Q&A: Revelation 4-5

Revelation 4-5 Q&A

Here are some brief answers to our questions from our Sunday evening service. If you would like to discuss more, please call me or email at bruces@stphils.org.au.

In Heaven will we all just be falling down before God and singing and saying “Holy Holy Holy” all the time? What if I’m not super excited by that?

The Bible gives us many different accounts of what heaven will be like. This is just one of them. Jesus says it will be like a banquet. What we do know is that it will be good! And we will certainly enjoy every moment of it!

Why is 4:8b and the end of 5:13 in all capitals? Why not other sections where everyone is speaking in a loud voice?

This is editorial only. The original Greek script would not have been like this. Some editors of different Bible versions choose to capitalise words that are quotes from the Old Testament, or words that look like songs or hymns. Similar is the choice of some editors to print the words of Jesus in red. (which is really not helpful because the whole Bible is the Word of God and no words are more important than others)

What does it mean that the prayers of God’s people are being held in bowls by the elders?

the bowls in the temple were used for incense - a beautiful aroma for the temple. The prayers symbolically being held in these bowls represent their beautiful fragrance to God. God loves our prayers! They are a pleasing aroma to him! in simple words - our prayers are precious to God.

Ch4 v2, what does it mean by John was in the Spirit? Is it the same Holy Spirit?

"In the Spirit: is an unusual phrase only used a handful of times in the Bible. There is only one Spirit of God - the Holy Spirit, so yes this is the same Spirit. Being "in the Spirit" seems to refer to being caught up in a spiritual moment - orchestrated by God. it was not John's thoughts or some human dream - it was clear to John that this was God's vision given to him.

What happens if we just see God as the Lion and not the Lamb?

The lion image reminds us of Jesus' power, his coming judgement and our necessary response of reverence before him. The lamb image reminds us of Jesus' sacrificial love for us - laying his life down like a gentle and obedient lamb. We need to hang on to both of those images. Without the Lion, we may see Jesus as simply weak and sacrificial. Without the lamb, we may see Jesus only as strong and bringing judgment. We need both sides - he is strong and merciful. He is the sacrifice and the judge. He is the (only) perfect leader. He deserves us to bow down before him because he is the powerful one who is Lord over all AND because he is the sacrificial one who bought us back from death and sin.

Many Catholic people take 5:8 to mean that the apostles sort of "polish" our prayers, and thus you can pray to certain saints. How do we address this idea?

"Saints" in the Bible is a term used of every Christian. "the holy ones". So identifying only some Christians as "Saints" is not a Biblical idea. All Christians are saints.

Praying to Saints (dead or alive!) also has no place in the Bible. Jesus himself has given us the pattern of prayer so clearly in the Lord's prayer - we pray to our heavenly Father through the Son, Jesus, in the power of the Spirit. in 1 Timothy 2:5 Paul sets the pattern for how we should pray also - and who we should pray to/through:

It is not God's will anywhere in the Scriptures that we should direct our prayers to anyone other than the one true God and I would add that it is a breaking of the first commandment to recognise that anyone else is worthy of our prayers which are so valuable to God.

Also, with regards to praying "to" the dead or praying "for" the dead - those who have died in the faith are... dead. They are asleep and waiting for resurrection. (*1 Thessalonians 4:13-18) They are not listening to our prayers and sending them on to God. There is nothing in God's Word that supports this (In fact there is much to condemn it). It is a privilege that God invites us to speak directly to him in prayer. We should never direct our prayer anywhere else.

What’s the significance of the creatures each having 6 wings and covered in eyes?

The 6 wings description links us back to Isaiah 6 - again where God is "Holy holy holy". Although there may be no direct significance to the number 6 here, it could be simply that this is how many wings they have. A dog has 4 legs, and many angelic/heavenly creatures have 6 wings. Mostly, it is consistent with the heavenly images throughout the Scriptures.

Can someone who has not been baptised be confirmed?

In the Anglican Church, people are confirmed as a way of "confirming" the promises made by them or their parents at their Baptism. Hence, confirmation "confirms" baptism promises. If someone is not yet baptised, there are no baptism promises to confirm. Baptism, by the way, is a great thing. If you are a follower of Jesus, a disciple of his, he calls you to be Baptised as an outward sign of your faith in him.

Is Jesus sparkly

Ha! Great question - the vision of John describes Jesus with the appearance of jasper and ruby. There's the presence of flashes of lightning and a rainbow (covenant theme). This is not what he IS, but what his appearance is like. I think the consistent point in Scripture is that God is light. In Him there is no darkness. He is one of beauty and the sight is awesome. The comparison with shiny objects is of a being beyond complete description. To say he is "shiny" is not inappropriate at all, if we are talking about his divine essence being light and reflecting light.

Is there a significance of the increasing volume of praising Jesus's worthiness? That is, the 24, then the angels, then all creatures?

There is a constant building up of the praise in these chapters. It builds and builds through chapter 5 to a great crescendo of overwhelming praise. Significant? Yes. The trumpets also begin also in chapter 8! These are all signs of great praise building up forever and ever. To say God is worthy of ALL praise is not insignificant.

Click here to watch the questions answered during our live Q&A after the sermon at night church last Sunday.

Q and A is from 1:15:25