Bible Talks - Traditional Church (Sunday 8am)
Series: Letters from Heaven · Talk No. 3
The View from the Tower
Sunday, 06 August 2006
Before we began looking at the Revelation I introduced the 11 propositions that we need to keep in mind as we try to interpret this book. Today before we begin looking at the vision that the Apostle John records in chapters 4 & 5 we’re going to look at the number and colour symbolism that is used in the book.
Apocalyptic is a style of Jewish literature that includes parts of the bible as well as other non-biblical Jewish writings. It has a highly developed symbolism and much of the symbolism in Revelation is in common with this.
Number Symbolism in Revelation. (Slide 1)
3 The spiritual world (good or bad)
4 The physical world or the earth as opposed to the spiritual
7 (3+4) The whole of creation > completeness > perfection
So the 7 churches we heard about last week also represent the whole church.
3½ (7/2) Incompleteness, imperfection – turns up as 42 months or
1260days (3 ½ years), or times, time and half a time
6 The human number – stands for man or a particular man
e.g. 666 the number of the Beast –Nothing to do with Bankcard
5 and 10 Used as round numbers or multipliers for emphasis – numbers are also emphasised by repetition, squaring or multiplying by powers of 10. e.g. the 144,000 in Revelation 10
12 God's redeemed community – e.g. the 12 tribes of Israel, the 12 apostles. In these cases reality matches the symbolism. Also the 144,000 is just a strong way of saying Gs redeemed community. It does not mean that there are only going to be 144,000 people in heaven.
Colour Symbolism in Revelation.
White Victory - by goodies or baddies (not purity as in our society)
Red Strife or war
Black Famine
Pale (CloroV) Death
Green Eternal life
Purple Royalty, rule
We’ll see these numbers, colours and other symbols come into play as we look further into the book.
===================================================
Right now let’s listen to Revelation 4 & 5
In this section we have a vision of the throne room in heaven followed by the opening of a scroll with 7 seals. The view switches from events on earth to events in heaven. It’s a different perspective but the heavenly events still relate to earthly events. It’s a bit like looking at an airport from down near ground level on the tarmac; planes, baggage carts, fuelling trucks, trucks with passenger stairs seem to be whizzing everywhere in apparent total chaos, while from up in the control tower, calm and peace prevail as planes take off and land in stately splendour. John's readers are under persecution on earth and what John is being shown is given so that they will be reassured that God really is in control and will be victorious. They are given a big picture view that shows God really is in control instead of the down here, mixing it with the nasties view that they normally have. The true reality and the true seat of power is in heaven and it is on the basis of heavenly reality that we must assess what is happening in the world.
After his vision of Christ amidst the lamp stands, John looks up and sees the door of heaven open wide and he is invited to come up and he will be shown 'What must take place after this'. A glimpse of true reality, that puts the present persecutions into the perspective of the victorious future. At once John is in the Spirit, he is seeing a vision of heaven and the primary content of his vision is the throne.
Revelation is the most throne conscious book in the bible (42 of the 67 references to throne in the New Testament are found in Revelation ) and what follows is a description of the throne room of heaven. John is restricted in his description to terms in his own understanding. He uses phrases like "it had the appearance of” and ‘”resembling.” Compare this description with the closely parallel description in Ezekiel chapter 1.
4I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal, 5and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was that of a man, 6but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. 8Under their wings on their four sides they had the hands of a man. All four of them had faces and wings, 9and their wings touched one another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.
10Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a man, and on the right side each had the face of a lion, and on the left the face of an ox; each also had the face of an eagle. 11Such were their faces. Their wings were spread out upward; each had two wings, one touching the wing of another creature on either side, and two wings covering its body. 12Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13The appearance of the living creatures was like burning coals of fire or like torches. Fire moved back and forth among the creatures; it was bright, and lightning flashed out of it. 14The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.
15As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 16This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like chrysolite, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 17As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not turn about as the creatures went. 18Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
19When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. 20Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, and the wheels would rise along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels. 21When the creatures moved, they also moved; when the creatures stood still, they also stood still; and when the creatures rose from the ground, the wheels rose along with them, because the spirit of the living creatures was in the wheels.
22Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked like an expanse, sparkling like ice, and awesome. 23Under the expanse their wings were stretched out one toward the other, and each had two wings covering its body. 24When the creatures moved, I heard the sound of their wings, like the roar of rushing waters, like the voice of the Almighty, like the tumult of an army. When they stood still, they lowered their wings.
25Then there came a voice from above the expanse over their heads as they stood with lowered wings. 26Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. 27I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. 28Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD”.
We are always restricted to what is within our understanding. This is why we must use anthropomorphisms when we talk about God. We use terms like 'the hand of God' and ` the mighty arm of God' etc.
Proposition 5 reminds us that the whole description in Revelation 4 and 5 must be seen as a whole before we try to understand any of the detail.
