AWE of things unseen uncovered, creatures of Heaven hardly imagined and devastations of earth unimaginable! This is what the Lord Jesus Christ reveals [ἀποκάλυψις – apokalypsis] to the Apostle John.

Excepts from Revelation 4: 

The Throne Room of Heaven

.. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here …

.. and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.

.. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones..

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices:

Revelation 4:5a KJV

6 and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal; and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind.

! ! ! ! Living Creatures

The first living creature was like a lion.. each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within..

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

Revelation 4:8b NASB

And when the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever,

the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and they will worship Him who lives forever and ever..

.. 6 And I saw between the throne (with the four living creatures) and the elders a Lamb standing, as if slaughtered..

8 When He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb..

“Worthy are You to take the scroll and to break its seals; for You were slaughtered, and You purchased people for God with Your blood from every tribe, language, people, and nation.

Revelation 5:9b NASB

.. 11 Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders..

“Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.”

Revelation 5:12 NASB – the loud praise of thousands of angels

.. 14 And the four living creatures were saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.

Come and see!

Last time in Apocalypse 4 – Tribulation begins – The End Revealed, after the LAMB opened the first seal we heard the loud voice of the first creature near to the Throne say, “Come.”

Then we saw a rider with a bow on a white horse.

He went out conquering and in order to conquer.

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He shall strike down the wicked from afar

With inescapable arrows from the string of his bow

The Face of the Lion whose wrath did slay them

His enemies will never know

Roger @talk of Jesus {dot}.com

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• Have you fully fallen in fear and awe before the One on the Throne as the Lamb opened the scroll?
• Did the ἀποκάλυψις
  • ‘disclosure of truth concerning things before unknown’
  • convict your sinful soul as if you were dead before Him?
• Could you face any of the four living creatures ever-vigilant in holiness surrounding the Throne of the One Creator and eternal LORD?

Before we observe the opening of the second seal, returning to The Throne Room of Heaven, let’s look once more upon this scene with the second living creature.

Revelation 4-5 excerpt:

.. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne..

.. and in the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind..

.. the second living creature was like an ox..

.. Each of the four living creatures had six wings; they were covered with eyes around and inside..

I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders..

saying with a loud voice:

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain
To receive power…

.. Then the four living creatures said, “Amen!”

Revelation 6:

3 When He broke the second seal, I heard the second living creature saying, “Come!”

Notice that the second living creature, which the KJV translates, ‘beast‘ also speaks with authority; for these four are nearest worshipers of the Lord God!

The four living beasts serve the Throne of the LORD — they are His messengers, all similar in power and fearful appearance, and yet different as personalities of man are both alike yet individual. The four horsemen also sent (by the living messengers of the Throne) also differ in appearance as do their horses and the judgments for which each is sent out to all the earth.

4 Another horse, fiery red, went out.

And it was granted to the one who sat on it to take peace from the earth, and that people should kill one another;

and there was given to him a great sword.

From the unsealed judgment read from the scroll, two have gone out

– one with a bow to conquer from afar and now

• a rider who will spill the blood of war by the hand of a mighty rider of the horse red as fire!

To be continued...