Shabbat shalom kol beit Yisra'el and Mishpachah, welcome back to the 19th part of our study of the Book of Revelation. I hope you will leave today as thrilled as I was in the preparing of it.

Last week we had a quick review of what we had covered before the Spring Break for Pesach (Passover), then we reviewed the structure of the entire Book of Revelation, the three divisions of 'Present', 'Nearer Future', and 'Distant Future' and how each of these has two pairs of mirror opposites, making a total of 6 pairs or 12 units in all, the idea being that the reader understands that the book isn't some higgledy-piggledy arrangement of bizzare representations of events but that the Ruach (Spirit) that inspired its writing has what Germans call 'Ordnung' or 'Order' after the divine tavnith or pattern of the "order of Melchizedek" (Heb.5:6,10; 6:11,20; 7:11,17; Ps.110:4) which is the "new order" (Heb.9:10, NIV) that is replacing the "old order of things" (Rev.21:4, NIV).

The Hebrew word for 'order' is dibrah which is feminine because we, as the Bride, are to bring to pass Yahweh's Order of the Kingdom to the earth just as a wife implements her husband's order to the household she is given stewardship over. The Greeks call this taxis from which we get the English word 'taxonomy' which means a 'regular arrangement' or 'structure' and contained with this is a sense of 'dignity', a concept the Prussians would have understood but which our modern anarchistic world has largely rejected and infected the churches with its spirit. Then I gave an even simpler summary, dividing the book into 'Present' (John's present, that is) and 'Future' consisting broadly-speaking of 'bad news' followed by 'good news'.

We devoted the last half of the talk to summarising the next two chapters - 4 & 5 - the final pair of the 'Present' items, and specifically, that 'present' which is never-changing - the constant that is heavenly reality in which we're given, in highly symbolic form, a glimpse of the Ultimate Reality - the Creator's world...and the Creator Himself. John saw what few men have ever seen - the Throne Room of Yahweh-Elohim where all reality, love and truth co-exist! Today we're going to look at the first half of the 4th chapter, so without further ado, let's read that. I am going to read the passage using N.T.Wright's Kingdom New Testament (KNT) translation and then we'll analyse it in depth using the New King James Version (NKJV) and New International Version (NIV) so that we have some variety in translation.

Today we will begin with chapter 4 and the first 5½ verses:

"1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door ('gate' - AENT) standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a shofar (trumpet) speaking with me, saying, 'Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.' (Dan.2:28ff.) 2 Immediately I was in the Ruach (Spirit); and behold, a throne (kes) set in heaven, and One (demut kemarah adam, 'a figure in appearance like a man' - OJB) sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius (sardonyx, 'ruby' - ISRV2009) stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow (keshet beanan) (Gen.9:16) around the throne, in appearance like an emerald (Ezek.1:28). 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones (esrim v'arbeah kisot, 'seats' - AENT), and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders (zekenim) (Ex.12:21) sitting, clothed in white robes (levan); and they had crowns (atarot) of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings (shevah lapidei eish, 'torches of fire' - OJB), and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Ruachot (Spirits) of Elohim (God) (Rev.1:4; Ex.19:16; Zec.4:2). 6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal..." (Rev.4:1-6a, NKJV).

Before we plunge into an analysis, let me first of all give you a personal testimony about this chapter. For the last couple of weeks I have been reading this chapter over and over again using many different versions, and when I prepared the overview of chapters 4 & 5 last Sabbath, what you did not know was that I was bursting to share some of the depths that Yahweh had shown me. I don't think I have ever been so deeply affected by a single chapter in the Bible more than this one. I mean, think about it - what this chapter describes is 'it', describing the basis of all existence, and that is not an idle boast, nor is it some religious fanatic's fanciful notion. It is the heart-throb of the universe, the whole creation, on every plane of existence.

You see, what happened the next day - last Monday (23 May), in the early dawn as I stepped outside the back door with the dogs into a beautiful spring morning, the sun bathing the trees and pink lilac bushes, was that I entered into a parallel reality. I didn't see a vision. I didn't hear a voice. But my whole soul was bathed in the spiritual essence of what chapter 4 is all about. I was quite literally in His presence and He was talking to me, explaining the ultimate, parallel spiritual reality, of everything I saw. I wish you could have experienced that with me. He explained, without words, through a sense of profound 'knowing', who or what the 24 elders were, what the four living creatures, on multiple levels of reality, were. I know for sure that Jordan B. Peterson, who is probably currently the world's most eminent Christian psychologist, would have been enraptured. I know I was.

Every little detail of the garden I looked at, including three wagtail birds, who settled in front of me on the lawn in a perfect isosceles triangle, made sense - I understood relationships between people, creatures and even the forces in our own soul. It was a rhapsodic experience which I wanted to go on forever. I imagined this is what it must have been like for Adam communing each morning with Yahweh in the Garden of Eden. I didn't want to go inside! The sun was out casting its magical effect on nature, the dogs were happy, all was tranquility and peace. Such moments are priceless and I only wish I had written as much of it down as I could before the mundane things of the day began to intrude and push them aside.

Do you remember the time I shared with you when I was in the presence of the Council of Yah's Elohim all those years ago? Well, it was a similar moment. I guess the upshot of what I am trying to say is that the Book of Revelation is ALIVE and REAL and to encourage you not to be dissuaded by the strange symbols but to persistently dig. For me, then as now, this chapter and the one after it which are about about the eternal realm separated from the trials and tribulations of life down here, has become a sort of anchor. And whatever effort you invest into understanding it will pay handsome dividends because this is one of the most wonderful chapters in the Bible...and we have the privilege of studying it! Chapter 5 is the other 'most wonderful' chapter, by the way. And I will try to inject into our study of both as much as the Ruach (Spirit) brings back to memory the things She was sharing with me last Monday as I do.

