The Book of Revelation - Part 13

24 May 2026 · this lesson on the church site

Taught by Dr. Keith Palmer, Grace Bible Church, Granbury, Texas — from the church’s Sunday School series on Revelation. These are lightly edited transcripts of the audio, posted for personal study; the teaching and its content belong to Dr. Palmer and Grace Bible Church. Listen to the originals and find his notes on the church website. Transcribed from the audio by AI. Edited only where the audio was unclear (all edits marked with *). Errors are possible — the recording is the authority.

Revelation 4:1 and the Second Vision (00:00)

So Revelation, look at this, chapter 4. Come on, where's the excitement? Chapter 4, right? Here's our outline, if you've been joining us in the book of Revelation. We have an introduction, which we saw back in chapter 1. We've been looking at the letters to seven churches, which is the first vision. That section relates to the seven churches in Asia Minor that we've been talking about. Then in chapter 4 verse 1, we get our next break in the text, and this will take us all the way to the end of the book. It'll take a little while, but that's where we're going.

Recall our diagram, which gives us some navigational assistance. We've been looking at this first vision, the chapters and then the visions. The first one we've seen is the vision of Christ and the messages to the seven churches. You'll see there's a break here in chapter 4 as we move into the second vision.

The Second Vision (01:02)

The second vision takes us to the throne room and then eventually to the scrolls. As you can see, the scrolls are going to occupy a significant amount of the book. The last of the seven scrolls opens up the seven bowl judgments, and then on into a couple of other parts that get into Babylon and related things. As we get toward the end of the book, we see:

The Marriage Supper of the Lamb
Armageddon
Satan in the Abyss
The Resurrection

and all the good stuff coming there. So we're turning a page to a new section, and this is exciting. This is what you've all been waiting for, I think. This is the part where the commentators all go nuts. We've had some congruity for the most part with chapters 2 and 3, and then we get to chapter 4, and everybody's like, okay, what's this and what's this? I will try my best to navigate us through all of this. I'm excited, and I hope you're excited too.

Turning from Messages to Vision (02:03)

Remember the seven churches we've been looking at over the last several weeks. We now turn a corner from messages to those historic churches. Look back with me at chapter 4 verse 1. The first phrase here is "After these things."

One of the things we're going to try to do to help us interpret the book is recognize that there's a lot of diversity here. I'll tell you right now, I'm not here to say that what I'm going to tell you is right. My view is right, I mean, there are godly commentators and godly Christians who have spoken here. But I'm going to do my best to navigate us through this and try to make sense of it. The biggest thing we're going to try to do as much as possible is let the book interpret itself. There are going to be times it doesn't give us a clear interpretation, and that's okay. But we're going to let what we call the internal evidence of the book, that is, what the book says about itself, guide us.

Letting the Book Interpret Itself (03:04)

That's a much safer guide. If God has told us how to interpret the book, that's a better way to go than us guessing, right? So we're going to do that as much as possible.

Now, the phrase "after these things" should take us back, hopefully to chapter 1. So hold your place in chapter 4 and let's go back to chapter 1, because when he says "after these things," that should register that we've heard that before. Let's go back to chapter 1 as Jesus is introducing this book through his angel to John the apostle. Remember, it's Jesus' revelation coming to John through the angel, and that's our progression here.

Back in chapter 1 verse 11, we read these words, Jesus writing to John: "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." Jesus says, okay, I'm going to tell you some things about these churches. Write it down in a book and send it to them. That's what we've been seeing in chapters 2 and 3.

Then notice we have this vision of Christ in verses 12 to 18. We saw his appearance there, the description. When we get to verse 17, John falls on his face when he sees Christ, which is what you do when you're in the presence of deity. Jesus says to him, "Do not be afraid. I am the first and the last, the living one, and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore." Then in verse 19 he says, "Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things." Everybody agrees that verse 19 is an interpretive key to the book. Jesus is telling us something of the structure of the vision he's about to give. You can see the structure in your notes: write down what you have seen, the things which are, and the things which will take place after.

Interpreting Revelation 1:19 (05:07)

That helps us know what to expect. How do we take it? There are two main ways.

The first option: "the things which you have seen" is the vision of Jesus in 1:12 to 18, "the things which are" is the present situation in chapters 2 and 3, the letters to the seven churches, and "the things which will take place after" is chapters 4 to 22.
The second option: "what you have seen" is not specific to the vision of Christ in chapter 1 verses 12 to 18 but a general statement: write down what you see. Jesus is telling John that some things are going on right now and some things are to come.

