“After these things I looked, and behold a door standing
open in heaven, and the first voice which I heard, like the
sound of thunder speaking with me said, Come up here and I
will show you what must take place after these things”
(Revelation 4:1).
Chapter 4 is the introduction of the future events predicted
in the rest of the book the Lord told John to write and send
to the seven churches. One of the reasons for the confusion
in the study of the book is a failure to understand the
prophetic nature of the book. A second reason for the
confusion is a time element. “After these things,” after
John had seen the vision of Christ walking in the midst of
the golden candlesticks, after John received the messages
the Lord commanded him to send to the seven churches.
Chapters 2 and 3 reveal the moral and spiritual condition of
churches during the present age of the church. Chapter 4
introduces the events that will begin following the end of
the Church Age. Therefore, nothing John sees and hears in
his visions has occurred. When will the Church Age end? No
one knows. How will it end? The Apostle answers the question
in his first letter to the Thessalonians, chapter 4:13-17.
When will the rapture take place? We have no way of knowing.
It could be days, weeks, months, or even years. Once the
church is gone, Satan will undoubtedly move quickly to bring
his one world system into being through the uniting of ten
nations and the religions of the world, this includes
Christianity.
Moses told the Israelites, prior to their entering the
Promised Land; “The secret things belong to the Lord our
God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons
forever, that we may observe all the words of this law”
(Deuteronomy 29:29).
We can know nothing of future events except what God is
pleased to reveal to us. This symbolic door John saw
standing open in heaven is a sign God will reveal to John
what will occur following the rapture of the true believers
in Christ (1 Thessalonians 4:13-17).
John hears a loud voice, like the voice he heard in chapter
1, commanding him, “Come up here, and I will show you what
must take place after these things” (Revelation 4:1).
When John entered the throne room of God, he saw, a throne,
the seat of honor, authority, and judgment. This throne was
not empty. Seated on the throne was One whose countenance
was like a jasper stone and a sardius. Scripture teaches God
“dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen, or
can see” (1 Timothy 6:16). John uses these stones to portray
something of God’s eternal glory. The jasper is a
transparent stone, signifying the glorious perfections of
God; the sardius stone is red, signifying the justice of
God.
John also saw a beautiful rainbow of emerald green. However,
unlike the partial rainbows we generally see on earth, this
one completely encircled the throne. This too is significant
in calling our attention to the person and work of God on
behalf of man. In the Bible, the rainbow is a sign of God’s
faithfulness to His word and covenants. It is also a sign of
God’s mercy, grace and long-suffering. The fact the rainbow
completely encircles the throne stresses this. Green
portrays fruitfulness; what proceeds from the throne will be
infinitely effective.
John also saw, twenty-four thrones, and twenty-four elders
clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads
seated on the thrones (Revelation 4:5).
Seated on the thrones denotes their honor, rest, and
satisfaction; their sitting about the throne signifies their
relation to God, their nearness to Him. Clothed in white
garments, signifies, the righteousness of the saints, both
imputed and inherent. The crowns of gold, signifies, the
honor and authority given them by God, and the glory they
have with Him.
The “Flashes of lightening and sounds and peals of thunder”
(Revelation 4:5) signify the judgmental element of the
throne and the nature of that which will occur once the Lord
begins to open the seven-sealed scroll and pour out its
judgments. Psalm 29:1-2 calls us to “Ascribe to the Lord, O
sons of the mighty, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due to His name; worship the
Lord in holy array.” This exhortation is followed up with a
reference to the thundering of God’s voice as in a
lightening storm, an obvious reference to the power and
judgments of God (Psalm 29:3). Man has been in rebellion to
God and has ignored God’s holiness throughout history, but
here God is about to act and put an end to that rebellion.
The “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne,”
(Revelation 4:5) refers to the various gifts, graces, and
operations of the Spirit of God in the churches of Christ;
these are all dispensed according to the will and pleasure
of Him who sits upon the throne.
The “sea of glass like crystal” (Revelation 4:6), some
interpreters of verse 6 see an allusion here to the laver in
the tabernacle (Exodus 30:18-21) and to the molten sea in
Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 7:23-37), that were for the
purification of the priests. They symbolized the Word of God
and the Holy Spirit, God’s agents for cleansing the life.
