Revelation 4 :The throne

As background to this chapter, we are entering into new territory. John, the writer of Revelation, is invited by a voice to come up here to show him what must take place.

Revelation 4:1 ESV

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

Revelation has taken the form of a letter that now shifts into a different gear. And here we see God in His fulness. His brilliance. And all of creation is paying attention to Him. All of Creation is looking to Him.

This is the revelation of our spiritual reality.

All of creation is groaning. It is waiting and anticipating. Because of this. Because this is the reality.

God is all and is in all.

Seeing this event unfold before us should challenge our view of God. It should challenge the ways in which we have seen God as anything less than completely other.

Karl Barth categorizes this idea into two areas:

God

Not God.

Because God is so much more and better, all that is not God shuts down before Him. All that is not God, in sight of God, in attention to God, bows before Him.

If you have ever wondered if there was more. Or wanted more than things in this world have given you. Then Revelation 4 is a good place to start.

Because we will see that all of Creation cannot take their eyes off of God. Not because of demand, but because He is just that good.

When we first moved to Oregon, our kids were pretty little. This was about 12 years ago. IN case you don’t know, Oregon is on the west coast and abuts the pacific ocean. Well we had just moved from Ohio. In case you don’t know Ohio abuts 4 other states and there isn’t an ocean in sight. So we were new to the Ocean. We took our first trip to the coast, about 90 minutes from where we were living. When headed straight West, right at the ocean and then turned south on route 101. For perspective. We live near route 1. This is route 101. It follows the Pacific ocean down the west coast and the Oregon stretch is particularly beautiful.

Now we knew the ocean was there we were just not prepared for how amazing it was going to be.

We saw our first view of the ocean come into perspective and one of us shouted, “ocean!” We were up on a cliff a few hundred feet and there were massive rock formations jutting up from the water.

Route 101 is windey so you end up getting incredible views of the ocean and then you head back into the woods, then the ocean then the woods. As we were driving through 101, whenever there was a spot where we could see the ocean one of us would yell, “ocean!” Then we would all yell it. IT was the first time my kids had seen the ocean so it was pretty spectacular.

The views were so amazing we couldn’t help but yell “ocean!” And we all joined in. Whenever the possibility of a vista of ocean came into view we would all crane our necks, including the driver, to get the best view possible. Our car’s entire attention would be placed on that one view for a few moments.

I strangely think about that when I read Rev 4. Because I think of just how much that ocean view captured our attention.

Because when I read Rev 4 I see how it’s not just a vanful of attention, it is the attention of all of creation. That the image of God is so spectacular, that God is so powerful and beyond understanding that all of heaven and earth can’t take thier eyes off of it.

But before we get there, to the chapter specifically we have to talk through this shift in the book itself.

Revelation 1 through 3 are pretty standard. But now that imagery that takes off and unsettles us becomes pretty normative.

And the church has been working on how to define what follows for the past 2000 years.

Rev 4 designates a shift in how we read it. and how we read it is defined by what we believe to be true about revelation. Because rev is such a tricky book there are different ways of understanding it.

There are four basic ways we can look at revelation

Historist. This is a classical view of revelation. Fulfillment has been unfolding into present and future. It spans time

Preterist. Everything has already happened

Futurist Everything ch 4 and beyond has not yet happened

Idealist .Fulfillment is found as transcendent reality and is applicable in any age. It is a spiritual fulfillment and is representative of various historical events.

For our purposes we will be viewing things from a historist viewpoint. That revelation has been and will be unfolding. There are applications to be made in an idealist sense and some of our applications will be found there. But most will be coming from an historist view.

Revelation has been unfolding and will continue to.

Let’s look into the way we see God who is the One who is and was and is to come.

The Fullness of God

Revelation 4:2–6 ESV

At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:

Here we see an image of the throne of God

This is not an isolated image. We find a consistent like picture throughout the Scripture. IN fact, revelation is really answering the anticipation of the OT. Some call this book the capstone of the Scripture because it takes from Old and new testament to communicate the fulfillment of all things.

