A Heavenly Scene
Revelation 4
"After these things I saw, and behold, a door set open in
the heaven, and the former voice which I heard, as of a trumpet, speaking with
me, saying, 'Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must take
place after these things.'
"Immediately I became in the Spirit, and,
behold, a throne was set in the heaven, and upon the throne one sitting; and He
that was sitting [was] like in appearance to a jasper and a sardine stone, and
a rainbow encircled the throne, in appearance like to an emerald; and around
the throne 24 thrones, and upon the 24 thrones elders sitting, clothed in white
garments, and on their heads golden crowns. And out of the throne go forth
lightnings, and voices, and thunders; and seven torches of fire burning before
the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God: and before [or, the prospect
from] the throne as it were a glassy sea, like unto crystal; and amidst the
throne, and around the throne, four living ones, full of eyes before and
behind; and the living one the first like a lion, and the second living one
like a young ox, and the third living one having the face like a man, the
fourth living one like a flying eagle. And the four living ones, each one of
them had around them six wings apiece, and within they are full of eyes; and
they have not rest day and night, saying, 'Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God the
Almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.'"
"And whenever the
living ones give glory, and honour, and thanks to Him that sits on the throne,
to Him that lives for the ages of the ages, the 24 elders fall down before Him
that sits on the throne, and worship Him that lives for the ages of the ages,
and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: 'Thou art worthy, O Lord and
our God, to receive the glory, and honour, and the power, because Thou did
create all things, and by Thy will they were, and were created.'" –
Revelation 4:1-11 (Revised Text)
I have said that this open door in
heaven, and this calling up of the Apocalyptic seer through that door into
heaven, indicate to us the manner in which Christ intends to fulfill His
promise to keep certain of His saints "out of the hour of temptation" (3:10)
and by what means it is that those who "watch and pray always" shall "escape"
(Luke 21:36) the dreadful sorrows with which the present world, in its last
years, will be visited.
Those of them that sleep in their graves shall
be recalled from among the dead. Those of them who shall be found living at the
time, "shall be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor.
15:51-52), and both classes "shall be caught up together in the clouds, to meet
the Lord in the air" (1 Thes. 4:17). The same voice that John heard – even
"the voice as of a trumpet" – whether dead or living, they shall hear
saying to them, "COME UP HITHER." And there shall attend it a change and
transfer as sudden and miraculous as in his case.
As the seven
Epistles show us these faithful ones in their sufferings, conflicts, virtues,
and victories on earth, the chapter before us carries us up to the
contemplation of their estate and dignities in heaven. It is high and
peculiarly holy ground that rises to our view, and it becomes us to venture
upon it with measured and reverent steps. It would seem, indeed, as if it were
rather a subject for angels than for men; but God has caused it to be written
for us and has pronounced special blessing upon them that read, hear, and keep
what has been thus recorded for our learning.
"Secret things belong
unto the Lord," and we may not trespass on that reserved, mysterious realm;
"but those things which are revealed, belong unto us, and to our children
forever." It is our duty, as well as our privilege, humbly to inquire and to
search diligently into what has been prophesied of the grace and the glory
which is to come to the saints.
Discarding, then, that false humility,
which is the offspring or the cloak of spiritual sloth, let us, in the fear of
God, go forward with our investigations. Let us stir ourselves up to the effort
to obtain some distinct ideas of what the blessed Saviour has thought it so
important to show to His Church. Happy shall we be if the sublime King admits
us into His court, though He may not now take us into His counsel.
May
Almighty God open our hearts to the subject and the subject to our hearts!
Some Of The Surroundings And Relations Of The
Vision
The scene of this vision is in heaven – not in the
temple, as some have represented. The door that John saw was an opening "in the
heaven." The voice that he heard came from above. It commanded him to "Come
up." It was potent, for "immediately" he "became in the Spirit." It wrought an
instantaneous rapture so that the next opening of his eyes disclosed his
presence in a supernal region. There is no allusion to Jerusalem or to its
temple. The whole scene is heavenly and relates only to what is heavenly. It
belongs to a realm above the earth and above all the sanctuaries of the earth.
