Read with Me
Revelation 4:4-6a (NET)
In a circle around the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on those thrones were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white clothing and had golden crowns on their heads. From the throne came out flashes of lightning and roaring and crashes of thunder came from the throne. Seven flaming torches, which are the seven spirits of God, were burning in front of the throne and in front of the throne was something like a sea of glass, like crystal.
Listen with Me
John had been whisked into heaven, right into the throne room of God Himself, just as the apostle Paul had been several decades earlier (2 Corinthians 12:2-5, 7). But where Paul was forbidden to give any specifics about what he had seen and heard, John was commanded to write down all that he would see and hear (Revelation 1:19) for the benefit of the seven Churches in Asia to whom this circular letter is addressed (Revelation 1:4).
John had been promised that what he would be shown in Heaven is “what must happen after these things” (Revelation 4:1). In other words, he will be shown not only what was happening at that moment and why, but he will also be shown where it will all lead. This message is designed to give hope to the Churches as the present persecution completed its horrific course.
After John described the throne and the One seated on it, he looked around at what else he could see. The first thing he noticed was that there were twenty-four thrones around the throne of God. And on those thrones sat twenty-four elders all dressed in white with golden crowns. There have been many interpretations of who those “elders” might be, including the leaders of the twelve tribes along with the twelve apostles, twenty-four archangels, and even the raptured Church. But unlike many of the other symbols in John’s vision, these are not interpreted for him and there is no precedence for these symbols in earlier writings. All we are given is an accurate description of what John saw, and the fact that when all heaven breaks out in praise of God, these twenty-four elders participate along with every other being in heaven (4:9-11).
Next, John notices seven torches burning before the throne of God, which he is given to understand are the seven spirits of God, or the seven-fold Spirit of God (the Greek can be translated either way). The identity of these “seven spirits” has been hotly debated over the centuries. Some have seen seven as the number of wholeness and perfection, with this simply painting a picture of the Holy Spirit as perfect. Some have believed that just as God has a three-fold character to His entire being, so the Holy Spirit, a part of that Trinity, is an extremely complex person in Himself, having a seven-fold character.
Others have looked back to Isaiah 11:2, where the interaction between the Holy Spirit and the Messiah is described. Earlier translations quote seven specific characteristics of the Holy Spirit, characteristics that often overlap with each other. Those begin with the Holy Spirit being the Spirit of the Lord. This is followed by His being the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, knowledge and fear of the Lord.
Unfortunately, we aren’t given nearly as much information about this “seven-ness” as we would like. But we know that the idea is important because the phrase “the seven spirits of God” is repeated four times in these visions (1:4, 3:1, 4:5, 5:6).
John saw that before God’s throne was something that looked like a sea of glass, like crystal. This is something that is consistent across all visions of God’s throne recorded in Scripture. In Exodus 24:9-11, when the seventy elders of Israel saw God and ate and drank in His presence, Moses described a pavement under His feet that was clear and blue. And in Elijah’s vision of God’s glory (Ezekiel 1:22-28), he described the expanse above the heads of the living creatures on which God’s throne sat as looking like in expanse that sparkled like ice.
At the same time that John’s eyes were dazzled by what he was seeing, his ears were pounded by the sounds of intense thunder coming from God’s throne accompanied by flashes of brilliant lightning, symbolizing God’s fierce power that was ready to be unleashed on behalf of his beleaguered people. Far from being a quiet, serene place with soft strains of harp music playing in the background like celestial elevator music, John experiences heaven as a place brimming over with unimaginable power, and light, and life.
Pray with Me
Father, you are right that what John experiences in your presence is far different than what most people have been taught or imagined. Many believe that heaven is very much like earth, but much more pleasant. But the picture that John paints is the least earth-like place imaginable. The difference is that Your presence and Your power are immediately and very tangibly present. Even though being there with You, being able to see You face-to-face, will be massively unlike living here, I believe that once we arrive, we will realize that we are truly home, in the place we were built to be, and (re)born to be: near You forever. Thank you, Lord, for this amazing glimpse. Amen.