The Bridge

Posted on by korgrocker

“And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honour and glory and power belong to the One sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.” And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb.”
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭5:13-14‬ ‭NLT

Every good song has a bridge section (many may choose to differ, but that’s my opinion). It’s not a verse or a chorus, but a supplementary part of the song that provides a extra dimension, adding to the song’s impact. The melody changes, the lyrics add an extra thought or idea. And it introduces a repeat of the chorus, or even ends the song itself. Well, the bridge of the new song went like this;

Blessing and honour
and glory and power 
belong to the One sitting on the throne 
and to the Lamb forever and ever.

There is the addition of another choir at this point, joining the millions of angels, who were singing the chorus. Looking at the structure of the production, the four living beings and the twenty four elders sung the verse, the angels sung the chorus, and now every other living being, “creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea”, joined the song in the bridge. 

This is a mind-boggling event. Did the Apostle John really become aware that every living creature that has ever lived was going to be singing? Was the Heavenly choir really going to be joined by creatures such as fish, animals, and even the micro-organisms that qualify for the term “living”? That was what John became aware of. And we really have to pause here to get our minds around what this means. Whatever our belief system, or theology, Revelation 5:13 does not miss out any living creature. It does not exclude them from being able to give praise to their wonderful Heavenly Creator God. Perhaps the Apostle Paul gave us a hint of the role of all creation in Romans 8.

What do we pilgrims make of all of this? Certainly, in my morning prayers walks around Dean Woods, near where I live, I am very much aware of the bird song. Some days, it seems almost deafening, heralding the early morning sunshine with an avian crescendo of praise, each bird singing its own particular and unique song. And I’m sure God has instilled into the DNA of each living creature the means to be able to praise Him. But they have no choice. That is how they have been “wired”. But how much more is God blessed when men and women, created in His image, choose to lift up their voices in a song of praise and worship to Him?

The thought that all creatures will worship God will, perhaps, give us a different perspective of them. They will be joining us singing worship to “the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb” one day. How, I don’t know, but it will be exciting when we find out. Another thought is that God will be worshipped forever. We will never get to the end of giving Him our worship. And neither should we stop praising and worshipping Him – He has done so much for us. But in our daily lives, we need to always keep in mind that there is a Heavenly home awaiting us. We only get a glimpse of what it will be like from the Bible, but we know that our relationship with our loving Heavenly Father will finally be realised, face to face. That’s enough for me.

Heavenly Father, we truly worship You today, trusting in Your ways, in Your grace, in Your love, this day and in the days to come. Amen.

A New Song

Posted on by korgrocker

“And they sang a new song with these words: “You are worthy to take the scroll and break its seals and open it. For You were slaughtered, and Your blood has ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. And You have caused them to become a Kingdom of priests for our God. And they will reign on the earth.””
Revelation‬ ‭5:9-10‬ ‭NLT

John’ vision in Revelation continued, now with a multimedia theme. He heard a new song being sung by the four living creatures and the twenty four elders. And what a song it was! In just a few words it summed up the sacrifice Jesus made, His worth and authority, His saving act of redemption, the all-encompassing nature of the Gospel, and the establishment of a new order of priests who will reign with Him on earth. This was a song of triumph. A song that the devil would have cringed away from when he heard it ringing forth that day in Heaven. A song that established the relationship with God and His people forever.

It was a new song that John heard. He had not heard anything like it before. This was not a backward-looking song, such as would have graced the synagogues and Jewish worship, with words referring to God’s exploits in the past, good and significant though they were. This was a “now” song, bang up to date. A song encapsulating the New Covenant, sealed with the blood of Jesus not the blood of animals. This was a song containing lyrics that cemented God’s message of hope firmly in Heaven for ever.

What do we pilgrims think of new songs? So much of our church liturgies contain old songs and hymns. We retain them because of our traditions, not wanting to let them go, the familiarity somehow making us feel comfortable and secure. So many of our old hymns are riddled with archaic language that was great at the time they were written but the words have largely lost their meaning today. They celebrated a previous move of God.  Even in modern fellowships, singing songs, penned in the last two or three decades, can become a celebration of our heritage rather than an expression of praise and worship to our wonderful God. But having said all that, it’s not the song or hymn and their lyrics that can be a problem. It’s that somehow in their repetition, something spiritually can be missing when we sing them. In the familiarity our minds can switch off or our thoughts move into a different groove instead of the praise and worship God deserves.