The Rabbins dreamed of seven heavens. Paul speaks of three, in the
highest of which he "heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man
to utter." But as John was commanded to write what he saw and to communicate it
to the Churches, and Paul was forbidden to describe what he saw and heard, this
would seem to be a different heaven from that called "the third." The heaven of
this vision would seem to be, indefinitely, the regions above us – the
firmament – the higher portions of the atmosphere which envelops the
earth. This however I take to be certain, that the location of what John beheld
was not earth, but above the earth, and quite unconnected with the earth.
Whether there was a literal, bodily transportation of the seer from
the earth to the regions of space is not stated, nor inferable from the
description. Perhaps the apostle himself was not able to perceive how it was.
Paul could not tell whether he was "in the body, or out of the body" when he
"was caught up." He only knew that he was somehow present in "the third
heaven," and that that presence was the same to him as a bodily transportation,
equally real and equally effective.
It was the same in John's case. He
tells us that he was called by a mighty voice to come up into heaven and
straightway "became in the Spirit" – in some mysterious, miraculous,
ecstatic state, wrought by the power of God – which was, to all intents
and purposes, a complete translation from Patmos to the hidden sky. He was not
dead; he was not in a mere swoon. He had all his senses entire: his ears heard;
his eyes saw; his heart felt; his capacity to weep and to speak continued with
him. The thing was, in all respects, the same as a bodily carrying up to the
heavenly sphere where he found what he was commanded to describe.
We
notice also, that this vision sets forth what is to be after the fulfilment of
the vision and letters concerning the Churches. The links of consecutive
revelations are distinctly expressed and are by no means to be overlooked. The
declared object for which the apostle was called up into the sky, was to be
shown – not what existed in heaven at the time, as some have mistakenly
thought – but "the things which must take place AFTER" what he had already
seen and described.
The seven Churches, in all the amplitude of their
representative significance, were first to run their course, and the order of
things to which they belonged was to touch upon its end, before one jot of what
is here portrayed was to be realised. As John was called up just to be shown
"the things which must take place after these things," of course, all that he
saw and heard consequent upon that rapture can only be referred to the period
next following the things of the first vision. That vision, as we have been led
to conclude and as we think must be admitted, embraces the whole continuity of
the dispensation under which we are now living and takes in the entire earthly
Church-state, from the time of the apostles to the end of the age. The end of
this age will be when Christ comes again to receive His people to Himself.
That "end" we regard as very near, but so long as it is yet future, the
time to which this vision refers is also future. It relates to things which do
not exist as yet and which cannot become reality till that to which they are
specifically said to be subsequent is fulfilled. It is therefore a picture of
things in the sky, immediately upon the first movement of the Saviour in His
coming to judgment. This is marked by the miraculous seizing away of the saints
from their associates on earth to the clouds of heaven.
It is also to
be observed that the things foreshown in this vision, while they come after the
first interference with the present order, still precede the great tribulation
and the scenes of judicial visitation upon the apostate Church and the guilty
world. Indeed, it is from what is here depicted, that those inflictions
proceed. What John sees is permanent. It continues through all that comes
after, the same as seen at the first. The throne, the Elders, the Living ones,
all retain their places unchanged and have direct connection with all that
subsequently transpires. The action of the seals, in chapters six and seven,
which brings the great tribulation upon the world, and the still remoter action
of the trumpets and vials, and the whole series of judgments described in the
latter part of this book, proceed from and depend more or less on the scene of
glory and power represented in these two chapters.
The realisation of
what they describe must, therefore, fall intermediately between the first
removal of saints from earth, and the forthcoming of the great troubles, and
the destruction of Babylon and Antichrist. In other words, it is a scene of
things to be manifested in heaven immediately succeeding the beginning of the
judgment of the Church and preceding the judgment of the world of apostates and
sinners. It is a picture of the results of the former and of the source and
instrument of the latter.
