Revelation 4-5
With my small group we have been exploring the deep riches of the book of Revelation. We have been working through Revelation with a companion book by Eugene Peterson, Reversed Thunder: The Revelation of St. John & the Praying Imagination.
This past week, we journeyed through Revelation 4-5. This section of Revelation masterfully captures the beauty of worship centered around the Lamb of God, our Lord, Jesus Christ. About this section, Eugene Peterson writes that “worship centers, gathers, reveals, sings and affirms” (59).
The image of Revelation 4-5 is stunning. A great gathering of elders, humanity, creatures, saints, angels, and the glorious throne of God. This passage runs the gamut of exuberant praise and exhilarating worship all the way to deep grief as “no one can open the scroll”.
Peterson helps us weave the truths of this passage into the fabric of our lives. Let’s journey with Peterson through these five parts of worship.
1. Worship centers. Center stage of this grand meeting is the throne of God. Picture the panoramic view of this event. Masses stretch as far as the eye can see from the same center. The throne represents Christ’s authority, the greatest summation of all our praise. The question that flows out of this movement of Revelation 4-5, what is your life centered around/on? Peterson writes, “Worship is a meeting at the center so that our lives are centered in God and not lived eccentrically” (60). Do we live our lives chasing the appetites of materialism and want or do we find the peace of a centering on the truth of Christ?
2. Worship gathers. Around the throne are the 24 elders; representing the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles. Alongside their worship is the strange creature; part lion, part ox, part human, part eagle. Of all creation, the lion represents the noblest. The ox represents the strongest. The human represents the wisest. The eagle represents the swiftest. Each creature is full of eyes and has six wings; fully alert and soaring. The question that flows out of this second movement of Revelation 4-5, what role does community play in your life? Peterson notes:
“In worship every sign of life and every impulse to holiness, every bit of beauty and every spark of vitality – Hebrew patriarchs, Christian apostles, wild animals, domesticated livestock, human beings, soaring birds – are arranged around this throne center that pulses light, showing each at its best, picking up all the colors of the spectrum in order to show off the glories” (62).
Do our communities of faith bring out the best, the deepest, and most beautiful within each and everyone of its members?
3. Worship reveals. Worship reveals God to us and others AND reveals our true hearts to God. The ancient world valued stones not for their decorative abilities but for the way they presented the colors of light. Emerald brought a rich, deep green. Sapphire brought a soothing, cool blue. Amethyst brought a beautiful purple. Peterson comments, “Worship is precious stones that reveal all the colors of light in and around us and dazzle us…a precious stone shows us a real red or green or blue; we are shaken and awake in wonder again” (63). The question that flows out of the third movement of Revelation 4-5, what is God revealing to us? Is God speaking to us? What precious stones, nuggets of truth, is God revealing to us?
4. Worship sings. Peterson paints the picture:
“There are songs everywhere in scripture. The people of God sing. They express exuberance in realizing the majesty of God and the mercy of Christ, the wholeness of reality and their new found ability to participate in it. Songs proliferate. Hymns gather the voices of men, women, and children into century-tiered choirs. Moses sings. Miriam sings. Deborah sings. David sings. Mary sings. Angels sing. Jesus and his disciples sing. Paul and Silas sing. When persons of faith become aware of who God is and what he does, they sing. The songs are irrepressible” (66).
The question that flows out of the fourth movement of Revelation 4-5, what song are you singing? What song has the Spirit placed in your heart? Is your song a song of despair? Joy? Pain? Frustration?
5. Worship affirms. “The last word in worship is amen: ‘and the four living creatures said, Amen! and the elders fell down and worshiped’ (Rev. 5:14). Amen means ‘yes.’ It is the worshiping affirmation to the God who affirms us. God says yes to us. We respond to his yes by saying yes, amen. Worship is affirming” (68). The question that flows out of the fifth movement of Revelation 4-5, deep at your core, do you feel affirmed by the Holy Spirit? Are you affirming Him? Is your life an ongoing “amen”?
These five movements flow from the center of Jesus and His throne. The center moves outward to the gathered community. A God who knows community in Himself (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) desires that we experience life-changing community. Life-changing community reminds us of a God who is still speaking and revealing deep truths to His creation. These deep truths place a beautiful song, a purposeful melody if you will, in our hearts. This rhythm brings divine affirmation that we are dearly loved, highly treasured, by the all-powerful God of creation, the King of kings and the Lord of Lords.
May these five movements of Revelation 4-5 lead you to a holistic response with your entire life like that which is found in Revelation 4-5, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord, God, Almighty; who was, and is, and is to come!”
Tags: