Revelation 4-5: God’s Throne Room, the Lamb, and the Scroll (Part 5)

The Apocalyptic Symphony Starts
With the beginning of chapter 4, we have the “first movement” of the symphony of Revelation—this is where the main concert begins. What we will see is that the main story of Revelation comes in two parts. Part One consists of chapters 4-11, while Part Two consists of chapters 12-22. As we make our way through Revelation, we will see some incredible parallels between the two parts—this is not a coincidence.

Essentially, the literary pattern we can see in Revelation is this. In Part One, we see a distinctly “this world” perspective on the situation the early Church was facing—facing Roman persecution, asking God, “Why?” and waiting for God to act. In Part Two, the curtain is pulled back, so to speak, and we John gives us a glimpse of the larger perspective in the spiritual realm—the real problem isn’t just Rome; it is Satan, the Great Dragon.

As we will see, the very way Part One is laid out is repeated in Part Two. In that sense, Revelation is a little like Ravel’s Bolero. What you notice when you listen to that musical piece is that the same, basic musical theme is repeated over and over again. But each time the theme is repeated, more and more instruments are added and the music intensifies, so that what started out with only one or two instruments ends up with an entire orchestra.

Revelation 4-11, therefore, is like the first movement of a symphony. The focus is that of the “battle” between Christians on earth and the oppressive kings of the earth. Revelation 12-22, though, takes up this basic theme, expands and intensifies it, and showed the eternal and cosmic significance of the Christians’ earthly struggle. In Revelation 12-22 we see that the battle isn’t simply between Christians and evil kings, but it is ultimately between Christ and the Beast, between God and Satan himself.

Revelation 4: The Throne Room of God and Praises
The vision John has in chapter 4 is that of the very throne room of God in Heaven. John’s vision of the throne room of God is loaded with Old Testament imagery. All throughout the Old Testament prophets like Isaiah, Ezekiel, Moses, and Daniel were given visions of the throne of God, and Revelation 4 is no different. The point of chapter 4, obviously, is to emphasize to the Christians at that time (as well as to us) just who the true King of the universe is. Someone who is bloodied in battle has to be given a reminder of who and what he is fighting for.

One thing to note here concerns the various “praise songs” that are sung throughout Revelation. They never really appealed to me that much, mainly because they looked pretty boring—I would read them and immediately think of the choir of the church I grew up in…not my kind of music. Well, I’ve come to realize that when we read these praise songs in Revelation, we need to picture them being sung, not by a small choir, or by a chapel full of high school students who half-heartedly sing, or don’t sing at all. We need to picture these songs being sung with all the passion, feeling, and emotion that human beings can muster. If you love Handel’s Messiah, picture a choir like that singing. Or if you are like me, you might picture something different: maybe U2 singing Gloria….

The Vision of the Throne Room: Chapter 4
When I was in high school, I took a number of art classes. One of the things I did was what is on your right: my artistic representation of what John describes in Revelation 4. The thing to notice in this vision is the sheer symbolism of it all, replete with a host of Old Testament allusions.

First, there is the throne: the rainbow encircling it alludes to the rainbow after the flood in Genesis 9:13-17. Before the throne, there is a sea of glass. Again, “the sea” is hugely symbolic throughout the Bible.

1. God creates dry land out of the Sea of Chaos (Genesis 1)
2. God saves Noah from the flood, and brings the ark to rest on dry land (Genesis 6-9)
3. God saves Israel by bringing them through the Red Sea (Exodus 14); throughout the Old Testament in places like Psalms 74 and 89, and Isaiah 27, God’s salvation of His people is spoken of using this mythological language of God crushing Leviathan in the Sea. If you will, Israel saw themselves being saved through the Red Sea and being brought to the Promised Land, as a “historical re-enactment” of the mythological account of God creating the universe.

