Studies in Revelation
In and Around Heaven
Text: Revelation 4:2-11
Introduction: Following the rapture in 4:1 John makes it very clear where he is now located – vs 2 – “in heaven,” and that is where we are in this book for the next two chapters. These are exciting verses because they give us a glimpse of what lies ahead for us. The environment of heaven is strange to us, but that is where we are going, but thanks to Revelation we have something of a travel guide before we arrive. We feel somewhat out of our depth here for there is little to which we can relate. Its like being in a strange country, where language, customs, and architecture are enough like our own to be recognised, yet sufficiently different and strange to make us feel somewhat alien.
In chapter 4 we discover eight clear features of heaven, but all eight centre on the first: God’s throne. Let’s consider each of these features in turn as we look in and around heaven:
I. The Seat – vs. 2
A. The centerpiece of heaven is God’s throne.
1. The throne is referred to nine times in the first six verses of chapter 4, and 17 altogether times in chapters 4 & 5.
a. It is the focal point of heaven – everything revolves around the throne.
b. Peruse these chapters and you will constantly run into phrases like:
(i) “…on the throne…” (vs 2)
(ii) “…about the throne…” (vs 3)
(iii) “…out of the throne…” (vs 5)
(iv) “…before the throne…” (vs 5)
(vi) “…in the midst of the throne…” (vs 6)
(vii) “…upon the throne…” (5:7)
2. This divine seat of sovereignty is firmly set in place.
a. Stable. Secure. Fixed. Established. Permanent. Immovable. Enduring. Eternal.
b. The Psalmist said, "Thy throne O God is forever and ever." (Psalm 45:6)
c. This throne is the highest seat of absolute sovereignty.
B. Now as the chapter unfolds we begin to get a better picture of the throne, and the entire goings on around about it.
II. The Saviour
A. John says, “one sat on the throne”
1. John sees that this throne is not vacant, but occupied.
a. Someone is enthroned upon it and that “Someone” is God Himself.
b. Now get a grip on this …. John actually saw God sitting upon His throne.
c. The word "sat," describes the position of a king who is actually reigning.
(i) For example, if a politician is seated, he is said to be in office. If an elected official is put out of office, he is said to be unseated.
(ii) John sees God seated, He is actively exercising the duties of His executive office, administering over the affairs of all His creation.
2. The message is clear to John: No matter what may happen on earth. God is still on His throne in Heaven. God is still in control.
B. Now, the one John sees has to be Jesus.
1. Why do we say that?
2. Because Jesus is the only member of the Godhead with a body.
a. Jesus taught us that, “God is a Spirit”, and “Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.” (John 6:46) and John 1:18 says, that “No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him.”
b. John is unlikely to contradict his own gospel, is he?
c. So the One he sees is the One who redeemed us – 5:9
d. He sees Jesus, just like Stephen saw Him, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:56)
3. John sees Jesus and He is seated upon His throne, just as He was when Isaiah the prophet saw Him.
a. See Isaiah 6:1 cp. John 12.37-41
C. Now notice (vs 3) how John describes Him:
1. “And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone.”
2. He is a figure of brilliance and beauty.
3. The jasper is not the gem we know by that name which comes in a variety of shades and is an opaque stone, rather this gem looks more like crystal – see Rev 21:11
4. In all likelihood what we are looking at here is not what we call the jasper, but in fact the diamond.
5. The other stone, the sardine, or sardius stone, is blood red in colour, and may actually be a ruby.
6. These two stones speak to us of glory and sacrifice
7. The bright light of the diamond symbolises Gods absolute, unadulterated holiness.
a. It pictures His flawless character, moral perfection, and unstained essence.
8. The deep red of the sardius a reminder of Calvary.
9. But we must bear in mind that many of John’s reader were people of Jewish extraction, and so we should think also of what these gems meant to them.
a. Every well read Jew would know that these stones are the first and the last in the High Priest’s breastplate.
b. See Exodus 28:17-20
c. These stones bore the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the first tribe was Reuben and the last Benjamin, their names meaning respectively; “Behold a son,” and “Son of my right hand”
d. That is who John is viewing, the Son of God sitting at His Father’s right hand, and He is seated upon the throne as our Great High Priest, even now, making intercession for us.
