Tag Archives: Revelation 4-8

Daily Bible Study

December 27, 2023 Bible Study — Jesus Is the Lion and the Lamb

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 4-8.

Once again I come to a passage where I am unsure what all I am going to write.  I will start by noting that The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is The Lamb.  I want to note that John writes that no one on earth, or in heaven, or under the earth was found worthy to open the scroll, but then the Lion of the tribe of Judah triumphed and was able to do so.  He triumphed as the Lion, but opened the scroll as the Lamb.  Jesus went to His victory as a dominating king of beasts, a Lion, but obtained His victory as a sacrifice, as a Lamb.  This represents one of the most important points about Christianity: God’s power is expressed in weakness.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 27, 2022 Bible Study — Worshiping God While His Perfect Plan Comes To Completion

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 4-8.

Yesterday I wrote that it is important that we pay attention to the symbolism in the Book of Revelation.  Today, my first thought was, “Why are there 24 elders?”  I tried to do an Internet search to see what others had thought and all I found were people discussing WHO those elders were.  While I can understand some people wondering who they were, I don’t think that who they are is important (if it was, John would have given us more information about that).  So, I then looked up what significance the number twenty-four has elsewhere in the Bible.  I found that David had divided those responsible for music in the Temple into twenty-four divisions and that the priesthood had also been divided into twenty-four divisions.  It also occurred to me that twenty-four is twice twelve.  Twelve being the number of tribes of Israel and the number of Apostles whom Jesus called while He was on earth.  Which leads me to conclude that the twenty-four elders appeared in this vision to remind us of the importance of worshiping God (the twenty-four divisions of musicians and twenty-four divisions of priests led the people of Israel in worship).

Then we have the scroll sealed with seven seals.  Now seven is the number of divine perfection.  Which explains why only the Lamb was worthy to open the scroll, because only the Lamb shared in divine perfection. Seven also carries the idea of completion.  The Children of Israel marched around Jericho for six days, then on the seventh day they marched around Jericho seven times with priests blowing on seven trumpets.  So, when the seventh seal was opened, revealing the completion of God’s plans for this world, seven trumpets were blown.  When the seventh trumpet was blown it indicated the completion of God’s perfect plan (although we do not get to that point in today’s passage).

So, let us worship God as His perfect plan moves to its perfect completion.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 27, 2021 Bible Study — The Four Horsemen

Today, I am reading and commenting on  Revelation 4-8.

When I read this passage, I always feel like I should write something about the opening scene of John’s vision…OK, now I have something to write.  Chapter 4 is not exactly the opening scene, but in some ways everything which comes before this is like the credits portion at the beginning of a movie, or maybe like a “short” before the movie begins.  Chapter 4 sets the mood/stage for the rest of this letter.  Then we get to the scroll being presented.  I am not quite sure of the symbolism, but it seems to me to present the idea that the scroll remained sealed throughout history until after Jesus’ death and resurrection.  Then things changed and the scroll could be unsealed, by Jesus.  The change was not just that the scroll could be opened, the “ceremony” taking place in Heaven before God’s throne changed as well.  This is one of those things which I have trouble fully working my head around because I also believe that the place described here exists outside of time.

Next we come to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.  I am sure I have written this before, but the Four Horsemen do not ride out together.  Instead, they ride out one at a time.  I am not sure how we are intended to understand this, but here is what I see.  First, a conqueror rides out, intent on conquest.  We are not given any idea how much of the world he conquers.  He is followed by war and violence.  A quick look at history reveals to us that war all over the world follows a conqueror, whether it results immediately after the conqueror rise up, or after the conqueror dies and war breaks out to fill the vacuum left behind.  The nest Rider is Famine, which always follows war.  Interestingly, John’s description of Famine speaks of inflation as part of it (he mentions the high price of grain).  The final Rider is Death, which comes by way of violence, starvation, and disease.  Again, those are all things which follow after what comes before.  What I am unsure of about this passage is whether the Four Riders represent a singular time above and beyond what we see repeated throughout history, or just a reflection of how these things work.

I want to highlight that the Book of Revelation emphasizes that we should recognize that when times look dark it is a sign that the Lord will return soon.  All events move things towards fulfilling God’s plan.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Daily Bible Study

December 27, 2020 Bible Study Worthy Is The Lamb To Open The Scroll

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 4-8.

I do not believe that I have ever noticed before that in his vision of Heaven and the opening of the scroll John once again presents the idea that Jesus is both separate from God and God ( a central idea of the doctrine of Trinity).  So, John tells us that the twenty-four elders periodically bowed down to the one sitting on the throne (God the Father) and say “You are worthy to receive glory and honor and power.”  Then, when the Lamb (Jesus) comes forward and is given the scroll they bow down to Him and say, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slaughtered— to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing.”  Notice how similar these two statements are.