There have been writers, I will not call
them interpreters, who have fallen so low as to affirm that these two chapters
are simply the creation of the writer's own fancy. They maintain that the
revelations were meant to set forth how deeply he was impressed and pervaded
with a sense of God's power and glory, and hence, in how fit a state he was to
take in and express the mysteries of the divine purposes. For such bald
rationalism I have neither sympathy nor respect.
If there is anything
divine in the book, and everything in it proves to me that it is divine, the
announcement of the object for which John was taken up to heaven to see these
sights, must also be divine. It was a trumpet-voice from heaven that made it,
and its effect was instantaneously miraculous, carrying the prophet by some
mysterious unlocking of his inner nature quite away from earth.
That
Voice declared that John was thus called and transported to see not what was to
create seriousness in him, or merely to persuade the reader that there was
something momentous to be told, but WHAT MUST TAKE PLACE after the fulfillment
of the things pertaining to the Churches. What he was to be shown was not to
prepare for the prophecy, but was itself the head and front of the prophecy.
What he was to see was to become reality; it was to come to pass; it was in due
time to be history and fact. And to apply this divine affirmation only to what
follows these chapters, and not to what these chapters themselves contain, is
like undertaking to render the play of Hamlet, with the part of Hamlet left
out.
No, if there is any sacred prediction in the case, these chapters
are a most vital element of it, without which, indeed, the remainder is but
imperfectly intelligible. Upon evidences as solid as those which prove the
inspiration of this book, I hold that these two chapters are as substantially
prophetic as any other part. They do not relate directly to the earth, but they
compass a very grand part of the results of God's gracious doings in the earth
for all these ages past, and a very grand part of what is to affect the earth
for all the recurring ages of the future.
With these points settled,
we are now prepared to look at the particulars which the magnificent picture
brings to our contemplation.
The Throne In
Heaven
The first thing named, and that which is at once the
central object of the vision and of all that follows it, is A THRONE. The
Scriptures continually speak of thrones in connection with the sovereignty and
majesty of God. They tell us that "the Lord has prepared His throne in the
heavens, and His kingdom rules over all" (Psalm 103:9).
Among the last
words of the preceding chapter, Christ refers to His throne and the Father's
throne. Here the apostle sees "a throne in the heaven." No intimations are
given of the form of the magnificent object. The throne on which Isaiah saw the
Lord was "high and lifted up." In another vision, John saw a throne, "great and
white." But everywhere we are left to think of the power and authority of which
the throne is a symbol, rather than of any particular form or material
structure. A visible image was presented to the eye of the seer, but he does
not stop to tell us what it was like. It was simply an indescribable seat of
grandeur, greatness, majesty, and dominion.
Nor was it the eternal
throne of the Father, at least not in the position and relations which it
occupies anterior to the time to which this vision relates. John sees it, not
as long since fixed and settled in this locality and form, but just as it was
taking up its rest in this place. It was being set as he was looking. The
expression is in a tense which denotes unfinished action, reaching its
completion at the time of the seeing. The apostle's language implies that the
act of the placing of the throne where he saw it, was only being completed at
the moment of his looking.
That moment was the moment of his being
called up from earth into heaven. The rapture of the saints, then, is the point
of transition where the present dispensation begins to end, and another, of
which this throne is the centre, takes its commencement. The passage is an
exact parallel, both as to subject and phraseology, to Daniel 7:9, where the
prophet says "I beheld till the thrones were set (not cast down, as our version
has it), and the Ancient of days did sit, whose throne was like the fiery
flame." The vision embraced the placing of the throne, as well as the throne
itself, and the locality it occupied.
