Revelation 4 – The Heavenly Throne
In our studies of Revelation so far we saw that John wrote to the 7 churches as directed by Jesus. He was told to write the things he saw, what is now, and what will take place later. The letters to the churches are what is now. Now John is shown the heavenly throne in Revelation 4. This is the start of visions shown to John starting with a description of heaven, including the throne, elders, creatures, and what they are doing.
John was given an invitation regarding the open door. He heard a voice calling him to come up to heaven so he could be shown what will take place next. John enters heaven and was in the Spirit - meaning he was in a vision. He described what he saw. John saw God sitting on His heavenly throne. God is the King of all kings and is the One with all power. He is the One who controls all of history in heaven and on earth. He has the end of history planned and He shows John what will happen.
The throne is in the center of heaven and all of heaven looked to the throne and all worshiped God. God seems to not have a physical body, but one as a bright light shining through precious stones, which showed His glory. Before the throne he described the floor of God’s throne room as a sea of glass. (Rev. 4:1-3) This was only John’s impression as he was probably unable to really find words to describe what he saw. Can you image? I don’t think we could describe it either. I am sure he was in awe of God’s glory.
In these first verses we can see the Trinity. I see the door as being Jesus, the One on the throne of course as God and the 7 lamps of fire as the Holy Spirit.
Around the throne were 24 elders on 24 thrones. These are heavenly beings who serve and worship God. Some say these are the 12 patriarchs of Israel (the 12 sons of Jacob) and the 12 disciples of Jesus, but we really don’t know exactly who they are. They wore white clothes and crowns. I believe the white clothes mean that are clean from any sin and symbolized their purity and victory in Christ. Their crowns show they are royalty. (Rev. 4:4) All believers are promised white garment of righteousness and crowns of royalty.
There was lightning and thunder indicating the power of God. This is the sound of God’s judgment. God is beautiful yet terrifying at the same time. There were 7 lamps of fire which represent the Holy Spirit. He appears as fire in other places in the Bible. The number 7 means perfection or completeness. (Rev. 4:5-6a).
Other prophets received a vision of heaven:
In the center around the throne were 4 living creatures - a lion, an ox, one with a face one like a man, and an eagle. They were possibly located in four directions: north, east, south, and west. This shows that they were strong like a lion, full of power like an ox, wise like a wise man, and fast like a flying eagle. Each had eyes in front and back and 6 wings. The eyes could mean they could see everything. Nothing was hidden from them. The wings could mean they had speed when obeying God. These creatures represent the entire created order of animals and mankind. The creatures constantly praised and gave glory, honor and thanks to the Lord saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” – Rev. 4:6b-8 They express praises of the holy, powerful, and eternal nature of God.
What do these words really mean?
What is means to give praise to God is we lift Him up. We appreciate what He has done. We acknowledge how wonderful and worthy He is. We worship by acknowledging Him, by worshipping, by our gratitude, by recognizing and submitting to His authority, by repenting of sin and following His Word. He is the object of true worship in heaven and it should be here on earth for us as well. He is worthy of our worship.
When the creatures praised God, the elders would fall down before the throne and worship the Lord, because He is the supreme Ruler, the King of Kings and Creator of all things. They lay their crowns before the throne. This is an act of honor and respectfully acknowledges God is the source and authority over everything we have. He is the giver of every gift. Crowns will be given to the faithful and we will lay our crowns at His feet, because all our rewards come from Him. No one else, not any king or anyone is worthy of such honor and praise as God. The job of these elders was to solely give praises to God. “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.” – Rev. 4:11.
Can you image standing before the throne a seeing and worshiping the one true living God? One day we will be right there in heaven before His throne. Oh, what a day of glorious worship that will be! Wait until you see Him! We will be like the elders and creatures and never tire of giving Him praise. That will be our job to worship Him.
Principle: Our Creator God is worthy of all honor, glory and worship.
Next week we will study Revelation 5 where John’s vision continues. – I encourage you to trust in Jesus.
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