Revelation 4-7: Throne room tour

Let's keep reading Revelation by letting the visions create awe instead of forcing every detail into a neat timeline. We move through Revelation 4–7 from the throne room to the Lamb and the seals, and we land on a steady reminder: if you’re redeemed by Jesus, you don’t have to be afraid of this book. 

• how to share feedback and questions for future seasons 
• shifting from decoding symbols to practicing awe 
• John’s vision of God’s throne room and nonstop worship 
• the scroll with seven seals and the question of who is worthy 
• Jesus as the Lion and the slain Lamb who opens the scroll 
• the opening of the seals and the hard realities they reveal 
• the martyrs’ cry for justice and God’s call to wait 
• the sealing of God’s servants and the great multitude in white robes 
• why believers can read Revelation without fear 
• our responsibility to help more people be ready for that day 

At outloudbible.com, you can find free resources to help you study the Bible. And while you’re there, send us a message to say hi, or start a conversation about having us at your church or event. 

If Outloud Bible has been a valuable part of your understanding of the Bible, please consider supporting the ministry by visiting outloudbible.com.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Hey, welcome back to the Outloud Bible Project Podcast. This is Mike. I mentioned last episode. I'd love to hear from you and hear your thoughts about how Outloud Bible Project

Welcome And Listener Feedback Request

SPEAKER_00 0:11

Podcast has helped you in your relationship with God or your understanding or appreciation of the Bible. I'd also love to hear what you would like to see in the next season of the podcast if you've got any ideas. And also, I would love to hear any questions you might have about the Bible that we could address in upcoming episodes. Anything of those, it doesn't have to answer all those questions, but if you have any thoughts on those and want to provide your feedback, I'd love to hear from you. You can do that through the episode description of this podcast on the podcast platform you're listening to. There's a link there to reach out. That's a one-sided message. I won't be able to reply to that, but if you'd like to just send your answers to one or more of those questions there uh and provide your feedback, I'd love to hear from you that way. If you would like to hear back from me for any reason, uh reach through through through the website, outloudbible.com, and uh you can go to the contact us page there at the bottom of the page, and uh and we'd love to hear from you that way, and then we can open a conversation if you want a little bit of back and forth. I'd love to hear from you there. Your responses to these questions will help form what the next season of the podcast would look like. When we wrap up with Revelation here, we're gonna continue reading through the Bible. We're not done, we're not going anywhere. There's more to dig into, but I would love to hear what you find valuable in your time hearing the Word of God spoken out loud in this way that we do. So uh thanks so much for being with me on the journey so far. We're gonna keep going with the book of Revelation. We're gonna be reading chapters four through seven today. And last time we read the first three chapters, which contain Jesus' letters to some churches, both

Why Revelation Should Create Awe

SPEAKER_00 1:39

back in the day and are still applicable and useful for us today. And now we are switching into more of the traditional things that we tend to think about in Revelation, these amazing scenes in heaven, these visions that John had while exiled on the island of Patmos, uh, just these visions of what the throne room is and what Jesus looks like. And John had known Jesus and seen him in his human form and even in his resurrected body after his death and resurrection, but now John's seeing Jesus in a whole new light, quite literally, as he sees Jesus as the conquering king and what Jesus looks like and how he interacts with this throne room as the king of heaven. So there's a lot for John to take in, there's a lot for us to take in. I know Revelation is uh it's often considered a confusing book, and I'm not gonna disagree. There's a lot here that is symbolic, there's a lot here that is prophetic in the sense that we we don't know what it's talking about, and we don't we haven't seen the fulfillment of it yet. There's a lot here that's metaphorical, and it's tough to know what to do with all these details. Not that there aren't answers to these questions, but honestly, there are some things that we're not gonna know because God has not chosen to reveal that to us yet. But we're thankful that we have as much revelation as we do, as much prophecy as we do here, because this gives us something to hang on to and cling to. And there's every once in a while as we read through this, there's just something that just makes you go wow. I say every once in a while, it's it's well, most all the book just makes you go, wow. And instead of trying to figure out everything and well, what does that mean? And what does that represent? I mean, please have at it. Uh, you know, do do your own deeper study. But don't get so caught in trying to figure out what it means or what it represents, and maybe just let yourself say, wow, that's awe, right? That's that's what awe is. Just being struck by wow, this is bigger than me. This is too big for me to understand. The fact that God knows what's going on and he's acting and working and doing all this just mm-hmm proves that he's so much bigger than I can possibly imagine. Allow yourself to sit in those moments. Maybe it's a little uncomfortable. That's okay. Allow yourself to sit in the moments of just like, wow, what? I don't under I don't understand. This is just too amazing for me to comprehend. That's okay. We need to let ourselves feel small, I think, more often than we do. And Revelation is a book that allows us to do that in great measure. You can tell John's doing his best to describe and put to words what he's seeing, as we've talked about in the other books of prophecy that we've read together here on the podcast. We kind of can get a sense that the prophet writing is like kind of like and it and it kind of resembles this. You think of Ezekiel and like this, it's like a wheel, but within a wheel, and then there's there's eyes around and and within it, and it it's like he's doing his best, but it's impossible to put to human words some of these things that God has created and revealed from heaven. So uh we'll just allow John to do his best to describe what we do our best to understand, but frankly, we just have to throw up our hands and say, you know what? It's it's too big. It's too amazing, too wonderful to comprehend. We'll just let God be God. So here's Revelation chapter four through chapter seven today in the New English translation. After these things I looked, and there was a door standing open in heaven,

