📖 Revelation Intensive — Unit 5: The Throne and the Lamb

Text: Revelation 4-5

A Door Standing Open in Heaven

With the letters to the seven churches finished, the scene changes. "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, 'Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this'" (Revelation 4:1). The reader is lifted from earth, where the churches struggle, into heaven itself, the realm of unseen reality that lies behind and above everything we can see. As in chapter one, John says, "Immediately I was in the Spirit" (Revelation 4:2), the phrase that marks the great visions of the book; he is carried by the Holy Spirit into a sight no natural eye could reach. The summons "Come up here" has been read in more than one way: some hear in it a foreshadowing of the church's being caught up to be with Christ, while others take it simply as John's own call to ascend in vision, and the course leaves the question open. What is certain is that the curtain is drawn back, and the rest of the book will be understood only from this vantage point, looking at the troubles of earth from the throne room of heaven.

One Seated on the Throne

The first thing John sees, and the center of everything that follows, is a throne. "Behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne" (Revelation 4:2). The throne is the focal point of the entire book of Revelation; before any seal is opened, any trumpet sounded, or any bowl poured out, the reader is shown that God is seated, sovereign, and in command of all. John does not attempt to describe the One on the throne by face or form, but only by the flash of precious stones: He was "like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald" (Revelation 4:3). The brilliance speaks of a holiness and majesty too great for words, and the encircling rainbow recalls God's covenant mercy, the promise that His judgments are always ringed about with grace. Whatever storms break upon the earth in the chapters to come, this is the unchanging fact behind them all: a throne stands in heaven, and God is on it.

The Elders and the Living Creatures

Around the throne John sees two circles of worshipers. First, "around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads" (Revelation 4:4). Their white robes speak of purity and their golden crowns of reward and reign. Who they are has been understood in more than one way: many take them as the redeemed people of God, perhaps the union of Israel and the church in their twelve-and-twelve numbers; others see an exalted order of heavenly beings; the course presents the views fairly and does not insist on one. From the throne proceed "lightnings, thunderings, and voices," and before it burn "seven lamps of fire, which are the seven Spirits of God" (Revelation 4:5), a picture of the fullness of the Holy Spirit. Before the throne stretches what looks like "a sea of glass, like crystal" (Revelation 4:6), a floor of stillness and clarity. And in the midst are four living creatures full of eyes, one like a lion, one like a calf, one with a face like a man, and one like a flying eagle — beings much like the cherubim of Ezekiel and the seraphim of Isaiah, covered with eyes to show that nothing escapes their sight as they guard the throne of God.

Holy, Holy, Holy: The Worship of the Creator

The living creatures never cease their cry, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!" (Revelation 4:8). The threefold "holy" lifts up the perfect, unapproachable purity of God, and the title "who was and is and is to come" declares Him the eternal Lord of all time. As often as the creatures give glory, the twenty-four elders fall down before the throne and do a striking thing: they cast their crowns before it, surrendering every honor they have been given back to the One who gave it (Revelation 4:10). Their song names the ground of this first great act of worship: "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 4:11). Here God is worshiped as Creator. Because He made all things and holds them in being by His will, He alone is worthy of glory, and every crown in heaven belongs at His feet. Chapter four sets the throne and the worship of the Creator before us, and only then does the book move to the question that will fill chapter five.

The Sealed Scroll and the Lion Who Is a Lamb

"And I saw in the right hand of Him who sat on the throne a scroll written inside and on the back, sealed with seven seals" (Revelation 5:1). The sealed scroll is best understood as the unfolding plan and purpose of God for all history, the title-deed to the world, which cannot take effect until someone is found worthy to break its seals. A strong angel cries out, "Who is worthy to open the scroll and to loose its seals?" (Revelation 5:2), and the silence is total: no one in heaven, on earth, or under the earth could open it. John weeps much at this, for if no one can open the scroll, then God's purposes seem to stall and history has no redeemer. Then one of the elders comforts him: "Do not weep. Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has prevailed to open the scroll" (Revelation 5:5). John turns to see the conquering Lion — and sees instead "a Lamb as though it had been slain" (Revelation 5:6). This is the heart of the vision. The mighty Lion of Judah, the King of all, has triumphed, but He triumphed by being slain; He still bears the marks of the One whose throat was cut as a sacrifice. The Lion and the Lamb are the same Person, and He conquers not by force but by His own death. The Lamb has seven horns and seven eyes, the fullness of power and of the Spirit sent into all the earth, and He steps forward and takes the scroll from the right hand of Him who sits on the throne.

The New Song: Worthy Is the Lamb

The moment the Lamb takes the scroll, heaven erupts in worship. The four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fall down before Him, each holding a harp and "golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Revelation 5:8) — a tender detail, that the prayers of struggling believers on earth are gathered up and treasured in heaven. They sing a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God" (Revelation 5:9-10). The Lamb is worthy because He was slain and by His blood purchased a people for God from every nation on earth, making them a kingdom of priests. Then the circle of worship widens. John hears the voice of countless angels around the throne, ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands, all saying with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!" (Revelation 5:12). What chapter four gave to the Creator, chapter five now gives to the Lamb.

Every Creature Worships the Lamb

The worship spreads until it fills the whole creation. "And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: 'Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, forever and ever!'" (Revelation 5:13). This final doxology is addressed to two and yet sounds as one: to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb together. The slain Lamb receives the very worship given to God on the throne, which is among the clearest declarations in all of Scripture that Jesus Christ is fully God and shares the throne of heaven. The four living creatures answer "Amen!" and the elders fall down and worship (Revelation 5:14). So the two chapters set the stage for everything that follows. Whatever seals are about to be opened, whatever judgments are about to fall, history is utterly safe, because the One on the throne reigns over all and the slain Lamb has prevailed and holds the scroll. The right response, in heaven and on earth, is worship.

Submit Exam & Check Pass Reset Unit