"And upon the throne one
sitting." There is no name mentioned and no figure described, but we can be at
no loss to distinguish who is meant. John was manifestly filled with mysterious
awe, and his words sufficiently intimate that he was looking upon "the
unnameable, indescribable Godhead," in which Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are
consubstantial, and the same. And yet there was visible manifestation.
"He that was sitting [was] like in appearance to a jasper and a sardine stone"
– not as to shape, for Deity has no shape, but in colour and flashing
brilliancy. The scriptural representations of the jasper are that it is "most
precious," crystalline, and purple in hue. The sardine, or sardius, is also
described as exceedingly precious and of a beautiful bright, red, carnation
colour. It is capable of a particularly high and lasting polish. Uniting the
qualities of tint and brilliancy belonging to the purer specimens of these
precious gems, we have the appearance of flames without their smokiness –
a pure, purple, fiery, red, crystalline, flashing light. This was the
appearance of the unnameable and indescribable occupant of this equally
indescribable throne.
"And a rainbow encircled the throne in appearance
like to an emerald." The rainbow is one of the most beautiful and maj- estic of
earthly appearances. It is the token of God's covenant with all flesh, never
again to destroy the earth or its inhabit- ants as in the flood (Genesis
9:11,17). Encircling this throne, the intimation is that, although a throne of
judgment, it is not a throne of destruction, but one of conservation, which
bears with it the remembrance and the stability of the ancient promise.
From what the apostle subsequently saw go forth from this throne, and
the shakings and overturnings in heaven and earth of which it was to be the
source and means, fears might naturally arise as to the continuity of the earth
as an organised structure for the habitation of God's creatures. But this
rainbow around the throne forever scatters such apprehensions.
Yet,
the intimation is that the fulfilment of that covenant is not to be always in
the course of nature as we now have it. The true iris is around the throne, but
there is a change in it now. Its prevailing hue is light green – "in
appearance like to an emerald" – which is an appearance having something
additional to nature, or nature modified, with one part of it exalted and
strengthened beyond its wont. The jasper and the sardine flash terrible glory,
but over them is the soft-beaming emerald of promise and hope – mercy
remembered in wrath – salvation over-spanning the appearance of consuming
fire.
"And out of the throne go forth lightnings, and voices, and
thunders." These demonstrate that the throne is one of judgment and that wrath
is about to proceed from it. When God was about to visit Egypt's sins upon her,
He "sent thunder [Hebrew: 'voices'], and hail, and fire ran along upon the
ground." And Pharaoh sent and said, "Entreat the Lord that there be no more
voices of God" (Exodus 9:23,28). When He wished to show Israel the terrible
extent of His anger with sin, "there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick
cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud" (Exodus
19:16). When He sent forth His wrath upon the Philistines, "the Lord thundered
with a great thunder on that day upon the Philistines, and discomfited them,
and they were smitten before Israel" (1 Samuel 7:10).
These instances
show us that this is not a throne of grace but a throne of judgment. These
lightnings, thunders, and voices, proceeding from it, tell of justice and wrath
to be visited upon transgressors. The river of water of life is gone, and in
its place is the terror and fire of judgment and death.
The Seven Spirits Of God
"And seven torches of
fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God." These are
not candlesticks or lamps within doors but torches borne aloft without; they
are speaking preparation for battle. When Gideon went forth in vengeance
against the Midianites, his 300 men each took a burning torch in his left hand
and a trumpet in his right, "and they cried, THE SWORD OF THE LORD, and of
Gideon" (Judges 7:16,20). In the prophetic announcement of the going forth of
God's wrath upon Nineveh, the destroyer is described as displaying "flaming
torches in the day of his preparation" (Nahum 2:3-4).
So the throne
which is set for the judgment of the world has before it its "torches of fire
burning," charged with the fulness of consuming vengeance upon all the enemies
of God; for they are "seven." The Spirit of God, in all His plenitude, is these
seven torches. It is not peaceful light but flaming indignation which is
betokened. It at last sets the world on fire, producing that day "that shall
burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be
stubble, and it shall burn them up, that it shall leave them neither root nor
branch" (Malachi 4:1). The throne speaks vengeance upon the guilty, and the
Spirit of God is the spirit of the throne – the spirit of devouring fire.
