Revelation 4:3 Devotion

“And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.”

(Revelation 4:3)

The precious gems refract light in almost all the shades of the color spectrum pointing to God’s undescribable glory, while the rainbow recalls to mind God’s covenant oath and faithfulness in providing for the salvation of his people. As the rainbow was the sign of the new creation after Noah’s deliverance from the flood, so too the presence of the rainbow in heaven directs our gaze to the new creation which began with the resurrection of Christ and which one day will be God’s will on earth.

(Dr. Kim Riddlebarger)

Revelation 4:2 Devotion

“Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.”

(Revelation 4:2)

Johns emphasis in this chapter is the Lord God's sovereign reign: "behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne." The language points to the throne having always been standing in heaven, so that no worldly power can alter the Lords rule. The "throne" implies governance, and in this case since its location is in heaven, sovereign rule. Think of the believers feeling the weight of Roman rule pressing upon them; this picture changes everything for them. Yes, there are earthly powers, they exist by God's will and carry out His purposes; but they cannot usurp His throne. With every attempt by mere men or devils to cast off God's rule, "He who sits in the heavens laughs, the Lord scoffs at them!" (Psa. 2:4) He sits and continues sitting on the throne (present tense) to exercise His wise and powerful rule over creation.

(Phil A. Newton)

Revelation 4:1 Devotion

“After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things."”

(Revelation 4:1)

A door stands open in heaven to give John access to heaven and to the vision that he will see. A voice invites him up, the same voice as in 1:10, the voice of Christ. It is always through Christ alone that we have access to God, and the same is true of John. Come up here indicates that John ascends into heaven, whether in the body or out of it (2 Cor. 12:2-3). Moses went up to Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:3, 20), and Paul was caught up to heaven (2 Cor. 12:2) to receive special revelations. Ezekiel saw heaven opened (Ezek. 1:1). Likewise with John. Though the experience of John in unique, God gives the description of this vision to us as well. He thus enables the whole church of God to have access to the heavenly sphere. In this sense, then, we can through appropriating the vision share in the benefits of John’s experience.

The content of John’s vision is what must take place after this. The language is similar to 1:19 and refers to the whole of 4:1-22:5. Because God is in control and has foreordained the entire course of history (Eph. 1:11; Isa. 46:10), he can tell beforehand the character of the entire age leading up to the Second Coming. The guarantee from God is reassuring for believers who must face hardship, persecution, or even death. 

(Dr. Vern Poythress)

Revelation 2:18-20 Devotion

"And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write...'I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first. But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.”

(Revelation 2:18-20)

Christ commended them for their love, faith, service, and perseverance, as well as their steady progress in the Christian life. Yet in what may have been an aberrant understanding of love, they had tolerated Jezebel. That tells us that others knew what was taking place. The present tense verb describes the toleration as still going on at the time this letter arrived. It’s not that they commended her teaching and practice, but they allowed it to go on without intervening through admonition and discipline as Christ has instructed His church (Matt. 18:15-17). Can we imagine that some among them probably even got together and talked about how disconcerting this was? Yet they let it go, perhaps hoping that it might fizzle out so that they would not have to confront this Jezebel or her followers and face potential fall-out. That might affect their church attendance! People might not understand and think them to be judgmental.

Enough of such foolishness! What they thought was wisdom and honor by turning a blind eye to Jezebel’s actions, was actually foolishness that threatened all that they were as a church. Their tolerance was misplaced. It’s certainly appropriate for Christians to display tolerance toward others with different personalities and backgrounds. But Jesus Christ is intolerant when it comes to allowing false doctrine and ungodly lifestyles in the church. Toleration of false doctrine or ungodly lifestyles undermines the nature of the church as “the pillar and the support of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:15).
The reality that the church had tolerated this false prophetess among them demonstrates the measure of carelessness and presumption among them. Because they did have so many wonderful things happening among them, they left themselves unguarded. Not only were the leaders at fault, but also the members of the church failed to truly care for each other by guarding one another against false teaching and ungodly living. We have the reminder in this church that our church must never grow weary of spiritual diligence. We must never think that we are impervious to that kind of smooth influence. As Paul told the Corinthians after warning them of the devastating influence of temptation to sin, “Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). 

(Phil A. Newton)

Revelation 2:17b Devotion

"..and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it."

(Revelation 2:17b)

The white stone points to the climax of the church's pilgrimage. In the ancient world white stones were used for various purposes, but in Revelation the name that the stone bears is more important than the connotations of its color.  The name is known only to the recipient, just as the name of the Word of God, who rides a white horse, is known only to himself (Rev. 19:12-13). The name is a shared secret between the Lord and the recipient, blending mystery and disclosure. The victor's "new name" could be his transformed identity in Christ, as the renaming of Abram to Abraham and of Simon to Peter signaled their transformation by God's power and grace. To the one who holds fast His name (Rev. 2:13) Jesus gives a new name, to mark us as His property and to reshape our identity to fit His perfection: "For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He might be the firstborn among many brethren" (Rom. 8:29). 

(Dennis E. Johnson)

Revelation 2:17a Devotion

“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna,.."

(Revelation 2:17a)

In Pergamum the victor is the believer who not only stands fast in the face of external pressure "where Satan's throne is" but also resists temptations to conform for the sake of personal convenience. Jesus promises hidden manna. Manna was the bread of heaven that nourished Israel in the desert; and Revelation portrays the church's life between Christ's ascension and His return as a sojourn in the wilderness, in which God sustains it. Moses had shown that the manna pointed beyond itself, teaching that "man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of the LORD" (Deut. 8:3; Matt. 4:4). Jesus announced that the manna pointed to His sacrificed body as the true "bread out of heaven" (John 6:32-35). Though the church's circumstances seem as desolate as a desert, Jesus sustains it by His word, revealing Himself. 

(Dennis E. Johnson)

Revelation 2:14-15 Devotion

"But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols and to commit acts of immorality. So you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.”

(Revelation 2:14-15)

Though we don’t have a group known as Nicolaitans today, their great grandchildren remain among us. We see strains of the Nicolaitans in multiplied churches that allow unchristian behavior to go on among their membership without seeking to discipline wayward members. Immorality, unethical practices, lying, unfaithfulness, and all manner of compromise with the world take place without even a hint of addressing it. “Oh, we don’t to hurt anyone’s feelings,” churches demur. “We’re all sinners; we’re not to be judgmental,” they say. “We don’t want to lose them or their friends; the church is about adding not subtracting,” they explain. Yet to all of this the Lord of the Church stands in holy opposition. The corporate witness of the church, the singular testimony that a particular congregation portrays of the power of the gospel must be consistent with Christ’s purpose for His church. That’s why Jesus Christ instituted the practice of discipline in the church (Matthew 18). Together, we are to have such high regard for the church as the body of Christ that we refuse to tolerate the kind of behavior among our members that shame the gospel of Christ and reproach our Lord’s good name.

(Phil A. Newton)