Chapter 4
A DOOR WAS OPENED IN HEAVEN
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts: the whole of the earth is full of his glory.”
(Isa.6:3)
Revelation 4:1-11
1 After this I looked and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. 2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven and one sat on the throne. 3 And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. 4 And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. 5 And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind. 7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle. 8 And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come. 9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever, 10 The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, 11 Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
Before we undertake an exposition of chapter 4, it is important to reflect on the fact that it is impossible for man, bearing sinful human nature, to enter into the divine presence, “for there shall no man see me, and live” (Ex.33:20)1. Even on the Day of Atonement the high priest preserved his life by shrouding the divine presence in a cloud of incense. Yet John, while “in the spirit” (a prophetic trance) saw, “one sat on the throne.” (4:3)
Clearly, we are dealing with a paradigm of reality. God chooses to represent himself as sitting on a throne in a heavenly sanctuary, surrounded by various pieces of “tabernacle furniture” and being administered to by his angels and eventually by the high priest, Jesus Christ. Words cannot express the Holiness of God, and therefore symbolism is employed, but even this is inadequate, for both idiom and symbolism struggle to define a reality that remains incomprehensible until the eschaton.
Like many of the ancients, modern man worships the creation rather than the creator. He has developed his own ‘symbolism’ in order to express this – the language of science. According to science the universe ‘began’ 12 billion years ago when an infinitely powerful source of energy exploded and expanded (growing a trillion, trillion times within a nanosecond, to the size of a grapefruit) into a void, creating all the visible and invisible matter of the heavens. We now know that all matter when accelerated to the speed of light (squared) is converted to energy. Small particles like atoms contain enormous quantities of energy (i.e., atom bomb). Everything that a few centuries earlier could be viewed as solid reality (like the chair you sit on) is now known to consist of atomic and sub-atomic particles attracted and repelled to each other by force fields. Science cannot even show where these particles are, for the law of probability establishes that it is impossible to know both the speed and position at the same moment. If the location is determined with any certainty then the speed cannot be accurately known, and vice versa. Time itself is not absolute but only relative and influenced by the speed of light; this means that time does not progress from past to future in a linear fashion as once was thought2. What in past centuries was believed to be absolute, unshakeable reality, is now expressed in terms of uncertainty, relativity and probability.
Although everything lives and moves and has it’s being in him, it is wrong to describe the creator in terms of his creation. The creation is a mere reflection of his glory, brought into existence by the exercising of his will (4:11 A.V. for his pleasure). Even so, the creation is an expression of divine power and omnipotence, before which man is left dumbfounded:
“I know that thou cans’t do everything and that no purpose of thine can be withholden from thee…therefore have I uttered that which I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.” (Job 42:2,3)
The creation itself however, says nothing to us about the divine character. It is man, who was meant to reflect upon, and ultimately express the divine image. In this man (Adam) abjectly failed, for he strove for equality with God, until God himself provided a means of salvation in the man Jesus Christ.
The material creation was made by his will and for his pleasure, and God declared it good (Gen.1:25) but it was also, ‘the good pleasure of the Father that in him (Christ) should all the fullness dwell’. (Col.1:19) He is the pinnacle of God’s creation, a man able to reflect the divine character, self-sacrificing love, mercy, compassion, goodness, empathy and justice. God is not just revealed in the power of his creative acts, nor only in his administration of justice, but also in the still small voice.
(1 Kgs.19:12 for what the voice articulated see Ex.33:19) He is not a despotic, capricious creative force detached from his universe, but a moral being who cares deeply about the destiny of his creatures. His power deserves our awe, his judgement our fear, and his righteousness and compassion demand our worship.
As we have seen, reality can be expressed in various ways. Just as the language of science uses ‘models’ and ‘laws’ to explain the natural world, so scriptures uses type and symbol to explain the spiritual world. But models have their limitations, whether they reflect the physical or the spiritual world. While it is true that the heavenly sanctuary provided a ‘pattern’ for the earthly tabernacle and sanctuary (Heb.8:5), it is itself a mere symbol, expressing a more profound reality that can only be known when God dwells with his people and they, themselves, form the temple.
