A Worship Service in Heaven

Summary

With the visions of Jesus and the seven letters finished, Revelation 4 turns to the future. The slides note that John receives his visions in four locations, each introduced by the phrase “in the Spirit,” with the command “Come up here” (except at Patmos) and a voice that is Jesus in the first two and an angel in the last two. The main theme of chapter 4 is the eternal sovereignty and glory of God, and the worship he deserves.

The slides compare two end-times timelines side by side, the pre-tribulation view (the rapture of the church before the Tribulation) and the post-tribulation view (the rapture at the second coming), each running from the present age through the treaty, the temple desecrated, the two 3½-year periods, the second coming, the thousand-year reign, the final judgment and the eternal state.

Verse by verse, the slides cover the open door (v. 1); the throne like jasper and carnelian (v. 2); the rainbow of covenant faithfulness (v. 3); the twenty-four elders, seen as representatives of God’s faithful people, perhaps the twelve tribes and twelve apostles (v. 4); the four living creatures, read both as all of creation (wild animals, domestic animals, humanity, birds) and as pictures of God’s attributes (v. 6–8); and the unceasing worship of the creatures and elders (v. 9–11). The lesson closed with Psalm 95 as a prayer of praise.

What the lesson covered

Three threads ran through the lesson:

Applications for today

The slides give four applications: