Chuck Smith: The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ - Chapter 4

In this lesson, Pastor Chuck Smith expounds on Revelation 4, building on the three divisions from Revelation 1:19—“Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” Pastor Chuck focuses on the third section, the prophetic future, beginning with John’s vision of heaven’s door opening and the declaration of what is to come—the rapture (the great harpazo, the first resurrection of faithful believers, the Church).

Chuck explains John’s awe-inspiring vision of God’s throne, radiant with brilliance, surrounded by a rainbow, and attended by 24 elders clothed in white and wearing golden crowns. He explores whether these elders represent the Church or angelic beings, offering insights into both perspectives.

This chapter also highlights heavenly worship as the cherubim and elders cast their crowns before God, declaring His worthiness to receive glory, honor, and power: “For Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created” (Revelation 4:11). Pastor Chuck emphasizes that humanity was created for God’s delight and companionship, and that true joy flows from a deep relationship with Him rather than fleeting worldly pleasures.

The lesson concludes with a call to seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, trusting Jesus’ promise: “All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out” (John 6:37).

The Book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ - Chapter 4

Let’s turn in our Bibles to Revelation chapter 4.

You remember back in chapter 1, verse 19, the book of Revelation was divided into three divisions:

1. “Write the things which you have seen”—chapter 1: his vision of Jesus Christ walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, holding the seven stars in His right hand, and the glorious description of Jesus in His glory and power.
2. “The things which are”—this present period of history, or you might say, church history. In chapters 2 and 3, we get an interesting history of the church as Jesus addresses the seven periods of church history—from the early church of the Book of Acts to the modern-day Laodicean apostate church.
3. “The things which shall be after these things”—after what things? After the things of the church. When the church has completed its ministry on the earth, our mission on the earth, then what events are going to take place after the church is gone?

The Greek word meta tauta means “after these things.” It’s translated in the King James as “hereafter,” but literally, “after these things.” It is interesting that chapter 4 begins with the Greek words meta tauta. It shows us that we are coming into the third section of the book—the things that will take place after the things of the church. So we’re entering now into the future. The church’s history is complete, and now we move into what is going to happen after the church has finished her ministry.

“After these things”—you see, it’s very logical. After what things? The things he has previously talked about—namely, the church and the history of the church.

John said, “I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, ‘Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be after these things.’” The repetition of “after these things” at both the first and the last of this verse indicates—and it’s as though the Lord is drawing your attention to it by repeating it twice—we’re moving on now beyond the history of the church, and we’re going to take a look at what’s going to happen after the church has finished her witness upon the earth.

The Rapture of the Church (Harpazo, the First Resurrection)

John looks and he sees a door open in heaven, and there is a voice as of a trumpet saying to him, “Come up hither.” I believe this is the rapture of the church, and it takes place when the church’s witness and ministry is complete. The door will be opened in heaven, and the trump of God shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord.

Paul, writing about this in 1 Corinthians 15, said, “I show you a mystery: not all will die, but we will all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.” In 1 Thessalonians he defines it as the trump of God. Here John hears a voice like a trumpet saying, “Come up hither, and I will show you things which must be after these things.”

Some people foolishly say, “Well, the word ‘rapture’ isn’t in the Bible.” Many of our English words come from Latin, many from Greek. In the King James Bible—which is a translation of the Greek—the translators chose to render the Greek word harpazō (which means “to be caught away”) as “caught up”: “We shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air.” The Latin Vulgate—translated before any English translations—uses the Latin word raptus for harpazō. From raptus we get our English word “rapture.” Had we translated from the Latin Vulgate into English, we probably would have used “rapture” directly.

People say, “The word ‘millennium’ isn’t in the Bible,” and therefore claim there is no millennial reign. “Millennium” comes from the Latin mille annus—a thousand years. Your Bible says we shall live and reign with Him for a thousand years. So arguments against these truths based on vocabulary are arguments from ignorance of languages. The experience is clearly taught in Scripture.

John heard the voice like a trumpet: “Come up hither.” John was caught up by the Spirit—as the church will be—to meet the Lord in the air. “I will show you things which will be hereafter”—we’re going into the future. The church is taken out of the world, and we enter now into the future.

“Immediately,” John said, “I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone; and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”

The first thing that captures John’s attention when he gets to heaven—and John is there as a representative of the church—will be the throne of God. A lot of people say, “I’m anxious to see my loved ones,” and you will, but the first thing that will capture your attention is the awesome throne of God.

John sees the throne of God set in heaven and the One who is sitting upon it. To look upon Him was like the jasper and sardine stones. The jasper was like a blue-white diamond—the brilliance of a sparkling diamond. The sardine stone, from Sardis, was a blood-red gem. Notice: no form is mentioned—just brilliance. The Bible says God dwells in light unapproachable; the Bible says God is light.

Around the throne was a rainbow like an emerald—a greenish hue. And round about the throne were twenty-four “seats” (literally, thrones)—lesser thrones. Upon these thrones John saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white raiment, with crowns of gold on their heads.

Many believe these twenty-four elders represent the church (J. Vernon McGee takes this position—e.g., the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles). Others—such as William Newell and Seiss—believe these twenty-four elders are actually an order of angelic beings. There are many orders of angelic beings. In a moment we’ll look at the cherubim. Exactly who the twenty-four elders are is not perfectly clear, but we see them seated on lesser thrones with crowns of gold on their heads.

