Revelation 4 & 5 is a vision showing that God does have a plan that was not to be revealed until Jesus faithfully finished his ransom sacrifice. Hence the book was sealed. (Revelation 5:1-5) Chapter 4 opens with a vision which is a symbolic representation of God on his throne. John could not have literally seen God because Exodus 33:20 teaches, “…there shall no man see me, and live.”
The Jasper and Sardis stones represent God because they were the first and last stones in Aaron’s breastplate (Genesis 28:17-20), and God says of himself the he is the first and last many times.(Isaiah 48:12) There are also 24 elders sitting on thrones which represent those that God has authorized to represent him. These are Moses, Joshua, Job, Samuel, David, Solomon, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezra, Nehemiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi, which are those who wrote the Old Testament. These faithful elders of old give us a firm foundation on which to build our faith. As is stated in 2 Peter 1:19 & 21, “We have also a more sure word of prophecy… (Old Testament) For the prophecy came as holy men of God spoke being moved by the Holy Spirit.”
Lightnings, voices, and thunders (chapter 4, verse 5) remind us of Psalm 77:18, “The voice of thy thunder was in the heaven: the lightnings lightened the world: the earth trembled and shook.” When is the whole world enlightened? In our very day as foretold in Daniel 12:4, “But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.”
The Creatures represent the four attributes of God i.e. face of a: Man=Love, Eagle=Wisdom, Lion=Power, and Ox=Justice. ‘Full of eyes’ means God is all seeing and all knowing. Having wings may be interpreted as the ability to go anywhere quickly. When the 24 elders fall down, casting their crowns, worshiping God, it signals that God has brought to pass one of the events God told them to write about in the Old Testament.
The book written within and on the back, closed sealed with seven seals, represents Gods plans for mankind. These sealed truths are the deep things of God. But currently, only God’s spirit-begotten children can understand these truths. As is explained in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, “But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.”
Until Jesus faithfully finished his work by dying on the cross, the deep things of God were kept hidden. They continued to be hidden until the seventh seal was broken by the sounding of the seventh messenger. Revelation 10:7, “…in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.”
Jesus is likened to a Lamb having 7 horns and 7 eyes representing the power (horns) and wisdom (eyes) with which Jesus has directed and will direct events from his resurrection through the full establishment of God’s kingdom on earth.
When Jesus takes the book, he is able to harmonize (harp) all of the Old Testament books i.e. the 24 bowls (vials) written by the 24 elders as directed by God. And as a result the Old Testament is now seen to sing the praises of Jesus, who came to redeem his Church. These saints are a kingdom of priests who will eventually reign (Revelation 20:4) upon the earth. When we pray in harmony with Old Testament, it is like a sweet incense unto God.
Finally, when the kingdom of priests finishes their reign with Christ, then “every created thing which is in the heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and on the sea, and all things are in them, (will be) heard saying, Unto him that sits on the throne, and unto the Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and the glory, and the dominion, for ever and ever.” (Revelation 5:13)
