The perfect creation he experienced.

As I mentioned in the previous chapter, when John saw the vision, creation was rearranged for him. A common, almost universal experience among those who meditate is the non-existence of polarity during deep meditation. I have experienced this wonderful state, and if you read any of the literature about it, you will see countless references to unity, universal love, and other terms which fail to adequately describe this state to those who haven't yet experienced it.

John experienced all of creation as a unified whole, with God at the center, the forces, or agents of creation close by, and humans gathered around. He saw that all human experience is centered upon God, as experienced through creation. He experienced Christ as being present with God, commanding the forces of creation, and being among humans simultaneously. This is how I read what is written in chapters four and five of Revelation.

This is not the understanding of these chapters that is common to either scholars or fundamentalist calendarizers. But I am asking you to see it this way. Why? Because it does something that no other understanding I have seen does. It helps Revelation make sense. It unifies ALL of Revelation.

On the outside chance that I might be correct in my interpretation, wouldn't it be worth putting your current understanding of Revelation on the shelf for just a while to try this one on? If it doesn't work for you after you have gone through the exercise, you have lost nothing but a little time and effort. But if, after spending some time with this concept, you find that this book, this gift of the Holy Spirit, begins to speak to you in new ways which fill you with hope and joy...What a return for that investment!

For those of you who find details boring, you could skip the rest of this chapter. I have outlined above all that you need to understand about what begins to happen in chapter seven of this study, and in chapter six of Revelation. For the rest of you, here we go.

In chapters four and five, John describes a scene which right away is seen to be much more complex than his vision in chapter one. What we will do here is pay very close attention to what he is describing, and how. We will see, first a picture of what right relationships are among all parts of God's creation. We will also notice that some details, when looked at very carefully, cannot be exactly located in the scene. We will begin to see that this scene is essentially different from the vision in chapter one.

I mentioned earlier that John would have to turn to drama to try to depict what he experienced. Think of this section as a scene. On the stage are actors and props. Let's note them.

The actors are dominated by the one in the center of the scene, seated on a throne. Immediately around the throne, one to each side are four "living creatures." Then around this tight grouping are twenty-four "elders" each of whom is seated on his/her own throne. These are all of the actors who are presented in chapter four.

If we were to do a diagram of where the actors are, we could draw a square in the center of a circle, and then put a mark next to the square on each of its four sides. Next we would space evenly twenty-four marks around the circumference of the circle.

All of our actors that have been introduced so far are now on the diagram. The one in the middle, the twenty-four circling the one in the middle, and the four who stand between. These are all in spacial relationship to one another.

And right now, it will be important to locate yourself in the scene, for you are not an observer in creation, you are part of it. As an actor in the perfect creation, you are, of course, one of the twenty-four elders encircling the one in the center and the four living creatures. They are the humans.

A few props are mentioned. There are seven lamps burning...somewhere, and a sea of glass. Why "...somewhere"? Because they are hard to locate on our diagram. They are in front of the throne. That isn't too specific. We can arbitrarily choose one side of the square as the front, and group seven lamps on that side. But is it inside or outside the four living creatures?

Since the living creatures are talked of as "in the center," I would have to say that the lamps are outside the creatures, but we can't be certain. Hold on to that uncertainty and compare it to the specificity you find in the vision described in chapter one of Revelation.

And what do these lamps represent? We are told that they are the seven spirits of God. They are the only things defined within this scene. I think that fact is significant. All of the other characters and props are thought by John to be self-explanatory to the informed reader. The seven spirits of God may well be a new understanding he was wishing to communicate.

Then there is the sea of glass. It must be huge, here, because it is not a pond, not a moat, but a sea. Later on, it is mentioned as a lake; a lake of fire. But much will have happened by that time. At this point it is a sea, which to me means that it is very large. I picture it as a floor to the whole scene, and it is perfectly smooth, reflecting all that is above it. But we can't know for certain, the way it is described.

And there are lighting effects which are reflected by this giant mirror. Picture it from the viewpoint of one of the humans in the scene. You are sitting on a throne, part of a circle of thrones. In the center of the circle is a large throne with a mighty one seated on it. His general color is green, and a green aura emanates from him, to be reflected by the mirror-like surface which is between you and him. Lightening flashes are coming from him and are being reflected as well. Also between you and him you can see four other mighty beings. Each looks a little different, but they are the same sort of being. They each have six wings and are covered with eyes ALL over, front and back, and all over the wings.

What, you say you have a little trouble visualizing them? There is a reason. The details of the four living creatures are not visual, but informational. You largely have to take my word for it at this point, but if you will agree to do so, as an exercise, you may come to be convinced by your own experience as we go on.

