Eschatology Matters
A Postmil View of The Book of Revelation: The Throne Room
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(gentle music) All right, welcome along again. This is Pastor Tim Bushong from Syracuse Baptist Church on behalf of Eschatology Matters. And we are happily part of the fight laugh feast network. Make sure you subscribe to our channel, hit the like button and all the notification fun that you do. This is the third part in my series on Revelation. Now, I admit I'm not doing a drill down into every detail deep dive like some would do. And if you're looking for good information on the book of Revelation, I would recommend Ken Gentry's recently released two volume set. This is, I think, a work of a lifetime commentary on the book of Revelation. So in this installment, I wanna look at chapters five or four and five of Revelation, where we are in the throne room of God. You know, anyone who knows me knows that for all of my life, as long as I can remember, I've been a fan of Looney Tunes, Bugs Bunny cartoons. And as soon as they were available, I bought the Golden Collection DVD sets six and all. And what's really cool is they have these behind the scenes, how these wonderful classic timeless cartoons were created without any computer graphics, without any CGI, all hand drawn on individual cells with the background artists and all the people involved. It's just really cool to get it behind the scenes glimpse of the final product. Well, in today's episode, we're gonna get a behind the scenes glimpse into the throne room of God. As John the Revelator is recounting to us what he has seen beginning in chapters four and five. And just to remind us, this book is written to seven churches. They're encouraged to hear what God says. They're all giving hope and a promise. And every one of them, whether they're receiving exhortations or admonitions or rebuke or both, they're all exhorted to overcome, to persevere, to keep going. There's a coming upheaval to right around the corner and all the churches must endure. And God wants you to know that the kingdom of his son will utterly triumph over all opposition. Jesus will reign victory in Jesus. So stay true to him and hold fast what you have. Do not fear. And of course, in the context of the last teaching, that fear had to do with compromise, with either sin or false teaching. False teaching always leads to weirdness and therefore repent. And so here we begin in chapter four. I'm not gonna read the entire passage. I'm gonna keep it handy. And let's just take a few minutes. I'll allow you the viewer to read Revelation chapter four and five. Go. (upbeat music) Okay. Wasn't that awesome? I mean, how breathtaking is it that the scene unfolds before us? We might expect a vision given to the apostle whom Jesus loved. And this open door into heaven is surely staggering to John as well. So the seven churches are given their relative commendations and rebukes. And they're assured that even in the middle of chaos and persecution, the Lord God is with them and is victorious. Now the main judgments in the book of Revelation don't begin until Revelation chapter six. In four and five, however, God braces John for those upcoming fearsome judgment scenes by transporting him in a vision above time in a history to the very throne room of God in heaven or in the heavens. And once again, I'll just make note of this. The Old Testament imagery is all over the place. If you look at how this unfolds with the sounds, the sights, really, it would be very hard to take in. And the four and 20 elders are falling down the one who is seated on the throne. These creatures are probably very scary-looking to us humans. And here they are singing 24/7 worthy, our UO Lord, for you created all things. Now there's, why do you think evolution is the great challenge of the 20th century? If you think about, and I've said before, that if you don't understand the Old Testament context, you won't understand Revelation. If you go back to Exodus chapter 19, and I'm currently at our church doing a study on the law of God and just walking through the 10 commandments beginning in Exodus 20, but there's a context to it in Exodus 19. Now Mount Sinai was wrapped in smoke because the Lord had descended on it in fire, and the smoke of it went up like the smoke of a kiln. The whole mountain trembled greatly. And as the sound of the trumpet grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered in thunder. So God is not to be trifled with, he is holy. The command was to the people don't touch the mountain, don't come near it, don't draw near, which is interesting in the book of Hebrews. We're told to draw near in faith. Now back then in Sinai, don't draw near because God is here and he's holy and you're not. So the one seated in the scene in Revelation chapter four and five is Yahweh, God enthroned among his people. He's described as Jasper and Carnillian. Now, I remember when I first did this study, I had to look up what those are. They're similar in appearance, but they're also known for being very three dimensional as well. It's like a two dimensional picture doesn't do justice, kind of like a multifaceted diamond. So God is sitting on his judicial throne, it's kind of hard to say, actively ruling over all creation. And then we see these 24 elders surrounding the throne and they're each sitting on their individual thrones. Now, who is this? Well, I believe that the 24 elders represent the church. So if you think of it this way, I've got three reasons, all right. In Ephesians chapter two, four and six, it mentions that we, the church, are seated in heaven with Christ. God made us alive with Christ by grace you've been saved and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. So