Now you would be forgiven for believing, upon reading the Book of Revelation for the first time, that the first chapter was the 'most wonderful' of all. I mean, it caused John to fall down in awe and worship when he saw what he later came to write down in his report of the experience. Then there are the two chapters about the seven congregations (churches) of Asia Minor (Rev.2 & 3) but all of that, with the appearance of the resurrected Yah'shua (Jesus) before Him with the 7 lampstands and 7 stars...all of that was but an introduction, a preparation, for chapters 4 & 5. It's here, in chapter 4, where the story really starts. This is where John is given the revelation that gives this book its title. Everything from this point onwards is part of the vision which is granted to him as he stands there in the heavenly throne room.

If you've ever stood in a magnificent cathedral surrounded by arched ceilings, colourful stain-glass windows and fabulous organ music, as one of my sons and I did when we visited Salisbury Cathedral in England after my mother's funeral, maybe - just maybe - you will have had the smallest glimpse of the grandeur of what John saw in the Throne Room. If you have ever attended a Byzantine Liturgical Service of the Eastern Orthodox Church that might have given you another glimpse too. I use the word 'glimpse' deliberately because the finite mind can only ever glimpse the infinite. Here, in chapter 4, John is struggling to describe the infinite in finite language. Being in the presence of Elohim (God) is impossible to fully describe and write down which is why our goal, in reading passages of Scripture like this, is not merely to intellectually anaylse linguistically and historically the words that lie before us, but rather to enter into what we rather glibly sometimes call the 'spirit' of the scene or occasion, the phronema, or living reality of it. And when you do that, no two occurances or experiences are ever the same, anymore than experiences of two sunrises or two sunsets are, even if they're at the same geographical location. Last Monday the dogs had to be there, the three wagtails had to be there, the crows swooping down and circling a tree had to be there, the flowers had to be there, the dew had to be there, the play of light on the buildings and plants had to be there, because all of them contained part of the message Yahweh was giving me. And even then I could not possibly put it into words to do the phronema justice.

I don't know how many of you know the Russian Cossack singer Viktor Klimenko. He's 79 now. He was a Christian refugee from Communist Russia during the Cold War who settled here in Sweden. He is one of the most magnificent singers I have ever heard with a range like no one else - he could be a soprano or contralto as well as a baritone or a bass - his range is amazing, his voice rich and vibrant, his passion for Yah'shua (Jesus) infectious, his sentimentality tear-jerking. His song of dedication to his late mother makes me want to cry every time. He knows and understands deep things. He moves in a part of the phronema that is luscious and infectious. I can only imagine how John would have sung if he had such a voice after his visit to the Throne Room.

Every single line of the opening passage of this chapter gives us a wealth of detail about where John has been taken, and what it all means. There is a 'wave', if you like, of the Divine Phronema in it, but you won't find it through intellectual analysis. You have to be spiritually bathing in it, and only Yahweh can bring you into it as He did for me last Monday by having me stand in a place comparable, in some tiny way, to this superlative ultra-reality. Every line in this chapter is pregnant with deep emet (truth) and chayim (life). So it's worth going through it slowly and carefully, and you know, though I said we would need five weeks to go through these two chapters, after what I have experienced, I could easily spend twenty. My desire is to metaphorically take your hand and lead you to where I have been or, more accurately, to the place where Yahweh wants you to be, because you have your own spiritual eyes, whether half open or half closed, and you have your own spot of Paradise where He wants you to stand and where He wants to give you a unique perspective, parts of which only you will be able to see. So it's totally worth going through this slowly, phrase by phrase, to and see where the Ruach haQodesh (Holy Spirit) leads us and what will be assembled.

So let's start at the beginning. "There before me," said John, "was a door standing open in heaven" (Rev.4:1, NIV), or in the NKJV, "I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven". This was right after the revelations he had been given on the seven assemblies in Western Anatolia, and you'll remember that one of the key words in each of the seven pronouncements, was 'overcoming' - "To him who overcomes," Yah'shua (Jesus) had said to the Laodiceans, "I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne" (Rev.3:21, NKJV). And then, one sentence later, there he is, in the very Throne Room of Elohim (God), because John was an overcomer.

What do you picture in your head when you read the words, "a door standing open in heaven"? Do you imagine that John just looked up into the sky and saw a door in a cloud far away, tiny, but bright like a distant star, to which he was then invited to enter the heavenly world? Is that how your mind processes these words? Whatever it visualises, your visualisation will have been conditioned, to some extent, by movies you have seen and books you have read written by others. Forget them all. You cannot 'visualise' yourself into the heavenly realm as New Agers and occultists do, because if you try you will end up on what they call the 'astral plane' which controlled by demons and there you will be given a visual show orchestrated by the dark side.

This isn't how divine visions work and you must not presuppose it is one way or the other. If Yahweh causes your spiritual vision to work, you will not at all be prepared for what He shows you. All that you ever visualised or imagined will be completely wrong because you will have been looking with your psychic 'eyes' and not your 'spiritual' ones. They are two pairs of completely different internal 'eyes' and it is the failure to understand the difference between the two that Satan exploits in order to deceive. Neither the psychologist nor the psychic can remotely be prepared for what spiritual reality 'looks like' because this domain belongs exclusively to the spiritually regenerated or 'born-again' in Christ. And I mean that most soberly.

