Revelation Chapter 4, Part 4 - The Objects Before the Throne

And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”

Revelation 4:5b-11 (NASB)

This section continues to describe what John saw in the throne room of heaven, and here he is going to tell us in detail the things he saw before the throne. He begins by telling us that he saw “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne” and immediately he tells us that these lamps “are the seven Spirits of God.” As we already saw when we studied chapter one, this is a reference to Isaiah 11:2 and is a picture of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Isaiah 11:2 (NASB)

Next, John tells us that there is something like a sea of glass, like crystal, in front of the throne. It must be noted here that this sea is metaphorical and symbolic since, as we will see in Revelation 21:1, there is no sea in heaven. So what is it that John is describing here? J. Vernon McGee writes, "This sea represents the holiness and righteousness of God.” Then he adds:

This placid sea indicates the position of rest to which the church has come. No longer is she the victim of the storms of life. No longer is she out there on the tossing sea.1

In the book of Hebrews we are told that when Moses was given the plans to build the earthly tabernacle he was to follow these plans explicitly because the tabernacle that he was to build corresponded to on in heaven; that it was to be a copy of heavenly things (see Hebrews 8:5 & 9:24). The sea of glass that we are seeing here may very well be the picture that God was painting in the tabernacle with the bronze laver. The bronze laver was also referred to as the bronze sea and it was used for ceremonial washing by the priests of Israel (2 Chronicles 4:6); before they could serve the Lord they had to purify themselves in this water, which they called a sea.

Now before the throne of God we see a sea of glass, or crystal, and we cannot help but make the connection to the symbolism of the Old Testament tabernacle.

But there is one more possibility that I want you to consider: in the book of Micah there is another verse that mentions a sea, which might very well be connected to what we are reading here in Revelation chapter four.

He will again have compassion on us; He will tread our iniquities under foot. Yes, You will cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.

Micah 7:19 (NASB)

This verse teaches us that God, when He forgives our sins, casts them into the depths of the sea. Just like the priests of the Old Testament left their sins at the brazen laver before they entered the presence of God, our sins too will be “cast into the sea” and that sea may very well be before the throne of God.

Now John tells us that in addition to everything else he has already seen, he saw four living creatures. He calls them “living creatures” because he doesn’t know what else to call them; these beings are not like anything that we have ever seen on earth. John describes them like this; he says they were full of eyes in front and behind; they each had six wings, which were also covered with eyes. He tells us that one creature had a face like a lion, one like a calf, one like a man, and one like an eagle. And he tells us that day and night they never cease offering praise to God.

So who are these creatures? Ezekiel tells us in Ezekiel 10:15 that they are Cherubim; in this verse he writes:

Then the cherubim rose up. They are the living beings that I saw by the river Chebar.

Ezekiel 10:15(NASB)

In this verse Ezekiel says that the creatures he saw by the river Chebar are Cherubim, so let’s go with Ezekiel to the river Chebar and see what he saw there:

Now it came about in the thirtieth year, on the fifth day of the fourth month, while I was by the river Chebar among the exiles, the heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.

Ezekiel 1:1 (NASB)

In verse one Ezekiel lets us know that he was by the river Chebar and the heavens were opened and he saw visions of God. So far this sounds very much like what John is experiencing here in Revelation chapter 4. Ezekiel continues:

As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north, a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually and a bright light around it, and in its midst something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire. Within it there were figures resembling four living beings. And this was their appearance: they had human form. Each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf’s hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze. Under their wings on their four sides were human hands. As for the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another; their faces did not turn when they moved, each went straight forward. As for the form of their faces, each had the face of a man; all four had the face of a lion on the right and the face of a bull on the left, and all four had the face of an eagle. Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above; each had two touching another being, and two covering their bodies. And each went straight forward; wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go, without turning as they went In the midst of the living beings there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing from the fire. And the living beings ran to and fro like bolts of lightning.

