Did John just want to get off the island of Patmos? Of course!
Did he want the end to this terrible oppression from Rome? Yes! Both Nero and now Domitian were evil Emperors.
Your ‘world’ today may not be what you want it to be. You may face uncertainty and you may wish you were somewhere completely different.
John looks and in a vision sees a door which is not thousands of miles away but is very near him and it is open. Heaven is only a heart-beat away, it is another world which is far closer than perhaps we would imagine. The Bible shows us that the journey is way shorter than perhaps we imagine. For John, it was simply the opening of his eyes to see.
“After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.” (Revelation 4 v 1-3)
Again he hears the trumpet-like voice of Jesus. He knows it is the call to rise up, it’s a new day, a call for obedience. He is once again filled with the Spirit and is standing in heaven.
He sees the throne and he sees a rainbow.
The day after our Queen’s funeral these 2 objects are fresh in our minds.
The throne that John saw is occupied. It is not empty waiting for someone. There will not have to be another coronation. There’s no opinion on whether the next monarch to take the throne will be as good as the last. The throne seat of heaven is taken! No matter what is happening in John’s world, this throne is unmovable, unshakeable. ‘John, everything is secure!’
Since the announcement of our Queen’s death we have been amazed by the rainbows that have been spotted. Shortly before the death was announced a double rainbow was seen over Buckingham Palace, another one was seen over Windsor Castle and on the evening of the funeral a rainbow was seen over the Palace of Westminster, over the Elizabeth Tower!
We know what the rainbow symbolises. John moves for a moment from his ‘world’ into the other ‘world’ and realises that again that God holds the future and that He is merciful so that even a sinner is safe to approach Him.
So here is our encouragement for September 20th 2022 taken from an old disciple of Jesus at the end of the first century:
He is on the throne and He holds your future.
Missions Paul 