The Book of Revelation: Part 10

Revelation 4:1-11 (BSB)

The Throne in Heaven

We are in week ten of our sermon series on The Book of Revelation, and we just finished examining the seven letters written to seven different churches. But before we move on to chapter 4, I want to stop a moment and look back over these seven letters. Each of the letters to the churches were very specific to each church, yet as each said: He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.

So, with that thought, let’s briefly remind ourselves what Jesus said to the churches:

·       Ephesus: they were commended for hating evil, but they were also told that they needed to repent and do the good deeds they did at first, because they had abandoned their “first love.” But if they would overcome, then they would be allowed to “eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.”

·       Smyrna: they were not rebuked, but were told that if they stayed faithful, they would be given “the crown of life.”

·       Pergamum: they were commended for their faith, but were also chastised for holding to false teachings, and if they didn’t repent, Jesus said He would soon “wage war against them.” But if they overcame, He would give them hidden manna, and a white stone with their new name written on it.

·       Thyatira: they were commended for doing good deeds, but some were tolerating a false teacher and following her immoral teaching. Others didn’t and simply needed to hold fast, and if they endured, they would be given “authority over the nations.”

·       Sardis: they had a reputation for being alive, but Jeus told them they were dead and needed to wake up. A few who had not soiled their garments, were still alive, and they were promised they would be dressed in white, and their names would not be blotted out of the Book of Life.

·       Philadelphia: they were being faithful and were not rebuked for anything. They were promised that if they continued in faithfulness, then they would be “pillars in the temple of God.”

·       Laodicea: they were severely rebuked by Jesus for being lukewarm and self-satisfied. But Jesus promised that if they repented and returned to Him, they would be given the right to sit with Him on His throne.

I wanted to do that brief review because I want us to keep in mind the reason for the letters. The reason Jesus was writing to these believers was so they could know their standing with Him, because ultimately, He wanted all of them to be able to be with Him in eternity. He wanted them all to receive the things He was offering to them, but they needed to hear what He was saying to them. Some simply needed to continue in their faith in Him—doing good works and enduring until the end—but most of them needed to repent and change in order to remain faithful to Jesus.

Those letters were written to specific people in specific churches, but the information they were given is for all of us. If we want to receive the things Jesus offers—if we want to be with Jesus in eternity—we too must overcome the obstacles to our faith and endure; proving our faith by obedience to His Word. That’s the message of all seven of letters: If we overcome and keep our faith, then we will join Jesus in eternity.

And this eternity that Jesus was speaking about is what we are going to get a glimpse of next. Chapter 4 moves on to the next vision that John receives, and it appears to be a vision of the throne room of Heaven. This seems to be the transition point that Revelation 1:19 was speaking about: “Therefore write down the things you have seen, the things that are, and the things that will happen after this.” John has written down the “things that are”—the letters to the seven churches. Now, beginning in chapter 4, he’s going to show us the “things that will happen after this.”

So, what is waiting for those who overcome and keep their faith in Jesus? John is about to reveal more about it. Let’s read this chapter in its entirety.

Revelation 4:1-11 (BSB) says:

1 After this I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had previously heard speak to me like a trumpet was saying, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.”

2 At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it. 

3 The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne. 

4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on these thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white, with golden crowns on their heads.

5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Before the throne burned seven torches of fire. These are the seven spirits of God. 

6 And before the throne was something like a sea of glass, as clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, covered with eyes in front and back. 

7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. 

8 And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: 

“Holy, Holy, Holy, 

is the Lord God Almighty, 

who was and is and is to come!”

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

10 the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they 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; 

by Your will they exist and were created.”

It’s quite a change from the letters, isn’t it? We’ve seemed to have moved to a new vision. To really understand what John is saying, let’s go back through this chapter one verse at a time.

Verse 1 begins by saying, “After this I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven.” “After this” means that after all seven letters were dictated to John, then he saw a new vision. We don’t know how long after because he doesn’t say. Maybe it was a while after he finished writing the letters down, maybe it was immediate, but either way, he says, “After this I looked and saw a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had previously heard speak to me like a trumpet was saying, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after these things.’”

The voice he heard matched the same voice he heard speak earlier, when in Revelation 1:10, he said, “On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,” which told him to write the letters to the seven churches.  