there's that metaphor of being seated, ruling with Christ. So number one mentions that the church is seated with Christ. Number two, the term elder is consistently used to describe leaders in Israel and in the church. So if you go back to Exodus 12, Moses calls all the elders of Israel and says and tells them different things. Acts 20, that glorious passage where by the end of it, all the elders from Ephesus are just falling on the Apostle Paul and weeping, knowing it's the last time they're going to see him. Paul sent to Ephesus and called to him the elders of the church and of course other passages in the New Testament, we can think of Peter 5.1, therefore I exert the elders among you as your fellow elder. And then number three, the number here, 24, isn't an arbitrary number. None of these numbers are, by the way. In 1st Chronicles 24, and don't let the chapter number give any more import to this, although it is weird, but we don't do numerology here at Eschatology matters. In 1st Chronicles 24, there are 24 divisions of priests allotted. And in 1st Chronicles 25, there are 24 divisions of worshiping musicians. So John has already mentioned the fact that Christians are referred to as quote, priests of God, that's in Revelation 1, 6. So I think the illusion is compelling, those elders represent the church in the presence of God. Remember the promise of God with us, God in our presence, we are in His presence. And then the four living creatures closest to the throne seem to be angels of the highest rank. They're on high alert, think of the eyes constantly watching over creation. They're full of eyes in front and behind. So whatever John witnesses afterwards, however, terrifying the judgments, however vicious the opposition, he may rest assured that not only does Christ concern himself with the affairs of his people in history, but that God is actively controlling all things from above history. Now, of course, the description of these four living creatures really reminds all of us of the creatures in Ezekiel chapter one and chapter 10, where he writes that, quote, their rims, they were lofty and awesome. And the rims of all four of them were full of eyes, round about. I remember when I was a kid and I would see these kind of black and white lithographic illustrations of these creatures and they would always have, you know, you'd have the circle and the circle like it's described in Ezekiel, but then they would have human eyes like with eyelashes and an iris and a pupil and they just look bizarre, but they're eyes. And so the idea is, and I think they would probably be more like beams scouring the horizon constantly on, but that's just my surmise. The throne here in the throne room represents absolute Kingly authority. And John mentions God's throne in 18 of Revelations 22 chapters. In fact, of the 62 appearances of the word throne in the New Testament, we find 47 of them in Revelation. And there are strong judicial tendencies that characterize this book, not only due to this dramatic vision itself, but to all the judicial terminology and revelation. I'm going to skip ahead a little bit. Let's consider some of these. In Revelation 6, 10, how long O Lord, holy and true will you refrain from judging and avenging our blood on those who dwell on the earth? God is the judge and he will judge and all men everywhere, Christian, non-Christian, old young at the judgment seat will give an account of their lives to God. In Revelation 11, 18, and the nations were enraged and your wrath came and the time came for the dead to be judged. That's right. In 1657, I think that's a misprint. There's not 57 verses. And I heard the angel of the water saying, "Righteous are you, who are and who were all holy one, "because you judge these things." For they poured out the blood of the saints and the prophets and you've given them blood to drink. They deserve it. Justice, justice being needed out. In verse seven, I heard the altar saying, "Yes, O Lord God, the Almighty, true and righteous "are your judgments." Well, of course, God's judgments are always righteous and true, righteousness and justice, the foundation of his throne. And so back to Revelation, whatever massive judgment is coming right around the corner, it comes right from the throne of God himself. And there's a constant theme song that accompanies all of this. These incredibly majestic creatures, yes, they are creatures. They would terrify us and as with most people in the Bible, we would think, oh, I'd better worship these creatures and they don't receive it. They are always worshiping. So look at verse eight, day and night. They never cease to say, holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty who was and is to come. Now that's our song too, as the church. The response of the church or the presence of God is to return to him the crowns that he is bestowed upon us. We sing it in that old, original Hebrew, I think his name is, holy, holy, holy, casting down their golden crowns among the glassy sea. In verse 10 it says, they cast their crowns before the throne saying, worthy are you, are Lorded God to receive glory and honor and power for you created all things and by your will, they existed and were created. See even the crowns that saints receive are given by God in his grace. Now as we move forward to chapter five, there's this next item that shows up and it's a scroll. This is not just any scroll, but a scroll that apparently can only and must only be opened by one with the requisite authority to open it. Now God himself is holding it in his right hand. The angel cries out, who is worthy to open and break its seals and among the creatures there is no one. No one is worthy and able to break its seals. Is that great Baptist