There is a throne in Heaven, in the appearance of sapphire, with one sitting on the throne (Eze 1:26a, Isa 6:1, Rev 4:2b, Psalm 123:1b). The person sitting on the throne has a human appearance, indicating that it's Jesus who sits on the throne (Eze 1:26b). There is incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar before the throne. The smoke from the incense, along with the prayers of God’s people, goes up before God. (Rev 8:3–4). Around the throne like a circle is a rainbow that looks like an emerald (Rev 4:3b, Eze 1:28a). Around the throne are also 24 other thrones with 24 elders sitting on these thrones, dressed in white garments and with golden crowns on their heads (Rev 4:4).
The 24 elders may be a representation of Gods people (Rev 2:10b, 3:5a).
John speaks about the "Seven Spirits" who stand before the throne of God
(Rev 1:4b). In front of the throne shine seven lamps, which are the "Seven Spirits"
of God (Rev 4:5b). It's also mentioned that Jesus has the "Seven Spirits" of God
(Rev 3:1a, 5:6b). A popular explanation is that the "Seven Spirits" refer to seven attributes of the Holy Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit is the sevenfold Spirit
(Isa 11:2), see note in NIV for "Seven Spirits" in Rev 1:4b, 3:1a, 4:5b, and 5:6b.
Explanation of "The Lamb (Jesus) had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits of God sent out into all the Earth" (Rev 5:6b):
- Seven is God's complete number, see Math in the Bible.
- Horns are always symbols of strength.
- Seven eyes means seeing perfectly over the whole Earth.
The point is that Jesus is the possessor of these things. Around the throne, on each side of it, are four living creatures, seraphim, full of eyes around them (Isa 6:2a, Rev 4:6b, 8a). All eyes signify full sight, they see what God really is. The first seraphim is like a lion, the second like an ox, the third with the face of a man, and the fourth like a flying eagle (Rev 4:7).
The four seraphim each have six wings; with two they cover their faces, with two they cover their feet, and with two they fly (Isa 6:2, 6a, Rev 4:8a). Day and night they never cease to say: "Holy, holy, holy (The Trinity), is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!" (Rev 4:8, Isa 6:3), see Jesus – I AM.
Whenever the living creatures do so, the 24 elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him (Rev 4:9–10a). They throw their crowns before the throne and say: "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor
and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created" (Rev 4:10b–11). See Jesus is the Creator in Jesus is God.
Jesus is the only one truly worthy to wear a crown.
Only Jesus is worthy to open the scroll, sealed with seven seals (Rev 5:1–7,
Gen 49:9–10, Isa 11:1–2, 31:4, Hosea 11:10). When Jesus takes the scroll, the four seraphim and the 24 elders fall down before Jesus, each with a harp and golden bowls full of incense which are the prayers of the saints (Rev 5:8, Psalm 141:2).
They sing a new song to Jesus: "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation, and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God, and they shall reign on the Earth."
(Rev 5:9–10). This reign on Earth will occur during the Millennial Kingdom.
Around the throne and the seraphim and the elders are thousands and thousands and ten thousand times ten thousand of many angels, who worship Jesus: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" (Rev 5:11–12). Every creature says: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and might forever and ever!" (Rev 5:13–14).
Satan and his angels are defeated and cast down to Earth without further access to God's throne at the beginning of the Great Tribulation (Rev 12:7–9), see Explanation to Satan's Attack on the Woman in the Book of Revelation. A voice in Heaven says: "Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God. And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they loved not their lives even unto death. Therefore, rejoice, O heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to you, O Earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!" (Rev 12:10–12).
There will be martyrs dressed in white robes coming out of the Great Tribulation. They stand before God's throne and will serve him day and night in his temple. (Rev 7:13–17). They will cry: "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!". All the angels angels standing around the throne will then fall on their faces before the throne and worship God and say: "Amen! Blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever! Amen." (Rev 7:9–12).
We are told to approach this throne with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace for help in time of need (Heb 4:16). It's done through
prayer. We can enter with confidence only because of what Jesus did on the cross.
True worshipers worship God in spirit and truth (John 4:23–24), see
Body, Soul, and Spirit in The Danger with Gnosticism and
How should we worship God? in The Woman's Place in the Congregation.
When the seventh angel blows his trumpet after the seventh seal is broken
(see The Seventh Seal and the Seven Trumpets in the Book of Revelation),
there are loud voices in Heaven: "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he shall reign forever and ever." (Rev 11:15).
The 24 elders who sit on their thrones before God fall on their faces and worship God: "We give thanks to you, Lord God Almighty, who is and who was, for you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations raged, but your wrath came, and the time for the dead to be judged, and for rewarding your servants, the prophets and saints, and those who fear your name, both small and great, and for destroying the destroyers of the Earth." (Rev 11:16–18). Then God’s temple in Heaven is opened, and John sees in his vision the Ark of the Covenant (Rev 11:19).
Before the seven plagues are poured out by the seven angels, the following occurs:
An angel says in a loud voice: "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and Earth, the sea and the springs of water." (Rev 14:6–7). See To Fear the Lord in Fear of Man.
A second angel says: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality." (Rev 14:8).
See What is Babylon in the Book of Revelation?
A third angel says: "If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name."
(Rev 14:9–11). Here is a call to perseverance for the saints (the born again believers), those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. (Rev 14:12). See Jesus and the Law.