In his vision, John saw Heavenly beings singing a declaration of praise to our wonderful Saviour. He had never heard anything like it before. If he had it wouldn’t have been new to him. The lyrics and the melody introduced a tremendous outpouring of praise in Heaven – but more of that later. Suffice to say today that whatever and whenever we sing, songs new or old, we must somehow always remember who we are worshipping. Remembering all that He has done for us. And in return giving Him all the glory, all the praise, all the worship. With every part of our beings.

Do we ever write new songs ourselves? Poetic lyrics expressing our love for God don’t initially need a melody. On my office wall, I have a poem penned by my wife in 1987. It was a wonderful outpouring of her love for God just a short while before her faith in God was severely tested by my daughter’s potentially life-threatening illness. But her “new song” stayed with her, and is still bubbling from her soul even today. When we write down our God-thoughts we capture something significant in our lives that can stay with us for the rest of our lives. So can I encourage us all to write a “new song”? Let’s put a smile on God’s face today.

Dear Lord God. How can we not praise and worship You? Our amazing and wonderful Father. You who have done so much for us. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

Jesus Took the Scroll

Posted on by korgrocker

“He went and took the scroll from the right hand of Him who sat on the throne. And when He had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people.”
Revelation‬ ‭5:7-8‬ ‭NIVUK

In his vision, John sees Jesus take the scroll from “Him who sits on the throne”, God Himself. That very act fired the starting gun on the start of the End Times, which Jesus gave a glimpse of in Matthew 24. Don’t forget that He also said He didn’t know when this would happen. We read in Matthew 24:36, “But about that day or hour no-one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Jesus knew what would happen, and He warned His disciples about it, but the timing was in God’s, the Father’s, hands.

In evangelical circles there has been much speculation about when the End Times will be upon us. I have heard verses describing topical events like wars used as a sign that ”the end of the world is nigh”. We read in Matthew 24:4-6, “You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed. Such things must happen, but the end is still to come. Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are the beginning of birth-pains.” To some, with war in Europe escalating, and consequentially damaging the world economies and food and energy supplies, the end seems near. But there have been wars between nations since time began, so it would perhaps be premature to think that the end of the world is upon us.

Occasionally, someone will make a prophetic statement, claiming some special revelation that the world will end on such and such a date. I can think of the 16th century French astrologer Nostradamus for one. And a Google search will reveal many similar predictions, dates for most of which have passed, leaving an embarrassed prophet in their wake. The one mistake all these so-called prophets make is that they don’t read or believe the words written in the Bible. There is only One person, God Himself, who knows when the end of the world will be, and who holds the power to make it happen. Only He knows when Jesus will return to this world. And He certainly isn’t going to reveal that date to some random so-called prophet when even His own Son, Jesus, didn’t know when it would be.

What do we pilgrims do about this? The key is in Matthew 24:42, “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.” We pilgrims have to be alert and faithful. It makes sense that we don’t know when the end of the world will happen, because if we did, there would be that temptation to live a sinful life, knowing that repentance at the last minute would be enough to assure our salvation. In Matthew 25 Jesus told the story of the ten Bridesmaids, or Virgins. It was a graphic parable telling His listeners that five of the bridesmaids would fail to enter the place where the wedding feast was to take place, because they weren’t ready. And Jesus ends the story with the verse in Matthew 25:13, “So you, too, must keep watch! For you do not know the day or hour of My return.” Another reminder for His disciples.

So we pilgrims do the things Jesus has asked us to do. We keep short accounts with Him, repenting of our sins, reading His Word, the Bible, encouraging our brothers and sisters, and so on. We are each on a journey to our promised land, where our crown of life awaits us. And by being faithful we don’t have to worry, or get anxious, about world events. Our Heavenly Father cares for us. We read in 1 Peter 5:7, “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” We have a loving Heavenly Father who loves us, and in that loving relationship with Him, we can trust Him. The One who holds the future of the world, your future, and my future, is all that matters.

Dear Father God. We are so grateful that You hold everything together in our war-torn world. We thank You for Your care and lovingkindness. And we thank You for Your faithfulness for each one of us even when we stumble and lose our way. What an amazing God You are! Amen.