‘For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known’. (1 Cor.13:12)
John uses symbolism in two different ways, in the first instance he uses descriptive symbolism and in the second determinative symbolism. The strange and complex symbols of John’s vision are the pictorial counterpart of earthly realities. John sees things happen in heaven because God has determined that equivalent events should happen on earth (i.e., war in heaven = the crucifixion on earth 12:10), but other events take place, because earthly events made them possible (i.e., the resurrection makes the breaking of the seals possible – descriptive symbolism.)
We need not be surprised then that the heaven to which John is summoned turns out to be more than a ‘centre of operations’ – a throne room where the heavenly King holds court (4:2) a synagogue in which the scroll of God’s word is opened and read (5:1), a temple with an altar on which the incense of prayer is offered (8:3), and a law court from which the Accuser is drummed out in disgrace (12:10). The very fluidity of John’s images strongly suggests that he was aware of the inadequacy of all forms of religious language to express the ineffable being of God.
1. Immortal, invisible, God only wise, 3. To all life Thou givest, to both great and small
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes: In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
Most blessed, most glorious, The ancient of days, We blossom and flourish like leaves on the tree,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise. And wither and perish; but nought changeth Thee.
2. Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light, 4. Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might; Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above, All laud we would render: O help us to see
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love. ’ Tis only the splendour of light hideth Thee.
THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY
The ‘heavenly sanctuary’, although itself a symbol of a more profound reality1, formed the template for earthly worship.
THE HEAVENLY SANCTUARY
THE TABERNACLE AND TEMPLE
(1) The throne (Rev.4:2)
The ark (Exod.25:10, 1Kgs.8:6)
(2) God seated on the throne (4:2)
The glory of God on the ark (Exod.25:22, 40:34, 1Kgs.8:11)
(3) Four cherubim (4:6-8)
Cherubim (Exod.25:19, 1Kgs 6:24)
(4) Seven lamps (4:5)
The Lampstand (Exod.25:31)
(5) The sea (4:5)
‘The sea’ (1 Kgs 7:23) andThe laver (Exod.30:18, 1 Kgs 7:30)
(6) The altar (6:9)
The altar (Exod.27:1, 1 Kgs.8:22)
(7) The incense altar (8:3)
The incense altar (Exod.30:1)
Not only the tabernacle and temple, but also the garden of Eden were modelled on heavenly things. The garden of Eden had a tree of life, or lampstand (Gen.2:9) cherubim (3:24), and similar to the tabernacle the entrance was on the east side (Gen 3:24). It also had a place where sacrifices were offered. (Gen.4:7 2)
The throne of God is the mercy seat on the ark of the covenant with the faces of the cherubim looking towards the ineffable shekinah glory residing in the midst.
According to unanimous tradition amongst the Jews, the four cherubim faces correspond to the four sections of the camp of Israel. The standard of Judah was the Lion (Gen.49:9; Rev.5:5), for Ephraim the ox (Deut.33:17), for Reuben the man (implied in Deut.33:6) and for Dan the eagle (Gen.49:17 the serpent of Dan is the adjoining constellation in the Zodiac).
The cherubim are therefore representative of his creation looking towards his glory and mercy. The fullness of the manifestation of divine glory is progressively revealed in his creative works. His glory is reflected by 1.the natural creation 2.Israel 3.Christ 4.the saints.
THE LION FACE– the kingship of God reflected by his natural creation
The lion is the king of the beasts, renowned for strength (2 Sam.1:23; Prov.30:30) and courage (2 Sam.17:10; Prov.28:1), and for his loud roar (Job 4:10; Prov.20:2) and therefore it was adopted as a sign of royalty (i.e., Judah). Nebuchadnezzar was represented as a lion (Dan.7:4) the chief of the other animals, but he was actually an untamed beast, and he was ‘made to eat grass as oxen’ (Dan.4:25). The destiny of the lion is to, ‘eat straw like the ox’ (Isa.11:7). The lion will be domesticated like the ox. The lion represents the untamed natural creation. The power of the lion is death – but God will tame even this natural force, for ‘He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions’. (Dan.6:27) [see also Ps.35:17; 57:4]
THE OX FACE – the glory of God reflected by Israel under the law
The increase (harvest) came through the strength of the ox (Prov.14:4). It was a beast of burden and sacrifice, and therefore it represented the law. The golden ox faces of the cherubim on the ark, shone with the reflected glory of God. Moses’ face shone with the same glory (Ex.34:35), but it was only temporal. In like manner the nation was meant to reflect the glory of God by keeping his law, but Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked (Deut 32:15). The ox knew its owner and its master crib (the oxen looking at the manger are like the cherubim looking at the mercy seat. Isa.1:3; Lk.2:12) but the nation of Israel did not.