Secondly, there are the 24 thrones and the 24 elders on the thrones, clothed in white and wearing crowns. The obvious question is, “Why are there 24?” This will be made clearer as we go through Revelation, but for now we have to realize that 12 +12 = 24. Twelve stands for both the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles who go out to the Gentiles. Simply put, this is John’s way of emphasizing that there is one people of God, consisting of both Jews and Gentiles.

Thirdly, there is the description of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder bursting forth from the throne. This is extremely important to take note: this description hearkens back to Mount Sinai (Exodus 20:18)—the thunder and lightning is a God thing: God is acting. The reason why this is important is that at very specific times in Revelation (namely the seventh seal in 8:5, the seventh trumpet in 11:19, and the seventh bowl in 16:18-24), this kind of description is revisited and expanded. John is not describing actual natural phenomena that will happen—it is his symbolic way of saying “God is acting!” Whenever you come across this kind of language in Revelation, think, “God is at work to save His people and to bring judgment on evil.”

Finally, there are the four creatures around the throne. This is an allusion to both Isaiah’s vision of God’s throne in Isaiah 6, as well as Ezekiel’s vision in Ezekiel 1. They bear witness to the glory of God. Later on, in the New Testament, part of the reason the early Church chose to have four gospels was that they bear witness to Christ much in the same way. In fact, each of the gospels are often represented by these four beasts: Matthew = a man; Mark = a lion; Luke = an ox; and John = an eagle.

The Lamb and the Scroll: Chapter 5
Something happens in chapter 4 that carries over into chapter 5, is what I call “the ripple effect of praise.” Picture this whole scene as four concentric circles around God’s throne: (A) the four creature around the throne; (B) the 24 elders around them; (C) the many angels around them; and then (D) the entirety of creation.

The praises begin with the four creatures (4:8), and they continue with the 24 elders (4:11). And notice, they are praising God for being the Ruler of all, the great I AM, and for being the Creator.

Then another scene takes place before the “ripple effect of praise” continues…

The One who sits on the throne (i.e. God the Father) has a sealed scroll in His hand, and we learn that no one is worthy to open it. Eventually, we will learn specifically what the scroll contains, but for now it is enough to point out that what is written in the scroll is the defeat of the oppressors of God’s people. It contains the judgment of the enemies of God’s people. The reason why John weeps when no one was worthy enough to open the seals was because it seemed that evil would not be conquered at all.

John is quickly comforted, though. He is told that the Lion of Judah is able to open the scroll. This designation is clearly of the Davidic Messiah. Lions are often seen as kingly, royals beasts, so it comes as a surprise that when John turns to see this lion, he instead sees a lamb—and not just a lamb, but a lamb that had been slaughtered. This is the very paradox of Christ: he’s a crucified Messiah, a slaughtered lamb who is a king, a lion.

John sees the lamb in the center of God’s throne Himself. And once the lamb takes the scroll, all of Heaven who has just been worshipping God the Father now worships Christ the Lamb. This is very important to realize because it deals with the mystery of the divinity of Christ.  Let’s face it, the question, “How can Jesus be both man and God?” is a tough one that no one can fully understand. I doubt Peter, Paul, and John really “fully understood” it, but nevertheless, they were faced with the reality that the man, Jesus, whom they followed was someone one with God.

Once Christ the Lamb takes the scroll, the praises begin again: the four creatures and the 24 elders proclaim He is worthy to take the scroll, because He was slaughtered, and because it was through His blood that God was able to make a kingdom of priests from among all tribes, languages, peoples, and nations (5:9-10).

Christ reigns because Christ sacrificed Himself so that all humanity could be a kingdom of priests for God. Early Church Fathers like Irenaeus of Lyons made it clear that it was through Christ that God was creating a new humanity to fulfill His purposes for Adam all along.

With that, the “ripple effect of praise” continues: the thousands of angels in Heaven join in (5:11-12), and then finally all of creation (5:13). And once that praise hits all of creation, the four living creatures say, “Amen!” (5:14).

And now, the seals will be opened, and the fireworks will begin…in chapter 6.