Communicating through Symbols

Devotional Reading: Psalm 11

Background Scripture: Revelation 4
Print: Revelation 4

Key Verse
Revelation And immediately I was in the spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and
4:2 one sat on the throne.

Objectives
Upon completion of this lesson, the students should know that:
1. True worship imitates what’s going on in heaven, as recorded in the book of
Revelation.
2. True worship is focused on God for His sake alone; anything less is
entertainment.

Introduction
Revelation chapter 4 is the throne chapter, and Revelation chapter 5 is the Lamb chapter.

Revelation 4
Re After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I
4:1 heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will
show thee things which must be hereafter.
Door (First Mention)
Genesis If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin
4:7 lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.
Jesus is the door:
John Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold,
10:1 but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber.
John But he that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
10:2
John To him the porter openeth; and the sheep hear his voice: and he calleth his own
10:3 sheep by name, and leadeth them out.
John And when he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the sheep
10:4 follow him: for they know his voice.
John And a stranger will they not follow, but will flee from him: for they know not the
10:5 voice of strangers.
John This parable spake Jesus unto them: but they understood not what things they
10:6 were which he spake unto them.
John Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of
10:7 the sheep.
 John All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear
10:8 them.
John I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and
10:9 out, and find pasture.
John The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that
10:10 they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.
John I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep.
10:11
Re And immediately I was in the spirit; and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on
4:2 the throne.
And immediately I was in the spirit;
John Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the
3:4 second time into his mother's womb, and be born?
John Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and
3:5 of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.
John That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.
3:6
John Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.
3:7
John The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not
3:8 tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the
Spirit.

John It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak
6:63 unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.

Romans So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
8:8
Romans But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in
8:9 you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
Ro 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life
because of righteousness.
Romans But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that
8:11 raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit
that dwelleth in you.
Romans Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh.
8:12
Romans For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify
8:13 the deeds of the body, ye shall live.
Romans For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
8:14
and, behold, a throne was set in heaven,
Psalm For thou hast maintained my right and my cause; thou satest in the throne judging
9:4 right.
Psalm Thou hast rebuked the heathen, thou hast destroyed the wicked, thou hast put out
9:5 their name for ever and ever.
Psalm O thou enemy, destructions are come to a perpetual end: and thou hast destroyed
9:6 cities; their memorial is perished with them.
 Psalm But the LORD shall endure for ever: he hath prepared his throne for judgment.
9:7

and one sat on the throne.

Matthew When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with
25:31 him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
Matthew And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one
25:32 from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
Matthew And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
25:33
Re And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow
4:3 round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.
The description of God is too awesome to describe with words.

The rainbow being round about the throne means it circled the whole
throne like a halo. A rainbow is many different colors but “in sight like
unto an emerald” means that the main color was probably a bluish- green
or turquoise.

Either way it goes, there are no words in the human language to describe
the beauty and the awesomeness of the throne and the one that sat on
the throne.

Jasper:
- The first foundation in New Jerusalem
- Represents the first born in Isreal, Ruben

Sardine:
- Represents the sixth stone in New Jerusalem. Spelled sardius
- Represents Simeon, the sixth tribe mentioned in Revelation chapter
seven
- A fire red stone to represent God's wrath.

Emerald Stone:
- The fourth stone in the foundation
Re And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and
4:4 twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold.
The number 24 is the number of worship, which is why David distributed
the priesthood into 24 lots in I Chronicles chapter 24. Each course of the
priesthood had to take their turn in the temple. In Luke Zacharias of the
course of Abia, the father of John the Baptist was executing the priest's
office before God in the order of his course when the angel Gabriel gave
him the prophecy of his son.
Luke There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named
1:5 Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and
her name was Elisabeth.

clothed in white raiment; (The righteousness of the saints)

Revelation And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and
19:8 white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints.
Note: The word “Elder” is used 12 times in the book of Revelation.