Now, this time, before he heard the voice, he looks and sees a door has been opened and he can see into heaven. This is very similar to what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 12:2-4, which says: “I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven. Whether it was in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows. And I know that this man—whether in the body or out of it I do not know, but God knows — was caught up to Paradise. The things he heard were inexpressible, things that man is not permitted to tell.”

Paul calls this heaven, the “third heaven” and “Paradise.” Barnes’ Notes on the Bible explains that the term heaven can be understood in three ways. There is the “aerial, including the clouds and the atmosphere, the heavens above us until we come to the stars, [then second,] the starry heavens, the heavens in which the sun, moon, and stars appear to be situated, [then third,] the heavens beyond the stars…the dwelling-place of God, to which Paul was taken, and whose wonders he was permitted to behold.”

John is not the man whom Paul is referencing; he’s actually speaking about himself. Paul clearly was told not to write about what he saw, but the experience seems to be very similar. John clarifies that he was not bodily being taken to Heaven, for he says in verse 2: “At once I was in the Spirit, and I saw a throne standing in heaven, with someone seated on it.”

I don’t know why John doesn’t say who the “someone” is, but he goes on to say, in verse 3, “The One seated there looked like jasper and carnelian, and a rainbow that gleamed like an emerald encircled the throne.”

Maybe he didn’t say that it was God who was seated there because it was too overwhelming? At any rate, his description is very limited, so maybe all he really saw were all these jeweled colors he describes. We don’t know which color of Jasper he is describing, but in other chapters of Revelation we learn that jasper can be crystal-clear. The carnelian, or sardius as the Greek says, is also called by the name ruby in some translations, and it is a fiery red. I’m not sure how a rainbow, which is naturally composed of many colors, could be, as the Greek states, “in appearance like an emerald.” But maybe the rainbow was many shades of emerald green, or maybe, as the Berean Standard Bible translates it, the rainbow circling the throne simply “gleamed like an emerald.”

Then, as verse 4 adds, also “Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and on these thrones sat twenty-four elders dressed in white, with golden crowns on their heads.”

While there is debate about just who exactly these twenty-four elders are or who they represent, I think it’s safe to say that they represent the redeemed, because they are seated next to the Lord, wearing their garments of white and golden crowns, and only those who endure in their faith are promised to receive those things. (We will read even more about them in the next chapter.)

By any means, it is not a quiet scene, because in verse 5 we see that it is loud and awe-inspiring. It says, “From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings, and peals of thunder. Before the throne burned seven torches of fire. These are the seven spirits of God.”

This scene makes me think back to Exodus 19:16-19, when God appeared on Mount Sinai. It says: “On the third day, when morning came, there was thunder and lightning. A thick cloud was upon the mountain, and a very loud blast of the ram’s horn went out, so that all the people in the camp trembled. Then Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Mount Sinai was completely enveloped in smoke, because the LORD had descended on it in fire. And the smoke rose like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked violently. And as the sound of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke and God answered him in the thunder.”

I wonder if the scene on Mount Sinai was a mere glimpse of what is happening in the throne room of Heaven. It’s a humbling and majestic display of the power and majesty of God, isn’t it? While technology has produced ear shattering noises, there is no sound that can match the complex boom of thunder; the thunder we hear in nature is far away from us, so to be so near its source would be truly overwhelming.

Also in the throne room are seven torches of fire, and it says the seven torches of fire “are the seven spirits of God.” We heard this term earlier in chapter 1. It seems safe to say that these seven spirits represent God’s completeness—His fullness and perfection.  

Then, continuing the scene, verse 6 says, “And before the throne was something like a sea of glass, as clear as crystal. In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, covered with eyes in front and back.”

We don’t know if the ground before the throne is actual glass or crystal or what it is, for the text just says, “something like” those things. Those two things being translucent makes me think the ground must be reflective or translucent in some way. Again, we should consider what the significance of that would be. But it’s interesting that Solomon, when he built his temple, built a large molten sea. 1 Kings 7:23-26 describes it in detail, but it was a very large, water filled bronze basin that rested on twelve bronze oxen. It was a much larger version of the washbasin that was in the tabernacle that God told Moses to construct for the priests to wash themselves with. The water in each of those signified the need for priests to be cleansed. It stands to reason, then, that the “sea of glass” in the throne room signifies that washing. As Matthew Henry says about this verse, today, “the laver for purification is the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, which cleanses from all sin. In this all must be washed, to be admitted into the gracious presence of God on earth, and his glorious presence in heaven.”

