The Throne / Revelation 4
The One in Control of the Chaos
If you were a missionary from another country, or maybe you just didn’t grow up in a house where football made any sense, and you watched a football game, you might think those people are absolutely nuts. You’ve got these guys out there—hairy-back knuckle-draggers—knocking each other out. You have people chasing this ball. Sometimes when it falls on the ground, they all scramble for it. Sometimes they leave it alone. Sometimes they kick it; sometimes they run with it; sometimes they run out of bounds with it. Somebody gets hurt, they just cart them off and put somebody else in there. If you were to just watch this thing, it would look like there is a total lack of order to what’s happening out there on the field.
That is, unless you looked up behind the field into the press box. Most likely, there is somebody there in gear with a headset on, communicating to the people on the field. There is somebody who is in control of the chaos. There is somebody who has order to what’s taking place down below. Even though to you, from your point of view and your perspective, it looks like things are out of control and running amok, you would know by looking at the press box that somebody is in control. Somebody is aware, from a whole different perspective, of the chaos that’s happening.
That is the sovereign God of the universe, who looks down from His perspective at the world around Him and is not surprised by what He sees. He is in control of all that’s going on. There is someone who, in the midst of the chaos of life, understands what’s going on and is pulling the strings. He is not just informed and aware, but He cares and is involved with the workings of everyday life. In Revelation chapter one, we get the outline verse for the entire book of Revelation.
Revelation 1:19 (NASB)
’Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.
The Open Door
As we move into chapter four, the scene changes. In chapter six, the tribulation will begin, continuing all the way through chapter nineteen, which is the second coming of Jesus. In chapter twenty, we get the millennial kingdom, and in chapter twenty-two, the new heavens and new earth. But chapters four and five are a snapshot into two very specific things. First, John is recorded as writing in chapter four about a door being opened in heaven.
Revelation 4:1 (NASB)
After these things I looked, and behold, a door [standing] open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like [the sound] of a trumpet speaking with me, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.’
He says, “After these things.” These things he’s referring to are the events of chapters two and three—the flow of the epistles to the seven churches, beginning with the church in Ephesus and ending with the church in Laodicea. If you look chronologically at the book of Revelation, we see that the rapture—the catching away of the church—would have to happen before chapter six begins, which is the seven-year period where God will focus once again on the nation of Israel.
You’ll notice in chapter four, verse one, John gets called by a voice that sounds like a trumpet saying, “Come up here.” Some people have suggested that this is a picture of the catching away of the church before the time of testing. There is a very clear distinction between God’s work with the church and His work with Israel. If God is true to His word, He has to fulfill the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant, where He promised the nation of Israel three primary things: land, seed, and blessing.
Genesis 12:1-4 (NASB)
Now the LORD said to Abram, ‘Go forth from your country, And from your relatives And from your father’s house, To the land which I will show you; And I will make you a great nation, And I will bless you, And make your name great; And so you shall be a blessing; And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ So Abram went forth as the LORD had spoken to him; and Lot went with him. Now Abram was seventy-five years old when he departed from Haran.
In order for God to be true to His word, there’s got to be a time in human history where the nation of Israel enjoys the fulfillment of those three. If the seven-year tribulation period is a time of Jewish focus, the church would be caught away before that time begins. Another interesting point: after each of the seven epistles in chapters two and three, you’ll find the phrase, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” But after chapter three, the church is never mentioned on earth again until the end of the book. John is told to “come up,” and he is shown things that must take place.
Revelation 4:2 (NASB)
Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne.
The Majesty of the Throne
Immediately, John is in the Spirit, and he’s seeing the very throne of God. It is interesting that God is pictured as being seated. Why? Because the work of redemption is finished. As John looks at the throne, he sees something so incredible that the English language can’t quite reach that elevation. Have you noticed how hard it is to describe God? Usually, our only way to use language is to use what’s called anthropomorphic language. “Anthro” means man, and “morph” means change. We ascribe to God human traits. We say, “God has me in His right hand.” Does God have a physical right hand? No, but it describes His protection.
John uses some very different language. In verse three, he does the best he can to communicate the glory and grandeur of God by using descriptions of precious stones.
