Month: May 2021

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What Happens Next? Ch. 4, A Heavenly Throne

4 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

  • A simpler translation: After I had seen all these things, I dreamed again and saw that there was an opening (door) into heaven. And the person who had a voice like a trumpet spoke to me again and said, “Come up here and I will let you see the things that will happen after this.
  • “After this I looked” – “Vision one of Revelation is complete; vision two (4:1–16:21)—the longest of the four—is about to begin. In vision one John saw and heard Christ on the earth. Vision two begins with John taken to heaven. As he wrote the vision down, John included what he saw and heard in heaven as well as what he saw on earth. As we will observe when we reach chapter 12, this great second vision ends with John seeing two fantastic dramas that explain the why and the how of the consummation (12:1–14:20; 15:1–16:21).” – Easley, K. H. (1998). Revelation (Vol. 12, pp. 73–74). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.

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What Happens Next? Revelation 3:14-22, to the church at Laodicea

A little background concerning the church at Laodicea

  • A self-sufficient and commercial center, thriving in the medical and textile industries.
  • Known for it’s production of wool cloth.
  • About 35 years before this letter was written, the town was destroyed by earthquake, but they had enough resources within themselves to quickly rebuild.

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What Happens Next? Revelation 3:7-13, to the church at Philadelphia

A little background concerning the church at Philadelphia:

  • not a large city, but commercially busy.
  • prone to earthquake disasters.

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write: ‘The words of the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens.

  • “the holy one” – “In the Bible “holiness” is the very essence of God, the quality that makes God what he is, different and set apart from human beings. It carries a sense of separateness from sin, of exclusiveness, of uniqueness”(Bratcher). Also a Messianic designation, meaning God’s servant or one who does God’s will. Thus when we combine Jesus’ self description here in this verse we end up with something like “the true, faithful divine Messiah-servant of God”.

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What Happens Next? Revelation 3:1-6, to the church at Sardis

A little background concerning the church at Sardis:

  • About 30 miles SE of Thyatira, a city located in a fertile area (thus commercially important), but was really known for their dedication to the arts, especially music. One might think of Sardis as an ancient New Orleans. Much of the “entertainment” found on Bourbon St. could be found in Sardis as well.

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