Yesterday, I wrote about John's theophany beginning in a temple setting. Moving from the Holy of Holies, John sees a door in the sky and the vision moves to a heavenly setting. John hears the voice as a trumpet again and is invited to enter through the doorway. The first thing John sees is a throne in the midst of heaven. We learn later in the chapter (Revelation 4: 9, 10) that it is the resurrected Jesus who sits upon the throne. Around the throne are twenty-four seats occupied by twenty-four elders. According to Joseph Smith, these are resurrected apostles and other priesthood leaders, many of whom John probably had known in life. They are dressed in white garments, the raiment of the high priests of Israel.
One symbol that is of interest to me is the rainbow John sees surrounding the throne of God. The first time we encounter a rainbow in the scriptures is after the great flood. (Genesis 9:13) It is the symbol of the covenant God made with all of His earthly creations. To my knowledge, it is the only such covenant. All of God's other covenants are between mankind and Himself. This one is God's promise to the entire earth. Is it any wonder that John also sees the four beautiful and incredible creatures representing the animals of the earth surrounding God's throne and praising Him?
Finally, John sees at God's feet a "sea of glass like unto crystal." (Revelation 4:6) Joseph Smith, when he prayed and asked God specifically about this passage, was taught that the sea of glass represented the celestialized earth, in its "sanctified, immortal, and eternal state." (Doctrine and Covenants 77:1) I remember some years ago studying about a Hebrew verb tense known as the prophetic present. It is common in Hebrew scripture that an event that is to occur at some future time is spoken of in the present tense, since the prophet having the vision is actually seeing it as if it were happening in that moment. That cleared up a lot of questions for me. I remember, I was studying the Book of Isaiah at the time and found myself asking: "Is Isaiah talking about the past, his own time, the time around Christ's birth, or the future?" When I learned about the prophetic present tense, I learned that the answer to the question is: "Yes." I am hoping this will help me as a work (and I do mean work!) my way through the Book of Revelation.
Text copyright Gebara Education January 2013
Picture of door into heaven from www.123rf.com
Picture of rainbow from www.rawlife.com
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