For now, just note that the eyes indicate that these creatures are not dumb beasts, but have wisdom and perception which goes in all directions. What do the wings represent, and why six of them? Wings, to the ancient mind, were the most efficient and the fastest way of getting from one place to another. The four living creatures, whoever or whatever they are, represent beings who are not only sentient and wise, but very mobile.

Why do they have six wings? I suspect the answer to that has something to do with the reason that the Jewish star has six points. I won't go into detail now, but there are many sources that fill books with the symbolism of the two triangles which comprise the Star of David. This symbolism would have been part of what John had at his disposal in trying to tell us what he knew.

It is also important to note that these creatures are between you, on the edge of the circle, and the One in the center. Shall we call that One God? Let's do, even though that label isn't quite applied in Revelation.

Who or what are the four living creatures? Here again, at this point I ask you to take my suggestion as a working hypothesis, because many clues to who/what they are follow later in Revelation, and I want to pretty much take the material as we come to it. But we can know what the details of the description meant to John, an educated and metaphysically aware person of Greek culture two thousand years ago.

To the ancient mind, four is the number of creation. There were thought to be four basic elements which comprised all creation, earth, air, fire and water. Most ancient cultures are in striking agreement on this. The cross with tails denoting motion (swastika) comes from ancient Europe. The square is often seen in South America as the symbol of the world, or creation. The circle with four lines radiating from the center is the North American version. All of the different versions incorporate the number four.

OK, enough yet? Can we at this point agree that these living creatures might represent powers of creation? If so, what are we being told about our relationship with God, creation, and one another?

Wait. First we need to introduce another character into the scene. The Lamb appears standing in the center of the throne. Now right away, if we insist that this is John's description of something he actually saw, we are in trouble.

Was the lamb standing on God's lap? Possible, I suppose. Or is God kind of squinched over to the side to make room for the lamb to stand there. Some translations make matters worse by recording that the lamb was also among the elders. So, where do you put the lamb on our diagram of the scene?

Also, what does he look like? Well a lamb, and one that perhaps has had its throat slit, since it looked as though it had been slain. Also, it had seven horns, which were instruments of power, but not immobile power, such as a throne, but power which goes with you. And the seven eyes, we are told, are the seven spirits of God sent into the world.

Quite a picture, huh?

Who/what is the lamb?

We are told that he is the Root of David, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. These terms usually refer to Jesus, among Christians. Now we have a choice to make. Did John see a vision in which Jesus looked like a lamb with a horrible wound, a lamb with gross deformities such as seven horns and seven eyes? Or did he see a vision such as he described in Chapter one of Revelation, and employ the imagery here, in chapters four and five, to communicate what he learned from his vision?

Let's proceed on this last assumption. It makes things so much easier to diagram, and if we will take the above notion as an hypothesis, then, and only then, can we begin to get some meaning from the scene.

There is one final prop we must look at. There is a scroll in the right hand of God. It is rolled up and sealed shut with not one, but seven seals. SOMEHOW we know, even though it is rolled and sealed, that the scroll is written on both front and back. This is an indication of how information is received during visions, and that the scroll is a symbol, and each detail of it has meaning.

Later on in Revelation there are references to the book of life. It is almost certain that this scroll is that book. I don't know of many who would disagree with this identification.

What is the significance of the scroll being written on front and back? Will the meaning of the front and back writing have any similarities to the creatures having eyes front and back? Perhaps.

Remember, we are considering the eternal, whole view of creation. That will soon be contrasted with our normal, linearized experience of life. Consider that time is an important factor in our normal experience of life. We think in terms of past, present, and future. The writing on the front of the scroll may be what is before us in time, and the writing on the back may be what is behind us in time.

I am not inventing this observance of the importance of temporal sequence to John. In chapter 1, verse 4, John describes God as "him who is, and who was, and who is to come." In chapter seventeen, the scarlet beast with seven heads and ten horns is described as "once was, now is not, and will come up out of the abyss and go to his destruction. The beast does not exist in the present.

This is typical of the commentaries hidden in the details of Revelation. But here it is relevant as evidence of John's preoccupation with the past and the future, the front and back of the scroll.

There are two more questions we must try to answer in this chapter. What is the relationship of humans - creation - and creator? Looking at the relationships that exist in the scene of Revelation four and five will require us to look again at the actors in the scene. And what is the relationship of this scene itself to the rest of Revelation? The key to the answer of this question is the activity surrounding the scroll.

We will begin at the center of the scene. We call the one on the throne God. That one is never named, but God, the creator is referred to countless times in Revelation. The ancient Hebrews would not utter aloud their name for God, but used a verbal code. It is very much in character for John to mention the one on the throne in the center of heaven, and not name that one.