Sevens

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.”
Revelation‬ ‭5:6‬ ‭NLT

John saw Jesus in his vision, and what he saw was detailed enough for him to see that Jesus had seven horns and seven eyes. There are those seven’s again. We have seen before that the number seven signifies completeness or perfection. But what is the significance of seven horns and seven eyes? In the Bible, a horn is a symbol of strength and power. But in his vision, John saw that Jesus had seven of them. So we get the picture of Jesus being all-powerful. He was, and is, omnipotent. Similarly, in the vision, Jesus had seven eyes. He was all-seeing. His Spirit was everywhere – there was nowhere where He wasn’t present. He was, and is, omniscient. This verse concludes with the explanation that the all-powerful, all-seeing Jesus is represented by His Spirit and He is present in every part, every corner, of the earth.

So back to the practical, down-to-earth pilgrim tramping through his or her life. How does this verse help us? Obviously, we cannot escape from the Spirit’s presence. But we know that. We read in Psalm 139:7, “I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!” But here in Revelation we are reminded of the same message – Jesus is everywhere. And this truth can be both a comfort and a threat to us. As we remain close to Jesus, we find that He is close to us. A comfortable experience when the road before us seems long and hard. But for those of us who want to run away from the gentle whispers of His Spirit in our consciences we find that there is no escape. 

Of course there are worldly and wicked people who, through a lifetime of denial, have managed to shut out those gentle whispers. The Apostle Paul warned us about them in his first letter to Timothy. We read in 1 Timothy 4:2, “Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.” There are many who have been active in rendering their consciences ineffective. 

God’s grace is amazing. A pilgrim first starting out on the Christian road will find that Jesus, through His Spirit, graciously doesn’t dump on their consciences all their wrongdoing in one go. He gently brings to our attention things that need to be addressed, step by step. Item by item. And then His grace continues as He helps us to deal with them.

Back to Psalm 139. “How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand – when I awake, I am still with you.” The Psalmist was overwhelmed by the vastness of God and the extent of His Spirit. And, with the Psalmist, we know the assurance of God being with us. Day and night. And when we woke up this morning, experiencing the new day, we again realise His presence with us. We only have to reach out and touch Him to feel once again His love and grace flowing through the corridors of our souls.

Dear Lord God. How can we ever thank You enough for Your ever-present love and grace? In this day ahead we pray that You help us in whatever situation we face into, step by step. Amen.

The Slaughtered Lamb

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then I saw a Lamb that looked as if it had been slaughtered, but it was now standing between the throne and the four living beings and among the twenty-four elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which represent the sevenfold Spirit of God that is sent out into every part of the earth.”
Revelation‬ ‭5:6‬ ‭NLT

A slaughtered lamb. A gruesome thought for us more squeamish Westerners but something of great spiritual significance. The sacrifice of lambs was a special event in the life of the Jews. When the Israelite nation was enslaved in Egypt, the time came for them, under Moses’ leadership, to leave for their promised land. And we read in Exodus 12:21, “Then Moses called all the elders of Israel together and said to them, “Go, pick out a lamb or young goat for each of your families, and slaughter the Passover animal.” The blood of the lamb was then to be brushed onto the door posts of their homes to protect them from the “death angel” (Exodus 12:23) who was about to execute judgement on Pharaoh and his countrymen. The Passover event was so significant that it has been celebrated by the Jews ever since. 

What was so significant about the shedding of animal blood? The book of Hebrews offers much explanation about the whys’ and wherefores’ of animal sacrifice and we read in Hebrews 9:22, “In fact, according to the law of Moses, nearly everything was purified with blood. For without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.” Animal sacrifice was a symbolic act necessary to seal the old covenant between God and man.

In John 1:29, John the Baptist declared prophetically that Jesus was the sacrificial lamb. We read, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” The old covenant was about to be replaced by the new covenant; Jesus was soon to become the sacrificial lamb. His blood, three years later, would be shed for the redemption of mankind’s sins. A once for all time sacrifice through which we can find forgiveness for our sins and be made righteous before God.

