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He is Worthy

Revelation 4

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The overall message of Revelation, in the midst of a world in turmoil by sin, is

1. God wins, and so does every
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   .
2. to help Jesus’ followers live
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   , regardless of the things going on around us.
   

Jesus: Write therefore the things that you have seen [chapter 1], those that are [chapters 2-3] and those that are to take place after this [chapters 4-22].—Revelation 1:19 (ESV)

As we come to chapter 4, Jesus is going to begin to tell us “those [things] that are to take place after this,” telling John through visions what he and the churches can expect to

.

After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”—Revelation 4:1 (ESV)
“Heaven,” God’s sphere of reality, is right here, close beside us, intersecting with our ordinary reality. It is not so much like a door opening high up in the sky, far away. It is more like a door opening right in front of us where before we could only see this room, this field, this street. —N.T. Wright

Heaven is always

, but it resides in the supernatural realm, which simply means beyond the natural realm that you and I can see.

The Kingdom of God, of Heaven, is wherever God

, and at times we can see it breaking into our world when the love of God comes through us and others.

Only when Jesus

at his Second Coming will the Kingdom of God come fully here on earth, as it is in heaven, and we will then be enabled to fully see it as we are resurrected with eternal bodies.

Dispensationalism or Dispensational Theology – a belief that time has been divided into various dispensations or periods, and we are in the Grace or Church dispensation today.

Dispensationalism is a relatively new theological approach, only being systematized by John Nelson Darby in the mid-

th Century.

We’re at the start of Chapter 4 where pretty much everything from here to the end of Revelation is intended to be John seeing

in his visions, speaking to “what must take place” in the future.

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.…—Revelation 4:2-6a (ESV)

God seated on His throne is a central scene of the entire book, for the throne symbolizes God’s

power and rule.

The most common belief is the “twenty-four elders” symbolize Israel’s

patriarchs, the sons of Jacob, and Jesus’

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apostles.

The many images point to God’s sovereign rule over

creation.

⁶ … 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.”—Revelation 4:6b-11 (ESV)

These “four living creatures” strongly

the four creatures who supported God’s throne in the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel’s chapter 1 vision, and they also have six wings like the seraphim mentioned in Isaiah 6.

In the Hebrew language repetition of a word indicates emphasis, and the rare threefold repetition indicates the

of a quality, so the repetition of “Holy” is essentially affirming God’s

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holiness.

John is given a picture of unending praise and worship to God – He is

!

We end chapter 4 with John receiving this incredible picture of the heavenly throne room as a place of infinite glory and God’s holiness, and there is

worship and praise going to God from the beings assembled around Him.

Do we give God lip service and barely acknowledge Him at all, or do we consider God

of all worship, honor and praise?

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Next Week: Revelation 5

Discussion Questions

1. As you read chapter 4 and its discussion of God’s throne, where do you think this – heaven – is? How do you imagine it? What is the Bible telling us about it?
2. The Apostle John doesn’t tell us specifically who the 24 elders are. What are some possibilities for who the “elders” are in this chapter?
3. Describe the living creatures. Now, read Ezekiel 1 and Isaiah 6. What do you notice about the beings in all three passages?
4. What are the living creatures and elders doing in this passage? What do you suppose the significance of their actions are for us today?
5. Discuss what the two songs offered by the living creatures and the elders say.
6. If you had to come away with one point for chapter 4, what would it be? Why?