THE STUDY OF REVELATION 5 (What does it mean) contd Revelation 5:6 And I beheld, and, lo, in the midst of the throne and of the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. 7 And he came and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. 8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints. We looked at verse 7 & 8 last time, and we will continue with the next two. Were being told here that those that are in the presence of God the Father and the throne mentioned in verse 6, are the 4 beasts and twenty four elders. (I think we neglected to talk about whom the beasts represents and elders. We talked some about the number four and what it represents. The beast is directly connected with the number four.) So well look at at now. Therefore, lets look at this term used as beast. We find that it is the Greek word: [2226 ζῶον zoon dzo’-on ] translated as: [AV-beast 23; and used 23 times in the NT.] and we see how it is applied; Jude 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts , in those things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. Here the use of this word beasts refer to unsaved men who have erred in the wat of Balaam when he enquired of the Lord if he should help the Moabites and Midianites against Israel. (Read about it in Numbers 22) This is a picture of those that turn their back on God and His righteousness. We see another in verses 6-9; Revelation 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four beasts 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. 9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, 10 The four and twenty elders 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, 11 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. Here we are given a commentary on our study verses. These are beasts that represent the elect of God because of their spiritual characteristics of being like a lion, a calf, a man and a flying eagle, all pictures of those that witness the Gospel in the world. 1. We see an example of the elect as a lion: Numbers 24:2 And Balaam lifted up his eyes, and he saw Israel abiding in his tents according to their tribes; and the spirit of God came upon him. 3 And he took up his parable, and said, Balaam the son of Beor hath said, and the man whose eyes are open hath said: 4 He hath said, which heard the words of God, which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling into a trance, but having his eyes open: 5 How goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O Israel! 6 As the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river’s side, as the trees of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, and as cedar trees beside the waters. 7 He shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed shall be in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted. 8 God brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce them through with his arrows. 9 He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, and cursed is he that curseth thee. Here we see the blessing of God on the children of Israel, His beloved elect, whom He will save in His mighty acts indicated in a parable, verse 6-8, of what He will do for them as they are prepared and equipped for the witnessing of the Gospel. 2. We see an example of the elect as a calf: Psalms 29:3 The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. 4 The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the LORD breaketh the cedars; yea, the LORD breaketh the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He maketh them also to skip like a calf; Lebanon and Sirion like a young unicorn. The skip of a calf is the joy of the elect of God for His voice is upon the waters, water being the Word of God whereby His people are saved and are equipped to bring the Gospel. 3. We see an example of the elect as a man: James 1:23 For if any be a hearer of the word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: 24 For he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. 25 But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed. A picture of those that do the will of God by witnessing the Gospel. 4. We see an example of the elect as a flying eagle. Isaiah 40:27 Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the LORD, and my judgment is passed over from my God? 28 Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. 29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: 31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. The salvation of Jacob, the chosen elect of Israel who will wait upon the Lord who will save them and give them strength as eagles to be witness of the Gospel. Thus we see the nature of the four beasts and the characteristics that God has bestowed upon them in order to bring glory to God by being His witnesses in the world. The sufficient strength and wisdom of the beast is his being prepared and equipped by God to fight the good fight of winning souls. Who are the elders? The Greek word for elder is the word: [4245 πρεσβύτερος presbuteros pres-boo’-ter-os ] translated as: [AV-elder 64, old man 1, eldest 1, elder woman 1; and used 67 times in the NT.] 1) elder, of age, 1a) the elder of two people 1b) advanced in life, an elder, a senior 1b1) forefathers 2) a term of rank or office 2a) among the Jews 2a1) members of the great council or Sanhedrin (because in early times the rulers of the people, judges, etc., were selected from elderly men) 2a2) of those who in separate cities managed public affairs and administered justice 2b) among the Christians, those who presided over the assemblies; (or churches) the NT uses the term bishop, overseers, 1985 pastors, 4166 elders, and presbyters 4245 interchangeably { Act 20:17,28 Eph 4:11 Tit 1:5,7 1Pet 5:1-4 etc.} 2c) the twenty four members of the heavenly Sanhedrin or court seated on thrones around the throne of God. These are some of its applications; Luke 20:1 And it came to pass, that on one of those days, as he taught the people in the temple, and preached the gospel, the chief priests and the scribes came upon him with the elders , And spake unto him, saying, Tell us, by what authority doest thou these things? or who is he that gave thee this authority? 