Throughout scripture, the word elder is never used to describe an angel,

only a human being.
elders: 4245
πρεσβύτερος Presbuteros (pres-boo'-ter-os); Adjective, Strong #: 4245
1. elder, of age,
a. the elder of two people
b. advanced in life, an elder, a senior
1. forefathers
2. a term of rank or office
a. among the Jews
1. members of the great council or Sanhedrin (because in early times
the rulers of the people, judges, etc., were selected from elderly
men)
2. of those who in separate cities managed public affairs and
administered justice
b. among the Christians, those who presided over the assemblies (or
churches) The NT uses the term bishop, elders, and presbyters
interchangeably
c. the twenty four members of the heavenly Sanhedrin or court seated on
thrones around the throne of God
KJV Word Usage and Count
elder 64
old man 1
eldest 1
elder woman 1

Looking at the twenty four elders, one may either conclude that they are
either celestial or angelic beings, or they are the church. There are a
number of reasons that these four and twenty elders are the church.

1. They are called elders

2. They are wearing white garments, and throughout the
book of Revelation, white garments represent
salvation. Fallen angels can not receive salvation and
elect angels do not need salvation because they were
never in an unfallen state.
3. They are wearing earned crowns; Stephanos. A
Stephanos crown is a crown of a victor, conquer, or
overcomer. The seven letters to seven churches make
seven promises to the overcomer. These are the
crowns that the saints will receive.
4. In the Revelation 5:9-10 song of the elders, they say
“for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by
thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and
 people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God
kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.”
Fallen angels can not be redeemed, and elect angels
were never in a fallen state so the elders can not be
angels.

crowns: 4735
στέφανος Stephanos (stef'-an-os); Noun Masculine, Strong #: 4735
2. a crown
a. a mark of royal or (in general) exalted rank
1. the wreath or garland which was given as a prize to victors in
public games
b. metaph. the eternal blessedness which will be given as a prize to the
genuine servants of God and Christ: the crown (wreath) which is the
reward of the righteousness
c. that which is an ornament and honour to one

Gold = Royalty

Note: The word crown is used 24 times in the new testament.

Re And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven
4:5 lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
And out of the throne proceeded lightnings
Matthew For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west;
24:27 so shall also the coming of the Son of man be.
lightnings: 796
ἀστραπή Astrape (as-trap-ay');
Word Origin: Greek, Noun Feminine, Strong #: 796

1. lightning
a. of the gleam of a lamp
KJV Word Usage and Count
lightning 8
light shining 1
and thunderings and voices:
John Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have
12:28 both glorified it, and will glorify it again.
John The people therefore, that stood by, and heard it, said that it thundered: others
12:29 said, An angel spake to him.
John Jesus answered and said, This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
12:30
Jesus surnamed James and John sons of thunder in Mark 3:17 using this
same word:
thunderings: 1027
 βροντή Bronte (bron-tay'); Noun Feminine, Strong #: 1027

1. thunder
KJV Word Usage and Count
thunder 8
thundering 4
In verse five we see the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Seven represents
completion.
Revelation John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace,
1:4 from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven
Spirits which are before his throne;
Revelation And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of
1:5 the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and
washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Revelation And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory
1:6 and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

We see the Father on the throne and the fullness of the Holy Spirit
represented by the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, but
John’s means of being in the presence of God is the blood of Jesus. That is
why John had to be in the spirit, and he had to enter through the door
which is his belief in Jesus Christ. If he were to enter any other way, he
would have been a thief and a robber, according to John chapter 10, and
would have never entered into God’s presence.

In Revelation chapter 5, the focus is on Jesus who is the Lamb as it had

been slain because He shed His blood for the sins of the whole world, and
the Lion of the tribe of Juda who will destroy all who refused to exercise
faith in Him on His second coming.
Re And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the
4:6 throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
beast: 2226
ζῷον Zoon (dzo'-on);
Word Origin: Greek, Noun Neuter, Strong #: 2226

1. a living being
2. an animal, brute, beast
Re And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a
4:7 face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

King Lion Matthew

Servant Calf Mark
Man Face as a man Luke
God Flying Eagle John
 Matthew was a Levi and speaks of Jesus the King. The first beast, the lion, represents a
king. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Juda.
Matthew Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the
2:1 king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,
Matthew Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star
2:2 in the east, and are come to worship him.

