In its entirety, Revelation is a message for, to, and about the church, the people of God, and concerns its situation on the earth – Revelation 4:1-3.

After Jesus finished dictating his letters to the “seven churches,” John saw an “open door in heaven” and heard the trumpet-like voice from his first vision summoning him to “come up here.” Next, he found himself standing before the “throne set in heaven.” Does this image symbolize the physical removal of the church from the earth prior to the rest of the remaining visions of the book?

In Revelation, faithful saints experience “tribulation,” whereas, the unrepentant undergo “wrath.” 

In Revelation, the followers of the “Lamb” are seen exiting the “Great Tribulation,” having persevered through it. This striking picture is central to the vision of the “innumerable multitude,” a company of men and women purchased from every nation by the death of Jesus. Having “overcome,” they are portrayed standing triumphantly before the “Lamb” and the “throne” in “New Jerusalem.”