For one thing, understand this. Earth isn't 'here' and heaven 'there'. That conceptualisation is itself an error. There is not a huge gulf between the two worlds. They co-exist in the same time and space that we occuy here. They're just in a different dimension, just as the satanic world is. That too is in in our same slice of time and space. If I can again borrow New Age paralance for a moment, so that those of you who came from that background before you were converted can understand, all three 'vibrate at different frequencies'. That's why UFO's appear out of nowhere and disappear in the same way. Their occupants aren't 'extraterrestrials' but 'ultraterrestrials'. It's the same with malakim or angels. They too move across spiritual planes. When the resurrected Yah'shua (Jesus) walked into a locked room, apparently through a solid door, he didn't do some trick of Harry Potter-type witchcraft: His resurrected body 'altered frequency', as it were, and He simply materialised on the other side. It's how the apostle Philip vanished and materialised some distance away in Azotus.

Paradise, or Heaven, Yahweh's sphere or dimension of reality, is right here in the same physical space you and I occupy. If we were to receive a visit from Yah'shua (Jesus) or a malak (angel) right now, they would simply 'appear' in this room. They wouldn't need to board a spaceship or a 'UFO' and 'travel' here across the galaxy, even if there are vehicles of this nature (which the deep state has captured and reverse-engineered). Yahweh's servants do not, in any case, need them, whether mortal or immortal. So the Throne Room that John saw is right here beside us, intersecting our ordinary reality, but not all gain access to it, let alone see it. In fect, very few do, at least with the 'spiritual eyes open', though when regenerated believers worship in the Ruach (Spirit), which is always according to divine tavnith, they are automatically 'there' in their spirits because it's 'home'.

But if we are not worshipping in the true Ruach (Spirit), then we are elsewhere, in another dimension, and quite likely in a psychic demon-controlled area on the 'Astral Plane' where illusion and delusion are daily served up to confuse and ensnare. When you see unregenerated, lawless Christians doing lawless things, you may know that that is where they are in their spirits. Just because they are dancing around having a happy-clappy party doesn't necessarily mean they're worshipping in the Thone Room because everything can be counterfeited, and is.

So when such a "door" opens, as it did for John, it'll be 'in front' of you, like any one of the four doors surrounding this room might suddenly open and admit a person. And indeed, the divine Being might actually come through a physical door like one of these so as not to disorientate those who are not yet familiar with this phenomenon of trans-dimensional movement. I speak now of a literal, physical manifestation. But this is not exactly what happened to John for what He saw was a vision, meaning that He physically remained where he was on Patmos and was transported in the spirit only. In that case, whereas before he would have been only aware of his prison cell, or wherever he happened to be physically, he would, in passing through the door (which, you'll remember, was located above him, indicating this was to be a spiritual and not a physical journey too), a door leading to a different world in a parallel dimension. The door was positioned above him symbolically because this was an invitation, not just to change spiritual position horizontally, as it were, but to "come up" to a higher or more exalted dimension. You have to understand that 'up' and 'down' are relative terms and that what may be literal 'down here', is not necessarily so 'up there'. I realise this may be a little hard to grasp until you have experienced it, but just take my word for it for now so that we can make better sense of what follows.

Now realise this also: this 'transportation' of John to another dimension has nothing whatsoever to do with Yahweh's people being 'snatched' away to heaven or wherever in some imaginary 'rapture' that odern Christians believe will enable them to avoid awful events that are about to take place on the earth. Those qodeshim (saints, set-apart ones) who are lifted into the air to meet Yah'shua (Jesus) and the heavenly hosts as they return to the earth to inaugurate the Millennium, are not being translated to another, heavenly dimension to wait out years of tribulation on earth: they're the welcoming committee, escorting Yah'shua (Jesus) back the the physical earth. So don't even 'go there'...to that 'Rapture Disneyland' which is the product of over-imaginative psychic fantasies that began with an 18th century Scottish girl being deceived by the psychic world qwhile in a trance - that one ciounterfeit experience seeded a massive lie that has infected millions of evangelical Christians, including Ellen White of the Adventists and Joseph Smith of the Mormons.

So this experience of John in chapters 4 & 5 has zero to do with future events. It's about a navi (prophet) being taken spiritually into Yahweh's Throne Room so that he can see 'behind the scenes', as it were, and understand both what is going to take place and how it all fits together and makes sense. These two incredible chapters do not stand alone. At one level, they introduce the whole sequence of prophecies that will take us through the rest of the book. At another level, they introduce more particularly the first of the sequences of prophecies, the 'seven seals' which must be broken open if the 'scroll' of Yahweh's purposes (Rev.5:1) is to be unrolled. And just as there is a scroll for the whole world, so there are 'scrolls' within this primary scroll (which are not detailed in the Book of Revelation, for obvious reasons) that belong to nations, cities, local communities, churches, ministries, families and - yes - 'scrolls' for each of us individually containing directions for our lives that Yahweh wills for you, directions that you may either embrace or scorn, obey or reject.

It's very easy to lose perspective and miss our balance in reading something like the Book of Revelation (or any biblical prophetic book, for that matter), so it may be helpful to remind ourselves, in dealing with the rich mixture of imagery which will be presented to us in the following chapters, to understand that books like this are structured around sequences of 'seven'. (We're going through one such sequence of seven now in the Omer Count as we head for the fourth in a series of seven festivals). We have already seen the seven letters to the Asian assemblies (churches).

