Revelation 4:1 "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."
There are three times the word hereafter is used in Revelation.
- Rev 1:19 "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;"
- Rev 4:1 "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."
- Rev 9:12 "One woe is past; and, behold, there come two woes more hereafter."
- We could say this is after the message to the churches.
- We could say this is after the open door.
- More likely this is saying this is after the time John wrote Revelation.
I already see a big reason to reject this being the Inauguration.
John wrote Revelation about 96 AD according to a quick google search.
Pentecost was shortly after Jesus died which we say was 31 AD.
So John wrote Revelation after Pentecost.
This can't be about the Inauguration, the Inauguration has already past.
Here is that Ellen White quote again.
When Christ passed within the heavenly gates, He was enthroned amidst the adoration of the angels. The Holy Spirit descended on the disciples, and Christ was indeed glorified. The Pentecostal outpouring was Heaven's communication that the Redeemer's inauguration was accomplished. The Holy Spirit was sent as a token that He had, as Priest and King, received all authority in heaven and on earth and was the Anointed One. {TT 22.5}
Basically Stephen Bohr refuted himself by saying this is would be after the time John went into vision.
Again the Inauguration has already past.
Which means, what is the next big event in heaven?
That leads us to 1844 and the Investigative Judgment.
Being that John saw this after the time of the Inauguration leads me to believe this is not the open door into the holy place but the open door into the most holy place.
Yes I know it was a veil that separated the two apartments but like the open door in Rev 3:10 the open door was more about our understanding of this concept.
That leaves the question, is this after the Churches or the Open Door?
The problem with being after the churches is this takes us all the way up to the second coming of Christ.
- Ephesus - Or else I will come unto thee quickly.
- Smyrna - Ye shall have tribulation ten days: be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life.
- Pergamum - Repent; or else I will come unto thee quickly.
- Thyatira - I will cast her into a bed, and them that commit adultery with her into great tribulation....Hold fast till I come.
- Sardis - If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee.
- Philadelphia - Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
- Laodicea - I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot.
Although you could still say that if hereafter is after the messages to the churches that this is close to the Second Coming and that Rev 4-5 is happening at the end of the Investigative Judgment, just not the beginning.
In the end I think by the text hereafter just means after the time this message was given.
- Rev 1:19 "Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;"
- Rev 4:1 "After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter."
- Were not talking about the things which thou hast seen. - Past
- Were not talking about the things which are. - Present
- Were talking about things which shall be hereafter. - Future
So unless you can find another open door where books are being opened, I think we can say this is the Investigative Judgment.