Revelation 4:3 (NASB)
And He who was sitting [was] like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and [there was] a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.
There are a couple of other places in your Bible where authors try to explain the glory of God. One is in Ezekiel chapter one, and the other is in Isaiah chapter six. Isaiah gives us a picture of the throne room of God to give us an idea of what John is trying to communicate.
Isaiah 6:1-5 (NASB)
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. And one called out to another and said, ‘Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.’ And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, ‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.’
Isaiah sees the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted. He sees the seraphim—the burning ones. What do these burning ones do in the presence of God? They cover their faces. When you’re in the presence of a holy God, the only thing that matters is the exaltation of the One who is seated. Isaiah says the foundations and the thresholds trembled at the voice of Him who called out. And Isaiah’s response is, “Woe is me! For I am ruined!” He recognizes that he is not holy, but the One on the throne is. By even being in His presence, Isaiah fears he’s going to die right there on the spot.
A Lesson from the Emerald Buddha
How do you describe the grandeur of the temple? I’ve tried. I remember a trip to Bangkok, Thailand. Bangkok has the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. It’s kind of the Holy of Holies for the Buddhists. I was there with a team of about seven people, cruising through this temple compound. There are literally a hundred buildings with pillars that reach to the heavens. Everything is gold. It was the most ornate place I’ve ever seen. There wasn’t a piece of litter on the ground. Every bush was perfect. Every building was perfect. Jewels covered everything.
I walked up to the biggest building, and you have to take your shoes off, so I did. I walked inside, raised my eyes, and looked. There in front of me was the Emerald Buddha—this little thirty-inch statue carving. I realized quickly that I was out of place. I’m a big tall white guy, and there were about sixty people on their faces before this statue. Then, a guy with a machine gun gently walked over to me. I kid you not. He said, “You need to get on your knees.”
That was a crisis of belief right there! The brother had a machine gun, and I usually do what people with machine guns tell me to do. But I also wasn’t going to bow to an idol. I did a bit of a Matrix spin and got out of there. But in that moment, I realized something: if these people will worship a statue carved with human hands with such fervor, how much more should we, as those created in the image of God, worship the One who created the universe?
Sometimes our view of God is too small. We make Him a divine vending machine or a magic eight ball. “God, should I go to school here?” We diminish who He truly is. One of the reasons we don’t elevate God to who He really is, is because if we do, we’re going to feel like Isaiah. We’re going to feel “undone.” If God is truly holy and I start comparing myself to Him, I realize I’ve got a lot to work on. To avoid that feeling of unholiness, we drop God down to our level and act like He’s just there to take care of our wish list. But John won’t let us do that.
The Colors of the Covenant
John describes God as looking like Jasper and Sardius. Jasper was a clear, diamond-like stone. Sardius was red, like a ruby. And there was a rainbow around the throne that was like an emerald. Think about that. Some scholars suggest the white stone represents His holiness, the red of the Sardius represents His wrath, and the green bow represents His grace.
Remember Noah? He gets a hammer and starts building a boat, and everybody makes fun of him until it starts raining. When the flood was over and the rain started falling again, I imagine Noah and his family were thinking, “We better go to Home Depot and get some more wood; we need to build another boat!” But God said, “I will never destroy the earth with a flood again. To prove this, I will take my bow—my implement of wrath and judgment—and I will put it in the skies.”
It’s not just water and vapor that makes a rainbow; the sovereign God put it there as a sign. In the Old Testament, the priest wore a breastplate with twelve stones representing the tribes of Israel. The first stone was a ruby (Sardius) and the final stone was a Jasper. The Jasper was for the tribe of Benjamin, which means “son of my right hand.” Many believe this description in verse three is a play on words to exalt the Son—the One who sees the Son of my right hand. It brings glory to the Son, whose redemptive work made salvation possible.
The Elders and the Storm
In verse four, John sees something else interesting: twenty-four elders.