Now as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings, for each of the four of them. The appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form, their appearance and workmanship being as if one wheel were within another. Whenever they moved, they moved in any of their four directions without turning as they moved. As for their rims they were lofty and awesome, and the rims of all four of them were full of eyes round about. Whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. Whenever those went, these went; and whenever those stood still, these stood still. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose close beside them; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

Now over the heads of the living beings there was something like an expanse, like the awesome gleam of crystal, spread out over their heads. Under the expanse their wings were stretched out straight, one toward the other; each one also had two wings covering its body on the one side and on the other. I also heard the sound of their wings like the sound of abundant waters as they went, like the voice of the Almighty, a sound of tumult like the sound of an army camp; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings. And there came a voice from above the expanse that was over their heads; whenever they stood still, they dropped their wings.

Now above the expanse that was over their heads there was something resembling a throne, like lapis lazuli in appearance; and on that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man. Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking.

Ezekiel 1:4-28 (NASB)

This is a rather lengthy passage, but what we have here is a clear parallel to what John is seeing in Revelation. John MacArthur writes:

Ezekiel’s description appears incomprehensible, almost incoherent, as he struggled to make sense out of the spectacular, supernatural scene that he witnessed.2

This must have been what John was feeling too as he witnessed the scene that he is describing here in Revelation four.

As we have already noted, Ezekiel tells us that these beings are Cherubim. We get a similar picture from Isaiah, when he says in chapter six:

In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

Isaiah 6:1-2 (NASB)

Though not nearly as detailed as the accounts of Ezekiel or of John we do get the idea that Isaiah may have been seeing the same beings, although Isaiah calls them Seraphim. If these are not the same beings they are similar in appearance and function. So, what is the function, or job, of a Cherub? Nelson’s New Illustrated Bible Dictionary says that the Cherubim “served the purpose of magnifying the holiness and power of God.” It then adds:

In addition to singing God’s praises, they also served as a visible reminder of the majesty and glory of God and His abiding presence with His people.3

From this we can conclude that the job of a Cherub is to guard the holiness of God and to offer continual praise to Him. This is what we are seeing here in Revelation chapter four, and this is what we see throughout Scripture.

Again we only have to look to the instructions that Moses was given for the tabernacle and its furnishings to see this truth illustrated. In Exodus twenty-five Moses was instructed to make an ark, which we know today as the Ark of the Covenant. He was told that this ark was to have a lid, called the mercy seat, and he was to make two Cherubim, one to be placed at each end of the mercy seat:

“You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat.”

Exodus 25:18-20 (NASB)

As we can see by comparing these verses in Exodus with the passage we are studying in Revelation, the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant was a perfect picture of the actual throne of God. It was here, between the Cherubim, that God told Moses that He would meet with him, and here in Revelation we see that God’s throne is surrounded by these four living creatures, who as we have just seen, are Cherubim.

Let’s look now at how John describes these creatures. First of all he uses the Greek word zó̄a, to refer to these creatures. This word, which is the word from which we get our word zoo actually means, “a living being”4 is quite different from the Greek word thēríon, which refers to, “A wild beast.”5 When we encounter the antichrist later in this book, and he is referred to as the “beast” it is the word thēríon, but these are not wild beasts, they are highly intelligent beings whose whole purpose for existence is to offer praise and worship to God.

Now as we move into verse seven John tells us that the first creature was like a lion, the second was like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. Continuing in verse eight he says that each of the four living creatures have six wings and that they are full of eyes around and within. Again we see a similarity here to the visions of Ezekiel and Isaiah, which we have just looked at.

One of the main differences between the vision of Ezekiel and the vision of John is that John tells us that each of the four living creatures had a face like a lion, a calf, a man, or and eagle while Ezekiel tells us that each of the creatures had all four of these faces. Also, In Ezekiel’s vision the living creatures only had four wings and here in Revelation, as well as in Isaiah they had six. This has lead some to believe that these were different creatures, and that is possible, but it could also be that the visions were just so incredible and awesome that as they struggled to put them into words a human could understand they were emphasizing different things. Whether they are the same creatures or not there is enough similarity here to at least link them in type.

The first obvious comparison between these visions is the use of the lion, calf, man, and eagle to describe their faces. There are many differing opinions on what this may mean, so let’s look at a few of these and see what we can uncover.

