God gave John a vision of His throne room in heaven. While there hears loud thunder and voices. He sees flashes of lightning! The visions of thunder and lightning contrast with the beauty and serenity of the emerald rainbow around God’s throne that he saw in Revelation 4:4.
In Exodus 19:16, when God was about to give the Law to Moses, there were thunderings, lightnings, and the sound of a very loud trumpet. Here in Revelation, the Lord is about to judge the world with truth and in righteousness in accordance with His Law.
In Revelation 4:5, John sees seven lamps of fire before the throne of God. They represent the seven Spirits of God. The Lord gave to the prophet Zechariah a similar vision in his book.
In Zechariah 4:2, the Lord showed Zechariah a lampstand with seven lamps. In Zechariah 4:12, Zechariah sees two Anointed Ones providing oil for the lamps. The Holy Spirit and Jesus the Word of God are anointed of the Father to save the souls of people on earth. In Zechariah 4:6, the Word of the Lord is “Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord.” In Zechariah 4:7, the Lord speaks of a great mountain being leveled into a plain as a capstone comes forth with shouts of, “Grace, grace to it.” The Spirit and Grace refer to the Holy Spirit and to Jesus Christ. Then, in Zechariah 4:10, an angel explains to Zechariah that the seven lamps are “the eyes of the Lord, which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
Revelation 4:5 conveys that God the Father, Jesus the Son and the Holy Spirit are about to intervene in the affairs of creation, and bring about major changes.
Revelation 4:6: “Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal...”
In the Old Testament, before priests entered the temple, they stopped by a large basin of water to wash themselves. The washing represents repentance.
Some congregations have a baptismal font inside the entrance area of their building. They refer to the font as the womb of the church. From this perspective, the crystal sea reminds us of being buried and risen with Christ through baptism.
In Ephesians 4:21-24, Paul speaks of being taught by Jesus to put off the old man’s conduct and to put on the new man which was created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. In Ephesians 5:25, Paul speaks of being washed by the water of God’s Word. All believers are invited to the basin of God’s Word, and to be renewed in the image of Christ by His Spirit.
Revelation 4:6-8: “...And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying: ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’”
In Revelation 4:8, the living creatures are described as being full of eyes around and within. “Their multitude of eyes indicates these living creatures (not “beasts” as in the KJV) are not blind instruments or robots. They know and understand, and have great perception.” [1]
The Lord let John, Isaiah and Ezekiel to see and write about the four living creatures.
After Isaiah saw these six-winged creatures, he wrote in Isaiah 6:1-3, “Above it [the throne of the Lord] stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one cried to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!’”
Isaiah doesn’t specifically say four seraphim, but seraphim in Hebrew is plural for saraph (שָׂרָף) which means that there is more than one. They cry to one another which indicates that there is more than one. They express the same words as the four living creatures in John’s vision.
Seraphim means “burning ones” or “fiery ones.” These are not naked baby cupids, men in dresses or women with harps, they are mighty worshippers of God.
The seraphim in Isaiah six and the four living creatures in Ezekiel one and Revelation four are described as having similar mannerisms and physical traits. In Revelation four, John's vision blends imagery from Isaiah’s and Ezekiel’s writings. Both groups stand directly around or above the throne of God in heaven. They have six wings. They declare that the Lord is holy. Most scholars view John’s description in Revelation as a prophetic “amalgam”—a combination of both Isaiah’s seraphim and Ezekiel’s cherubim.
Cherubim are angelic beings.
In Isaiah 6:6-7, one of the seraphim touched Isaiah’s mouth with a live coal from an altar in heaven and said to him, “Behold, this has touched your lips. Your iniquity is taken away, and your sin purged.” Then, the Lord asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Isaiah replied, “Here am I! Send me.” So, these creatures who proclaim God’s holiness continuously, gave Isaiah the touch he needed to be a preacher of righteousness for the Lord’s glory.
In Ezekiel 1:5-19, Ezekiel describes the four living creatures. In Ezekiel 1:13, he wrote, “As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches going back and forth among the living creatures. The fire was bright, and out of the fire went lightning.” Thus, they could be deemed “fiery ones” or seraphim. In Ezekiel 1:20, he wrote, “Wherever the Spirit wanted to go, they went, because there the Spirit went.” In Ezekiel 1:26-28, the prophet sees them near the throne of God. He sees the Lord brightly shining in their midst with the appearance of a rainbow around about Him.
In Ezekiel 10:18, Ezekiel wrote, “Then the glory of the Lord departed from the threshold of the temple and stood over the cherubim.” God’s glory departed due to the idolatrous deeds that were being done there. In Ezekiel 8:16, he saw “25 men with their backs to the sanctuary of the Lord. They were facing east, bowing low to the ground, worshiping the sun!”
Who are the four living creatures?
Adam Clarke wrote, “They represent all of animate creation, in its utmost excellence. The lion is the mightiest of wild animals, the ox strongest of domesticated animals, the eagle king of all birds, and man is highest of all creation. In Shemoth Rabba, sec. 23, fol. 122, 4, Rabbi Abin says: ‘Each of these has a kingdom and a certain magnificence, and they are placed under the throne of glory, Ezekiel 1:10, to show that no creature is to exalt itself in this world, and that the kingdom of God is over all.’ These creatures may be considered the representatives of the whole creation.” They glorify God!
Some early church fathers and reformation era theologians interpreted the four living creatures as representing the four Gospels. For example, saying, Matthew spoke of Christ’s kingly nature. He is the cherubim with a lion’s face. Mark spoke of Christ’s servant nature. He is the cherubim with an ox’s face. Luke spoke of Christ’s human nature. He is the cherubim with the man’s face. John spoke of Christ’s exalted nature. He is the cherubim with the eagle’s appearance. This is highly speculative and what’s more, the theologians had different opinions about whose face represented whose Gospel. The Bible does not clearly support this interpretation.
More importantly than what they are is what they do. They worship God day and night saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come.” Thus, heaven is full of joy and thanksgiving unto God. What a contrast with earth where people take God’s Name in vain!
In 1 Chronicles 6:31, King David brought a sense of heaven to earth when he appointed a multitude of men over the service of song in the house of the Lord. In 1 Chronicles 16:4-6, he appointed them to commemorate, to thank, and to praise the Lord with stringed instruments, harps, cymbals, and trumpets.
Revelation 4:9-11: “Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ‘You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.’”
As the four living creatures glorify and express gratitude to the Lord, the 24 elders join with them. There is no partisan politics. There is harmony. They all happily glorify the Lord together.
The four living creatures are close to God. They dwell in His presence. What do they have to say about Him? They say, “You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created.”
God created us. He sustains us. He redeemed us from our sin. He has a wonderful plan for our future which includes everlasting love, peace and joy. By His grace, though we die, yet shall we live and be forever with the Lord and with all angels, saints and living creatures. Praise the Lord!
[1] Enduring Word Commentary
No comments:
Post a Comment