This series of posts is my attempt to demonstrate that the language of the Revelation was actually symbolic code that was very intelligible to a first-century Jewish Christian living in the Roman Empire. I’m re-writing the Revelation to communicate the same message, but to a twenty-first century American Christian audience, using symbols we understand. This section parallels Revelation 4-5; if you want to catch up, here’s a PDF compiling all the entries so far: The Revelation to JR – Chapters 1-5.
After this I looked, and there in Heaven I saw an open door. And the first voice – the one I’d heard that sounded like a jet engine – said, “Come up here, and I will show you what’s going happen next.” I was immediately pulled into a vision and there in Heaven I saw an Oval Office, with a large desk at the center of the office and someone seated at the desk. The person seated at the desk was more beautiful than the Hope Diamond or any other collection of jewels you could imagine. I saw a wedding ring surrounding the desk, running throughout the whole Office.
Surrounding the desk were 50 more desks, and at each desk I saw a Congressperson, all dressed in white suits and wearing gold medals around their necks.
All around the center desk, I saw lightning crashing and heard peals of thunder, and in front of the desk – really, flying all around the Office – I saw doves that flew even though they were on fire. The longer I watched, I saw that the doves didn’t burn up at all. In fact, from time to time, the doves would land and sleep in the sand in front of the desk (did I mention that there was a small ocean of glass in front of the desk, complete with a small beach?).
I also saw four living creatures at each of the cardinal directions surrounding the desk. The first creature looked like a bacterium or amoeba, the second like a mushroom, the third like a tree and the fourth had a human face, scales and the body of a lion, but with wings.
All day and all night, the creatures led a ticker-tape parade around the throne. They marched with the Congresspersons and as they marched, they sang this:
Holy, holy, holy
The Lord God the Almighty
Who was, and who is and who will come.
And every time the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to the one who sits at the desk, who lives forever, the 50 congresspersons stand and salute the one who sits at the desk and pledge allegiance to the one who lives forever. They take their gold medals off and lay them down on the desk and say,
You are worthy, 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.
Then I noticed that the one seated at the desk had an Executive Order in his right hand, and it had seven lines that required a signature on it. And I saw an enormous angel yell loudly,
Who is worthy to sign this Order and enact it?
But no one in Heaven or on Earth could take the pen and sign the Order.
I was heartbroken – so upset that I began to weep openly because no one was worthy to sign the Order or to enact it. But then one of the Congresspersons said to me,
Don’t be upset. Look – the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the best soldier ever to come from King David’s line – he’s conquered. He’s victorious. He’s won the day, so he can sign all seven lines on the Order and enact it!
Then I saw between the desk and the four living creatures, among the Congresspersons, a Lamb standing there. He looked dead, like he had been sacrificed. Muscles bulged from every part of the Lamb’s body, and he had seven brains, which are the seven flaming doves that have been sent out all over the world.
As I watched, the Lamb went and took the Order from the right hand of the one seated at the desk. And as he took the Order and lifted his pen to sign, the four living creatures and the 50 Congresspersons stood and saluted the Lamb – each of them was holding open hymnals, which are the prayers of the saints. They sing a new song:
You are worthy to take the Order and to sign it into effect
For you were slaughtered and by your blood you bought back for God
Saints from every ethnicity and language group and people group and nation
And you have made them to be One Nation Under God, and ministers serving our God
And they will rule the whole world.
Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels surrounding the desk and the living creatures and congresspersons. There were millions and millions of them, and they were all singing as loudly as they could,
The Lamb who was slaughtered is worthy
To receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!
Then I heard every single creature in the entire world – whether it flies, crawls, walks, digs or swims – singing,
To the one seated at the desk in the Oval Office and to the Lamb
Be blessing and honor and glory and strength forever and ever!
And the four living creatures agreed, and the congresspersons saluted and pledged their allegiance.