Let's go next to the humans in the picture. Are there only twenty-four people in heaven? These who are around the throne of God represent all of us in two ways. First, they are elders, meaning, I think, that when we are in this correct relationship with God and creation, we have the qualities of elders; having crown (title) and throne (power) of our own.

Please note where our power is. A throne which is not mobile. When we leave it, we lose power. The title, or identity, we can take with us, but not the power. At the beginning of chapter four please note, all twenty-five of the thrones in the scene are mentioned and placed in location before the ones occupying them are mentioned.

The elders represent us in another way. The number twenty-four is significant (all numbers in Revelation are significant). They represent the twelve tribes and the twelve Apostles, the people of God in the old understanding and the people of God in the new understanding.

Are we talking about only Jews and Christians? Not at all. The self understanding of the Israelites evolved over the centuries to the point where they saw themselves as representing all humans in their relationship with God. Scan Isaiah 40 onward for evidences of this.

And how about the twelve Apostles? When Jesus and the twelve gathered, were they the first Christian gathering? No! Jesus was a Jew, and never saw himself or his followers as anything other than disciples of a new way of being in relationship with the Father.

In the Old Testament account of Judges, when one of the tribes was wiped out, people were taken from other nearby tribes to re-establish the decimated one. Why? When Judas killed himself, the remaining eleven chose a replacement by lot, from two candidates. Why?

The number twelve is seen as the number of completeness for human organizations which are in relationship with God. In the Old Testament times, this had to do with the fact that the year was divided into twelve parts, and each tribe had certain responsibilities for part of the year. That there were twelve divisions is not a result of Jacob having twelve children from whom twelve tribes evolved. Otherwise, when a tribe went out of existence, they would have divided the year, and the responsibilities eleven ways. Add that to your understanding of the story of Jacob, who became Israel.

Please note another significance of the fact that there are Twenty-four thrones around the center, and not just twelve. The people of the old, pre- Christ understanding are not excluded.

Additional meaning to this general subject is found in the closing chapters of Revelation, in the description of the Holy City. We'll wait until later for that.

So, we have the throne in the center - occupied. We have the thrones encircling it - also occupied. Something stands between them - creation.

Is the physical creation a barrier between us and the creator? Not at all, when we are facing the right direction and in our rightful place. Creation itself sings, in Revelation 4:8.

Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.

And in response, the humans fall down and worship the one on the throne.

Rather than a barrier, creation points us to God and enables us to worship. When we have the wisdom of elders.

You may be asking where Christ is, in all of this picture of relationships. Christ, the Lamb, is in every aspect of the scene before us. He is on the throne, and most translations put him in the midst of the four creatures and also in the midst of the elders. This makes it kind of hard to know where to place him on our "floor plan" of the scene, doesn't it?

Let's note some other things about the Lamb. He is first described as the Lion of Judah, but is pictured as a lamb. This only makes sense if the scene is symbolic, and as symbol, it is very powerful.

If this figure is symbolic, then what do the seven horns represent? Horns are a symbol of power, much as the thrones are, but they are power that is mobile. The Lamb can move about and retain his power. It's a good thing, too, because we can't even place him in one location. But is this the right interpretation of the horns? I thinks so, because it conforms to what the seven eyes represent.

And we know what the seven eyes represent, don't we? You did catch the explanation of them, didn't you? In verse six of chapter five we are told that his seven eyes are the seven spirits (or sevenfold spirit) of God sent out into all the earth.

Please remember that this is the exact identification which was given to the blazing lamps before the central throne, except the seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven spirits with earthly destination. We are being told WHY the Lamb is able to open the scroll. He takes the power and the spirit of God which exists the the wholeness of being, and inserts them into our less-than-whole earthly experience.

So the Lamb is also key to answering our question, "What does this scene have to do with the rest of the book of Revelation?" For one thing, we never leave this place, only our attention does.

From this point, and up until chapter 21, Revelation is comprised of three series of seven events, interwoven with various scenes and dramas. After each major action, we are returned to this same heavenly scene. Our attention is returned to where we really are.

Yes, I know that it could also be argued that, as these things happen, we are actually traveling back and forth between heaven and earth. But that is a minor point. If you are willing to argue this point, you have accepted my premise that this scene in chapters four and five is central to the organization and purpose of the whole book.

But even if, for you, "the jury is still out" on my whole approach to what Revelation is all about, the fact that you are still among us points to an uncommon willingness to find out. I honor you for that, and encourage you, and all the others, to hang on, for the ride from here on gets wild!

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