Shabbat Shalom. Today, I would like you actually to turn with me to the book of the Revelation, please. And I would like you to turn with me to the fourth chapter of the book of the Revelation. In the past, we have dealt with this book. We have covered actually chapter one, chapter two, and chapter three. And I would like to talk today about the fourth chapter of that book of the Revelation.

You notice that I use the word the revelation, singular, and not revelations, plural, because it is one revelation that is unfolding, and it is the revelation of the person of our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach. It is the unfolding of the person. It is the unfolding of the beauty of this person. His love, His grace, His authority, everything what we have in this book of the Revelation is really focused on the person of Yeshua, the Messiah. And here in chapter 4, I'm going to read this chapter, you can see that event that will occur in glory, when there will be the praises and the worship of those that belong to God, that belong to Yeshua the Messiah, who will be worshiping God, Yeshua the Messiah, in heaven, in glory. And so we read in verse 1, it is a rather short chapter, only 11 verses, and so we read in verse 1 and it says, After this I looked.

And behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show you things which must shortly be hereafter. Immediately I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne set in heaven, and one sat on the throne, and he that sat was to look upon like jasper and a sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in a sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne four and twenty seats, and upon the seats was four and twenty elders. Sitting closed in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightning and thundering and voices, and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God.

And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal. And in the midst of the throne and round about the throne were four living creatures, four beasts, full of eyes before and behind. The first one was like a lion, and the second beast was like a calf, and the third beast had the face of a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

And the four beasts, or the four living creatures, had each of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night, saying, Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, Adonai Tsevaot, Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God Almighty, which was, and which is, and which is to come. And when those beasts give glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever, the four and twenty elders fell down before Him that sat on the throne and worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and they were created. I stop here in this verse eleven of chapter four of the book of the Revelation.

I know that often time we do not really take the time to study the book of the Revelation because of the fact that we are often being told that it is such a complicated book that we don't want even to handle it. We prefer to read other books in the Scriptures, in God's Word, which are very important, and yet I would like to suggest, dear beloved brothers and sisters, that the whole book of the Revelation is an amazing book that will help you and I, every believer, to understand the plan and the purposes of God for mankind. In fact, what we have in the book of the Revelation is the putting together in a proper chronological order of events all what the Hebrew prophets of old have been writing in the Tanach, in the Old Testament. In fact, many of the prophecies concerning the Tribulation time that was written by our forefathers, the prophets, Which we have a very much hard time to understand how they are put together.

The book of the Revelation help us to understand the chronological events that will occur in order, one step after the other, in the time of the Tribulation period. Well, when we get to chapter 4, the Apostle John, his Hebrew name is Yohanan, is giving to us, in chapter 4 and in chapter 5, giving to us a glimpse of events that will occur in glory, in heaven, before the beginning of the judgment that's gonna fall upon the face of this earth.

And so chapter 4 and chapter 5 are prelude, if you will, or events in heaven before the events that will occur here in this world during the Tribulation period. And so I just want you to see for a moment, if you just turn back to chapter one and read with me verse nineteen of chapter one. It gives us a division of the book of the Revelation. It shows us really how God divide the book of the Revelation. Look, it says in verse nineteen, the Lord is saying to John, write the things which thou hast seen, that's number one, and the things which are, that's number two, and the things which shall be hereafter, that's number three.

Notice that beautifully, the book of the Revelation is being divided to us by Yeshua, the Messiah, who gave to John the writing of this book and told him to write, to put this down and to write this down for us. And he says, listen, you write the things that you have seen, This is chapter one. John, Yohanan, have seen a vision of the glorified Mashiach, the Messiah, who was glorified, as a judge is there sitting in glory, awaiting the day in which he will take his rightful place upon this earth. That's the things that you have seen. That's past. Then he says in verse nineteen, and the things which are, this is now not anymore chapter one of the book of Revelation, this is chapter two and chapter three, and you notice the things which are has to do with the church age, the period of time which you and I live in today.

