Continued...
OK, pay attention. Notice that all of these things that I have mentioned so far, are done in preparation for the morning service. Again I will ask you to please not make this a referendum on doctrine and theology. There are some references to 'raptures' in this study. By their mention, I am only seeking to illustrate how these verses MIGHT be interpreted. This is not intended as an endorsement, simply my understanding of the symbolism and how these symbols and interpretations might be linked to the Temple service.
So let’s continue with the order of events that led up to the opening of the Temple. There was a priest assigned to look for the sunrise, breaking over the mountains of Hebron. Priests were assigned to blow the Trumpets and/or the Shofar (depending on what service was being performed) to announce the commencement of the morning service and daily sacrifice at the break of day. The keys to the Temple were held at the ready and the massive doors would be swung open at that time. After the sacrifice, the High Priest would sprinkle the blood in the prescribed manner and light the incense. This before any of the special sacrifices prescribed for the Sabbath, a New Moon or a Feast Day.
- We need the priests (saints) to be awake and about their duties. And as I mentioned before, this is represented in the admonishments to the congregations.
- We need the incense (prayers of the saints) to be prepared.
- We need the Menorah to be cleaned, re-wicked, re-filled with oil and lit.
- So what else do we need to before we announce the morning service with the trumpet and open the doors to the Temple?
- We need a Lamb...
Now notice the order of events set down in these scriptures:
Rev 4:1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
Rev 4:2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
Rev 4:3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
Rev 4:4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
Rev 4:5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Rev 4:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
Rev 4:8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
Rev 4:9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
Rev 4:10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Rev 4:11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Rev 5:1 And I saw in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book written within and on the backside, sealed with seven seals.
Rev 5:2 And I saw a strong angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?
Rev 5:3 And no man in heaven, nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to look thereon.
Rev 5:5 And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
Rev 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth.
True to form, the doors to the heavenly Temple are opened with the sound of trumpets. The four beasts (living creatures), the twenty-four Elders and indeed all present begin the worship. And the Lion of Judah, the Lamb “that was slain from the foundations of the world” is present. All the components needed to open the morning service are represented.
I should also remark that there were four classes of people that were included in the Temple service. These are not to be confused with the four types of people in scripture that will be covered later. The four classes of people that were included in the Temple service are the Priests, the Levites, the Nethinim (servants to the Levites) and the covenant children of Israel (worshippers and occasionally musicians). And since the Nethinim are unfamiliar to most of the readers I will include the following:
In point of fact, while no less than 4,289 priests had returned from Babylon, the number of Levites was under 400 (Ezra 2:40-42; Neh 7:43-45), of whom only 74 were ‘priests’ assistants.’ To this the next immigration, under Ezra, added only 38, and that though the Levites had been specially searched for (Ezra 8:15, 18, 19). According to tradition, Ezra punished them by depriving them of their tithes. The gap in their number was filled up by 220 Nethinim (Ezra 8:20), literally, ‘given ones,’ probably originally strangers and captives, 32 as in all likelihood the Gibeonites had been the first ‘Nethinim’ (Josh 9:21, 23, 27).
Though the Nethinim, like the Levites and priests, were freed from all taxation (Ezra 7:24), and perhaps also from military service (Jos. Anti. iii. 12; iv. 4, 3.), the Rabbinists held them in the lowest repute—beneath a bastard, though above a proselyte—forbade their intermarrying with Israelites, and declared them incapable of proper membership in the congregation.
In the Revelation there are also four classes of people in the heavenly Temple. There is the High Priest that is Y'shua, the Four Beasts representing the original four courses of the Levites, the twenty-four Elders that represent the saints (and include the 144,000) both Jew and Gentile, and the four horsemen that represent the Nethinim (doing the bidding of the Four Beasts – the four division of Levites).
I am certain that this subject will require explanation and confirmation in scripture, so I will attempt to provide that here. I will also presume that the role of Y'shua as High Priest is above challenge, so I will start with the Four Beasts.
The layout of the wilderness camp is given in great detail in the book of Numbers. Each tribe had a position in the camp, was under a banner and their position corresponded with the location of the four divisions of the Levites. Judah was placed on the east, and under him he had Issachar and Zebulun; on the south was Reuben, and under him Simeon and Gad: on the west was Ephraim, and under him Manasseh and Benjamin; finally, Dan was on the north, and he had under him Asher and Naphtali.
This from the commentary of Kiel & Delitzsch:
Neither the Mosaic law, nor the Old Testament generally, gives us any intimation as to the form or character of the standard (degel). According to rabbinical tradition, the standard of Judah bore the figure of a lion, that of Reuben the likeness of a man or of a man's head, that of Ephraim the figure of an ox, and that of Dan the figure of an eagle; so that the four living creatures united in the cherubic forms described by Ezekiel were represented upon these four standards.
