Not many people have ever been graced with a vision of God’s throne room. When I stop to think about it, only a few names come to mind: Isaiah (Isaiah 6:1-13) and Daniel (Daniel 7:9-13) in the Old Testament, for example. Ezekiel had a vision of God, but he was not in his throne room, but rather seated on a mobile throne that traveled around the earth (Ezekiel 1:1-3:15). In the New Testament, Stephen “looked up to heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God” (Acts 7:55), and the Apostle Paul had a vision of heaven, and heard things that he could not reveal (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). Over the course of history there may have been a handful of others as well, whose names are not recorded in Scripture. But it is definitely not a common experience.
Of the few throne room visions recorded in the Bible, the prophet who left us the most detailed description of what he saw and heard was the Apostle John. Most of the book of Revelation, in fact, is an unveiling of history as seen from a heavenly, rather than an earthly, point of view. In Revelation chapter 4, John describes his first view of the heavenly throne room. He writes:
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:
“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come”
(Revelation 4:6-8).
John’s description of these four living creatures parallels, in some ways, the creatures Ezekiel saw in his vision, although there are some interesting differences as well. The words John hears them speaking, on the other hand, allude to Isaiah’s vision, again with some interesting differences. The Holy Spirit is clearly letting us know that John is following in the same tradition as the Old Testament prophets. God has not changed, and his plans for his people have not changed.
But the one detail that really stood out for me when I read this passage in my quiet time not long ago, is the eyes. Eyes represent awareness, watchfulness and knowledge, and the four living creatures are covered in eyes. We are supposed to understand that these four creatures can truly perceive what is going on. They are not using their powers of perception to observe the earth or humanity, however, but to gaze at God seated on his throne. The point seems to be that these are creatures who can see whatever they want to see, and God is all they choose to look at. Further, all they want to talk about is how holy God is. In short, they are acting exactly the way you’d expect from people who are in love.
Almost everyone knows what that feels like; you want to spend all your time with that one special person, and you feel like the entire world needs to hear (over and over again) how wonderful they are. I’ve been married long enough now to know that even after love has matured and the passion has calmed, those desires, to spend time in my beloved’s presence and to tell other people about her, still remain.
Human love in a wonderful thing. With God, however, there are no flaws to overlook, no imperfections to gloss over. And in the heavenly throne room, it’s actually possible for the four living creatures to spend all of their time basking in God’s presence and proclaiming to one and all just how awesome he is. In essence, we could say that the heavenly worship John portrays is love perfected.
But the four living creatures are not the only beings that John saw surrounding the throne of God. There were also twenty-four elders, a number that probably represents the twelve tribes of Israel combined with the twelve apostles. They were “dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads” (Revelation 4:4). For us in the 21st century, crowns are symbols of royalty; they are worn by kings, or other rulers. Crowns were used this way at the time John was writing, but they also had another meaning. Crowns in the 1st century were also given to champion athletes, as a sign of victory. In the New Testament, the crown of victory is used metaphorically, representing the reward for those who live victoriously in Christ (1 Corinthians 9:25, 2 Timothy 2:5, Revelation 2:10). It’s likely that, in this passage, both meanings are intended. The elders have proven faithful to the end, and have gained the crown of victory. At the same time, they are part of a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), and they reign with Christ (2 Timothy 2:12).
And along with the four living creatures, the elders, also, are worshiping:
Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created and have their being.”
(Revelation 4:9-11).
While the four living creatures worship God for his holiness, the twenty-four elders worship him as creator. And John himself, twice in this passage, makes a point of the fact that the they are worshiping him “who sits on the throne” and who “lives for ever and ever.” That is, these heavenly beings celebrate God’s sovereignty and his eternal nature. And they proclaim that, as Creator, he has the right to rule over everything; everything in all creation rightfully belongs to the one who created it.
In John’s description of the throne room, every creature we see is fully engaged in worship, and I think that’s the response that meditating on this chapter should lead us to. The four living creatures, in particular, show a picture of love. They are in God’s presence. They are covered with eyes, which they use to gaze continually upon God. Their view of God leads them to continually proclaim his holiness. This is what lovers do.
And the twenty-four elders, with their crowns, continually lay their crowns down before the throne. They acknowledge by their act of worship that whatever victory they won was only achieved by God’s grace, and whatever they reign over, they do so only in obedience to the one who reigns over everything.
This view of God’s throne room, for me, gives new light to the great commandment, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37). Unlike the elders and the living creatures of John’s vision, I can not spend every moment of my life gazing upon God and proclaiming his perfection. I have other tasks that I must accomplish, both to help build his kingdom on earth and to maintain my own body. But I can spend some of my time worshiping God in this way, and if I genuinely love him, I will.
How many times have I heard, or even said myself, that love does not consist of good feelings toward somebody, but rather of placing their interests ahead of my own? We understand that to love God is to put his interests ahead of our own. It’s not about warm fuzzy feelings, it’s about sacrifice. This is what God commands, and as Creator, he has the right to command it. Obedience to this command is our “true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1). But love for God is also about worship; about showing love, speaking in love and acting in love.
John had a vision of God. I have not. I have felt his presence, and his overwhelming holiness, but I have never seen him. And yet, I see him every day, in the pages of Scripture, and I am starting to learn how to see him as well in the lives of my brothers and sisters. Neither of these ways of seeing God has come automatically; they both require practice and time. This may be surprising to some people, but it shouldn’t be. In this universe that God designed, it’s a general rule that you become better at the things you practice. That’s how every one of us learned to do pretty much everything we can do. So in this case, love for God is the motive, seeing him more clearly is the goal, and practicing looking for him in Scripture and in his other children is the method. That’s how I can look at God.
The other part, speaking God’s praise, also improves with practice. I’ve written elsewhere about my prayer dogwalks. Something I’ve discovered during these times is how helpful it is to just start praising God for the good things I can see around me; good weather, the mountains, the beautiful trees, friendly neighbors. And, interestingly, the more I praise God for the good things in my life, the more I see his hand at work, which gives me even more to praise him for. And what’s more, the more I see God at work, the more I find that I want to tell other people about it as well.
And that’s a second key. If you want your love for anyone to grow, the way to do that is act on it. My love for my wife increases when I practice (that concept again) putting her needs ahead of my own. Including her need to be affirmed by the way I speak to her, and about her. That seems counter-intuitive; you’d think that always putting her first would lead to resentment, but experience shows that’s not what happens. Rather, when I act in love I become more loving.
God, of course, does not have needs for me to consider. One of the fundamentals of Christian theology is that God is fully self-sufficient; he needs nothing outside of himself. Nevertheless, the same principle of love applies. When I make pleasing God my priority, ahead of my own desires, I find my love for him growing.
And there is one more observation I want to make, looking back at the throne room scene that began this article. I’ve made the point that love and obedience and worship can all occur when I am by myself, but I do think the fact that God’s creatures are worshiping together in Revelation 4 is important. Nothing that John saw or wrote about was accidental. He saw what the Holy Spirit wanted him to see, so that what he wrote would build up God’s people. If those in heaven gather together to worship God, we who are on earth should do so as well. It’s only when we’re together, after all, that we can “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24).
John’s vision of worship in heaven, then, is a picture of love. It’s not an example we can precisely follow, but we can learn from it something about what it looks like to love our God, who truly does deserve all our praise and much more beyond.