From the beginning of the birth of the church, of the assembly, in Acts chapter 2, all the way to the time that we are going to be taken out of here to glory, to heaven. These are the things which are the seven churches, from Ephesus to Laodicea, and how God is dealing in the church age with His beloved people, this is the believers in Yeshua the Messiah. And every church is represented here in chapter 2 and chapter 3. These are the things which are present day dispensation of the church age, of the assembly age, or the kehila, as we call it in Hebrew. Then you notice in verse 19, he continued and he said, and the things which shall be hereafter. In other words, after the church have finished its building here in this world, the door will be shut, and the less believer who is going to be coming to the Messiah, to Yeshua, and get part of the assembly of the church, once this door is shut, then Yeshua the Messiah starting to deal with this world and the events that will occur here during the Tribulation period.

The Tribulation period, in Hebrew we call it Tzarat Yaakov, Jacob's trouble, taken from the prophet Jeremiah chapter 30 and verse 7, where there will be beloved brothers and sisters, there will be trouble in this world such as it has never have been before. There will be events that will occur here that you and I, we have never heard of them in the history of the human race. The Holocaust would be nothing in comparison to what would happen in the Tribulation period. And when we're gonna get in the will of the Lord in due time to chapter 6 and on towards the end of chapter 19, you will see the events that will occur here in this world that rejected the Messiah, that rejected the way of salvation, when God is going to come in just judgment upon the face of this earth. And that is the things that will happen later on.

But before the judgment is coming, before God is pouring His wrath upon this world, John received a vision of heaven and what heaven will be like when the redeemed company are going to be around God, around Yeshua, the Messiah, the Redeemer. So chapter 4 and chapter 5 of the book of the Revelation give us an event in heaven before the events that will occur on earth when God gonna take his rightful place here. And so in chapter 4 we see the worship of God as the Creator. In chapter 5 we see the worship of Yeshua the Messiah as the Redeemer. So we see the worship and the praise that will be raised up in glory for what God have done for us and in fact I believe that God gives us these two chapters about what is happening in heaven So we will not wait until heaven to worship God, to worship the Lamb, to worship Yeshua, that we are already here and now we learn to bow our knees before the One who gave Himself for us.

And beloved brothers and sisters, you and I, if we belong to the Lord, we are going to worship Him throughout eternity. And God want us to begin today in our daily life to realize that He is the Creator and that He is the Redeemer. And so now in Revelation chapter 4, you remember the expression that we heard and read in chapter 1 verse 19, right, the things which shall be hereafter? Well, look what it says here, beginning in chapter 4 and verse 1, it says the same expression, it says, after this.

What after? After the period of the church age, after chapter two and chapter three, the seven churches that are expressed there in these two chapters, after this, I looked, he said, John, and behold, the door was open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me, which said, Come up hither, and I will show you the things which must be, and here's the same expression, hereafter. Now, I would like to say, brothers and sisters, that I know that among the professing church, the professing believers in the body of Messiah, there are various views about the rapture of the church.

Will the church, this means the believers in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, will they be here in the tribulation period, or will they not be here? Now I want to tell you what I believe, and you can take it for yourself, you can make your own decision before the Lord. I personally believe that every one of us who believe in Yeshua the Messiah, who is part of the assembly or the ekklesia, will not be here during the tribulation time, during Tzarat Yaakov, Jacob's trouble. And it is interesting because the word church is not mentioned here at all from chapter 4 all the way, it's only mentioned at the end of the book of the Revelation. It's not mentioned at all for those events that will occur, chapter 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19. It doesn't mention there at all.

And what it is showing to us, this expression here, that John is saying, after this I looked, and he looking in towards heaven, and what does he see? He sees a door open in heaven, and he heard a voice, the voice which I heard, as it were, of a trumpet, talking with me, which said to me, this is to John, to Yohanan, he says, come up hither, and I will show you the things which must come hereafter. Now this is expression, the voice, often time in the Bible, we see that when God is speaking, often time this expression is being used, a voice that is talking, like a trumpet that is talking. This expression, a voice of a trumpet talking with me, We often use the word shofar, it's like the sound of the shofar, and it is the sound of God, the Lord is saying to John, John, I want you to come up to glory, come up to heaven, and I'm gonna show you, John, from heaven, the things that are going to occur hereafter, later on, John.