But back to our verse in Revelation. John saw the culmination of the sacrifice at Calvary. He saw the Lamb of God, once sacrificed but now alive. Once reviled and despised, but now the only One who was found to be worthy enough to take the scroll, open it, and read what it said. And He was standing before the throne of God, at the centre of the scene in Heaven. This was, and is, an awesome event, probably one of the most significant that will ever take place.

Dear Lord. Once again, as pilgrims with feet firmly established on Planet Earth, we remember that one day we will be with You in Heaven. We thank You for Your sacrifice and Calvary, because without it we wouldn’t be who we are, sons and daughters of the living God. Our gratitude knows no bounds. Amen.

Jesus is Worthy

Posted on by korgrocker

“Then I began to weep bitterly because no one was found worthy to open the scroll and read it. But one of the twenty-four elders said to me, “Stop weeping! Look, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne, has won the victory. He is worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”
Revelation 5:4-5 NLT

John was bitterly disappointed that the “strong angel” was unable to find anyone who was worthy enough to open the scroll and break the seven seals. He was so disappointed that he recorded his bitter tears. But one of the twenty four elders took pity on him and told him to get a grip and stop crying. And with good reason, because he pointed out that Jesus was worthy enough to open the scroll. Of course He was. 

Jesus, the Son of God, left the comfort of Heaven, and came to this world as a baby, born to a young peasant girl just over two thousand years ago. He was brought up, humble and obedient, as a typical Jewish boy of His time, before starting the ministry of an itinerant Rabbi when He was about thirty years old. And for the next three years or so He selflessly walked the highways and byways of Israel teaching the people about God’s Kingdom and healing them of their ailments, even raising the dead. But He upset the religiously entrenched people of His day, to the extent that they killed Him by hanging Him on a Roman cross, one dark and dismal day, at a place called Calvary, the Place of the Skull. Now here’s the thing. He became alive again on the first Easter morning. He overcame death and is still alive today. And in John’s vision of Heaven, there he was, the only One worthy enough to open the scroll and read it.

The elder who spoke to John in his vision described Jesus as “the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the heir to David’s throne“. Where did that description come from? And why is it relevant? The expression, “the Lion of the tribe of Judah” would have been important to the Jews because it connected Jesus all the way back to Jacob’s prophecy in Genesis 49. A lion was considered to be the strongest of animals and was appropriate in the description because it established His victory. In a similar way, “the heir to David’s throne” confirmed Jesus’ pedigree, right in line with Old Testament prophecies. But the important factor is that Jesus was victorious because He was the only One who had conquered death. He was the only One “worthy to open the scroll and its seven seals.”

Regarding us pilgrims, we can take great encouragement through our faith in the victorious One. We are not supporting or following a lost cause, or backing a three-legged horse. We are on the winning side, watching with faith-filled, bated breath as the victory pans out before us in the age to come in Heaven. We might be going through difficult times, as many are just now. Interest rates are rising. Food and energy are getting more and more expensive. Our enemy the devil is attacking our families and churches. But these are just the troubles and trials James wrote about in his Epistle. We stand firm, secure in the knowledge that the victorious One has already claimed the victory for all eternity.

Dear Lord and Father, we’re deeply grateful for Your presence in our lives. You have truly done great things and there’s more to come. We praise and worship You today. Amen.

A Strong Angel

Posted on by korgrocker

“And I saw a strong angel, who shouted with a loud voice: “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it?” But no one in heaven or on earth or under the earth was able to open the scroll and read it.”
Revelation‬ ‭5:2-3‬ ‭NLT

I wonder who the strong angel was. The experts in Biblical analysis think it might have been the angel Gabriel, a name that means “God is my strength”. There is also a reference to Gabriel in Daniel 9, when he brought an answer to Daniel’s prayers. But whoever it was, the strong angel (some versions say mighty angel) shouted out a challenging request, “Who is worthy to break the seals on this scroll and open it”?

Why would a worthy person, or being, be required to open this scroll, breaking the seven seals in the process? Obviously it couldn’t just be anyone, because the scroll was still in the right hand of God. And John continued, pointing out that there was no-one worthy enough to “open the scroll and read it”. The search for a worthy person covered everywhere in creation – Heaven, the earth, and Sheol, the place under the earth. There was no other place where a worthy person could reside. But what was so important about this scroll that was going to require a worthy person to open it? It was obviously something of much consequence never seen before, and all those in Heaven were in a cliff-hanging position awaiting to discover what was written.