theologian, John Gill Road, whether angels or the souls of departed saints, neither the one nor the other know anything of what is to come until it is revealed to them. And John weeps loudly because of this, then in verse five, one of the elders says, weep no more, behold the line of the tribe of Judah, the root of David has conquered. So he can open up the scroll and it's seven seals and all of these numbers are meaningful. Seven number of completeness, the creation account God rests on the seventh day, seven spirits of God, the complete spirit. And indeed, here it is, the reigning Jesus Christ, victorious over death in the grave, he alone is worthy. You remember I said, none of the creatures, Jesus Christ is no creature. And again, the strongly symbolic and even Judaic description of Christ's appearance here, it reemphasizes the theme that we've talked about in Christ's coming in cloud judgment against, quote, them who pierced him, they who pierced him, that would be the Jews, Revelation one seven, I might just have broke a law there. And he appears as a sacrificial lamb looking as if he had been slain, that's in five, six, nine and 12, who was also the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, Revelation five, five, nine, can you imagine approaching this text and not knowing what any of those references are pointing to? I mean, it's just amazing, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, the last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist, there's Jesus, look, the lamb of God. And here's the lamb who is a sacrificial lamb, who was also the lion of the tribe of Judah. Again, this is apocalyptic, revelatory, symbolic language. And this emphasis here on his crucifixion, as we saw back in Revelation one seven is unmistakable, lamb slain, the Passover, now done away with and fulfilled utterly in Christ. Milton Terry says there's a certain irony in this imagery and he writes this, quote, "The great trouble with Judaism "was that it looked for a mighty lion "and was scandalized to behold instead a little lamb." So if you look back in Genesis 49, 10, Jacob prophesying as he blesses his son, says, "The scepter shall not depart from Judah." Scepter is a symbol of rule and authority. "Shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler staff "from between his feet until Shiloh comes, "and to him shall be the obedience of the people." That's clearly speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. So here's the scroll, only Jesus can open it. What's in the scroll? That's the big question, isn't it? And why is it so crucial to the rest of the book of Revelation? Well, let's look at some of the clues that we're given. Open up your Bible to Revelation 5. I hope you've had it there. Let's look at the scroll first. It's, quote, "A scroll written within and on the back." That's key, sealed with seven seals. So in other words, there's writing on both sides and it is sealed. Now this is like you would take the writing, the papyrus writings and roll it up really tight and you put it in a tube and seal it up. And that's how they could have discovered the Dead Sea scrolls. They were preserved, they were protected from the elements. Amazing discovery, but this is sealed with something else. It's seven seals. So what does this sound like? What are we hearing here? What else was written on both sides? Well, John's readers would have immediately understood the significance. It's like the old covenant that was written on stone. In Exodus 32, 15, then Moses turned and went down from the mountain with the two tablets of the testimony in his hand, tablets which were written on both sides and it emphasizes this and says they were written on one side and the other. And then in Ezekiel 2, verses nine and 10, after his experience with these many-eyed celestial creatures we read, then I looked and I saw a hand stretched out to me and it was a scroll which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and whoa. Now that scroll is announcing judgment upon Israel and Ezekiel goes on to relate God's coming destruction on a certain city. What is that city? Anyone? That's right, Jerusalem. I think with me, stay with me here. This is key, judgment is coming. Jesus is warning them. He's warned his disciples already that he was coming to Jerusalem within one generation. It's usually 40 years. And here's a letter primarily written to Christians who would come out of Judaism. They were under persecution not only from Rome but from their fellow Jews most of all. And these are Jews who have not only refused to receive the promise beside but actually killed. These are the ones judging the Christians. Jews that actually killed Jesus and they deny any of his authority and his resurrection. Now these Christians reading the letter would have understood that what is being presented here is some kind of covenantal legal document just like the Ten Commandments just like the scroll given to Ezekiel. This is a document that is binding and it has the weight and the authority of God behind it. And here's where we're putting some other threads together and tying them and connecting them. But I believe that this scroll represents the final legal bill of divorce between Yahweh and his old covenant people. And indeed the old covenant itself. You see in the Old Testament, God quote Mary's Israel. He speaks of her as someone he's rescued and pulls out of the ditch and cleans up. And in several places he threatens her with a bill of divorce. So 700 years before Christ, Isaiah wrote the following in Isaiah 50 verse one, "Thus says the Lord, 'Where is this certificate of divorce by which I have sent your mother away? Or to whom of my creditors did I sell you? Behold, you were sold for your iniquities. And