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What is it that
he sees? He sees an open door in heaven. Imagine
that! We speak about a window. “We have a window
on the world.” We have a window of mental observation
where we can look through, we can look out upon something.
Imagine! An open door to look into heaven! What a
marvelous, what an awesome (and
that’s a word that I don’t use very lightly), what an
awesome thing to be able to see!
Yet, that’s what John saw—he saw an open door—a
door opened into heaven.
We’ve seen this idea of an “open
door” before, haven’t we? The Lord spoke about
setting an “open door” before the church in
Philadelphia, Chapter 3 and verse 8 [“I know thy works: behold, I have
set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for
thou hast a little strength, and hast kept My Word, and hast not
denied My Name.”]. He also called for an
“open door” in the “lukewarm”
church in Laodicea, Chapter 3 and verse 20
[“Behold, I stand at
the door, and knock: if any man hear My voice, and
open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with
him, and he with Me.”]. We understand, as
we’ve discussed before, that this idea of an “open
door” suggests an opportunity—an
“opportunity.” That’s the way an
“open door” is described in a number of other places in
the New Testament. Paul spoke on more than one occasion about
having an “open door,” having “a door of
opportunity” to preach the Gospel [Acts
14:27 [“And when they were come, and had
gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done
with them, and how he had opened the door of faith
unto the Gentiles.”]; 1 Corinthians
16:8-9 [“But I will tarry at Ephesus until
Pentecost. For a great door and effectual is opened unto
me, and there are many adversaries.”];
2 Corinthians 2:12 [“Furthermore, when I came to
Troas to preach Christ’s Gospel, and a door was
opened unto me of the Lord…”];
Colossians 4:3 [“Withal praying also for us,
that God would open unto us a door of utterance,
to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in
bonds…”]. Here, John has an opportunity to
look through an “open door” into heaven.
Then, John
receives a call. A call comes. This is, apparently, the
same voice that addressed him in such trumpet-like tones in
Chapter 1 and verse 10 [“I was in the
Spirit on the Lord’s day, andheard behind me a great
voice, as of a trumpet…”]. This is
a voice that he has heard before. The only way to express the
voice of the Lord, because this is the voice that
he hears, is in something that is as clear, as brilliant, as
resilient, as resounding as a trumpet. That voice calls him
to another place—to heaven.
John Describes the Throne Scene (verses
2-8a)
2Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a
throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3And 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. 4Around the throne were twenty-four thrones,
and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in
white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads.
5And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings,
and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne,
which are the seven Spirits of God.
6Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like
crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne,
were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back.
7The first living creature was like a lion, the second
living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face
like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle.
8The four living creatures, each having six wings, were
full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night,
saying:
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God
Almighty,
Who was
and is and is to come!”
John is
immediately in the Spirit’s power, verse
2. He has already expressed that he was “in
the spirit,” Chapter 1, verse 10
[“And immediately I was in the
spirit…”]. Some people have wondered and
said, “Well, is this occasion of being
“in the spirit” another
level of the Spirit’s power, or is it just
the same expression as in Chapter 1?”
I don’t know. It’s a little difficult to
say. I prefer to think that it’s the same
expression. He’s just expressing the fact that he,
indeed, is in the Spirit, caught up by the
Spirit. He is caught up for a view into heaven.
I was in a
class studying Revelation a number of years ago,
and it was expressed, as an overall idea of
Revelation itself, that “the lid was being
taken off a cauldron,” a chance to “peek in,” to
“look in” to see what was going on—a view that
only certain ones could have. And John was given that
opportunity. The door was open, or, the lid was taken
off. He could look in. He could
see. And now, WE can
see. Just think about that. Yes, he
had the experience, but he has
written things that he saw.
Even though we’re not seeing it with our own
eyes, we’re seeing it through the eye of
faith. We’re seeing, we’re
getting a glimpse—we’re peeking behind
the curtain of heaven into the heavenly realm.
This is where a
good bit of what John will write will take place. He is going
to be expressing and presenting
what he sees in this heavenly realm through most of this entire
book. Some of the scenes that we’re going to see will
be from an earthly perspective, but much of it is going to be from
this heavenly perspective, what he sees there in
heaven as well as the view from that realm about
the things that are happening on the earth.
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