Waters of Life

Biblical Studies in Multiple Languages

Search in "English":
Home -- English -- Revelation -- 039 (Worshiping the One That Sits on the Throne)
This page in: -- Arabic -- Armenian -- Bulgarian -- ENGLISH -- French? -- German -- Indonesian -- Polish? -- Portuguese -- Russian -- Yiddish

Previous Lesson -- Next Lesson

REVELATION - Behold, I am Coming Soon
Studies in the Book of Revelation
BOOK 2 - THE ENTHRONEMENT OF JESUS CHRIST (REVELATION 4:1 - 6:17)
PART 2.1 GOD, HOLY AND ALMIGHTY IN HEAVEN (REVELATION 4:1-11)

3. Worshiping the One That Sits on the Throne (Revelation 4:8-11)


REVELATION 4:8b
8 ... They have no rest day and night, saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come!”

Worship by the Four Living Creatures: The uninterrupted commitment of the four throne guardians culminates in their voluntary worshiping of God.

As there is neither day nor night in heaven, their worshiping and their witness take always place in the brilliant light of the Holy One. God is light (1 John 1:5; 1 Timothy 6:16). His fullness of light is revealed to the four throne guardians as an unapproachable holiness and majesty. They see his outer appearance, are deeply impressed of his holy existence and worship the Almighty who has created them for his service.

The four living creatures worship God without a certain reason. In their blessed restlessness they rather feel continually urged to praise the Holy One and to glorify and exalt him. They always see what he is doing, what he is deciding and how patient he is with men and nations. They know also his wrath, his righteousness und his judgments. They have no choice but to erupt again and again with worshiping of the holy God.

The four living creatures do not address God personally when they worship him. There is no family relationship between them and him. When John listened to their worshiping, they did not call out praises to each other as the Seraphim did according to Isaiah (Isaiah 6:3), they just called out their worshiping of the Holy One to the four corners of the world so that whole heaven may make a joyful noise and praise the Creator, Lord and Judge and love and worship him.

The praises of the throne guardians consist of three parts and address God in a threefold manner.

At first they called out: Holy, holy, holy! Then they continued with worshiping: is Lord, God Almighty, And they closed their praises as follows: Who was, and is, and is to come.

Who that was, is holy. Therewith the four living creatures testified that God the Creator is holy. All things he created in the beginning he created very well, faultlessly and holy (Genesis 1:31). The wonders of his creation cannot be plumbed. All scientists should join in the worshipping of the throne guardians. We ourselves should give thanks for water, light and air and again and again recall for what we indebted to the creator (Psalm 103:1-5; Psalm 104:1-35).

The four living creatures continued praising and confessed that who that is, is the reigning Lord, and is holy. Due to his patience he upholds his creation. He is in control of billions of galaxies and electrons which are circling around their atomic nuclei. He prevents that men may devastate and destroy the earth completely. He judges guilty nations and clans because of their wickedness.

The four throne guardians concluded their praise convinced that God Almighty is to come so as to save and judge the world. His blessings and punishments are holy and righteous. He is able to implement his salvation and his judgments. Nobody can stop the power of his almightiness.

As Christians we understand praise and worship of the four throne guardians according to the gospels and epistles of the apostles in a further way:

God Father is holy. He created the world through Jesus Christ, his word, and upholds it by his almightiness. His love is unlimited. His guidance and judgments are righteous and arise from the tension between his holiness and his compassion. His righteousness is the foundation of our existence (Jeremiah 23:6).

God, the Son, is holy. His birth was holy. The course of his life was without any sin. His wonders were holy. He remained holy in his atoning death for all men, so that the wicked enemy had no power over him. Our Lord arose victoriously from death. The demons knew who he was. They cried of horror, "We know who you are, The Holy One of God!" (Mark 1:24; Luke 4:34; John 6:69).

God, the Spirit, is holy. He is the spirit of the Father and the Son. He puts into effect the accomplished forgiveness of the Son in his followers; he makes his home in those who are justified by grace, and he sanctifies them so that they become holy. The fruit of the Spirit is holy (Galatians 5:22-23) as much as the eternal live is holy. The spirit of Christ is our life (John 3:16; 17:3).

The Seraphim according to Isaiah had God addressed as LORD of hosts. This attribute is contained in the name "Lord God Almighty" which John heard the throne guardians use. The Seraphim due to their knowledge and experience had proclaimed that the whole earth is full of the glory of the Lord (Isaiah 6:3). This victorious proclamation is missing in the testimony of the throne guardians in the book of Revelation as in this revelation the holiness of God in the upcoming judgments had been in the fore.

PRAYER: Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come.

QUESTION:

  1. What did the four living creatures recognize of God's greatness in their midst?

www.Waters-of-Life.net

Page last modified on November 27, 2012, at 11:20 AM | powered by PmWiki (pmwiki-2.3.3)