And so, you know, this expression, by the way, of the sounding of the trumpet, we, for example, have that expression found in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, at the end of the chapter, where it says, in a moment, in a twinkling of an eye, at the last trump. For the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. This expression of the sound of the trumpet often is being connected with the rapture or the taking, the snatching away of the heavenly company, the body of Messiah, the taking away, the snatching away. You can find it in 1 Corinthians 15, 52, in 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, verses 13 to 18, that has to do with the sound and the departure of those that have trusted in Yeshua the Messiah in this present day dispensation. Well, John is being taken up, he's been invited to come up to the Lord to glory in heaven, because the door was open in heaven.

Then in verse 2, what does he see? He sees a throne set in heaven. You notice it said immediately, verse two, I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne set in heaven, and one set on the throne. You see, what does he see when he get in the Spirit realm, when he get to heaven and to see this vision, this experience there? He sees a throne. Now in Hebrew, we call the word for throne kiseh. Kiseh is a place where a king would sit.

A throne speak to us of one who is in authority, who is in control, one who is a judge, one who is supreme. He sits on that throne. In Hebrew, we call that word kiseh, and King David was sitting on the throne, King Solomon was sitting, Shlomo was sitting on the throne, but here we don't see the throne of a human king. Here we have a throne in glory, in heaven. And what we see that there is someone that is sitting upon that throne. The word throne is mentioned at least twelve times in Revelation chapter four. In fact, the theme of Revelation chapter four is the throne of God and God who sit on the throne. And so you can see what John is seeing here. He is taking, and you notice he says, I was in the Spirit. In other words, he was in a special care of the Spirit of God, in a spirit realm.

If you remember Yechezkel, Ezekiel, in chapter 37, in the valley of the dry bones, when he saw that vision, he was carried by the Spirit to the valley, to the V valley, this great valley, which had many bones. Well, it's the same thing. John, Yohanan, was carried by the Spirit. He was in the Spirit realm, where the Holy Spirit of God took control of John and brought him to see things which are unusual, which the ordinary individual cannot see. If you just go back for a moment to chapter one and verse ten, you notice that there he also gave us this expression. In verse ten he said, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Again, this expression, I was in the Spirit, that means that he was under the control of the Ruach HaKodesh, of the Holy Spirit of God. That's the state that John had been in. So, he's saying that he was in the Spirit, and he sees that wonderful kiseh, wonderful throne, and he also see the one that sat upon this throne.

And now we wonder, who is that one? Well, actually, brothers and sisters, the context will show us that this one that is sitting upon the throne is God the Father. God the Father sitting there on the throne, and he's the one, the supreme God, God over all, the one who is in control, the sovereign God. He's sitting on the throne, and now look how he's appearing. The appearance of the one who sits on the throne is being revealed to us here in verse three. How does it look like? How does God look like? You know, we have never seen God, no man has seen God at any time, we read in Scripture. In fact, the only one who has seen him is none else but the Messiah, Yeshua, the only beloved who is in the bosom of the Father. He has seen, he has declared him. Only the Son of God has seen God, the Father, and so here we have a description of the one who sits on the throne.

This description is seen here in verse three. Notice that there are a few things that are said about the one who is sitting on the throne. Look at the appearance. It says in verse three, He that sat was to look upon like jasper and sardine stone, and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. You notice there are three stones that are mentioned here. The first one is the jasper, the second one is the sardine or the sardis, and the third one is the emerald.

Actually, the first two stones are actually, mentioned elsewhere in the Tanakh, in the Old Testament, on the breastplate of Aaron, the high priest of our people Israel, the stones have been engraved into his clothing. But the jasper, it's really a diamond, a clear diamond. And the jasper representing to us the shining of God, the greatness of God. The purity of God, the light of God, that's what it represent. Every lady know very well when they purchase a diamond, and they look at the diamond, and they see the shining of the diamond. So if you want to look at the appearance of God, and how can we cannot even handle the thought of seeing God, and God reveal Himself, and He says, and the writer in John says, listen, the appearance of the one who sat on the throne is like a diamond, shining, bright, speaks of purity and holiness. In fact, if you will read the verse in Revelation chapter 21 and verse 11, it says, If speaking about the holy city of Yerushalayim, it said, having the glory of God and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal.