What is a worthy person? Worthy of what? We see the UK Honours List, that comes out periodically, awarding “worthy” people an honour, encapsulated in a medal, for people deemed “worthy” by their work perhaps for charity or some other good cause. In the workplace, we perhaps notice someone who is “worthy” of a pay rise because of their hard working ethic. But none of these “worthy” people got anywhere near what the strong angel was looking for. 

We pilgrims achieve a certain amount of worthiness by default. Because of our unstinting faith in God through our journeys in life, we will one day receive our Heavenly reward, our crowns of righteousness. Perhaps this is a mention on the Heaven Honours List. We will hear the words of our Saviour, saying to us, “Well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:23). But we don’t aspire to becoming “worthy”. That is the road to pride. We seek to please God through our faith. Hebrews 11:6 reads, “And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him“.

In the rest of this chapter in Revelation we will find out more about the real “Worthy”, and what happened when the scroll was opened. The writings on the scroll will shock us. But hopefully inspire us as well.

Dear God. We thank You for Your loving care and kindness. For Your grace and mercy. For Your guidance on our walk through life. You pick us up when we fall and bring us back to earth when we become too full of ourselves. What a loving Father You are. We praise You today. Amen.

Glory and Honour and Thanks

Posted on by korgrocker

“Whenever the living beings give glory and honour and thanks to the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the One sitting on the throne (the One who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.””
Revelation‬ ‭4:9-11‬ NLT

Glory, honour and thanks. Three important factors bound up and interwoven into our worship of our wonderful Heavenly Father. So what do these three words mean and how do they connect with God? 

If we take the word “glory”, we immediately relate it to something worldly. We say a warm and sunny day is glorious. The British national anthem, referring to the Queen, has the lines, “Send her victorious, happy and glorious”. A dictionary definition defines glory as being of great beauty or worthy of honour. But God’s glory, though incorporating these thoughts, is a lot more than anything we can define in human terms. The glory of God is who He is, the Creator of the Universe, emanating His beauty, His worth, His Name. And much of our human lives can convey a hint of what the glory of God is all about, in the things that we behold as being of beauty, precious and lovely. These hints of glory can also encompass less tangible thoughts and feelings. Our emotions will perhaps be moved by a piece of music, or a scene in nature. God’s glory is unlimited and, like Him, omnipresent. Ancient Jewish traditions talk about the shekinah glory of God, meaning that His presence is so intense that it is living with us. The pillars of fire and smoke in the Israelites exodus from Egypt are perhaps examples of this. Or the smoke filling the temple in Isaiah 6.

God is worthy of honour. How else can we think of, or consider, our wonderful Heavenly Father? Jesus, in the prayer we call the Lord’s prayer, taught His disciples to hallow or honour His name. We speak of Him reverentially. In fact, the Jews so revered God they wouldn’t even mention His name. We honour God in all that we are, and do. And those around us will perhaps gain a glimpse of God through us, as we speak or behave in ways that honour Him. 

And we thank God for all He has done. For the creation of our world and all that is in it. For ourselves and His presence with us. For being a Father to us, listening to, and answering, our prayers. For His Son, Jesus, who died for us, so that we would be able to enter His presence. The list is endless. Perhaps we can see why it has taken eternity for the living beings to worship God. And they haven’t finished yet!

Such was the Apostle John’s reverence of God that he wouldn’t even mention His name, instead referring to Him as “the One sitting on the throne” and “the One who lives forever and ever”. This description of God was echoed by the twenty four elders, as they too joined in the song of worship and praise.

Dear Heavenly Father. We pilgrims enter into the Heavenly worship, desperate to be included, as we earnestly model a piece of Heaven here on earth. On our knees we too express our glory and honour and thanks. Amen.

Heavenly Worship

Posted on by korgrocker

“Whenever the living beings give glory and honour and thanks to the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever), the twenty-four elders fall down and worship the one sitting on the throne (the one who lives forever and ever). And they lay their crowns before the throne and say, “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honour and power. For you created all things, and they exist because you created what you pleased.””
‭‭Revelation‬ ‭4:9-11‬ NLT

We have reached the final three verses, that bring Revelation chapter four to a close. Once again the Apostle John writes down what he saw. But we mustn’t forget that there is probably a disconnect between what was actually happening in Heaven and what he saw. His glimpse through Heaven’s open door was being filtered by his human lens of understanding. John was given an incredible revelation, and we earlier read in Revelation 1:19 that he was told to write it down. With the help of the Holy Spirit, he translated the vision that he was given into a form and language that his, and subsequent, generations would understand. 