I know I have mentioned this in previous years, but I think it is worth highlighting again.  The four horsemen mentioned in this passage do not ride out together.  Each of them rode forth before the next one was summoned after the breaking of the next seal.  I have some thoughts about the meaning of each of the four horsemen and how they are related to each other, but that is not the direction I want to go today with this blog.  I want to instead focus on the delay between each seal being broken.  Each seal is broken, then something happens before the next seal is broken.  It would be easy to read this as happening in quick succession, but I believe we are intended to perceive a delay between each seal.  I think this becomes most clear after the breaking of the sixth seal when one angel shouts for those holding back the winds to wait until those who serve God have been marked.  Those who serve God will be marked and protected when God pours out His judgement upon the earth.  One last point I want to make: reading this it would be easy to feel like the seven trumpets which are blown after the seventh seal is broken are separated by as much time as each of the previous seals.  However, I believe that each of the seals were broken with a significant pause in between for what happens after them, while the seven trumpets are blown in relatively quick succession.

Daily Bible Study

December 27, 2019 Bible Study — The Four Living Beings and The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 4-8.

One thing I meant to mention yesterday that I think is important to understand about what I believe about the Book of Revelation: I believe that the Book of Revelation describes a vision which John actually had.  However, John made editorial decisions about what words to use to describe that vision,  what things he chose to quote and what things he paraphrased.  Which brings us to the resemblance between John’s vision and some of Ezekiel’s visions.  Comparing and contrasting John’s and Ezekiel’s visions can give us insight into their meaning.  John saw the four living beings differently than Ezekiel did because the message he was being given in his vision was different.  In Ezekiel’s vision each of the beings had the face of a lion, an ox, a human, and an eagle.  In John’s vision, each being had a different face, one that of a lion, one that of an ox, one that of a human, and one that of an ox.  There is meaning in why those faces are present in both visions, but I have yet to see an explanation which causes me to care. 

I realized the other year that the popular understanding of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is based on a merger between what John writes here and elements from Ezekiel.  The common understanding is that the Four Horsemen were summoned one at a time and then rode out together.  In fact, John describes them as each being summoned, one at a time, and riding out immediately by themselves.   The Four Horsemen do not ride together, they follow one after the other.  I am not fully sure of how to interpret this, but the third and fourth Horsemen represent things which follow after the second.  The second Horseman brings war and violence, the complete breakdown of order, throughout the earth.  Famine, the third Horseman, follows such an outbreak of violence.  And death and disease follow closely behind that.  I am unsure of the connection between the first Horseman, the Conqueror, and the other three.  The second through fourth Horsemen represent something we see again and again throughout history.  Part of me thinks that the Four Horsemen described here represent a repeating pattern in history.  Another part of me thinks that the first Horseman represents a conqueror whose conquest will mark the beginning of the End Times

Daily Bible Study

December 27, 2018 Bible Study — A vision with symbolism galore

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 4-8.

I always struggle with what to make of the vision which John describes here.  It is filled with symbolism from beginning to end, but I am unclear what many of the symbols mean.  Many people strive to interpret it as a prophecy regarding the end of the world, but today’s passage does not seem to me to be that.  Rather, it seems to be a vision concerning the state of the spiritual world as it exists today.

John starts with the description of God’s throne room. The glory and majesty of the throne and all around it are overwhelming.  I am sure there is meaningful symbolism in the emerald glow which surrounds God’s throne, but I do not know what it is.   Then we have the 24 thrones with the 24 elders sitting upon them.  I am sure that the fact that 24 is twice 12 is part of the significance of that number, with 12 being the number of the tribes of Israel and the number of the Apostles…and that may be why 24.

Then we have the presentation of the scroll.  There was no one in all of heaven and earth who was worthy to open the scroll until Jesus died and was raised from the dead.  Here once again John tells us that Jesus and God are One, yet different:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Blessing and honor and glory and power
    belong to the one sitting on the throne
    and to the Lamb forever and ever.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Both Jesus and God are equally deserving of glory and honor and power. In addition, John describes how the living beings and the elders worshiped the Lamb in the same manner which they worshiped the One seated on the throne.

 

Traditionally, the four horsemen are interpreted as riding forth together.  Yet, as I read it today they seem to ride forth successively.  First, the white horse rides out to win battles and gain the victory.  After that, the red horse rider rides out to bring war to all of the earth.  The third and fourth riders naturally follow after the second.  Widespread famine and hardship follows where there is war and battle.  Famine leads to disease and death.  

