Up to now John’s vision has all been here on earth. At this point Jesus calls to John, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this,” and John sees the throne room of God.
The first thing John sees is God’s throne, “and the one sitting on the throne.” He is dazzling and glorious, with a penumbra of rainbow around him. The only thing John can use to describe His glory is that of jewels and light. Lightning and thunder, power and majesty, shone forth.
Then, around God’s throne, there are twenty-four other thrones with “elders” wearing golden crowns. These twenty-four represent the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of Jesus (which is a little strange because one of the actual apostles is standing right there). Jesus has promised the disciples that they would sit on thrones when he sits on His own throne in Matthew19:28, pointing ahead to heaven. The golden crowns make us think of Revelation 2:10 and the crown of life. This is symbolic of the whole people of God sitting before God’s throne in majesty.
There are seven torches of fire, “which are the seven spirits of God.” Seven is considered the perfect number in the Bible, it is God’s number. This is a physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit so that we have Father and Spirit on the scene, and we are preparing for the Son in chapter 5.
There is also a sea of glass. The sea was symbolically where God’s enemies were in the Old Testament. Moments of salvation are connected with water. He defeated the Egyptians and their gods at the Red Sea by parting it. He stopped the flows of the Jordan when the Israelites entered the Promised Land. As we go through the Revelation God’s enemies will arise from the sea. Here we see it tame, calm, under God’s reign.
Then there are the four living creatures. These bizarre (to us) creatures are angels. They are watchers who continuously are worshipping and praising God. We might have caught a glimpse of these creatures in Ezekiel 1:18-21, and perhaps in Isaiah’s vision in the temple, too. They face is four directions at once and their faces have come to be used to symbolize the four gospels; Matthew the Man, Mark the Lion, Luke the Ox, and John the Eagle.
Notice that their praise is a repeated, “Holy!” Three times they say it, just as the angels in Isaiah 6 did. This is one, “Holy!” for each person of the Trinity. And they declare God to be the one, “who was and is and is to come,” describing him outside of time, eternal, without beginning and without end.
In response to this the elders fall before the throne, casting their crowns in honor of God before His throne, to worship him.
Here their worship is rooted in creation, what we would call the First Article, as it relates to the Apostles’ Creed. We remember that God has made us and all things, sustains us, and that he did that purely out of fatherly, divine, goodness and mercy for us. It is right for us to thank, praise, serve and obey God in response to that, and to cast our crowns before him in worship.
Father in Heaven, thank you for creating all things. Sometimes I act like my material blessings are mine. Help me to remember that you made them and entrusted them to me, and let me worship you because of the love that moved you to give me life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
The first thing John sees is God’s throne, “and the one sitting on the throne.” He is dazzling and glorious, with a penumbra of rainbow around him. The only thing John can use to describe His glory is that of jewels and light. Lightning and thunder, power and majesty, shone forth.
Then, around God’s throne, there are twenty-four other thrones with “elders” wearing golden crowns. These twenty-four represent the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles of Jesus (which is a little strange because one of the actual apostles is standing right there). Jesus has promised the disciples that they would sit on thrones when he sits on His own throne in Matthew19:28, pointing ahead to heaven. The golden crowns make us think of Revelation 2:10 and the crown of life. This is symbolic of the whole people of God sitting before God’s throne in majesty.
There are seven torches of fire, “which are the seven spirits of God.” Seven is considered the perfect number in the Bible, it is God’s number. This is a physical manifestation of the Holy Spirit so that we have Father and Spirit on the scene, and we are preparing for the Son in chapter 5.
There is also a sea of glass. The sea was symbolically where God’s enemies were in the Old Testament. Moments of salvation are connected with water. He defeated the Egyptians and their gods at the Red Sea by parting it. He stopped the flows of the Jordan when the Israelites entered the Promised Land. As we go through the Revelation God’s enemies will arise from the sea. Here we see it tame, calm, under God’s reign.
Then there are the four living creatures. These bizarre (to us) creatures are angels. They are watchers who continuously are worshipping and praising God. We might have caught a glimpse of these creatures in Ezekiel 1:18-21, and perhaps in Isaiah’s vision in the temple, too. They face is four directions at once and their faces have come to be used to symbolize the four gospels; Matthew the Man, Mark the Lion, Luke the Ox, and John the Eagle.
Notice that their praise is a repeated, “Holy!” Three times they say it, just as the angels in Isaiah 6 did. This is one, “Holy!” for each person of the Trinity. And they declare God to be the one, “who was and is and is to come,” describing him outside of time, eternal, without beginning and without end.
In response to this the elders fall before the throne, casting their crowns in honor of God before His throne, to worship him.
Here their worship is rooted in creation, what we would call the First Article, as it relates to the Apostles’ Creed. We remember that God has made us and all things, sustains us, and that he did that purely out of fatherly, divine, goodness and mercy for us. It is right for us to thank, praise, serve and obey God in response to that, and to cast our crowns before him in worship.
Father in Heaven, thank you for creating all things. Sometimes I act like my material blessings are mine. Help me to remember that you made them and entrusted them to me, and let me worship you because of the love that moved you to give me life. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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