Does that make sense? Jesus is outlining the book for us here, which is really helpful. When we get to chapter 4 verse 1, we don't have to ask when this happens, because Jesus tells us we're talking about things to come.

I think option number 2 makes the most sense, really: the things which are are consistent with the letters to the seven churches, because those were events happening as John received this from Jesus around 95 AD when he was getting this vision and writing it down. And we've covered that. The things which take place after start in chapter 4 and go through chapter 22.

Returning to Chapter 4 (06:10)

You say, how do we know that's when the things to come begin? Let's go back to chapter 4 and listen to the language. Chapter 4 verse 1: "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.'" Do you see how that links right back to 1:19? We've transitioned from the things that are, the seven churches, to the things which will be in the future. No doubt about it: Jesus has told us, and John has told us twice now, that we're thinking about the future.

The Voice Like a Trumpet (07:16)

Chapter 4 verse 1 says "the first voice like the sound of a trumpet." Again we go back to chapter 1 verse 10, which is the voice of Christ. You say, what does Jesus sound like? John says, like the sound of a trumpet blast. Remember the vision of Christ in chapter 1: his eyes are like a flame of fire, his feet are like burnished bronze, and then he opens his mouth and it sounds like a trumpet blast. This is one of those things that is almost too glorious to describe as John sees Jesus in this vision. So he hears that voice again, and through the sound he recognizes that the one speaking to him is pointing back to that same Jesus who spoke in chapter 1.

Come Up Here (08:18)

This time he says something that, I mean, you tell me how this sits with you: "I want you to come up here." That's not unlike what we saw in Isaiah 6, where the prophet sees the Lord high and lifted up, and it's like, what do I do with this? I'm a dead man, right? So you think, wow, Jesus wants me to go with him to heaven. Doesn't that sound great?

Well, remember who we're talking about here. Remember the description. Remember how it sounds and what John's heart was like when he heard this. Was it excitement? Fear? Both? But Jesus says, "I want you to come up here. I will show you what must take place after these things." That's a reference back to chapter 1 verse 19, that is, things yet to come in the future.

Now, we've got to pull the car over already. I know what you're thinking: Pastor Keith, how far in the future are we talking?

How Far in the Future? (09:20)

This is where commentators start to divide. Let me tell you what's out there. Is this happening right after John writes in the first century? Is what he's describing the second, third, or fourth century, what happens in church history? Or does "after these things" mean something more distant, things yet to come even from our perspective today, things we haven't seen yet? Which one is right? You've got to keep coming back to class so we can figure that out. You've got to keep coming back every Sunday so we get this.

I'm not going to tell you which one it is, because it's not up to me. We're going to let the book itself answer that question. At least so far as Jesus is giving information here, he doesn't tell us anymore. He just says it's coming in the future sometime. What I think we'll see, if we're patient, and this is my plea, is that when you come to the book of Revelation and read something and you're like,

Revelation 4:2 and the Throne Room (10:22)

I don't know what that means. What do you do? Keep reading. Just keep reading. Is this the time to do a pop quiz? Should we do a pop quiz? Class. Class. It's summertime. Yes, we still have quizzes. Are you reading the book of Revelation? At least try to get into it a few times a week. Ideally, read a chapter a day. Read the whole book every week if you can. Read the whole book every day if you can. If you're just sitting around with your coffee and nothing to do, read the whole book. The more you saturate yourself with this book, the more you'll start to see all these things connect and align, because you've seen it.

It's like Lord of the Rings. You know how this works? It's like any series, right? Narnia or Lord of the Rings, whatever your favorite series is. You read the first book and then the second book and third book, and you get to the third book and you're like, oh wow, that connects. Once you see the whole, all the parts make sense. Remember, the Bible is no different. We don't want to get a sort of spiritual myopia where we just focus right here and can't see distantly what else is going on. The best way to avoid that and see those connections is to know the book really well. So keep reading, please.

Should we do a collective quiz here, where I have you raise your hand? No, we won't do that. But this is your mission, should you choose to accept it: please read Revelation. It will help you. And remember, don't go crazy when you're like, oh, I don't know what this means. Don't start guessing, even with your sanctified imagination. That's awesome. Just keep reading. Chances are the book is going to either answer your question or at least give you enough clues to do that.