So we read again that when the living beings gave “glory and honour and thanks”  to God, it prompted an act of worship from the twenty four elders. But what sort of picture does this give us? The verses start with the word “Whenever”, implying that every now and then the living beings initiated something. But John didn’t say how often this happened. So before we conjure up in our minds a cartoon-like repetition of strange looking beings and twenty four elders bobbing about we must pause to think this through. 

We pilgrims must all pray that the Holy Spirit helps us to understand what was going on. Firstly, I would say that the worship, so willingly acted out by the living beings and the twenty four elders, was spontaneous because God never created automatons. Secondly we must remember that there is no time, as we understand it, in Heaven. Thirdly, in some way incomprehensible to us humans, the worship in Heaven was continuous and at an intensity that consumed the worshippers. They desired nothing else, because they had finally arrived at a place of complete understanding of who God is, with a continual and spontaneous worship response resulting.

Of course, God never needs the worship of His creation. But in a way, incomprehensible to any but his committed followers, the worship of God is unstoppable and eternal. I’m writing this in the late Spring here in Scotland and the vegetation in the local woods has exploded into a created mass of greenery, stretching up as though to get close to their Creator. The birds are singing their hearts out. There is an excitement present that can only be interpreted as worship of the Creator.

To us pilgrims, worship of God is, or should be, an integral part of who we are. When we pause at Calvary and think through the implications of what Jesus did for us, how can we not respond in worship? By a long way we fail to understand why God loved the world so much, but He did, and that incudes each one of us. The credibility gap between the omnipresent Creator and the insignificance of His creation has to invoke worship. Nothing else is possible or even comes close to what God deserves.

Dear Lord God. How can we thank You enough for all You have done for us. We are a truly privileged people, and we fall to our knees this morning in worship. Amen.

Holy, Holy, Holy

Posted on by korgrocker

“In front of the throne was a shiny sea of glass, sparkling like crystal. In the centre and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty— the One who always was, who is, and who is still to come.””
Revelation‬ ‭4:6-8‬ ‭NLT

The living beings spent day and night calling out about God’s holiness in worship. May God forgive us if we take what they were doing as being boring, as a pointless and repetitive act of telling everyone present what they already knew. We need to unpack and discern what they were saying. The clue is with the eyes. The living being’s eyes were not only capable of seeing what was around them in their “now” but they could also see everything about God – who He is, what He has done, and what He will do. 

The reference to day after day and night after night perhaps indicates an eternal act. The living beings, some think, were angels or seraphim with a special role. They were immortal, created that way, and with the mental capacity to fully understand all that God was capable of. As an aside, satan too was an immortal being; he was one of the most important beings in Heaven and was ejected because of his pride and rebellion. Some think he was Heaven’s principle musician and worship leader, and there are a few clues from the prophecies in Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 13. So the living beings were responsible for what was one of the most important tasks in Heaven – leading the worship of our amazing God. 

The living beings started their song of worship with the repetition of the word “Holy”. The significance of it being sung or spoken three times emphasised how important it was. God’s holiness is interwoven into the very substance of Heaven, and the unholy will have no place there. For eternity the eyes of the living beings will see all, and God’s holiness is apparent. And they finish their song with a reference to God’s eternal presence. It is a difficult and problematic thought for time-bound people, the thought that God has always existed. And these immortal beings had within them, I believe, the knowledge of all that God had ever done and is yet to accomplish. With all that knowledge, what else can they do than praise and worship God?

The worship of God somehow connects our spirits with the Spirit of God. So we worship God privately in our prayer closets and again in our churches and fellowships. Like the living beings, we must never stop worshipping Him. And it’s not just an action of prayer or singing a song. Worship involves all we are and what we do. Living a life of worship connects us continually with our wonderful and amazing Heavenly Father.

Dear Lord God. What else can we do but worship You, the Almighty, the Creator of the Universe. We join the living beings in the Spirit today, deeply grateful for all You have done and for who You are. Amen.