Here, however, the sea before the throne is like glass,
solidified, like crystal, not water, for no cleansing is
needed here. Perhaps again, as crystal sparkles and reflects
the light, so this simply adds to the picture of God’s holy
character.
The “four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind”
(Revelation 4:6), the question is who or what are the four
living creatures? Are they angelic beings, or are they
merely symbolic manifestations of God’s glory? We must seek
answers to this question from the Word of God, “living
creatures” that which is vibrant with life suggests angelic
creatures.
“Full of eyes in front and behind.” The cherubim of Ezekiel
10 were also full of eyes signifying their intelligence and
spiritual perception of the ways and judgments of God.
In verse 8, they have six wings that reminds us of the
seraphim of Isaiah 6. This would emphasize their quickness
and availability in service to the One seated on the throne,
the cherubim of Ezekiel 1:10 and 10:14 are seen in four
representations, like a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle.
This also seems to tie them to angelic creatures.
In verse 8 they are seen speaking about God in unceasing
acclamations of praise and they fall down in worship before
the Lamb, this supports the fact that they are angelic
beings who are a composite of both the seraphim of Isaiah 6
and the cherubim of Ezekiel 1 and 10. The Lion stresses
kingly majesty. The lion is known as the king of beasts and
highlights the attributes of majesty, strength or
sovereignty. It stresses that God is King. The gospel of
Matthew presents Christ as King. In Revelation 5:5 Christ is
referred to as the lion of the tribe of Judah. A calf or ox
stresses service and patience. Man emphasizes intelligence.
The eagle because he soars in the heavens, emphasizes deity,
keen sight, and quick action, “full of eyes in front and
behind” (Revelation 4:6) and “around and within” (Revelation
4:8) signifies their constant observance and knowledge of
the affairs of the earth on behalf of God, plus their
spiritual perception of God’s governmental purposes and
acts. “Before” and “behind” could indicate the perception of
God’s dealings in the past and the future.
The ceaseless service night and day (Revelation 4:8) of the
four living creatures refers to no weakness or imperfection
in their worship or service. Night and day, the four living
creatures proclaim the perfect holiness of God. The “Holy,
Holy, Holy” also speaks of the trinity.
The object of the four living creatures worship is eternal
God, He who has no beginning or ending. The true church of
God has the same object of worship. Two different objects of
worship, either co-ordinate or sub-ordinate, would confound
the worship and divide the worshippers. It is unlawful to
join in divine worship with those who either mistake or
multiply the object. There is but one God, and he alone, as
God, is worshipped by the church on earth and in heaven.
The acts of adoration of the twenty-four elders, they fall
down before the One seated on the throne an expression of
humility, reverence, and godly fear. They cast their crowns
before the throne, an expression of giving God the glory of
the holiness wherewith He had crowned their souls on earth
and the honor and happiness with which he crowns them in
heaven. They owe all their graces and all their glories to
Him, and acknowledge that His crown is infinitely more
glorious than theirs is, and that it is their glory to be
glorifying God.
The words of adoration, the twenty-four elders do not say,
“We give you glory.”
The words of adoration acknowledge that God is exalted far
above all blessing and praise. He is worthy to receive
glory, but they were not worthy to praise, nor able to do it
according to his infinite excellences.
The ground and reason of their adoration, which is
threefold; He is the Creator of all things, the first cause;
and none but the Creator of all things should be adored. He
is the preserver of all things. All beings but God are
dependent upon the will and power of God, and no dependent
being must be set up as an object of religious worship. He
is the final cause of all things, it was His will and
pleasure to create all things; He was not influenced by the
will of another; there is no such thing as a subordinate
creator, that acts under and by the will and power of
another; and, if there were, he ought not to be worshipped.
As God made all things at his pleasure, so he made them for
his pleasure, to deal with them as he pleases and to glorify
Himself by them one-way or another, though He delights not
in the death of sinners, but rather that they should turn
from their wicked ways and live.
This must be the ground and reason for our worship “all
things were created, both in the heavens and earth, visible
and invisible, whether thrones or dominions, all things have
been created through Him and for Him” (Colossians 1:16).
Our Lord Jesus Christ is one with the Father and Spirit, and
He must be worshipped as such.
