Revelation 4, Pt 2

WHEN YOUR THRONE FILLS MY VIEW...

Revelation 4, Part 2

We are still viewing the scene in heaven that John was taken up to see in Revelation 4. THIS WAS AFTER THE INITIAL VISION OF THE GLORIFIED CHRIST AND THE LETTERS TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES...He sees A THRONE...

Revelation 4:1-2

1 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.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, A THRONE stood in heaven, with ONE SEATED on the throne.

Before the judgments and events of the rest of Revelation...John and the church need 2 more chapters of SEEING WHAT IS HAPPENING IN HEAVEN WHEN ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE ON EARTH...

...AND WHO is in control of all that is happening and will happen...

FIRST: The appearance of this One on the throne was GLORIOUS:

Revelation 4:3

3 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.

EVERYTHING CENTERS ON THE THRONE AND THE ONE ON IT. All else mentioned in this chapter is in relation to the throne...

There were other thrones around THE THRONE...on them were representatives of the OT and NT people of God...

Revelation 4:4

4 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.

AND THEN FROM THE THRONE came symbols of judgment and BEFORE the very Spirit of God Himself...AND before the throne a sea of glass...perhaps to demonstrate the absolute sovereignty of God over all enemies and the resulting perfect peace that pervaded heaven...even while so much war was taking place on earth (the THRONE is NEVER threatened!)...

Revelation 4:5

5 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,

Revelation 4:6

6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

NOW WE CONTINUE in Rev 4 TONIGHT, BEGINNING IN THE SECOND HALF OF V6. John’s view in heaven now takes note of 4 living creatures and once again, the 24 elders...

But NOTE: everything about these creatures and these elders and their activity directly relates to THE THRONE and the Lord God Almighty, the one seated on it...

FOUR LIVING CREATURES ARE NOW SEEN AROUND THE THRONE...

Revelation 4:6b-8

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 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. 8 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!”

THESE LIVING CREATURES HAVE GREAT LIKENESS BUT SOME DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THE CHERUBIM AND SERAPHIM IN THE OT...

The CHERUBIM:

-guarded the entrance to the Garden of Eden: Genesis 3:24

-were worked into the veil that separated the holy and most holy place in the Tabernacle and Temple

-were the angelic beings on either side of the Mercy Seat, between which God in His shekinah glory dwelt with Israel...Exodus 25:18

-God is referred to numerous times in the OT as “He who dwells between the cherubim; eg 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Samuel 6:2; 2 Kings 19:15; Psalm 80:1...

-In Ezekiel 1, etc the cherubim are all ALIKE...with 4 wings...IN REV 4 THEY ARE ALL DIFFERENT...

The SERAPHIM:

-are the angelic beings who cried Holy, Holy, Holy in Isaiah 6 when Isaiah saw into the throne room of heaven

-each of these had 6 wings

NOTE SEVERAL THINGS ABOUT THESE 4 LIVING CREATURES IN REV 4:

-they are closest to the throne

-the configuration is what was pictured in the OT Tabernacle

-they are full of eyes in front, behind, around, & within: 

Symbolizing, it seems: 

-...does this tell us they see everything, full of insight, see God most clearly?...or could it be that the glory of the One on the throne is so great that it takes more than 2 eyes, they are created to be able in an extraordinary way to see and appreciate the One on the throne, for in this way they can lead heavenly worship...it takes a vast number of eyes, of something far closer to Omniscience, to behold His greatness, 

-these living creatures John sees are “like” (ZNIV) lion . . . ox . . . man . . . eagle. Represent the noblest, strongest, wisest, and swiftest created beings.

So while they may be angelic beings, they represent all living creation and its worship...

THESE 4 LIVING CREATURES LEAD WORSHIP BY NEVER CEASING TO WORSHIP...

Revelation 4:8

...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!”

-very similar to what the Seraphim called out to one another in Isaiah 6

-their worship is ceaseless (this tells us that worship in heaven is and will be!)

-What they say:

Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty...THIS IS WHO IS ON THE THRONE OF HEAVEN AS THE CHURCH IN ALL AGES FACES THE PERSECUTION AND SUFFERING brought on by the world and the devil...

What we learn about HIM from this:

-He is infinitely HOLY: without sin or its possibility and the One who is OTHER THAN...who is in a class by himself, who alone is the LORD, who is GOD, and who is the ALMIGHTY.

Psalm 86:8; 89:6; 113:5

-AND, he is ETERNAL, “Who was and is and is to come!”

So...HE WILL NOT CHANGE, HE WILL NOT DO WRONG, HE WILL NEVER ENCOUNTER A PROBLEM OR ENEMY THAT IS STRONGER THAN HIM, HE ALONE IS SOVEREIGN AND IN CONTROL: LORD!

THIS IS WHO SITS ON THE HEAVENLY THRONE as His people faces their enemies on earth.

AND THE WORSHIP OF THE 4 LIVING CREATURES IS RESPONDED TO BY THE 24 ELDERS:

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 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,

11 “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.”

The 24 elders, representing the people of God of all time, respond to the worship of the living creatures with worship:

-very demonstrative: they fall down before Him (prostrating themselves), worship Him, cast their crowns before the throne (acknowledging that their status in heaven, their eternal life, their co-ruling with God and Christ is ALL DUE TO HIM WHO SITS ON THE THRONE!)

-SAYING: Worthy are you (to bring up the other beam of the scales, because He is the MOST WEIGHTY of all beings in the universe). No one has such inherent, eternal essence...

-honor: respect, reverence, esteem (1 Timothy 1:17; 6:16)

-power: creating power...out of nothing...creation by speaking!

Why worthy of glory, honor, and power?

YOU CREATED ALL THINGS,

AND BY YOUR WILL THEY EXISTED AND WERE CREATED.

And this vision and this worship is to be OURS NOW increasingly...even as we face the difficulties and suffering and even persecution of this time!