Dr. Baruch Korman: Revelation Chapter 4

Shalom and welcome to via ofte Israel a Hebrew phrase which means you shall love Israel we hope you'll stay with us for the next 30 minutes as our teacher dr. Baruch shares his expose Ettore teaching from the Bible dr. Baruch is the senior lecturer at the Sarah Avraham Institute based in Israel although all courses are taught in Hebrew at the Institute dr. Baruch is pleased to share this weekly address in English to find out more about our work in Israel please visit us on the web at love Israel you are G that's one word love Israel Oh our G now here's Beru with today's lesson one of the most important things that a person can do is to learn how to handle God's Word rightly and a good example of this is found in the fourth chapter of the book of Revelation so with that said open up your Bibles and look once more to the book of Revelation and chapter 4 now let me simply state to you that Revelation chapter 4 and verse 1 has an important theological theme attached to it and what is that theme well we can call it our Blessed hope why do I say that because Paul calls it our Blessed hope and of course I'm speaking about the term rapture now the biblical word that is usually thought of when we use the term rapture is just the word to be snatched away or taken away and many good intending biblical scholars they place the rapture in this chapter we're looking at now Revelation chapter 4 and verse 1 and let me simply say to you that there's a great danger with doing so what is that well one of the wisest things that we can invest in is what's known as hermeneutics which is theories of biblical interpretation that is how to rightly interpret Scripture and when we violate hermeneutics when we don't follow the rules and the laws for interpreting Scripture what does that do well when we do so it gives other people the right to look at other scriptures and apply that same faulty methodology to it what I'm talking about well look if you would to verse 1 Revelation chapter 4 and verse 1 it says and after these things now I would suggest to you that although chapters 2 and 3 we speak about 7 congregation that is believing congregations I would suggest to you that with the end of Revelation chapter 3 God is not finished talking to his people that is his congregation of the redeemed followers of Messiah Yeshua I would say that in chapters 2 & 3 he speaks about 7 congregations to impart holiness into the body of believers and also to speak to us concerning the sanctifying call that we have in our life that is that God has given us a purpose and what is that purpose well to be faithful in all seasons and in Revelation chapter 4 that what we see is this that John is going up into the heavens to see things from God's perspective we're going to see that John is given a vision the rest of this book in no way does it say in Revelation chapter 4 that that God is calling the believers up there for their rapture takes place here now without going into further detail of my own let's just look at the verse it says and it came about after these things I looked who's speaking John and behold a door was open up in the heavens now opening up usually has to do with revealing it is like being invited to cast your eyes inward and that's what's happening here so John is receiving an invitation to come up into the heavens is this invitation to all the body of Messiah no it's not it is uniquely to John and it's dangerous if we apply this text beyond that it says as well in verse 1 and the first voice which I heard the voice as a trumpet now in Hebrew there's two words for trumpet one is that shofar that shofar is that ram's horn and in a unique way and we've spoken of this it speaks about God's per vision what God has provided for salvation but there's also a second type of trumpet mentioned in the Old Covenant in the he Bible and those are are the trumpets the silver trumpets and they were used more often than not to announce something - to reveal what is about to take place and I would suggest to you that here in Revelation chapter 4 the the trumpet that john heard was for the purpose of announcing for the purpose of revealing what was going to take place we read it is the first sound which I heard as the the trumpet the voice of the trumpet that was speaking to me and it says whose being addressed just John this this trumpet sound calls him up and says behold I will show you what is going to take place afterwards meaning what after this this age leading up to the last days so it's speaking here about a transition many scholars point out that John is being called up into the heaven during this transition for what purpose a new perspective what revelation chapter 4 is doing is giving us a heavenly perspective to interpret what's going to happen in the last days and once again I want to share with you where we're going beginning in Revelation chapter 4 as we press through all of this book is so vital and us understanding what God's up to what he's calling us to display how we can position ourselves and faithfulness and demonstrate our kingdom commitment and that's important in the last days God is calling his people to demonstrate their commitment to him and their their confidence in God's great promise of the establishment of the kingdom of God well look again verse verse 2 he says in a moment I was in the spirit and behold a throne appeared in the heavens now let me point out to you that in this fourth chapter the word throne is going to appear approximately 12 times there's some references even beyond that but but minimally there's 12 references to the throne now what we need to glean about this entire book we've spoken of this earlier if we are going to summarize the purpose of the book of Revelation if we're going to say what is the primary message of the book of Revelation this is how John would answer it it speaks about what must take place for the throne of God which is in the heavens for the throne of God in the heavens to come and be established on earth in the holy city of Jerusalem because when that throne comes to earth that is synonymous with the the inauguration of the kingdom of God so that's what this book is about the establishment of the kingdom of God now let me point out something here clearly first thing John sees when he goes up into heaven and he's in the spirit seeing things from God's perspective he sees the throne of God where is it in the heavens and this should tell us something it should tell us that we ought not expect justice in this age it's only when the throne of God comes and is established in this world then the outcome of that is going to be a godly judgment up until that time we can expect injustice unrighteousness and the only force for justice and righteousness are you and me that we might display that character and that we might do