Where Revelation Sits in Scripture (11:23)

The other thing we've seen is, where does Revelation happen in the canon of Scripture? That is, the whole of Scripture. Where does it occur? It's the conclusion. Which means God is assuming that if this is the concluding book, you and I have read what? The first 65 books. So you can't parachute into Revelation. Don't do what I did in fourth grade when the book report came and I flipped to the end of the book, read the end, and then tried to reconstruct the rest. Don't do that. I'll get you into hermeneutical trouble. You've got to know the rest of the Bible.

We've already seen some of the books you need to know:

The book of Daniel
The book of Leviticus
The book of Ezekiel

Today we're going to deep dive into Ezekiel. You're like, Ezekiel who? Yes, there's a book in the Bible called Ezekiel, and maybe it's been a while since you've read it. But some of the imagery here comes directly from the book of Ezekiel. If you've never read that, you're going to be like, what is this? This is weird. If you've read Ezekiel, you're going to go, huh, I've seen this before. Where have I seen this before?

So with that in mind, this is Pastor Keith asking you: are you in your Bibles? Are you reading your Bibles? That's where you need to be, especially for Revelation. But remember the other books as well, because they help us have background. So how far into the future? We'll answer that as we go.

Next, let's go into the throne room. Revelation 4:2. He says, "Immediately I was in the Spirit."

In the Spirit (13:27)

We've seen that before back in chapter one. Do you remember what it means? What does "in the Spirit" mean? Now, those of you who are new, when I say that, that's the part where you respond. That's the part where you get to participate. So put your hand up or shout it out. What does "in the Spirit" mean?

Okay. So he was taken up to be in the presence. Yeah. Because Jesus says, "Come up here." I don't know if this is like heavenly drones or helicopters or some sort of, but in some way the Spirit allows him to be transported to see the throne room. And that's where we stop, because we don't know more than that. Through the Holy Spirit's agency, he allows John to enter this throne room, as it were, through a vision, to see this situation. So "in the Spirit" simply means the Spirit making that happen in some way. We don't want to get crazy beyond the obvious here.

The Throne Room (14:31)

So: "Immediately I was in the Spirit," and the Spirit allowed him to see this vision, this throne room. He says:

"Behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and one sitting on the throne. And he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance. And there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance. And around the throne were 24 thrones, and upon the thrones I saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white garments and golden crowns on their heads. And out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. And before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the center and around the throne, stay with me now, four living ones, literally living ones. Your Bible might say living creatures or something like that, full of eyes in front and behind. And this first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had the face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each one of them had six wings, and are full of eyes around them and within. And day and night they do not cease to say, 'Holy, Holy, Holy is Yahweh God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.'"

"And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne, to him who lives forever and ever, the 24 elders will fall down before him who sits on the throne and will worship him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 'Worthy are you, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and because of your will they existed and were created.'"

Wow. How many of you would love to be there and see that with John? How many of you are like, I'm not sure? But absolutely amazing, absolutely astounding. Now I know you already have seven questions, maybe 12 questions, but we'll get to all that. Let's take this apart. Number two: "Behold, a throne was standing in heaven and one sitting on the throne." And "he who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance." Now let's do some biblical geology for a minute.

Biblical Geology (17:44)

Biblical geology is the study of rocks, not the study of maps. That's geology, right? So get those. Where have we seen geology before? We've seen rocks, precious stones. Where have we seen some of this, Ruth? The breastplate that the priest wore. Yes, the breastplate that the priest wore. The reference is Exodus 28:17-18. You remember there was a special plate that went across the front of the high priest, introduced back in the book of Exodus, when God is giving Moses instructions to the people of Israel about the tabernacle, the sacrifices, and the priests, and then Aaron, who will serve as the first high priest. Remember he had all these garments, special high priestly garments that we can read about there. And that breastplate had 12 precious stones on it. Why 12 stones? Representing the 12 tribes of Israel. Remember, the high priest is functioning as the one who goes and mediates between the people and God. So those stones on the breastplate represented the 12 tribes, so that as he goes into the presence of God representing the people, all the tribes are represented there.

So we see some of those stones, the jasper and the sardius, mentioned in the book of Exodus. We also see them in Isaiah and in Ezekiel. We're going to see these stones again later in the book of Revelation. Where do we see these precious stones later on in Revelation? In the New Jerusalem. That's right. So when we see this, and we're seeing God, we think, okay, we have some background here in terms of the priest's garments, and also the New Jerusalem.