D. Now, see verse 3, there is also, “a rainbow round about (encircling) the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.”
1. Now there is an unusual sight – an emerald rainbow.
2. This is no ordinary rainbow, for a start it is perfectly circular, and surrounds the throne of God.
3. It is pictorial of Christ’s eternality. Emerald is the stone of Judah.
4. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Judah = praise.
5. In Old Testament times, the rainbow represented God’s faithfulness never to destroy the world again as He did with the flood.
6. The unending rainbow of emerald is pictorial of His eternal praise and faithfulness.
7. And that is the perpetual cry of heaven, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing… Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever.”
III. The Saints – verse 4.
A. As John continues to peer into the throne room with captivating awe and amazement he observes another facet of Heaven .... twenty four thrones around God’s throne.
1. Now the word “seats," is thronoi, = thrones.
2. These are subsidiary thrones, subordinate to God’s higher throne.
3. And upon these thrones are seated 24 elders who share in God’s reign.
4. Now who are these elders? Well, some are convinced that these are twenty-four angelic beings, which are associated with God’s government in some special way.
5. But most pre-millennial scholars understand them to be twenty-four redeemed human beings around the throne who, though individuals, represent all the redeemed.
a. This is not to say that there were not more than twenty-four around the throne, but it is to say that they represent all the redeemed.
B. They are called “elders” and the Greek word for elders is presbuteros, from which we get the English word Presbyterian.
1. Did you hear about a little girl who came home from her Presbyterian Sunday School one day, and her mother asked her what they had talked about. “ We talked about heaven,“ the little girl replied. “ Well,“ her mother asked, “ what did they say about it?“ “ The teacher said only 24 Presbyterians made it to heaven!”
2. Again, as to the identity of these “elders” we must always remember that the Bible, both Old & New Testaments is primarily a Jewish book, its writers were all Jewish and its early readers mostly Jewish in background.
3. The Jew reading of 24 elders would think immediately of the twenty four elders appointed by King David (whose reign foreshadows the reign of Christ) as representatives of the entire Levitical priesthood.
a. See 1Chronicles 24:3-5
b. The priests numbered many thousands – they could not all come before his throne, so David appointed courses of twenty-four to stand before him and they represented the whole.
c. Now John has already intimated that we are “kings and priests” (see 1:6 and 5:10).
d. As such we the elders depict that truth seated before Christ as a royal priesthood.
e. Why 24?
f. Well, when you think about 24 is a number best suited to representing the saints of every age.
a. Israel of old had 12 tribes
b. The church rests upon the foundation of Christ and the 12 apostles.
c. 12 + 12 =24.
d. These are the saints of every age, gathered around the throne of God.
C. And notice they are both clothed and crowned.
a. The clothing a picture of our righteousness in Christ, the crown our reward.
b. These are not angels, but “elders” a term never applied to the angels and they represent every believer of every age since time began.
IV. The Signs – vs 5a
A. Lightening, thundering and voices all proceeding from the throne of God.
1. These are symbols associated with judgment.
2. God is “warming up”, the cup of His wrath is reaching the brim.
3. These are a prelude of all that is to come, and all that is to befall the earth, as we shall see in chapters 6-19.
4. The tribulation judgments are coming from the throne of God, God, not man will bring human history to an end.
V. The Spirits – vs 5b.
A. We have already encountered the seven Spirits twice in Revelation – 1:4 & 3:1
B. Ref to the Holy Ghost – Isa 11:1-5
1. “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.”
2. We have said this already, but just for the sake of clarity we will say it again, these are not seven different spirits of God, but one spirit, perfectly manifest in seven ways.
VI. The Sea – vs 6a
A. Again, thinking of a Jew reading this, we go back to the O.T. and are reminded that in the Temple of God, built by Solomon we read of a large piece of furniture known as the Molten Sea of Brass.
