We start in verse 3.
e. In Spite Of
All The Horrible Things That Happen To The Church In This Age, Christians Are
To Remember Their Sovereign God Is Also Merciful And They Can Trust Him. 3
Here we read: “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.”
The fact that a rainbow is seen around the throne makes us go back to
the throne room vision of Ezekiel 1:28, where God’s glory is displayed around
his throne in this manner: “Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud
on the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around.” Yet it
also takes us even much further back in history to the time God destroyed the
world (all but one family saved through an ark) and then afterward covenanted
with mankind he would be merciful to them and never do this again (Gen.
9:8-17). So, this rainbow seems to reveal that the God who is sovereign over
this world is also merciful and has ordered history in a manner to show this.
What is also significant is that the Apostle Paul affirms that the
reason God has ordained sin’s presence in the world, along with its curse and
brokenness was that God might display his mercy (Rom. 9:15, 22-23). This throne
room vision reminds us that God is not just sovereign, he is merciful, and part
of the reason we must suffer in this age is that this mercy might be
highlighted that much more.
Something else displayed in this part of the vision, in the presence of
the precious stones around the throne, is that God’s glory is seen in his care
for his people, his bride (see the presence of these stones in the new
Jerusalem, i.e. God’s bride [Rev. 21:11, 18-20]), which has as its background
the jewels in the breastplate of the high priest in the Old Covenant—jewels
that represented the reality he went into the Holy of Holies representing the
people of God (see Exodus 28:15-21).
Though the fact that God is sovereign over and in and through our
suffering may be a hard truth, we must also remember he is a good, loving,
merciful heavenly Father who has our best interest ultimately in mind (Mt.
7:7-11; Rom. 8:28).
f. Even Though We
Live In The Midst Of This Fallen And Broken World, With All Its Suffering And
Hardships, Our Identity And
Citizenship Are Already In Heaven. 4
Our sovereign, merciful God has worked in our behalf to bring us to the
future joys and rewards of his full kingdom. Part of the way we are assured of
this is found in verse 4, where we learn that identity and citizenship are
already in heaven. Here is what we read: “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.”
We know from Rev. 21:12-14 that these 24 probably represent the Old
Covenant patriarchs and also the New Covenant apostles—in other words the
people of God of all times. We also know from 5:8; 7:19-17, they are
distinguished from the redeemed humans and so are most likely angels. Yet, they
are angels who represent or symbolize the people of God. They serve before God
in the temple and worship him. The point seems to be that this is what the
church is called to do and be, i.e. to be the worshiping ministers of God in
this world—as they realize their identity and citizenship finds its origin in
the new creation of heaven.
The point is that we define our circumstances and success in life by
that which is bigger, rather than merely by what we experience.
g.
Even
Though We Live In The Midst Of This Fallen And Broken World, With All Its
Suffering And Hardships, Our Ultimate Purpose Is To Serve And Glorify God By
The Power Of God’s Spirit. 5
When John writes, “From the throne came flashes
of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder,” this alludes to Exodus
19:16 and the same phenomena that Israel experienced when they were at Mt.
Sinai, when God met with Moses to give him the Law, to covenant with Israel,
and to call and prepare them for their mission after they had been delivered
out of Egypt. God was reminding Israel of his holiness and the danger of
ignoring him, taking him lightly, or rebelling against him. Several times in
Revelation we also see these same phenomena, in contexts where God is bringing
judgment (8:5; 11:19; 16:18). The point
seems to be that we are to serve and honor God, not to take him lightly.
John goes on to write that he also saw the following: “and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire,
which are the seven spirits of God” (see also 1:4), which is a clear
reference to the vision Zechariah had in Zechariah 4:1-7, wherein he saw a
lampstand with seven lamps on it—all connected to a continual flow of olive
oil, and this represented the work of the Spirit to empower Zerubbabel, the
governor, for his mission of rebuilding the temple. The main lesson was found
in Zech. 4:6: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of
hosts.” The point seems to be that God’s Spirit is present and necessary to
empower his people for faithful and enduring service. God, then, not only
allows difficulties, but he also, in his mercy, provides power to face them and
to persevere.
h. Even Though We Live In The Midst Of
This Fallen And Broken World, With All Its Suffering And Hardships, We Have The
Assurance Our God Will Save Us And Make All Things Right. 6-11
John writes in these verses the following:
…and
before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
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.”
In these verses we have allusions back to the Red Sea, which was a
barrier to salvation and which God overcome to save Israel (6), and to visions
of Ezekiel 1 and Isaiah 6 and their throne room visions (6-8). In both of these
books God is showing he must bring judgment upon those who have ignored him,
will ultimately save those who come to him in faith and repentance, and all of
this to his glory. Elsewhere in Revelation (15:2) the sea of glass (an elevated
reminder of the Red Sea) is associated with the deliverance of Israel out of
Egypt as a type of ultimate salvation.
What we apparently see in these verses is that the sovereign God will
surely save those who trust in him (including those who are persecuted) and
bring judgment on those who don’t trust
in him (including those who are persecutors). This is one more indication we
can trust God in this age, no matter what is happening.
i. God’s Sovereign Plan Is As Certain As if It Had
Already Happened. 11
The final point made in this chapter about the sweetness of God’s
sovereignty as applied to his people in this age is found in verse 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.”
In context, this statement of praise is not merely about God’s original
creation, but it is also about his ongoing governance of all things (spoken of
here as creating things). The last part of the verse seems to affirm that
whatever God ordains will happen first exists and then it is created or comes
into existence. I take this to mean that whatever God has decreed to take
place, even though it hasn’t been realized yet, is just as certain as if it had
already happened.
This is not only an indication of the certainty of God’s plans and his
promises to his people, it is one more indication that his sovereignty is
absolute.
Conclusion
So, to wrap up Revelation 4, God truly is absolutely sovereign and this
should be a sweet truth to encourage, comfort, and motivate the church on
mission, especially if Christians see God’s sovereignty accompanied by all
these other truths about who he is and how he works.
Yet, there are two more truths that emerge from this vision, both of
which are located in the second half of the vision in chapter 5. We will begin
looking at these next week.
Joyfully Resting On Our Sovereign God With You,
Tom
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