D) John Visits Heaven
And immediately 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. Rev 4:1-3
What is Heaven Like?
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. 4:1 Strong says that the word heaven, in this instance, means, an elevated place. With that in mind, it is easy to picture a UFO, parked on the ground, standing on its four legs, with a ladder reaching from the ground to the spaceship, heaven. Furthermore, the voice invited him to, come up here. Was there a ladder for John to climb up into heaven?
Jacob had seen the UFO that way Jacob went out ... And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep ... And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. Genesis 28:10-17.
Ezekiel had seen that it had four legs; Also out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures (they had active components). And this was how they looked; they had the likeness of a man, (cylindrical, as a human is). Eze. 1:5
Jacob had seen the UFO that way Jacob went out ... And he lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep ... And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. Genesis 28:10-17.
Ezekiel had seen that it had four legs; Also out of its midst came the likeness of four living creatures (they had active components). And this was how they looked; they had the likeness of a man, (cylindrical, as a human is). Eze. 1:5
Heaven, our future home, does not have doors; it has gates. He showed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, ... it had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, ... On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. Rev. 21:12-13. But John specifically says that a door was opened in this elevated place (as a door in a spaceship might be).
The words John uses here are easy to interpret to mean that he saw a spaceship; if only we will let the Bible mean what it says, and not try to force, into the Bible, the single faceted ideas that have been fed to us.
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". 4:1 John is careful to reiterate a former statement, the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me. 1:10. Again, we observe that John says that the trumpet was talking. The word "talking" means "to talk, that is, utter words: - preach, say, speak (after), talk, tell, utter." Strong#2980
Concerning this topic, Dr. McGee* states his viewpoint very directly. This introduces us to one of the simple symbols which occurs frequently from here on in the Revelation. That it is a symbol is evident—a trumpet never talks. If he is keen on contradicting the Bible, that, apparently, is an option, he has. I believe that since John wrote that the trumpet talked, he meant that it spoke words. Later on, when he speaks of the seven trumpets, he says "they sounded", those trumpets did not talk, this one did!
Maybe John did not need to climb a ladder after all; perhaps he was beamed up into the spaceship, he says, Immediately I was in the Spirit.
behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4:3
The Contemporary English Version puts it very plainly. The one who was sitting there sparkled like precious stones of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow that looked like an emerald surrounded the throne. Rev 4:3
behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4:3
The Contemporary English Version puts it very plainly. The one who was sitting there sparkled like precious stones of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow that looked like an emerald surrounded the throne. Rev 4:3
I worded it like this; I saw an awesome captains seat in the spaceship and someone was sitting in the captain's seat. Above the Captain's seat was a soft glow which bathed the captain in its light. There was also an arc of light; a light for the interior of the spaceship.
The word, rainbow, certainly refers only to the arc of light, not to the various colors of a rainbow, because John says it was green; Emerald. A precious stone of a rich green color. Smith's Bible dictionary. He does not say that it was an emerald; he said that in appearance it was like an emerald.
We learn more about John's meeting with Jehovah in the next post!
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