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Revelation 4-7
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1
Outline:1)
The Throne (4:1-11)2)
The Book (5:1-14)3)
The Seal Judgments (6:1-17)4)
The Tribulation Saints (7:1-17)1)
The Throne (4:1-11)a)
A brief defense of the pre-tribulation rapture:i)
A resource: http://www.pre-trib.org/
ii)
Word “rapture” does not appear in the Bible –
or does it?(1)
“Rapture” in English means “
an expression or manifestation of ecstasy or passion /
astate or experience of being carried away by overwhelming emotion
“
(2)
So perhaps what theologians call “the rapture” does not effectively communicate!
(3)
“Rapture” comes from the Latin word
rapturo
, which is a translation of the Greek verb
"caught up" that’s found in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. Rapture is in the Latin Vulgate
(4)
1 Thessalonians 4:17, “
Then we who are alive
and
remain shall be caught up (Greek
ἁρπάζω
) together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shallalways be with the Lord.
”
(5)
My own defense of the pre-trib rapture:(a)
Even briefer defense of pre-millennialism!(i)
“Thousand years” (Greek χίλιοι
) 6 times in Revelation 20(ii)
If one takes the thousand to be literal (and I do) … one is
not an amillennialist!(iii)
If one views Revelation as a chronological sequence of events (after the church
age!) … and because the 2
nd
coming is in chapter 19 …
(iv)
One is a premillennialist! (or premillennial)(b)
The fact of the rapture (see above)(c)
The purpose of the Tribulation: 2 fold: to discipline Israel to bring about nationalrepentance and to judge gentile nations
(to bring an end to the “times of thegentiles” (Luke 21:24)
. There is no purpose for the tribulation for the church(d)
“wrath” in I Thessalonians (1:10; 2:16; 5:9)
(i)
1:10, “and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead,
even
Jesus who deli
vers us from the wrath to come”
(ii)
2:16, “…but wrath has come upon them to the uttermost”
(iii)
5:9, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through ourLord Jesus Christ”
(iv)
And then consider carefully “us / you / we” contrasted with “them / the
y /
those” in 1 Thessalonians 5:1
-
11, “But concerning the times and the seasons,
brethren,
you have no need that I should write to you.
2
For you yourselvesknow perfectly that the day of the Lord so comes as a thief in the night.
3
For
Revelation 4-7
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when they
say, “Peace and safety!” then sudden destruction comes upon
them,as labor pains upon a pregnant woman. And they shall not escape.
4
But you,brethren, are not in darkness, so that this Day should overtake you as a thief.
5
You are all sons of light and sons of the day. We are not of the night nor of darkness.
6
Therefore let us not sleep, as others
do,
but let us watch and besober.
7
For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk are drunkat night.
8
But let us who are of the day be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and
as
a helmet the hope of salvation.
9
For God did not appointus to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
10
who diedfor us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him.
11
Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing.(v)
The promise to the church of Philadelphia: “I also will keep you
from (Greek
ἐκ
=
“out of”) the hour of trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those
w
ho dwell on the earth” (Rev 3:10)
(vi)
The general outline of Revelation (1:19) with these observations:1.
The word church
is not found in Revelation after chapter 3 … until chapter20:16, “I, Jesus, have sent My angel to testify to you these things in the
churches
”
2.
If the church is the “bride of Christ” (the figure of a marriage and a chastebride!) …. She is seen after the tribulation in 19:7, “Let us be glad and
rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and Hiswife
has made herself ready”. Again
not
in the tribulation
!3.
The phrase used to instruct the churches (eg 3:6, “He who has an ear, let
him hear what the Spirit says to the churches
”) seen again in 13:9, … but thechurch not mentioned: “If anyone has an ear, let
him hear”
4.
Does Revelation 4:1 speak of the church? “Come up here”. Not a strong case
for this but intriguing!(vii)
The issue of imminence. There is no imminence for the post-tribber! (if youknow you are in the tribulation and you know the tribulation is 7 ye
ars long ….)
(viii)
The issue of those who populate the planet in the Millennium1.
With pre-trib rapture position there are some who survive the tribulationand enter into the Millennium with mortal (non-raptured) bodies2.
With the post-
trib rapture position … there
is a problem!(e)
Discussion question: Does it matter (pre-trib, mid-trib, post-trib)?
Revelation 4-7
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3
b)
The Summons (4:1)i)
Text: “After these things I looked, and behold, a door
standing
open in heaven. And the firstvoice which I heard
was
like a trumpet speaking with me,
saying, “Come up here, and I will
show you things which must take place after this
.””
ii)
3
rd
section of the grand outline of Revelationiii)
Futurist section commencesiv)
John temporarily translated to heaven!v)
Not unprecedented! The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:1-
3, “It is doubtless
not profitablefor me to boast. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord:
2
I know a man in Christwho fourteen years ago
—
whether in the body I do not know, or whether out of the body Ido not know, God knows
—
such a one was caught up (Greek:
ἁρπάζω
) to the third heaven.
3
And I know such a man
—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows”
(same verb as 1 Thessalonians 4:17 (see above))c)
The Father and the Throne (4:2-3)i)
Text: “Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and
One
sat onthe throne.
3
And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and
there was
a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald”
ii)
Scene is colorful! (Awesomely magnificent!)iii)
Are the stones significant?(1)
Jasper: also in Rev 21:11,18,19(2)
Sardius: reddish to reddish brown. In Exodus 28:17-21- the first stone in the HighPriest's breastplate!d)
The Twenty Four Elders (4:4-5)i)
Text: “Around th
e throne
were
twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-fourelders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns (
στέφανος
) of gold on theirheads.
5
And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices.
Seven lamps of fire
were
burning before the throne, which are the
seven Spirits of God.”
ii)
Who are the 24 elders?(1)
Representative body of all the saints of all ages? Or just the church age saints?(2)
An order of angels?(3)
A parallel concept is the priestly rotation system where there was twenty four orders of priests! (1 Chronicles 24)(4)
Probably clear that it is a representative group!(5)
Crowns: also in Rev 2:10; 3:11; and other Revelation passages(6)
Another occurrence of the phrase “the
seven Spirits of God” (also in 1:4 and 3:1)
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