Revelation 4:1-11
1 After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said,Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they resta not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.
9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,
10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
From Now to the End of Time
Revelation
Ian Mackervoy
Chapter 4
*Worship in heaven - Revelation 4:1-5
*Worship of God who created all things - Revelation 4:1-11
v1 After these things, I looked, and there in heaven a door was open. And the same voice that I had heard before, sounded like a *trumpet. The voice spoke to me. ‘Come up here. I will show you what must happen after this.’ v2 At once, I was in the Spirit. And there in heaven was a *throne. And someone was sitting on the *throne. v3 And the sight of him who sat there was like the precious stones called jasper and carnelian. There was a rainbow round the *throne. The sight of it was like the precious stone called an emerald. v4 Round the *throne, there were 24 other *thrones. And 24 *elders sat on these *thrones. They wore white clothes and they had gold crowns on their heads. v5 Flashes of lightning came from the *throne. There was the sound of voices and *thunder. In front of the *throne seven lamps of fire were burning. These are the seven Spirits of God. v6 Also, in front of the *throne I saw something like a sea of glass. It was as clear as *crystal. In the centre, round the *throne, there were four *creatures. They were full of eyes both in front and behind. v7 The first *creature was like a lion. The second creature was like an *ox. The third creature had a face like a human face. The fourth creature was like an *eagle that flies. v8 Each of the four *creatures had six wings. They were full of eyes all round and inside them. They did not rest by day or by night. All the time they said, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the *Lord God. He has all power. He was and he is. And he is yet to come.’
v9 The *creatures give *glory to God. They give him honour and they thank him. He sits on the *throne and he lives for all time. And he will never die. v10 When the *creatures praise God, so do the 24 *elders. They fall down in front of him who sits on the *throne. They *worship him. He lives for all time and he will never die. And they throw their crowns down in front of the *throne.
v11 They say ‘Our *Lord and our God you deserve to receive *glory, honour and power because you made all things. By your decision they existed, and you created them.’
Verse 1 Before he saw those future events, John saw the *throne of God. He tried to describe this in these two Chapter s. And from chapter 6, he writes about future events.
John saw a door that was open. It was the way into heaven. The voice that John heard before spoke to him again. It called him to come up through that door.
The *Lord told John about the events on earth. But before that, the *Lord showed John something of heaven. There, God is on the *throne. The control of all history is in heaven and not on earth. God has the end of history in his plans. His plans cannot fail. What the *Lord showed to John will happen.
Verse 2 The first thing that John sees in heaven is a *throne. The person on the *throne is the king of all. He is the *Lord God who has all power. This *throne is above all other *thrones. God is king above all other kings.
The *throne of God is the centre of heaven. All in heaven look to the *throne. God sits there on the *throne. All of them *worship and serve him.
Verse 3 John did not write about God as having a physical body. Rather, John gives an impression of God as bright light. This bright light shone as the light shines from precious stones.
The jasper was probably a clear stone like a diamond. The carnelian was red. The *throne was like emerald, which reflects green light. There was a rainbow, which glows with all colours. The effect of all these colours is to show the *glory of God.
John could not describe all that he had seen. He could only give us an impression of these things. The languages of earth are not able to describe what is in heaven. There are similar descriptions in Ezekiel chapter 1 and Isaiah chapter 6.
Verse 4 John does not tell us who the 24 *elders are. But they each sat on a *throne. Each time they appear in this book, they are praising God. They bring to God the prayers of his people (Revelation 5:8). In this, they serve the *church but they are not the *church. We think that they are special *angels. Their job is to serve and to praise God.
The white clothes show that the *elders are clean from *sin. Their crowns show that they are royal people.
Verse 5 The lightning and *thunder give an impression of the power of God. John hears these sounds as the voice of God. God speaks from his *throne.
We cannot see the Holy Spirit. He appeared as flames of fire on the day of *Pentecost (Acts 2:3). So here, the 7 lamps show that the Holy Spirit is there.
He is also the 7 Spirits of God. We should not understand this as 7 Spirits. These show seven views of the same Spirit. The number 7 in *scripture is the perfect or complete number. Here it shows that the person and work of the Spirit is perfect.
Verse 6 The sea of glass adds to the effect of what John saw in heaven. Its clear surface is spread out in front of the *throne. Like a mirror it reflected all the lights that flashed about the *throne.
The four *creatures were by the *throne. They were like an inner circle round about the *throne. They had eyes in front and behind. They saw all that happened. Nothing could hide from them.
Verse 7 John tries to describe the *creatures. They are special *angels. John says that their faces were like those of a lion, an *ox, a human person and an *eagle. They were strong like the lion. They were full of power as the *ox. They were wise as a wise man. They were as fast as the *eagle when it flies.
Verse 8 Each *creature had six wings. The wings show the speed with which they obeyed God. The eyes made them aware of all that was round about them.
Day and night the four *creatures praise God. They cry aloud that God is holy. They praise him for his power. Nobody else has power as strong as his. He is the God of all power. They praise him because he is God. He is the only God. There is no other real god. He has no beginning of life or end of life.
Verses 9-10 The four *creatures praise God because he is always the same. God was there at the start of time. He will be there after time has ended.
As the *creatures praise so the *elders fall down in front of God. They throw down their crowns as an act of *worship. They give all honour to God.
Verse 11 The *elders speak to God. They praise him for all that he has made. God made all things that exist. Because of this, God deserves to have all *glory, honour and power.
worship ~ the act when someone shows honour to God (or to an idol). Someone who worships, praises God. That person thanks God. And that person respects God.idols ~ objects that people worship instead of God.
trumpet ~ a musical instrument; it makes a sound when a person blows into it.
throne ~ the special chair for the king or for an important person.
elders ~ usually they are older men. In the Book of Revelation, they are the 24 people who sit on thrones in heaven.
throne ~ the special chair for the king or for an important person.
thunder ~ the sound that comes after lightning during a storm.
crystal ~ a precious stone that is transparent, like glass.
creatures ~ Things that are alive. In the Book of Revelation, there are 4 special angels in heaven called creatures.
angel ~ a servant of God from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages. So, angels are God’s servants from heaven. But there are evil angels who opposed God. These evil angels now serve the devil.
ox ~ a large and strong animal that farmers used.
eagle ~ a very large and quick bird.
Lord ~ a title for God, or Jesus, to show that he is over all people and things.
lord ~ a title for someone who rules.
glory ~ great honour and beauty.
worship ~ the act when someone shows honour to God (or to an idol). Someone who worships, praises God. That person thanks God. And that person respects God.
idols ~ objects that people worship instead of God.
church ~ a group of Christians. The word ‘church’ has two main meanings. Sometimes the meaning is one church in a particular place; and the Christians who meet there. But sometimes the word ‘church’ means Christians everywhere, especially in the phrase ‘the whole church’.
angel ~ a servant of God from heaven. God made angels to serve him and to take his messages. So, angels are God’s servants from heaven. But there are evil angels who opposed God. These evil angels now serve the devil.
sin ~ sin is the wrong things that we do. To sin is to do wrong, bad or evil deeds and not to obey God. Those who sin are called sinners.
Pentecost ~ the time each year when the Jews thank God for the harvest.
Jews ~ people who were born from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and the families of their children.
Scripture ~ the books of the Bible.