Note: Jerome Prado, in his commentary upon Ezekiel (ch. 1 p. 44), gives the following minute description according to rabbinical tradition:
“The different leaders of the tribes had their own standards, with the crests of their ancestors depicted upon them. On the east, above the tent of Naasson the first-born of Judah, there shone a standard of a green colour, this colour having been adopted by him because it was in a green stone, viz., an emerald, that the name of his forefather Judah was engraved on the breastplate of the high priest (Exo_25:15.), and on this standard there was depicted a lion, the crest and hieroglyphic of his ancestor Judah, whom Jacob had compared to a lion, saying, 'Judah is a lion's whelp.' Towards the south, above the tent of Elisur the son of Reuben, there floated a red standard, having the colour of the sardus, on which the name of his father, viz., Reuben, was engraved upon the breastplate of the high priest. The symbol depicted upon this standard was a human head, because Reuben was the first-born, and head of the family. On the west, above the tent of Elishamah the son of Ephraim, there was a golden flag, on which the head of a calf was depicted, because it was through the vision of the calves or oxen that his ancestor Joseph had predicted and provided for the famine in Egypt (Gen 41); and hence Moses, when blessing the tribe of Joseph, i.e., Ephraim (Deu_33:17), said, 'his glory is that of the first-born of a bull.' The golden splendour of the standard of Ephraim resembled that of the chrysolite, in which the name of Ephraim was engraved upon the breastplate. Towards the north, above the tent of Ahiezer the son of Dan, there floated a motley standard of white and red, like the jaspis (or, as some say, a carbuncle), in which the name of Dan was engraved upon the breastplate. The crest upon this was an eagle, the great foe to serpents, which had been chosen by the leader in the place of a serpent, because his forefather Jacob had compared Dan to a serpent, saying, 'Dan is a serpent in the way, an adder (cerastes, a horned snake) in the path;' but Ahiezer substituted the eagle, the destroyer of serpents as he shrank from carrying an adder upon his flag.”
And So, we place the camp of the Levites in the following order: To the west, the Gershonites, (Num 3:22, 23). To the south, the Kohathites, (Num 3:28, 29). To the north, the Merarites, (Num 3:34, 35). And on the east, Moses, Aaron, and his sons, (Num 3:38). What is of significance is this. The Levites would first erect the Tabernacle and then arrange themselves in the order described above. There would the tribes assume their place in the encampment, setting the four major banners of Judah (the Lion), Rueben (the Man), Ephraim (the Ox) and Dan (the Eagle) according to the order of the Levites and next to them respectively – not the other way around as some assume.
The twenty-four Elders are clearly portrayed as saints in this book. In vs. 1:6 we are called kings and priests. In vs 4:4 the Elders are described in white raiment with gold crowns. All throughout scripture only the saints are described as receive crowns. This distinction does not go to angel or any other celestial being. Crowns only go to the overcomers. In chapter 4, a door is opened. Since this is the heavenly Temple and a trumpet accompanies the opening of that door, this corresponds to when the Temple is opened to the worshipers. In heaven, these are the saints and I believe that if there is to be a pre-trib rapture, this would be the time for it (actually there are seven resurrections that I have identified in scripture, but that discussion is for another study).
Now about the 144,000. There are already some righteous Elders that have preceded us into heaven. The twenty-four Elders are already ministering before the Throne as representatives of the saints. They have twenty-four divisions, just as the earthly priest did. Keep in mind that this means that these saints are already in heaven when the tribulation period begins. Also notice that the Two Witnesses and the 144,000 are not, yet they appear in chapter 11 with the Lamb. They appear to ascend at the mid-point of the seven years of the tribulation. For those counting, this means that there are two so-called 'raptures', “one pre-trib” and one “mid-trib”. This by the way, fits nicely with the morning and evening service, with the 144,000 taking on the role of the evening priests.
Rev 14:1 And I looked, and, lo, a Lamb stood on the mount Zion, and with him a hundred forty and four thousand, having his Father's name written in their foreheads.
Rev 14:2 And I heard a voice from heaven, as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of a great thunder: and I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps:
Rev 14:3 And they sung as it were a new song before the throne, and before the four beasts, and the elders: and no man could learn that song but the hundred and forty and four thousand, which were redeemed from the earth.
Shades of Ezekiel 9. Hmmm... Anyway, concerning the 144,00 as the priests of the evening service, consider this:
The evening sacrifice was fixed by the Law (Num 28:4, 8) as ‘between the evenings,’ that is, between the darkness of the gloaming and that of the night.70 Such admonitions as ‘to show forth thy faithfulness every night upon an instrument of ten strings and on the psaltery’ (Psa 92:2, 3), and the call to those who ‘by night stand in the house of the Lord,’ to ‘lift up their hands in the sanctuary and bless the Lord’ (Psa 134), seem indeed to imply an evening service—an impression confirmed by the appointment of Levite singers for night service in 1 Chronicles 9:33; 23:30.
...and this is where I will leave off for now, with a taste of where the evening service begins. There is much more to this study, but I will let you chew on this for a bit before I continue.
BTW, reading Edershiem's "The Temple" will help you understand a little more what I am offering here. I strongly encourage you to read it.
In His Love,
