Revelation 4:2–11 (ESV) — 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 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. 4 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. 5 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, 6 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: 7 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. 8 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!” 9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 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, 11 “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.”
Growing up, my dad would occasionally get tickets to see the St. Louis Cardinals play a home game in Busch Stadium. As kids, walking into that stadium, it nearly took our breath away. It was too massive to grasp.
Here we are in Revelation, chapter 4, stepping into the grand throne room of heaven. To say that it is bigger, more glorious, more wonderful than anything on earth is an understatement.
Two weeks ago, we looked at the symbolic description of God, His throne, and around the throne. Today, we will step back and understand why we are given this magnificent and majestic vision.
Some believe that the scene we are about to read is set in the future, after the coming of the Lord. But the context does not support that idea. This symbolic picture represents how it is now. John’s description was intended to give encouragement to the persecuted church of his day, as well as to the persecuted church throughout history, including the present day.
Why is it important to see this vision of God and of heaven before we are told of the judgments upon man and the earth? Richard D. Phillips gives a simple and clear answer to that question.
“Revelation 4:1 begins the book’s second section, a cycle that modestly begins looking forward into history. Jesus summons John, saying, “I will show you what must take place after this. Chapters 4 and 5 depict the present reality at the throne of heaven, and chapter 6 shows the breaking of the six seals of God’s plan, concluding with “the wrath of the Lamb” from which the wicked vainly seek to hide (6:16–17). Chapter 7 concludes the second section with the praise of the redeemed in the glory of the age to come.
“The purpose of this vision is to show us, in beautiful symbolism, that all things are governed by the Lord on the throne. The visions that follow involve increasingly frightening scenes. The throne in heaven is therefore shown first to give comfort to believers in the midst of deadly trials. As Psalm 99:1 puts it, ‘The LORD reigns; let the peoples tremble! He sits enthroned upon the cherubim; let the earth quake!’”
So, the purpose of this vision in heaven is to show us that God governs all things. He is on the Throne above all. There is nothing that is outside of His rule and governance. Nothing! He dictates history, not man or the devil. And with that understanding, that clear truth in our minds, when we read of the judgments and plagues and horrors that come upon the earth and upon God’s enemies, we know that God is the orchestrator. He is not reacting to evil; He is using evil to move His plans and purposes forward to fulfillment. (reference Gen.50:20; Rom. 8:28) What he says is going to come to pass. It will indeed come to pass, every detail, in its own time, according to His will.
This view of God should give us comfort and strength. This is our God!
If you believe this and know it to be true about God, then you hold fast to your faith and trust in Him. You may not understand why circumstances do not unfold as you expect or want them to. In the physical world, justice and fairness often seem to prevail too infrequently. You are dealt an unfair hand, the wicked prosper ahead of you, and believers are imprisoned and murdered for their faith. But because you know that God is in control, you continue to trust, stand firm, and let God do all things according to His will. Reference Acts 4:23-31; Dan. 4:35.
There are specific keywords and phrases that we need to pay attention to in this description to see the message in this vision.
“the Lord God Almighty” - He is all-powerful“Who was, is, and is to come” - Always has been and always will be“Worship Him” - All of heaven worships and adores Him“Seated on the throne” - He rules and reigns above all and over all“Who lives forever and ever” - He is eternal (Ps. 90:2)“Who created all things” - from whom all things exist“By your will they exist and were created” – All is from Him
Pause and understand what this says about God; what it says about the earth and heavens, and all that is in them. They were not created by the will of anything that exists. If something does not exist, it cannot have a will or desire to exist. It does not exist. This tears apart the evolutionary theory about the beginning of Creation. There was no random Amoeba or clump of pond scum cells that “willed” itself into existence. Wouldn’t this require the amoeba or pond scum to have a conscience and self-awareness, to have an inward desire to be something other than pond scum and engineer itself to something else? Clarity here: Pond scum does not have self-awareness. Yes, even the pond scum was created, and it exists as pond scum by the will and purpose of God to be pond scum and serve the purpose that pond scum has for existence.
