The apostle John is a type of the end time Bride who was given understanding by the prophet-angel William Branham (Revelation 1: 1). As John was called up higher (Revelation 4: 1) at the end of the seven church ages (Revelation 2 & Revelation 3), so the Bride has been called out of Laodicea to unite with Christ the Word. Although the flesh bodies of the elect are living physically in the last church age of Laodicea, yet their souls have been drawn into an exclusive age which the prophet termed as, “The Bride Age.” The Bride Age is an age within an age; in other words, whilst Laodicea is all around us, our souls are actually associated with this special age within the age of Laodicea.
For the end time Bride (of whom John represents) to come up higher, a special anointing must be given to Her in order to achieve that. There were four anointings of God that went forth upon the Church during the seven church ages, for when John beheld the Throne Room of God, He saw four beasts or Cherubim around the Throne. These four beasts were the Lion, Ox, Man, and Eagle (Revelation 4: 7). They are not separate nor distinct from God, but in actuality are an expression of God in those beast-like forms.
The first church age of Ephesus was under the anointing of the Lion; Smyrna, Pergamos and Thyatira were under the anointing of the Ox; Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea were under the anointing of the Man. But for the Bride who has been called out of Laodicea and whose soul has been drawn into the Bride Age, She is under the anointing of the Eagle. John’s being caught up at the end of chapter three is not only representative of his entering into the Bride Age, but also represents the Rapture or the catching away of the Bride into Heaven at the end of the seven church ages (1 Thessalonians 4: 16 – 17).
Each of the four beasts had special qualities and characteristics about them, which is why they were sent forth to the respective ages. The boldness and strength of the Lion was necessary for the early Church to make Her bold stand and challenge the false teaching that was coming in. The burden-bearing and sacrificial nature of the Ox was upon the Church during the Dark Ages to patiently endure suffering unto the death of martyrdom. The intelligence of the Man was upon the Church during the Reformation and beyond, for the Church to reason and debate against the false church, as well as write tremendous commentaries on the scriptures. And the Eagle who can fly so high and whose vision is so sharp, such an anointing would be upon the Bride, to lift Her up out of the teachings of earth-bound man and into the great revelation of the open Word, to clearly see all things as they actually are.
The first thing John saw when He was lifted up into Heaven was ONE seated on the Throne. The mystery of God was being made known to John by the ministry of the prophet who was the vessel God used to show John all these things. This is stated clearly in Revelation 10: 7: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets. The message of the hour clears-up the confusion on who God is, and makes plainly known to us that the one God expresses Himself in the three offices of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. The message of the hour is what made this known to us, that Jehovah of the Old Testament is Jesus of the New Testament.
The scene of the Throne Room in Heaven is enough to blow apart all false teaching about the Godhead. For not only have we learned that God expresses Himself in three offices of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, but we also learned that the four beasts are not separate to God, but is the same Holy Spirit of God expressed in those forms for the work God wanted to achieve in the relevant church ages. And lastly, the seven lamps of fire burning before the Throne are called the seven Spirits of God (Revelation 4: 5; Revelation 1: 4). The prophet would teach us that the seven Spirits of God was the same Holy Spirit in each church age messenger, giving each their ministries for the age in which each lived. If we were to gather-up the seven Spirits and the four beasts, they would all draw back into the one Spirit of God whom John saw seated upon the Throne.
This Great One seated on the Throne is the LORD of all Glory, the Creator of the universe (Revelation 4: 11). He is the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last (Revelation 22: 13). He is the God of the twelve tribes of Israel, for He is the jasper and sardius stones, which were the stones in the breastplate of the high priest (Exodus 28: 15 – 21), representative of Reuben (the eldest son of Jacob) and Benjamin (the youngest son of Jacob). And He is the Angel of the Covenant (Genesis 9: 12 – 17), represented by the rainbow around the Throne in Revelation 4: 3, and the rainbow upon His head in Revelation 10: 1.
But He is not alone whilst seated in all His Glory, for with Him are twenty-four elders seated around the Throne. They are the twelve patriarchs of the Old Testament and the twelve apostles of the New Testament. The twelve patriarchs became the twelve tribes of the nation of Israel, and the twelve apostles established the Gentile Church in the Alpha Age, following Pentecost. The God of Heaven and Earth is identifying Himself with the Jewish Church and the Gentile Church, for His work on the earth is connected with the Jew and the Gentile.
And when it is all said and done, the Jewish Church of the Old Testament, that was raptured into Heaven in a cloud with Jesus (Matthew 27: 51 – 53; Acts 1: 9), and the Gentile Church that is raptured into Heaven at the end of the church ages, will all be united together with their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, whose corporal body will eternally be the visible expression of the invisible Spirit of God. No wonder the twenty-four elders cast their crowns before Him and worshipped Him! (Revelation 4: 9 – 11). Here they and the living creatures worship Him as the Creator, but in the next chapter (Revelation 5: 8 – 10), they would worship Him as the Redeemer.
Proceed to Revelation Chapter 5