(Part 3)
Scott Bayles, pastor
Blooming Grove Christian Church: 10/15/2017
Well, according to self-proclaimed prophecy expert, David Meade, today is the day that Christ’s faithful followers will be raptured away, signifying the beginning of the seven-year period of tribulation foretold in the book of Revelation. According to Meade, the next seven years will be marked by hurricanes, tsunamis and eventually nuclear war. Of course, if we’re all still here at the end of the day, we can chalk this up to another false prediction based on a faulty and foolish understanding of the book of Revelation.
This is just the sort end-times sensationalism I hope to squelch as we continue this exciting adventure into the world of Revelation together. Again, if you missed the first installment of this series, I want to encourage you to watch that message online because that first message offered three keys to unlocking the mysteries of Revelation and effectively laid the foundation for the rest of this series.
Following that preliminary message, we jumped head first into Revelation 1 where John introduces us to Jesus as we have never seen him before. John first spotlights the Advent of Jesus, using the imagery of Christ “coming on the clouds of heaven” to represent Jesus’ judgement against Jerusalem. Furthermore, he highlights the Activity of Jesus, using the imagery of lampstands and stars to illustrate that Jesus walks among his churches—he knows what we’re going through and he’s with us in the midst of it. Finally, John describes the Appearance of Jesus, using every metaphor imaginable to underscore the supremacy and sovereignty of Jesus Christ.
Following this eye-popping introduction, Jesus spends the next two chapters providing personal compliments, criticisms and commands to each of the seven churches of Asia beginning with Ephesus and ending with Laodicea. We won’t take the time to examine each of these letters to the seven churches, but there are some common themes that run throughout the letters. Many of these churches experienced intense persecution and poverty coming both from the Jewish community as well as Roman authorities. Others had caved to these external pressures and lost their love for Jesus or grew lukewarm in their faith. These were devastating times for the first-century church. Things weren’t looking too good.
So as we reach Revelation 4, God wants to give John a fresh perspective. In sharp contrast to the bleak and abysmal circumstances on earth, John’s about to experience a vision of indescribable glory and awe and wonder and majesty—a scene so breath-taking and beautiful it could only take place in the Throne Room of Heaven.
If you have a Bible or an app on your phone, please open it up to Revelation 4, where John writes: Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.” (Revelation 4:1 NLT).
What follows dazzles John’s eyes and staggers his imagination. The glory and grandeur of this heavenly vision left John half-blinded by the brilliance and bewildered by the spectacle. As he struggles to sort out the scene before him, John describes four significantly symbolic sights that remain just as meaningful for us today as they were for John’s original readers in Asia Minor.
First, John sees the Sovereign.
• THE SOVEREIGN
As his eyes come blinking into focus, John writes, “instantly I was in spirit there in heaven and saw—oh, the glory of it!—a throne and someone sitting on it! Great bursts of light flashed forth from him as from a glittering diamond or from a shining ruby, and a rainbow glowing like an emerald encircled his throne” (Revelation 4:2-3 TLB).
He goes on to say, “From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder” (Revelation 4:5 NLT).
What an awesome sight to behold! The thing that strikes me most about this scene in heaven’s throne room is that God himself remains utterly indescribable! Literally. John doesn’t even attempt to describe the One sitting on the throne of heaven. Instead, John describes the lights and sounds encircling Him and emanating from Him. But the One seated upon the throne defies and transcends description. The human tongue is no more adequate to describe the majesty and magnificence of God than the human mind is to comprehend it.
But as John stares into the splendor of God, he sees a rainbow of light dancing around like glittering gemstones. This imagery conveys the awe-inspiring glory, grandeur and greatness of God. The flashes of lightning and peals of thunder illustrate the unbridled, unrivalled power of God. As song writer, Rich Mullins, once put it, “There’s thunder in His footsteps and lightning in his fists.”
But perhaps the most significant sight here is the throne itself. The throne itself symbolizes God’s absolute authority. For first-century readers the most powerful throne in the world would have been Caesar’s throne. Caesar sat on the most glorious throne in the known world, from which he wielded seemingly limitless power. He commanded the armies of Rome and controlled over half the wealth of the empire.
But his glory, wealth and power paled in comparison to the Sovereign God of the universe. Compared to the throne of God, Caesar’s throne was a rickety bench fit only for the garbage dump. Next to the glory of God, the splendor of Rome was tissue and tinsel. Against the power of God, the mighty Roman army was an insect waiting to be squashed. This vision cemented in John’s mind the reality that despite appearances to the contrary, God is still on His throne! God, and God alone is the Sovereign ruler of the universe.
