“Come up and see, and I will show you things to come.”
Jesus extended this invitation to John the Apostle in Revelation 4. At once, he went in the Spirit through the open door and into the place of majesty.
The scene before John reflected the sovereignty of the Almighty. All was honor and glory and fullness.
Revelation began with the Lord confirming the triumph of the Finished Work of the Lamb of God. John celebrated the cleansing power of the Blood to release us from the stain of sin. He fell before the Son when he saw Him. Awed by the Presence, John could only put his face to the ground. And then Jesus touched him and lifted him.
The encounter represented the personal relationship Jesus establishes with each of His sheep. He proceeded to give John words and a mission to communicate those words to the particular churches and their leaders.
Judgment indeed begins at the house of God. These congregations were family to the Lord, and as the good, good Father, He took note of areas worthy of commendation as well as those things in need of correction in each assembly. He gave directions and charged them to turn to the way of Truth.
Now, in Revelation 4, John gets taken higher. Up and up he went to bask in glimpses of the Lord in authority over Creation. In Revelation 5, the Apostle will begin to witness the scope of the Son’s position over human history and its ultimate outcome. John’s experience fulfilled what was written in Psalm 119:96: “I have seen the end of all perfection.”
Emerald Expression
Consider the Throne of Heaven as John expressed it in Revelation 4. One sat upon the seat over Creation. Only One — God the Son — and His appearance was full of sparkling and radiant spectacle. A rainbow enveloped the place with its emerald hue, the bright green, emphasized. The saying goes that someone can be green with envy. But in the economy of God, green symbolizes renewal, restoration, and resurrection.
Autumn brings falling leaves and their hues of brown and yellow and red as the decay takes its toll. Winter sends cold. Snows fall. The world gets iced over.
With Spring comes the thaw. Warmth softens the soil. The Easter lily blossoms and trees and fields come alive again. Green with freshness, our landscapes and vistas shout the arrival of a new beginning.
That’s what John is being shown – a New Creation is coming. The world has been entrapped in death. The wages of sin have exacted their tolls over and over and over. The ruler of darkness, the liar and the prince of the power of the air has had his way. His time is short, however.
The Son’s Day approaches. Ultimate reality is communicated in the vividness of these visions brought before John. The Lord reigns.
The Community
Portrayed for John is the community of Heaven and its unity with the earth. Unlike the individualistic, self-oriented, destructive nature of this world’s cosmic system, the Lord shares His government. Note that 24 “elders” are situated around the Throne. They are robed in white, crowned with gold.
Who are these attendants? The testimony concerning their garments and the crowns indicate that they are representative believers who worship the Lamb. No Scripture identifies them. They discern the sense of attitude proceeding from the One on the Throne. They sit in counsel, ruling and reigning with the Son, their presence is a precursor of how His saints shall rule with Christ in a glorious era to come to earth.
Thunders and lightnings and voices are heard. Lamps — seven of them — are seen. These torches are like the tongues of fire seen in Acts 2. These fires represent the manifold nature of the Holy Spirit whom Christ sent to live in those who come to Him. Isaiah 11:2 gives some definition of His sevenfold nature: “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on him—the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD.”
Seven is the number of wholeness and completion in the Bible, and the Spirit evidenced the Finished Work of redemption in coming to fill the disciples of Jesus. Revelation 5:4 refers to the seven “eyes” of God in another reference to the Spirit. This reflects the omniscience and omnipresence of this Person of the Godhead.
For John, these visions indicate the authority of Heaven in the spirit realm. Satan may have a grip on power in the atmosphere he stimulates with worldliness, but above it all sits the Lamb of God on His Throne.
Four Creatures and the Crystal Sea
Also, we read of beasts bearing different faces. The imagery is similar to what we read in Ezekiel chapter 1. One beast has the face of a lion, another, the face of an ox, the third, the face of a man, and the fourth, a face of an eagle.
In keeping with what the Lord is revealing to His Apostle, these beings represent the Lord’s sovereignty and His power among all things that have the breath of life in them. The lion points to animals in the wild as the ox speaks of domesticated beasts. The eagle represents the fowl of the air. And then there is man, the one made in God’s image to exercise dominion.
These beings possess six wings to designate their representative status, similar to how military rank is demonstrated. This picture would have been commonly understood given the attire worn by the Roman soldiers throughout the region where John and the churches lived. Also, the four creatures were said to be “full of eyes” — they perceived the things going on in their realms of representation.
God’s Throne is in command of Creation, every part of it. He is in charge and His purposes continue.
What else did John observe before the Throne? A sea of glass with the appearance of crystal.
To the ancient mindset, the image of the sea stirred fear. Dark and stormy, with waves and forceful currents, the waters were most often spoken of as signifying chaos and impending doom.
In Heaven, the sea is clear and still, firm in its form. John once witnessed Jesus awakened from sleep during a turbulent and raging storm on Galilee’s waters. The disciples were sure their boat was about sink to the bottom. Terrified, they cried out to Jesus. With calm, the Son stood and spoke to the air: “Be muzzled” (see Mark 4:39). At His word, the wind and the waves fell silent and calm.
Before the Throne, no chaos exists. All is in order and under full control.
Harmony and Worship
Taken together this scene is punctuated for John with music. The sounds of worship are heard from the elders and from the beasts. Their songs are ones the Lord wanted John to teach the believers to sing as they faced seasons of trial. The rest of the letter that is the Revelation to John will graphically inform the Jesus followers of the troubles destined to come.
The message we must take from Revelation is this one: the Lord reigns in majesty. Hold fast to this Truth in spite of human circumstances. The Lamb who was slain is alive forevermore and we are His people. Seated above, He ever intercedes for us.
Heaven knows. Heaven sees. Heaven sings.
And so should we lift our voices in praise to Him:
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”
“You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You have created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.”