Welcome back to All About the Rapture. Today, we are going to continue our look at the pre-Tribulation rapture and examine another passage that pre-Tribulationists say supports a pre-Tribulation rapture. The passage is Revelation 4:1-2. Let’s get started!
In Revelation 4:1-2, the Apostle John writes:
1. After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
2. Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. (NKJV)
Pre-Tribulationists claim that this shows the pre-Tribulation rapture. They claim that the Apostle John represents the church, and when Jesus call for him to “Come up here”, that represents Jesus calling the church at the rapture. They believe that, according to the book of Revelation, the Tribulation Period begins immediately after this event, so this passage is showing that the rapture happens immediately before the Tribulation Period begins.
But that is not what’s happening in this passage. This passage is not talking about the rapture. In this passage, Jesus is simply calling John to heaven to receive a vision. In 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, the Apostle Paul gives us a very clear account of the rapture. He writes:
16. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.
17. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. (NKJV)
As you can see, in verse 17, Paul clearly says that at the rapture we meet the Lord in the air. In John’s experience in Revelation 4:1-2, he does not meet the Lord in the air. In John’s experience, he hears Jesus – His voice like a trumpet – call out, “Come up here”, and then John is instantly in the throne room. That is not the rapture. At the rapture, we meet the Lord in the air. If this passage were to symbolize the rapture, then it must show John meeting Jesus in the air. But it doesn’t. And that is a discrepancy you can’t overlook. Meeting Jesus in the air is the defining detail of the rapture. It’s what makes the rapture the rapture: Jesus calls to us, and we meet him in the air. If we don’t meet him in the air, then it’s not the rapture. John does not meet Jesus in the air, so John does not symbolize the church and this passage does not symbolize the rapture.
Now that we’ve seen that this passage does not represent the rapture, let’s look at what this passage does show. This passage is significant because it shows the place that Jesus prepared for us. In the old testament, under the law, we were separated from God by sin. We needed sacrifices and priests to try to bridge the gap between us and God, and even though it kind of worked, it really didn’t do a good job because we were still in a constant state of separation.
When Jesus died on the cross, he prepared a new place for us in God. He became our sin, became the ultimate sacrifice on our behalf and reconciled us to God. When he died, the Bible says that the veil in the earthly Jewish temple was torn in two from top to bottom (please read Matthew 27:50-53, Mark 15:33-38, and Luke 23:44-48). In the temple, the veil separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies was the most sacred part of the temple. It was so sacred that virtually no one was allowed to go inside. The high priest was the only one who could enter in, and even he was only allowed to enter in once a year to make atonement for the people of Israel. So when Jesus died and the veil was torn in two, that meant that the divide that separated people from God had been removed. And it represented what had happened in the Spirit, which is that we now have access to God. Jesus has prepared a new place for us in God, and through Jesus’ sacrifice, we now have access to the very throne room of God. In Revelation 4:1-2, when Jesus calls out to John to “Come up here”, and then John in instantly in the throne room, that is showing the new relationship we now have with God and the direct access to the throne that we now have.
In order to fully understand the significance of Revelation 4:1-2, we must look at the Old Testament book of Daniel. As you may recall, in the book of Daniel, Daniel (like the Apostle John) received information from God about the end times. Both Daniel and John had visions of the end times, and both had angels explain the meaning of the visions to them.
But the difference between Daniel’s experiences and John’s experience is that Daniel stayed on earth as he had his visions and angelic encounters, while John was called up to heaven to receive his. John was called up directly to the throne room of God because of the access that Jesus’ death provided. In the Old Testament, Jesus had not yet died, so we were separated from God. But because of Jesus’ death, we have been reconciled to God, so we now have access to God, access to the throne room.
On a similar note, in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, the prophet Isaiah had a vision of the heavenly throne. Isaiah 6:1-4 says:
1. In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple.
2. Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
3. And one cried to another and said: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!”
4. And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke. (NKJV)
Like Daniel, when Isaiah had his vision, he had it while he was still on earth. From earth, he looked up and saw the Lord seated on His throne. By contrast, when John had his vision, he was called up directly to the throne room to receive it.
In another similar event, in the book of Ezekiel, the prophet Ezekiel had a vision of the throne. I encourage you to read the entire chapter, but here are the relevant excerpts from Ezekiel 1:1-28 that describe his experience:
1. Now it came to pass…as I was among the captives by the River Chebar, that the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.
26. And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it.
27. Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around.
28. Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. (NKJV)
Like Isaiah, when Ezekiel had his vision of the throne, he had it while still on earth. He looked up, the heavens were opened, and he saw God and the throne. He was not called up to heaven to see it, he only saw it from afar because Jesus had not yet died and given him access to the throne room. He could look at, but he could not experience it the way that John could. John was called up to heaven by Jesus, called directly to the throne room, because of Jesus’ sacrifice at the cross.
When Jesus died, He created a new place for us with God. John was allowed not only to see the throne, but to enter into the throne room because of the access that Jesus’ death provided. The direct access to the throne room is what set his experience apart from Daniel’s, and Isaiah’s, and Ezekiel’s, and that is the significance of Revelation 4:1-2. Revelation 4:1-2 is not talking about the rapture. It is not symbolizing a time in the future when Jesus calls the church up to heaven to escape the Tribulation Period and live in mansions. Revelation 4:1-2 shows us the place that Jesus prepared for us by dying, the new relationship that we can now have with God, and the direct access to God and the throne room that we have been given.
That’s all for today. I hope you enjoyed today’s message. See you next time!
Julie J
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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