THE MAN FACE - the glory of God reflected by Christ
Man was made in the image of God, and was therefore meant to reflect his glory (1 Cor.11:7). The only man face that does this is Jesus Christ. ‘Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person (Heb.1:3) was counted worthy of more glory than Moses, inasmuch as he hath builded the house hath more honour than the house (Heb3:3). For if the ministration of condemnation (= the law) be glory, much more doth the ministration of righteousness exceed in glory’ (2 Cor.3:9). For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ’. (2 Cor.4: 6)
THE EAGLE FACE - the glory of God reflected by the immortalised saints
The eagle hovers and soars in the heavens, in scripture it represents renewal, and therefore the immortalised saints.
‘Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things (fruit of the tree of life Rev.2:7); so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles’. (Ps.103:5)
‘They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk and not faint’. (Isa.40:31)
The cherubim then represents all aspects of God’s creative work reflecting his glory both the ‘old heavens and earth’ and ‘the new heavens and earth’. The cherubim incessantly chant (Isa.6:3 R.V.mg): “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of Hosts; the fullness of the whole earth is his glory.” And in Revelation 4:11: “Worthy art thou, our Lord and our God, 1 to receive glory and honour and power : for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created”.
THE GLASSY SEA
The glassy sea or clear crystal is a reference to the ‘firmament’ in the midst of the waters – ‘which divides the waters under the firmament from the waters which are above the firmament’ – this was called heaven. (Gen.1:7-8) 1 This suggests the ‘paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of heaven in his clearness’ seen in the heavenly vision vouchsafed to Moses and the seventy elders of Israel of Sinai (Ex.24:10).
Upon (or above) this ‘glass sea’ sits the throne (v.6 literally before the throne). Similarly, in the tabernacle a brass sea sat ‘before the throne’ (before the ark). The laver was used in connection with the services. It stood on a base of brass in the court between the altar and the door of the tabernacle. Both laver and base were made of the mirrors donated by the women who assembled to minister at the door of the tent of meeting (Ex.38:8, see Ex.33:7). In Solomon’s temple there was a molten sea and ten lavers. (2 Chron.4:6) 2
The molten looking glasses, and the sea represented the expanse of heaven.
‘Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong and as a molten looking glass?’ (Job 37:18)
When God created the universe, he created heaven and earth but heaven, as well as earth, is part of a transient and temporal order. The heavens (sea) is the barrier which the redeemed must pass through in a new exodus, if they are to win access to the promised land. God will again make the depths of the sea a path for the ransomed to cross (Isa.51:9-10) he will break the head of dragons that emerge from the sea (Rev.13:1) and will divide the waters by his strength (Ps.74:13,14).
It is significant that, when John comes to speak of the new heaven and earth, the first thing he has to say is that the sea was no more. (21:1) The throne is no longer situated above an impenetrable barrier, but amongst his people. No longer is there a glassy crystal sea, but a clear crystal river flowing from beneath the throne (22:1).
This river functions like the smaller lavers, it is for the healing or cleansing of the nations, specifically the Jewish nation, for, ‘there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for sin and uncleanness’ (Zech.13:1). Washed from sin they are now presented as a living sacrifice to their God.
THE RAINBOW
The throne is enveloped [around – kyklothen] with a rainbow like an emerald. The emerald is a green stone and therefore the throne is shrouded in green light.
Israel stood doubly represented by the high priest in the presence of God. On the brilliant stones that rested on his shoulders, their names were engraven according to their birth order (Ex.28:10).