what we talked about in our study of the book of Zechariah that we might be people that execute justice that we might be a force for righteousness in this world well verse 2 once more and in a moment I was in the spirit and behold a throne appeared in the heavens and one who's set upon the now this expression is going to repeated over and over in this book of Revelation the one who sits upon the throne now in one sense this is God the Father and a unique thing that we're going to see as we begin today in this lesson we're gonna see that Messiah is is spoken of near the throne on the right of the throne and then later on we're gonna see that he's going to be in the midst of the throne and then it's going to say that he's the one that's on the throne now why is that so important because it's speaking about a transition why is that so vital well in the Book of Daniel Daniel chapter 7 one of the main thing that Daniel wants to reveal in that chapter is that all the glory and honor and authority and power that belongs rightly to God the Father it is going to be inherited by God the son that is Messiah Yeshua Jesus of Nazareth and we're seeing the beginning of that changed that transition right here in Revelation chapter 4 so we speak about the one who sits upon the throne verse 3 and the one who set his appearance was the appearance of jesper which is a green stone and then it uses another type of stone and different translations will give different names for the stone but this is what we know about it we know that it's a red stone and once again the biblical scholars point out that there's two images that's very important the first one is green and the second one is red and green bibley speaking synonymous with with life and and red is synonymous with the means of life that is redemption or the shedding of blood so we see this connection with with God being revealed and his purpose to give life by means of redemption and there was also a rainbow around the throne and it had the appearance of a precious stone usually it's thought of as an emerald verse for and around the throne and here again the word that keeps appearing over and over when John is taken up into the heavens everything that he sees in this fourth chapter it's all about the throne the rule of God he is coming to understand not only the throne of God but the character of God's rule that is going to be coming into this world and his task his call is to share this message so that those who are wise those who are humble those who are willing to trust in God that they might also go through a transition where they are made ready for the kingdom verse 4 and around the throne were these twenty-four Thrones and upon the Thrones I I saw 24 elders sitting and they were clothed in white garments so white is synonymous here with purity and this is an outcome of Redemption so they were clothed in white garments and those what they had they had crowns of gold upon their heads so purity and authority and this passage are working together and that's just one of the characters of God it's when we walk in purity and integrity reflecting the kingdom character that God is going to give us authority to be used by him for his purposes and then notice something else we also find in this same passage of Scripture in the next verse verse 5 and thumb from the throne went forth lightnings and thundering and and sounds now this is important because these three things are seed in the book of Exodus where are they seen in the book of Exodus at Mount Sinai and Mount Sinai most of us don't understand what took place that first time 50 days after Passover when God brought the children of Israel to Mount Sinai when when when Moses was told to prepare the people because in three days remember three having to do with revelation revealing something and what was God go to reveal well he spoke this is not in revel in Exodus chapter 20 this is not about the giving of the the law on those tablets that's later on in the book of Exodus in Exodus chapter 20 were these lightnings and thundering and the various sounds that were what it says from Exodus were seeing very interesting sounds not that they were heard but they were seen and what takes place well here's the key in the end of that 20th chapter after God speaks the ten commandments we read that God begins to move towards the people and the people they panicked because they weren't prepared that's a long story that we could go into but the point I want to see is that God was moving towards the people and they failed that day this same imagery is repeated here because what's the book of Revelation about God bringing his rule his throne his presence into this world and ruling forever and ever and the question is this are the congregation of redeemed are we going to be prepared are we gonna be ready or are we going to fail like Israel did those 3,500 years ago well verse verse 5 in the second half not only were there these these lightnings and thunders and sounds it says also and the seven torches of fire were burning where shouldn't surprise us before the throne and it's also that they were the seven spirits of now seven has to do with the concept of holiness or perfection or sanctifying and what it says here is that God's seven spirits that is his holy spirit it is good to be going into this world and bringing about a change it is going to be the key I'm speaking about God's truth God's anointing his power that's going to be manifested through the Holy Spirit all of this is going to be what's bringing about this transition from this age to the age to come or the kingdom of God 4:6 and before where and before the throne was a sea like bless it had the appearance of of ice and and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures that had eyes before them and after them now here again it's interesting because in the book of Revelation we're gonna see over and over there's this emphasis on these four living creatures they have a very important role that we'll talk about in a moment but once again the number four has to do with the world we're going to see later on in this same study of the book of Revelation we're going to see how the number four appears over and over like the four corners of the earth the four winds of the heaven and it's simply a reference to the four directions north south east and west so in the number four appears in the scripture it's talking about the world and why is this the case well because God is going to bring about this transition in all of the world and notice these four creatures it says that they had eyes all over them in front and behind and eyes has to do with intelligence or knowledge knowing everything so God is going to bring this transition about with perfect knowledge knowing everything nothing is good to escape his his knowledge and notice what else that