Now we are to be introduced to the seven seals, which are opened between chapters 6 (verse 1) and 8 (verse 1). The seventh seal introduces a further sequence, the seven trumpets, which are blown one by one from chapter 8 (verse 6) and chapter 11 (verse 5). Then, at the centre of the book, we find visions which unveil the ultimate source of evil and its chief agents: the Dragon, the Beast from the Sea and the Beast from the Land - as well as a vision of those who have somehow defeated these monsters (in chapters 12 to 15). This then leads to the final sequence of seven: the seven bowls of Elohim's (God's) wrath, the final plagues which, like the plagues of Egypt (Rev.15.1), will be the means of judging the great tyrannical power and the rescuing of Yahweh's people from its claws. These bowls of wrath are poured out in chapter 16, but their effect is described more fully in chapters 17 and 18, leading to the celebration of victory over the two Beasts in chapter 19. That only leaves the old Dragon himself, and the last twists of his fate are described in chapter 20. This then clears the stage for the final unveiling of Yahweh's eventual plan: the New Jerusalem in which Heaven and earth are joined fully and forever.

So what we are witnessing in chapters 4 and 5, then, is not the final stage in Yahweh's purposes. This is not a vision of the ultimate 'heaven' seen in the final resting place of Elohim's (God's) people. It is, rather, John's admission into Heaven as it was at that moment nearly 2,000 years ago. The scene in the heavenly Throne Room is the present reality (for John), and the vision John is given there is a multiple one of "what must take place after these things" - not 'the end of the world' as such, but those terrible events which were going to engulf the world and cause all the suffering from Elohim's (God's) people about which the seven assemblies (churches) have just been so thoroughly warned.

Back to the Throne Room itself which is what personally interests me the most. Why is John summonsed there? Because like many of the ancient Israelite nevi'im (prophets), he is a member of the Council of Yah's Elohim even though he's now a mortal living on earth. As such, then, he is privileged to stand in Yahweh's Council Chamber and hear what's going on in order, then, to report back to his people on earth. That's one of the fuctions of a navi (prophet)...not to make up stuff as all the false prophets do, basing their messages on their feelings and imaginations...but to tell people how it really is, what they have actually seen. Like Michaiah ben Imlah in 1 Kings 22, he sees Elohim (God) Himself sitting on His throne, with His hosts around Him, and is privy to their discussions and plans. But this scene also reminds us of Ezekiel 1, where the navi (prophet) is given a vision of Yahweh's throne-chariot, carried to and fro on whirling, fiery wheels - we'll come back to this in the second half of the chapter, so take a look at it before we meet again next week.

Next comes the peculiar 'rainbow' which is green in colour because John compares it to a emerald, which is green. What does that mean? Well, I had that particular question answered for me when I was in the garden early Monday morning! But before I get to that, what's the first thing you think about when you are confronted by a rainbow in Scripture? Not only does the rainbow remind us of Ezekiel's vision (Ezek.1:3) but most people's default is the story of Noah in Genesis 9, where the great bow in the sky was Yahweh's visible promise of mercy, never again to destroy the earth with a flood. So it bespeaks Covenant (which is one part of it) but it is also a sign of mercy in Ezekiel 1:27 - and that, you'll agree, is one of our Heavenly father's supreme virtues: He is merciful and long-suffering to the repentant, as Daniel points out, and as we are supposed to be too:

"Yahweh our Elohim (God) is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him..." (Dan.9:9, NIV).

But why does John liken this rainbow to a green emerald? Well, to be fair, there are those who believe that the Greek word (smaragdinos) is usually translated as 'emerald' means rock crystal, which could produce a rainbow of prismatic colours, but there are few who agree with that interpretation, though it might be applicable in a secondary sense. The reason I don't wholly dismiss the possibility is because the Hebrew equivalent, nophek which we translate to 'emerald' in Exodus 28:18; 39:11 and Ezekiel 28:13 comes from an unused root meaning to 'glisten', 'shining' or 'a gem', believed to be the garnet, a vitreous silicate material, of which the transparent deep-red kind is used as a gemstone. So there is some ambiguity here. I am not sure why the green emerald stone has been chosen in our translations as this is a subject I have not had time to properly research. John may, in any case, not be using smaragdinos or nophek for its colour but because of the brilliant way is reflects light.

Remember, there are multiple symbols involved and we will not make sense of them by trying to mix them altogether - we are to take each in turn, leaving the previous one behind like a star of meaning affixed to the heavenly map of our understanding. However, let's not be so eager to dismiss 'emerald' because a 'green rainbow' doesn't make a lot of sense to us and challenges the Western imagination (and it's not the only challenge in these chapters, I might add). Let's, as always, think 'ancient Israelite'. Let's think 'Shunamite woman' in the Song of Solomon whose body parts are compared to body parts, animals, plants, weapons and buildings - we're obviously not supposed to make a collage of these comparisons but are to consider each part separately and leave them separate:

"Your graceful legs are like jewels,
the work of a craftsman's hands.
Your navel is a rounded goblet
that never lacks blended wine.
Your waist is a mound of wheat
encircled by lilies.
Your breasts are like two fawns,
twins of a gazelle.
Your neck is like an ivory tower.
Your eyes are the pools of Heshbon
by the gate of Bath Rabbim.
Your nose is like the tower of Lebanon
looking toward Damascus" (Song.7:1b-4, NIV).

You get the idea I'm sure - this is the great danger of trying to interpret poetic and prophetic Scripture literally, as conservative Protestants are rather fond of doing at times, and in so doing entirely missing the point. It's why Christian flat-earthers get so lost in their particular fantasy. So don't do the same thing with a green (or red) emerald rainbow - you're not supposed to combine the two absolutely literally. At the very least what we can get from this mixed array of sequential symbols (and remember, we are looking at an infinite scene with finite eyes), is the idea of a rich and dense combination of judgment, mercy, awe and beauty, to which I would add life because when I was in the garden last Monday and as the rainbow image entered my mind, I was led to look at all the green garden chlorophyll around me! Life (chayim) and mercy (chesed) are certainly coupled here in some way. Remember, Heaven is called 'Paradise' - from the ancient Persian which means a 'beautiful walled garden' of which the Persians were especially fond.

