's read these two statements 32:09 from the spirit of prophecy. 32:10 And you can also read the text in Ezekiel 1:13 32:14 where explicitly it tells us that the lightning represents 32:17 the speed with which the angels move. 32:20 It says, "As God's messengers, they go forth 32:23 like 'the appearance of a flash of lightning,' 32:26 so dazzling their glory, and so swift in their flight." 32:31 The Great Controversy, page 512. 32:34 In another statement, Testimonies for the Church, 32:36 volume 5, page 754, "The bright light going among 32:40 the living creatures with the swiftness of lightning 32:44 represents the speed with which this work will finally 32:48 go forward to completion." 32:51 And so you have these streaks of lightning 32:55 which represents the angels that are in a hurry 32:58 to perform the commands that God gives from the throne. 33:03 Then you have thundering and voices 33:05 of the four living creatures that surround the throne of God. 33:09 At this point in history they're preparing the reception room 33:13 for the arrival of the war Hero and they're praising the Father 33:18 who is sitting on the throne. 33:21 And now we have another group of beings that come into view. 33:25 They're called the four living creatures. 33:28 The better translation is the four living beings. 33:31 That's a better translation. 33:33 And we find in verse 6 the four living creatures. 33:37 Each having six wings and were full of eyes. 33:41 Which represents the fact that they're wise, full of wisdom. 33:46 Full of eyes around and within and they do not rest 33:49 day or night, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, 33:55 who was and who is, and who is to come." 33:59 Now what do the four living creatures represent? 34:03 You know, you don't have these four-headed monsters in heaven. 34:07 You're dealing with symbols. 34:09 We need to understand that we're dealing with symbolic language. 34:12 Who are the living creatures? 34:14 Well, there's no doubt that they are seraphim. 34:17 A very exalted cast of angels. 34:21 You say, "How do we know that?" 34:23 Well, there's only one other verse in the Bible, 34:26 actually there's only one verse in the Bible 34:28 that identifies the Seraphim. 34:31 And that's Isaiah 6:1-3. 34:35 So let's read those verses. 35:08 So you notice that the seraphim are the ones 35:11 that have six wings. 35:13 And they are the ones that sing, "Holy, holy, holy." 35:16 You have those two elements in common between Revelation 4 35:21 and Ezekiel 6. 35:24 Now let's go to verses 9-11 as we continue taking a look at 35:29 Revelation 4, the preparation of the heavenly throne room. 35:33 Verse 9, "Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor 35:37 and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, 35:40 who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down 35:44 before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him 35:47 who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns 35:50 before the throne, saying, 'You are worthy, O Lord, 35:54 to receive glory and honor and power; 35:58 for You created all things and by Your will they exist 36:03 and were created. 36:05 So to whom are the living creatures 36:09 and the twenty-four elders giving honor and glory? 36:13 To the one who is seated on the throne. 36:16 To God the Father. 36:18 And only to Him. 36:19 And why are they rendering Him honor and glory? 36:22 Why is He worth of these songs of exaltation? 36:27 It's because the Father created all things. 36:31 And so now you say, "But wait a minute. 36:32 There's kind of a discrepancy here because 36:35 the Bible says that Jesus was the Creator." 36:38 So let's notice at the top of page 25. 36:42 A question comes up at this point. 36:45 Does not the New Testament teach that Jesus created all things? 36:48 We're going to see in a moment that the New Testament says it. 36:51 Why then does Revelation 4 describe 36:54 the Father as the Creator? 36:56 The text provides the answer to the question. 36:59 The Father was the Architect of creation. 37:02 He devised the plan. 37:05 On the other hand, Jesus was the Master Builder 37:08 because He carried out the Father's plan. 37:11 Now did you notice that in verse 11 it says, 37:14 "You created all things, and by Your will they exist 37:17 and were created." 37:18 So in other words, the Father didn't actually do the work. 37:21 It was by His will that things were created. 37:24 Now let's notice a statement from Ellen White 37:27 which is very similar. 37:28 This is, Patriarchs and Prophets, page 36. 37:31 "The Son of God has wrought..." 