He's sitting on this throne, and John is writing it down. Picture it. Remember, Jesus says, "Come up here." The Spirit enables him to go and see this heavenly scene where he sees the throne. So what John is doing is writing down what he sees. That's why we have to remember that we know enough about the heavenly realm and the throne to recognize that some things are just too wonderful to describe accurately. John is doing his best to give us descriptions. You'll notice the modifiers. He's saying it looks like this or like that. He says it looks like a lion, like a calf. He's trying to give us language to describe what he's seeing.

The Rainbow (20:53)

And he says this throne has a jasper and sardius look, and behind it "there was a rainbow around the throne like an emerald in appearance." So talk to me here. I need my young theologians. A young theologian is, let's say, 14 years old and younger. So my young theologians, you guys ready? Young theologians, you're looking at me like, Pastor Keith is talking to me. Where do we see the rainbow in the Bible, guys? Just raise your hand. Any ideas?

Around the throne. That's right. It's right here, isn't it? Where else in the Bible do we see the rainbow? Yes, Carl. In Genesis. And what event? Do you remember? Where do we see it in Genesis? Up in the mountains? Yeah. And what event has just happened? See some back there. Okay. See some. Yes. The flood. That's right. Very good. We have the best young theologians here, don't we? Good job, guys.

So the rainbow is given as a sign. Yeah. Did I say something wrong? No. Okay, thanks, guys. Not that sign, but a sign after the flood, a sign of what? Now you guys help the young theologians out. What's the significance of the sign there? God's promises, right? So the sign is given as a promise, as God gives what's called the Noahic Covenant back in Genesis 9. And what's the Noahic Covenant? He's never going to flood the earth again. So that rainbow is a promise that God will be faithful to his promises, isn't it?

Isn't it interesting? As John sees this vision, he sees the throne, he sees these precious stones, and this rainbow that symbolically reminds us of God's faithfulness, God's faithfulness to his Word. We also see rainbows show up in Ezekiel chapter 1, which we'll look at in just a minute, and then later on in the book of Revelation.

Who Are the Twenty-Four Elders? (22:55)

John is telling us what he sees. Around the throne there were 24 thrones, and upon the 24 thrones he saw 24 elders sitting, clothed in white garments with golden crowns on their heads. The first thing we ask is, who are these guys? So let's hit pause and think about what we've seen in chapters 1, 2, and 3 that might help us. Then we'll keep reading and see what else we can learn.

So what have we seen in chapters 1, 2, and 3 that might help us with the description of these 24 elders?

The letters could have been to the elders of the church. Just remember it's the messenger of the church. It could have been an elder. So that might be a correspondence there. Good. I like that.

What else? You tell us. No, I'm going to make you work for this. So where have we seen what they're wearing? I'll help you. Where have we seen that before?

White Garments and Golden Crowns (25:04)

You've seen it before, twice. Yes, Jesus, but there's something more immediate than that. Let's back up. Go back to the letters to the seven churches. He who overcomes, Revelation 3:5, will thus be clothed in white garments. In that context, who are those that overcome?

Salvation. Those that are saved, true believers. That doesn't nail it by itself, but the context has already helped us with the identity. White garments so far have represented Christ and His redeemed people, and we've seen that a couple of times in the letters to the seven churches.

We're also going to see it at the end of the book, in Revelation 19:4. We looked at this a couple of weeks ago when we were talking about the letters. The 24 elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne. Then we see the marriage supper of the Lamb. The bride made herself ready, clothed in fine linen, bright and clean, and the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. So we see it in chapters 2 and 3, and we'll see it again in chapter 19. These 24 elders and specifically their white garments point to Jesus and His redeemed people. That's a little bit of a contextual clue.

Then there are golden crowns on their heads, and they worship and cast them down. If you were a teenager in the '90s, this is where we get Casting Crowns. That's where we get the band. Yes, you're correct.

Who Are These 24 Guys? (27:12)

Let's look first at the language. The word here is presbuteros, one of the normal words in the New Testament for elder, pastor, or overseer.

Let's look at a couple of possibilities. First, it's possible there were 24 of these guys. But it's also possible that the 24 elders represent a larger group. How do we know that? We won't go there right now, but look at First Chronicles 24 and First Chronicles 25, where we see groups of 24 that are representative of larger groups. John says, "I'm looking and I see 24 elders, whatever they are." Based on how this number is used elsewhere in Scripture, those 24 may represent a larger group. We don't know that, but it's a possibility.

