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Series Code: ICJ
Program Code: ICJ190006A
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00:01 Crisis may come and go, but a crisis in the throne room of
00:05 heaven, now that's something else. 00:07 And how they solved it means everything to you and me. 00:37 The book of Revelation reveals a tremendous crisis 00:41 in the throne room of heaven. 00:43 As we go to chapter 4, which is the set-up for that, 00:46 we want to, first of all, look at who is there. 00:49 So we're going to look, first of all, at where Jesus is at. 00:55 And I'm going to go to the book of Revelation 00:56 chapter 4 and we're going to read verse 5. 01:01 "And from the throne..." 01:02 So we're in the throne room. 01:03 I'll talk about that throne in just a moment. 01:06 "And from the throne proceeded lightnings, 01:08 thunderings, and voices." 01:10 That means that's executive power. 01:12 Decisions are being made, orders are being given, 01:16 things are being carried out. 01:18 And then it says, it helps us with the location, 01:21 "Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, 01:27 which are the seven Spirits of God." 01:29 So the seven lamps of fire here before the throne 01:33 tell us that we're actually in the Holy Place 01:36 of the heavenly sanctuary. 01:38 Not the Most Holy Place. 01:40 But we're in the Holy Place of the heavenly sanctuary. 01:43 That's the context. 01:45 Now this throne, however, can move. 01:49 Now the Bible doesn't say anything, or the book of 01:52 Revelation doesn't say anything about the table of showbread. 01:54 If you remember, just to recap, in the Holy Place 01:58 of the heavenly sanctuary where Jesus is ministering for us 02:01 there are three articles of furniture. 02:04 There's the candlesticks, 02:06 and then there's the table of showbread, 02:09 and then there's the altar of incense. 02:11 The altar of incense and the seven candlesticks 02:14 are mentioned by name. 02:16 But the table of showbread is not mentioned by name. 02:20 But I believe that's the throne of God. 02:23 Now some people say, "Well, how can the throne of God 02:25 be in the Holy Place when it's also above the mercy seat 02:29 in the Most Holy Place?" 02:30 You have to remember that Jesus is moving through time. 02:34 And the book of Daniel tells us that the 02:36 throne of God has wheels. 02:38 It moves. 02:39 So it will move depending on the time and the circumstance. 02:43 But right now I believe it's the table of showbread, 02:47 and I want to show you some of the reasons for that 02:50 from the book of Ezekiel. 02:53 But before we go there, let me talk about 02:55 the picture in the book of Revelation. 02:58 The throne is surrounded by 24 elders. 03:00 Now that word, "elder," you don't hear that word 03:03 except when it's applied to somebody that's been on earth. 03:06 And of course, the elders are also messengers. 03:08 Some people may call them angels. 03:10 But they are God's messengers. 03:12 Who are these elders? 03:14 We will not see them when we go to the book of Ezekiel chapter 1 03:18 that gives us a parallel picture of the throne room of heaven. 03:22 But these 24 elders are now seated around the throne of God. 03:27 I think that they are those who were resurrected 03:30 when Jesus was resurrected, because the Bible says 03:33 that people were resurrected when He was resurrected 03:36 from the dead, and they actually witnessed to people 03:39 in Jerusalem about the resurrection of Jesus. 03:43 But we don't know their names, 03:44 we don't know who they are, per se. 03:46 But there they are. 03:47 And I think and believe, this is just my comment, if you please, 03:53 that those 24 elders, if indeed they are those that were 03:56 resurrected from the dead, they are the constant reminder 04:01 to God the Father who sits on the throne 04:05 that He has unfinished business on planet earth. 04:10 Because there's going to be a huge multitude 04:13 of the righteous that will be resurrected 04:15 when Jesus comes again. 04:18 Now back to the throne room of heaven, 04:20 and listen to this description of who's there. 04:23 We've talked about the 24 elders, but there's also 04:25 four other beings there. 