The same is still true today.
It may not always feel like it. When we look around us and see tragedy, tribulation or tornados we may question God’s sovereignty. Like John, we need a fresh perspective. Rather than look around us, we need to look above us and rest assured that the God who commands the cosmos is still on His throne!
While the Sovereign alone sits upon the throne, He isn’t alone in the throne room. In addition to the Sovereign, John also sees the Spirit.
• THE SPIRIT
As John’s vision continues, he writes, “And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God” (Revelation 4:5 NLT). I love it when Revelation explains itself, don’t you?
First, John tells us what he sees—seven torches with burning flames. Then he tells us what the torches represent—the sevenfold Spirit of God. Now, the Spirit of God is, of course, another name for the Holy Spirit. John also mentions the “sevenfold Spirit” in the opening of the letter, identifying Him as a co-author of this vision along with Jesus and God the Father (Revelation 1:4). Since there is only one other Person who could complete that Trinity, the sevenfold Spirit undoubtedly refers to the Holy Spirit.
But why refer to the Holy Spirit as the sevenfold Spirit? Well, as we’ll see throughout Revelation, numbers often have symbolic significance. The number seven itself is a recurring theme. Throughout the vision, John sees seven lamps, seven stars, seven seals, seven horns, seven eyes, seven trumpets, seven thunders, seven heads, seven crowns, seven hills, seven plagues, seven bowls, and seven kings! Not to mention the seven churches to whom this letter is addressed.
When used symbolically, the number seven generally refers to fullness or completeness. So, it may be that describing the Holy Spirit as a sevenfold Spirit indicates His fullness and perfection. It could also be a reference to the Spirit’s ability to be in multiple places at once. Even though the seven churches, represented by seven lampstands, were separated by many miles the same Spirit, represented by seven lamps, is present with each of them—hence, a sevenfold Spirit. It may even be an allusion to Isaiah 11:2, where Isaiah describes the sevenfold ministry of the Spirit.
Whatever the meaning of the sevenfold descriptor, what’s more important is the symbolism of the torches or lamps (depending on the translation). The Holy Spirit is often associated with fire. John the Baptist promised that Jesus would baptize “with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11). When the Holy Spirit began His ministry of indwelling the early church, He appeared as “tongues of fire” resting on each of the believers (Acts 2).
Fire is a wonderful picture of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit is like a fire in at least three ways: First, like a fire the Holy Spirit provides light or illumination through the Word. Furthermore, the Holy Spirit creates the burning passion of God in our hearts. Finally, the Holy Spirit produces the purity of God in our lives as His fire cleanses and refines us. The Spirit worked in each of these ways in the seven churches to whom John wrote, just as He does for us.
So thus far, heaven’s throne room is filled by the Sovereign and the Spirit—both facets of God himself. But there’s more. Additionally, John see the saints.
• THE SAINTS
As John’s vision pans backward, we get a wider view of the room. He writes, “Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads” (Revelation 4:4 NIV).
While the exact identity of these twenty-four elders continues to confuse commentators, I believe we find some very telling clues in these two short verses.
First, we notice that these elders occupy twenty-four thrones of their own within God’s throne room. Earlier, Jesus told the church in Laodicea, “Those who are victorious will sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:21 NLT).
Furthermore, these twenty-four elders are clad all in white. Again, Jesus just told the church in Sardis, “All who are victorious will be clothed in white” (Revelation 3:5 NLT).
Finally, upon the heads of the twenty-four elders sat golden crowns. Jesus just told the church in Smyrna, “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10 NIV). In both passages, the word translated crown here is not a crown of royalty (diadem), but a crown of victory (stephanos). It refers to wreaths placed on the heads of victors in the Olympic games.
So most likely, these twenty-four elders represent believers—victorious saints who remain faithful until death. But why the number twenty-four?
In the last chapter of Revelation, John mentions both the twelve tribes of Israel (representative of God’s people in the Old Testament) and the twelve apostles (representative of God’s people in the New Testament). Twelve and twelve equal twenty-four, which suggests that the twenty-four elders represented all the saints from both the new and old covenant.
