Revelations Chapter Four (Part III)

By Odon Bulamba (1 April 2005)

THE ARC OF THE TABERNACLE

Revelations 4:2-5

Chapters four to five of Revelations are the foundation of all of the book of Revelations and if you understand these chapters you will easily understand this book. Before you can understand them you need to know where to get the interpretation and this is from the Bible itself because the Bible is self-sufficient and able to interpret itself. If you know about the tabernacle (Exodus 25) you will understand these chapters.

Exodus 19, when Moses went up the mountain it was covered in smoke and he didn’t know where to go but God called him to come in and he went through the smoke. Today many people are facing this teaching, they are like people in front of smoke and God tells them, ‘come and I’ll talk to you, I want to reveal to you the secret of this book of Revelations’ and when they are in front of the Bible it’s smoke and they can’t see anything because everything is black. Exodus 19:18-20, Moses had to wait two days and many people before to understand this book can read it twenty times and participate in seminars and still don’t get it. God is saying, ‘now is the time to understand and I’ll explain it to you, open your ears and take notes as John did’.

Exodus 25:10, the arc of the tabernacle is where God will meet with His people and where He set up His throne. God will sit between the two cheribum, not inside but on top and when John went to heaven he saw the throne with the cheribum. When we give God our lives we have a secret inside of us (as the arc also holds secrets) with God in my heart and God’s Word in my heart and His commandments and all that God has given me (the arc of the covenant has these things too). All that is pure must be kept inside this arc (inside me) but the presence of God will be somewhere next to me. Where are my cheribum? Do I have something that covers me? After receiving His Word, grace, salvation, justification etc, what covers me now? If you don’t cover precious things, they might get stolen. We need cheribums in our lives as they have an important role (Exodus 1-10).

Rev 4:3, Jasper is a simple stone like a crystal that shines and has all the colours like the sun. It represents the holiness of God. Sardius is red which represents anger. God is Holy but can become angry when we sin and He must be to fulfil His role as God. John knew the meaning of the stones and he was afraid and thought, ‘there is holiness and anger, how can I go close to God?’ God showed the rainbow for that reason so John could remember Noah and the rainbow and remember God’s grace and that gave John the ability to go closer.

The 24 elders adoring reminds us that adoration is very, very important. The number 24 is a symbol that represents something also.

Today when we preach it’s a big judgement because when you talk about the gospel you can feel you are guilty because it concerns you and this is judgement and one day we’ll sit on the throne with God and judge. The judgment is already here and is not coming, we have our place in heaven and we have the right to be next to God, we are just waiting for our new body.

Rev 4:5, Moses also saw lightning (Ex 19:16). There is a danger coming and God is warning us but we neglect it saying that it will happen one day but later. We have to reveal the secret of Revelations to others also.

SUMMARY

- Rev 4&5 are the foundation to understanding Revelations
- God wants to reveal the secrets of Revelations to us (open our ears)
- To interpret Revelations use the Bible
- Keep what is pure inside of you and God will be next to you
- God is Holy and becomes angry when we sin
- God is gracious (come to Him)
- Adoration is very important
- The judgement is here already
- A danger is coming (tell others)