CHAPTER III

JOHN'S VISION OF THINGS IN HEAVEN

(Rev. 4-5)

The Father-Occasion of his coming-Symbolic description - Rainbow-What it symbolizes - Four and twenty elders-Seven lamps of fire-Zechariah's vision of four chariots - Sea of glass - The hundred forty and four thousand - The four beasts - Book sealed with seven seals· Opened by Christ.

When a door was opened to John in heaven, and he was commanded to come up hither that he might be shown what should be hereafter, he adds, "And immediately I was in the spirit, and behold a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne, and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald, and round about the throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats were four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings, and voices, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.

"And before the throne there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal. And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four beasts, full of eyes before and behind. And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God almighty, which was, and is, and is to come; and when those beasts give glory and honour, and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fell down before him that sat on the throne and worshipped him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created."

This wonderful spectacle which John beheld in heaven, when a door was opened to him, that he might see a picture of the things that shall exist in the heavens above the earth in the latter days, at the time of judgment, and in the place of judgment at Jerusalem and in the border of Israel, where the Lord said that he would come to judge his people, these things we will now speak of as John saw them, in order as follows: first, the Father himself sitting upon the throne of judgment; second, the rainbow that was round about the throne in sight like unto an emerald; third, the four and twenty elders sitting on seats round about the throne; fourth, seven lamps

of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God; fifth, a sea of glass before the throne like unto crystal; sixth, four beasts round about the throne full of eyes before and behind; seventh, a Lamb standing in the midst of the throne, and in the midst of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.

FIRST. THE FATHER (REV. 4:2-3)

OCCASION OF HIS COMING

The chief object which John saw in heaven and described, was the Father himself sitting upon the throne of judgment, as it will be when he comes to judge the world by that Man whom he hath ordained, whereof he hath given assurance unto all men, in that he hath raised him from the dead. But the Father himself will be there to direct the work of judgment by the hand of Jesus Christ his Son, to whom he has given authority to execute judg ment also, because he is the Son of man, and by the hand of his brethren the saints, and the holy angels.

The Father came down in his own individual person upon Mount Sinai to give his holy and righteous law to his own people, the house of Israel, by the disposition of angels. And one of the positive proofs that he was there in person is the fact that Moses was permitted to see his back parts through the crevice of the rock in which the Father placed him, while he passed by and proclaimed to him the name of the Lord. Again, he uttered the ten commandments in the hearing of all Israel, who stood at the foot of the mount that burned with fire. Out of this great fire he spake the ten commandments with a loud voice to his people, and he added no more. And inasmuch as his own voice had never been heard by mortal man before since he created man upon the earth, Moses said to the children of Israel, "Did ever people hear the voice of God speaking out of the midst of the fire as thou hast heard, and live?" People had often heard the voice of angels, who are called gods, before, but the voice of the Father had never been heard by mortal man until he spake to Moses and to his own people Israel out of Mount Sinai.

The law that God gave to Israel by the hand of Moses contemplates and appoints a judgment to sit at the end of the world that then was founded and established at Mount Sinai, which world consisted of the nation and house of Israel. This is clearly seen by what the Lord said to Moses at Mount Sinai after the children of Israel had corrupted themselves and made a calf to worship, after the manner of Egypt, and changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass. And when the Lord would destroy them for this wickedness, Moses interceded for them, saying, "Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin, and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written." And the Lord said unto Moses, "Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book . . . nevertheless in the day when I visit, I will visit their sin upon them."

There is a day, therefore, when all the righteous judgments of that law are to be visited upon the transgressors that are, and have been, and will

be under that law, and their manifold transgressions and their mighty sins are all sealed up among God's treasures, and these seals will be opened by the Lamb of God, and executed by the Lion of the tribe of Judah in the time of judgment, under the supervision of the Father himself, who comes the second time for that purpose when all things, as Luke says, that are written must be fulfilled. For the Lord also says to Israel by the hand of the prophet Hosea (7: 12), “I will chastise them as their congregation hath heard." The law was required to be read in their congregations, when they heard the righteous judgments that were to be inflicted upon all who violated the statutes and judgments contained therein. Therefore the judgment day is called the day of visitation, as the Lord spake by the hand of the prophet Hosea, referring to the end of the world when it comes, saying (9:7), "The days of visitation are come, the days of recompense are come"; again (verse 9), saying, "They have deeply corrupted themselves, as in the days of Gibeah; therefore he will remember their iniquity, he will visit their sins."

Again, contemplating that day as it will be when it comes, the Lord says. by the hand of Ezekiel (7:3-4), "Now is the end come upon thee, and I will spend mine anger upon thee, and will judge thee according to thy ways, and will recompense upon thee all thine abominations, and mine eye shall not spare thee, neither will I have pity, but I will recompense thy ways upon thee, and thine abominations shall be in the midst of thee, and ye shall know that I am the Lord." And in verse 15 the Lord speaks of the three principal elements of destruction that he will employ against them, saying, "The sword is without, and the pestilence and the famine within; he that is in the field. shall die with the sword, and he that is in the city, famine and pestilence shall devour him."

