TOPIC:“A Breathtaking View of Heaven”
by Rev. Dr. Reg Dunlap
TEXT:Revelation 4:1-11
“After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven; and the first
voice that I heard was as it were, of a trumpet talking with me; which said,
Come up here, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter” (4:1)
This chapter of Revelation along with chapter 5 is extremely important for it provides the background for all of the prophetic events which are yet to be described in the book. It is a prelude to the Tribulation period of Revelation 6 through 19. The scene which is presented is both fascinating and mysterious as it sets forth that which believers will behold in Heaven at the Rapture of the Church.
John is now invited to come up into Heaven where he beholds God on His throne, the four living creatures about the throne, the twenty-four elders, and finally, all of the redeemed of the earth. Let's look further into this chapter as God is about to unfold His future program.
I.
We find, first of all, what I want to call A STRANGE VOICE. We read these words in verse 1: “And the first voice I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.” The Apostle John hears a voice which he describes as “the first voice which I heard” meaning it was the same voice he heard in Revelation 1:10 where he described it as “a great voice, as of a trumpet.”
One is reminded here of the words of Paul who wrote of the trumpet voice in these words: “For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (I Corinthians 15:52). Or again in these words: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trump of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (I Thessalonians 4:16).
The words “Come up here” are held by some scholars to be the fulfillment of I Thessalonians 4:14-17 where the translation of the Church is described. Charles Woodbridge in his Notes on Revelation writes: “Come up here” suggests the “upcalling” of the church after the days of her “outcalling” are ended.” Though these words given to John do not explicitly refer to the Rapture of the Church, it is noteworthy that the Church is conspicuously absent after chapter 3 and does not appear again . . .