The Glassy Sea
"And before
[or, the prospect from] the throne as it were a glassy sea, like unto crystal."
When Moses, Aaron, Nadab, Abihu, and the 70 elders of Israel went up unto the
Lord on Sinai, "they saw the God of Israel, and there was under His feet as it
were a paved work of a sapphire stone and as it were the body of heaven in
clearness" (Exodus 24:10-1l). In the vision of Ezekiel, the floor or plain on
which the throne of God rested was "the likeness of the firmament, as the
colour of the terrible crystal" (1:22).
These several descriptions
explain each other. This throne, and all surrounding it or connected with it,
had its place upon a plain, which resembled a wide sea – solid,
transparent, and full of inexpressible beauty, splendour, and majesty. Though
in the air, it was not hung there. It had a base. There is a pavement, like a
sapphire stone, on which it, as the whole celestial assemblage, rests. We also
read of the street of the city being "pure gold, as it were transparent glass"
(Revelation 21:21). Heaven is not a world of mists and shadows, but of
substance and beautiful realities.
The 24
Elders
"And around the throne, 24 thrones; and upon the 24
thrones, Elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and on their heads golden
crowns." There was more than one throne. In the centre, conspicuous and
majestic beyond description, was the throne of Deity. In a wide circle around
it were 24 other thrones, distinct and glorious, but smaller and lower than
that which is by eminence called "The Throne." Our translators call them
"seats," but the original word is the same in the case of the 24 in the circle,
as in that in the centre. They are all "seats" certainly, but a particular kind
of seats, regal seats, seats of majesty and dominion, seats of royal assessors
with the enthroned One. Nor can we be much at a loss as to the persons who
occupy them.
They are not angels, but human beings. This is
ascertained by the song they sing, in which they speak of having been gathered
out of the tribes and peoples of the earth (chapter 5:9). They are not the
patriarchs, Jews, or apostles, only; for they are from "every tribe, and
tongue, and people, and nation" (5: 9). They are not unfallen beings but
ransomed sinners, for they give honour to Christ for redeeming them – "You
redeemed US by Your blood" (5:9).
They are not disembodied spirits of
the saints but glorified subjects of grace, for they are enthroned, crowned,
and robed in white, which is a fruition of blessedness and honour which is
everywhere reserved till after the resurrection and the glorifying rapture.
Paul tells us that he was to receive his "crown of righteousness" not at his
decease but "at that day" - the day of Christ's coming to awake and gather His
saints. The same is true of all who are to be partakers of that crown (2 Tim.
4: 8).
The entire scriptural doctrine concerning the state of the dead
forbids the idea that disembodied souls are already crowned and enthroned,
although at rest in the bosom of God. Such rewards Christ is to bring with Him
(see 22:12; 11:18; Isaiah 53:12). Hence, no one receives them until He comes,
recalls the sleepers, and completes that redemption of power for which all
things wait (Romans 8:22-23). The coronation time is the resurrection time, and
no one can be crowned until he is either resurrected, if dead, or translated,
if living. Any other doctrine overthrows some of the plainest teachings of the
Scriptures and carries confusion into the whole Christian system.
Since John beholds certain subjects of redemption – robed, crowned, and
enthroned – as priests and kings in heaven, we here have (let it be noted)
positive demonstration, that, at the time to which this vision relates, a
resurrection and a translation have already taken place. It will not do to say
that the picture anticipates the position and triumphs of the Church after the
seals, trumpets, and vials have run their course.