Which brings me to one of the messages in this passage which I do understand.  The rich and powerful believe that they are sheltered from the coming destruction.  John’s vision tells us that only those who are faithful to God will be sheltered, and even they will experience suffering.

This entry is longer than I prefer, but I need to cover this last piece of the passage.  After the seventh seal is broken, John’s vision begins to truly enter into a description of the end times.  I am unsure how much of this describes distinct events and how much of this is figurative about those days.  However, John describes how at the end of time seven trumpets will sound, one at a time.  As each trumpet sounds disaster will strike Creation.   It will be a time of great terror, but John reminded us just before he started describing this that those who put their faith in God can be sure of how it will end.

 

 

 

Daily Bible Study

December 27, 2017 Bible Study — The Four Horsemen Follow One After the Other

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 4-8.

    It struck me as I read this part of John’s vision that part of what makes this hard to understand is that John’s vision consists of three elements: things which will happen and appear just as John describes them (although we will not necessarily see them the same way), things which appeared in his vision symbolically and as metaphors, and things which are a result of John being in a dream state. I do believe that these last are also metaphors and similes, they just are not based on anything we can find reference to in any other literature of the time or before. They are unique to this vision experienced by John.

    John describes the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse here. I find it interesting that in John’s vision we have no mention of the four riding together. Part of the reason we view them as riding together is because their are a similar group of four horsemen in a vision seen by Ezekiel. I am quite confident that the similarity to Ezekiel’s four horsemen is not a coincidence, but I, also, do not believe that they refer to the same four horsemen. This is the first place where you can see that the writer believed that his vision applied to the Roman Empire (there are elements in the description of the horsemen, especially the first, which connect to the Roman Emperors of his time). For me, reading the descriptions of each horseman suggests that they follow after each other. The first horseman rides fourth victorious, ushering in a golden age. The second horseman rides fourth bringing disorder and war, riots, civil war, and, perhaps, invaders. The third horseman brings the economic devastation, and famine, which often follows such events. Finally, the fourth horseman brings pestilence and death, which, again, usually follows the preceding two. Thinking about it, if we study history we see that these four appear again and again in this very pattern. A conqueror rises up in one nation, conquering the surrounding nations. He is followed by social disorder, civil war, and, sometimes, reverse invasion, as his successors battle each other for the power he had gathered to himself. The social disorder, the civil war, and the invasions cause economic disruption which will include famine (with or without invasions). Finally the land is devastated by disease and death.

Daily Bible Study

December 27, 2016 Bible Study — When the Trumpets Sound

I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Revelation 4-8.

    John now moves fully into his vision by describing the throne room of heaven (I want to say here that I do not believe these visions are intended for us to picture what heaven will really look like. I believe that they are word pictures designed to convey a particular message.). In particular, I think it is very telling that the song which the four living beings and the twenty-four elders sing to the Lamb is so similar to the song which they sang to He who sits upon the throne. To me, this is yet another confirmation of the concept of the Trinity. The Lamb and He who sits on the throne are distinct beings…and yet they are the same being.

    When the Lamb started breaking the seals on the scroll, for each of the first four seals a Horseman appeared. I am not sure of the meaning of these Horsemen, but I believe that part of the meaning is that things will get progressively worse. First, there is a Horseman who rides out and builds an empire. However, this does not result in peace on earth. No, it results in the second Horseman, who brings war and violence throughout the earth. Which naturally leads to the third Horseman, who brings shortages and famine. Which brings us the fourth Horseman, Death, after the first three Horsemen people everywhere will be dying from war and violence, famine, and disease. In all of this, there will be injustice and persecution of those who attempt to do God’s will. When the fifth seal is broken, those who suffered and died for doing God’s will call out to God, asking Him to make things right. Then the sixth seal is broken and those who thought that all of these horrors had passed them by, those who thought these things were to their benefit, realize that there is price that they too will need to pay. They seek to hide from God’s judgment, but there is no place to hide. Despite all of this, God will preserve on the earth some of those who serve Him.

    In a way, the events of these first six seals happen again and again throughout history. Each time getting closer and closer to the opening of the Seventh Seal and the blowing of the seven trumpets. When those trumpets blow, the end of this world will finally be here. I remember growing up in the 1970s and thinking that the description of the results of the first four trumpets sounded like the results of a nuclear war between the Soviet Union and the United States. In some ways, it still makes me think of an all out nuclear war. However, my belief is that when God will not allow mankind to destroy this world. He will destroy it before that happens.