Revelation Study Notes

Bobby Valentine

November 17, 2005

Chapter four begins a new section of Revelation and this chapter along with five form a literary unit. The scene that unfolds before John is the theological anchor of the entire book. Before John relates the terrible woes to be unleashed he wants his reader-hearers to see what he has seen: At the heart of things God rules in sublime majesty. That is the God who defines himself through the Lamb who suffers for all.

Verse 1: The prophet is called up to heaven “in the Spirit” which is a fairly common experience for the prophets. Ezekiel provides many of the “images” for John as he shares what he experienced, “The heavens were opened, and I saw visions of God” (Ezk 1.1). Later we read “Then the Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the gate of the house of the Lord that faces east” (Ezk 11.1, cf. v.5).

Being transported to heaven is part of the apocalyptic way. In 1 Enoch we read, “And behold I saw the clouds: and they were calling me in a vision . . . the winds were causing me to fly and rushing me high up into heaven . . .” (14.8-9).

Verse 3: a Rainbow. Probably rooted in Genesis 9 affirming that God still has a covenant with creation. Before destruction comes . . . the mercy of God is preached.

Verse 4: Twenty-four elders. I believe the elders represent a kind of heavenly counter part to the people of God on earth. They represent the church on earth in that they have the prayers of the saints in their censors (5.8). It is one of the elders that consoles John in chapter 5 (v. 5).

These elders sit on “thrones.” John sees the throne in heaven but he also sees “little” thrones. God is sovereign and rules the universe. But God “shares” the throne not only with Christ but with those who will share in the eschatological kingdom (1.6; 5.19; 20.6; 22.5).

Verse 6: Sea of glass (cf. 15.2 & 21.1). The earthly temple had a “sea” so does the heavenly (cf. 1 Kgs 7.23-26; 2 Chron. 4.6). The sea in the ANE is often seen as a threat or barrier. This barrier is removed in the new earth.

Verse 7: Living creatures. John alludes to a Jewish tradition which declares “Man is exalted among creatures, the eagle among birds, the ox among domestic animals, the lion among wild beasts; all of them have received dominion” (Midrash Shemoth R.23).

As John enters the throne room his eye fastens on the sealed scroll. A sealed book is a common motif in apocalyptic literature. The Prophet Ezra learns “that the seal is placed upon the age that is about to pass away, then I will show these signs: the books shall be opened before the face of the firmament, and all shall see my judgement” (2 Esdras 6.20)

The book contains the information he longs to know. We cannot loose sight of the fact that the one who opens the book is also the one who died for the world.

Messiah as Lion. The lion is clearly a symbol of the Messiah for Jewish believers. Ezra declares matter-of-factly “the lion . . . is the messiah” (2 Esdras 12.31). It seems so right. At the hands of evil empires, God’s people have been lambs for the slaughter. The psalmist lamented “you gave us up to be devoured like sheep and have scattered us among the nations” (44.11). What the people of God longed for was a messiah full of righteous indignation to turn the tables.

Messiah as Lamb. John looks at the appointed place in the vision where the Lion was supposed to appear, and what he sees is a brutally slaughtered lamb! Boring notes “Although readers of the Bible may have become so accustomed to it that they effect is lost to us, this is perhaps the most mind-wrenching ‘rebirth of images’ in literature. The slot in the system reserved for the Lion has been filled by the Lamb of God” (Revelation, p. 108).

This is the first occurrence of “Lamb” in Revelation. It is in fact John’s favorite way of describing Jesus. It is crucial, I believe, to see that John presents Jesus as not slain passed tense but slain perfect tense. The Lamb is STILL slaughtered . . . even as he is alive. The cross brings an eternal “change” in the identity of Jesus. It will stamp the character of Christ for eternity.

John radically reinterprets the symbol of “Lion” through the image of “Lamb.” How is it that the Lamb “conquerors”? (3.21; 5.5; 17.14) He will conquer by dying, by surrender, through atonement. Christians also “conquer” (2.7, 11, 17, 26; 3.5, 12, 21; 12.11; 15.2; 21.7) not only by what they do but by what Jesus has done (12.11).

For Christians what it means to “win” is radically redefined by the cross of Jesus.

Surrounded by Praise (5.9-14)

The last words of the heavenly chorus of 4.11 worship God as the Creator of all; the choir that sings the final chorus of 5.13 in praise to the Lamb is comprised of all the creation.

Verse 13 shows how the earthly church participates in the worship in heaven. The prayers of the saints are mingled in with the worship in heaven. The saints (every creature) on earth joins both the elders and the living creatures in worship to God/Jesus.