What’s more intriguing than the identity of the twenty-four elders, is the activity of the twenty-four elders. A few verses later, John sees, “the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne” (Revelation 4:10 NLT). Even though these saints have thrones and crowns of their own, they step down from their thrones, fall face down in worship, and lay their crowns before God.
These saints recognized that they owe their victory and their place in heaven to God. All the credit, all the applause and accolades belong to One sitting on the throne. The same is true for all of us. When we finally stand before the throne of God and we’re ushered into the winner’s circle, we won’t be standing there because of how good or great we are, but because of how good and great God is! Our victory will be His victory! We’ll spend the rest of eternity singing God’s praises.
We won’t be the only ones singing, however. As John’s vision continues, the last sight he describes in heaven’s throne room is the singers.
• THE SINGERS
The strangest part of John’s heavenly vision is undoubtedly the four living creatures. He writes: “In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out” (Revelation 4:6-8 NLT). Now this is bizzare stuff, right?
What are we to make of these otherworldly creatures? Well, thankfully, this isn’t the first time these creatures appear in Scripture. Although the descriptions vary slightly, both Isaiah (Isaiah 6) and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1, 10) experienced apocalyptic visions of these same creatures.
In Ezekiel’s vision they are specifically identified as cherubim (or cherubs). Cherubim, who incidentally look nothing like the little naked baby angels we’ve come to associate with that word, are mentioned several times in Scripture. For instance, the Bible says “God stationed mighty cherubim” to guard the eastern edge of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24). Images of cherubim decorated the interior of the Temple and the Ark of the Covenant. These cherubim are supernatural creatures. And just as with John’s vision of Jesus in chapter one, his vision of these cherubim doesn’t tell us what they look like, but rather what they are like.
The “eyes all around” indicate complete knowledge—they could perceive and understand everything that was happening. Their many faces imply that they are as fierce as a lion, strong as an ox, as fast and free as eagles, and as capable and complex as a person. But it’s the role they play in heaven’s throne room that captures John’s attention. He writes: “Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty—the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come’” (Revelation 4:8 NLT).
Night and day, the four living beings never stop singing of God’s holiness. The repetition of the word three times—holy, holy, holy—is like highlighting, underlining and writing it in all caps: GOD IS HOLY!
God’s holiness is what separates Him from all other beings, what makes Him separate and distinct from everything else. God’s holiness is more than just His perfection or sinless purity; it is the essence of His “other-ness,” His transcendence. God is wholly unlike us. Pain does not plague him. The economy does not faze him. Elections do not define him. Diseases do not infect him. Death cannot claim him. God’s holiness embodies the mystery of His awesomeness and causes us to gaze in wonder at Him as we begin to comprehend just a little of His majesty.
Night and day, the cherubim shine a spotlight on the holiness of God, reminding all creation that He isn’t just a holy God, but holy, holy, holy God.
Conclusion:
So what’s the point? What do we learn from this heavenly vision? Well, take a moment to imagine this scene from John’s perspective. As John steps through this doorway to heaven, the magic and majesty of the vision exceeded anything he could have imagined. At center stage stood a massive throne, the seat of absolute authority. All the dazzling colors of the rainbow pulsated from the throne. An ominous rumbling of thunder and jagged flashes of lightning came from the throne. Then the seven torches suddenly flared up at the foot of the throne. Even at a distance John could feel the heat on his face. Aged men—white-robed and golden-crowned—sat upon a ring of smaller thrones surrounding the center. Their craggy faces bathed in the celestial radiance. Four fantastic beasts, both beautiful and grotesque, circled the room praising the One sitting on the throne. Their song filled John’s soul and resonated within his heart: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, Almighty!”
Every detail of this scene—the Sovereign, the Spirit, the Saints, and the Singers—emphasizes and enhances one central theme. The primary purpose of this vision, for John as well as for us, is to impress upon each person’s heart and mind the majesty and magnificence of God.
The early church faced dire threats and difficult times, but their earthly struggles disappeared in the light of God’s splendor. Hymnist Helen Lemmel said it well, when she wrote: “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in his wonderful face, and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.”
Next week, we’ll continue our adventure through Revelation.
Invitation:
In the meantime, whatever difficulties or disasters you might be facing—rest assured that the God of glory and greatness, of majesty and magnificence, of thunder and lightning, of hallelujahs and holiness is still on His throne. And He invites you to come into His presence and join in the wonder and worship.
If you need some help or guidance with that you can talk to me after church, call me at home, or come forward now, while we stand and sing. Let’s sing!