Out of the throne proceed lightnings, thunderings, and voices. There were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. As we noted earlier, Isaiah 11 speaks of the sevenfold work of the Holy Spirit in the life of Jesus—the Spirit of the Lord; wisdom; understanding; counsel; might; knowledge; and the fear of the Lord—the complete work of the Spirit.

Before the throne there was a sea of glass like crystal; and in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four living creatures (not “beasts”—that’s an unfortunate translation). These living creatures were full of eyes in front and back. The first was like a lion, the second like a calf (or ox), the third had the face of a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle.

Many see in these the four faces of Jesus presented in the Gospels: Matthew—Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah; Mark—Jesus as the Servant (the ox); Luke—Jesus as the Son of Man; and John—Jesus in His deity (the eagle).

These four living creatures each had six wings about them; they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”

Ezekiel had a vision of heaven (chapters 1 and 10) and saw these four living creatures. In Ezekiel we discover they are the cherubim (Hebrew plural: -im). The cherub (singular), cherubim (plural), are an angelic order—apparently of the highest order in heaven. There is Michael the archangel; and there are cherubim. Ezekiel tells us that Satan, prior to his fall, was one of the cherubim—“the anointed cherub that covereth”—perfect in wisdom and beauty until iniquity was found in him (see Isaiah 14).

These cherubim are engaged in the worship of God. They cease not day or night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”

The Eternal God

“Which was, which is, and which is to come” is an interesting way of expressing the eternal attribute of God. He lives outside of time. God has always been; He is; He is to come—but He is all that at once. Being eternal, there is no time with God; He is outside the time dimension.

We cannot truly think in this realm; our minds are not wired to conceive the eternal “now.” When Moses asked, “Whom shall I say sent me?” God replied, “I AM THAT I AM.” Only God can say “I AM” in the eternal present.

We live in a time continuum—yesterday, today, tomorrow. To illustrate, think of watching the Rose Parade from the grandstands (fixed in one spot) versus seeing it from the Goodyear blimp (seeing the whole procession at once). From above, you see the beginning and end simultaneously. God, outside of time, sees the entirety of human history at once.

Isaiah also had a vision of heaven (Isaiah 6). He saw the Lord high and lifted up, His train filling the temple, and seraphim (six-winged beings) crying, “Holy, holy, holy.” Because the descriptions of seraphim and cherubim are so similar, many scholars believe they are two names for the same highest order of angels.

The first biblical mention of cherubim is in Genesis: after Adam sinned and was driven from Eden, God placed a cherub to guard the entrance, preventing re-entry and access to the tree of life—protecting man from living forever in a fallen state.

Back in Revelation 4: when those living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne. (Our hymn picks this up: “Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea; cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee.”)

They declare, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.”

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The Hebrew word bara means to create out of nothing. Man can only asah—make from existing materials. God bara—He brought into existence the universe itself.

John 1 declares: “In the beginning was the Word… All things were made by Him.” Paul writes in Colossians that Jesus is the image of the invisible God, and that by Him all things were created—visible and invisible, including angelic ranks (thrones, dominions, principalities, powers). All things were created by Him and for Him.

We were created for God’s good pleasure. That’s foundational. You exist to bring God pleasure by entering a meaningful, loving relationship with Him. John writes (1 John 1): we declare Christ to you “that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write unto you, that your joy may be full.”

The world pursues happiness (an emotional, variable state), but joy is spiritual and found in fellowship with God. You can have joy in the most difficult circumstances because joy is rooted in relationship, not circumstances. That’s why you exist; if you’re not bringing pleasure to God through fellowship with Him, you cannot be fulfilled. When you live a life pleasing to God, you find fulfillment—because you are now fulfilling the purpose of your existence.

Here we find an answer to the philosopher’s question: “Why am I here?”

As we move into chapter 5 (and following), we’ll see where we’re going. After the initial worship of God in chapter 4—observing the cherubim and twenty-four elders—we begin to participate in the worship. It’s quite fascinating as we study the basis for our praise and worship of God. It’s perfectly all right to read ahead.

Closing Prayer

Father, we thank You for the hope You’ve given us of eternal life in Jesus Christ—the hope of spending eternity in the glory of Your presence, in Your kingdom. Lord, may Your kingdom come and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. We look around the world today and see how desperate is mankind’s need for the righteous rule of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We wait and look for that day when You shall come and reign forever and ever in the kingdom of God.

Sustain us, Lord. Help us in the intervening time not to be trapped by the world’s enticements, but to keep our hearts toward You and Your coming kingdom. May we learn to seek first the kingdom of God and Your righteousness, letting You take care of all the other details. In Jesus’ name we pray, amen.

Pastoral Invitation

The pastors are down here in the front tonight to pray for you. Many have shared blessings they’ve received through the after-service ministry as people have come with burdens and needs—physical, spiritual—and have been encouraged and strengthened in prayer. If you feel you need a little help, come on down. They’re here to minister to you and your needs.

May the Lord be with you, watch over you, and keep you in His love. This week, let’s concentrate on bringing pleasure to God. Before engaging in activities, ask, “Will this please God if I do this?” Let’s really live to please the Lord this week. By week’s end you’ll find your life rich and fulfilled.

“Our Father which art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation; but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, forever. Amen.”