Chapter 4

The apostle now writes the things which will succeed the course of the Assembly upon earth —
the things which must be after these things {see Rev. 4:1}.
The scene is in heaven. God’s throne is the center around which all is clustered. It is no longer Christ judging assemblies, but we see saints in heaven, and we have the counsels of God and the judgment of His throne in relation to the dwellers upon earth. The fourth and fifth chapters give us an introduction to the prophetic judgments. They may be read together; the former shows us the throne of God as Creator of all things, the latter the throne of God in relation to redemption. The Lamb is pronounced alone worthy to carry out the Divine counsels.
John says, After these things a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice — that is, the trumpet-like sound which called his attention to the vision in the first chapter — now says,
Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter,
or, more properly,
after these things {Rev. 4:1}.
The same words are translated
after these things,
in chapters 18:1 and 19:1, and are intended, I believe; to show us what takes place after those
that are Christ’s at His coming {1 Cor. 15:23}
have left the earth. We do not get the taking up of the saints in the Revelation, because the distinctive calling of the Church is not the subject of the book: this is clearly taught in the epistles of Paul. After the Church of God has finished its course on earth, the saints are seen in heaven, in holy worship, and in immediate and unchanging connection with the throne of God.
We are again told that the apostle was
in the Spirit {Rev. 4:2},
to remind us that we need the anointed eye, and power of the Holy Ghost, to perceive anything according to the mind of God. May we, too, be “in the Spirit,” while we further meditate on the deep things of God contained in this blessed book.
John says,
A throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne {Rev. 4:2}.
No account is given of Him who sat upon the throne, further than
He was like a jasper and a sardine stone {Rev. 4:3};
for no human language can describe the glory of the Majesty in the heavens. In the latter part of the book we have
the throne of God and of the Lamb {Rev. 22:1, 3.
The
rainbow round about the throne
bright and beautiful,
in sight like unto an emerald {Rev. 4:3},
tells us that the throne is set in relation to earth, and that He who set His bow in the cloud, as the token of the covenant that He would never again destroy the earth with water, is the faithful covenant-keeping God.
Before anything further is described, twenty-four elders are seen round about the throne, sitting on twenty-four seats or thrones. This is most blessed. They represent the heavenly saints
— those who
are Christ’s at His coming {1 Cor. 15:23}.
We see them as raised ones in glory, seated on thrones, in perfect rest and blessing. They sit on thrones, as having bodies, and are not disembodied spirits, as some have supposed. Their pilgrimage is ended. The fight of faith is over. The wilderness is passed. The race is run. Their course is finished. Having suffered with Christ, they now sit in kingly dignity, made nigh to God by His precious blood. Each has a golden crown, and sits covered with white raiment, and they all worship, and sing the new song. Whatever changes occur, their place is always near the throne, for this is their home. They are known as elders until the marriage of the Lamb, when we read of
the bride, the Lamb’s wife {Rev. 21:9},
and also of the
blessed,
who are
called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb {Rev. 19:9}.
The throne is not, as it is now, a throne of grace, but of judgment, out of which proceed
lightnings, and thunderings, and voices {Rev. 4:5}.

Before Jesus comes for His saints, God’s throne is known as a mercy-seat, welcoming the chief of sinners to God through Jesus and His precious blood; and
“While the lamp holds out to burn,
The vilest sinner may return,”
for Jesus still says,
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest {Matt. 11:28}.
Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out {John 6:37},
etc. But when the last member of the
one new man {Eph. 2:15}
is called out and united to the risen Head in heaven, and the saints are caught up to meet the Lord in the air, then the aspect of the throne changes, and God begins to assert His right to rule the universe, to chasten and judge men, and to clear the heavens and the earth for His Son — the rightful heir and Lord of all. When this is done, and millennial blessing established, then, instead of
lightnings, and thunderings, and voices {Rev. 4:5}
coming out of the throne, there will be
a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb {Rev. 22:1}.
Judgment and curse then will be the exception rather than the rule. The fourth chapter, therefore, presents the aspect of God’s throne to us as neither agreeing with the present nor millennial times, but it tells of a period of transition between the taking up of the heavenly saints, and the establishment of the kingdom of Christ on earth, by His personal return with His saints.
The seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God {Rev. 4:5},
are in strict keeping with the earthly character of the book: for it is not the Holy Ghost as one Spirit dwelling in the Church, as we get in Ephesians, but rather the manifold operations of God’s Spirit through creation.
The sea of glass, like unto crystal {Rev. 4:6},
may show the solid and everlasting transparency and pity before God’s throne in heaven. We may notice, that in this fourth chapter the sea of glass is unoccupied, but after Antichrist has been revealed, and those who would not worship the beast and his image are put to death, a company is seen standing on the sea of glass, having the harps of God (Rev. 15:2), who get the victory, by resurrection.
The four beasts, or living creatures, are not introduced to us with the elders. We have first the elders described, then the characteristics of the throne, next the sea of glass, and then we are told that
in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts (or living creatures), full of eyes before and behind {Rev. 4:6}.
Unlike the elders, they bear no mark of redemption, and their occupation in connection with opening the seals, and the vials of wrath, mark them out, I would suggest, as a class of intelligent creatures who carry out the commands of God in His governmental and providential arrangements. They answer generally to the description of the seraphim that Isaiah beheld hundreds of years before Christ came, when he saw the Lord sitting upon a throne. He says,
Above it stood the seraphim; each one had six wings: with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory (Isa. 6:2, 3).
And in our chapter we are told,
The four living creatures had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come {Rev. 4:8}.
How different the action of the twenty-four elders: they get off their thrones, fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created {Rev. 4:11}.
This is very blessed, for it tells us that God will be acknowledged and worshipped in heaven as the Creator of the universe, however blasphemed and denied on earth. The time is not far distant when men will not only worship and serve the creature more than the Creator, but will openly deny the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ; when infidelity and strong delusion will envelop men’s minds, and the
mystery of iniquity {2 Thess. 2:7},
which now worketh, shall spread itself to a world-wide extent (Rev. 13:8). Then the words of Jesus will have their full accomplishment,
I am come in my Father’s name, and ye receive me not; if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive (John 5:43).
Men will be given up to strong delusion. Nevertheless, God is, and He has created all things, and for His pleasure they are and were created. Thus the fourth chapter ends by showing us that God is worshipped in heaven as the sovereign Creator of all things. The fifth chapter ends by every creature praising and blessing God, and also the Lamb, because it is by the blood of His cross that creation will be delivered from the bondage of corruption.
“Soon will creation join in one,
To bless the sacred name
Of Him who sits upon the throne,
And to adore the Lamb."