December 12, 2024 - Revelation 4

John moves from the seven letters to the churches of his time, churches that are representative of churches down through the centuries, to describe what the angel shows him about the future:  “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’” (4:1).  In my seminar, yesterday, during a few lighter moments, we were talking about movies and stories, especially those that portray the ages old conflict between good and evil.  Perhaps the most amazing of all these sorts of stories is the one we are about to read in which John is told about the future working out of God’s purposes ending in the new heaven and earth at the end of time.  The revelation of these things begins with the vision of One seated on a throne in heaven.  He is described:  “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” (4:3).  And around him are elders on thrones and all sorts of fantastical beasts who “never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’” (4:8)  The wording describing this scene makes me think of a film series from several years ago:  “Fantastic Beasts,” a spin-off prequel to the Harry Potter stories.  May I just say, Harry Potter has nothing on this One before whom the elders cast down their crowns saying, “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” (4:11).

Let all mortal flesh keep silence,

and with fear and trembling stand;

ponder nothing earthly minded,

for, with blessing in His hand,

Christ our God to earth descendeth,

our full homage to demand.

At His feet the six-winged seraph,

cherubim with sleepless eye,

veil their faces to the Presence,

as with ceaseless voice they cry,

“Alleluia, alleluia,

alleluia, Lord Most High!”   -- Gerard Moultrie (1864)