Revelation chapter 4 - 'The Throne in Heaven'

1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."
2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.
3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne.
4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.
5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.
6 Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. In the centre, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and behind.
7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.
8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come."
9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honour and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever,
10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11 "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

This fourth chapter - presenting a vision of magnificent splendour - is set within the throne room of Heaven itself. The descriptive text is rich and complex. Central to the scene is a throne with a seated (male) figure, the form of the throne being both intricate and mysterious - four living creatures - integral to, yet independent of - the structure of the throne, each creature having six wings and being covered with eyes.

In the accompanying image, the living creatures are seen to be looking outwards. Since everything emanates from the throne - light, power, thunders, lightnings, incantations - it seemed appropriate to present the living creatures with an outward-looking aspect.

Since verse eight gives the refrain of the four living creatures: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come”, and, verse eleven, the refrain of the twenty-four elders surrounding the throne: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being”, it is evident that the ‘one seated’ is God Himself.

Given that the Apostle Paul says of God that He ‘... alone is immortal and ... lives in unapproachable light, whom no-one has seen or can see’ (1 Timothy 6: 16), it seemed appropriate to represent such a being as a brilliant whiteness - the very source of light and power. The New International Version translates the Greek text as, ‘… and the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian’, whereas the King James (Authorised) Version translates the text thus: ‘And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone.’

In Revelation chapter twenty-one, jasper, sardius and chalcedony are separately mentioned (verses 18, 19, 20). In the same chapter (verse 11), ‘... the glory of God and its brilliance ...’ is described as being ‘... like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.’ The Greek (Gk: ‘crystallizo’) and uniquely appearing here in this text, actually means ‘clear (or transparent), as crystal. Even so, these gems are usually recognised by the colours they acquire due to the absorption of impurities. Given that prior to absorbing such colour-determining impurities, they are either clear or brilliant white, thus I have presented it.

Encircling the throne is an emerald rainbow. The Greek word translated ‘encircled’ (Gk: ‘kuklothen’ (verse 3) – from which is derived the word ‘cycle’), and translated ‘surrounding’ (verse 4), is the same and suggests, therefore, that the rainbow completely encircled the throne.

‘Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing.’ (verse 5). Although this statement, together with the lampstands referred to in chapter one (verses 12 and 13), might initially seem to suggest seven individual lampstands, the majority of Bible commentators feel that these are further references to the Menorah (see notes relating to ‘One Like a Son of Man’). Since in Old Testament times it was created with the express purpose that it might stand in the very sanctuary of the Tabernacle - the Most Holy meeting place where God met with His people (chapter 37: 17) - to represent the very presence of God, it is surely this lampstand which is referred to in chapter four of Revelation, and burns in the very presence of God Himself.

Also before the throne was ‘…what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.’ (verse 6). Whereas Durer depicted such a transparency that mediaeval Bavarian buildings were visible beneath the throne, the accompanying image presents a reflective rather than transparent sea. Although it is not the intention within this brief introduction to present all of the allusions that may be found which refer to other portions of the Bible, one such example might be helpful. The 'sea of glass' within verse six of chapter four has a clear echo within the second book of the Bible, Exodus, in the twenty-fourth chapter:

‘Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up
and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of sapphire, clear as the sky itself.’  Exodus 24: 9-10

Such cross-referencing not only provides a more full understanding of the various texts, but is a constant source of wonder and excitement for the serious student of the Bible.