The Word This Week

Revelation 4:3...

John has been caught up into the very throne room of God.

We have precious little contained in God’s Word describing heaven. We, (I think,) long for more information. In chapters 4 and 5 we have the greatest view of heaven contained in the Bible.

And it is VERY mysterious.

John is grappling with the sights and sounds a finite mind is not capable of apprehending – let alone describing in ways we could read and fully understand ourselves.

I’m very thankful he’s made the attempt – but only after being commanded to write down what he sees by Jesus. (Revelation 1:19.) Paul, having seen the same things John saw, (being caught up to the third heaven,) made no attempt, explaining he thought it unlawful for him to attempt to describe the indescribable.

And so, our imaginations are set ablaze with the fantastic. The phenomenal. The indescribable.

One thing we notice for certain is there are a lot of thrones in God’s throne room. And there are a lot of inexplicable living beings in the very presence of God.

John’s most overwhelming sight is of God Himself, and his report of what he sees of God and God’s throne is fantastic.

But then there are seen 24 elders – also seated upon 24 thrones. And four living creatures, which also seem impossible to completely describe…

These four living creatures are reminiscent of those Ezekiel saw accompanying God’s throne in Ezekiel 1 and Ezekiel 10. What a vision Ezekiel had way back then 500 years before Christ, and his attempt to describe what he saw from a human perspective was just as difficult to fully imagine by the description Ezekiel provided.

One thing we do know for sure. The 24 elders and 4 living creatures are highly symbolic of Christ, and His eternal ministry – both in heaven and on earth.

Everything in God’s Word is intentional. There is nothing in God’s Word which does not in some way represent the Lord Jesus Christ. Of His Word, the Holy Spirit has inscribed, “In the volume of the book it is written of Me,” speaking from Jesus’ perspective. (Heb 10:7 and Psalm 40:6-8.)

And so, here we are again with this further Revelation of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Bill