REVELATION 4
This is probably the shortest chapter in the New Testament, with only eleven verses. Yet I have given much thought as to what to say about it, and what I will say is by no means exhaustive.
Verse 1 of the Amplified Bible begins with the following expression. "After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven!" John is then invited to go through that door in the vision, and since he is sharing the vision with us, we all are being given at least a description of what he sees there, and I believe there is an implicit invitation for all of us to literally go through that door at some point in time. When we read this, we tend to take for granted that the door is open to John and to us. But we should pause for a moment to think about why that door is open. This is really an extension of Christ's redeeming work on the cross, and it reminds me of the scene in the gospels immediately after Jesus dies where the curtain of the temple to the holy of holies is torn in two from top to bottom. This is found in each of the synoptic gospels, Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38 and Luke 23:45. Clearly the door is open because of God's mercy, not because any of us are worthy to have it open, and this should be our motivation to join the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders mentioned later in worshiping the God who sits on the throne.
John is told, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place in the future." Yet this chapter does not tell us anything about the future. Rather, this chapter presents a scene of worship in heaven without a beginning we know of (though there may have been a beginning) and without an end. John sees God seated on his throne, he sees the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures, he sees seven torches which symbolize the Holy Spirit, and he see something which looks like a sea of glass or a crystal. He makes some attempt to describe each of the things he sees to us, but he makes no attempt to describe God on his throne. This could be for any or all of the following reasons. It may be that the Holy Spirit instructed him not to describe God in the vision, so that men would not try to make any image like it. It is also possible that God's appearance was so awesome that John felt he had no ability to describe it. It may also be that the splendor around the throne was such that just as Moses did not see God's face, John did not see God well because of the brightness of his surroundings. In any event, it seems noteworthy that John does not attempt to describe the Lord himself, who is the most important part of this scene.
John sees the twenty-four elders sitting on smaller thrones, dressed in white, with gold crowns on their heads. We are not told who the elders are, and there is some dispute about this, but it seems likely to me that they represent in some way the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. If the twelve apostles are among the elders, John himself would be among them, but he doesn't give us any specific reason to believe he is among them. But if John is among them, consider the irony that he is now part of this heavenly Sanhedrin, though he had been beaten by orders of the earthly Sanhedrin. Of course, Stephen, Paul and Jesus himself had unpleasant experiences with the Sanhedrin, and Paul certainly could not have expected to be on trial before them when he was approving of Stephen's death.
We really don't know who the twenty-four elders are, nor do we know precisely what role they play in God's kingdon (though there is an indication in Matthew 5:21-22 that they play a role in judging mankind), but we do know something about their worship. They fall on their faces and throw their crowns down before the throne saying, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and dominion, for you created all things; By your will they were brought into being and were created."
The elders are led in worship by the four living creatures John sees. John does not tell us whether these living creatures are angelic beings, or if they are created beings we simply have no description for. It is very possible that these are the same creatures Ezekiel saw in Ezekiel 1, 3 and 10, though John and Ezekiel describe them somewhat differently. John says the first had a face like a lion, the second had a face like an ox or a young bull, the third had a face like a man and the fourth had a face like an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10 says the living creatures each had four faces, with a human face in front, a lion's face to the right of it, an ox's face to the left of it and an eagle's face in the back. It is possible that Ezekiel saw all four of their faces and John saw only one of their four faces, or perhaps they are different creatures. John says each of the four living creatures had six wings (similar to the seraphim in Isaiah 6), but Ezekiel says he saw four living creatures with four wings, and he refers to them as cherubim in Ezekiel 10:20. John does not describe the whirling wheels Ezekiel saw. The face of a lion is probably symbolic of royalty, since we refer to the lion as the king of beasts and Jesus is referred to as the lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). The face of the ox represents strength, the human face represents intelligence, and the face of the eagle represents swiftness. These are not only characteristics of the four living creatures, but they are characteristics of God, and they describe his ability to answer our prayers and to intervene in human affairs.
In any case, what's important is that these creatures (who appear to be angelic beings) are leading the twenty-four elders (who are probably human) in worship, giving glory, honor and thanksgiving to God and saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come." This reminds me of the portion of the Lord's prayer which says, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-10, Luke 11:2) This chapter gives us a glimpse of how completely God's will is done in heaven, and what we are to pray for in our own lives.
