Revelation Chapter Four
The Throne in Heaven
Revelation 4:1
After
this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first
heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what
must take place after this.”
For
the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the
archangel and with the trumpet call of God,
and the dead in Christ will rise first.
Revelation 4:2-3
At
once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And
the one who sat there had the appearance
of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.
God is Light
This is
the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim
to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by
the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship
with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
God appears as a brilliant light – Jasper and Carnelian
(Sardius in some translations) is somewhat uncertain. Modern Jasper is opaque
and many interpret the ancient stone as translucent crystal, possibly a
diamond. The emerald is usually depicted as green, but otherwise it is
colorless which would create a prism of colors in the light and have the
appearance of a rainbow. In ancient writings all three of these stones
represented a place of honor.
Revelation 4:4-7
Surrounding
the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were
dressed in white and had crowns
of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven
spirits of God.
Also
before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the center, around the
throne, were four living creatures,
and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion,
the second was like an ox, the third had
a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.
These beings are purported as having the strength of the
Lion, service of an ox, intelligence of a man and swiftness of an eagle. Ezekiel
described the Cherubim like this:
Ezekiel 1:6-10
. . . but
each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight; their
feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their
wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. All four of them had
faces and wings, and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight
ahead; they did not turn as they moved. Their faces looked like this: Each of
the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a
lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an
eagle.
Some look at these priests of Revelation as the 24
priests of Aaron in 1 Chronicles 24:5 -
“They
divided them impartially by drawing lots, for there were officials of the sanctuary and officials of God
among the descendants of both Eleazar
and Ithamar.”
The priests of Aaron were an imperfect copy of the actual
24 in heaven. Some think that they may be symbolic of the 12 tribes of Israel
in the OT and 12 Apostles in the NT, Some say that the song that they sing in
5:9 would indicate that they were different from the people that were on earth.
However, this holds no water because of the reference to elders indicating
spiritual growth instead of a creation such as angels that do not appear to
have the ability to grow spiritually. It appears as the wording may just be a
literary form of writing or all inclusive.
God is worthy of our Worship
The most important thing of this passage is to show that
God is worthy of our worship and all powerful. Creation is not worthy of worship
in any form or fashion. We have no control over our destiny or our being.
Two reasons to worship God
Revelation 4:8-9
Each of the four living creatures had
six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and
night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who
was, and is, and is to come.” Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor
and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever,
Revelation
4:10-11
The twenty-four elders fall down
before him who sits on the throne, and worship
him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and
power, for you created all things, and by your
will they were created and have their being.”
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