Did You Think This Was About You? (Revelation 4)
GIST: The door Jesus opens pulls us away from our self-centered existence and into His incredible reality.
This morning, we’re picking back up with our Revelation study, and we’re leaving the opening seven letters and jumping into… well the harder parts ☺️. Though we’ve seen sprinkles of what makes this one of the most debated and challenging reads in the Bible, starting today we’re diving head first into the kinds of imagery most people associate with the text. There’s no going back.
Now, before we jump into the passage, I do want to make a quick observation. The images John used were the best way he knew to express what he saw because when it comes to describing Heaven, human language just isn’t enough. Nonetheless, we do not need to be bogged down by pointless debate or worry needlessly about timelines or specific persons. Remember, this book wasn’t given to us as a riddle to solve. God gave this letter to encourage and warn us of the things which are and are coming. What we will see from this point forward are vivid pictures of His power, judgment, and grace.
Still, it's important to remember...these are pictures. D.A. Carson gave a really great illustration of trying to explain electricity to a group of people living in a tribal community who have not only never seen it, but also have only just recently had their oral language converted to written form. How would you do it? You could only use words which they knew, so the picture you'd paint would probably fall very short, and it might not always make perfect sense. In much the same way, John is telling us what he saw, but our limited human language does not have words to accurately describe the wonders of Heaven. So, what does he do? He uses the language he knew, and he knew the Old Testament. That’s why so many of these descriptions are steeped in that kind of language. And it is precisely the language God wanted to use to show us what He wanted us to see!
All that being said, let’s look at chapter 4. It’s not a long chapter, so we’ll try to tackle all of it today→
“1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! 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." 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 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. 8 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!" 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 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, 11 "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.”
It would be easy to read the rest of Revelation and see chaos. That's why we need chapter 4. This vision is not somehow out of place or disconnected. It's vital to understanding the entire book. Jesus warns His church in the seven letters. Then, before revealing the final judgment and defeat of sin, He reminds us who is in control of it all. We cannot miss this. Chapter four sets the stage. It’s all about the mind-blowing throne room of God. Chapter 5 then gives the message: this all-powerful king is also the precious lamb of God, and He alone is worthy to set all things right… and He will!
All that being said, here’s our gist for this morning: The door Jesus opens pulls us away from our self-centered existence and into His incredible reality.
I. The Door Jesus Opens Pulls Us Away From Our Self-Centered Existence
Let’s start by looking at the first verse again. “1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! 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.”
After. This phrase is used twice in these two sentences. It, at least, means two things. First, John saw this vision... after the intentional vision of Jesus in power and after he was given the seven letters. I know that seems obvious, but when it comes to Revelation, the obvious is often ignored in search of “cooler sounding” responses ☺️. Secondly, he is about to be shown what must take place after this. The ideas are similar. This is not a detailed prediction of future world events. We’re not meant to pull out our timelines here and start looking for specific people or places. Instead, this is a heavenly vision of what is and will be happening until Jesus returns.
Think about it in context. The church has just received encouragement and rebukes. They’ve been told to stand firm and stay faithful and love passionately. Now, they’re being shown why they can.
Trumpet Voice. Here, John hears the same voice he did back in 1:10— this unmistakable voice of the risen Jesus— and what is the voice calling John to? An→
Open Door. Remember all the door imagery in the Philadelphian and Laodicean letters. Small-but-faithful Philadelphia had been provided an open door, and they’d walked through it. Self-deceived Laodicea was told they had a door too, but Jesus was on the outside knocking and offering them fellowship and forgiveness if they’d come to Him. Now, John is shown an open door. Like before, Jesus is providing an opportunity only HE can give. And here we see something so key. Walking through Jesus’ door takes us away from ourselves→
II. And Into His Incredible Reality
Immediately, verse 2, we’re met with this picture: “2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne.” Regardless of what you remember about the Revelation 4 imagery, this part should be really clear. When John walked through that door, it wasn’t about him. It was all about→
Our Amazing God On His Marvelous Throne! Everything in this vision is centered around His throne. It is fixed in Heaven, and the one who sits on it is absolutely incredible and completely in control! Seriously, if you don’t hear anything else I say today, that’s what chapter 4 is about.
Then we start getting John’s attempts to put what he sees into words. Again, he’s taping his Old Testament storehouses, but how can he fully express the majesty he witnesses. Well, here’s how he starts→ “3 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.” What’s going on here? When he looks upon God on His throne, it’s→
Breathtaking. We are not supposed to try and make an image of God because then we'd be tempted to worship our picture of Him rather than Him. In fact, the second commandment prohibits this: Exodus 20: 4-5a “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. 5 You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God..."