On the Onyx on the left shoulder:
1. REUBEN
2. SIMEON
3. LEVI
4. JUDAH
5. DAN
6. NAPHTALI
On the onyx on the right shoulder:
7. GAD
8. ASHER
9. ISSACHAR
10. ZEBULUN
11. JOSEPH
12. BENJAMIN
The stones on the breastplate however, were arranged in four rows of three; and the names engraven on them according to the tribal encampment around the tabernacle (Ex.28:21). [Hebrew is written from left to right]
3. CARBUNCLE
ZEBULUN
2. TOPAZ
ISSACHAR
1. SARDIUS
JUDAH
10. BERYL
DAN
11. ONYX
ASHER
12. JASPER
NAPHTALI
7. LIGURE
EPHRAIM
8. AGATE
MANASSEH
9. AMETHYST
BENJAMIN
4. EMERALD
REUBEN
5. SAPPHIRE
SIMEON
6. DIAMOND
GAD
The emerald is therefore representative of the firstborn son. The firstborn son was Reuben, who lost his birthright (Gen.49:3) and was replaced by Judah (Rev.7:3) [see chapter 7 page 10].
The rainbow represents the covenant of mercy that God made with his creation. This covenant was made with Noah [man] the fowl [eagle] the cattle [ox] and the beast of the earth [lion] (Gen.9:8-17). All four faces of the cherubim are represented, for the covenant is with all his creation. The rainbow consists of the seven spectral colours of light, in order: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo and violet. The picture presented to us is of the rainbow (symbol of covenant mercy) extending from earth into the heavens, with the throne situated in the green bow (middle) of the rainbow. The green represents divine covenant mercy extended to the house of David. Just as God promised not to destroy the earth by flood, likewise He promises not to hurt any green thing (Rev.9:4). The tribe of Judah, has replaced Reuben (green emerald) as the firstborn son – the one destined to have the excellency of dignity (the priesthood) and the excellency of power (the kingship).
The one that sat upon the throne was to look upon like a jasper and a sardius (4:3). These are the last and first stones of the breastplate – signifying the first and last (1:17) in reverse order, for he was dead (last of the old covenant) and is alive forevermore (first of the new covenant 1:18). Once again the sardius represents Judah (on the breastplate) and jasper, the tribe of Naphtali, signifying the struggle or overcoming.
In the next vision John sees the Lion of Judah who overcame (literally: conquered) to open the book (5:5) [he overcame his flesh].
In Hebrew sardius is odem signifying redness, and jasper is Yashepheth signifying Yah polishes. Jasper is an opaque stone that mainly tends to be red (it can also be found in yellow, green and greyish blue). The Hebrew for sardius is identical for the word man: adam (from red clay) except for the vowel pointing, which is not found in the original. Although John wrote in Greek these associations with the Hebrew are not coincidental, but came from his spirit inspired mind. We have then another firstborn (adam) who lost the birthright, which was regained by the second adam, whose redness was polished to perfection by Yah. The Hebrew for ‘the enthroned one’ is yô . eb phonetically very similar to yashepheth (jasper). Since jasper is used for a simile for the appearance of God (4:3), it is used later in Revelation as an image for the overall appearance of the New Jerusalem, which manifests the glory of God (21:11), and is the material from which its walls are constructed (21:18), as well as the first of its twelve foundations (21:19).
To summarise, the rainbow represents covenant mercy extended to all creation, with the green (emerald) light representing that mercy as covenanted to be realised in a Davidic ancestor. God’s holiness is shrouded by his covenant promises (mercy and truth), which were realised in Jesus Christ – the last and the first – the son of David – the firstborn son (emerald) from the dead. At this juncture of the vision, Christ is not yet in the ‘midst of the throne’, that happens later (after chapter 5) and that is the vision that David saw (7:17) when he sat before the throne (ark) in (2 Sam.7:18), which experience he recounted in Psalm 110.
THEOPHANY
Lightning, thunderings and voices proceeded from the throne, similar phenomena accompanied the giving of the old covenant at Sinai (Ex.19:16). Storm language, such as lightning and thunder are often used in a theophanic context – usually a manifestation in judgement (Rev. 8:5, 11:9, 16:18). What follows in the next chapter is judgement of the flesh by the ‘Lamb as it had been slain’, this event inaugurated a new covenant, not one based on fear (for they could not endure that which was commanded and even Moses said, “I exceedingly fear and quake”: Heb.12:20,21), but one based on agape love, for Jesus is the mediator of a new covenant (Heb.12:24).
