John says he was “…in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day.” Not by any stretch of the imagination is John saying he was “filled with the Spirit on Sunday.” John was not in “a state of spiritual exaltation” on a Sunday morning. Rather, he was carried away by or in the Spirit as illustrated in the book of Ezekiel. “Now it came to pass in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, in the fifth day of the month, as I was among the captives by the river of Chebar, that the heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God” (Ezekiel 1:1).
Just as Ezekiel was literally in Babylon among the captives, John was literally outside the land of Israel on the isle of Patmos. Likewise, as Ezekiel was transported in the Spirit to Jerusalem, John was transported in the Spirit two thousand years forward into the “Day of the Lord.” This is the key to understanding the Book of Revelation. “And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy” (Ezekiel 8:3). Another example is in Ezekiel 37:1, “The hand of the Lord was upon me, and carried me out in the spirit of the Lord, and set me down in the midst of the valley which was full of bones.” Note also the following: “And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne” (Rev. 4:2). “So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns” (Rev. 17:3). “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,” (Rev. 21:10).
When John was transported forward into the Day of the Lord, that day was already in progress (see verses 19-20). Not only does John state this, but it is also implied in the verse under consideration. Verse 10 says, “…and heard behind me a great voice…” When John heard the “voice behind” him, he “turned” to see the One commanding him to write.
The voice, which sounded like a trumpet, was for clarity and preparation for war. God’s judgments on Israel and the kingdom of the Beast are preceded by the sound of trumpets.
Pastor Ken Blue was born in Boswell, Ark. In 1955 he accepted Christ as his Savior. He and his wife Joyce were married in 1955. They have 5 children. He graduated from Midwestern Baptist Bible College in 1969 and started the Open Door Baptist Church in Lynnwood, Wa. where he pastored for 39 years. Because of health issues (ALS) he was forced to resign as pastor. It is his desire to continue to be used of God to help pastors and believers through this ministry.