So who are these 24? There are really two interpretations:

They are angels. A number of commentators believe these elders are angels. Their reasoning is that wherever we see the 24 elders, they're hanging out in the throne room with angels, so perhaps they're another type of angel.
They are redeemed human beings. This is the view I prefer, for the reasons below.

Elders Are Not Angels (28:20)

The problem with the first view is what I told you earlier: keep reading. If we look backward, the elders wear white garments, which shows they're probably redeemed people, believers. If we look forward, look at chapter 5, verse 11. We'll see these elders again a couple of times, and this is one of them.

Then I looked, John says, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne. That's the normal word, angelos, where we get our word "angel." So he saw many angels around the throne, and the living creatures we just saw in chapter 4, and the elders. If the elders in chapter 4 are intended to be angels, this verse makes that confusing. In chapter 5, John now sees three groups: angels, these unique living creatures, and the elders. So John is saying the elders seem to be a distinct group from the angels. Does that make sense?

The third point is that the word for elder, presbuteros, is never used in your Bible to describe angels. So while it's possible they're hanging around the throne room, we're probably not talking about angels here. A better and preferred view is that these are human beings, because the crowns and white garments in the book of Revelation are applied to redeemed people. Presbuteros describes people, not angels, and chapter 5, verse 11 seems to distinguish the angels from the elders.

Who Do the Elders Represent? (29:23)

If the elders are human beings, we have to make another decision: who do they represent?

The twelve tribes and the twelve apostles. Because there are 24, this option is very attractive. The arithmetic works. The 12 tribes would represent redeemed Israel, and the 12 apostles would represent the church, so we're thinking about redeemed Jewish people and redeemed Gentiles.
The church itself. This view doesn't try to make a distinction between Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians, or between church-age believers and redeemed Israelites from the past.

Both are options. What am I going to leave you with? You're asking, "Pastor Keith, what do you think it is?" I'm not going to tell you what I think yet, because as we keep reading, it should become clearer who we're talking about. But I think we can say with a fair level of confidence that these 24 elders represent redeemed believers. Then we'll figure out whether 24 is representative of 12 and 12, or of a larger group like the whole church.

Questions (31:31)

Let me stop there and take questions. I'm going to try to go faster, but I don't want to skip your questions.

Hans, you asked whether angels are redeemed. That's right. If our view is that they're angels, they would not be redeemed ones. That's correct, and that's one of the questions. Revelation is the last book, so we have everything else the Bible says at the end. If you've read 1 Thessalonians, Matthew 24, Daniel 7, Daniel 9, and the other passages that describe the future, we're going to get to all of those. We have all that data in our heads when we read Revelation. Is that what you mean? Is this paralleling Daniel or Matthew 24 or the rapture? I like how you're thinking, because that's exactly what you're supposed to do: come to this and ask, what are we seeing here? As the book unfolds, we'll try to put together how all those pieces fit.

Mr. Parsons, that's a good question. It doesn't say the 24 are the 12 tribes and 12 apostles. It doesn't say they are those people, but perhaps they represent them. That's intriguing. If the 12 represent the apostles, are those actually the redeemed apostles, or are they elders who represent them? I like how you're thinking there.

Yes, you'd think if he were seeing himself, he'd tell us that. But this is so overwhelming to him that he's just writing what he sees, and what's interesting is what he writes. He's not interested in giving us any individuality. He just says, "I see 24 elders." That's interesting, and I like that.

Your question about "myriad upon myriad" is because after this, the text talks about myriads upon myriads of angels. Yes, it breaks down the categories. That's why we're going to keep reading and let our interpretations crystallize as we go along. That's the benefit of reading ahead. Mr. Parsons is already starting to see that this fits with that, and that's exactly what I want you to do.

Putting the Pieces Together (33:39)

The book of Revelation is like a jigsaw puzzle, and you have to put it together. It's like a Lego box. When I was a kid, right after they invented plastic Legos, you opened the box and it was one big pile. You guys have it easier, because you get bag number one and bag number two. Dads appreciate that, don't we?

But Revelation is like a Lego box with bags of bricks. You don't put bag number one together and stop to say, "Oh, this is really..." You want to get to the end to see the whole thing, the picture on the front of the box. That's what we're doing: putting these pieces together throughout the book. You'll see that things we saw early in the book get more information later on, and it all starts to look like the picture on the side of the box. So keep reading ahead, and I think that will help you put some of it together.