Three days ago a magnificent double-rainbow appeared over our garden after a brief rain shower, this time to the east, which I don't believe was 'accidental' - Yahweh ministers to us in the minute details of events around us too, orchestrating them in His genius when needed. I'm attaching a photograph of this particular rainbow to the written article.

Anyway, I thought it worthwhile spending a little time with the 'emerald rainbow' because we're going to meet a lot more of this poetic and symbolic imagery in the Book of Revelation. This doesn't mean the book is 'primitive' (what an arrogant thought) but actually sophisticated, not forgetting that it is based on a culture radically different to our own. We would be wise to approach the book correctly, then, and put our Western spectacles aside.

The next item, which I discussed at greater length than I intended to last week, concerns Yahweh's Council of 24 Elders all sitting on separate thrones in a circle around Yahweh Himself. And here we must dip our feet into a field of some controversy which I intend to straighten out by the by. Before we look at the ways Christians and Messianics interpret this, let's do some careful digging because we must get this right and be very careful not to make random number associations (like there being 24 hours in a day, for instance) without being absolutely sure there's a link, or getting side-tracked by kabbalistic numerology, as I warned you about last week. Before we get anywhere near doing sod or 'mystical' interpretation, let's be literal and scriptural. What does the number 24 signify in the Bible?

First of all, let's deal with the obvious: it's a multiple of 12, and 12 is the number associated with heavenly government or governmental perfection and rule. As we have read today, its double - 12x2 - is linked to worship. The earthly form of 24 is Israel with its 12 tribes and in the New Covenant, the 12 apostles. The earthly arrangement if buy a copy of the heavenly. We get confirmation of the number 24 being associated with worship from Moses and David who, through revelation, ordered all things connected with Tabernacle and Temple worship, to be done in imitation of the heavenlies (Heb.8:5; 1 Chr.28:12,19).

The sevenfold phrase in Exodus 40, "as Yahweh commanded Moses" witnesses the ordering of these things by the Divine Hand. You see, just as there are 24 Elders in the heavenly Throne Room, so there were 24 courses of cohenim (priests) in the earthly Temple - 16 from the sons of Eleazar and 8 from the sons of Ithamar who were given the title, "officials of the sanctuary and officials of the house of Elohim (God)" (1 Chron 24:5, NKJV). This is the divine tavnith or pattern that Yahweh has established.

Since that is the only use of the number 24 in Scripture, why should we assume it is anything else? The 24 Elders in the Throne Room have one function, and one function only: they are the leaders of heavenly worship. Which tribe in Israel was responsible for ministries such as worship? The Tribe of Levi. How many Levites were called to serve in the House of Yahweh? 24,000 (1 Chron.23:3-4). How many ofb the sons of Levi were porters? 24 (1 Chron.26:17-19). Similarly, 24 Levites were called to serve as porters in the Palace, just like the Temple. And we also learn the 12 captains presided over the 24,000 (1 Chron.27:1-15). Finally, 24 officers were set over the Treasuries (1 Chron.27:25-31). It is not uncommon to find congregational worship leaders who are descended from, or grafted into, the New Covenant Tribe of Levi.

So these 24 Elders in Heaven are, beyond any dispute, the princely leaders, rulers, and governors (or 'officials', depending which translation you use) of Heaven's worship. They are kings and cohenim (priests). They cannot be redeemed men or have anything to do with the Messianic Assembly (Church) because they are seen as already crowned when the Throne is first set up, and they are crowned now...in John's 'now'. They were not, and are not, redeemed men, because they distinguish between themselves and those who are redeemed. So if they are not redeemed, glorified human beings as their counterparts on earth are, who are they?

Now we dont't have time to go into the textual variants that evolved thanks to the interpretations of various scribes who wrongly concluded that these 24 were redeemed men and whose marginal notes somehow became incorporated into the text. They are unfallen, exalted, ministering angelic beings of whom the mortal Old Covenant Levites on earth below were shadows, who in the Tabernacle of Temple service imitated these heavenly beings. How aware those ancient Levites were of what they were doing is anyone's guess. Today in the New Covenant that worship is a Royal Melchizedek Priesthood affair (Rev.1:6; 5:10; 20:6) which means there is a proper New Covenant order that reflects the spirit of Yahweh's Torah. But more about that hopefully next week because there's another component - a vitally important component of heavenly worship - that needs to be carefully unpacked as represented by those four mysterious creatures. Suffice to say for now, when we worship Yahweh our Heavenly Father we must worship Him in the same way they do with a rightly related mind and heart. They are our model, tavnith or pattern for worship.

There is so much going on in these verses. To worship aright we must "see (view) the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David" and know that He has triumphed. True worship is triumphant - it is deeply cogniscent, aware, of what the Lamb did on the Cross in our behalf that is the source of our giving Him 'worth-ship' - the source of what makes Him infinitely valuable to us. It's not, as some false teachings would have you believe, because He wants to make you 'healthy and wealthy'. It's not because He has given your particular group the 'correct doctrine' (though that's by no means unimportant). It's because He has secured your, and my, eternal future through an act of unspeakable love and sacrifice, and can bring us to that locus in time by "opening the scroll and its seven seals" (v.5, NIV) that winds down this satanic anti-Messiah system that has the world in its murderous grip thanks to the foolish choices of us and our ancestors.