‘Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgement: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:17-19)
THE 24 ELDERS
The twenty-four elders are obviously the heavenly counterpart of the 24 courses of priests instituted (reinstituted?) by David (1 Chron.24:1). They probably represent both Jew and Gentile, as does the naming of twelve tribes and twelve apostles in the New Jerusalem (Rev.21:12-14). The picture of the heavenly sanctuary is now complete, the throne (ark) with the cherubim (host of Israel) encamped around and the priests doing service (elders) and the seven spirits (candelabra) illuminating the scene.
These elders cast their crowns (priestly diadem) before the throne (v.10) this symbolic act of submission in the heavens, is probably in anticipation of the victory on the cross, when the Aaronic priesthood will be superseded by a better priesthood – the Melchizedek priesthood of the firstborn son.
The elders therefore, do not represent redeemed saints as some suggest. Although the white garments and golden crowns (v.4) may point to this conclusion, they do not require it.1 The elders are also encountered in 11:17 where they praise God because the time has arrived to judge the dead and to reward the saints. This demonstrates that the elders are not the same as the saints. In the previous song of praise they eulogise God for ‘making us (elders) a kingdom of priests’ but various Codices2 render this as ‘made them (the saints) a kingdom of priests’.
It is entirely appropriate to the symbolism that the ‘heavenly priests’ should praise God for elevating the earthly saints to the same status as themselves. To this we might add that in 14:3 and 19:4-7 the redeemed saints appear as a group separate from the cherubim and elders and therefore cannot possibly be one and the same.
SUMMARY
A door was opened to John (the disciples who Jesus loved) in heaven; similarly an open door was set before the Philadelphians (the brethren who love one another) on earth. Every heavenly reality has an earthly counterpart and certain earthly realities have heavenly consequences. John (and us) are taken into the divine counsel and, like the O.T. prophets, we are allowed together with John to hear the deliberations of the council. We are truly privileged, ‘For who has stood in the council of the Lord so as to see and to hear his word?’ (Jer.23:18). John was shown the things that must happen ‘hereafter’ (alluding to Dan2:29); this is designed to introduce the reader to the extended vision sequence found in 4:1-22: 9. However, what John sees first of all is not future events, but the deliberations of the heavenly council, and the past events that made the unsealing of the scroll possible (the crucifixion).
The Apocalypse epitomised by H.P.Mansfield has the following to say (pg.70) “Behold a throne was set in heaven” – the things here recorded are among those matters which John was told would be fulfilled ‘hereafter’. Hence ‘the heaven’ of this chapter cannot relate to the atmospheric heaven above, for Yahweh’s throne has been established in those heavens from time immemorial. The symbology suggests a scene of national judgement in the political heaven such as described in the similar language of Daniel 7:9-14. The A.V. reads: ‘the thrones were cast down’, but this is better rendered ‘the thrones were placed, set, or fixed’. The R.V. renders the thrones were ‘placed’. The metaphor of placing thrones is borrowed from the custom of earthly judicatories, and particularly of the Great Sanhedrin, where the father of the consistory sat with his assessors seated on either side of him, in the form of a semi-circle, with the people standing before him (cp. Ps.9:7; 122:5). That is the picture presented in the picture before us. The redeemed already are in glory (vv.8-11; Rev.5: 9-10); the Lamb has ‘prevailed’ in judging the nation (Rev.5:5); and the vision closes with praise being ascribed to the one upon the throne on the part of all upon the earth (Rev.5:13-14). The description of the one upon the throne (a combination of jasper and sardine stones) suggests Divine judgement through the glorified Son of man.
The present author finds such a misreading of metaphor and symbol truly amazing, even if we ignore the typology of the ‘heavenly sanctuary’, it does a total injustice to the text to read into the ‘prevailing of the Lamb’ a judgement of the nations instead of the judgement of sin in the flesh. Furthermore, a throne set in heaven means simply a throne situated in heaven. This is no longer exegesis but eisegesis, a truly beautiful chapter has been ruined by seeking to impose a continuous historical application to the text.