These are the tangible and material judgments that will be visited upon the unbelieving Jew first, and afterward upon the Gentile in the day of judgment. When Israel sinned and David was moved to number the people for a cause against them, the Lord gave David a choice of three things,three months to flee before the sword of his enemies, or seven years of famine in his land, or three days' pestilence. David chose the pestilence, saying, Let us now fall into the hand of God, and not into the hand of man." Seven thousand died by this scourge from Dan to Beer-sheba, and when the angel stretched out his hand upon Jerusalem to destroy it, the Lord repented him of the evil, and said to the angel that destroyed the people, "It is enough, stay now thine hand."

Now carefully note here the three chief elements of punishment that God employs in his wrath upon the wicked. The Lord submitted these to David, and he chose the pestilence, and the Lord sent his angel to walk to and fro throughout the land of Israel, from Dan even to Beer-sheba, to cut down seventy thousand people in three days by the burning pestilence, a disease which devours in this fearful manner, as it is said by the prophet Zechariah (14:12) concerning those that came against Jerusalem in that day, "And this shall be the plague wherewith the Lord will smite all the people that have fought against Jerusalem" (that is, after they shall have performed their

whole work upon Jerusalem, and Mount Zion). "Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth."

This plague, it should be remembered, was executed throughout Israel's land by an angel whom the Lord empowered and sent to do this work. Even so, when the Father comes to execute the curses of the law which he gave at Mount Sinai will he give power to his chief executive, Jesus Christ the Lord, and he will empower and send his brethren the saints (who are called angels) to execute the judgments written, consisting of the sword, famine, and pestilence, and all other judgments upon the rebellious and idolatrous house of Israel in the latter days.

THE APPEARANCE OF THE MAJESTY IN THE HEAVENS

When John saw in vision this wonderful scene, he says, "And behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne, and he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone" (Rev. 4:2-3). Thus the appearance of the person of the Father, as John saw him, was like two precious stones, the jasper, and the sardine stone.

The Jasper Stone

From what is said of the jasper in the Scriptures, we may easily discern what manner of stone it is. The wall that is round about the New Jerusalem, as it is written, is jasper; John describes it saying, "And the building of the wall of it was jasper, and the city was pure gold like unto clear glass"; and again, "The foundation of the city was jasper." And when the angel carried John in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed him that great city, the Holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, she is described as having "the glory of God, and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal." In these words the jasper is described as the most precious of stones, and as clear as crystal. Therefore it is evident that the stone which in these Scriptures is called the jasper, is none other than what is known as the diamond, a precious stone, excelling in brilliancy and beautiful display of prismatic colours, and reflecting all the colours of the rainbow. Therefore the glory and brightness of God the Father upon his throne is represented by the glory and brightness of the diamond of purest ray.

The Sardine Stone

The' sardine stone, or sardius, is one of the precious stones. The first stone in the first row of precious stones in Aaron's breastplate was a sardius. The sixth foundation of the wall of the Holy City is a sardius. The prevailing color of this stone is a flesh red, or a blood red color, and this red color is a symbol of wrath, war, and bloodshed. In the vision of Zechariah of the four chariots which came out from between two mountains of brass, in the first chariot were red horses. Again, when the second seal was opened, there went out another horse that was red, signifying war and the shedding of blood by the force of the sword, to purge away iniquity, transgression, and

sin, as saith the prophet Isaiah (27:9), “By this therefore shall the iniquity of Jacob be purged, and this is all the fruit to take away his sin."

Thus the color of the sardius stone is indicative of the wrath of God, as it will be manifested in the judgments to be executed upon the rebellious house of Israel first, and afterwards upon the nations, as the Lord speaks first of his own people, saying, "Who among you will give ear to this? Who will hearken and hear, for the time to come (that is, the latter day)? Who gave Jacob for a spoil, and Israel to the robbers? Did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned? for they would not walk in his ways, neither were obedient unto his laws; therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle, and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew it not; and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart" (Isa. 42:23-25).

And why? because the Lord hath hardened their hearts that he might destroy them as he did the Egyptians. Therefore this prophet saith again, "For behold, the Lord will come with fire and with his chariots (his angels) like a whirlwind, to render with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by sword will the Lord plead with all flesh, and the slain of the Lord shall be many." This the Lord spake of his own people (Isa. 66:15-16).

Concerning the Gentiles it is written, "The nations were angry, and thy wrath is come (Rev. 11:18). And when these angry nations came unto Israel's land to utterly destroy the whole house of Israel, including the remnant, the Lord speaks of them as follows, saying, "And it shall come to pass at the same time when Gog shall come against the land of Israel, saith the Lord God, that my fury shall come up in my face, for in my jealousy and in the fire of my wrath have I spoken. Surely in that day there shall be a great shaking in the land of Israel." Then follows a description of the manner in which God's fury which comes up in his face, is to be executed in the destruction of Gog and all his multitudes upon the mountains of Israel. These things show the reason why John speaks, saying, "And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone."

Ezekiel's Description

The foundation upon which the throne of the Father rests at the time of judgment, consists of a firmament spread out above the heads of the living creature, as described by Ezekiel (1:22-28) saying, "And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the color of the terrible crystal," that is, of the diamond, for there is no precious stone, or crystal, so powerful and terrible in appearance as a diamond of the first water, for the purest and largest diamonds are resplendent with light and glory. The prophet continues, "And above the firmament that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone; and upon the likeness of the throne, was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. And I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even downward; I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain,