Casting Down Our Crowns

PASSAGE FOR THE DAY:
1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. 6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: 

“‘Holy, holy, holy

is the Lord God Almighty,’

who was, and is, and is to come.” 

9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: 

11      “You are worthy, our Lord and God,

    to receive glory and honor and power,

for you created all things,

    and by your will they were created

    and have their being.” (Revelation 4:1-11, NIV)

 

REFLECTIONS:
The challenge with the book of Revelation is to not miss the forest for the trees. It is easy to get caught up in the minutiae and various interpretations that we miss the primary truths. 

What is clear in Revelation 4 is that God is utterly holy and draws forth unabashed worship and praise. The picture of his throne is filled with grandeur. He sits on a throne surrounded by twenty-four other thrones. The elders who sit in those thrones fall in worship of God whenever living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to God. All around are vibrant colors, jewels, sights and sounds associated with power, might, and light.  

The four living creatures with six wings and eyes all around represent the animals at the top of their respective domains: lion over wild animals, ox over all domesticated animals; the eagle among flying creatures; and human over all created beings.  In this way, they lead all of creation in worship of God.

The words and images created in this scene evoke a sense of fullness, of expansive glory and majesty, and paint a picture of a God who is so worthy of worship that to worship him is the only possible response!

As a young believer, C.S. Lewis was bothered by the fact that God demanded worship of Himself. Lewis could get no satisfactory answer to his question of “why” until one day he realized the answer. “I did not see that it is in the process of being worshipped, that God communicates His presence to men.” This is so true! Just think about your reaction to an amazing sunset or when you stand on the peak of a mountain; it is only when you stand in awe of the grandeur around you that you are actually “present” and genuinely experiencing that nature. It is the same with God. If we begin to grasp the enormous wonder, majesty, and beauty of God, there is no other response than worship. And it is in that worship that we are most aware of God’s presence and see him most clearly. 

If there are no moments in our lives that we stand in complete wonder at the glory of God, giving Him worship and honor, then we have not experienced Him. For what other response could a person give in God’s presence?

When was the last time you were undone at the thought of God, when you had a Revelation 4 moment, falling down in worship? Ask God to give you eyes to see Him that clearly, where worship is the only possible response to His presence.


EXTRA CREDIT:
For those who prefer a “Tres style” longer devotional, here’s some more stuff to chew on. 

So, who are these elders who fall down in worship before the Lord? I believe the twenty-four elders represent the church. Here’s why I think so:

• First, there are twenty-four elders. The number twenty-four is a multiple of twelve, and throughout Revelation multiples of twelve are used to designate the People of God.
• Second, the twenty-four elders are “dressed in white.” This is the garment of redeemed saints in Revelation 3:4-5,18; 6:11; 7:9,13-14.
• Third, the twenty-four elders wear “crowns of gold on their heads.” They are kings who sit on “thrones” in the presence of God’s throne, sharing in God’s kingdom rule. We read in Revelation chapters 2 and 3 that Christians will be given this privilege. For example, in Revelation 3:21 Christ says: “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.”
• Fourth, in Revelation 5:8, John says that each of the elders holds a “harp.” This is the instrument played by the redeemed saints in Revelation 14:2 and 15:2.
• Fifth, in Revelation 5:8 the elders also hold “golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints.” Here the twenty-four elders are acting as priests, offering incense to God. 1 Chronicles 24 names twenty-four divisions of priests, so the particular multiple of twelve given here (12×2) also serves to identify the priestly function of the elders.
• Sixth, throughout Revelation, these twenty-four elders offer the same kind of praise to the Lord that the church offers to him (e.g., praises to God as creator in 4:11 and to Jesus as redeemer in 5:9-10).

This symbol of the elders as the church is a powerful picture. John pictures twenty-four elders seated on “thrones” and wearing “crowns” on their heads. God’s people have been given dominion and lordship and rule, as the Scripture says in Genesis. We were created to have dominion.

But what do Christians do with their “crowns,” their lordship, their rule? Christians lay their “crowns” before God’s throne. They voluntarily subordinate their wills to God’s will, voluntarily place their dominion under his dominion, voluntarily allow “the kingdoms of this world” to become “the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ,” who “will reign for ever and ever.”


PRAYER:
Join the chorus of heaven for your prayer. "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come. You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."


WHO AM I?
My name is Greg Bland, and I am privileged to pastor PRF. Some say that I’m a wild boat driver.