They occupy these
thrones while yet the closed book, which brings forth the seals and trumpets,
lies untouched in the hand of Him that sits upon the throne. They see it there,
and they vote the Lamb worthy to open it. They behold Him taking it up and fall
down and worship as He holds it. They are in their places when heaven receives
the accession of the multitude that comes "out of the great tribulation"
(7:11-14). They have their own distinct positions when the still later company
of the 144,000 gather round the Lamb on Mount Zion. And they are spectators of
the judgment of great Babylon, and sing Alleluia in glory as they see her fall
(19:4).
Instead of anticipation of the final result of the great day
of the Lord, there is actual participation in the processes and administrations
by which that result is wrought.
They are "Elders" not only with
reference to their official places, for that term is expressive of time rather
than of office. The elder is the older man, and in the original order of human
society, he was the ruling man because he was the older man. These enthroned
ones are elders not because they are officers, but they are officers because
they are elders. They are the older ones of the children of the resurrection.
They are the first-born from the dead - the first glorified of all the
company of the redeemed - the seniors of the celestial assembly, not indeed
with respect to the number of their years on earth but with respect to the time
of their admission into heaven. They have had their resurrection, or their
translation, in advance of the judgment-tribulations and are crowned and
officiating as kings and priests in glory, while others less faithful are still
slumbering in their graves or suffering on the earth. They do not represent, by
any means, the whole body of the redeemed, as some have supposed. They are
exactly what their name imports; the seniors of them; the first-born of the
household; the oldest of the family, hence honoured officials.
There
certainly is a succession in the order in which the saints are gathered into
their final glory. There are some who "escape" the tribulation, being taken to
heaven before it comes; there are others who suffer it and are only taken to
heaven out of it. Then there is a peculiar company of sealed ones who come in
at a still later period, and a "harvest of the earth" still subsequent to their
appearance with the Lamb on Mount Zion. There may be a still remoter bringing
in of those under Antichrist who "had not worshipped the beast, neither had
received his mark upon their foreheads or in their hands," all of whom together
make up the fulness of "the first resurrection." Of these successive companies
and orders, the enthroned ones of this vision are among the first, if not
absolutely the first. They are the seniors - "the Elders."
John saw
but 24 of them, but these were the representatives of many others. There were
many priests and Levites under the old economy. The number of those who "were
set to forward the work of the house of the Lord, was 24,000" (1 Chronicles
23:3-4). But they were all arranged in courses of 24 (1 Chronicles 24:3-5) so
that never more than 24 were found on duty at a time. There were also many
prophets appointed to praise God with instruments of song, but they too were
arranged in 24 courses, each course with its own individual representative (1
Chronicles 25).
These were not human devices but things specially
directed by the Spirit of the Lord (1 Chronicles 18:11-13,19). They were meant
to be "figures of the true" and "patterns of things in the heavens" (Hebrews
9:9,23-24). Accordingly, we are to see in these 24 royal priests, but one
course of as many more courses, all of which together do but represent
thousands upon thousands of the same high and privileged class. Heaven is not
an empty place, nor is it stinted in the number of its honoured dignitaries.
I find, then, in these enthroned Elders the highest manifested glory of
the risen and glorified saints. They are in heaven. They are around the throne
of Deity. They are pure and holy, wearing white, "which is the righteousness of
the saints." They are partakers of celestial dominion. They are kings of glory
with golden crowns. They are settled and at home in their exalted dignities -
not standing and waiting as servants but seated as royal counsellors of the
Almighty. They are assessors of the great Judge of the quick and dead, the
spectators of all that transpires in heaven and earth, and participants in the
judgment of the world for its sins, the Church for its apostasies, Babylon for
her impurities, Antichrist for his blasphemies, and that old Serpent and his
brood for their ungodliness and wickedness during all these weary ages (1 Cor
6:2-3). They are Elders of the glorious house of the redeemed and kings and
priests in the temple and palace of the Lord God Almighty, whom all the earth
shall obey and all the ages acknowledge. Yet, there is another picture in the
vision, which some take to be still higher.
The Four Living Creatures
"Amidst the throne and around the
throne," John saw "four Living ones," unfortunately called "beasts" by our
translators, "full of eyes before and behind - the first like a lion, and the
second like a young ox, and the third having the face like a man, and the
fourth like a flying eagle. And the four Living ones, each one of them, had
around them six wings apiece, and within they are full of eyes; and they have
not rest day and night, saying, HOLY, HOLY, HOLY,- LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS,
AND WHO IS, AND WHO IS TO COME."
What are we to understand by these?
They sing precisely the same song (5:9-10) which the Elders sing. They give
praise to the Lamb for having died for them and for redeeming them by His blood
"out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation." They say to the Lamb,
"You redeemed US to God by Your blood." This settles the point that they are
also glorified men, not "beasts" at all, nor mere personifications of mute
creation or nature's forces.
Perhaps the easiest and shortest way for
us to get at the true explanation of this remarkable manifestation is to go
back to the ancient dispensation, so much of which was copied exactly from
these heavenly things. The Jewish writers tell us that the standard of each
tribe of Israel took the colour of the stone that represented it in the high
priest's breastplate. There was also wrought upon each a particular figure - a
lion for Judah, a young ox for Ephraim, a man for Reuben, and an eagle for Dan.
These were the representative tribes, and all the rest were marshalled under
these four standards (Numbers 2) - Judah on the east, with Issachar and
Zebulon; Reuben on the south, with Simeon and Gad; Ephraim on the west, with
Manasseh and Benjamin; and Dan on the north, with Asher and Naphtali. In the
centre of this quadrangular encampment was the tabernacle of God, with four
divisions of Levites forming an inner encampment around it.
It was
thus that Israel was marched through the wilderness under the four banners of
the lion, the young ox, the man, and the flying eagle. These were their
ensigns, their guards, their coverings, the symbols of powers by which they
were guided and protected. They were parts of that divine and heavenly
administration which led them forth from bondage, preserved them in the
wilderness, and finally settled them in the promised land. Such was the
earthly, outward, material aspect of the case. In Ezekiel's vision of the
cherubim we have the same thing in its more interior and heavenly aspects
(Ezek. 1).
"To cover and guard" is thought to be the proper
signification of the word cherub. After the expulsion of our first parents from
Eden, cherubim were placed at the east of the garden "to keep the way of the
tree of life" (Genesis 3:24); and the prince of Tyre is likened to the cherub
that covers (Ezekiel 28:14). A vision of the cherubim, then, is a vision of
them that cover, protect, guard, and keep.
In this vision of Israel's
protectors and keepers, what did Ezekiel see? "Above the firmament was the
likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire stone, and the likeness
as the appearance of a man above upon it." This was the throne of God. But
under the throne, connected with the throne and instinct with the life of the
throne, was "the likeness of four living creatures" who "ran and returned as
the appearance of a flash of lightning" and moved with complicated wheels, with
high and dreadful rings, full of eyes. It was through them that the Spirit of
the throne went forth every way, wherever it would. And these living creatures,
the executors of the will of the Spirit of the throne, had the same forms
combined in each which were borne upon the four banners of the children of
Israel - the lion, the man, the ox, and the eagle (1:10).
These
cherubim were not human beings; they were angelic beings. What these cherubim
were in the ancient order, these "living ones" are in the order which obtains
at the time to which this vision of John refers. They are redeemed men,
glorified, and related to the judgment-throne in heaven, and to the interests
and affairs of the future kingdom on earth, just as the cherubim are related to
the throne and kingdom now, and in the former dispensations. They are the
cherubim of the new order. They are joined directly to the throne of the new
order. They are in the midst of it. They are around it. They are expressions of
it. And they take the forms of the lion, the man, the young ox, and the flying
eagle for the reason that they are the heavenly powers who guard and cover the
camp of the Lord which, under them, the entire world is to become.