Revelation 4:4 (NASB)
Around the throne [were] twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones [I saw] twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
Angels are ministering spirits, but you never see them seated on thrones or wearing crowns in scripture. These twenty-four elders are seated and ruling. Some suggest they represent the twelve tribes of Israel and the twelve apostles. Others look at First Chronicles and see twenty-four orders of priests. We aren’t 100% sure, but what we do know is they were enthroned, they were crowned, and they were in the presence of God.
Revelation 4:5 (NASB)
Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And [there were] seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God;
Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and peals of thunder. I lived in Texas for about five years. The first week I was there, I was absolutely terrified. The thunder sounded like bombs dropping. It was so loud the glass in my windows would shake. In the afternoon, you’d be outside cooking brisket—because that’s just what you cook in Texas—and you’d look off in the distance and see the sky turn black. Then, boom, it hits you. Lightning lights up the whole house.
John sees this lightning and thunder, and he sees a sea of glass like crystal. There is a firmament that separates the holiness of God from the unholiness of man. Then he sees these four living creatures.
Revelation 4:6-8 (NASB)
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.’
The first was like a lion, the second like a calf, the third had a face like a man, and the fourth was like a flying eagle. The lion is strong; the calf is a servant; the man has intelligence; and the eagle is swift and sovereign. As John looks at the One on the throne, this is the best he can do to describe the attributes of God. We see these same attributes in the four Gospels: Matthew shows Him as King (Lion), Mark as Servant (Calf), Luke as Man, and John as God (Eagle).
The Heart of Worship
I want you to notice the occupation of these four living creatures. 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.”
Can I be honest with you? There is probably not an issue in churches more divisive than music. Music tends to be our expression of worship. You have people over here saying, “Hymns! That’s the only way to go.” I’m a fan of hymns, but it’s interesting because many of those tunes were actually tavern tunes that Martin Luther and others rewrote. There’s nothing inherently sacred about the notes; it’s the words that are profound.
On the other side, some modern worship has distanced itself from substance and become purely emotive. It’s what I call “Romance Worship.” I heard an old codger put it this way: “If you can take a worship song and replace the words ‘God’ or ‘Jesus’ with ‘boyfriend’ or ‘girlfriend,’ it’s probably not a biblically sound song.” Think about it—“I want to touch you, I want to hold you…” We’ve swung this way because we’ve taken God from His lofty position and allowed Him to diminish in our minds. We’ve got shirts that say “God is my homeboy.” I understand the sentiment, but are we diminishing His majesty?
These heavenly creatures cried out, “Holy, holy, holy.” And they didn’t stop. People complain about “7-11 songs”—the same seven words eleven times. Well, these creatures sang the same thing over and over!
Psalms 8:3 (NASB)
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
When we come into an understanding of the majesty of God, we recognize who we are. When the living creatures give glory and honor, the twenty-four elders fall down.
Revelation 4:9-11 (NASB)
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.’
That is worship. It’s when you take your agendas and throw them at His feet. It’s when you take your crowns—your achievements and your planning—and throw them down and sing glory to God. Jesus, who existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but He humbled Himself.
One of the issues we face is that we are a bunch of “graspers.” We want our agenda, our stuff, and our life. We create these existences outside of the sovereignty of God and say, “God, thanks for Your suggestions, but this is what I’m doing.” But these guys in heaven take their crowns and throw them at His feet. Worship is acknowledging that we have a sovereign God on the throne, and the best we can do in response is fall down.
People talk a lot about praying for revival. The greatest revival we could have is to put God back where He belongs. It’s to take our view of God and just inflate it. It’s saying, “God, we are going to put You where You belong and ascribe to You the worth that You alone are due.” That is “worth-ship.”
If we do that, it puts us in our right place. It reveals our need for a Savior. When the non-believing world sees the glories of God exalted, they respond, because the scripture says if He be lifted up, He will draw all men to Himself. When God is on the throne and we are in our proper place, everything in life begins to work out. He says if you seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, all these things will be added to you as well.
Father, I pray that You would be glorified in all that takes place in and through us. Father, You are God and we are not. We want to live for You. Like John, we don’t always know the right words to say, but we know this: we love You, and we want to put You where You belong. We cry out, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.” In Jesus’ name, Amen.