Teaching Children Effectively

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind:  the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight.  And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” Revelation 4:6b–8 ESV

The question arose whether the four creatures might relate to Israel somehow or if that idea, which some remembered hearing before, really had any validity. Again, what do we know? We see simile again; the first creature was like a lion. But, what significance can we see in the four? Well, we saw their relation to a common thread running through chapter 4 and that is God receiving glory in all of creation. So, what about the appearance of the four creatures and their relation to Israel in the wilderness? Actually, Greg Beale finds a source in the Targums and provides an application here:

The tribes of Israel were divided into four groups in the wilderness, and each group was located at one of the four directions of the compass, with the sanctuary in the middle of the camp. According to Targ. Pal. Num. 2 each group had a standard with the colors of the stones representing their tribes on the priest’s breastplate and with an insignia on it: a lion, a stag (originally an ox), a man, and a serpent (which later tradition changed to an eagle). Later Jewish tradition affirmed that this configuration was intended to reflect the arrangement of the four guardian angels around the divine throne… it could suggest further that the living creatures in Rev. 4:8ff represent humanity, especially the worship of the ideal community of God. The Book of Revelation pg. 331

On the identification of the creatures with the four gospels, George Eldon Ladd gives us a brief synopsis for those who may want to track these down:

From early times, these four creatures have been thought to represent the four gospels. Irenaeus… thought that the lion represented John, the ox Luke, the man Matthew, and the Eagle Mark. Victorinus… followed by Jerome … changed the order. The lion was Matthew, the man Mark, the ox Luke, and the eagle John. Such interpretations are interesting… A Commentary of the Revelation of John pp. 77 & 78

John Walvoord gives us a very good discussion on the four creatures in The Revelation of Jesus Christ pp.108 – 112 and comes to virtually the same conclusion as Beale, Alan Johnson and Robert Mounce; the creatures are angelic or heavenly beings, reflecting God’s majesty, “fullness of life and power.”

I concluded that the four creatures represent the ideal of all of creation, praising God by doing what they were created to do. M.G. Reddish points to the creation motif in Chapter 4 and throughout the Revelation:

The praise of God as creator is not an incidental doctrine that John happens to include only in passing. God’s creative activity is at the heart of God’s sovereignty. God is sovereign over the world because this is God’s world.

The creatures picture the animal creation from the four corners of the world – the wild beasts in the lion, domesticated creatures in the ox, the birds of the air in the eagle and man as the crown of God’s creation. This view also takes into consideration this nearly forgotten fact: When Adam fell, he brought down the entire creation – the Lamb of God, the First born of all Creation, will redeem it all!

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. Romans 8:18–22 ESV

But, we also concluded as we did with the 24 elders: It would be a huge mistake to get hung up on their description and miss their primary function, their role in heaven: Worship!

Last week in our study of Revelation we discussed the thrust of chapter 4, which we concluded was the centrality of God in His universe and the promise that in heaven and soon (we hope) on earth, all creation will fulfill it’s purpose in glorifying God and bringing Him praise. John writes:

and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal. Revelation 4:6 ESV

Greg Beale ties together threads from Exodus, Ezekiel and Daniel with references through the Revelation, culminating in the New Heavens and New Earth in Chapter 21:

The “sea” is also associated with the idea of evil. Caird has argued that here it connotes cosmic evil, since it often has such a nuance in the OT and sometimes elsewhere in Revelation (see Rev. 13:1; 21:; and especially 15:2, as well as “abyss” in 11:7). This speculation receives support from the modeling of these chapters on Daniel 7, and the scenes of Daniel 7 and Ezekiel 1 have integral literary links, the former usually seen as dependent on the latter… In view of the Daniel and Exodus [24:9-1] imagery, there is then a hint that John sees the chaotic powers of the sea as calmed by divine sovereignty. Rev. 5:5ff reveals that Christ’s overcoming through his death and resurrection is what defeated the power of evil and so calmed Satan’s watery, tumultuous abode. 4:6 gives a picture of the stilling of the hellish waters from the heavenly perspective, though the devil displays his wrath even more furiously on earth because he has been decisively defeated in heaven… The lamb’s “overcoming” has also paved the way for the saint’s “overcoming” of the beast at the same sea, as pictured in 15:2-4. When John later says that “there is no longer any sea” (21:1), he means that all evil on the earth will be not only defeated but also eradicated when Christ’s kingdom is established consummately on earth. In fact, the “sea of glass like a crystal before the throne” in 4:6 may be an intentional contrast with “a river of the water of life, clear as crystal, coming from the throne” in 22:1. The sea as the source of satanic evil opposing God’s throne has been eliminated and replaced by the river of redemption, which has its source in the throne. The Book of Revelation, pp 327 & 328

