Part 2 The Four living Creatures…continued
Revelation 6:4…
Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne… (Revelation 4:6a NKJV).
“In the midst of the throne,” meaning…among and surrounding the throne…in the midst of circles. As I mentioned earlier, there are at least three different circles. One is the circle of angels; another is the circle of the twenty-four elders; and inside of that, the third circle and closest to the throne, that which encircles the throne and encircles the One who sits upon the throne, are these four living creatures.
…were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back (Revelation 4:6b).
“eyes in front and in back” means they could see in every direction. Seeing in every direction means you can see the past…the present…and the future. So these four living creatures are perfectly aware of what is in the mind of God from long ages past, where those events are in present time, and where they are going in the future.
“full of eyes in front and in back” They can see where they have been, they can see where they are, and they can see where they are going.
The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within (Revelation 4:7-8a).
Again, the understanding is that they could see where they have been, they could see where they are, they could see where they are going, full of eyes around and within, seeing everything.
Note that when the Lamb is described, He has seven eyes and seven horns, which are a parallel metaphor…seven being the number of completeness and perfection…so the Lamb sees everything in the same manner in which these four living creatures see everything.
Let’s read the rest of the attributes of the four living creatures here so that we can get the whole picture. Then, we will talk about the lion, the ox, the man, and the eagle.
And they, do not rest day or night, saying: “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!” (Revelation 4:8b)
They are fully aware of the eternal things because they can speak of He who was
(past), He who is
(present), and He who is to come (future). So, they can actually see in every direction.
Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: “You are worthy, O Lord, To receive glory and honor and power; For You created all things, And by Your will they exist and were created” (Revelation 4:9-11).
The twenty-four elders take their cues from the four living creatures.
The four living creatures ordain the timing, and the twenty-four elders bring the order of things into creation. The functioning of a government is in view here.
“For You created all things”…They understand the governance associated with the purpose for creation. This is an incredible picture, in that we did not clearly understand it before nor did we really think about it or focus on it before…this simply means that the time had not com
e. Now the time has come.
Let us talk about these four living creatures for a moment. The first creature was like a lion. The lion, in physical creation and in heaven, is referred to as the conqueror.
Looking at chapter 5…the question was,
“Who should take the scroll from the right hand of the One who sat on the throne, who held this scroll sealed with seven seals?” (Revelation 5:1-2) And it appeared that no one was qualified to do so, and so picking up at verse 4 of chapter 5, John says,
So I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open and read the scroll, or to look at it. But one of the elders said to me, “Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll and to loose its seven seals.”
And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns [which means He is all powerful] and seven eyes [which means that He is able to see in everything], which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth (Revelation 5:4-6).
That Lamb…who is announced as the Lion…He came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. I wanted to point out…that in the textual interpretation of the Lion here…the four living creatures…one had a face like a lion and He is standing around the throne at the time of the announcement of the Lion of the tribe of Judah who has overcome.
Contextually, this lion
(the creature with the face of a lion) is in perfect harmony with…especially if He is going to execute the judgments of the Lamb…who is the Lion of the tribe of Judah. Hence, we are speaking of rule, the capacity to rule, having overcome. In fact, that is exactly what is said in Scripture:
“To him who overcomes I will give the right to sit with Me on My Father’s throne” (Revelation 3:21).
So the lion is the overcomer, therefore, the ruler. Looking at these four living creatures, we are not speaking of an actual lion, but rather a creature that possesses the spirit of an overcomer, the spirit of a ruler, the spirit of the lion.
The second living creature is like an ox. In literature, and here in the Scriptures, the ox is synonymous with one who cannot be turned. We even use the term
“stubborn as an ox,” which is one that is not easily distracted, persistent, unyielding we can revisit the Scripture when Paul wrote,
“Be you therefore steadfast and unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
You will see later on when we go to the book of Ezekiel to pick up on these four living creatures, that they do not deviate, they do not turn. They go straight forward and backward, and they do not turn.
In other words, this creature, this second living creature…this ox…cannot be turned because it knows where it is going, inasmuch as it sees: “
full of eyes in front and in back.” It sees what has been, it sees what is now, and it sees what is to be.
The third living creature had the face like a man. In other words, these characteristics are representative of that which God raised up from the earth in order to bring forth…in the end of the age…that which was in the image and likeness of God.
It speaks of the potential of this man who has the spirit of a lion, the steadfastness of an ox, and now the fourth living creature was like an eagle. This eagle is flying, it is in action, it is seeing. This is the prophetic spirit that sees, being borne on the winds of time. The flying eagle depends upon the winds of the Spirit. He is moving in the realm of the spirit. This is how the prophetic operates. It is borne up on the invisible but real presence of the Spirit of God.
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