04:27 And John says that they have faces like a calf, 04:31 a lion, a man, and an eagle. 04:34 On top of that, there is a crystal sea there. 04:37 The book of Revelation pictures the redeemed 04:39 gathered on that crystal sea some day. 04:41 But here, that crystal sea has on it the throne of God 04:45 with a beautiful rainbow around it. 04:48 And on that throne sits somebody who looks like a man 04:53 glorious to behold. 04:55 And I believe the picture here is a picture of God the Father. 04:59 It makes me flash back to the book of Genesis 05:01 where He says, "Let Us make man in our image." 05:05 And so the one sitting on that throne has the form of a man. 05:10 Before that crystal sea is spread all the angels 05:15 of God around that throne. 05:17 So you have the throne, you have the 24 elders, 05:20 you have these four marvelous beings with these four faces. 05:25 In fact, the book of Ezekiel says each one had four faces 05:28 of these four faces. 05:30 But John sees only these four faces. 05:32 And it's surrounded by this emerald rainbow. 05:35 However, when you go to the book of Ezekiel, 05:38 I want to share with you what Ezekiel sees. 05:41 It's very similar, but there's some interesting differences. 05:44 First of all, he says these four beings actually have 05:50 above their heads the crystal sea. 05:53 So they're holding up the crystal sea 05:56 like four legs on a table. 05:59 Isn't that interesting? 06:00 Because the table of showbread has four legs on it. 06:04 And then he says that their legs were straight. 06:09 That's an interesting description. 06:11 So table legs are normally straight. 06:15 And on top of that crystal sea is also the throne of God. 06:19 And it has also a beautiful rainbow. 06:22 But in Ezekiel's picture there's no 24 elders. 06:27 That only comes into view in the book of Revelation. 06:30 You can go to Ezekiel 1 and compare it to Revelation 4, 06:34 and I think you'll enjoy doing that. 06:36 So I think it's a perfect representation 06:38 of the table of showbread. 06:40 And the table of showbread also had two stacks of bread on it. 06:45 And on this throne is God the Father, 06:47 but later in the book of Revelation 06:49 He's going to be joined by the slain Lamb, 06:52 or the Son of God. 06:54 So it's a picture of the Father and the Son together. 06:57 And of course, through the book of the New Testament, 07:01 through the books of the New Testament 07:02 the apostles are constantly saying that Jesus sits 07:06 at the right hand of God. 07:08 He's at the right hand of God also as our High Priest. 07:11 But in symbolic language He's going to be pictured 07:13 as the slain Lamb. 07:15 Now the scene changes as we get into chapter 5. 07:21 But before we go to chapter 5, I want to talk about 07:24 this song that they sing, they sing to the Father. 07:27 Revelation 4:8 says... 07:31 And this is a song, we don't have the music to it, 07:33 but these are the words to it. 07:35 "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty..." 07:41 And then it says, "Who was, who is, and who is to come." 07:47 In other words, the One who sits on this throne, 07:50 God the Father, is eternal. 07:52 There never was a time when He was not. 07:55 There never will be a time when He will not be. 07:58 He was, He is, and He is to come. 08:02 And then in verse 11 they say in the song, 08:06 "You are worthy..." 08:08 Now that word, "worthy," is going to come up again. 08:10 "You are worthy..." 08:11 And then they give the reason why He is worthy of worship. 08:15 And they say, "For You have created all things, 08:22 and by Your will they exist..." 08:26 Not only did God create all things, 08:30 but He actually upholds them now by the might of His power. 08:34 The whole existence of the universe is held in place 08:39 by this mighty God that we may not see, 08:42 but we've seen His Son. 08:45 Now we want to go to chapter 5, because in chapter 5 08:48 the scene changes. 08:50 And it's a fascinating scene. 08:52 It's a scene that brings a crisis to the throne room. 08:58 So in Revelation 5:1 we have these words 09:02 from the apostle John, "And I saw in the right hand 09:05 of Him," the Father, "who sat on the throne 09:09 a scroll written on the inside and on the back, 09:14 but sealed, and sealed with seven seals." 