Revelation 21 and verse 11. You know, brothers and sisters, when you look at God and His beauty and the clarity and the shine of God, there is no sin, no evil in Him. There is sin in men, there is sin in us, but God is pure. The Messiah Yeshua is undefiled, separate from sinners. And when you see this crystal, this jasper speaks of the purity and the holiness of God. But not only this. Again, the description of this one who sits on the throne, in verse 3, it's used the second stone, it was like a sardine or sardis stone. This sardis stone, the color of it is red.

And the color red often speak to us about redemption. The thought of this holy God, though He is pure, though He is holy and undefiled, He has to deal with a sinful world, and the desire of His heart is to redeem mankind. And it will speak to us about the thought of redemption that is through the blood of Yeshua, the Messiah. That's the beauty of God. He is not only holy, but He is also gracious.

He is separate from sinners, but He love the sinner and want to provide for their need. So He is a diamond, pure, white, bright, but He is a God who is willing to provide redemption. That's the beauty here. And then thirdly, it says here in the next portion of verse three, it says, and there was a rainbow around the throne, you know, I've many times watched rainbow from the airplane and from many other places, and most of the time when I've seen a rainbow, it's a half round, it's not a full round. And I think it was maybe one time that I've seen a rainbow, and it seemed to be a total round, a total circle. And when you think here of God in His power and authority and His holiness, you see that rainbow that was about the throne, notice all around the throne, a rainbow that was like unto an emerald. The word emerald is a green color stone which represent life.

You remember what the Bible says, from everlasting to everlasting thou art God. God is eternal. He's a provider of life. Paul said in Acts chapter 17, in Him we move and we live and we have our being. Life come, He's the source of life. You know, if you don't have any rain outside, everything gonna be brown and black, but when the grain coming is the source of life.

And the source of life is God Himself. He's pure, the jasper. He's willing to provide redemption, the saudis. And He's the one who is the source of life. This is the emerald. And the rainbow represent of the fact that He's a covenant keeping God. If you remember when Noah of old came out of the ark in chapter nine of the book of Genesis, God made a covenant with Noah, and he said to Noah, when you see the rainbow in the cloud, you will remember the covenant that I have made with thee. And, you know, it's so precious to know that in covenant keeping, we often fail keeping covenants with each other and agreement with each other. But God is faithful. He is never gonna deviate from the promises that he have made. So he's pure redemption provider and a giver and a source of life who will keep his covenant. And so in the first three verses, you can see the throne of God and the one that is sitting upon the throne in glory in heaven.

Well, the next portion of this chapter is in verses four to eight, and in verses four to eight, you can see those who are around the throne of God. Who is around that throne of God? Who is going to be around the throne of God? So the Apostle John gives us this in the next verses. And you notice now in verse four, the first thing he sees here in verse four, he sees round about, you notice that expression? Round about the throne were four and twenty seats, and upon the seats were four and twenty elders, sitting close in white raiment, and they had on their heads crowns of gold. Now again, I would like to say, dear beloved brothers and sisters, that there are many views about the question, who are those twenty-four elders who are sitting there on twenty-four seats round about the throne? Notice it, it says in verse four that they are close in white raiment.

And on their heads there are crowns of gold. Now, some say that it may be angels. Now, why I personally do not think that it speaks here about angels, because if you just for a moment turn to chapter five of Revelation, you will notice in chapter five that in verse eleven it says, I beheld and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders. You see, in Revelation five and verse eleven, it distinguish between the elders and the angels.

You can look into chapter seven also of Revelation, and verse eleven also says, look at this, it says, and all the angels stood round about the throne. And about the elders and the four beasts, and they fell before the throne on their face and worshiped God. So again, it distinguished between the angels and the elders. So obviously it couldn't be angels. That's the one look. Others suggest that those twenty four elders may be representing the Church saints, the believers in this present day dispensation, represented by John here, come up here at the rapture, and also the Old Testament saints of the people of Israel, twelve and twelve, and if you remember where we read in Scripture about the fact is that there are twelve tribes that Israel have had as a nation, from Reuven all the way to the end, the twelve tribes of our own nation Israel, maybe some suggest those twenty-four elders representing church saints and also Old Testament saints, and that is a possibility as well.