Revelation 4 The Throne Room

SPEAKER_00 5:26

and the first voice I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, Come up here so that I can show you what must happen after these things. And immediately I was in the spirit, and a throne was standing in heaven with someone seated on it, and the one seated on it was like Jasper and Carnelian in appearance, and a rainbow looking like it was made of emerald encircled the throne. In a circle around the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white clothing and had golden crowns on their heads, and from the throne came out flashes of lightning and roaring and crashes of thunder. Seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning in front of the throne, and in front of the throne was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. In the middle of the throne, and around the throne were four living creatures full of eyes in in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second creature like an ox. Uh, the third creature had the face of a man's, and and the fourth creature looked like an eagle flying. And each one of the four living creatures had six wings and and was full of eyes all around and inside. They never rest day or night saying, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the all-powerful, who was and who is and who is to come. And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders throw themselves on the ground before the one who sits on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever, and they offer their crowns before his throne, saying, You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, since you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created. Then I saw in the right hand of the one who is seated on the throne a scroll written on the front and back and sealed with seven seals, and

Revelation 5 The Worthy Lamb

SPEAKER_00 8:00

I saw a powerful angel proclaiming in a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the scroll and to break its seals? But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll or look into it. So I began weeping bitterly, because no one was found who was worthy to open the scroll or look into it. And then one of the elders said to me, Stop weeping. Look, the lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has conquered, thus he can open the scroll and its seven seals. Oh, then I saw standing in the middle of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the middle of the elders, a lamb that appeared to have been killed. And he had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent out into all the earth. And then he came and took the scroll from the right hand of the one who was seated on the throne, and when he had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders threw themselves to the ground before the Lamb. Each of them had a harp and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints, and they were singing a new song. You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were killed, and at the cost of your own blood you have purchased for God persons from every tribe, language, people, and nation. You have appointed them as a kingdom of priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth. And then I looked and heard the voice of many angels in a circle around the throne, as well as the living creatures and the elders. Their number was ten thousand times ten thousand, thousands times thousands, all of whom were singing in a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb who was killed to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and praise. And then I heard every creature in heaven, on earth, under the earth, in the sea, and all that's in them singing to the one seated on the throne and to the lamb, be praise, honor, glory, and ruling power forever and ever. And the four living creatures were saying, Amen, and the elders threw themselves to the ground and worshipped. I looked on when the lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures saying with a thunderous voice, Come. So I looked, and here

