A good friend asked me about my views on the 4 living creatures on the throne.
Hi. These are my thoughts. The 4 living creatures were mention 3 times. 1st. In Isaiah 6. They appear IN the temple and sing Holy Holy Holy.
The 2nd time was in Ezekiel. Where they appeared with wheels. This time each creature has 4 faces. They appear on wheels to indicate to us that God is NO LONGER in the Temple as the Temple was destroyed. Hence God was mobile. Notice in both cases the 4 creatures carry the throne.
It is pertinent to note the Temple shows us their shadows. The 4 living creatures are seraphs. They are angels. Seraphim. Their shadows appear as the 2 on the ark and 2 more in Solomon’s Temple. Note that there were 2 angels at the tomb of Jesus. The real ark of the covenant.
There is a 3rd time.
The 3rd time we see something extra. We see the rainbow and 24 elders worshipping.
It shows that the throne is not longer moving about. It is at rest. We see the covenant of Noah covering the throne. The colour jasper the colour of grace.
Now here’s the interesting part. The description of the one on the throne takes centre place. Not the angels. It is as if the throne is at rest. Then the Lamb appears. A new song is sung. Not just about God’s holiness but also the holiness of the believers.
Revelation 5:10
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
I have a 4th observation. Note my earlier comments about the angels and the ark and the temple. First in Isaiah, then the absence of it and then the rainbow (I believe this had meant God made Jesus His temple when Jesus became flesh and TABERNACLED among us) and the person on the throne taking visible form with a physical appearance.
I now want to ask the million dollar question. You ready for it? The last time the throne is mentioned is here:
Revelation 22:3
3 No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him.
What happened to the 4 living creatures?
I believe the angels were guardians of God’s throne under the old covenant. They were the guardians of the Law.
Acts 7:53
53 you who have received the law that was put into effect through angels but have not obeyed it.”
Galatians 3:19
19 What, then, was the purpose of the law? It was added because of transgressions until the Seed to whom the promise referred had come. The law was put into effect through angels by a mediator.
The sacrifices were brought as such under this administration called the Law.
Hebrews 10:8
8 First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them” (although the law required them to be made).
Notice that it isn’t God who wanted the sacrifices but the Law. The Temple was surrounded with images of angels. They were the servants to the covenant of the old covenant. That was why God’s throne was lifted up by them.
When Jesus died Paul tells is he nailed the Law to the cross and destroyed it eventually in AD 70 (see Ephesians 2:14-14) the angels were stripped off their powers and authority to govern over you.
Colossians 2:14-15
14 having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. 15 And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.
That is why he then continued to say this.
Colossians 2:18
18 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions.
The old covenant was the “worship of angels”.
When the Law was destroyed, the administration of the angels ended. See Colossians 2.
Today God’s throne is no longer lifted by the angels. It is lifted by us. The new royal priests. That’s why you don’t see the angels anymore. That’s why Paul reminds us:
1 Corinthians 6:3
3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!
And this.
Hebrews 2:9
9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels, now crowned with glory and honor because he suffered death, so that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.
That’s about him but the following is about you and how your position changed in regards the angels.
Hebrews 2:10-11
10 In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering. 11 Both the one who makes men holy and those who are made holy are of the same family. So Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers.
You and Jesus are family. You are now the ones who carry his throne. That’s why you are included in the new song they sing. This is because God is no longer the only one who is holy. You are too.
Revelation 5:9-10
9 And they sang a new song:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth.”
When did the angels leave the temple?
This is the historian Tacitus (H 5,13) said:
‘Prodigies had occurred, which this nation, prone to superstition, but hating all religious rites, did not deem it lawful to expiate by offering and sacrifice.
There had been seen hosts joining battle in the skies, the fiery gleam of arms, the temple illuminated by a sudden radiance from the clouds.
The doors of the inner shrine were suddenly thrown open, and a voice of more than mortal tone was heard to cry that the Gods [sic!] were departing.
At the same instant there was a mighty stir as of departure. Some few put a fearful meaning on these events, but in most there was a firm persuasion, that in the ancient records of their priests was contained a prediction of how at this very time the East was to grow powerful, and rulers, coming from Judaea, were to acquire universal empire.
These mysterious prophecies had pointed to Vespasian and Titus, but the common people, with the usual blindness of ambition, had interpreted these mighty destinies of themselves, and could not be brought even by disasters to believe the truth.’
They left sometime in AD66-70. When Vespasian and Titus began their march towards Jerusalem. That’s why the writer of Hebrews tells you the angels were no longer in the earthly Jerusalem but Mount Zion.
Hebrews 12:22
22 But you have come to Mount Zion, to the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly,
That was how the heavens were shaken. That’s how you were made royal priests who carry the real Glory of God. You are the Temple where God place His throne. That’s why Paul says you are seated with Christ at the right hand of the Father.
Hope this made your day. If it does please share.
Decluttering Religion. 