But there is a third thought that we need to take under consideration, that those twenty four are really not has to do with Old Testament saints, but simply, strictly only those that belong to the church age. I personally inclined to see it this way, and I'll tell you why, is because when the church is going to be taken out of here, we read that the dead in Christ, in the Messiah, shall rise first, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4, and then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. In other words, we see that the dead in Messiah, the dead in Christ or the dead in Messiah is an expression that is being used in the Brit HaChadashah, in the New Testament, to apply to New Testament believers. Old Testament saints, we have other passages in the Old Testament, that they will be resurrected at the end of the Tribulation period in order to enter into the Millennial Age.

And that's why I personally lean towards the fact that these 24 elders sitting on 24 seats are representation of New Brit HaChadashah, New Testament period of time, the Church Age of the saints from both among Israel and among the Gentile world, they are seen here seated in heaven, and notice that they are clothed in white raiment. Always in the Scripture, the expression of white raiment speaks of salvation. When He has clothed us with a garment of salvation, and it speaks about saved people, forgiven people. I really trust that everyone of us here can have this assurance in his heart.

I am a saved person. I belong to Yeshua. I am forgiven. And the white raiment speaks about those that are going to be there around the throne there with white raiment, and it couldn't be angels because angels never can get saved. When an angel fail and followed Satan, he will never be able to be restored to God again. He will be cast ultimately wherever Satan and his angels that are going to be cast there into the lake of fire. Angels can never be redeemed. Only human people such as you and I can be redeemed. And so those 24 elders sitting close with white raiment, notice it says that on their head they had crowns of gold.

This crown, notice it says plural. And it's crowns of gold. That is the Phanos crowns. In the Greek, the word here, Stephanos, comes from the word Stephen. Stephanos crown are a crown of victory. It's a victory crown. You know, as we walk with the Lord, as believers today, whenever we walk with the Lord and we please the Lord, the Lord is going to give us rewards. He's going to give us crowns. And the crowns that will be given to the believers represent their faithfulness to the Lord, represent their life that they have lived for the Lord. We have many places that are mentioning the crown. In chapter 2 and verse 10 of Revelation, the Lord said, At the end, be faithful unto death, and I will give thee the crown of life. Revelation 2 and verse 10. This is the Stephanos crown.

This is a crown of a victor. Now there is another crown that is called a different name, it's called diadamos. This is a crown of a ruler. It's a crown that the Messiah will have in Second Coming, we read in Revelation chapter 19, and he will have on his head, there are crowns, and those crowns are diadam crown. It's a crown of a ruler, not a crown of a victor only, but a crown of a one that is a king, is a ruler. And so, you see, in verse 4, we see among those that are around the throne of God, we see the twenty-four elders, and as I mentioned, from my understanding, it's a representation of the church, the body of Messiah, that has been taken out of here before the beginning of the Tribulation period. Now, secondly, we see another things around the throne there. It says in verse 5a, out of the throne, proceeding lightning and thundering and voices.

Now what is that lightning and thundering and voices? This is, brothers and sisters, it is in preparation for what is going to happen when God is going to take His rightful place here in this world. The judgment that is going to fall upon this world, the lightning and the thundering and the voices is preparing for the coming days in which He gonna take His rightful place here in this world. So these are the expression that we hear in verse 5a.

The third thing that we find out that is around the throne is the Holy Spirit of God as well. Look at this. In verse 5b, there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God. Now this is also beautiful to see. Not only that God the Father is sitting on the throne, But before the throne, we see a representation of the Holy Spirit of God.

Now, I know it says the seven spirits of God. You see, God does not have seven spirits. There is only one Holy Spirit. Ephesians chapter 4 says there is one God, there is one Lord, there is one Spirit. There is only one Holy Spirit. But that one Holy Spirit often time is being depict or presented in this sevenfold Spirit of God that the Bible often time showed this to us. You remember earlier, we read in Isaiah chapter 11, we can see the sevenfold Spirit of God which rested upon the Messiah, Yeshua, when He first came into this world. Let me read you this verse in verses 1 and 2 of Isaiah chapter 11.

