Revelation 4 :The throne

Hope after Hope Before Hope / Revelation 3

Revelation 4:1 ESV

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

• Revelation has taken the form of a letter that now shifts into a different gear. And here we see God in His fulness. His brilliance. And all of creation is paying attention to Him. All of Creation is looking to Him.

• This is the revelation of our spiritual reality.

• All of creation is groaning. It is waiting and anticipating. Because of this. Because this is the reality.

• God is all and is in all.

There are four basic ways we can look at revelation

Historist. This is a classical view of revelation. Fulfillment has been unfolding into present and future. It spans time

Preterist. Everything has already happened

Futurist Everything ch 4 and beyond has not yet happened

Idealist .Fulfillment is found as transcendent reality and is applicable in any age. It is a spiritual fulfillment and is representative of various historical events.

The Fullness of God

Revelation 4:2–6 ESV

At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:

Daniel 7:9–10 ESV

“As I looked,

thrones were placed,

and the Ancient of Days took his seat;

his clothing was white as snow,

and the hair of his head like pure wool;

his throne was fiery flames;

its wheels were burning fire.

A stream of fire issued

and came out from before him;

a thousand thousands served him,

and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him;

the court sat in judgment,

and the books were opened.

There is similarity and consistency. But this image is using language and metaphor to show just how incredible God’s throne, the place where He dwells is.

Gods goodness crashes into the fullness of creation. Look at how the verse continues

The fullness of creation

Revelation 4:6–8 ESV

and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!”

• We see that in the Scriptures all creation groans. All creation is bent to worship God.

Psalm 19:1–6 ESV

The heavens declare the glory of God,

and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

Day to day pours out speech,

and night to night reveals knowledge.

There is no speech, nor are there words,

whose voice is not heard.

Their voice goes out through all the earth,

and their words to the end of the world.

In them he has set a tent for the sun,

which comes out like a bridegroom leaving his chamber,

and, like a strong man, runs its course with joy.

Its rising is from the end of the heavens,

and its circuit to the end of them,

and there is nothing hidden from its heat.

Fully Given over to God

Revelation 4:8–11 ESV

And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say,

“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,

who was and is and is to come!”

And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,

to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

and by your will they existed and were created.”

What Revelation 4 tells us is that God both deserves and will receive our attention. He knocks on our door, ch 3. He invites us up to see, ch 4. And He shows us who He really is.

Something this week will demand your attention.

Something this week will stick out at you like asphalt in the face.

This chapter reminds us there are bigger things in play. That we are invited into it. To remember that God is the only real one who deserves our attention.