This also tells us that God created what He created because it pleased him to do so. He did not create out of necessity or loneliness, but pleasure. This also tells us that nothing—wicked men, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, wars, or the devil—is able to thwart God's purpose and plans. He sits on the throne of heaven and rules as He pleases. This is what the Sovereignty of God means. This is the main picture we are to grasp from this vision. This is God. The one and only God. This is what it means to be God. God is God. And God says it Himself, “Thus says the Lord: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god (Isaiah 44:6).
The Living God knows all things (omniscient); is all-powerful (omnipotent); is everywhere present (omnipresent). No thought of man is unknown to Him. No leaf or blade of grass moves/flinches in the wind without Him. He knows the number of hairs on your head, and the DNA of every creature—because he formed it for them. He defines truth; He defines righteousness; He defines justice; he defines love; and he defines perfection. He does so from whom He is—truth, righteousness, just, love, and perfect. (Ps. 89:14; 97:2)
Faithful is His name!
It is because He is perfect righteousness and justice and love; He hates all who oppose these. He will judge the rebel and traitor who love evil and hate righteousness. He will give them what they justly deserve. No less and no more than what they deserve. For even in his judgment, he is just.
There is something else you need to know about God that will help explain the events that are revealed in this Book of Revelation. He has set/determined/appointed everything in its time and place in this life and in eternity. He has made all things for a purpose and reason, which he determined before time began. Though sin and death infect everything in the cursed world, they do not hinder His eternal plan or purposes. Although creation is in the state of decay and brokenness from its original intent, He works all things to His good and perfect purposes. And we will see in this study of Revelation that He will not leave creation in this broken state.
There is a false teaching out there that says that when Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, he gave Satan ownership of the earth. This horrible theology teaches that Adam surrendered the rights of the earth to the devil. From this wrong foundation, they teach that the devil can do whatever he wants in this world. That is contrary to the Bible. Stay clear of anyone holding to that teaching. These teachers misunderstand who God is, according to His own word. They misunderstand the power of the enemy—the devil. Because God has all power, what power the devil has is allowed by God. The devil is used by God for His own means and ends.
The Bible says: Psalm 89:11 — The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. (1 Chron.29:11; Ps. 24:1)
The false teaching that the devil has ownership rights to this earth is often derived from the Apostle Paul's description of the devil as “the god of this world” (2 Cor. 4:4). However, the devil is not literally the owner or god of this world. The Apostle means that the devil is the “influencer” of the ungodly worldly systems, philosophies, and ways of darkness in this culture. He is like a god in the sense that he leads and influences the minds and hearts of those living in spiritual darkness.
As God, He reigns over all in perfect holiness, righteousness, and pure goodness. He does this from the place of magnificent, eternal, and ultimate majesty. There is none like Him. No one to be compared to Him. No one and nothing to challenge Him or question Him. (Isaiah 46:6). He is unchanging in His nature, character, His attributes, and his eternal purposes. He is Self-Existent. Self-Sufficient. Read Psalm 104 for more about God’s greatness.
Psalm 93:1–2 — The Lord reigns! He is robed in majesty; The Lord is robed, enveloped in strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be shaken. 2 Your throne has been established from the beginning; You are from eternity.
Therefore, creation, not being coerced or out of need, worships and adores Him unceasingly. Such adoration comes from the hearts, lungs, and tongues of the greatest to the least; from the strong to the weak. Revelation 4:9-11.
Having established the majestic rule of God, there are a few passages about God that are worth examining directly. He has emphasized a few things about Himself that He wants us to know about Him.
Psalm 86:5 — For you, Lord, are kind and ready to forgive, abounding in faithful love to all who call on you.
Psalm 86:15 — But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger and abounding in faithful love and truth.
Ephesians 2:4 — But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us,
The descriptions of God’s heart are not how most people think of God. Why don’t people see God this way? Most people think of God’s heart as the opposite of what those scriptures describe. Most people think that God is critical and whose wrath is ready to blow up at us. Most think that His anger is abounding, not his faithful love, and that He is quick to anger, not slow in anger. Ephesians 2:4 says that He is actively being rich in mercy. Most people think of God as being reserved in mercy, holding back, and maybe even short in mercy towards us. Yet, he has great love towards those who call on Him, those who belong to Jesus Christ.
I believe the main reason people do not see God this way is because man is incapable of understanding God as He truly is. Sin has corrupted their understanding of spiritual matters. The Holy Spirit is the One who enables a person to see and know God. See 1 Cor. 3:6-16; Rom.8:15.