And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of his roots, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord. You see the sevenfold Spirit? Number one, the Spirit of the Lord. Number two, the Spirit of wisdom. Number three, the Spirit of understanding. Number four, the Spirit of counsel. Number five, the Spirit of might. Number six, the Spirit of knowledge. And number seven, the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. This is the sevenfold Holy Spirit of God, which resided on the person of the Messiah when he was born in this world. Well, here we see the Holy Spirit of God here in before the throne of God. Represented here in heaven, in glory.

The next thing, brothers and sisters, we find here in verses six to eight, we find living creatures there. We find those special living creatures, it's called the four beasts in verse six. In other translation, it's called the living creatures. There are a few things that are said about those living creatures. Notice that verse six, before the throne there was a sea of glass, like unto crystal, and in the middle of the throne, and round about the throne, there were four beasts, or four living creatures, full of eyes before and behind.

Now, amazing those living creatures. They are there, it says here, in the midst of the throne, they are there, and it says that they are full of eyes. Again, you and I cannot figure out what does that mean full of eyes. We can see each other, each one of us have two eyes, and we cannot even figure it. Can you imagine two eyes in the front, two eyes in the back? But in this case was full of eyes. In the front, in the back. You know what that tells us, brothers and sisters? It, those living creatures are representation of the God who knows everything.

Full of eyes. You know God knows everything that you and I did this morning? You know God knows everything and He sees everything about our life and our mannerism and our behavior. He knows our thoughts. He sees every detail in the life of everyone. No one can hide from God. God can see everything. And those living creatures are representation of who God is.

In fact, we know a little bit more about them when we find out they have a certain look that each one of them have. Look, it says in verse seven, and the first beast looked like a lion, the second beast looked like a calf, the third beast looked like a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

And then notice verse eight, also that each one of them have six wings, and the four beasts had each one of them six wings about him, and they were full of eyes within, and they rest not day and night crying, Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, which was, which is, and which is to come. Those four beasts or living creatures Our acts, really, look different each a little bit from each other, because one is looking like a lion, verse 7, another one look like a calf, another one look like a man, and the fourth one look like an eagle, flying in the air. Now it is beautiful for expression here, because you know, that those four expression, we can see it so clearly in the four gospel. The lion speaks about the gospel of Matthew, the lion of the tribe of Judah. Speaks of the Messiah, God through the Messiah, as the one that is called the lion of the tribe of Judah.

That speaks of the Lord in his kingship and authority. The gospel of Matthew is the gospel of the king. Then you have the gospel of Mark represented by the calf. The calf is the one that is a working animal. And in the Gospel of Mark we see the Messiah in His service is the servant of the Lord. We often find the expression in the Gospel of Mark, and immediately, this is an expression of a servant who is faithfully working and serving and ministering to God, ministering to God's people. And that's what we see, the character of God through the Messiah in the Gospel of Mark.

And then we see here that one of them had the face of a man. That speaks to us of the humanity of the Messiah in the Gospel of Luke, when He was born as a descendant of Adam. The genealogy in chapter 3 of the Gospel of Luke takes us all the way back to Adam. It speaks of the Messiah in His humanity as man. And of course, finally, the fourth beast looks like an eagle, and this takes us to the Gospel of John, which represent the one who came from heaven. He's not only a man in Luke, but he came from heaven, he's God. He is a servant in Mark, but he's the King of Israel in Matthew.

And so what we really see here, that those four living creatures, in the midst of them, in the midst of the throne, they are full of eyes all over, and each one of them have a different look, a lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle, and representing the character of God through the provision in the Messiah, and we see it clearly in the Gospels, as he presented himself here in this world. The living creatures are there, and also, brothers and sisters, we see that they have six wings, each one of them. Now I want to tell you something that you might have never realized that. A seraphim have six wings. The cherubim have two wings.

But angels have no wings. Now maybe you probably thought, you show me in the Bible of Gabriel or whoever, or those ones, those angels that we read in the Bible that have wings, you find that always the wings are in connection with the cherubim and the seraphim. And what we see, why we believe, why I believe that this is applied to the seraphim, because of what we just read in Isaiah chapter 6. Could you please turn there to Isaiah 6 for a moment?