The key, evocative image that is the catalyst of authentic praise is "the Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the centre of the Throne" (v.6a, NIV) and that is where, symbolically-speaking, traditional Christianity abruptly stops, which is why we have ended our extract mid-verse this week, because there's a huge important meaty bit, which we will carefully unpack next time, whose meaning Yahweh gave me when I was walking in my garden with my dogs, the wagtails and crows in the early dawn of a spring morning - the four living creatures. They are an important missing piece of the theological jigsaw-puzzle in Christendom.

So we shall discipline ourselves and not go further than verse 6a. There are plenty of other things to see. This scene is hardly passive even though, aside from the Saviour standing, everyone is doing a lot of sitting down. None of what's happening here is conducted in whispers. Did you notice? If you've peeked into the next chapter, you will have noted that there is a mighty malak or angel present who is proclaiming the things John heard and wrote "in a loud voice" (Rev.5:2, NIV).

That being is shouting, "Who is WORTHY...?" Who has the worth to qualify Him to break the seals and open the scroll, releasing the storm that will sweep away the filth of the ages entrenched by millennia of lies, killing, exploitation and misery? ...all of which was brought about by man's own choosing to which we are adding everytime we willfully sin and don't put things right afterwards. And how can we do that? In our own strength, that is impossible, because Satan and his minions are not pushovers. They are supernatural beings. The supernatural must ultimately by dealt by the supernatural - the work of the Conquering Lamb-Lion - but none of that can happen unless we personally exercise our agency and desire to do right by choosing the One who alone can put things right.

Like I said, this is not a passive scene. At the centre of everything is the Father, not the Son, and we are given a picture of His power and glory. "From the throne come flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder" (Rev.4:5, NIV). There's a lot of noise.

When I was a boy sailing by ship to and from England and Malaysia, one of the things I used to love doing was to head off toward the engine room when the decks were deserted in stormy weather, to hear the humm and pulse of those huge screws being turned. I found it extremely exhilarating and comforting. It felt so powerful that the raging storm in the Bay of Biscay outside seemed to pale into insignifance. Only when I was on deck outside was I afraid (and if my mother had known I was out there in very real danger of being swept away she would have 'had a cow', as you Americans say).

It was the same with aeroplanes. Lots of things can go wrong up there and I've been through one or two harrowing experiences as the plane has been thrown around like a feather in a blast of air, the inside of the cabin being turned into a disaster zone as trays of food and personal belongings were thrown all over the place. I experienced that once crossing over the Johore Straits from Singapore to Malaysia. But you know what? I wasn't afraid, even though the poor Chinese man sitting next to me was terrified and pill-popping as fast as he could to get those little tablets into his mouth. And you have to remember, I wasn't saved and I was only a boy. The reason I wasn't scared, even though I didn't know Yah'shua (Jesus) then, was (a) because I had flown so many times and nothing had ever happened to me, and (b) I was in love with the sound and feeling of those mighty aircraft engines. To this day I still thrill at the roar of piston, turbo-prop or jet engines, the noisier the merrier. You see, I was aware of a power that was greater than any fear I might have had lying latent waiting to burst forth.

So whenever I read about the "rumblings and peals of thunder" (4:5) in this passage, I am reminded of by boyhood experiences in those ships and aircraft. I am reminded that Yahweh-Elohim, the Creator of this vast, seemingly endless Universe, is BIG and POWERFUL so I am secure in Him. It's only when, in moments of occasional doubting, I forget who He is and that He's actually there, that I fear. And its not just the sensation of sound and vibration. There are "flashes of lightning" too. The storms I have been through on the sea and the air have been pretty visual too. I knew that planes could be struck by lightning and actually quite commonly are.

It doesn't say John was afraid seeing, hearing and feeling all these sensations in the Throne Room. It seems he did all his initial fearing in chapter 1, you remember, when he "fell as dead at [the glorified Messiah's] feet" but was quickly reassured:

"Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I AM THE LIVING ONE; I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades" (Rev.1:17).

Do you believe that? I do. He's seen me through so many storms, things potentially frightening too. And, yes, I have given way to fear sometimes, but I am quickly reminded that He has always been there, like that powerful ship's engines ignoring the storm outside and cutting right through it by steaming ahead! I can still hear and feel those throbbing engines today! Believe, and know. Trust Him. Put your hand in His.

You know, that lightning, thunder and fire re-appear in the Book of Revelation in chapters 8 (v.5), 11 (v.19) and 16 (v.18), as if to reassure the faithful. Those who are 'in the arms of Eternity' have nothing to fear. The worst that can happen is that we can temporarily lose these outer shells which we call our bodies. And in any case, when Yahweh's purposes are being disclosed in the world, we are to expect things to be shaken up alarmingly, as they are right now in our own time of Penultimate Judgment. And it's at such times that I remember the sounds, sights and feelings of Yahweh's power, when I feel the most alive and unafraid, because I have been "in peril on the sea" as the mariners' hymn puts it, when your ship it being tossed up and down, rolling from side-to-side, the decks covered with waves. I have held onto the rails in those chip's corridors while the heaving waves crashed outside, the wind howling, but inside, though I have clearly felt the motions of the storm, I could see and hear nothing because I was in the belly of the vessel just as I am in the Throne Room of Yahweh when I am worshipping, whether silently or in song.