3 And he answered and said unto them, I will also ask you one thing; and answer me: 4 The baptism of John, was it from heaven, or of men? 5 And they reasoned with themselves, saying, If we shall say, From heaven; he will say, Why then believed ye him not? 6 But and if we say, Of men; all the people will stone us: for they be persuaded that John was a prophet. 7 And they answered, that they could not tell whence it was. 8 And Jesus said unto them, Neither tell I you by what authority I do these things. We see that the elders here one of the applications are those in authority in the church who is questioning the authority of Jesus. and another, 1 Peter 5:1 The elders which are among you I exhort, who am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed: 2 Feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind; 3 Neither as being lords over God’s heritage, but being ensamples to the flock. 4 And when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. Those that follow Christ and have learned of Him are ministers of the Gospel to be His witnesses in the world. The reference to the four beasts and the twenty four elders is a reference to all those that minister the Gospel and are around the throne of God praising Him day and night: The numbers four and twenty four are figurative or spiritual in nature. They are symbolic of what God has in mind to define the greater meaning they represent. We see a reference to the number twenty four; 1 Chronicles 20:6 And yet again there was war at Gath, where was a man of great stature, whose fingers and toes were four and twenty, six on each hand, and six on each foot: and he also was the son of the giant. 7 But when he defied Israel, Jonathan the son of Shimea David’s brother slew him. 8 These were born unto the giant in Gath; and they fell by the hand of David, and by the hand of his servants. Here it demonstrates the imagery God is using that the number 24 is a number of great and unusual strength. We see another in verse 4 following; 1 Chronicles 23:1 So when David was old and full of days, he made Solomon his son king over Israel. 2 And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. 3 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and upward: and their number by their polls, man by man, was thirty and eight thousand. 4 Of which, twenty and four thousand were to set forward the work of the house of the LORD; and six thousand were officers and judges: 5 Moreover four thousand were porters; and four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith. 6 And David divided them into courses among the sons of Levi, namely, Gershon, Kohath, and Merari. Here, we see these verses speak of how precise God demands things to be done as king David, a picture of Christ makes appointments for those that minister in the house of God which is a picture of the body of believers, the elect of God and how they are to administer the ordinances of God. The numbers four and the number twenty four is prominently featured here to represent wisdom and strength that the people of God are, His chosen elect because it is He, Jehovah God that will provide for their every need. So we see that those that worship Him are represented by these numbers. Revelation 19:1 And after these things I heard a great voice of much people in heaven, saying, Alleluia; Salvation, and glory, and honour, and power, unto the Lord our God: 2 For true and righteous are his judgments: for he hath judged the great whore, which did corrupt the earth with her fornication, and hath avenged the blood of his servants at her hand. 3 And again they said, Alleluia. And her smoke rose up for ever and ever. 4 And the four and twenty elders and the four beasts fell down and worshiped God that sat on the throne, saying, Amen; Alleluia. 5 And a voice came out of the throne, saying, Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great. 6 And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. 7 Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready. 8 And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints. 9 And he saith unto me, Write, Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb. And he saith unto me, These are the true sayings of God. 10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See thou do it not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. So we see that the praise and worship of God is the mandate of every child of God. (See Matthew 22 & 25 for setup and preparation for the marriage of the Lamb.) We see that no unsaved person can be in the presence of God. This illustrates what we have found throughout scripture that the wicked cannot praise God. [Proverbs 15:8 The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the LORD: but the prayer of the upright is his delight.] nor is God pleased with them; [ Hebrews 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.] Faith can only be possessed by those who have been saved. In conclusion, we see that even though these imageries are somewhat disjointed, a strict mandate is adhered to in its applications as we always do. When we trust the provisions of His Holy Inspired, Infallible, Inerrant, Tried and True Word, the Bible provided in all scripture, the full counsel of God to define these things, then we have to trust it and seek it out more and see if these things be true. Our understanding can only be enhances, Lord willing, if He will allow us to see the big picture. These are not everyday teachings but we hope that the Lord will open up our spiritual understanding so that we may receive what He intends for us to know. (Questions and comments welcomed.) May God give us eyes to see and the ears to hear, o se auauna.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 17:14:41 +0000
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