Revelation 4 ~ living creatures

Revelation 4

David Cochran, English Standard Version

1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne. 3 And he who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.

4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty-four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, and rumblings and peals of thunder, and before the throne were burning seven torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God, 6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.

And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 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. 8 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!”

9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”

The Annunciation, painted by Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859 – 1937) first African American to gain international fame.

Luke 1:19
And the angel answered him, "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news."


Isaiah 55:8
"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.


Luke 20:38
Now he is not God of the dead, but of the living, for all live to him."


Daniel, Ezekiel, Isaiah and Paul were all given visions of heaven. All of them spoke of God as being a God of the Living.

Jesus is quoted 118 times telling us of Heaven in His 4 Gospels. 31 times Jesus tells us Heaven is a Kingdom, the Kingdom of Heaven. When He was asked who would get into Heaven, He said:

Matthew 19:25-26
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished, saying, “Who then can be saved?” ²⁶ But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”

Only in Jesus Christ, whom we wait upon in joy and in anticipation. Jesus brought us Life.

Romans 10:9
If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.






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