The final detail in today's extract of the opening scene of the Heavenly Throne Room is "something like a sea of glass" (6:6a, KNT). This is the very opposite of stormy weather, isn't it? This is a picture of tranquility. It's stormy outside but we're inside the heavenly engine room which is undisturbed by what's happening without. This is baffling to the unbeliever or the unregenerated believer who is outside even inside his soul.

Did you know that this sea of glass was represented in the temple furnishings in the Old Covenant Tabernacle and Temple? You should do, we talked about it a lot in the Great 2015 Dedication of Messianic Israel we had when the Final Exodus began? Remember? That was the time we spent two days talking about the Brazen Lava, that huge bronze bowl that's described as a 'sea' (1 Ki.7:23-26). It stood right outside the tent leading to the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. A diligent Israelite, conversant with the Scriptures as we are supposed to be, would immediately made that association. Every cohen or priest had to wash his hands and feet in this bronze bowl and be symbolically purfied by being physically clean.

All New Covenant Melchizedek Priests have to be thus purified in order to enter that Throne Room for praise. If you are deliberately, willfully breaking a mitzvah (commandment) and praising Yahweh at the same time, your worship is fake - counterfeit - and you are not in the Throne Room spiritually no matter how much grace you may make appeal to! You can lie to yourself and say you are by getting all worked up by getting all emotional and carried away by some lively music but it's still all fake - psychic, not spiritual. That glass sea is permanenty surrounding the Throne Room. You 'ain't gettin' in there' without passing through that first. So it is a deeply mysterious phenomenon. But there's more to the Sea of Glass than that huge Brazen Lava or Bronze Bowel for purification (and don't forget that there was an altar of fire before the water-filled bowl) - there are two purifications every Cohen (Priest) of Yahweh must go through.

Do you remember the Vision of the Brazen Altar that Avah had during that Dedication in 2015? I'm going to read it to you to remind you:

"As I was praising and worshipping Him, I suddenly saw the people in the meeting standing before this great altar, and on the altar was something so shiny that I was not able to make out what it was.

"We stood before the altar, in awe, humility and fear because every hidden thing was exposed, there was no hiding place, and while we could have drawn back, we did not. So we began to weep in repentance, pouring out our very hearts before Him. All this went up as a vortex before Him and soon His fire fell upon us and this vortex went up in flames, not to destroy, but to cleanse. This went on for a time until finally the flames started dying down and in place of the flames were drops of gold, and as it became purer and purer it appeared to be raining drops of gold. These drops of gold seemed to be falling onto the altar into this shiny object as if something were being formed, I could not see it, so I am not sure.

Then Yah'shua (Jesus) appeared before us, behind the altar and we fell to our knees. One by one He came to us and gave us something, what it was I could not see, but it was something so very important and sacred. I thought perhaps it was a ring, but I am not sure, and it may well have a stone or simply a mark. But it signified that we were His, that we belonged only to Him."

Later on in chapter 15 we see something very, very important...please don't miss this because the Sea of Glass becomes transformed into something resembling Yam Suph, the Sea or Reeds or the 'Red Sea' as we call it, through which the children of Israel had to pass to safety from Pharaoh!

"And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number (666) of his name. They held harps given them by Elohim (God) and sang the song of Moses the servant of Elohim (God) (= Torah-observance) and the song of the Lamb" (Rev.15:1-3, NIV).

Obedience preceeds faith! Do you still think that odd ham sandwich, boiled lobster, or Sabbath violation was unimportant? That's the negation of the "Song of Moses" the redeemed were singing. Do you still think observing the festivals was for 'then' but not for 'us' now? That's the negation of the "Song of Moses" redeemed were singing. Do you still think sleeping around is OK because of all that 'amazing grace' that's floating around out there? That's the negation of the "Song of Moses" again.

The Redeemed, who also sang the "Song of the Lamb" that evangelical Christians correctly sing - that some messianics despise because they reject His Divinity - contradicted that. You don't get past the Brazen Altar if the fire of sinning (which is Torah-violation) isn't burned out of you by obedience and you don't get past the Brazen Lava if you haven't been purified by the Blood of the Lamb! In fact, you can't even reach the Brazen Lava until you have passed through the Brazen Altar! You have to choose both - the first is by obedience and the second by emunah - faith, trusting. You've got to sing both songs in harmony!

There are no lawless Christians in the Throne Room and no Torah-obedient Messiah-rejectors there either. They're beyond it, outside the 'camp', in one of the other two places that you all know about. Obedience and faith are Siamese twins - they're inseparable. Only the Remnant, the Bride, who 'trust and obey' are in that Throne Room, which is after the glory of the sun. The rest are elsewhere dwelling in a spiritual lunar- or stellar-lit landscape. You know this, but do you want the truth or not? We're talking radical Gospel now - true Gospel, not the waterned-down versions of most churches.

When I has having my Throne Room experience in the garden the other day I was shown, as I said, lots of things, but it all began with a vision of what echad marriage is. It was very deep, so deep I cannot share it here. The Marriage Feast of the Lamb at the end of the Book of Revelation isn't about any old sort of marriage but a specific, heavenly, kind. And all its components are to be found in this Throne Room revelation of chapters 4 & 5. Do you want to know what it looks like? I'll give you the key, if you're willing to take it, and dare to turn it.

For your marriage personally, put Christ seated on the Father's Throne and put the husband standing next to Him on his feet - Christ sitting, husband standing. Put the wife where the "seven Ruachot of Elohim" - the "seven Spirits of God" (v.5) are and then ask Yahweh to unfold the Throne Room on a human level, because our lives are supposed to reflect that scene, being as we are made in His image (Gen.1:29; 9:6). You will know the emet (truth) then and your marriages will be made whole, free and deeply fulfilling. And you will never despise Abraham, Jacob and David again. But you do need to understand the symbolism accurately. What, for instance, are the Seven Ruachot (Spirits) doing? That's rather important. And to answer that, you need to understand all the eye symbolism. Hopefully we'll get to that next week.

