Our passage today is highly symbolic as we take a look at four living creatures which John says were before the throne. John uses the Greek word "zoon" to describe them. This word simply means "living creatures" but it is generally understood to mean living creatures other than humans. It is often translated as "animals" and you'll recognize our modern word of "zoo" contained in the Greek word John uses.
Before he tells us about these creatures, he says: "From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal." (Revelation 4:5-6a) John is doing his best to describe everything he sees and hears. He doesn't understand everything he sees and hears, which is why we sometimes have to speculate on what these things may mean.
Why is there lightning and thunder around the throne? If we look back at the book of Exodus, when the Lord gave the law to the people of Israel, a similar thing happened at Mount Sinai. When the people assembled for God to speak to them, the Bible tells us, "On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled." (Exodus 19:16) The people trembled in awe and reverent fear. This display of God's might was probably intended to help them understand the seriousness of obeying His laws for holy and righteous living. It also helped them to understand the seriousness of breaking His laws.
Earlier in our study we talked about how the number seven symbolizes perfection and completeness, and that the "seven spirits" may represent the Holy Spirit in all the duties He performs.
I have not been able to come to any firm conclusions about the meaning of the sea of glass in front of the throne. I've consulted many commentaries and books and articles about it and am no closer to an answer. In 2 Chronicles 4 we find a "bronze sea" being constructed for the temple. It was a large basin for the priests to wash in before performing their duties in the temple. In that sense, the sea of glass before the throne of God may represent the cleansing that is necessary to enter into His presence. There's one other explanation, of all the theories I came across, that I'm particularly fond of. The prophet Micah foresaw a day in which our sins would be forgotten, and he said to the Lord: "You will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." (Micah 7:19) Perhaps the sea before the throne is where all our sins have been hurled, never to be seen again. Through our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we have been washed clean of our sins, and they've sunk to the bottom of the sea.
Now we take a look at the four living creatures who may seem quite bizarre to us at first. "In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back." (Revelation 4:6b) Do they literally have eyes all over them or is this meant to be taken symbolically like the sword John saw coming out of Jesus' mouth in Revelation 1? I tend to think the eyes are symbolic and that they mean these four creatures see everything that's going on at all times. We use similar symbolism today when we refer to someone who always knows what's going on as "having eyes in the back of their head". Whatever these creatures are, they don't miss a thing. They may symbolize the omniscience of God, from whom nothing is hidden.
John doesn't know what these creatures are called so he can't tell us what they are called. All he can do is describe for us what he sees. "The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle." (Revelation 4:7) The prophet Ezekiel apparently saw these same creatures when God appeared to him in Ezekiel 1. He said each of them had four faces; in other words, a face on each side of their head. One face was human, one was the face of a lion, one was the face of an ox, and one was the face of an eagle. When John sees these creatures, he evidently only sees whichever face is currently facing him. But what does all this mean? Do the four faces represent the four highest examples of God's creation? In the animal kingdom, the eagle was the most revered of birds. The ox was considered the strongest and hardest working of domesticated animals. The lion was regarded as the most majestic of wild animals. And of course man is the crowning glory of everything God created. So these four faces may symbolize God's eyes watching over all creation.
Some scholars speculate that the four faces represent the four gospels of Jesus Christ, for Matthew presents Him as the Lion of the tribe of Judah (the face of the lion), Mark shows Him to us as a strong and humble servant of God (the face of the ox), Luke presents Him to us as the perfect man (the face of the man), and John's gospel lifts Him up to the sky as the Word of God who came from heaven (the face of the eagle).
We aren't going to solve this mystery today, but what we do know is that these four living creatures serve Almighty God and give glory to Him. Their appearance (whether literal or symbolic) is quite strange but we need not be put off by that. These are creatures our Lord created and they do the things He created them to do, and that should be good enough for us. "Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.'" (Revelation 4:8)
The prophet Isaiah had a vision of the Lord while he was praying in the temple, and he saw creatures with Him which he referred to as seraphim. Each of them had six wings and he tells us they were calling to each other, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of His glory." (Isaiah 6:1-3) I think John, Ezekiel, and Isaiah all saw the same creatures around the throne of God. Right after Isaiah saw these things in his vision, he was commissioned by God to take a message to the people. Right after Ezekiel saw these things in his vision, he was given a scroll containing a message of God for the people. Right after John sees these things in his vision, in Chapter 5 he will see a scroll given to the Lord Jesus Christ, and this scroll contains a message John is to pass along. So it would seem that whenever the four living creatures are involved, a message is about to follow. This message contained in the scroll of Revelation is about the Great Tribulation, and as Christ opens each of the seven seals on the scroll, something happens. This is where the action is really going to pick up in Revelation, for the first four seals unleash what is known as the "four horsemen of the apocalypse". The fifth seal deals with the martyrdom of some who come to Christ during the Great Tribulation. The sixth seal brings on a dreadful massive earthquake. The seventh seal causes what may be a giant asteroid to hit the earth.
Keep in mind that we---the church---will be in heaven when the time comes for those seals to be opened. We will be viewing these things from heaven just as John does in his vision. Also keep in mind that the things that take place on earth will not be puzzling in the way that the identity of the twenty-four elders was yesterday and the way that the four living creatures was today. John does the best he can to explain to us what he sees in heaven, but those things are beyond human ability to explain. We will have to see them for ourselves. But it will be far easier for him to understand and explain the things he's going to see taking place on the earth.
For now, all we need to know is that whatever these four living creatures are, they perform important duties for the Lord. We don't need to be afraid of them because of the strange symbolism related to them. The same loving God who created you and me, who created the dogs and cats, who created the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, created these beings too. They love and serve Him. We know they do because they give Him glory, saying, "Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty." They set an example for us, for we too should give Him glory.
Today I'm posting a link below to a song that was written about the chapter we're studying. It's one of my favorite songs and I hope you'll like it too.
Revelation Song
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