Lightning from the Throne (34:40)

Okay, let's keep going. Out from the throne come flashes of lightning, and sometimes we see lightning and thunder in the presence of God. We see it in Exodus 19, when God descends in the cloud on Sinai to meet Moses and give the Ten Commandments and other instructions. We also see it in Ezekiel 1, which I promise we'll get to in just a second.

The Seven Spirits of God (35:41)

And then he says here, he sees seven lamps of fire, which are the seven spirits of God. Remember, we saw that already back in Revelation 1:4. You say, why are there seven spirits? I thought there was only one Holy Spirit. Remember that the seven in that context represents the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We see that back in Zechariah 4 where the Spirit is given seven descriptions there.

We also see the reason for the emphasis on the seven spirits of God, talking about the Holy Spirit collectively. Remember, there are seven churches, and that Spirit was giving a message to each one of those seven. Each one of the letters to the seven churches ends with what the Spirit says to the church. If you add it all up, you get seven.

So again, don't get hung up on seven spirits. That number seven is fitting in the context of seven letters, and also the fact that it represents the fullness of the Holy Spirit using that description.

The Sea of Glass and the Four Living Creatures (36:42)

He says he sees a sea of glass like crystal. Again, we see some of those same descriptions in Ezekiel, and then also coming in chapter 21 when we get to the new heavens and the new earth and the new Jerusalem.

Okay. Now, is your seatbelt fastened? Just check it. Just check it. It gets weirder at the center. Around the throne are four living creatures. If you look at this in Greek, it literally says living ones, living ones. "Living creatures" is, we're trying to make sense of the word, but it's just the idea that these are alive. These are living in what John is seeing here.

There are four of them. John says they're full of eyes in front and behind. So, okay, they have eyes all over them in front and behind. He's going to say later on, inside and outside. So we'll talk about that.

Ezekiel's First Vision (37:48)

There are four of them, and he starts to describe them. He says one of them kind of looks like a lion, one looks like a calf, one looks like a man, and one looks like a flying eagle.

So we see these descriptions here, and that's where we need to hit pause and say, we've heard this before. Where have we heard this before? We've heard it in the book of Ezekiel.

Let's turn our Bibles back to the book of Ezekiel. That's that dusty place back in the middle of your Old Testament, in case you're wondering where that is. Ezekiel is in the prophetic section. After the book of Psalms and Proverbs, the wisdom books, we have the major prophets: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and then Ezekiel.

As you're turning there in Ezekiel chapter 1, we read about Ezekiel's call from the Lord to be his prophet. He talks about the visions that he's seen. He gives us a date: the fifth of the month, in the fifth year of King Jehoiachin in his exile. The word came to him, Ezekiel the priest, the son of Buzi, in the land of the Chaldeans.

Ezekiel says, let me tell you what I saw. This is Ezekiel 1:4:

As I looked, behold, a storm wind was coming from the north and a great cloud with fire flashing forth continually with a bright light around it. And in the midst, something like glowing metal in the midst of the fire. And within it, there were figures resembling four living beings.

That's the Hebrew equivalent of what John is describing in the New Testament in Revelation chapter 4. Now listen to the description:

These four living beings, this was their appearance. They had human form, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight and their feet were like a calf's hoof, and they gleamed like burnished bronze under their wings. And on their four sides were human hands. For the faces and wings of the four of them, their wings touched one another. Their faces did not turn when they moved. Each went straightforward.

Ezekiel gives the faces:

A face like a man
A face like a lion on the right
A face like a bull on the left
A face like an eagle

Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out above. Each had two touching another being and two covering their bodies. And each went straightforward wherever the spirit was about to go, and they would go without turning as they went.

So think of a helicopter that can do these sorts of things. They're always facing forward, but they can go sideways, go forward, something like that. I'm not saying they're helicopters. I'm saying they're like helicopters.

Back to the text, verse 13:

In the midst of the living beings, there was something that looked like burning coals of fire, like torches darting back and forth among the living beings. The fire was bright, and lightning was flashing. And the living beings ran to and fro like bolts of lightning.

How many of you have run away by now?

The Wheels (41:17)

Verse 15: "Now, as I looked at the living beings, behold, there was one wheel on the earth beside the living beings for each of the four of them. Their appearance of the wheels and their workmanship was like sparkling beryl, and all four of them had the same form. Their appearance and workmanship being as if one wheel were within another."

