Chapter # 4 Paragraph # 1 Study # 4
February 4, 2024
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: The vision of the One on the throne of heaven is presented as "The God of Israel" with Benjamin exalted over Reuben.
Introduction: In our last study we considered that there are three major issues of "background" for the "Revelation" (the "Love of God"; the "Justice of God"; and the "Sovereignty of God") with the focus being upon "the Love for Justice" that is to be revealed by the enforced "Wrath" of the "Sovereign God".
In this study, we are going to see the "focus" of the Book of The Revelation in terms of God's fulfillment of His words to the nation of Israel.
- I. This Chapter Is The Ultimate Background For All That Follows.
- A. It is a vision of The Heaven as the initial presentation of the realm of Heaven (with its characteristics and significances) in respect to "what must take place after these things..." (4:1).
- B. The relationship of "being in the spirit" to the summons to Heaven.
- C. What John saw...
- 1. The "First" issue: he saw a throne...
- 2. The "Second" Issue: he describes the One sitting upon the "Throne of Heaven".
- a. The One Sitting (a Present Middle Participle Masculine Singular Nominative = a form of the deponent, "kathemai", which has the idea of This One Sitting because He seated Himself there). The basic notion is "The Executor of Authority Over Heaven".
- 1) Like, in appearance, to a "Jasper" stone and a "Sardian".
- a) The "Jasper" stone.
- i. Has four New Testament occurances, all in this "Revelation" (4:3; 21:11; 21:18; and 21:19).
- ii. Has four Old Testament occurances in the Septuagint representing three different Hebrew words.
- i) The first two of these is in Exodus 28:18 and (36:18 in the Septuagint; but 39:11 in the NASB). In both of these verses, the stone referred to is a "jasper" and it is at the end of the third "row of four" on the ephod of the priest which represent the twelve tribes (39:14). If we make the assumption that the stones of the ephod are ordered according to birth order, this stone represents the last born tribal head (Benjamin).
- ii) The third of these is in Isaiah 54:12. This time it is a translation of a second Hebrew word, and the context is the description of the "windows" of the "Afflicted" (Jerusalem) so that "in righteousness shall you be established: you shall be far from oppression" (54:14).
- iii) The fourth of these is in Ezekiel 28:13. This time it is a translation of a third Hebrew word, and the context is the description of the "covering cherub" who became the "angelic rebel" in which "iniquity was found" (28:14-15).
- iii. Since the prophecy of Daniel 12 concerns the time of great trouble in the last days of Israel's earthly pilgrimage, we can conclude that this "Jasper Stone" refers to the Exodus texts and the stones of Israel.
- i) This is a legitimate assumption based upon Revelation 12:13 where we find the "dragon" persecuting the "woman" who brought forth the One Who is to rule with a rod of iron (12:5) for 1260 days (12:6).
- ii) The biblical focus upon "the last days" presents, in the book of The Revelation, three different expressions of "time".
- (a) There is the timing indicator first given in Daniel 7:25, "time, times, and half a time", that refers to the little horn of the fourth world empire beast; repeated in 12:7 that refers to the length of time of the "time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation"; and stated in Revelation 12:14 in reference to the serpent's persecution of the woman who brought forth the Rod-Of-Iron Ruler.
- (b) There is the "forty-two months" of Revelation 11:2 which tells the time of the nations' treatment of Jerusalem in the days of distress; and Revelation 13:5 tells of the "beast's" authority over the whole earth for "forty-two months".
- (c) There is the one thousand two hundred and ninety days of Daniel 12:11-12 and the one thousand two hundred and sixty days of Revelation 12:6 which is tied to 12:14 and the twelve hundred and sixty days of 11:3 which defines the length of the witness of the Two Witnesses during the period of the final days.
- (d) And there is the "weeks" of Daniel's prophecy which are seven 360 day years (of which 42 30-day months would be half of a "week" (42 X 30 = 1260). This is rooted in the pre-deluvian calendar of 12 30-day-months (i.e., 360 days according to Genesis 7:24 compared with 8:3 (from the second month 17th day in 7:11 and seventh month 17th day in 8:4 is five 30 day months).
- iii) As the "Jasper Stone", it is a reference to the tribe of Benjamin, whose name was changed by Jacob from "son of my sorrow" to "son of my right hand".
- (a) As the "son of my right hand", it has a latent reference to Jesus Whom The Father summoned to "sit at My right hand until I make your enemies the footstool of Your feet". As "Benjamin", Jesus is the "beloved son" Who is to replace the "Benjamite king, Saul" and turn the namesake of "Saul" (Paul, the Benjamite) into the primary author of the New Testament Word, the Sword of The Spirit.
- (b) That this stone is mentioned first signals a first focus for the Revelation: God, the Almighty Warrior Who has seated Himself to execute His wrath upon the enemies upon the earth.
- b) The "Sardian" Stone.
- i. Translated by the NASB as "Sardius", this "stone" is listed in Exodus 28:17 in the Septuagint as the first stone in the first row of the four: this makes it the "stone" of the first son of Jacob, Reuben.
- ii. This makes the One Sitting Upon the Throne of Heaven, the God of Benjamin and Reuben (i.e., "Israel" by "inclusio", but with the first being made last and the last being made first).