for your transgressions your mother was sent away. Well here in this context, they've turned from God, they're doing all kinds of wicked things in the temple and all over. God says, "Where's the bill of divorce?" We're still married. You produced this. But now here in Revelation it appears, here it is, here's the bill and it's about to be executed. And again, John Gill, who was a pre-colonialist by the way, writes this, "These words are directed to the Jews who stood in the same relation to the Jewish church or synagogue as children to a mother who were rejected from being a church and a people had a low army written upon them, which became very manifest when their city and their temple was destroyed by the Romans." You know what low army means? Not my people. This document, this scroll that is unrolled only by Jesus Christ himself. Again, tied this back to Matthew 24, the judgment of Christ. And by the way, there are other women in Revelation. There are two specifically mentioned. Well, the first one is a harlot. The British would say a slag. I'm not gonna get into all the different reasons for that, but not faithful. Back in Ezekiel 16, the prophet presents Israel as God's covenant wife who becomes a harlot while trusting in her beauty and committing fornication. Now, in Revelation 18, we see a similar vision of a woman symbolizing Jerusalem, but as she's called Babylon, 18th three, for all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her. And then in verse seven, the judgments upon her are, quote, to the degree that she glorified herself and lived sensuously to the same degree, give her torment and mourning. For she says in her heart, I sit as queen and I'm not a widow and I will never see mourning. So that's the first woman. We see another woman though, in Revelation, the bride of Christ. And in Revelation chapter 21, verse two, "And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband." Now this bride is being washed and made holy by her husband, the Lord Jesus. So finally, I'll close out with this. When we look at the theme in Revelation that is judgment upon the Jews, when we look at the people involved, there's a harlot and a pure bride. Then we see the flow of the book of Revelation from the sealed scroll to that capital punishment for adultery and all the way to the marriage feast, to the taking of this new bride and new Jerusalem, the covenantal nature of this scroll, this document, this transaction strongly suggests that the seven sealed scroll is God's divorce decree against his Old Testament wife for her spiritual adultery. I mentioned Ken Gentry earlier in his two-volume book. Here's what he writes, "In the New Testament, the final and conclusive destruction of the temple accomplishes this. In his divorce of Israel, God disestablishes her. Redemptive history is no longer the story of a Jewish-focused Israel-exalting geopolitical work as it was in the Old Testament. God's work now reaches out to all nations. Christ makes one new man out of the two, referring to Jew and Gentile, where there is no longer Jew nor Greek." I agree. And here's the glorious part. My fellow believer, "For God to take his bride, he had to put away the Old Covenant forever. And for God to purify this bride, she had to be sanctified by the blood of the lamb who was slain. Because of his perfection of nature and the perfection of his work on the cross, Jesus purchased for God countless, countless sands on the seashore stars in the heavens, countless men and women, boys and girls from every tribe, tongue and nation. And this can never end in covenantal divorce. Since Hebrews 10, 14, by the one offering, he has perfected for all time those who are sanctified. I pray that as you today, if you're justified purely by the grace of God alone, through faith alone and your sins have been forgiven, then you will be being sanctified progressively as you go through this life. And the admonition in the Bible is that we would grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. This message of revelation is still here for us, no matter what chaos, what craziness, what calamity, befall us, we know that God loves his people. There will be no loami, no certificate of divorce for those who are in Christ and made alive by the Spirit of God. Praise him for that, you can take that to the bank as they say. Well, that's the end of this episode. It's really hot out here today in Indiana. And I still wanted to shoot outside 'cause it's so pretty. God made a beautiful world and it's hard for me to see how this is the fallen one, but there is a better one coming than you have in the New Earth. It's begun already, but it's not to its fruition yet. All right, this is Tim Bushong again for Eschatology Matters, the fight left beast network. I have a blessed week and Jesus is reigning and slowly but surely putting all of his enemies under his feet. We do this work as a gospel work and so that the knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the seas. Hail to Jesus. See you next time. (gentle music) ♪ And the Lord to my Lord did come ♪ ♪ And born of the sea that I will make ♪ ♪ A kingly footsto for your share ♪ ♪ The Lord shall share ♪ - Lucky land slots, asking people, what's the weirdest place you've gotten lucky? - Lucky, in line at the deli, I guess? - I'd my dentist's office. More than once, actually. - Do you, I have to say? - Yes, you do. - In the car before my kids' PTA meeting. - Really? - Yes. - Excuse me, what's the weirdest place you've gotten lucky? - I never win and tell. - Well, there you have it. You can get lucky anywhere playing at luckylandslots.com. Play for free right now. Are you feeling lucky? No purchase necessary. VGW Group would be recruited by law, 18 plus terms and conditions apply.