Revelation 4:1-11
The book of Revelation links the past and present to the future. The first three chapters of Revelation deal with the past and the present. Beginning with chapter 4, God reveals the future —things which must be hereafter (v. 1). The hereafter is that which follows the sparing of the church at Philadelphia from the hour of temptation which shall come upon all the world (Rev. 3:10) and the hereafter is that which shall follow Christ’s spewing the church at Laodicea from His mouth (Rev. 3:16).
A door was opened to John into heaven. John heard the voice of the trumpet instructing him to come up for the express purpose of being shown the hereafter. John was then in the spirit. John saw a throne set in heaven and he saw the One who sat upon the throne. The One who sat upon the throne was like a jasper and sardine stone. The picture is spiritual. It is a picture that we cannot fully understand because we now see through a glass, darkly (see I Cor. 13:12). God uses the physical to represent the spiritual. The first appearance of jasper and sardine stone in scripture is found in Exodus 28. The first stone (representing the first tribe of Israel) in the breastplate of judgment is a sardius and the last stone is a jasper. When John looked upon the throne, he saw the first stone last and the last stone first. In the day in which we shall look upon the throne, we shall see the Lord God who knows us and who places the first, last and the last, first.
John saw a rainbow about the throne which had the appearance of an emerald. The rainbow is a token of God’s promise to Noah and all living flesh that He would never again send a flood to destroy men (Gen. 9:9-17). An emerald is green, symbolic of life. The throne that John saw is the kept promise of life everlasting in the presence of God. John saw these things because he heard the voice of the trumpet and was drawn up.
The book of Revelation begins with a promise: “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein” (Rev. 1:3). Now consider the words of the Apostle Paul. “…for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed” (I Cor. 15:52b) and “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord” (I Thess. 4:17). Those who hear and act upon the words of this prophecy will be blessed with being in the presence of the Lord for all eternity. The future begins with being in His presence. The future for believers is not quite yet.
In verse 4, John reports seeing four and twenty seats in close proximity to the throne. Sitting upon the seats are four and twenty elders. The elders are clothed in white raiment and have crowns of gold upon their heads. The seats are seats of honor. An elder is one who possesses birthrights. The 24 elders are all who have acquired the birthright of the second-born. They are clothed in righteousness, supplied by God. The clothing [works] of men is as filthy rags (Isa. 64:6). Their crowns of gold are like the crown of gold which covered the ark of the testimony (Ex. 25:11). The ark was the repository for the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the ten commandments. The picture is spiritual. The elders’ crowns of gold testify that they are beneficiaries of manna from God; that they are chosen by God; and that they are keepers of God’s laws. Their crowns testify of the things of God which are found in them.
Why 24 elders? There is no day nor night about the throne of God. Perhaps, the 24 reflects the everlasting and continuous hours of light that is found in God’s presence.
In verse 5, John’s attention is directed to the throne. It is characterized by lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Lightnings, thunderings, and voices are physical manifestations of the spiritual. They represent power, strength, and authority. The fullness of God’s power, strength and authority is seen in the number seven (the number of completion). John saw the seven Spirits of God. He saw more than that which words can describe.
In verses 6-9, we see beasts that are unlike any creatures known on earth, having three pairs of wings and countless eyes. The wings allow movement and eyes provide means for seeing. The number of wings and number of eyes suggest that the beasts may move in and see in all directions. In verse 8, the four beasts issue the praise: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.”
This praise is different from the praises which men can lift up because men are limited by earthly experiences. The beasts move in all directions (into the past, in the present and into the future) and see all of the past, the present and the future. The praise “Holy, holy, holy” is a declaration of that which the beasts witness. God is holy, holy, holy in all that He has done, does, and will do. Men know the Lord God Almighty to be holy, holy, holy by faith. The beasts know it because they have the eyes to see.
When the four beasts give praise to God, the 24 elders are moved to worship the One upon the throne and to cast their crowns before His throne. The elders occupy a place of honor and possess crowns of honor. God gives crowns of honor to them who act upon faith believing. The elders cast their crowns before the throne because they know that their faith is a holy gift of God (Eph. 2:8). The only manner in which men can worship God is to give back that which God has given them.
In verse 11, the elders declare that God has created all things and that all things are created for His pleasure. In declaring this, the elders are stating that which has been from the beginning. God created light and the light was good (Gen. 1:3-4); God created the dry land and the seas and the dry land and the seas were good (Gen 1:10); God created plant life and it was good (Gen. 1:13); God created the sun, moon and stars and it was good (Gen 1:14-18); God created fish and birds and it was good (Gen. 1:21); and God created the beasts of the earth and man to whom He gave charge over all His creation and it was very good (Gen 1:31). All creation testifies of the Creator.
God has given us a picture. Both the four beasts and the 24 elders act upon knowledge that God has given to them. Both the beasts and the elders are blessed with eternal positions of honor. All who act upon knowledge of this picture shall receive the blessing that God has promised (Rev. 1:3).
