We now continue our study on the symbols are explained in the book of Revelation.

In contrast to those that who were previously restored to life only to die again, Christ is the Firstborn, the first to receive a resurrected body, which is immortal (cf. Acts 26:23). As Christ is "the firstborn of every creature" (Col. 1:15), indicating that He was before all creation in time, so Christ was first also in resurrection. His resurrection is out of the mass of men who died.  As Christ is first (cf. "firstfruits", 1 Col 15:20) so others are to follow Christ in his resurrection.  Christ and the righteous dead are included in the 'first resurrection" (Rev 20: 5-6).  The wicked dead are raised after the millennium (20:12-13).

There is no indication that the world as a whole will see Christ at the time of the rapture of the Church. At His coming to establish His kingdom, all will see Him.  As every eye did not see Him at the time of His ascension when the clouds removed him, at His second coming, every eye shall see him (cf. Matt 24:30).  Even those who pierced Him, shall see him (Zec. 12:10).

John says that he was in the spirit on the Day of the Lord, in other words during the Great Tribulation, not on the first day of the week.

It is a promise of delivery from the hour of trial.  Many think that this means 'deliverance through', not out of.  But since the word in the Greek is best understood as 'out of', rather than simply 'from', then this lends credence to the rapture of the church prior to the Great Tribulation.

There are two different crowns in the book of Revelation.  One is the crown of a ruler or a sovereign, which is a crown of government authority.  The other is a crown of a victor. This will matter as we go into several other things within this information.

One of the first things to notice is that the elders are wearing crowns (Rev 4:4).  They are the crowns of victors, not rulers.  And if we look into it a little further we also see that they are sitting on thrones, not just seats, as the same word used for the throne is also used for seats.  So therefore, if they are sitting around the throne of God, then the are also sitting on thrones, as the same word is used for both. And since they have received their rewards (the crowns) we have to assume that they represent the church, so therefore the rapture has occurred prior to the Great Tribulation.

OK, now if the twenty-four elders are redeemed by the blood of Christ, then it is clear that they could not be angels, but must be redeemed men.

Notice also that the Twenty-four Elders are also to reign on earth (Rev 5.10).  The church is a royal priesthood, rather than having a priesthood, and is a royal family rather than merely being ruled by a king.

One of the first things here, is that the word beasts, should more correctly be translated as 'living ones'.  The reason being is that further on in Revelation, the word for beasts is a different word in the Greek.  The emphasis here is on the quality of life and the attributes that relate to it. To further go into the living creatures, we have the following aspects to them.

As time goes on, we will continue to list more things that you should notice about Revelation.