REVELATION IN PICTURES:
A PICTURE OF HEAVEN
Revelation 4:1-5:14
John was on the island of Patmos, and he wasn’t on a vacation. No, this island was more like Alcatraz - an island where prisoners were banished, far removed from the rest of the world. Much like Alcatraz, this wasn’t a very comfortable place; it was a place of hardship. But while he was there, John received a picture of heaven.
This is important for us to hear because we also live in Patmos. What I mean is that, as Christians, this world can be an uncomfortable place; a place of hardship. And in the midst of our troubles, we sometimes forget that this is not our home.
BEFORE THE THRONE (Rev. 4:1-3)
How many of you have ever been to Disney World? You take the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and you get off and walk through a hallway and right before you, at the end of the street is Cinderella’s Castle. Now, I don’t care how old you are…six or sixty…you’re going to find yourself standing there, looking at that castle in all its majesty. Then, after a few minutes have passed, you’re going to be drawn to all the other attractions that make Disney World a children’s paradise.
Well, that’s kind of what happens in our passage as John first gets to heaven. He’s only able to look at the throne of God at first. But as time passes, he starts to notice all the other things going on around the throne.
1. The Twenty four Elders (v. 4).
Who are these 24 elders? What do they represent? The first thing that comes to mind is that they might be representatives from God’s two economies: 12 from the Old Covenant, and 12 from the New Covenant.
How many tribes were there in the nation of Israel? How many disciples did Jesus choose?
The Bible is very clear in showing us that God has dealt with two groups of people: the descendants of Abraham under the Old Covenant, and the spiritual descendants of Abraham under the New Covenant. But God doesn't leave these two groups apart, He makes them into one.
You see, God doesn’t have two churches…He doesn’t have one assembly for Israel and another for Gentiles. There is no segregation in heaven. He has one church, and it’s made up of all of His people. That means you and I belong to the same church that Abraham, David and Solomon belong to. If you’ve come to Christ in faith, then you’re a part of the family of God. So then, these 24 elders represent a united church.
As we discussed a couple weeks ago, John’s vision is often expressed in the symbolism of the Temple. So as John continues to see this vision of heaven, this imagery continues as he sees the Lamps and a Sea of glass.
2. Lamps & a Sea of glass (Vv. 5-6a).
There were seven lamps “burning before the throne” of God. This corresponds to the seven-branched lamp stand which stood in the Temple. Now, we’ve already leaned from chapter 1 that these lamps represent the seven churches of Asia Minor.
But what about the “sea of glass"? One thing you need to know about the Jewish people of Bible times is that they were afraid of the ocean. Yes, a couple of the disciples were fishermen, but think about it. Every time the Bible talks about someone getting into a boat, they got in trouble:
Noah’s Ark - the whole world perished.
Jonah - thrown overboard and swallowed by a great fish.
The disciples could barely cross the Sea of Galilee without sinking.
As Paul embarks on his final missionary journey, he ends up being washed ashore.
But this wasn’t that kind of sea, it serves a different purpose. It was a “sea of glass, like crystal”.
In front of the Temple there was a large bronze bowl filled with water. This water was used for the purification rites. It was commonly known as the “Sea" (Show Picture).
John doesn’t explain the meaning of this because no explanation is needed. This is Temple language.
3. The Four Living Creatures (Vv. 6b-7).
The next thing John notices is these four living creatures standing around the throne. Biblical scholars have come up with all kinds of ideas as to who or what these might be. Much like most everything else in Revelation, I believe that the answer is found in the OT. When John saw these four living creatures, he saw something he had read about before:
Read Ezekiel 1:4-10
Notice that the same creatures in John’s vision are described here in Ezekiel. What are these "living creatures"? They’re angels. Ezekiel has another vision later on where these four living creatures are specifically identified:
Read Ezekiel 10:14-15
Notice that there has been a slight change. Instead of a calf or ox, we now see a cherub ( an angelic being with wings) as one of the living creatures. So what’s the point of all this? The point is that we shouldn’t get wrapped up the specifics of these creatures. What’s important is that these four living creatures are simply a representative of every type of life within the creation of God:
The Lion represents the wild beasts.
The calf represents the domesticated animals.
Man represents all mankind.
The eagle represents the kingdom of the air.
The emphasis here should be the fact that they’re ALIVE as they’re called the four LIVING creatures. And they stand guard around the throne of God.
If you were to walk into the Temple in Jerusalem, you would see the lamp stand on your left, the table of shewbread on your right, and the altar of incense in the middle. Beyond that, you had the veil (Show Picture).
Once you passed through the veil, there was nothing…just a bare rock. But in the days of the original Temple, this was where the Ark of the Covenant was kept. It was a wooden box covered in gold; the top of the box was of pure gold. This was called the mercy seat; it was considered to be the throne of God. This was where the high priest would come once a year to sprinkle the blood of goats and calves (Show Picture).
On each side of the mercy seat was the golden figure of a cherub. Its wings were stretched out over the ark and its face looked down upon the mercy seat. But it was only a golden figure - a lifeless statue. The cherubim that John sees around the throne of heaven are different. They’re alive!
A VISION OF HOLINESS (Vv. 8-11)
Here’s the point of all this…to bring us to focus on the holiness of God. When you wanted to emphasize something in Jewish culture, you did so through repetition. When you want to emphasize something in our culture, you do so through repetition.
When Jesus wanted to emphasize the truth of a statement, He would often repeat it: "Truly, truly, I say to you..." So you often see this kind of parallel repetition throughout the Bible, but you hardly ever see something repeated three times.
“Holy, holy, holy”
God is holy. He’s not just the “big guy upstairs." He’s not just a nice old man with a beard. He’s the God of the universe, and He is holy! And we really should recognize that when we come into His presence.