A voice from Heaven say: "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. Blessed indeed, that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!" (Rev 14:13). The greatest deed is martyrdom. It gives an extra blessing in Heaven.
Another angel comes out of the temple and calls with a loud voice to him who sits on the cloud (Jesus): "Put in your sickle, and reap, for the hour to reap has come,
for the harvest of the Earth is fully ripe." (Rev 14:14–15). He who sits on the cloud (Jesus) swings his sickle over the Earth and the Earth is reaped (Rev 14:16),
see The Parable of the Weeds. My opinion is that The Rapture is now occurring.
Another angel comes out from the altar and calls to the one who has the sharp sickle: "Put in your sickle and gather the clusters from the vine of the Earth, for its grapes are ripe." (Rev 14:17–18). The angel will then swing his sickle over the Earth and gather the grape harvest of the Earth and threw it into the great winepress of the wrath of God (Rev 14:19–20). This is a picture of the seven bowls of wrath to be emptied one at a time when the seventh angel has blown his trumpet.
Those who had defeated the beast and its image and the number of its name sang the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying:
"Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name?
For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed." (Rev 15:1–4).
After this John saw the temple in Heaven — that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law, and it has been opened. Out of the temple come the seven angels with the seven plagues. They are dressed in clean, shiny linen and wear golden sashes around their chests. (Rev 15:5–6 (NIV)).
When the third plague is poured out, an angel says: "Just are you, O Holy One, who is and who was, for you brought these judgments. For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and you have given them blood to drink. It is what they deserve!" (Rev 16:4–6). From the altar came a voice that said: "Yes, Lord God the Almighty, true and just are your judgments!" (Rev 16:7).
When the sixth plague is poured out, Jesus says: "Behold, I am coming like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake, keeping his garments on,
that he may not go about naked and be seen exposed!" (Rev 16:12–15).
See The Parable of the Wise and Foolish Virgins. Antichrist then assembles his troops at Armageddon to attack Jerusalem. (Rev 16:16). Megiddo is believed to be this area, where the final battle will take place at the end of the Great Tribulation.
When the seventh plague is poured out, a loud voice came out of the temple,
from the throne and said: "It is done!" (Rev 16:17).
When "Babylon the Great" is destroyed at the end of the Great Tribulation, see
What is Babylon in the Book of Revelation? the following occurs:
An angel comes down from Heaven and cries: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling place for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, a haunt for every unclean bird, a haunt for every unclean and detestable beast. For all nations have drunk the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality, and the kings of the Earth have committed immorality with her, and the merchants of the Earth have grown rich from the power of her luxurious living." (Rev 18:1–3).
Another voice from Heaven says: "Come out of her, my people, lest you take part in her sins, lest you share in her plagues; for her sins are heaped high as heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities. Pay her back as she herself has paid back others, and repay her double for her deeds; mix a double portion for her in the cup she mixed. As she glorified herself and lived in luxury, so give her a like measure of torment and mourning, since in her heart she says, 'I sit as a queen, I am no widow, and mourning I shall never see.' For this reason her plagues will come in a single day, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire; for mighty is the Lord God who has judged her." (Rev 18:4–8).
A mighty angel picks up a stone and throws it into the sea, saying: "So will Babylon the great city be thrown down with violence, and will be found no more; and the sound of harpists and musicians, of flute players and trumpeters, will be heard in you no more, and a craftsman of any craft will be found in you no more, and the sound of the mill will be heard in you no more, and the light of a lamp will shine in you no more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, for your merchants were the great ones of the Earth, and all nations were deceived by your sorcery. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on Earth." (Rev 18:21–24).
Jesus has said: "For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?" (Mat 16:26).
"Remove far from me falsehood and lying; give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with the food that is needful for me, lest I be full and deny you and say: 'Who is the Lord?' or lest I be poor and steal and profane the name of my God." (Proverbs 30:8–9). See The Love of Money.
After "Babylon the Great" is destroyed, the following occurs:
There is a loud voice from a great multitude in Heaven crying: "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the Earth with her immorality, and has avenged on her the blood of his servants." Once more they cry out: "Hallelujah! The smoke from her goes up forever and ever." (Rev 19:1–3).
The 24 elders and the four seraphim also fall down and worship God and say: "Amen. Hallelujah!". And from the throne comes a voice saying: "Praise our God, all you his servants, you who fear him, small and great." (Rev 19:4–5). Then a voice is heard from a great multitude shouting: "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure." (Rev 19:6–8a). Fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. (Rev 19:8b, Rom 5:16). And an angel says: "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb. These are the true words of God." (Rev 19:9), see The Parable of the Wedding Feast.
God's throne appears to be carried by four cherubim (Eze 1:22, 25–26a, 10:1,
Psalm 80:1 (2 in some translations), 18:10a (11a in some translations), 2 Sam 22:11a).
They each have a human likeness (Eze 1:5). A cherub has two pairs of wings and four faces; that of a lion (representing all wild animals), an ox (domestic animal), a man (mankind), and an eagle (birds) (Eze 1:6, 8b, 10, 10:14, 21a). These wings are united to each other (Eze 1:9a, 23a), two of these are stretched upwards and the other two cover their bodies (Eze 1:11). Under their wings they have the likeness of human hands (Eze 1:8a, 10:7a, 8, 21b). Their bodies were full of eyes around them (Eze 10:12).
The overlapping wheels in Eze 1:15–21 and 10:9–13 are explained at time:
