Every Tribe, Language, People and Nation

     Next, John sees a door open in heaven. He hears the same voice: Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this. 

     "At once I was in the Spirit," John wrote, "and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it, with the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow encircled the throne, and there were other thrones, flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder." 

     He saw, "...what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. Four living creatures never stopped saying:

     'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is and is to come.'" 

     "Twenty four elders lay their crowns before the throne 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 were created and have their being.'" 

     John: "A scroll in the right hand of him on the throne was sealed with seven seals. No one in heaven or on earth or under the earth could open the scroll." John wept. 

     Then an elder said to him, "Do not weep. See, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the root of David, has triumphed. He is able to open the scroll and its seven seals." 

     John saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain. The Lamb took the scroll. "The 24 elders fell down before the Lamb, holding golden bowls of incense, which are the prayers of the saints." They sang a new song:

     "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth." 

Tomorrow: Devastating judgments