Heavenly Door

REVELATION Number 62

In the letters to the churches we saw our glorious Lord Jesus speaking with His Church. He comforted them, and us, with the knowledge that He knows what we are facing and the condition of our fellowships. He pointed out areas in which we need to be vigilant. He praised our faithfulness and warned against false teaching. He assured us of the reward that awaits us, but of which we already partake, and we discovered that the reward is none other then the Lord Jesus Christ Himself.

As we enter chapter four of The Revelation, John finds his attention drawn to the door of heaven. Before we delve into the remining visions and all the symbols and signs they contain, it will be beneficial for you to refresh your memory of the way we have determined to examine this wonderful book. You can do that by revisiting the first six segments of our study. All of the segments are available on my web site, and you can begin with segment number one here: https://www.larryeiss.com/blog/2024219the-apocalypse

Revelation 4:1
“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.’” (NASB 2020)

We have become conditioned to understand the word “heaven” as a place. Often it is perceived as the place to which those who believe will go after physical death. In Hebrew thought, “heaven” or its plural form “the heavens” referred generally to the universe beyond earth. The sky, the space beyond the atmosphere where the stars are, and in the plural, the heavens are the transcendent abode, the dwelling place of God. He is God of the universe.

It has been God’s design from the beginning to dwell, or make His abode, among His people. The Revelation makes this very clear. At the beginning of the book, we are told that the Lord Jesus walks among the lampstands, among the fellowships of believers. Later in the book Revelation 21:3 will tell us that, “the tabernacle of God is among the people, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them” (NASB 2020).

Consequently, when we read the word “heaven” here, we must understand John to have see this vision, as it were, in the sky. In his mind, it was spread out before him, and he had a panoramic view. We find the same imagery in Ezekiel 1:1 which relates a vision given to the prophet. He said, “Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” (NASB 2020)

Looking into this doorlike opening into the spiritual realm, John heard the same trumpet-like voice he had heard in Revelation 1:10. The voice of the Lord Jesus. He is called to come up to the very throne room of God. We find this image again in Revelation 11:12 where the two witnesses are called heavenward. John is called to come and observe and he has been instructed to write what He sees and hears (see Revelation 1:19).