O Worship the King

Have you ever been accused of living in a bubble? For some, this means that you live a sheltered life. But for a young Texas boy named David, it meant something else.

David was forced to live in a specially constructed sterile plastic bubble because he suffered from an immune deficiency. He lived in this bubble for twelve years. Unfortunately, David died from complications with associated his deficiency, but now children with the same deficiency are able to lead normal lives.

We are suffering from a doxological deficiency. You may be wondering what I mean by that. The great English preacher Charles Spurgeon once said to his congregation,

“Beloved friends, we may well continue to praise God, for our God continues to give us causes for praise.”

But such a simple belief seems to be missing in our culture and even in our churches today. I know even in my own life, I can get so wrapped in the busyness of life that I forget to pause to praise God until I get to a mealtime and stop to thank God for His provision.

Thankfully, our doxological deficiency can be corrected. I think Revelation 4 gives us a great place to begin to change our thinking about God. Rev. 4 & 5 remind us of two great reasons we can worship God. While chapter 5 focuses on the Son and Redemption, chapter 4 focuses on the Father and Creation. When we put these two together, how can we fail to worship the King?

Revelation 4:1–6 CSB

1 After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door. The first voice that 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 Immediately I was in the Spirit, and there was a throne in heaven and someone was seated on it. 3 The one seated there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian stone. A rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald surrounded the throne. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white clothes, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 Flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder came from the throne. Seven fiery torches were burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. 6 Something like a sea of glass, similar to crystal, was also before the throne. Four living creatures covered with eyes in front and in back were around the throne on each side.

The Majesty of the One on the Throne

John’s second vision in this book begins much like his first. Jesus commands John with a voice like a trumpet to come up through the open door into heaven to see what must take place.

John says that he was immediately in the Spirit and able to see into the throne room of heaven. John’s eyes are immediately drawn to the being seated on the throne. Notice the way John describes Him. His description of the One on the throne is similar to the prophet Ezekiel’s description.

God’s Brilliance

People are attracted to shiny objects. Whenever I walk into Bass Pro Shops, I always head for the shiny bass boats even though I know I can’t afford one or really need one. Men like shiny boats or shiny cars, but what do women like?

Diamonds are a girl’s best friend. The more those diamonds sparkle, the better. But there are different cuts of diamonds or other gemstones. Some are more sparkly than others. Professionally, this is called brilliance. When talking about brilliance in gemstones, we are referring to the light refracting in the interior of the stone, not the light reflecting off its surface. When light hits your gemstone and reflects, you see a sparkle and a prism of colors. These colors are known as fire.

Both John and Ezekiel describe God the Father using the imagery of precious stones that are reflecting light. But not just reflecting light, but it seems like light is emanating from these stones. These are bright, flashing stones. They have brilliance.

What happens if you shine light into a prism? It creates a rainbow. These stone are shining, causing a great rainbow. As John and Ezekiel are describing the Father seated on His throne, the write of God’s brilliance.

God’s Power

John writes that flashings of lighting and rumblings of thunder were coming from the throne. Throughout the Scriptures, lighting and thunder are associated with theophanies, God appearing to mankind.

Exodus 19:16–19 CSB

16 On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning, a thick cloud on the mountain, and a very loud blast from a ram’s horn, so that all the people in the camp shuddered. 17 Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. 18 Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke because the Lord came down on it in fire. Its smoke went up like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain shook violently. 19 As the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.

Lightning and thunder are also associated with the seventh judgments in the rest of the book of Revelation. These are also often associated with the earth quaking. It is a sign of God’s great power upon His creation.

Burning before the throne was seven fiery torches, which John informs us is the seven spirits of God. Seven is the number of completeness, indicating that this is the Holy Spirit. He seems to play a minor role here, but we now see the three persons of the Godhead present: The Son in verse 1, the Father on the throne and the Spirit before Him.

A crystal sea is near the throne, a minor detail now as it reflects the glory of God on His throne. But this sea is the site of worship from those who have victory over the beast and his followers in Revelation 15.

This should be a great encouragement to the early readers of Revelation and to us today. As God sits on His throne, He is in control. As the believers of the first century faced the threat of martyrdom, they could rest knowing God was in control.

When you face the prospect of economic ruin or ridicule for your Christian faith from the larger culture, you can persevere knowing the Triune God is working all things together for the good of those who love Him.

Understanding this, our reaction should be worship. So notice the others in the room.

The Reaction of the Others in the Room

As John looked around, he noticed that there were other thrones in the room. Around the one throne were situated twenty four more, each with an elder there seated. In the middle of the room were four living creatures, covered in eyes. What should we make of these two groups?