1. It is described in 1Kings 7:23-26 and 2Chronicles 4:2-5.
2. Like the laver in the tabernacle this item of furniture was used for constant cleansing, and in that respect it gives us a picture of God’s Word.
a. Psalm 119:9
b. Eph 5:26
c. Titus 3:5
d. 1Cor 6:11
3. But the heavenly sea is not for cleansing, after all nothing may enter into heaven “that defileth”.
4. We must be cleansed before we can enter.
5. Nevertheless, the crystal sea, which like all of these things is both literal and pictorial, portrays the Word of God as settled and unchanging.
a. “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven.” (Psalm 119:89)
b. Later we find the Tribulation saints standing on it – Revelation 15:2.
6. This sea conveys complete security and perfect sanctification.
VII. The Seraphim – vss 6b-8.
A. The word "beasts" can be translated "creatures."
1. Who are these four living creatures?
2. These are angelic beings seraphim, we know that from their description, and they are in the immediate vicinity of the throne, forming an inner circle of worshippers.
a. See Isaiah 6:1-3
b. John affords us further information relaying that one had the face of a lion, one the face of an ox, one the face of a man, and one the face of an eagle.
c. In other words each reflects an aspect of the likeness of the Lord Jesus portrayed by the 4 Gospels.
(i) Matthew is the gospel of the King and is illustrated by the lion.
(ii) Mark emphasises the servant aspect of the Lord’s ministry and is best seen in the ox.
(iii) Luke represents Christ as the compassionate Son of Man and is obviously portrayed in the face of the man.
(iv) John conveys the truth that Christ is the Son of God, and is there best likened to the flying eagle.
3. But what are these seraphim doing?
a. They are doing what they were created to do… they are worshipping the living God.
b. Praising Him for:
(i) His holiness – “Holy, holy, holy…”
(ii) His sovereignty – “Lord…”
(iii) His omnipotence – “God Almighty…”
(iv) His eternality – “which was, and is, and is to come.”
VIII. The Salute – vss 9-11
A. Heaven is Christocentric.
1. He alone is the object of its affection and praise.
2.The 24 elders recognising that, join the angelic chorus of praise and cast their crowns at His feet declaring, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
B. This is the salutation of all creation.
1. We often praise God for saving us, but do we ever think to praise Him for creating us in the first place.
2. In chapter 5 the focus of praise is upon His redemption of us, but the cry of chapter 4 is the cheer of creation.
3. We must never forget that without Him we would not only be in our sin, but we wouldn’t even be!
a. “All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” (John 1:3)
b. “For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.” (Col 1:16-17)
c. “Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; and the heavens are the works of thine hands.” (Hebrews 1:10)
C. Before He is worshipped as Saviour, all creation worships Him as the Source and Sustainer of Life.
Conclusion: A man was walking through an art gallery when he came upon a picture of the Lord Jesus dying upon the cross. He stopped and looked at the beautiful portrait of Calvary’s love. As he stared into the face of Christ, so full of agony the gallery guard tapped him on the shoulder. “ Lower,” the guard said. “ The artist painted this picture to be appreciated from a lower position.” So the man bent down. And from this lower position he observed new beauties in the picture not previously shown. “ Lower,” said the guard. “Lower still.” The man knelt down on one knee and looked up into the face of Christ. The new vantage point yielded new beauties to behold and appreciate.
But motioning with his torch toward the ground, the guard said, “Lower. You’ve got to go lower.” The man now dropped down to two knees and looked up. Only then as he looked up at the painting from such a low posture could he realise the artist’s intended perspective. Only then could he see the full beauty of the cross.
Is the same not true in worship? Only as we position ourselves lower and lower in humble submission can we behold more fully the glories of our wonderful Lord. This is the scene in Heaven. This is our God, He is still on the Throne. Here is Who we must worship. Here is How we must worship. Let’s give Him the glory. Let us add our voices to the angels and the elders and exclaim, ““Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”