One possible interpretation is that these four animals represent the nation of Israel. We see in Numbers chapter two that there was a specific manner is which the tribes were to camp in relation to the tabernacle. They were, according to verse 2, to camp “each by his own standard, with the banners of their fathers’ household.” As we read on in chapter two we are given the specifics of how this was laid out: On the east side of the tabernacle, under the banner of Judah, which was a lion, were the tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun. On the south side, under the banner of Reuben, which pictured a man, were the tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad. On the west, under the banner of Ephraim, the ox (or calf) camped the tribes of Ephraim, Manasseh, and Benjamin. And on the North side, under the banner of Dan, an eagle, were the tribes of Dan, Asher, and Naphtali.

Another interpretation is that the four faces represent the whole of God’s living creation. This view points out that the lion is the king of the wild animals, the ox (calf) is the strongest of all domesticated animals, the eagle is the supreme bird, and man is the highest of all creation. David Guzik, in his commentary on Revelation writes:

There are four which have principality in this world: among intellectual creatures, man; among birds, the eagle; among cattle, the ox; and among wild beasts, the lion: each of these has a kingdom and certain magnificence, and they are placed under the throne of glory, to show that no creature is to exalt in this world, and that the kingdom of God is over all.6

Warren Wiersbe writes:

The faces of the living creatures parallel God’s statement in Genesis 9:10—His covenant is with Noah (the face of the man), the fowl (the face of the eagle), the cattle (the face of the calf), and the beasts of the earth (the face of the lion). 7

Yet another interpretation says that since the lion represents strength, the calf service, the man reason and the eagle speed, these faces could even be a picture of the attributes of God with the lion being His Omnipotence, the calf His Faithfulness, the man His Omniscience, and the Eagle His Sovereignty.

I believe; however, that the best interpretation, if these faces are in fact representative of anything, is that they are a picture of Christ as portrayed in the gospels. Let me explain, there are four gospels each written from a different perspective and each bringing out a different aspect of the person and ministry of Jesus, and each of these gospels is represented by one of these four animals. First is the gospel of Matthew, which is the most Jewish of the four gospels; Matthew presents Jesus as the King and is symbolized by the lion. Next is the Gospel of Mark, which was written to show Jesus as a servant; the symbol of Mark is the calf. The third gospel is Luke, which showcases the humanity of Jesus, and the man is the symbol here. Last is the gospel of John, symbolized by the eagle, which presents Jesus as Lord.

The last thing I want to point out about these creatures is their wings and their eyes. In verse six John tells us that they were full of eyes in front and behind, and then he mentions their eyes again in verse eight where he says that they each had six wings, full of eyes within and without. According to John MacArthur, by saying that they are full of eyes he is:

[S]ymbolizing their awareness, alertness, and comprehensive knowledge. Though they are not omniscient, nothing pertaining to their duties escapes their scrutiny.8

MacDonald and Farstad add

This speaks of clarity, breadth, and depth of vision. 9

Their six wings are a picture of their responsibility and privilege of continual worship and praise to God. In Ezekiel’s vision he only mentions four wings on each of the creatures that he saw; this does not mean that they were not the same creatures, only that from his perspective he only saw four wings, but the seraphim in Isaiah’s vision did each have six wings and he tells us:

Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.

Isaiah 6:2 (NASB)

Again, John MacArthur writes:

Four of their six wings related to worship; with two they covered their faces, since even the most exalted created beings cannot look on the unveiled glory of God without being consumed. They also used two wings to cover their feet, since they stood on holy ground. Worship is thus their privilege, calling, and permanent occupation.10

At the end of verse eight John tells us that they are continually offering worship and praise to God; the verse says, “day and night they do not cease.” This means they never rest, they never take a break, and there is never a pause in their worship. The KJV and the NKJV both translate the phrase “day and night they do not cease” as “they rest not day and night” and “they do not rest day or night” respectively. On earth there are many things, including our need for rest, that continually interrupt our worship, but in heaven where there is no need for rest the worship will continue forever, and that is the picture here.

Continuing in verse eight John gives us the lyrics to the song of praise that the four living creatures are singing to the One who sits on the throne; they sing:

“Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God
The Almighty, who was and who is
And who is to come.”