37:34 What? 37:35 "...the Father's will..." 37:37 Very similar to Revelation 4:11. 37:40 "...the Father's will in the creation of 37:42 all the hosts of heaven; and to Him, 37:45 as well as to God, their homage and allegiance were due. 37:49 Christ was still to exercise divine power 37:52 in the creation of the earth and its inhabitants. 37:55 But in all this He would not seek power or exaltation 37:58 for Himself contrary to God's plan, but would exalt 38:02 the Father's glory and execute His purposes 38:06 of beneficence and love." 38:09 So if I asked you who was the Creator, 38:12 what would your answer be? 38:18 How many say that the Creator was the Father? 38:20 Raise your hand. 38:23 Oh, only four of you. Okay. 38:24 How many of you say that Jesus was the Creator? 38:27 And the rest of you are not sure. 38:30 The answer is both. 38:32 The Father devised the plan and the Son followed the 38:35 will of the Father in implementing the plan. 38:38 Let's notice the text in the New Testament that proves this 38:41 besides the one that we found in Revelation 4:11. 38:45 In 1 Corinthians 8:6 it says... 39:05 So the Father does His work through the Son. 39:08 The Son is the emissary of the Father, if you please. 39:12 Notice Colossians 1:15-16. 39:15 "He," Jesus, "is the image of the invisible God..." 39:38 So how were things created? Through Jesus. 39:42 Notice Hebrews 1:1-2. 39:45 "God..." That's referring to the Father. 40:06 So in Revelation 4 all of these heavenly beings; 40:12 the 24 elders, and the four living creatures, 40:14 the seraphim and cherubim, 40:16 the 24 elders we have not identified yet, 40:19 they are rendering honor and praise and glory 40:22 to God the Father who is sitting on the throne 40:24 because He is the architect of Creation. 40:28 Present there also is the Holy Spirit, 40:31 represented by the seven lamps of fire. 40:36 Now let's go to the summary of chapter 4. 40:39 This is page 26. 40:42 Several beings are present in chapter four. 40:46 Among those who are present are the four living beings, 40:49 which we've identified as seraphim, 40:52 the 24 elders that we have not yet identified... 40:55 I'll tell you that they're representatives of the 40:56 worlds that never sinned. 40:58 They are not those who resurrected with Jesus. 41:01 That's been the traditional view. 41:02 But we have to be careful about following tradition. 41:06 We have to follow what Scripture teaches, 41:08 and what Ellen White has revealed 41:11 through the power of God to us. 41:15 So there are the four living beings, 41:17 which are the cherubim and seraphim, 41:19 the 24 elders, God the Father sitting on the throne, 41:23 and the Holy Spirit represented by the seven Spirits 41:26 or the seven lamps of fire. 41:29 Now who is missing there? 41:30 See, when we read a passage of Scripture, 41:32 we need to look, not only what is there, but what we thought 41:36 should be there and isn't. 41:38 Who is missing in the scene of Revelation 4? 41:41 Jesus is not in chapter 4, and the angelic host are not there. 41:46 The cherubim and seraphim that surround God's throne, yes, 41:49 but the angelic hosts are not there. 41:52 So the question is, where were the angelic hosts 41:56 and where was Jesus when this scene of 41:58 Revelation 4 is taking place? 42:00 Well the fact is, the heavenly throne room was being prepared 42:04 in heaven and the angelic hosts left heaven to come to earth 42:08 to pick Jesus up. 42:10 And Jesus and the angelic hosts were on their way to heaven 42:15 to celebrate the return of the war Hero. 42:19 Now the best explanation of this whole scene of 42:24 Revelation 4 and 5 is what I'm going to read now from, 42:26 Desire of Ages. 42:28 Spectacular passage. 42:30 I don't know how, for example, the Sabbath school lessons 42:32 could have missed this long passage that we have here. 42:36 It made a reference, read Desire of Ages, 42:39 but it was not in the lesson. 42:42 It shows absolutely clearly when this is taking place. 42:46 It's not the investigative judgment in 1844. 42:49 It's the inauguration of Jesus upon His arrival to heaven 42:54 when the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the church. 42:57 Let's read this rather long passage. 42:58 It's really an exciting passage. 43:01 Desire of Ages, this is the last three pages of the book. 43:06 "All heaven was waiting to welcome the Savior 43:11 to the celestial court." 43:14 Are you catching the picture? 43:16 Jesus had left, now He's coming back. 43:18 Do you think everybody in heaven was quite excited? 43:21 "Oh goody, goody. 43:22 He's coming back! 43:24 He's keeping His promise. 