says about these four four beasts or creatures they had the the appearance of the first beasts was that of a lion the second one was of an ox the third one had the face of a man and the fourth one was flying like an eagle now here again if we are someone who are students of prophecy these animals aren't new to us their their significance is seen elsewhere in the prophets and when a line is mentioned it speaks about glory when an ox is mentioned it speaks about power when a man the face of a man it speaks about intelligence or wisdom and then when something flies as an eagle it speaks about that which is supernatural so in this passage of Scripture what is being relayed around the throne of God these four creatures is some very important characteristics of God that he is majestic that he is glorious that he is powerful that he is all-knowing and then finally it is supernatural that is his character his ability is without any limitations so what John is seeing is this not only does God have a plan but God's plan is glorious he has the power to bring it about he knows all things and there's a supernatural quality concerning it so this transition is going to touch every aspect every character of one's being and then look if you would to verse verse eight and and every one of these four creatures they had six wings now why is that important well here again I've shared with you how what John does John is famous for taking Old Testament passages things that were well known to the Jewish community and borrowing them or altering them so that we might under Stan his his revelation to us better and these creatures well they're also are alluded to as Seraphim these are not Seraphim necessarily but they're alluded to when we have a discussion in the book of Isaiah in Chapter 7 of the Seraphim and the Seraphim were these angels and they also had six wings why is that important six is the number of Grace and what is trying to reveal to us is this all these things are only going to become a reality but when grace is the foundation of your life and my life so once again verse verse eight and every one of these four creatures they had six wings and around them and before them they had eyes they were full of eyes and there was what and they were not silent at all for day and night they did something they said holy holy holy is a lord of hosts now what's important for us to see is this it's clear reference now to what I've alluded to in the Book of Isaiah because in Isaiah those Seraphim say kadosh kadosh kadosh Hashem savate my local hearts Kobudo which means holy holy holy is the Lord of hosts the whole world is full of his glory but here there's a change he begins in that way notice again these creatures say holy holy holy is the Lord the god of hosts and then he says who was and is and is what coming so it changes that little ending to something different why is that it answers how is all of God's world all of his creation going to become holy and the answer to that is by the fact that he's coming and how is he coming who's bringing that throne Messiah Yeshua now why that's so important that we see this well I'm going to get ahead of myself because when we get into chapter 5 next week we're going to see that everything focuses now there's a shift from the one who sits upon the throne to the one who is going to bring it about this one who is holy holy holy who was and is remember there was never a time that Messiah did that exists and what does it say about him that he is coming he will come and what's he going to do just what we talked about his test is to bring that throne from the heavens and set it up in the holy city of Jerusalem and established the kingdom of God verse 9 and to each of these it says that these creatures they gave glory and honor and Thanksgiving to who the one who said we're shouldn't surprise us upon the throne and furthermore it says that this one lives for ever and ever and when this proclamation was made notice what takes places now elders are important because elders are elders because they they were given that position because of a testimony they demonstrated how the people should respond and this is what we're seeing here because when they witness that when they heard this verse 10 they fell who did the twenty-four elders upon their faces before the one who sits well who sits upon the throne and they worshiped the one who lives for ever and ever and here's the last thing I want you to see remember what it says earlier about them these elders that had crowns they had white garments and to each of them were given crowns that were set upon their head and notice what they did see these crowns were the outcome of good deeds that is having a response a proper response to the things of God and what did they do with these crowns they were for their pride no they were not they were for their wealth no they were not what do they do keep reading it says here that they they went and they did something it says first of all they spoke to to the Lord saying - you are worthy our Lord to take honor and and glory and power for you have created all things and it says finally and all things according to your will it says they were made so these crowns that they had it says that the end of the previous verse they laid them where well don't miss it it says and they set them before the throne doing so how worshiping God so let me ask you a question as we begin to wrap up what is it that you have to offer God if you were invited before his throne what would you have to lay before then do you have a testimony do you have a history of walking with God of being wise enough to do his will and and and purchasing through right living these crowns that you might have something to offer him that you might have a testimony that shares before others that God was was first in your life notice that they referred to God they didn't say you know God or Savior they called him Lord our Lord and the question that we have to answer is this by our behavior do people see that he's the Lord of our life well we'll close with that until next week well we hope you will benefit from today's message and share it with others please plan to join us each week at this time and on this channel for our broadcast of love Israel org again to find out more about us please visit our website love Israel not bow RG there you will find articles in numerous other lectures by Baruch these teachings are in video form may download them or watch them in streaming video until next week may the Lord bless you in our Messiah Yeshua that is Jesus as you walk with it Shalom from Israel

Channel: LoveIsrael.org

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Keywords: Revelation Chapter 4 loveisrael.org Dr. Baruch

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Length: 27min 33sec (1653 seconds)

Published: Mon Feb 20 2017