Revelation 4 (NASB)
David Bruce Linn, Pastor-Teacher
9 January, 2000
All Rights Reserved
God is of infinite worth, and so knowing him is of infinite worth. The appreciation
of the infinite worth of God generates true worship in the human heart. That
is one extremely important reason to study the book of Revelation. We see there
the worth of God expressed in terms which often exceed the capacity of human
language, and we observe the appropriate response of every kind of created being
to the worth of God. We are given a window into heaven and a program of future
events toward the fulfillment of what is written in Philippians 2:9-11: "Therefore
also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven,
and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."
Note carefully that the text does not say the tongue of everyone who has faith in God will confess that Jesus is Lord--it says every tongue! Every knee will be bent in ultimate submission to the God who created everything. That means that some will be bent in glad willingness, and others in sad resistance. This is the basic conflict of all human history, and its conclusion is recorded in the Book of Revelation. Chapters four and five contain a dramatic vision of the divine Trinity with the Father enthroned in overwhelming glory, the Holy Spirit shining out in blazing fire, and the Lamb of God, who once was slain, but who now has received all authority to mediate the consummation of world history. This study will concentrate on chapter four.
John, who has just received the revelation of the messages to the seven churches,
is now called to enter what should rightfully be called the throne vision: "After
these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first
voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said,
'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.'"
(Rev. 4:1). Why must certain things occur? Because the creation of God groans
under the damaging effects of the separation from God caused by sin; because
the whole world is under the power of the Evil One and must be delivered; because
the children of God have to be called into their eternal home; and because punishment
for sin must be meted out to those who reject God.
That God can tell John what must occur means that God is in control of those
things. The significance of this is hard to estimate. We summarize it with two
theological terms: omniscience (God knows all things), and omnipotence (God
is all-powerful). We experience these realities as his providence, encompassing
everything that happens in our lives. He is in control when things look to us
like they are working out well, and when they do not. We see the appropriate
response of the faithful person in the words of Job, spoken as he lost his possessions,
livelihood, and most of his family: "Then Job arose and tore his robe and
shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked
I came from my mother's womb, and naked I shall return there. The LORD gave
and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD. Through all this
Job did not sin nor did he blame God" (Job 1:20-22).
You see, in those dramatic events Job saw the almighty hand of God at work, and so his response was to worship God even though it was the direct work of Satan. From this we learn that the genuinely godly person knows, as Martin Luther affirmed, that Satan is merely a hireling for the will of God. When bad things happen, Satan is the immediate cause (cf. Job 1:12), but the will of God is never ultimately thwarted by the Devil's work because God is back of everything that happens. I pray that God will give us understanding in this difficult matter by helping us see that his highest purpose for us is to evoke worship for himself. It takes great maturity to know God in the way that Job did. Temporary negatives are purposed by God to work out for his greater glory and the ultimate satisfaction of mankind's highest purpose: "To glorify God and enjoy Him forever" (as stated by the Westminster Catechism). Sometimes we, like Job, have to lose some earthly enjoyments in order to grow in our enjoyment of God.
John's vision continues: "Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a
throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne. And He who was
sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a
rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance." (Rev. 4:2-3)
No attempt is made to describe God the Father in human terms. Rather, images
to reflect his immutable glory are piled up to overwhelm us. The commentators
of the centuries have labored to identify exactly what each symbol means, and
they have run into trouble. A symbol is a real thing with a meaning which pictures
another real thing with a meaning. This has led to two problems in the understanding
of these visions. First, the meaning of the concrete thing is often quite obscure.
Does jasper look like our modern red and white stone, or is it supposed to be
clear like diamonds? And are jasper and sardis mentioned because they were the
representative stones of the first and last of the twelve tribes of Israel?
We do not know.
The problem becomes compounded when we try to define the characteristics of God being depicted by the symbols because the nature of God is beyond our comprehension. So for the purposes of this extended study in the book of Revelation, we will explore symbolism where it is has a well-confirmed meaning, and everywhere else we will take the plain meaning of the text as adequate for our devotion to God. This will prevent us from wandering far afield in the abundance of speculations which this book has generated. It also means that we may not be able to confirm or even mention some of the favorite interpretations which get passed down from one generation to the next. But never fear, because God's word will always accomplish the purposes which he has for it (Isaiah 55:11), and so it will do for us. Thus we simply say that these precious stones--jasper, sardius, and emerald--tell us that God the Father is unchangeably glorious.
John continues to describe the overwhelming vision: "And around the throne
were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting,
clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads" (Rev. 4:4).
Are these angelic beings, or representatives of the church or Israel or both?
It is good here once again to fulfill the teaching of the ancient rabbis: "Teach
thy mouth to say 'I do not know.'" Yet the clear meaning of the imagery is rich.
