What surrounds the throne of God?
1. Revelation 4:5
From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits [a] of God.
i. “The power and the sound went out.”
Exodus 19:16
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
ii. “The Spirit of God is seven.”
Seven of God’s Word indicates completeness. Accordingly, what is mentioned here is the completeness of the Holy Spirit.
2. Revelation 4:6
Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.
In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.
i. “Looking like a sea of glass like a shield”
With these words John describes the vision of the throne of heaven on earth. Let’s look at how Moses went up to Mount Sinai with 70 elders and saw God, and how he describes the earth under God’s feet.
Exodus 24:9-10
Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky.
ii. “There were four living creatures full of eyes.”
Ezekiel 1:5-22 contains a long description of these 4 living creatures, so I urge you all to read this section as well. Ezekiel 10:20 states that when Ezekiel was near the Chebar River, the heavens opened and he saw these visions, and he knew that these living creatures he saw were cherubim.
Ezekiel 10:20
These were the living creatures I had seen beneath the God of Israel by the Kebar River, and I realized that they were cherubim.
Thus, since there are 4 cherubs ‘full of eyes’ surrounding God’s throne, we must understand that God sees all things. That none of us can hide anything from Him.
1 Chronicles 28:9
“And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every desire and every thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you; but if you forsake him, he will reject you forever.
3. Revelation 4:7
The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.
They are part of God’s creation, and they serve as God’s servants around His throne.
– Their appearance is mentioned in Isaiah 6:2 and Ezekiel 1:5-14.
– We see that the four faces they had represented the most noble/strong/wise of God’s creation.
– Ezekiel 10:1,3,5,20 calls them cherubim. Cherubim are often associated with God’s protection and control.
– Isaiah 6:2,6 identifies them as Seraphim. Seraphim are often associated with the holiness of God.
Read the following Bible passage to learn more about this (Ezekiel 1:5-22).
5 and in the fire was what looked like four living creatures. In appearance their form was human, 6 but each of them had four faces and four wings. 7 Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze. 8 Under their wings on their four sides they had human hands. All four of them had faces and wings, 9 and the wings of one touched the wings of another. Each one went straight ahead; they did not turn as they moved.
10 Their faces looked like this: Each of the four had the face of a human being, 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. 11 Such were their faces. They each had two wings spreading out upward, each wing touching that of the creature on either side; and each had two other wings covering its body. 12 Each one went straight ahead. Wherever the spirit would go, they would go, without turning as they went. 13 The 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. 14 The creatures sped back and forth like flashes of lightning.
15 As I looked at the living creatures, I saw a wheel on the ground beside each creature with its four faces. 16 This was the appearance and structure of the wheels: They sparkled like topaz, and all four looked alike. Each appeared to be made like a wheel intersecting a wheel. 17 As they moved, they would go in any one of the four directions the creatures faced; the wheels did not change direction as the creatures went. 18 Their rims were high and awesome, and all four rims were full of eyes all around.
19 When the living creatures moved, the wheels beside them moved; and when the living creatures rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. 20 Wherever 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. 21 When 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.
22 Spread out above the heads of the living creatures was what looked something like a vault, sparkling like crystal, and awesome.