Revelation 4:7-8

Revelation 4:7-8 a. And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature like a bull-calf, and the third living creature had its face as of a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, having each one of them severally six wings, are full of eyes round about and within. Want of space will not permit us to enter at any length upon the meaning of these remarkable figures, and the writer of this Commentary may therefore be pardoned if he refers to his fuller treatment of the subject in the Bible Educator, vol. iii. p. 290. It may be enough to say at present that the points to be chiefly noted are the following: (1) That the living creatures here are substantially identical with those mentioned in connection with the garden of Eden (Genesis 3), the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:18-20), the Temple of Solomon (2 Chronicles 3:11-13), and the visions of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:5). Slight modifications of structure are due simply to the fact that the idea intended to be expressed by them had become clearer as time ran on. (2) That a human element has a place in each. Their general form suggests what is human not less than what is bestial. This point is rendered clear by the peculiar method of expression adopted in the case of the third ‘living creature' of the present passage. The human figure was characteristic of them all; but, in addition to less distinct indications, the third had also the human face. (3) That, while thus in part human, they are also marked by characteristics taken from other forms of creaturely existence. They have wings, and three of them have respectively the faces of a lion, of a bull-calf, and of an eagle. (4) They do not symbolize attributes of the Almighty. Creaturely position and ministerial functions properly belong to them. (5) If, then, we ask now what they represent, it would seem as if one answer only can be given. They represent in the first place man, but, secondly, man as the crown and head of this lower creation, man with his train of dependent beings brought near to God and made partakers of redemption, thus fulfilling in symbol the language of St. Paul, that ‘the creation itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God' (Romans 8:21). (6) Finally, it may be observed that the meaning of the animal faces spoken of is to be found in a direction entirely different from that in which it is usually sought. The animals named are not the emblems of majesty, endurance, and soaring energy, but of strong and fierce rage. They represent qualities that strike terror into the hearts of men, and they suggest the idea of a destructive force which nothing is able to withstand. Thus, then, they now surround the throne of God, from which proceed lightnings and thunderings and voices; and there they symbolize redeemed creation as it adores the holiness and magnifies the righteous judgments of its Lord.