It is not expedient for me doubtless to glory. I will come to visions and revelations of the Lord. I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. And I knew such a man, (whether in the body, or out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. Of such an one will I glory: yet of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. For though I would desire to glory, I shall not be a fool; for I will say the truth: but now I forbear, lest any man should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that he heareth of me. And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. (2 Cor.12:1-7)
NOTES
1 This seems to be contradicted by passages such as Ex.24:10-11; however, this is the angel of the divine presence, not God himself. See Gen.32:30 note the emphasis on seeing the face cp. Judge 6:22,23; Isa.6:5, note how John falls down ‘dead’ in the vision of Rev. 1:17
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2 Try and define the present (i.e., how long does it last?) – you will find this is impossible, for it does not exist!
NOTES
1 If anyone doubts that the heavenly sanctuary is a symbol, then think on the altar with the souls underneath (6:9) – this represented the martyrdom of the saints, an earthly reality.
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2 Gen.4:7; ‘And the Lord said unto Cain, why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well shalt thou not be accepted? And if thou doest not well sin lieth at the door: And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him’. The translators have made a mess of this verse. The Hebrew ‘lieth’ is masculine and sin (offering) [chat’a] is feminine, so that the Hebrew reads, ‘at the entrance [a male] is lying, a sin offering’. The Hebrew for desire is teshû wqâ h and is virtually identical to teshû wrâ h [gift]. ‘thou shalt rule over him’ is rendered ‘thou shalt rule over it’ in the R.V. marginal notes. The R.V. also renders the phrase ‘be accepted’ as ‘have the excellency’ a reference to becoming the family priest, which under normal circumstances was the prerogative of the firstborn. (Gen.49:3) Putting all this together in a loose paraphrase we obtain the following:
And the Lord said to Cain, Why art thou wroth? And why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well shalt not thou [thy offering] be accepted? [or alternatively – you will become the family priest?] and if thou doest not well, the sin offering is lying at the door [of the sanctuary], and his gift [Abel’s] will be for your sin, and you shall overcome it [sin].
Cain chose not to share in Abel’s offering, instead he killed Abel and therefore in type he made his own brother, Abel, his sin offering.
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1 In the tabernacle (Ex.25:19-22) there were only two cherubim; therefore not all four faces could be represented. Probably each of these had the face of an ox, which explains the golden calf incident, and also why Jeroboam fashioned two calves and installed them in Dan and Bethel – they were overshadowing Ephraim (the ten tribes) emphasising supremacy over Judah. There were also 12 oxen under the sea (1 Kgs.7:44), 12 oxen to pull the wagons containing the tabernacle (Num.7:3), and Elisha who ploughed with 12 oxen. (1 Kgs.19:19).
NOTES
1 “My Lord and my God” is the way Thomas addresses the risen Christ (John 20: 28). This is entirely correct, for he is now the fullness of God’s new creation – through him and by him the new creation exits – he now bears the name above every name, so will the immortalised saints. (Rev.14:1)
NOTES
1 It is important to note that in the Hebrew Bible the word heaven (samayim) is plural; English translations sometimes use ‘heaven’, sometimes ‘the heavens.’ In Genesis 1:6-8 the creation of the firmament is described, (NSRV: dome). God called the firmament heaven [NSRV: sky]. Above the vault of the sky was the celestial ocean – probably represented by the milky way, and above this the dwelling of God (see Ps.14:2). In the firmament were openings or ‘windows’ through which the upper waters came down in the form of rain. (Gen.7:11 – this is poetic license, the storm cloud was the divine cherubim Ps.104:3). At times, the term ‘the heavens’ refers to the expanse in which the birds fly (Gen.1:20), at times to the starry heavens, and at other times still to the highest heaven above the firmament; the context decides which meaning is appropriate.
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2 The sea was specifically for the cleansing of the priests, and the lavers for the cleansing of the sacrifices. If the altar together with its sacrifice represents baptism (atonement and dedication) then the laver represents spiritual renewal. (washing of hands and feet – the breaking of bread).
NOTES
1 See A.D.Norris and his Apocalypse for Everyman on page 89.
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2 Sinaiticus, Vaticanus, Vulgate and Syriac have ‘made them a kingdom.’ Codices Sinaiticus, Vaticanus and Alexandrinus have ‘they shall reign’, again supported by the Vulgate.