Although there is no unanimous agreement on the crystal sea, most seem to agree that what we are seeing is a simile… the sea is like crystal or glass. It certainly conveys the glory and majesty of the presence of God and is related somehow to His sovereignty over creation (4:6 – 11). It also has something to say about His ability to see all and manage His creation.

Let me take a moment to say that this is just the sort of thing we set up this discussion for — a worthwhile topic came up, which was beyond the scope and time constraints of our Sunday study. It involves a number of opinions from various sources and Beale even refers to some of the conclusions as “speculation,” even though he cites some pretty compelling (if circumstantial) evidence. However, these kinds of topics can be rich, rewarding and build up the Body of Christ, if done with thoughtfulness, love and grounding in the Scriptures. So, feel free to comment here.

But it is not merely for supper that Christ enters the human soul. It is also to exercise sovereignty. If he comes in to bestow his salvation, he comes in also to receive our submission. His entry is an occupation. He comes in to take control. No room may be locked against him. He has conquered us. He is the master of the house. His flag flies from our roof. This is what it means to be committed to Christ, and to be wholehearted in our allegiance to him. It is to surrender without conditions to his lordship. It is to seek his will in his word and promptly to obey it. It is not just attending religious services twice a Sunday or even every day, let alone on the major festivals. It is not just leading a decent life or believing certain articles of the creed. No, it is first to repent, turning decisively from everything we know to be wrong, and then to open the door to Jesus Christ, asking him to come in. It is getting our gold, our clothes, and our eye salve from him. It is being personally and unconditionally committed to him. It is putting him first and seeking his pleasure in every department of life, public and private. Nothing less will do.

What Christ Thinks Of The Church, pp. 121 & 122

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw — that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:1 & 2

When studying Revelation, it doesn’t take long before we find diverging opinions. I think Alan Johnson has some good advice for us here:

What do the imagery and visions mean? Another problem involves chronology: When do the things spoken of occur… what is symbolic and what is literal? Answers to such questions will determine the interpreter’s approach. Since few of these questions are capable of dogmatic answers, there is a need for tolerance of divergent aproaches in the hope that the Spirit may use open-minded discussion to bring us further into the meaning of the Apocalypse.

In chapter 1, verse 1, we are told that what follows must soon take place. How soon is soon and how does the answer to that question affect our approach to the rest of Revelation? This is how Robert Mounce deals with the question:

That more than 1900 years of church history have passed and the end is not yet poses a problem for some. One solution is to understand “shortly” in the sense of suddenly, or without delay once the appointed time arrives… The most satisfying solution is to take the word in a straightforward sense, remembering that in the prophetic outlook the end is always imminent. This perspective is common to the entire NT. Jesus taught that God would vindicate his elect without delay (LK 18:8), and Paul wrote to the Romans that God would soon crush Satan under their feet (Rom 16:2o).

I might add that the end is always imminent in apocalyptic, which is so prevalent in Revelation. Greg Beale, an amillennialist, takes soon or shortly in the literal sense as we would expect — that the events in Revelation would take place in the very near future. However, he has a unique take on what is taking place:

John’s substitution of en tachei implies his expectation that the final tribulation, the defeat of evil, and establishment of the kingdom, which Daniel expected to occur distantly “in the latter days,” would begin in his own generation, and indeed, that it had already begun to happen (for the idea of tribulation preceeding the divine kingdom see Daniel 7, which is a parallel prophecy to Daniel 2).

Yet, he goes on to point out:

Indeed what follows shows that the beginning of fulfillment and not final fulfillment is the focus [Daniel's prophecy of the latter days].

I suppose this is an example of the “already” – “not yet” approach to Revelation.