John’s Vision of the Future

“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”  Revelation 4:1

After the Apostle John had penned the letters to the seven churches about their present state of affairs, it was now time to turn his attention toward “the things which shall be hereafter” (Revelation 1:19).  The remainder of the book of Revelation concerns future prophecy which has yet to occur.  It is replete with symbolism and imagery making it the most difficult of all the books of the Bible to understand.  However, it is by design.  If people understood its every detail, then many would plot to undermine its purpose.  Even though it is not possible to avert God’s plan, that doesn’t mean the world wouldn’t try.  They try to change, destroy, or pervert just about everything else that God has created.

In the last chapter of Daniel (12:4), he was instructed by the angel of God to “shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end.”  The reason for this was that the prophecy was not to be fully understood by people until the end times.  The revelation of prophecy is for those who will be living at the time of the end and will experience the events that will transpire at that time, but that doesn’t excuse us from studying this difficult but intriguing book now.  Those who read and/or hear the words of this prophecy and keep them in mind are blessed because the time is near (Revelation 1:3).  As far as we know, Christ’s return for His church could be any day now.  Every day that passes brings us one day closer to Jesus’ return.

The scene for John changes.  He had been face to face with Jesus Christ as Jesus spoke to him while he wrote the letters to the churches.  But now, John’s view is changed to that of heaven as he gazes through an open door.  One would naturally think that John looked upward through an opening in the sky above, beyond the clouds.  Whenever anyone or anything arrives from heaven, it is said to “come down from heaven”, therefore indicating that God’s heaven is somewhere beyond the sky.  As John intently looked through this open door, he heard a voice that sounded like a trumpet.  Trumpets were used extensively in ancient Israel to call the people to attention (Exodus 19:13), to celebrate a holy day (Leviticus 23:24), to warn the people of an impending attack (Numbers 10:9), to praise the LORD (Psalm 150:3), and several other reasons.  From I Corinthians 15:52, we find that there will be the sound of a trumpet on Resurrection Day.  The sound of a trumpet is a call to be alert, watchful, and ready because something big is about to happen.

It would appear that this trumpet sound was the voice of Jesus Christ.  Not all Bible commentators agree on that point, but absent any other evidence, I believe the two are one and the same.  Who better to introduce and describe the events of future prophecy that the One who is the Centerpiece of God’s plan of redemption and eternal life?  (Speaking of Bible commentators, it astonishes me at the different ideas that Bible scholars have about scripture.  Some things they think up are completely unbiblical, that is, what they purport cannot be found anywhere in scripture.  Sometimes scripture is taken out of context and/or used to make a personal observation which may or may not agree with God’s word.  I think that if a principle, idea, or precept can’t be backed up by scripture, then we need to avoid it.)

The Voice called for John to “come up hither”, to leave earth and rise toward heaven.  I am reminded of a poem entitled “High Flight” by John Gillespie Magee, Jr.  He was an American fighter pilot who flew for the Royal Canadian Air Force during the Battle of Britain in 1941.  He was inspired to write the poem as he orbited and climbed to an altitude of 30,000 feet.  The poem begins, “Oh, I have slipped the surly bonds of earth, And danced the skies on laughter–silvered wings…”  He went on to write about putting out his hand and touching the face of God.  Perhaps he was thinking about John as he flew into the vastness of heaven.  John didn’t have a fighter jet, wings, or aerodynamically inspired Nikes, but what he did have was the Spirit of God who supernaturally lifted his vision from the terrestrial to the celestial instantaneously.  What if we all allowed the Spirit of God to lift our vision from the here and now into eternity?  The things of this world wouldn’t seem so important any longer.

Next time: The Vision of God’s Throne