“The
Throne, Part 1”
Revelation
4:1-11
December
31, 2023 YouTube
We have looked at the seven churches of the book of
Revelation. Jesus’ evaluation of them, and His words to them. These were seven real, historical churches in
what we now call Turkey, and the words to them apply to every church, minister,
and Christian throughout time and space.
After looking at the seven churches – where John is shown
the sufferings of the churches and the Christians in them, John moves into the
main part of the letter which is the book of Revelation.
As we move forward, let’s notice something about the
structure of the book. In my experience, there is an idea that the book of
Revelation is a single telling of one prophecy that we read from chapter one
through chapter twenty-two, and that is how it will all come to pass. The problem with reading it that way is the
text presents trials of the Church and then judgment and the Second Coming,
then the trials and the Second Coming, then the trials and the Second
Coming. In fact, what we see in the text
of the book of Revelation is seven cycles of the same story being told with
different imagery and with increasing intensity. The book of Revelation is the telling of a
prophecy in seven different ways. The
book of Revelation does not teach through a straight line but through seven
cycles of the same prophecy. Seven
times, we will remember, indicating completion and perfection.
Chapters four and five of the book of Revelation are a
vision of the throne and throne room of God. We look at chapter four today
having heard what Jesus says to the seven churches.
First, we see the throne and the thrones.
“After
this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven!”
In
John’s day, there was great persecution against the church, and we saw that the
church in Laodicea had become lukewarm, yet Jesus stood outside the church –
not trying to get people to convert, but waiting for the believers left in the
church to repent of their sin and to be filled with zeal by the Holy Spirit,
the door again being open.
“And the first voice, which I had heard
speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what
must take place after this.’”
John
hears the voice and is told that he will now see how things truly are. He will not merely hear about what is true,
but he will see what is and what must take place “after this.”
Remember
that Revelation is written in symbolic language. When we are told that John goes up into
heaven, how are we to take that? Paul
writes, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he
loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with
Christ—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us
with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,” (Ephesians 2:4-6, ESV). We
are already seated in the heavenly places.
“At
once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated
on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian,
and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.”
The
God Who appears to John has the appearance of stones that are found on the
clothing of the priests. More will be
explained about this in chapter twenty-one.
And the rainbow like an emerald ought to remind us of the creation of
the rainbow when Noah departed from the Ark and God gave it as a sign of the
covenant between God and man that God would never again destroy all the world
with water. More generally, it refers to
the covenant that God has made with believers through Jesus for our salvation.
Ezekiel
describes a similar encounter and his response:
“And
above the expanse over their heads there was the likeness of a throne, in
appearance like sapphire; and seated above the likeness of a throne was a
likeness with a human appearance. And upward from what had the appearance of
his waist I saw as it were gleaming metal, like the appearance of fire enclosed
all around. And downward from what had the appearance of his waist I saw as it
were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness around him. Like the
appearance of the bow that is in the cloud on the day of rain, so was the
appearance of the brightness all around. Such was the appearance of the
likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I
heard the voice of one speaking” (Ezekiel 1:26-28, ESV).
The
picture we are given of God is that He is Sovereign – Absolutely Sovereign –
over all things, and this One True God is worthy of all worship now and
forever. We ought to have the door open,
our faces to the floor filled with zeal to worship and to act according to the
will and the enabling of the Holy Spirit.
And
there are more thrones:
“Around
the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four
elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads.”
The
throne of God sits in the center of twenty-four other thrones – or the throne
of God is surrounded by twenty-four other thrones. On each of the thrones, there is an elder.
The twenty-four elders are the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. The twenty-four elders are the carrying of
the covenant from the Old Testament into the New Testament. As Paul explains, the believers of the Old
Testament are united with the believers in the New Testament. Together, they are the Israel of God. These
are all believers throughout time and space.
In
the symbols of the twenty-four thrones with the twenty-four elders, we see that
they wear white – they are purified and holy, and they wear golden crowns –
they have finished the race by the power of the Holy Spirit.
And
they are alive and on thrones, so believers are alive after death and are
reigning now as we all wait for the Second Coming. Just as we already saw Paul say, we believers
who alive now on earth are reigning now with Christ, united with Him and all
other believers.
“From
the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and
before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven
spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like
crystal.”
From
the throne of God comes sights and sounds and feelings of unsteadiness – does
this sound familiar? As Moses prepared
to ascend to receive the Ten Commandments, we read, “On the morning of the
third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain
and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled” (Exodus
19:16, ESV). Even as believers, we ought
to remember that coming before God is a serious thing. As the author of Hebrews writes, “It is a
fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31, ESV).