43:26 Let's prepare the party for Him." 43:30 "As He ascended, He led the way, and the multitude of captives 43:35 set free at His resurrection followed." 43:37 Here, we begin to get an inkling that those who resurrected 43:41 with Jesus cannot be the 24 elders. 43:43 Because in chapter 4 the 24 elders were already there 43:47 before Jesus arrived. 43:50 That's just one of the evidences. 43:52 She continues, "As He ascended, He led the way, 43:56 and the multitude of captives set free at 43:59 His resurrection followed. 44:00 The heavenly host, with shouts and acclamations of praise 44:04 and celestial song, attended the joyous train." 44:07 So where was the heavenly hosts? 44:11 They were with Jesus. 44:13 Coming back with Him to the heavenly throne room 44:17 in the Holy Place. 44:18 "As they drew near to the city of God, the escorting angels..." 44:23 Because there's some angels in front of the procession 44:25 that are the escorting angels. 44:27 "...give the challenge, 'Lift up your heads, 44:30 O ye gates; and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors; 44:33 and the King of glory shall come in.' 44:37 Joyfully the waiting sentinels respond..." 44:40 The sentinels at the gates that are guarding the gates. 44:43 "'Who is this King of glory?' 44:45 This they say, not because they know not who He is, 44:49 but because they would hear the answer of exalted praise. 44:53 'The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.'" 44:56 Which battle? 44:57 Is He coming back from the battlefield? 44:59 Does He have the wounds to prove it? 45:01 Yeah, but He's alive. 45:04 "'The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle. 45:07 Lift up your heads, O ye gates; even lift them up, 45:10 ye everlasting doors; and the King of glory shall come in.' 45:13 Again, the challenge is heard, 'Who is this King of glory?'" 45:16 This is psalm 24, by the way. 45:18 "For the angels never weary of hearing His name exalted. 45:22 The escorting angels make the reply, 45:24 'The Lord is hosts; He is the King of glory.' 45:28 Then the portals of the city of God are opened wide, 45:31 and the angelic throng sweep through the gates 45:35 amid a burst of rapturous music." 45:40 And now you tell me if this isn't Revelation 4. 45:43 "There is the throne, 45:47 and around it the rainbow of promise." 45:49 Did we find that around the throne in Revelation 4 45:51 there was a rainbow? 45:53 Yes. 45:54 "There are cherubim and seraphim." 45:58 What would those be in Revelation 4? 46:01 The four living creatures. 46:04 She continues, "Assembled are the commanders of the 46:07 angel hosts, the sons of God, 46:10 the representatives of the unfallen worlds." 46:12 And somebody once challenged me, he said, 46:14 "Well, these are three different groups. 46:16 The commanders of the angel hosts are one group, 46:18 the sons of God are another group, 46:20 and the representatives of the unfallen worlds 46:21 is a third group." 46:23 No, no, no. Ellen White used this way of speaking 46:26 very frequently in her writings. 46:28 For example, she says, "In Christ is life unborrowed..." 46:32 How does it say? 46:35 "...original, unborrowed, and underived." 46:38 Are those three synonymous words? 46:41 Absolutely. 46:42 And so she uses this literary mechanism 46:47 many times in her writings. 46:49 In other words, the commanders of the angel hosts, 46:52 the sons of God, the representatives of the unfallen 46:55 worlds are the 24 elders. 46:59 Then she continues, "The heavenly council before which 47:02 Lucifer had accused God and His Son, the representatives 47:06 of those sinless realms over which Satan had thought 47:09 to establish His dominion; all are there to..." What? 47:14 "...to welcome the Redeemer. 47:16 They are eager to celebrate His triumph 47:19 and to glorify their King." 47:21 See, and the whole place has been prepared 47:23 for the celebration of the arrival of the war Hero. 47:28 Now listen carefully. 47:30 "However, He waves them back. 47:34 Not yet. 47:35 He cannot now receive the coronet of glory 47:38 and the royal robe. 47:39 He enters into the presence of His Father." 47:42 This is Revelation, we're going to see that it's Revelation 5:7. 47:44 It says He comes to the Father. 47:48 "He points to His wounded head, 47:51 the pierced side, the marred feet..." 47:53 Is He presenting Himself as the Lamb 47:55 as though it had been slain? 47:57 Do you notice what Ellen White is doing? 47:58 She's interpreting the symbols. 48:01 Ellen White does not refer to four living creatures, 48:04 she does not refer to 24 elders, 48:06 she does not refer to the Lamb as though it had been slain, 48:08 she doesn't refer to the one sitting on the throne. 