09:19 Now what is a seal? 09:22 Well in those times seals were often made 09:25 by people in authority, and they usually said some kind of 09:29 agreement or some kind of declaration. 09:33 And it made it authentic or authoritative. 09:36 Seals were often made out of clay. 09:39 And then they had the person's name, 09:42 or maybe some image, but his name of authority. 09:46 And he would push that into wax. 09:48 And when the wax would dry there would be his seal. 09:51 It could also be a stone that had been carved. 09:54 By the way, they have found in Jerusalem 09:57 through some of the excavations and archaeologies 10:00 some of the seals of the people mentioned in Scripture. 10:03 Now if my memory serves me right, 10:05 I think they found Hezekiah's seal and Isaiah's seal. 10:08 It's very, very fascinating. 10:10 So seals were around in those days. 10:13 And that showed authority. 10:16 Now we use a notary republic. 10:18 At least when I was growing up the notary republic had a seal. 10:20 So if you bought a house or you bought a car, 10:23 the title would be stamped and pressed into the paper. 10:26 And that would be the seal that this was authentic 10:29 and it had authority. 10:31 Or if you had two parties and you want to witness 10:34 that this is the truth, then you would have a notary seal that. 10:39 It was used primarily, of course, for deeds 10:42 and those kinds of things. 10:44 So we have this scroll that's sealed with seven seals. 10:50 Now listen as John continues the scene. 10:55 "Then," he says, "I saw a strong angel 10:59 proclaiming with a loud voice, 'Who is worthy 11:04 to open the scroll and loose the seals?' 11:08 And no one," John says, "in heaven or on earth 11:12 or under the earth was able to open the scroll 11:15 and look into it." 11:17 And then he says, "So I wept much..." 11:21 In other words, John weeps. 11:23 This is not just a tear. 11:25 He is weeping bitterly because no one 11:28 is found to be able to open that scroll. 11:33 So what must this scroll be? 11:35 Why would the inability to open it make John weep bitterly? 11:44 Well that scroll must contain something very important. 11:49 I want to go back and listen to another picture in the Bible 11:54 from the book of Jeremiah that might give us an insight 11:58 as to what actually is happening here. 12:01 Jeremiah 32, and let me set the setting here. 12:06 Jerusalem is being surrounded, or pretty soon at least, 12:09 by Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonian armies. 12:13 The prophet Jeremiah is telling the king of Israel, 12:15 "You better cooperate with that Babylonian king, 12:17 because if you don't, it's going to go even worse for Israel. 12:20 They're going to take Jerusalem, 12:22 they're going to breach those walls, 12:24 and you need to surrender to make things easier 12:26 for yourself and all the rest of us." 12:28 That was his main message. 12:30 But he was resistant, resistant. 12:32 And this was coming as punishment 12:34 on ancient Israel for their apostasy. 12:38 Then God does something very strange to Jeremiah. 12:42 Here you've got the Babylonian armies have taken most 12:44 all of Judea, and now they're getting ready to 12:47 surround Jerusalem itself. 12:50 And then God says this to Jeremiah. 12:54 He says to get a deed and go buy some property. 12:59 What? 13:00 Why would you buy property? 13:01 I mean, using a picture out of the American history, 13:06 why would you buy property if the confederacy 13:10 was about to go down, and they were the ones 13:12 that had the authority? 13:14 So John weeps bitterly. 13:17 And he's puzzled, "Why does God give him these 13:21 seemingly foolish instructions?" 13:24 So he said he took the purchase deed, 13:28 both which was sealed according to the law and to the custom..." 13:33 In other words, the seal made it possible for anyone 13:38 to know that this property belonged to Jeremiah 13:42 and they could only have it with Jeremiah's permission. 13:46 They would have to beat the seal, break the seal. 13:51 We'll find out what all of that is about in just a moment. |
Revised 2019-07-10