Verse 1 of the Amplified Bible begins with the following expression. "After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven!" John is then invited to go through that door in the vision, and since he is sharing the vision with us, we all are being given at least a description of what he sees there, and I believe there is an implicit invitation for all of us to literally go through that door at some point in time. When we read this, we tend to take for granted that the door is open to John and to us. But we should pause for a moment to think about why that door is open. This is really an extension of Christ's redeeming work on the cross, and it reminds me of the scene in the gospels immediately after Jesus dies where the curtain of the temple to the holy of holies is torn in two from top to bottom. This is found in each of the synoptic gospels, Matthew 27:51, Mark 15:38 and Luke 23:45. Clearly the door is open because of God's mercy, not because any of us are worthy to have it open, and this should be our motivation to join the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders mentioned later in worshiping the God who sits on the throne.
John is told, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place in the future." Yet this chapter does not tell us anything about the future. Rather, this chapter presents a scene of worship in heaven without a beginning we know of (though there may have been a beginning) and without an end. John sees God seated on his throne, he sees the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures, he sees seven torches which symbolize the Holy Spirit, and he see something which looks like a sea of glass or a crystal. He makes some attempt to describe each of the things he sees to us, but he makes no attempt to describe God on his throne. This could be for any or all of the following reasons. It may be that the Holy Spirit instructed him not to describe God in the vision, so that men would not try to make any image like it. It is also possible that God's appearance was so awesome that John felt he had no ability to describe it. It may also be that the splendor around the throne was such that just as Moses did not see God's face, John did not see God well because of the brightness of his surroundings. In any event, it seems noteworthy that John does not attempt to describe the Lord himself, who is the most important part of this scene.
John sees the twenty-four elders sitting on smaller thrones, dressed in white, with gold crowns on their heads. We are not told who the elders are, and there is some dispute about this, but it seems likely to me that they represent in some way the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. If the twelve apostles are among the elders, John himself would be among them, but he doesn't give us any specific reason to believe he is among them. But if John is among them, consider the irony that he is now part of this heavenly Sanhedrin, though he had been beaten by orders of the earthly Sanhedrin. Of course, Stephen, Paul and Jesus himself had unpleasant experiences with the Sanhedrin, and Paul certainly could not have expected to be on trial before them when he was approving of Stephen's death.
We really don't know who the twenty-four elders are, nor do we know precisely what role they play in God's kingdon (though there is an indication in Matthew 5:21-22 that they play a role in judging mankind), but we do know something about their worship. They fall on their faces and throw their crowns down before the throne saying, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive the glory and the honor and dominion, for you created all things; By your will they were brought into being and were created."
The elders are led in worship by the four living creatures John sees. John does not tell us whether these living creatures are angelic beings, or if they are created beings we simply have no description for. It is very possible that these are the same creatures Ezekiel saw in Ezekiel 1, 3 and 10, though John and Ezekiel describe them somewhat differently. John says the first had a face like a lion, the second had a face like an ox or a young bull, the third had a face like a man and the fourth had a face like an eagle. Ezekiel 1:10 says the living creatures each had four faces, with a human face in front, a lion's face to the right of it, an ox's face to the left of it and an eagle's face in the back. It is possible that Ezekiel saw all four of their faces and John saw only one of their four faces, or perhaps they are different creatures. John says each of the four living creatures had six wings (similar to the seraphim in Isaiah 6), but Ezekiel says he saw four living creatures with four wings, and he refers to them as cherubim in Ezekiel 10:20. John does not describe the whirling wheels Ezekiel saw. The face of a lion is probably symbolic of royalty, since we refer to the lion as the king of beasts and Jesus is referred to as the lion of the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). The face of the ox represents strength, the human face represents intelligence, and the face of the eagle represents swiftness. These are not only characteristics of the four living creatures, but they are characteristics of God, and they describe his ability to answer our prayers and to intervene in human affairs.
In any case, what's important is that these creatures (who appear to be angelic beings) are leading the twenty-four elders (who are probably human) in worship, giving glory, honor and thanksgiving to God and saying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come." This reminds me of the portion of the Lord's prayer which says, "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." (Matthew 6:9-10, Luke 11:2) This chapter gives us a glimpse of how completely God's will is done in heaven, and what we are to pray for in our own lives.
posted by TAPIOCA at 5/28/2006 02:03:00 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home