These twenty-four elders sit on thrones displaying an authority derived from
the great throne of God in the center. In fact, they have no authority of their
own, as is the case with earthly elders. The authority of God goes forth on
his instruments in the sole form of his word. No one can do anything unless
the word of God is explicitly followed. It is the control on everything in heaven
and on earth, and will be the final instrument of the judgment of every created
being. All who aspire to leadership in the church should take note.
The elders are wearing white robes, depicting holiness. Some have said that these must then be redeemed people, since holy angels need not wear a covering because they are sinless. Another argument for their being victorious believers, perhaps a representative selection of elders from the whole age of redemption, is the fact that they are wearing victor's crowns. The word for such crowns is distinct from the word for crowns of vested authority. Whether redeemed people or angels, their function in this environment, as is shown throughout the book of Revelation. is to glorify and worship God themselves and to lead others in doing so. This is a truly exalted position!
Next we see the characteristic self-effacing presentation of the third person
of the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit: "And from the throne proceed flashes
of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of
fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before
the throne there was, as it were, a sea of glass like crystal." (Rev. 4:5-6a)
In the midst of the most glorious presentation of the Father and the Son, the
Holy Spirit reveals himself as seven flames of fire. As the lightning flashes
and the thunder booms across the throne room with its transparent expanse, the
Holy Spirit refuses to distract attention from the Father and the Son. He is
revealed as a fire whose perfection is indicated by the number seven. There
have been eras of the church where the Holy Spirit was disgraced by our lack
of appreciation for his person and works. The danger today may be the reverse,
namely, that we grant him far more direct attention than he desires. It is a
great matter of Christian maturity to learn to relate to the trinitarian God
in a manner appropriate to this ineffable presentation of himself. We love each
person of the Trinity for his particular role in our redemption, and we love
all together!
Then comes the revelation of four creatures who are rather hard to picture:
"...And in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of
eyes in front and behind. And the first creature was like a lion, and the second
creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man,
and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures,
each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within..."
(Rev. 6b-8a). The King James calls them "beasts," most other translations say
"living creatures," and Eugene Peterson's paraphrase simply calls them the "Animals."
Again the commentators have gone wild with speculation about the identity of
these creatures. They may be the highest rank of angels. Their covering of eyes
may indicate that these angels, being so close to God, see almost everything.
This would distinguish them from the other angels who are never said to be all-knowing.
Other theories make them representatives of all living creatures of earth.
We do not know for sure who they are, but we know what they do: "...And day
and night they do not cease to say, 'Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the
Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come'" (Rev. 4:8b). They represent
the fact that God, who is holy, all-powerful, eternal, and of infinite worth,
has beings around him in heaven who perpetually glorify him for this. They also
lead others in worship of God: "And when the living creatures give glory
and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever
and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne,
and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns
before the throne, saying, 'Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our God, to receive
glory and honor and power; for Thou didst create all things, and because of
Thy will they existed, and were created.'" (Rev. 4:9-11) All heaven is organized
to declare forever the worthiness of the limitless God!
We see the elders casting down their crowns as a public display of their total
submission to God. Yes, they have authority, but it is always and forever derived
from and beholden to God the Father. This is one reason why power struggles
in the church are an abomination to God. Such struggles always involve people
trying to possess authority and rights which belong only to God. Every such
conflict could be solved immediately if the participants would get off their
thrones, remove their crowns, and cast them down at the foot of the throne of
God in glad submission! The only way to motivate ourselves to get beyond the
selfish is to see the ultimate worth of God: "Worthy art Thou, our Lord and
our God, to receive glory and honor and power!" All to him! He is the deserving
one! Our worship is the practice of gladly ascribing such worth to God.
And the way to see ourselves in this position of ascribing all worthiness to
God is to see ourselves as we are declared to be, namely, creatures who exist
purely because he chose to give us life: "Thou didst create all things, and
because of Thy will they existed, and were created." This is the basis by
which God asserts title deed over everything from subatomic particles to galaxies.
It is the basis for his ownership of every creature from viruses to human beings.
He made it all--it is his!
This is the true origin of the universe. How foolish are the modern schemes for an origin apart from God! How could matter and energy be eternal? From where did the organizing patterns come for all that exists? It is an act of sheer religious faith to assert that matter and energy are eternal and self-organizing. And it is a faith which slaps at the true Creator of everything, and robs him of the worship he deserves for all that he has made.
The same error can be made by professing Christians who see their own local church as the work of their own hands: "We built it, we pay for it, and its life is drawn from our efforts! Therefore, we own it!" Not so! May such a God-dishonoring thought never be given a moment in our minds! The church's title deed has the name "God" written upon it. Every good thing we have has come from his hand as a gift to us.
We shall continue to learn of the worthiness of God throughout the book of Revelation. May it be an opportunity for us to go deep with God, receiving the revelation of his holiness, power, and eternal majesty. And may it draw us into the sublime purpose for which we were created--appreciating the worthiness of God on his own merits, falling down before him, and joining in the glad shout which continually reverberates in heaven: "You are worthy, O God!"