Mark speaks of Jesus the servant. Mark gives no genealogy because he is teaching us about
Jesus the servant. Jesus is the suffering servant of Isaiah 53. The second beast is a calf which
represents a service animal.
Mark And he sat down, and called the twelve, and saith unto them, If any man desire
9:35 to be first, the same shall be last of all, and servant of all.

Luke was a physician who knew the human body and Luke therefore gives the gospel of
Jesus the man. Jesus became a man. He added human nature to His divine nature. He is both
human and divine, and, therefore, has two natures. Yet, He is one person, not two. He is not
part God and part man. He is presently a man, one person, with two natures where one nature
is wholly God and the other wholly man. The third beast has a face like a man and represents
Jesus the man. Three times in the book of Luke, Pilot said, “I found no fault in this man.”
Luke Then said Pilate to the chief priests and to the people, I find no fault in
23:4 THIS MAN.
Luke Said unto them, Ye have brought THIS MAN unto me, as one that
23:14 perverteth the people: and, behold, I, having examined him before you,
have found no fault in THIS MAN touching those things whereof ye accuse
him:
Luke And he said unto them the third time, Why, what evil hath he done? I have found
23:22 no cause of death in him: I will therefore chastise him, and let him go.

After the resurrection of Jesus He was still a man:

Luke But they were terrified and affrighted, and supposed that they had seen a spirit.
24:37
Luke And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your
24:38 hearts?
Luke Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit
24:39 hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
Luke And when he had thus spoken, he showed them his hands and his feet.
24:40

John gives us the gospel of Jesus who is God in the flesh. There is no genealogy given
because He is Alpha and Omega, the first and the last. Referring to Isaiah 9:6, as a child he
was born, but as a son he was given. Through the virgin birth He is a child born, with
reference to his human nature. But as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world He is
a son given, with reference to his divine nature. Birds are used to represent spirits in
scripture.
John 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in
truth.
Re And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within:
4:8 and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was,
and is, and is to come.
Since they had six wings, we see that they are the same as the seraphim
in Isaiah chapter 6.
Isaiah In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high
6:1 and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isaiah Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his
6:2 face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isaiah And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the
6:3 whole earth is full of his glory.
Isaiah And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was
6:4 filled with smoke.
Isaiah Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and
6:5 I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King,
the LORD of hosts.
Isaiah Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he
6:6 had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isaiah And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine
6:7 iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
When Isaiah said, “Woe is me! for I am undone” he literally thought that
he was going to be put out of existence and killed because he saw God.
But Isaiah had his sins covered with the live coal taken with the tongs off
the alter, because before Jesus shed His precious blood on the cross,
having the sins covered is the best that could be done so that Isaiah could
appear before God. What Isaiah saw was a Christophany; An appearance
of Christ in the Old Testament.

Manoah had the same reaction in Judges 13:22 at the appearance of the
pre-incarnate Christ.

More observations on the seraphim:

Represents in the animal
Resembles Virtue
kingdom
Lion Wild Animal Power
Strength and various natural
Calf Domesticated Animal
affections
Face as a man Dominion over all animals Wisdom
Flying Eagle Bird of the air Swiftness and a sharp eye

Wait a minute, where are the fish? There will be no sea in the new heaven
and new earth so no sea representative is needed.
Revelation And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first
21:1 earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.

Anthropomorphisms of these animals in scripture:

Lion:
 Genesis 49:9; Revelation 5:5; Isaiah 31:4; Hosea 11:9, 10; Amos 3:8

Calf:
Hosea 14:2; Malachi 4:2

Face as a man:
Isaiah 13:12; Ezekiel 34:31; Ezekiel 36:38; Jeremiah 4:23-25

Eagle:
Isaiah 40:31; Job 39:26, 27, 29; Psalm 103:5; Ezekiel 17:1-8

Re And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who
4:9 liveth for ever and ever,

Re The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that
4:10 liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

Re Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all
4:11 things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
pleasure: 2307
θέλημα Thelema (thel'-ay-mah);
Word Origin: Greek, Noun Neuter, Strong #: 2307

1. what one wishes or has determined shall be done

a. of the purpose of God to bless mankind through Christ
b. of what God wishes to be done by us
1. commands, precepts
2. will, choice, inclination, desire, pleasure
KJV Word Usage and Count
will 62
desire 1
pleasure