What we have is a series of concentric circles. Right at the centre is God the Father sitting on the throne. Then come the four living creatures, usually taken to be the mighty Cherubim, and you can see the similarity between John’s description and the one in Ezekiel. Next come the 24 elders representing, according to the number symbolism, God’s redeemed people made up of the 12 tribes of Israel plus the 12 apostles. That is God’s Old Testament people plus God’s New Testament people. The next circle out consists of the angels of heaven and the outermost circle is every other creature in the universe.
The various colours and gemstones represent God's holiness, and glory but also his judgment while the emerald rainbow looks back to the rainbow given after Noah’s flood as a reminder that he will not destroy the earth by water and its colour signifies heaven or eternal life. The cherubim’s song is a song of God’s holiness and transcendence the God who was and is and is to come. It’s the thought taken up in God’s Old Testament name Yahweh, the great I AM, the eternally existent one.
The song of the elders is a song of creation. Why does God receive all this praise and adoration? Because he made it all. Everyone and everything owes its existence to him. The fact that they are dressed in white symbolizes their victory in their loyalty to God, and their crowns indicate that they now rule with him. The fact that as they worship him they lay down their crowns before him, represents the fact that they rule under God.
You might like to take a few moments some time and compare the song of verse 11 with Paul's sermon to the Athenians in ACTS 17:24‑31 and the hymn to Christ in Philippians 2:6‑11.
The seven spirits of God represented by the seven blazing lamps is actually represents the Holy Spirit. Remember the number 7 symbolizes divine perfection. So the Spirit is perfect, powerful, omnipresent, sent out by God to do his will.
All in all it is a picture of the majesty, power and glory of God at the centre of everything and ruling over everything. There is nothing and nobody that doesn’t come under God's rule.
At the time the book was written, during the persecution under the Roman Emperor Domitian. This vision of God in all his majesty and power ruling over everyone and everything is in marked contrast to the all pervasive Roman rule. Who really rules, Domitian or God? Who really is God, Domitian or God? Who really has power Domitian or God? The answer of course in each case is God.
Who really rules our world today? The USA? The terrorists? The international stock market? Big business? The answer of course is still God.
In chapter 5 we are introduced to three surprises. Three things that are contrary to expectations. The first of these is a scroll, written on both sides with seven seals. As Neil said last week these aren’t ARF ARF seals but wax seals that prevent the scroll being opened.
The scroll is taken by all commentators as containing the unrevealed and unexecuted plan or purposes of God, particularly God's redemptive purposes. While the seals are intact these purposes cannot be worked out in the world and the world will continue in the mess it is in. Evil will not only appear to triumph, but it actually will triumph.
As a man, John feels both helpless and hopeless in the grip of forces stronger than anything in the whole of creation and so he weeps. The angel is not looking for someone strong enough to break the seal but someone worthy enough. In verse 5 one of the elders says “Do not weep. See the Lion of Judah, the Root of David has triumphed. He Is able to open the scroll and Its 7 seals.” The Lion of Judah and the Root of David are both accepted apocalyptic titles for Christ and come from sources outside the Bible. And He has already triumphed. Christ’s victory doesn’t lie in the future. It is an accomplished fact.
The second surprise is that we are expecting a lion or a king like David, but it is a lamb, looking like it had been slain, that steps up to open the scroll. The surprise is increased because this slain lamb is not pathetic and weak. The number 7 again representing completeness or perfection. 7 horns, 7 eyes, 7 spirits. Horns represent power or strength, the eyes knowledge or wisdom, and he has the spirit of God.
The next surprise is that everyone worships the Lamb. The lion who triumphed is worthy to take the scroll but the lion isn’t seen or heard of again in Revelation. The lion and the lamb are one and the same, Jesus Christ, and it is the lamb who was slain, the crucified and victorious Christ, who steps forward to take the scroll and is worshipped.
The greatest surprise? Everyone worships the lamb as God. The fact that the elders all fall down and worship the lamb indicates that the lamb is God. And their hands contain the golden bowls of the prayers of the saints and they offer them to the lamb.
It’s worth taking a little excursus to look at the prayers of the saints.
1. The saints are anyone who is a Christian so this includes our prayers.
2. Our prayers are offered to God, they have a prominent place in the worship of God. They matter to God. We may wonder whether our prayers are heard or are of any consequence and others may scoff but they matter to God.
3. So we ought to think carefully about what we pray. We have an enormous privilege of direct access through prayer to our heavenly Father.
So are we looking at our lives from the ground or from the control tower. Is our perspective limited by the immediate and the imminent, the daily trivia that makes up so much of our lives? Or are we taking the big picture view? Do we see ourselves as caught up in circumstances or do we see that God is in control, that he is working his purposes out, in the world and in our lives.
Years ago, when I was a new chum on the Windang Beach Mission team, the team father asked me how I was. I replied, “OK, under the circumstances.” He promptly came back, “A Christian is never under the circumstances.” Who is in control in your life? God or your circumstances? From where God sits on the throne everything is under his control – no matter how things look to us.
It’s important that we don’t lose that big picture perspective. Reality is that GOD RULES OK.
Next week we’ll open the scroll.
Let us pray.