48:11 Ellen White actually interprets the symbols. 48:15 She says there are cherubim and seraphim. 48:18 The four living creatures. 48:19 There are the representatives of the worlds 48:21 that never sinned. 48:23 There is the Father sitting on the throne. 48:25 And Jesus is the Lamb that comes before the throne. 48:29 So Ellen White is interpreting the symbols 48:32 of Revelation 4 and 5. 48:35 So once again, "However, He waves them back. 48:37 Not yet. 48:38 He cannot now receive the coronet of glory 48:40 and the royal robe. 48:42 He enters into the presence of His Father. 48:44 He points to His wounded head, the pierced side, 48:48 the marred feet; He lifts His hands, 48:50 bearing the print of the nails." 48:52 See, He's presenting Himself as the Lamb, right? 48:55 He points to the tokens of His triumph; 48:58 He presents to God the wave sheaf, those raised with Him 49:03 as representatives of that great multitude 49:06 who shall come forth from the grave at His second coming. 49:09 He approaches the Father..." 49:11 You notice I've put explanatory notes in brackets. 49:14 That's not part of Scripture. 49:15 When you put things in brackets, it means that it's the person 49:18 who is offering an explanation. 49:21 So, "He approaches the Father with whom there is joy 49:24 over one sinner that repents; 49:26 who rejoices over one with singing. 49:29 Before the foundations of the earth were laid, 49:31 the Father and the Son had united in a covenant 49:33 to redeem man should Satan overcome him. 49:37 They had clasped their hands in a solemn pledge 49:40 that Christ should become the surety..." 49:42 What does the word, "surety," mean? 49:45 The guarantee. 49:46 The one who would take the place of Adam who failed. 49:51 "...Christ would become the surety for the human race. 49:54 This pledge Christ has fulfilled. 49:58 When upon the cross He cried out, 'It is finished...'" 50:03 Who was He talking to? 50:05 "...He addressed the Father. 50:08 The compact..." Which is another word for covenant. 50:12 "The compact had been fully carried out. 50:17 Now He declares, 'Father, it is finished. 50:21 I have done Thy will, O My God. 50:23 I have completed the work of redemption.'" 50:28 Was the work of redemption completed at the cross? 50:32 That's what she says that Jesus said. 50:36 "I have completed the work of redemption." 50:39 But does it means that He has no more functions 50:41 to perform in the sanctuary? 50:43 Of course not. 50:44 In what sense did Jesus complete redemption? 50:47 By His life and His death. 50:50 In order to make provision for everyone who claims it. 50:53 But you've got to claim it. 50:55 If you don't claim it, it won't do you any good. 50:59 Somebody can give you a gift, but if you reject the gift 51:02 it's not going to do you any good. 51:05 She continues, Jesus is speaking to His Father, 51:09 "If Thy justice is satisfied, 'I will that they also, 51:14 whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am.'" 51:16 What is the passion of Jesus as He comes before His Father? 51:20 He wants His own to be with Him. 51:23 "That where I am, there you may be also." 51:26 That's His passion. 51:27 He's going to say to His Father, "Father, is what I did 51:29 on earth sufficient to bring My people home?" 51:34 Notice the following paragraph. 51:36 "The voice of God is heard proclaiming 51:38 that justice is satisfied. 51:40 Satan is vanquished." 51:43 In other words, he's been overcome. 51:45 "Christ's toiling, struggling ones on earth 51:48 are 'accepted in the Beloved.' 51:51 Before the heavenly angels and the representatives 51:53 of the unfallen worlds, they are declared justified. 51:58 Where He is, there His church shall be." 52:04 And we're going to talk about the scroll later on. 52:06 "'Mercy and truth are met together; 52:08 righteousness and peace have kissed each other.' 52:13 The Father's arms encircle His Son..." 52:16 I would liked to have been there to see that embrace. 52:19 Because just a short while before that, Jesus had prayed, 52:23 "Father, if You can take away this cup that You gave Me, 52:26 the cup of Your wrath, do so. 52:27 But not My will be done, but Yours." 52:30 Jesus is saying, "I felt like I was totally alienated from You, 52:33 I would never see Your face again." 52:35 And now He's in the presence of His Father. 52:37 And there's this beautiful embrace. 52:40 So once again, Ellen White states, 52:46 "The Father's arms encircle His Son, and the word is given, 52:50 'Let all the angels of God worship Him.'" 52:55 By the way, Ellen White describes that when Jesus 52:57 went before the throne to embrace His Father, 53:01 heaven was in absolute silence. 