Revelation 4:7–9 CSB

7 The first living creature was like a lion; the second living creature was like an ox; the third living creature had a face like a man; and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside. Day and night they never stop, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God, the Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come. 9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one seated on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever,

The Praise of the Creatures

These four creatures are also drawn from Ezekiel. The number four is associated with creation. These four creatures represent the whole of creation.

The lion is often called the king of the jungle. The lion represents the wild animals. The calf or ox represents domesticated animals, while the eagle dominates the birds of the air, so represents them. The man stands in for humanity.

These creatures are performing the function that all creation is meant to fulfill. Creation exists to praise God. Day and night, never ceasing, these creatures lead in praise to God.

As these creatures praise God, they glorify Him as separate from them and above them. He is holy, holy, holy. This phrase is likely a trinitarian expression. Holy is the Father, holy is the Son, and holy is the Spirit. We worship God because He is holy.

The creatures praise God because He is eternal. He was, He is, and He is to come. God has no beginning and He has no end. He is the same today as He was yesterday and will be the same tomorrow as He was today. God is eternal. He never changes. Praise the Lord, He is constant.

The creatures give God glory, honor, and thanksgiving. Thanksgiving we understand pretty well. We eat turkey, gather with family, and celebrate a time of Thanksgiving every year. We understand how to give thanks.

To give honor to God is to recognize His value. The creatures recognize God’s value as indeterminable, for He is above creation. To give to God glory is the idea of making God famous. Our goal should be to make God known to all that we come into contact with. Tell of His goodness! Tell of His mercy! Tell of His grace! Tell of His love!

God is the King over all creation. These representatives of creation lead in praising Him, followed by the twenty-four elders.

Revelation 4:9–11 CSB

9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the one seated on the throne, the one who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before the one seated on the throne and worship the one who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne and say, 11 Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power, because you have created all things, and by your will they exist and were created.

The Worship of the Elders

In Revelation, twelve is the number representing the people of God. In this scene, there are two sets of twelve. In Revelation 21, there are twelve gates to the New Jerusalem that are the twelve tribes of Israel. The city wall has twelve foundation stones, which are the twelve apostle’s of Christ. So I believe these twenty-four elders represent the whole of God’s people: those of the Old Covenant, the Israelites and those of the New Covenant, Christ’s church.

These twenty-four elders are seated in thrones surrounding God’s throne. Jesus had promised to those keep His works to the end the right to sit with Him on His throne (see Rev. 2:26; 3:21).

They are dressed in white, just as Jesus promised to the one who conquers in Rev. 3:5.

In addition, these twenty-four wear the golden laurels promised to them by Christ in in Rev 2-3.

In other words, these are the rewards Christ gave to the faithful in His seven letters to the seven churches. These are the ones who have endured to be conquerors.

But whenever the creatures lead them in worship of God, the elders give up their thrones, falling before the God in worship. They tear off their victors crowns and cast them toward the throne in celebration.

Think to your graduation. That moment of exuberance as the principal or dean declares you to be a graduate and you take off your graduation cap and throw it up into the air. You whoop and you holler. You high-five the people around you and reach out to hug one another. That’s what is happening in this scene.

These elders whip of their victors crowns, tossing them in celebration of God, and they whoop and they holler in worship toward the uncreated one. They praise Yahweh as creator and true King.

The only activity in the chapter is praise. Praise that is led by the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders toward the God of Creation. This is the proper response of all Creation and especially the people of God to the mighty, eternal Creator.

Bow Your Knee and Confess with Your Tongue

You and I have a doxological deficiency. Rather than worshipping God the Creator, all humanity have turned from Him, chasing after lesser things. The Bible says that we all like sheep have gone astray. And because we have gone astray, we deserve death. But God loved us so much that He sent a Lamb to die as a substitute for us. This Lamb of God, His only begotten Son named Jesus, died on a cross in a far-away land, despised and rejected, to redeem you from your rebellion. He paid the price for your sin, but then He rose from the grave on the third day. Paul wrote

Philippians 2:9–11 CSB

9 For this reason God highly exalted him and gave him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow— in heaven and on earth and under the earth— 11 and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

One day you will kneel in worship and praise Him, but you don’t have to wait until that day. I invite you to begin today. If you haven’t accepted Christ as your savior, do so today. Everyone join me, if you are able, and kneel where you are before the Lord.

Pray: Our Lord and God, you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power because you have created all things. Jesus, you are worthy to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and glory and blessing because You were slaughtered. You redeemed Your people by Your blood from every tribe and language and people and nation to make us into a kingdom of priest to our God. Glory and dominion to the One seated on the throne and to the Lamb, forever and ever. Amen.