And then, in the center around the main throne, “were four living creatures, covered with eyes in front and back.” Is it difficult to picture this? Personally, I find it hard to picture creatures who are covered with “eyes” all around. I think it’s helpful though, to think of animals who have more than two eyes. There are actually quite a few, but as just three examples, bees have 5, spiders have 8, and scorpions have 12. So, I don’t think we should necessarily picture human eyes covering these four living creatures surrounding the throne.

And, in fact, the Greek text says “being full” of eyes. I can’t help but wonder if this simply isn’t in contrast to the problem all of us humans face, which is that we are “blind” until Jesus gives us eyes of faith? Back in the letter to the Laodiceans, they are told that they are blind and so they need the salve that Jesus has; the salve that will cure their spiritual blindness. These living creatures are full of eyes; they are not blind at all.  

Now a lot of commentators think these four living creatures are the same as Ezekial 1:10 describes, which says, “The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and also the face of an eagle.” But that it not accurate. Verse 7 makes it clear that each living creature had only one face. It says, “The first living creature was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.”

What these four different living creatures might represent by their appearances has led to numerous interpretations. Some people think the four beings might represent the four different Gospel writers, four different “ages” of the church, or even the four different elements.

I don’t know if he originated this idea, but Charles Ellicott, in his commentary on Ezekial 1:6 points out that, “Man is the head of the whole animal creation, the lion of wild beasts, the ox of the domestic animals, and the eagle of the birds.” So, with that in mind, I think it’s safe to say that these four represent the fact that all of creation was created to praise the Lord.

And that is clearly what verse 8 shows us. It says, “And each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around and within. Day and night they never stop saying: ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’”

Now, while most scholars connect Ezekiel’s vision with John’s and think that these beings are “cherubim,” I want to point out that John’s vision is actually more similar to what the prophet Isaiah wrote than Ezekiel’s. In Isaiah 6:1-4, he describes a vision he was given and says: “In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord seated on a throne, high and exalted; and the train of His robe filled the temple. Above Him stood seraphim, each having six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling out to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory.’ At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke.”

Isaiah doesn’t describe the seraphim’s faces because the ones he saw were covering their faces, but they seem to be the same creatures as John describes because they have six wings and proclaim, “Holy, Holy, Holy.”

As I mentioned, most people think that these seraphim, as Isaiah calls them, are the same creatures that Ezekial saw in his vision. But let’s read what it says in Ezekial 1:4-14. It says: “I looked and saw a whirlwind coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing back and forth and brilliant light all around it. In the center of the fire was a gleam like amber, and within it was the form of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: They had a human form, but each had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the hooves of a calf, gleaming like polished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four living creatures had faces and wings, and their wings were touching one another. They did not turn as they moved; each one went straight ahead. The form of their faces was that of a man, and each of the four had the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and also the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread upward; each had two wings touching the wings of the creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. Each creature went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they moved. In the midst of the living creatures was the appearance of glowing coals of fire, or of torches. Fire moved back and forth between the living creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. The creatures were darting back and forth as quickly as flashes of lightning.” Then, in Ezekiel 10:1, he tells us that these beings are called “cherubim.” He says, “And I looked and saw above the expanse, above the heads of the cherubim, the likeness of a throne of sapphire.”

These seem to be different beings from what Isaiah and John describe. Unlike the seraphim, cherubim have only four wings each, and each have four faces. The cherubim are also the beings that were carved out of gold and placed on the ark of the covenant, and were also carved out of wood, covered with gold, and placed in Solomon’s temple (those were massive in size). As to whether those images of the cherubim had two or four wings, the text doesn’t actually say, but being mere images, I think it doesn’t really matter. But it seems clear that they did not have six.