Before
the throne are seven burning torches which are the seven spirits of God – and
we have already seen that the seven spirits are a symbol for the Holy Spirit,
and the seven burning torches are also symbols for the Holy Spirit. (These are
not the seven lampstands which are the churches.) And the Holy Spirit is before the throne –
not because He is less than God the Father and God the Son, but He is in
readiness to go forward to do His work as the Third Person of the Trinity.
And
before the throne is a sea of glass, like crystal. The “sea” is normally the symbol for chaos,
and it may be here. Some commentators
say that this may be symbolic for the waters of ceremonial washing. This is an issue we will leave here.
Second, the four living creatures.
“And
around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full
of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second
living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man,
and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.”
Ezekiel
gives a similar description of four creatures:
“As
I looked, behold, a stormy wind came out of the north, and a great cloud, with
brightness around it, and fire flashing forth continually, and in the midst of
the fire, as it were gleaming metal. And from the midst of it came the likeness
of four living creatures. And this was their appearance: they had a human
likeness, but each had four faces, and each of them had four wings. Their legs
were straight, and the soles of their feet were like the sole of a calf’s foot.
And they sparkled like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides
they had human hands. And the four had their faces and their wings thus: their
wings touched one another. Each one of them went straight forward, without
turning as they went. As for the likeness of their faces, each had a human
face. The four had the face of a lion on the right side, the four had the face
of an ox on the left side, and the four had the face of an eagle. Such were
their faces. And their wings were spread out above. Each creature had two
wings, each of which touched the wing of another, while two covered their
bodies” (Ezekiel 1:4-11, ESV).
We will remember from Isaiah’s call to the ministry:
“In
the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and
lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the
seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he
covered his feet, and with two he flew.
And one called to another and said: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of
hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!’” (Isaiah 6:1-3, ESV).
And John tells us:
“’And the four living creatures, each of them with six
wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never
cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and
is to come!’”
The four living creatures are seraphim. They are angels. We are specifically told that they are angels
that surround the throne of the Almighty God and confess Him as holy, holy,
holy – as we have seen – in biblical writing, emphasis is shown by repetition,
and repetition to the third time is the greatest of all, God is the Most Holy
there can possibly be, and so the seraphim worship and praise God as the Most
Holy possible, He Who is and was and will forever be – there is not and cannot
be any greater than He.
But why four? Are
there only four seraphim? There’s no reason to believe that – especially since
the number four is symbolic for fullness or wholeness. So, all of the seraphim praise God for Who He
is – especially in His Holiness.
Third, the response of worship.
“And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and
thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the
twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and 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, and by your will they existed and were
created.’”
God is on His throne.
The four living creatures – the seraphim – are around the throne – praising
God in the highest for Who He is and forever will be – the Holiest of Holy. The twenty-four elders – the believers of Israel
and the Gentile nations – the patriarchs and the apostles – every Christian throughout
time and space – they fall on their faces before God and worship Him.
Gid is the Almighty.
God is Exalted. God is
Glorious. God is Eternal. God is Holy.
God Himself is the basis for all of our worship, and we worship Him by
casting our crowns before Him – by acknowledging that everything we have and
are – all the things we have been brought through by the Power of God Himself. God’s Sovereignty is the basis of all of our
worship. All of these are nothing before the One True God Who is Worthy, and so
they, as we, throw our crowns before Him Who is Greater.
The believers in John’s day needed to hear this as they
endured great trials and times of woe.
By focusing on Who God is and worshipping Him always, believers can
rejoice in Him always. Not that trials
and woes are not painful or cause us to wail, but, in our hearts, we know Jesus
has saved us and no matter what happens to us and our fellow Christians, God is
worthy of worship.
That is not said easily or flippantly, Suffering and trials
can be overwhelming, and they would destroy us if we did not know Who our God
and Savior is.
So let us focus on Him Who sits on the throne, surrounded
by the elders and the creatures – all of whom fall down and worship – throwing
everything aside for knowing the Holy, Holy, Holy God. Let us focus on what He has done and all He
has promised to His people. Let us
remember and trust Him for our futures and our lives. Let us find the joy of
our lives in worshipping our Triune God.
Let us worship the Almighty God Who loves us, even as we suffer and
endure trials, and the evil that is coming tries to get us to turn away from
Him. Let us know that we have already
been delivered by our God and Savior.
Let us pray:
As we continue our look at the book of Revelation, we thank
You for the visions You gave John. We
thank You that, although evil and trials and woes are real, we are Yours and
already reigning with You. We thank You
that – seven times – You do not hide the suffering that has come and is coming,
yet You also show – as many times – that You have already delivered us. And so, we worship You – You Who are Worthy –
You Who sit on the throne. In Jesus’
Name, Amen.
No comments:
Post a Comment