Who are they?
.
The
four living creatures demonstrate that Jesus, the Lamb of God, is equal to God
Himself - their worship of the Lamb in Revelation is clearly directed towards
Jesus Christ. They say "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power
and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!" And
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and
glory and might forever and ever!" And they fall down and worship the
Lamb, along with "him who sits on the throne" — God, the Father.
CompellingTruth.org
The four living creatures in Revelation are
special among the angelic beings.
They exist to praise
God forever before His throne, and they hold "golden bowls full of
incense, which are the prayers of the saints" (Revelation 5:6-14).
This means that they hold the prayers of all
believers throughout time, both the prayers of the past and those that will be
prayed — a fragrant offering before God's throne (Revelation 8:3-4).
This eternal fragrance was first symbolized
by the incense burning in the tabernacle (Exodus 25:6).
The four living creatures are described in
Revelation 4:6-9; 5:6-14; 6:1-8; 14:3; 15:7 and 19:4.
They are said to be "full of eyes in
front and behind" and look to John like a lion, an ox, a man, and an
eagle in flight.
They each have six
wings and are always saying "holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come."
These four living creatures closely resemble
the four creatures described in Ezekiel 1:10 and Isaiah 6:2.
It is not clear whether these passages are
describing the same four living creatures, but it is very likely they are of
the same exalted order of angels, whose main job is to worship God and speak
His holiness (Revelation
19:4).
In response to the worship of the four living
creatures, the twenty-four elders cast their crowns before God's throne in
agreement (Revelation
4:10-11).
One of the most interesting aspects of the
four living creatures is that they demonstrate that Jesus, the Lamb of God, is
equal to God Himself.
Their worship of the Lamb in Revelation
5:6-14 is clearly directed towards Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:5; 9-10).
And they say "Worthy
is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and
honor and glory and blessing!" (Revelation 5:11-12)
And "To him
who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be blessing and honor and glory and
might forever and ever!" (Revelation 5:13)
And they fall down and worship the Lamb,
along with "him who sits on the throne" — God, the Father.
Scripture makes it
clear that "the Lord is God; there is no other besides him" (Deuteronomy 4:35; 1
Kings 8:60).
God spoke through
Isaiah, saying, "I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there
is no God" (Isaiah
45:5-6).
And Jesus Christ also
responded to the Pharisees' question about His identity by saying "before
Abraham was, I am" (John 8:58).
Based on their subsequent attempt to stone
Jesus, we know that His statement "I am" was taken to mean "I
am God" and the Pharisees took it as blasphemy.
But the words and worship of the four living creatures make it clear that Jesus was telling the truth.
CompellingTruth.org is an outreach of www.GotQuestions.org.
The purpose statement of CompellingTruth.org is: "Presenting the truth of
the Christian faith in a compelling, relevant, and practical way."
Our mission is to take the questions, issues, struggles, and disagreements that
exist within the Christian faith and shine the truth of God's Word on them. We
believe the truth of God's Word is compelling. If we would all truly and fully
submit ourselves to the truth of God's Word, most of our questions, issues,
struggles, and disagreements would disappear. God's Word does not directly
address every situation we face in life, but it does contain truth that can
apply to anything and everything we deal with.
Whether it is theology, apologetics, or the practical Christian life - we want
to present the compelling truth of God's Word. Whether it is about God, Jesus,
salvation, the Bible, sin, or eternity - we want to present the compelling
truth of God's Word.
https://www.compellingtruth.org/four-living-creatures.html
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