I cannot stress the importance of 'seas' here because there are other 'seas' we will be presented to view later in this book. Indeed, the other 'sea' in the Book of Revelation is the one from which, as in Daniel 7, the great Beast emerges (Rev.13:1), while the Dragon stands beside the shore apparently presiding over the Beast's appearing (Rev.12:18).

That's also personal. There's a human aspect to it as well. That's your unredeemed psyche where those who reject the Sea of Glass spontaneously find themselves immersing or bathing...and 'worshipping', as they suppose. You're in either the one or the other. I have seen the filthy waters of the Beast-Sea in vision. This is where the willfully lawless folks live. This is where the willful Messiah-rejectors live - in the Beast's domain, and he cleverly manipulates its waters for both the religious and the irreligious, serving them illusion after illusion, leading them to delusion after delusion. And, yes, lots of Christians live in this sea, whose signature-tune beats with the same rhythm as their own unredeemed and disobedient hearts. This is the 'Beast Sea' or the 'Sea of the Beast', the counterpart to the Glass Sea or the Sea of Yahweh and the Ruach-filled Brazen Lava or Bronze Bowl.

These keys that I am sharing with you today will spare you from a lot of grief and anguish once you realise what sea your swimming in. We shall return to this subject another time because as I hope you're realising it is extreemly important. Remember this if you would: grace does not nullify the requirement for obedience any more than faith in Christ nullifies the requirement of believers to be Torah-obedient.

One final thing about this 'sea'. If you know the Book of Revelation (and I hope you have all read it carefully at least once) you will have noticed that in the New Jerusalem there is "no longer sea" (Rev.21:1, KNT). Interesting, eh? And no 'mountains' either. Even more interesting! I'm going to leave that one with you to chew over with one clue - this is not physical but symbolic of what 'sea' and 'mountains' represent in prophetic and apocalyptic Scripture. Neither are present, or needed, in the post-apocalyptic æon (age) or world-to-come.

So far we have spoken of Yahweh's Throne in heaven with John appearing before it like a navi (prophet) from the Tanakh or Old Testament. Israelites reading this book would have instantly made the connections I have drawn your attention to. But this book was also written for Gentiles or non-Isarelies who, though grafted into Israel (Rom.11), nevertheless would have been raised as gentiles with a pagan mindframe. Yahweh hasn't forgotten them. You see, the idea of a throne room, with someone sitting on the throne surrounded by seniour counsellors, would have instantly reminded John's formerly pagan readers (as well those pagans investigating the Gospel) of a very different court: that of Caesar.

Already we are picking up strong hints of a power-struggle going on - the Kingdom of Elohim (God) vs. the kingdoms of this world) in the previous three chapters. But now, we are simultaneously being invited to see that the powers of the world are simply parodies - cheap imitation copies - of the One Power who really and truly rules in heaven and on earth. And as John's fantastic vision unfolds, we will see how it is that these human kingdoms have acquired their wicked, cruel power, and how it is that Yahweh's radically different sort of power will win the victory over them. This is the victory in which the seven letters were urging the Asian congregations to claim as their share. And now we discover how that victory is to come about.

And it begins with the unveiling of reality which we have barely dipped our toes into. If you can't accept the truths we have covered today, you likely won't be able to go any further, because everything we learn in chapters 4 and 5 are essential to being not only grounded in reality and emet (truth) but founded in true ahavah (love) too. The Beast's 'sea' has its own counterfeits of love too, remember? Behind the complex and messy confusions of congregational life in John's circuit in ancient Anatolia; behind the challenges of the fake synagogues of Satan (Rev.2:9; 3:9) and the threatening imperial rulers; behind the ambiguous struggles and difficulties of ordinary Christians/Messianics - there stands the heavenly Throne Room in which the world's Creator and Master remains sovereign no matter what anyone may think. Only by stopping in our tracks and contemplating this vision can we begin to glimpse the reality which not only makes sense of our own realities but enables us, as well, to conquer or overcome - to win the victory over sin and sinning!

I am so much looking forward to next week and to telling you about the four living creatures because not only are they very, very necessary for a rounded picture of who Yahweh is but, because we are made in His image, what they represent is also in every single human being - to embrace and grow, or to reject and stagnate. So until then in 16 day's time (as the Sabbath is changing with the new month), Yahweh bless you as you contemplate these things. Amen.

Acknowledgements

[1] Tom Wright, Revelation for Everyone - The New Testament for Everyone Commentary Series, Vol.19 (SPCK, London: 2011)
[2] E.W.Bullinger*, Number in Scripture (Kregel Publications, Grand Rapids, Michigan: 1967)
[3] E.W.Bullinger*, Commentary on Revelation (Kregel Classics, Grand Rapids, Michihan: 1984)
[4] E.W.Bullinger*, The Companion Bible being the Authorized Verion of 1611 with Structures & Critical Explanatory Notes (Samuel Bagster & Sons Ltd., London: 1974), pp.1883-1914

*E.W.Bullinger was a brilliant Anglican clergyman and scholar whose works merit careful study by serious students of the Bible. He was, however, seriously in error in at least three main areas, namely, (1) he believed the 'Church' has been raptured before the Book of Revelation opens, (2) he believed that the 7 churches in Revelation 2-3 are 7, literal Jewish churches or assemblies yet to come, and (3) he believed in a pre-tribulation, pre-millennial rapture.