Flash-Mob Messiah

Read this text and it sounds like a flash mob has gathered in heaven to sing Handel's Messiah.

The book of Revelation is full of surprises.

A pastor named John was the author of this book. As a leader of the first-century church, he had special concern for "the seven churches that are in Asia" (Revelation 1:4), and at the time that he wrote, he was living in exile "on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus" (1:9). Chances are, he was sent there by the Romans because he insisted on saying that his Lord was Jesus, rather than the Roman emperor.

So there he is, minding his own business on a Sunday (The book of Revelation says that it is "the Lord's day," 1:10), when suddenly he is summoned to "come up" to heaven (4:1).

In his Sunday worship, he's transported to heaven.

A big surprise! One that most of us would welcome, especially in the middle of a routine worship service.

So what does he see there?

Sitting on a throne is Almighty God, looking like the gemstones jasper and carnelian. God is enclosed by an emerald-like rainbow, and his throne is...