As usual, you should start with part 1 HERE if you are new.
Now that we have looked at the world of the Beast and looked upon the destruction that Babylon rains down upon God’s world, I want to return to the very beginning of Revelation 4, where Johns shows us the world of the Lamb and the space that he inhabits. B’s talk about throne rooms in general.
The Throne of Minos
In the summer of 2022, I boarded a boat to the Greek Island of Heraklion to tour the remains of an ancient Minoan city called Knossos. At the center of the ruins is the reconstructed palace and throne room of Minos, who ruled during the bronze age. The room is small but ornate. There is a throne in the center made of alabaster, flanked by smaller thrones made of gypsum, all lined up against a beautifully painted wall depicting four beasts, griffins with the body of a lion and the head of a bird. Clouds and mountain ranges are also depicted, with what looks like wheat growing, presumably nourished by the clouds above, and all of this surrounding the king as if to say, “The king is more than a man, commanding the rains to fall and bring food from the ground!”
Across from the throne is a small round altar upon which a small fire likely burned, illuminating the space. Beyond the altar, directly across from the throne, sat what was called a lustral basin, stairs leading down into a small square pool that as a washing basin, likely for religious purification rituals.
The Throne of Christ
When we read about the throne room of God in Revelation 4, all kinds of pictures might pop into our heads, each the result of the cultures in which we’ve been immersed. As Americans, the closest thing to the throne room is the Oval Office in DC. Still, my brothers and sisters across the pond might picture the ornate, oversized, over-decorated Buckingham Palace in Great Britain, the Grand Kremlin Palace in Russia, or the beautiful and opulent "Matignon" in France.
But John’s audience, if they had ever seen a throne room at all, would have pictured something more like we find in the ruin’s of Minos. Johns description of the throne room in Revelation 4 is borrowed from Daniel 7, written over half a millennia earlier.
Let’s listen in as John describes what he sees:
Revelation 4:2b-8
…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 w 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.”
Notice Johns's description of the throne room of God compared to what we find in the throne rooms of the world: Verse 4 depicts the throne, with twenty-four other thrones on either side; these are likely representative of the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles combined.[1] The throne of God also has clouds (verse 5), but they are not paintings made by human hands; lightning and thunder animate space and communicate his power and command of nature. Verse 6 tells us that, like the painted beasts around the thrones of earthly rulers, Christ’s throne is flanked by four beasts as well, but they are not made of plaster; they are real and are joining in with the worship of the King (verses 8-9).
In front of the throne, instead of a small altar, we see seven lamps blazing forth (representing the seven churches). Beyond that, instead of a lustral basin, John sees “what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal” (V6).
Dissidence and Childs-Play
This is a dissident piece of literature intended to harden the resolve of the seven churches (which represent all churches) filled with dissident Christians living under the boot of the most powerful empire in the world.
The rulers of this world are presented as a parody. They sit in rooms designed to represent things they do not control and did not create. The clouds were painted by slaves, the thrones were mere rocks, the room was small and poorly lit, and their royal court was just people playing a game, pretending they had the power that they did not possess; they could not bring peace and prosperity. They are like children with paper crowns and cardboard thrones proclaiming their greatness to a court of stuffed animals.
“But you, church, though you feel small and powerless, are in the presence of the true ruler of the cosmos. When he acts, all creation agrees with him and joins in.”
John is belittling the thrones of this world. We have no use for them and should not reach out to them. The seats of power in this world cannot bring true peace. For a Christian to covet a seat in the Oval Office, for example, is a step down from the true work of God in this world. For the church to turn towards the thrones of this world, they must turn away from the throne of Christ, who does not rule like the Beast but as the Lamb among the poor and downtrodden, the oppressed and the needy. This is why Mary prays in her song “The Magnificat” that “He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty” (Lk 1:51–53).
God’s plan has never centered earthly seats of power, and until the church can realize this simple truth, she will continue to reach for paper crowns and cardboard thrones.
[1] Wright, Revelation for Everyone.