So, some of you who work on transmissions, you're going to have to help us with this. A wheel within a wheel, right?

Verse 17: "Whenever they moved, they moved in any of the four directions without turning as they moved. And as for the rims of their wheels, they were lofty and awesome. And the rims of all four of them were full of eyes all around them. And whenever the living beings moved, the wheels moved with them. And whenever the living beings rose from the earth, the wheels rose also. Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rode close beside them, for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels."

One of you young guys needs to throw this in an AI graphic engine, and we'll get a picture next time, okay? We'll just stop right there.

As you keep reading, we see that these creatures surround God himself. It says in verse 24, "the voice of the Almighty," and some other things there that we'll see as we move on. Notice also that precious stones are here. Just like in Revelation, we see references to precious stones. We see what's called lapis lazuli there in chapter 1, verse 26. We saw others listed here.

Then down in verse 28: "As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds, there's our rainbow. Such was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of Yahweh. And when I saw it, Ezekiel says, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking."

Wow. The description here is much more detailed and much more overwhelming. I've said it before and I'll say it again: you do not want to meet an angel, a living creature. These are not little cute cherubs that we make figurines of and put up in our bathroom and say, oh, isn't that cute, there's a little angel there. These are creatures you run from. These are creatures that describe your worst nightmare.

Comparing Ezekiel and Revelation (44:30)

John MacArthur calls these living creatures heaven's war machine, because that's exactly what they are: guarding the presence of God, doing his bidding, powerful, awesome, overwhelming, and just almost beyond words.

You'll notice a couple of things very similar to what John is seeing in Revelation. But you notice there are some differences, right? Four faces versus one. It could be that as John is writing what he's seeing, he can only see one of the faces, especially if the four are surrounding the throne. Those creatures did have four faces, but he could only see one side of each of them. So there may be some congruity here. There are different numbers of wings and different numbers of descriptions, but they are very similar.

Interestingly enough, we won't do this, but if you turn to Ezekiel chapter 10, verse 15, Ezekiel identifies these creatures as the cherubim.

The Cherubim (45:33)

The cherubim. You've seen them before. Where do we see the cherubim show up first in the Bible? Do you remember? In the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve sinned, God sends them from the garden so they will not go eat from the tree of life and live forever in their broken, unregenerate, sinful state. He banishes them from the garden and stations cherubim at the garden so they can't sneak back in in the middle of the night and get some of that fruit.

By definition, the word is plural, so there are probably multiple creatures here, both here and in Genesis chapter 3. And you remember those cherubim had swords of fire that turned in every direction, very similar to the descriptions here. We're reading about how, wherever they go, that sword is there guarding.

And you know what? Adam and Eve took one look and said, now we're not going back. We're not going there. These are cherubim. When you think of what angels are like, what these living creatures are like, what cherubim are like, these are awesome, horrible creatures that you do not want to meet, because that's exactly what they do.

According to Revelation, they have six wings. We see that paralleled with the six wings of the seraphim in Isaiah 6. Ezekiel says here that these living creatures in Ezekiel 1 have four wings, so there's some discrepancy there. Do they have four or six? But they are similar, full of eyes around them, within, again similar to the book of Ezekiel. These are incredible creatures.

As they're there, they sing one chorus, and you've heard it before. We heard it in Isaiah 6: "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty."

Assignment and Closing Prayer (47:35)

Why are they there? What are they doing? What do they represent? Well, you'll have to come back next week and find out. What I want you to do this week is:

Go back into Ezekiel 1, read the description, and read it next to Revelation 4.
Note the similarities and the differences.
Come back next week and tell me what they are, and we'll see if we can make sense of this.

Those of you who really have a lot of time on your hands this week, keep reading in Ezekiel and look at how these creatures function within Ezekiel's vision. You will not be disappointed. But for now, put a comment on your notes, and we'll pray.

Father, we are so grateful. What amazing things to read, and how blessed we are that John has preserved this picture of the throne room for us. We are eager to see how it helps us and builds our love for you and our awe and wonder at who you are and these creatures that are around you. Again, all with the view, Father, that we would know you and worship you more. Thank you that we can take this journey together. We're excited to see what you have for us. In Jesus' name. Amen.

* = the audio was unclear here and the words were reconstructed from context. Scripture read aloud is in red.

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