Look at the ot prophet daniel’s vision.

Daniel 7:9–10 ESV

“As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire. A stream of fire issued and came out from before him; a thousand thousands served him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the court sat in judgment, and the books were opened.

There is similarity and consistency. But this image is using language and metaphor to show just how incredible God’s throne, the place where He dwells is.

I want us to keep in mind that John is getting the most he can out of the way he is describing this.

The appearance of jasper and carnelian are the appearance of fine minerals. A brightness and shimmering quality

The rainbow references Ezekiel’s image of the throne and also God’s redemptive covenent.

Then we get these elders and then lightning and thunder

and then a sea of glass, like crystal,

John can’t quite get the full description. It had the appearance of. IT was like this. Looked like sounded like. etc.

John is trying to show us that this is reflective of God’s throne in biblical history and that it is beyond valuable. It reflects the beauty and worth of God HImself.

John is experiecing the reality of heaven and trying to describe it. But keep in mind that there is a reason that before this he falls as one though dead.

He can’t process how incredible this all is.

This is the image of the fulness of God. All of creation and all of it’s beauty are only settings for the fullness of God. The best sunset or ocean view or most incredible song are simply reflections of God’s goodness.

Gods goodness crashes into the fullness of creation. Look at how the verse continues

The fullness of creation

Revelation 4:6–8 ESV

and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

This is a strange image. We have four creatures before the throne

one like a lion

one like an ox

one like a man

one like an eagle in flight.

Also each had 6 wings and eyes everywhere.

Now as strange as this is, we are supposed to see that there is a complete representation of all of creation before the throne. Animals and humanity (we also see the elders representing the church) all falling before God in worship.

There is no one who can stand before God

No part of creation that does not bow before God

In fact, all of creation not only bows but proclaims worship

That means that what we do in service when we sing is a reflection of what the throne room is doing all the time.

We see that in the Scriptures all creation groans. All creation is bent to worship God.

We see parts of this in the Scriptures

Psalm 19:1–6 ESV

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them he has set a tent for the sun, which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber, and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy. Its rising is from the end of the heavens, and its circuit to the end of them, and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

The fullness of creation doesn’t stand on it’s own. It gives itself over to it’s creator. To God. This is our role. Our attention on God Himself.

Fully Given over to God

Revelation 4:8–11 ESV

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

All of creation is analogy to God’s goodness.

When we experience something beyond words, we are reminded that the real understanding of goodness is found in God.

Here we have a picture of all creation giving all of who they are to God.

All of their attention and skills and abilities and time, given over to God.

This is a picture of the Christian life.

We get a glimpse of who God is, and we graciously give Him everything,

He is the Lord of our attention.

This is important because most people want to steal our attention. Most technologies want to steal our attention. Most of our identity really just wants to steal our attention.

We give our attention to things in the same way that we trip over something.

When you trip, you fall into something. You land on something. That something you fall into or onto, that was far away just became near. Your face planted in asphalt.

Now, you can’t imagine your view outside of that asphalt, your face buried in the ground.

IT’s the same way with attention. We only have a limited amount and we often give it to whatever is closest.

What Revelation 4 tells us is that God both deserves and will receive our attention. He knocks on our door, ch 3. He invites us up to see, ch 4. And He shows us who He really is.

He is better and greater than anything else that demands our attention.

He is deserving of it. He is worthy of it.

And you know you are growing in Christ when you willingly give your attention over to Him.

Something this week will demand your attention.

Something this week will stick out at you like asphalt in the face.

This chapter reminds us there are bigger things in play. That we are invited into it. To remember that God is the only real one who deserves our attention.

Our best response is to graciously give ourselves back to HIm

As the 24 elders cast down their crowns before Him, we do the same. They say to God, only He is worthy.