Jesus tells us that "they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that aeon
[age] and the resurrection from among the dead are (isangeloi) equal
unto the angels" (Luke 20:35-36). This is the vision of that declaration
fulfilled, showing us certain pre-eminent classes of the eclectic resurrection
and translation, not only angelic as to their form of existence, but in the
exact positions which angels held in other dispensations.
Ezekiel saw
but four cherubim. The number was significant of the scene of their
ministrations - the world. These four included and represented many more, for
"the chariots of God" are "20,000, even many thousands of angels" (Psalm
68:17). For this same reason, John saw only four of these "living ones." This
is the worldly number and denotes that their office has reference to God's
providence in the world. But in these four are embraced thousands of glorified
ones whose high distinction is to share the throne with their Divine Redeemer
as His ministers and as executors of His will throughout eternal ages.
They have wings, for they are angelic now, and more wings than their angelic
predecessors, showing how fully they are capacitated for motion and how much
wider is the sphere of their movements. The Israel of old was but one nation;
the Israel they do for is all the nations.
They are full of eyes -
before, behind, and within - which is the symbol of intense intelligence
looking backward into the past, and forward into the future, and inward upon
themselves and into the nature of things. They are able to direct their ways
and administrations with unlimited penetration and discretion.
They
never rest in the fervency and grandeur of their zeal. They are perpetually
expressing the holiness and glory of the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is,
and is to come.
Some have taken them to be the same as the Elders,
only in other relations and in other features of their dignities and
blessedness. I cannot so understand it. They have, it is true, the same
priestly censers as the Elders, and they sing the same song of a common
redemption, kingship, priesthood, and dominion over the earth. But they have,
as a class, an individual distinctness that is never lost sight of and never
confounded with the elders. Even on earth, "there are diversities of gifts, and
differences of administrations," and much more will there be varieties of place
and function in heaven.
The Elders have crowns and thrones distinct
from the central throne, but these living ones have for their crown the very
throne itself. They are joined to the throne; they are in the midst of it, and
directly express it. (These four beasts are living emblems and ornaments of the
throne, denoting a nearer admission than the 24 elders. - Bengel) They also
lead the Elders in their adoration, for "whenever they give glory and honour
and thanks to Him that sits on the throne," then it is that "the 24 Elders fall
down before Him that sits on the throne and worship Him that lives for the age
of the ages and cast their crowns before the throne," giving glory, honour, and
power to the Almighty Maker of heaven and earth.
The one class have more
the semblance of counsellors, the other, that of executors, and the two
together are the closest to God of all the redeemed.
The Heavenly Prize
These, my friends, are the
dignities and glories to which you and I and all who hear the Gospel of Christ
are called and invited. There is not a prerogative of that celestial eldership
- not an office or possession of these living ones - not a song they sing - not
an attribute they wear - not a place they fill - which is not held out and
offered to every one of us.
Oh, the grandeur, the blessedness, the
sublime nature of the overtures of the Gospel of Christ! With your eye on these
heavenly splendours, these celestial princedoms and priesthoods, these eternal
royalties with God and with His Son, Jesus Christ, and with your heart warmed
with the contemplation of their unfathomed excellency, I ask you whether you
are willing to despise and cast away this your golden opportunity to obtain
them?
I wish to put it to your conscience, O man, O woman, whether,
after all this has been put within your reach, you can still hope for clemency
if you wilfully turn a deaf ear and carelessly let your chance go by! I wish to
have your honest, sober, practical decision on the question, whether you are
willing to allow this world's fleeting vanities and damning sins and follies to
occupy and possess you in preference to these immortal regencies and eternal
principalities and powers?
Believe me that I am in earnest in this
appeal, for I make it as a messenger of God, called to deal with these holy
things for your salvation. The Lord fasten it on your soul and give each of us
grace to let go friends, pleasures, comforts, home, country, freedom, life,
everything, rather than let slip so blessed an opportunity for so great a
prize!