In Isaiah chapter 6, we find out here the first few verses of this chapter, we find out that Isaiah Was giving his testimony of how he actually have seen the glorious God, the King, and what he sees here is an amazing sight. It says, in the year that the King Uzziah died, I, this is Isaiah, Yeshayahu, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple, and above the train stood the seraphim, not the cherubim, the seraphim. Each one of them had six wings.

With two of them, they cover their face, the holiness of God. With two of them, they cover their feet in service for God. And with two of them, they flew in obedience to the command of God. And you notice what they said? Holy, holy, holy in Hebrew, kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory. See what Isaiah saw in Isaiah chapter 6, John sees in Revelation chapter 4.

You see those living creatures that are in the midst of the throne there, full of eyes before and behind, and then their appearance was like a lion, a calf, a man, and an eagle, and what do they do? It says here in verse 8, each one of them who had six wings, they were full of eyes, and they said, kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Adonai Tzevaot. Holy, holy, holy. And then you continue, you know, you use this expression, the Lord God Almighty, the Hebrew, this is of course written in Greek, but the first time in the Bible the word Almighty is being used is in Genesis chapter 17, where God said to Abraham, our forefathers, He says, I am the Almighty God. In Hebrew, El Shaddai, the God of affection, the God of breast, the God of power, the God of authority. And He's saying, I am El Shaddai, I am the God Almighty. They were lifting up their voices and they were crying, holy, holy, saying, holy, holy, holy, the Lord God Almighty, which was and which is and which is to come.

That is the Hebrew word Jehovah, Yahuwah. If you take the Hebrew word Yehovah, And he will rearrange the letters. You can write the word haya, was, hove, is, yehiyeh, will be. Is the ever existing God, the one that never have a beginning and never will have an end. That's the God that they lifting up their voices and they say, kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Adonai Tsevaot, almighty God, which was and which is and which is to come. You know, brothers and sisters, this is the God with whom we have to do.

This is the creator God that he created us all. He gave us life, gave us breath, gave us nourishment, provided for us. You know, if he will turn the switch, if you will, off, he can take our life away from us in a moment. You and I that sit here in this room today have to realize that He gave us everything that we have, that He is the one that is the almighty God, the self-existence, and the creator, the provider of all things.

And so we read here, after we see those who are around the throne of God in verses four to eight, let's just move down to the conclusion of this chapter, because the theme in heaven for the believers is to worship God, the creator in chapter four, and the redeemer in chapter five. And so here now notice in the final verses of Revelation four, verses nine to eleven, we see the worship of God who sits upon the throne.

We first of all find out that these living creatures, these beasts, they gave glory to Him and honor to Him. In verse 9, it says when those beasts gave glory and honor and thanks to Him that sat on the throne, who liveth forever and ever. See those creatures, those seraphim, who had these six wings, they gave glory to God. They gave honor to Him. As it were, it says they gave thanks to Him, they gave honor to Him.

You know how sad when the Bible tells us many times that men have not given honor to God. You remember how God was in a sense crying when He was writing again to Isaiah. And he was speaking about our own nation, Israel. It was really hurting God when he was speaking about our own nation, Israel, when he desired to receive honor from them in chapter one of the book of Isaiah. He said, I have nourished and I brought up children, and they rebelled against me. He says, the ox knows his owner, and the donkey know his master's crib, but Israel, and I'm including all mankind today, man does not know, my people do not consider. But those living creatures, when they are in heaven, they gave him honor. They ascribe to him thanks and glory, because he deserve it, because it says here, for him to the one that liveth forever and ever. They gave him honor and glory.

And not only they, brothers and sisters, we understand that the twenty four elders are a representation of the body of Messiah, the church saints, who have been taken out of this world prior to the tribulation period. Every believer since the foundation of the assembly until the last day when the body of Messiah will be here on earth, we are seen here in verse ten as the twenty four elders, look what the twenty four elders did. It says here, and the four and twenty elders fell down before him that sat on the throne, and they worshipped him, the one that lived forever and ever. See what they have done? What did they do? They came before him and they fell down. They fell down, brothers and sisters, in awe, recognizing that here we have the Creator God. They fell down before Him, and it says that they worshipped Him. That expression, worship, they ascribe to Him His worth.