Another reason people miss the truth about God is that they define God based on mankind. We see man as unjust, unfair, fickle, and judgmental; then God must be that way.
Another reason is that we, the Church, have not told them, and we have not told them well enough. And when we speak of Him, we are not relying on the Spirit of God to open their understanding. We believe that we need to have all the answers and articulate them intellectually. Isn’t this relying on ourselves rather than God?
One more reason many people miss the truth about God is that many Christians do not know Him as He truly is. And if those who are able to know Him, because they have the Spirit of God to reveal Him in the Scriptures, do not know Him, then how will others hear the truth about Him?
Romans 10:14 — But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?
God is God. Like or not. Man may not like Him and how He is, but they are created beings, likened to clay, and God is the Potter. God himself asks the doubters and mockers, Isaiah 46:5 — “To whom will you liken me and make me equal, and compare me, that we may be alike?” See Rom. 9:21; Isaiah 64:8; Jer. 18:6.
This is the God we see in John's vision. It is also the God who has revealed Himself to those who seek Him through His own words—The Bible. This is the God who majestically rules from Heaven in infinite power, glory, and perfection. And just when you think you have him figured out, He does the unthinkable. It almost seems to contradict the very picture we have of Him. Yet remember, His ways are not our ways, and His thoughts are not our thoughts (Is.55:8).
There is somewhere else He delights to dwell, and it’s personal to Him.
Isaiah 57:15, For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.
Isaiah 66:2, “… But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Psalm 138:6, For though the Lord is high, he regards the lowly, but the haughty he knows from afar.
Man likes to be associated with the Powerful, Popular, and Pretty. But God is the opposite. He likes to dwell with the gentle, humble, and those who know they need Him, those who are poor in spirit. Matthew 5:3. He shuns those who think they are self-sufficient, who are prideful, and who rely on themselves.
One of the most decisive moments in our lives is when we admit our need. That admission was what it took to turn Tracey Bailey around. Bailey writes in Guideposts that in 1993 he stood in the White House Rose Garden in the presence of the president of the United States to receive the National Teacher of the Year Award. He had come a long way. Some fifteen years earlier he had stood as a teenager in the presence of a county judge in an Indiana courtroom to be sentenced to jail. Bailey had gone on a drunken rampage with friends, vandalizing a high school, had been caught and found guilty. Nevertheless Bailey stood before the judge with his head held high, the words of his high school wrestling coach ringing in his ears: “Don’t you ever hang your head. Don’t admit defeat. The minute you do, it’s over.”
The judge looked at the proud teenager and stunned the courtroom with Bailey’s sentence: five years in the Indiana youth center, a prison one step below the state penitentiary.
Tracey Bailey went to jail with his head still held high, but it took only a few months for reality to set in. One day, as he sat in solitary confinement in a cell with nothing more than a metal cot, a sink, and a toilet, he realized what a mistake he had made. He began to weep. More importantly, he began to pray to God. “God, I need help,” he said. “I am defeated without you.”
That was the turning point for Tracey Bailey. He joined a prison Bible study and began taking college correspondence courses. After fourteen months in jail, he was released on probation, and after further college studies, he became a science teacher in Florida. With these words, he summarizes the lesson he had learned in life: “I bowed my head and tasted victory.”
When a person realizes who the Author of Life is, the Giver of Life, the Sustainer of Life, and the one who holds all things in his hand, and that he/she is nothing apart from Him, it is then that they find life. “I bowed my head and tasted victory.” God says, “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite.”
God, who majestically rules; who is high and holy, who reigns in wisdom and power and love, delights to dwell with him/her who is of a contrite and humble heart. According to Isaiah 57:15, He delights to revive the weak and humble, to strengthen them, to lift them up, and to reveal Himself.
This is God, as He has revealed Himself to us. He is a Great God. Those who walk with Jesus will discover Him, as He truly is. This great and awesome God will say of those who have found forgiveness and acceptance through faith in Jesus Christ, “He will call to Me, ‘You are my Father, my God, the rock of my salvation.’” Psalm 89:26 (HCSB).
Humble yourself before God. Bow your head and taste victory. Recognize your frailty and absolute need for Him in this life and the life to come. In one word, surrender. Surrender to Jesus Christ.