Revelation 6 The Seven Seals Begin

SPEAKER_00 10:49

came a white horse. The one who rode it had a bow, and he was given a crown, and as a conqueror he rode out to conquer. Then when the lamb opened the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, Come, and another horse, fiery red, came out, and the one who rode it was granted permission to take peace from the earth, so that people would butcher one another, and he was given a huge sword. Then when the lamb opened the third seal, I heard the third living creature say, Come. So I looked, and here came a black horse. The one who rode it had a balance scale in his hand, and then I heard something like a voice from among the four creatures saying, A quart of wheat will cost a day's pay, and three quarts of barley will cost a day's pay, but do not damage the olive oil and the wine. Well then when the lamb opened the fourth seal, I heard the voice of the fourth living creature saying, Come, so I looked, and here came a pale green horse. The name of the one who rode it was Death, and Hades followed right behind. They were given authority over a fourth of the earth to kill its population with the sword, famine, and disease, and by the wild animals of the earth. Now, when the lamb opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been violently killed because of the word of God and because of the testimony they had given. And they cried out with a loud voice, How long, sovereign master, holy and true, before you judge those who live on the earth and avenge our blood. Each of them was given a long white robe, and they were told to rest for a little longer until the full number was reached of both their fellow servants and their brothers who were going to be killed just as they had been. Then I looked when the lamb opened the sixth seal, and a huge earthquake took place. The sun became as black as sackcloth made of hair, and the full moon became blood red, and the stars in the sky fell to the earth like a fig tree, dropping its unripe figs when shaken by a fierce wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place. Then the kings of the earth, the very important people, the generals, the rich, the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, Fall on us and hide us from the face of the one who's seated on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, because the great day of their wrath has come, and who's able to withstand it? After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth, so no wind could blow on the earth, on the sea, or on any tree,

Revelation 7 Sealed Servants And A Great Crowd

SPEAKER_00 13:58

and then I saw another angel ascending from the east who had the seal of the living God. He shouted out with a loud voice to the four angels who had been given permission to damage the earth and the sea, do not damage the earth or the sea or the trees until we have put a seal on the foreheads of the servants of our God. Now I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, one hundred forty-four thousand, sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel. From the tribe of Judah, twelve thousand were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Gad, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Asher twelve thousand, from the tribe of Naphtali twelve thousand, from the tribe of Manasseh, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Simeon, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Levi, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Issachar, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Zebulun, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Joseph, twelve thousand, from the tribe of Benjamin, twelve thousand, were sealed. After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language standing before the throne and before the Lamb, dressed in long white robes and with palm branches in their hands. They were shouting out in a loud voice, Salvation belongs to our God who is seated on the throne and to the Lamb. And all the angels stood there in a circle around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures, and they threw themselves down with their faces to the ground before the throne and worshiped God, saying, Amen, praise and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen. Then one of the elders asked me, These dressed in long white robes, who are they? And where have they come from? So I said to him, my lord, you know the answer. And then he said to me, These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They've washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the lamb. For this reason they are before the throne of God, and they serve him day and night in his temple, and the one seated on the throne will shelter them. They will never go hungry or be thirsty again, and the sun will not beat down on them nor any burning heat, because the lamb in the middle of the throne will shepherd them, and lead them to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Well, did you find a moment that makes you go, wow? I'll say it now, and I'll say it again as we continue to read the book of Revelation. If you are a believer, cleansed and redeemed

No Fear For The Redeemed

SPEAKER_00 16:50

by the blood of Jesus, your Lord, there is nothing to fear in this book. There's nothing to be afraid of. Now, when is this gonna happen? Am I gonna be here when these things happen? Am I gonna experience some of these awful things that are being described? You know what? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know when these things are gonna happen and at what point you're gonna be taken up to heaven or experience these. I look, I don't know. What I do know is that again, if you are redeemed by the blood of Jesus and he is your Lord and your Savior, and your name is written in the book of life, there's nothing to fear. The ones who have something to be afraid of in this book are those who live in rebellion against God, because their day will come and God's patience will run out. For right now we're still living in the time of God's patience, when he says to those uh when the fifth seal was opened, those who had been martyred and persecuted for their faith in him, he says, just wait a little while longer. We're still waiting for the full number to be reached. First Peter tells us that God's patience is so that others can come to know him, that he can bring more and more children back to him. He's willing to wait for that day so we can be willing to wait for that day as well. And in the meantime, our bigger role and responsibility is not to figure out everything that Revelation means, but it's to make sure that there are as many people wearing white robes when that day comes as possible. We have a role in that. That's the Thinking Out Loud thought for the day. Thanks for joining me here in this reading of the Book of Revelation. I'm looking forward to continuing, starting in chapter 8 next time. We'll see you then.