What is the value that is found in this God? Those twenty-four elders have fell before His feet and worshipped Him. And not only that they have worshipped Him, it says here in the next verse, they cast their crowns before the throne. They cast the crown. You know, the crowns that believers receive has to do with our faithfulness in our life here for the Lord in this world. Every one of us that will be faithful, Scripture many times give us the thought of crown. We will receive crowns from the Lord. And those crowns are being given to us, it's really like a reward that God is giving His own people because of their faithfulness to Him. There is a verse in James 1 and verse 12 that says like this, and I'll read this, Blessed is the man that endureth temptation, for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to them that love him.

James 1 and verse 12. Those that love the Lord and endure trials and testing in their lives, it is not for nothing. God of allowing the believers to experience those crowns in order to ultimately give them those crowns, those rewards. We're gonna get rewards that we're going to receive in view of using it in the millennial age in the kingdom. But you notice what they have done with those crowns? Even the crowns that they have received, because of their faithfulness here on earth, it says here in verse ten, they cast their crown, their crowns before the throne.

Even the things, the rewards that the believers will receive from the Lord, there when we are in the presence of God in heaven, we are not gonna look at the reward, but we are going to look at the reward giver, at the provider, at the creator, and they took their crown. And they cast them before the throne, and you notice what they said at the end of this chapter, the culmination, they said, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power, for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and they have been created. They will exclaim at the end, not we are worthy, but You are worthy.

We are the ones that have been saved and redeemed, and we are here around the throne of God, around God Himself, and there everyone will have to give the honor and the glory and the power to God and to none else, because He is the only one that is worthy. And at the end of this verse it says, For Thou hast created all things. You know, God is the creator of everything. Genesis 1 verse 1, Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim v'et ha'aretz, in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. In the Brit HaChadashah, in the New Testament, creation that had been done by all the Godhead, it is ascribed to the Messiah.

In John chapter one, it is ascribed to the Lord Jesus, to Yeshua the Messiah. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made which was made. John one, the first a few verses. Colossians chapter one, in verse sixteen, where we read that all things were made by Him, and also for Him.

And also in Hebrews chapter one, where the Hebrew writers, writing to the Hebrew believers, and he's reminding them in Hebrews chapter one, that it is the Messiah who is the one who created all things. You notice that it says here in chapter one of the book of Hebrews, it says, who is being the brightness and his glory and the expression of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he by himself purged our sin, he sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high. And if you look down in chapter one, you can see that the ascribing of the creation was ascribed to the Messiah, that he had a great part in the creation of the universe. And so, brothers and sisters, what we see in Revelation chapter four is a sight of heaven open.

The assembly, the church, surrounded there the throne of God, God the Father sitting upon the throne, everyone is surrounding Him, before Him, in the midst of the throne, before the throne, around the throne, this expression is mentioned many times, and God is there receiving the glory and the honor as the Creator God. He has created all things, and He received the glory and the honor. And I'm going to conclude just with this one expression that I want to close this meeting today. The expression is found in Romans chapter one and verses twenty one to twenty five. If God is the Creator, men need to give Him the right place as a Creator. But you know what happened? Romans chapter one shows us that men who refuse to accept the gospel Have not honored God as the Creator, and have honored the creature more than the Creator.

That's why God has to come in judgment. And so, in Romans 1 verse 21, it says this, Because that when they knew God, they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but they became vain in their imagination. Their foolish heart was darkened. They professing themselves to be wise, they became fools. And listen, verse 23, they changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like corruptible men, corruptible birds, corruptible four-footed beasts, and creeping things. And that's why it says in verse 24, Therefore God gave them up to unclean thoughts and lusts of their own hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who change, listen, who change the truth of God into a lie. And they worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

You see what happened? You see, in heaven, everyone is worshipping the Creator. But on earth, men who rejected God, what we read in verse 25 of Romans chapter 1, they change the truth of God into a lie, and they're ending up worshipping and they're serving the creature rather than the Creator. And for this reason, brothers and sisters, God will have to come in judgment upon this world, which we will see in the will of the Lord as we read Revelation 6, all the way to Revelation chapter 19. May God help us, brothers and sisters, to be those that not only saved and waiting to go to heaven, but even here and now have the desire in our hearts to worship this Creator God who loved us and gave His Son, the Messiah, for us.