Following suit, the idea being communicated with these jewels is that of splendor. Scholars will tell you people from the first century used different designations for stones than we do now, so it’s difficult to try and take our understanding of shapes and colors and try to transfer them. Either way, what he sees is sparkling, pure, and radiant beauty. The rainbow could be reminiscent of God’s promise to Noah and the peace of God (in contrast with the storm we’ll soon see raging around the throne), or it could just be more wonderful light. The point remains. This is not something you could draw up to create a concrete image to worship. It's… just beautiful.
Then, we see→ “4 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.”
Special Angels or The Church? Oh man, a picture and a number. Time to go crazy, right? ☺ ️ There are two commonly accepted interpretations. Either these are a special group of angelic beings or this is meant to represent the whole church. The most common interpretation makes the most sense to me at this point. We’ve got 24 people with white robes and crowns. There were 12 tribes of Israel and 12 apostles, and white robes and crowns were just promised in the seven letters to believers who remained faithful to Jesus, so I believe this is a picture of, well, us. God is beautiful beyond words, and because of Jesus we’re granted access to His throne!
Oh, and speaking of that throne. It might be a little scary to stand that close☺️. “5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder…” What’s this about?
Power. Picture the intensity of the thunderstorms we have in our area. Brilliance. Strength. Danger. God is at the same time beautiful and wonderful and full of light and peace—and powerful beyond our comprehension, so He should be taken seriously.
“... and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God…” This is an image we saw back in chapter one as well. It’s commonly taken to be a picture of the Holy Spirit At Work referring to passages about the sevenfold, or complete, work of the Spirit.
Ok, so this next one has been interpreted many different ways. “6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal” →
Calm Sea, Temple Imagery, Reflective Glory? Truthfully, I don’t know. I’m not even sure it was ever meant to just reflect one thing. Remember, John is using the best words he has to describe God’s indescribable majesty. I think seeing this as a calm sea reflecting His powerful glory that we can only approach because His amazing grace is probably right ☺️.
“And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 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. 8 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!" What ☺️? So, let’s not miss the forest for the trees. Yes, I know there are some crazy looking creatures here, but at the end of the day, what is this a picture of? →
Heavenly Praise. And again, there are probably as many possible interpretations as you could imagine for these angelic beings. They could be symbolic of all types of creatures (wild, tame, land, air, man...etc). Some interpret the symbol more specifically: Lion=Royalty, Bull=Strength, Man=Wisdom, Eagle=Compassion. Either way, the idea of all creation is the same.
However, we see very similar creatures in Isaiah 6 covering their face and feet and flying. They do not look upon God or stand on His holy ground. Ezekiel, too, has a very similar vision and refers to the creatures as cherubim which are angels in the Old Testament who are specifically connected to worship. And low and behold, what are these creatures doing→
Constantly Worshiping. They are crying out: “Holy, Holy, Holy!” This is the only attribute of God thrice repeated, and that represents special emphasis. We cannot underplay or miss out on His holiness: separate from our nature, perfect and complete. Worshiping Him for His holiness is what all of creation is meant to be about.
And yes, their praise is constant. I know saying that in our modern context is bound to bring up the worst stereotypes of Heaven being a sterile white room where you just sing for all eternity. Don’t fall victim to that lie. Is there anything boring about this picture!? And this might seem like Heaven is just going to be a broken record, until you remember that you never get tired of saying what is true. When Sinclair Ferguson was preaching on this passage, he used an illustration that hits so home to me. I’ll just summarize it with this question. When do you get tired of telling your family “I love you”? Every day in so many ways, I want to do this. Heaven will be vibrant and active and incredible— and all about praising God and enjoying His presence forever!
Ok, last chunk (finally, I know ☺️). “9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 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, 11 "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.”
We’re back to the 24 elders again. What do we see them doing? The same thing as those crazy looking creatures! Worshiping! As often as the cherubim are praising, which is all the time, the elders are laying down their crowns and worshiping too. This is a picture of humility. We can get so caught up in our little bubbles and make life all about us, but it’s not. It’s about God who is on His throne even now. Worshiping Him is meant to be a lifestyle.
Ok. I know that went long today, so let’s just hit some quick→
TAKEAWAYS
The world doesn’t revolve around us.
God is marvelously holy, wonderfully loving, and incomprehensibly powerful. Do you think about Him like this?
This world could never be outside of His control…neither is your life.
Does this lead you to trust and worship?