This song, the second doxology of the book, begins with the words “Holy, Holy, Holy” which is the only of God’s attributes that is ever repeated in Scripture. The word Holy, which is the Greek word hagios, means, “set apart, sanctified, consecrated… Its fundamental idea is [of] separation, consecration...”11 Dr Vine adds that this word is:

[P]redicated of God, as the absolutely ‘Holy’ One, in His purity, majesty and glory.12

John MacArthur writes:

Holiness… is the summation of all that He is. God’s holiness is His utter and complete separation from evil in any and every form.13

God is completely separate and different from us and we seem to forget this; we approach God with familiarity and rush into His presence without a second thought, but the Cherubim do not cease, day and night, to exclaim Holy, Holy, Holy. “The Cherubim constantly remind all who would approach Who it is they draw near unto.”14

Following this thought, J Vernon McGee writes:

This pictures the holiness and glory of our God. He is high and lifted up; and, if we would see Him today in that position, we would be delivered from low living. It would also deliver some folk from this easy familiarity that they seem to have with Jesus. They talk about Him as if He were a buddy and as if they could speak to Him in any way they please. My friend, you cannot rush into the presence of God. He doesn’t permit it. You come to the Father through Christ. This is the only way He can be approached. You can never come into the presence of the Father because of who you are. You come into His presence because you are in Christ. The Lord Jesus made that very clear when He said, ‘No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me.’ If you are His child, you can come with boldness to the throne of grace, but you cannot come to Him on any other basis.15

There is a lot of truth in that brief paragraph, and we would do well to remember that our God is Holy, He is set apart and altogether different from us. He is majestic and glorious, and He alone is God, which is the very next thing the four living creatures say; they shout Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God.

The New American Standard Bible reads, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is The Lord God, The Almighty” while the KJV, NKJV, ESV and NIV all translate this as either “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty”, or “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty.” The Greek phrase here is Kúrios Theós Pantokrátōr. Let’s break this down and look at what John is telling us here: the first word, Kúrios, means, might, power, master, owner, Lord; it is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew word Jehovah. The next word, Theós, means God; this is the Greek equivalent to the Hebrew Elohim. This is an interesting word in Greek, Dr Zodhiates writes of this word:

The Septuagint constantly translated the Hebrew plural name Elohim, when used for the true God, by the singular. Theós, God, never by the plural theoi, gods. The reason for this was that at the time the Septuagint translation was made, Greek idolatry was the prevailing superstition, especially in Egypt under the Ptolemies. Their gods were regarded as demons, i.e., intelligent beings totally separate and distinct from each other. If the translators rendered the name of the true God by the plural theoi, they would have given the heathen under Greek culture an idea of God inconsistent with the unity of the divine essence and conformable to their own polytheistic notions. However, by translating the Hebrew Elohim as ‘God,’ they inculcated the unity of God and at the same time did not deny a plurality of persons in the divine nature.16

The final word here, Pantokrátōr, comes from two Greek words, pás, meaning all or every, and krátos, meaning “power, strength, dominion. Ruler over all, omnipotent, almighty” this word is “spoken only of God.”17

This is the first title that God uses for Himself in the Bible; we can see this in Genesis 17:1, where it reads:

Now when Abraham was ninety-nine years old, the Lord appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before Me and be blameless.”

Genesis 17:1 (NASB)

Of the use of this phrase here in Revelation John MacArthur writes:

That term identifies God as the strongest, most powerful being, utterly devoid of any weakness, whose conquering power and overpowering strength none can oppose. Because God is Almighty, He can effortlessly do whatever His holy will purposes to do.18

This is the God that these four living creatures praise and worship.

Nest they remind us that this God, this One who sits on the throne, the Lord God Almighty, is eternal when they say, “who was, and who is, and who is to come.” Of this phrase A.W. Tozer writes:

When the four living creatures before the throne cry day and night, ‘Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come,’ they are identifying God with the flow of creature-life with its familiar three tenses; and this is right and good, for God has sovereignly willed so to identify Himself. But since God is uncreated, He is not Himself affected by that succession of consecutive changes we call time.

He then goes on the write,:

God dwells in eternity but time dwells in God. He has already lived our tomorrows as He has lived all our yesterdays. 19

What comfort we can take, in light of the coming judgments of the next few chapters, when we remember that the God we serve is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come!

