I have now corrected the Propositional Analysis of Gem 2224 – The Throne and the One on the Throne are in Focus. I am grateful to Duoplus, the designers of my website and to their support programmers in Australia for fixing the problem created by the Word Press upgrade. Now you can see Revelation 4:2-11 laid out in PA format. You also have in that Gem the full text of Revelation Chapter 4. From the previous Gem you have my interpretation of the Four Living Beings. With the help of Gems 2224 and 2228 I would like to help you take in the eagle’s eye view of the whole chapter and focus on some elements I have not yet commented on. Hint: You can do what I do when I am juggling a complex matter; Open all three Gems in a different window and then move from one to the other as needed.
Image | 1st Characteristic | 2nd Characteristic | 3rd Characteristic |
---|---|---|---|
Lion | Run and not get weary | Acute hearing | Ears to hear |
Ox | Wearing the yoke | Submitted and obedient | Hearts committed |
Man | Walk and not faint | Those that wait on the Lord | Eyes to see; ears to hear |
Eagle | Rise up and soar | With eyes focused | Hang on with firm grip |
I considered adding a fourth column to the table related to “enduring to the end”. I didn’t, because every category – Lion, Ox, Man and Eagle – would be classified as “endure to the end”. Isn’t that the point of the message to each of the churches, coupled with ‘let him who has ears to hear’ and eyes to see? After all, John was told to: Look and hear what the Spirit had to say. The communication was heard and seen, and in each case, the call was to be victorious in the end. Hang in there to the end! How apt that each of these four images were combined. Remember according to the source found in Ezekiel, these images are anthropomorphic; centred on mankind and for the benefit of and education of mankind.
In the early stages of Deeper Bible I inform participants that there were no chapter breaks in the biblical text until 1550 AD. Thus we need to realise that the chapter boundaries throughout the Bible are often a distraction. The text ought to flow uninterrupted from one block to the next. The chapter breaks often mask the fact that the thought pattern, or in this case the revelation, flows from one chapter to the next without a break. When we realise that, we understand that the letter to the seven churches flows through the open door into heaven from the warnings given to the churches. The focus on the throne and the One who sits on the throne is what ought to have enabled the church in the first century, and the church in the twenty-first century, to endure persecution and persevere to the end. The example of the lion able to run and not grow weary, the ox to bear His yoke till the end, the man to walk and not faint and the eagle to rise up in and by the Spirit of God are very apt and relevant. Remember back to the message of Paul in Philippians found in Running the Race of Life and the examples of the saints in Hebrews 11 both of which encourage us to run with endurance while keeping our eyes on Jesus.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith.
Hebrews 12:1-2
That includes us keeping our eyes on Jesus through the open door of heaven just as Stephen did in Acts 7.
But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!”
Acts 7:55-56
Do you see how this all fits together? Three of you, two of whom are fellow Bible translators, have drawn my attention to a disparity between the account of Ezekiel and John. Ezekiel describes the Four Living Beings, as being merged together resulting in all four beings comprised of a composite combination of each animal.
From the centre of the cloud came four living beings that looked human, except that each had four faces and four wings. . . Each had a human face in the front, the face of a lion on the right side, the face of an ox on the left side, and the face of an eagle at the back.
Ezekiel 1:5-6, 10
John’s description, gives us four discretely separate beings with one distinctive face on each being as seen in the following quote according to John:
In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight.
Revelation 4:6-7
Clearly the vision was initially shown to Ezekiel, then John saw the same vision which he would have recognised from what Ezekiel wrote. However the visions are different, which is the source for much discussion among the commentators. I don’t see a problem with the difference. John’s account has certainly been made simpler than Ezekiel’s but it doesn’t lose anything. The point is still the same. The four beings are still examples to us, where the point behind each animal is meant as an example for us to emulate. Specifically according to the points of comparison I laid out in the table at the beginning of this Gem.
If we investigate more of the detail of what John recorded we find more food for thought. Note the gemstones mentioned here: Jasper, carnelian and the emerald glow. The first two gemstones mentioned here are in fact the first and the last gemstones on the priests’ ephod. That speaks to me of the priesthood of all believers and listing the first and last of the ephod gemstones ought to make us think of the whole. The 24 Elders stand for the Elders of Moses’ Covenant and the Elders / Apostles of the New Testament and the four living beings are representative of people who embody the qualities outlined in my chart above.
Now open Gem 2224 in a new window and scroll to the proposition analysis I have given you of Revelation 4:2-11.
Read both – Take careful note: and Further note:
You will now be able to flick back and forth between these two Gems. Doing this saves me and you from an extra long Gem where you have to scroll up and down to find the relevant portion. You now have both side by side on your screen as I do now. The propositional analysis helps you to see the prepositions in red which focus on the throne. But note also how the passage moves from 24 Elders to 4 Living Beings and from the 4 Living Beings back to the 24 Elders. [Don’t forget to use two fingers to move the PA analysis block left and right when you need to see it all.]
“Day and night, night and day let incense arise.” I love to sing that new song now that I have seen this feature of Revelation 4. Commentators debate the verb in this section. Whenever the 4 living beings give glory and honour and thanks . . . the twenty-four elders fall down and worship. Is this a continuous future tense or an on-going present tense. [hotan dōsousin] “whosoever shall give . . .” Allow me to put it this way: whenever the four living beings, representative of all believers who embody the qualities above, give glory and honour and thanks, the twenty four elders representative of OT and NT believers fall down and worship. Commentators debate whether this the scene in heaven is continual into the future. No, my reading of the text sparks the thought that one leads to the other. That this is happening intermittently, as the four living beings break out spontaneously in giving glory, honour and thanks that sets the 24 Elders off again. Have you ever been in a situation like that? I have where one response of worship and praise sets off another burst of spontaneous praise in the other group. Just let your mind imagine it for a while.
There is difference of opinion across the commentators as to whether these Living Beings and Elders are angelic or human. This comes out of all the eyes and wings depicted in Isaiah 6, Ezekiel 1 and 10 and this portion of Revelation we are looking at. As to whether these visions are cherubim or seraphim and just what they symbolise or signify. What is the difference between cherubim and seraphim? Is what is depicted like an Ark of the Covenant on wheels, a cart or a chariot? Is there anything to the question: Aren’t the Elders subordinate to the four Living Beings? Shouldn’t the list be in reverse order? [from Gem 2225].
I am not going to address these matters at this point. Whether I do or not will depend on the response of you my readers. I already feel I have lost some of you with me delving into the background to the seven churches in an effort to test them against other churches in antiquity. I will wait and see what to do with the above questions. Besides I haven’t got it all worked out yet, who does? Many of those questions above are rattling around in my mind too. Let’s pause those questions for the moment and put them in “residue”, a term I picked up from one of my Wycliffe mentors, Bruce Hooley. I will weigh it in the balance and see if it is worth investigating or not. In the meantime I wish to keep the main thing the main thing and press on to the next part of the same vision – Chapter 5 of Revelation.
Take a look at what the Four Living Beings and the Twenty Four Elders are saying which I have coloured purple in Gem 2224. I won’t deal with it now and make this Gem more complicated. Hold their words of praise in mind as you move on and read the next chapter of Revelation. Suffice to say there is an interesting change in the next chapter.
You can reject the Lord’s yoke, which He has told you is easy to bear. But don’t be surprised if you find any yoke you substitute for it harder to bear.
Ian
Creativity is the most important human resource of all. Without creativity, there would be no progress, and we would be forever repeating the same patterns.
Edward De Bono
You can be cautious or you can be creative, but there’s no such thing as a cautious creative.
George Lois
There is no innovation and creativity without failure.
Brené Brown