The takeaway from all of this is that there is no contradiction in Scripture. The beings that Ezekiel describes and the beings that John describes are not the same beings. Much to my surprise, though, all the commentaries I’ve read about this say that they are the same beings, and then they make allowances for the discrepancies in descriptions. But given the fact that Ezekiel and Isaiah each name these beings and call them by different names makes it clear, at least to me, that they are different.

I also think it’s worth mentioning that it seems possible that Satan was created to be a cherub. Ezekiel 28:13-17 says, “You were in Eden, the garden of God. Every kind of precious stone adorned you: ruby, topaz, and diamond, beryl, onyx, and jasper, sapphire, turquoise, and emerald. Your mountings and settings were crafted in gold, prepared on the day of your creation. You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for I had ordained you. You were on the holy mountain of God; you walked among the fiery stones. From the day you were created you were blameless in your ways—until wickedness was found in you. By the vastness of your trade, you were filled with violence, and you sinned. So I drove you in disgrace from the mountain of God, and I banished you, O guardian cherub, from among the fiery stones. Your heart grew proud of your beauty; you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor; so I cast you to the earth; I made you a spectacle before kings.”

Ezekiel’s prophecy was addressed to the king of Tyre, but it seems to be directed to Satan, who either was controlling that king or had possessed him. The point is, though we don’t understand all the intricacies of what we simply call “angels,” there clearly seem to be very different types of beings that we mistakenly lump all together. For sure, we should never think of cherubs as chubby babies with wings, as so many modern artists seem to depict them.

Moving back to our text in Revelation, let’s read the three last concluding verses. Verses 9-11 say: “And whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before the One seated on the throne, and they 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; by Your will they exist and were created.’”

This ongoing, constant praise of God should be the blueprint for our worship here on earth. For sure, we should not praise or worship anything other than the One true God who created all things. Why would we want to worship any created thing when there is One who created all things? He is clearly the only One who deserves worship and praise.

What’s fascinating to me is that as we look at history, whether it’s in the Bible or from outside sources, we see that humanity has often chosen to worship the created instead of the Creator. And the things they have worshiped since the beginning of time tend to resemble these four living creatures who surround the throne. I don’t want to bother going into great detail, but even Aaron and the unfaithful Israelites crafted a molten calf to worship and bow down to, and other false gods like Baal, or even Satan, are often depicted as having a calf's head.

Again, people are foolishly worshiping created things instead of ascribing worship to the only One who is worthy of worship, for Jesus is the originator of all created things, as He said about Himself in the letter to the Laodiceans. Or as He said about Himself at the beginning of this book, in Revelation 1:17b-18. He said, “I am the First and the Last, the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.”

I think you can see now, why Jesus was so concerned with these seven churches, and why He added that important phrase: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

Jesus wanted the believers in those churches to overcome the obstacles to their faith so they, too, could be in His presence. The rewards and promises He offered to them are not the ultimate prize, though. Being in the presence of the Creator of the One who created all thing is the ultimate reward.

Even the crowns the elders were given are cast down, because they know that Jesus alone is worthy of honor. They know their greatest reward is simply being in God’s presence, surrounded by His majesty and glory.

As we end this sermon, let me ask you some simple questions: Are you enduring in your faith? Are there obstacles you need to overcome? Are there things you need to repent from? Are there idols in your heart that you need to break? Jesus tells us: repent, overcome, endure in faith. We must do these things so we can be in His holy presence. These letters show us the extreme patience and kindness of our Savior, but also the firmness of His call: we must endure in our faith and walk in a manner worthy of the gift of salvation He has freely given us, overcoming evil and obeying His Word, so we can be with Him. Let us pray that the Holy Spirit gives us ears to hear what He speaks to us.

Next week, we will continue this scene in Heaven as John describes even more of what he saw. For now, let us do as he saw. Let us worship the Lord in humility and awe. Let us join with those who never stop saying: “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And let us add, as the elders do, “Worthy are You, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for You created all things; by Your will they exist and were created.”

Pray:

Heavenly Father, we praise Your holy name, for You are our Lord and God. We want to give You all the glory and honor and praise, for You are holy and worthy of all praise. Help us to worship You alone and remember Your majesty and power as we go about our days, never forgetting to honor You in all that we do, so that we too may join You in Your presence. Thank You for sending us Jesus so that we can be with You for all eternity. In His name we pray. Amen.