In verses nine through eleven we are told that when the four living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders who are sitting around the throne also fall down and worship. Verse ten tells us that they cast their crowns before the throne and say (verse 11):

“Worthy art Thou, our Lord and our
God, to receive glory and honor and
power; for Thou didst create all
things, and because of Thy will they
existed, and were created.”

What we see here is picture of true worship. The twenty-four elders are not concerned with their own glory; in the presence of the One who sits on the throne they see themselves, their accomplishments and their rewards as insignificant. In the presence of God all that matters is God.

So let’s take a quick look at the song of the twenty-four elders and see what we can learn. The first word here is the Greek word áxios, which we translate worthy. This is a word that expresses the meaning of value, but this is not attributed value, it is inherent value. In other words the elders are worshiping God because He is God, not because of anything He has done. Don’t get me wrong, God deserves our worship for all that He has done, but first He deserves our worship just because He is. The elders express their worship by casting their crowns before the throne; this act of worship is an acknowledgment that “They are not concerned about their own holiness, honor, or reward. All those things pale into insignificance and become meaningless in light of the glory of God.” 20

What is the focus of their worship? They are worshiping God because He created all things; He created this universe for His own pleasure and by His own will. What this is saying is this, creation didn’t exist, then God willed it to exist and it existed. He created, and it all belongs to Him. This is very important because what we are going to see in the rest of the book is God judging and reclaiming what is His.

J. Ramsey Michaels wraps up this chapter with these words:

The elders’ song celebrates creation and God the creator, probably as a reference point for the new creation to come. Although John in his vision does not claim to experience the passage of time, he manages to convey a sense that what he saw is something still going on in heaven even as we read his prophecy today. 21

As we move into chapter five of Revelation keep this in mind - the judgments that follow are God redeeming His creation.

1 McGee J. Vernon (c 1983). Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee Vol.5 1 Corinthians–Revelation Pg.931. Nashville TN.: Thomas Nelson.
2 MacArthur, J. (1999). Revelation 1-11 (153). Chicago: Moody Press.
3 Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., Harrison, R. K., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary. Rev. ed. of: Nelson's illustrated Bible dictionary.; Includes index. Nashville: T. Nelson.
4 Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W. (1996). Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words (2:53). Nashville: T. Nelson.
5 Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.) (G2342). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
6 Guzik, David. (c2001). Commentary on the book of Revelation (96). Simi Valley CA: Enduring Word Media.
7 Wiersbe, W. W. (1996, c1989). The Bible exposition commentary. "An exposition of the New Testament comprising the entire 'BE' series"--Jkt. (Re 4:1). Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books.
8 MacArthur, J. (1999). Revelation 1-11 (154). Chicago: Moody Press.
9 MacDonald, W., & Farstad, A. (1997, c1995). Believer's Bible Commentary: Old and New Testaments (Re 4:6). Nashville: Thomas Nelson.
10 MacArthur, J. (1999). Revelation 1-11 (154). Chicago: Moody Press.
11 Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.) (G40). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
12 Vine, W. E., Unger, M. F., & White, W. (1996). Vine's complete expository dictionary of Old and New Testament words (2:307-308). Nashville: T. Nelson.
13 MacArthur, J. (1999). Revelation 1-11 (155). Chicago: Moody Press.
14 Van Kampen, Robert. Revelation Commentary Ch4 Pg5 (© www.revelationcommentry.org). Orlando Fl.: Sola Scriptura
15 McGee J. Vernon (c 1983). Thru the Bible with J. Vernon McGee Vol.3 Proverbs–Malachi Pg.209 Nashville TN.: Thomas Nelson.
16 Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.) (G2316). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
17 Zodhiates, S. (2000, c1992, c1993). The complete word study dictionary: New Testament (electronic ed.) (G3841). Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers.
18 MacArthur, J. (1999). Revelation 1-11 (156). Chicago: Moody Press.
19 Tozer, A.W. (1961). The Knowledge of the Holy (39). New York: Harper Collins
20 MacArthur, J. (1999). Revelation 1-11 (158). Chicago: Moody Press.
21 Michaels, J. R. (1997). Vol. 20: Revelation. The IVP New Testament commentary series (Re 5:1). Downers Grove, Ill., USA: InterVarsity Press.

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