53:04 There were no songs. They were in suspense. 53:07 But now the scene is going to change. 53:10 Now the Father is going to command all the heavenly angels 53:13 to celebrate. 53:15 It says in the following paragraph... 53:17 In case you were wondering if Ellen White is here discussing 53:20 Revelation 4 and 5, now we're going to see very clearly 53:23 that this is exactly what she's talking about. 53:25 "With Joy unutterable, rulers, principalities, and powers..." 53:32 Notice, three categories of beings, right? 53:34 "...rulers, principalities, and powers 53:37 acknowledge the supremacy of the Prince of life. 53:41 The angel host prostrate themselves before Him, 53:44 while the glad shout fills all the courts of heaven, 53:49 'Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, 53:53 and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, 53:55 and glory, and blessing.' Revelation 5:12." 54:00 Is Ellen White expounding upon Revelation 4 and 5? 54:04 She most certainly is. 54:05 The following paragraph, "Songs of triumph mingle with 54:10 the music from angel harps, until heaven seems to overflow 54:15 with joy and praise. 54:16 Love has conquered. The lost is found. 54:21 Heaven rings with voices in lofty strains proclaiming, 54:26 'Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power 54:31 be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, 54:33 and unto the Lamb forever and ever.' 54:38 Revelation 5:13." 54:42 Is this Ellen White's commentary on the introductory vision 54:46 to Revelation 6, to the seven seals? 54:50 You would have to be blind and deaf to say that it isn't. 54:55 This is the occasion... Now let me make something clear. 54:59 This song in Revelation 5:12-13 is going to be sung again 55:03 at the very end of human history. 55:06 Because it says there in Revelation 5:13, 55:13 let's see, Revelation 5:12... 55:18 Well, maybe not. 55:19 Let me just go here in the Bible to Revelation 5, 55:22 and let's notice a very interesting detail. 55:27 Revelation 5 and let's read verse 11. 55:33 "Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels 55:35 around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; 55:38 and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, 55:40 and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, 55:43 'Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and 55:45 riches and wisdom and strength and honor 55:47 and glory and blessing.'" 55:49 And now verse 13 is the key verse. 56:01 And then you have the song of verse 13. 56:03 Let me ask you, when Jesus ascended to heaven, 56:06 did every person in heaven, on earth, under the earth, 56:09 and in the sea sing this song? 56:12 No. which means that there is a broader, future fulfillment 56:17 where this song is going to be sung. 56:19 That's why at the end of the great controversy Ellen White 56:21 quotes these verses again, only it's the redeemed that are 56:25 singing these verses. 56:26 Not only the redeemed, but also the wicked who stand 56:30 outside the holy city. 56:31 And so really Revelation 5:12-13 concludes the introductory scene 56:37 but it also takes you well beyond to the very end of time. 56:43 Now the best illustration of this final celebration 56:46 that will take place when Jesus arrives in heaven 56:49 at His second coming with all of the redeemed 56:52 is the story of the lost sheep. 56:54 You know, the shepherd goes and he seeks the lost sheep. 56:57 By the way, the lost sheep represents this world, 57:00 in a broader sense. 57:02 The shepherd is Jesus. 57:04 The lost sheep is this world. 57:06 And so, the shepherd goes out, he rescues the one lost sheep. 57:10 Then what does he do? 57:13 Well, this is the part that we usually don't focus on. 57:16 He takes his sheep upon his shoulder and he take the 57:18 sheep home, and he calls his neighbors and his friends, 57:22 and he says, "Come, let's have a party. 57:25 Let's celebrate. 57:27 Because the sheep that I have lost has been found." 57:31 And that's exactly what happened when Jesus went to heaven, 57:34 and what will take place especially when 57:36 Jesus comes again. 57:38 He will take the redeemed from this world home. 57:41 And then there will be a final celebration 57:43 like the celebration when Jesus ascended to heaven. 57:46 Only this time, it will be with all of the redeemed 57:50 from all ages. 57:51 So this is the introductory scene to Revelation 4, 57:56 and we also studied an inkling of Revelation 5. 58:00 Next session we will deal with Revelation 5 in more detail. |
Revised 2021-11-30