‘And in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes before and behind. And the first creature was like a lion, the second creature like a calf, the third creature had a face as of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle. And the four living creatures, each of them having six wings, are full of eyes round about and within. And they never rest day or night saying, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, which was and which is and which is to come.'
This is clearly a combination of the living creatures (cherubim) in Ezekiel 1:10 with the seraphim in Isaiah 6.
Full of eyes before and behind, without and within, reflects Ezekiel 1:18; Ezekiel 10:12. The likenesses of lion, calf, man and eagle parallel man, lion, ox and eagle, although in Ezekiel each living creature had all four faces whereas here each has only one of the faces (the difference confirms that they are symbolic only). The six wings parallel Isaiah 6:2 (in Ezekiel they have four wings) and the cry of ‘holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty' parallels the cry in Isaiah 6:3. They are thus cherubim and seraphim.
That these in some way represent creation is suggested by a number of factors.
· 1). There are four of them. Four is the number of the whole earth. It was the number of rivers that flowed round the known world in Eden (Genesis 2:10-14). It is therefore representative of north, south, east and west. It was the number of empires that led up to the end time in Daniel 2. It is the number of ‘world' empires that summed up world history in Daniel 7. It is the number of chariots that represent the four spirits of Heaven and roam the whole earth (Zechariah 6:1-8). It is the number of horsemen who ride out to devastate the earth in Revelation 6:1-4. There are four ‘corners' of the earth (again probably north, south, east and west) (Revelation 7:1; Revelation 20:8), and four winds from the four quarters of Heaven (Jeremiah 49:36; Ezekiel 37:9; Daniel 7:2).
· 2). They represent all creation - man, wild beast, domestic animal and birds as represented in their likenesses and faces.
· 3). Their ‘song' is only of God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come, and they say the ‘Amen' to the universal song of all created beings (Revelation 5:13-14).
Their history is significant. They first appear to guard the way to the tree of life after the fall of man (Genesis 3:24). This demonstrates their responsibility for protecting creation from permanent control by fallen man, and for the preservation of God's holy purposes. Man can no longer enter the place where God reveals Himself.
They are then represented on the ark of the covenant where a golden cherub is at each end of the mercy seat which is upon the ark, and their wings cover the mercy seat, which is the throne of God. The cherubim are also represented on the curtains in the Tabernacle, and especially on the veil that guards the way from the holy place into the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26:1; Exodus 26:31-35). Again they are seen as preservers of God's holiness, and the means of preventing men from unholy folly.
God speaks to Moses from above the mercy seat from between the cherubim (Numbers 7:89) and is in fact seen as ‘dwelling between the cherubim' (1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Kings 19:15; 1 Chronicles 13:6). Solomon in his Temple also places two large cherubim in the Holy of Holies under which the ark will rest (2 Chronicles 3:10; 2 Chronicles 5:7).
The psalmists transfer the idea from the Tabernacle and speak of God Himself as in reality dwelling between the cherubim as the Shepherd of Israel and as the reigning Lord (Psalms 80:1; Psalms 99:1). In Psalms 99 this is directly connected with the holiness of God (v. 3). In Isaiah 37:16 Hezekiah also prays to the God who dwells between the cherubim.
In Ezekiel 1:10 God is seen as travelling in a chariot which was made up of a throne placed on a firmament (flattened out surface) borne by four living creatures, or cherubim. Thus the cherubim are seen as the close attendants of God. But here we learn of their resemblances to the four living things in creation, the beasts, domestic animals, birds and man, suggesting their responsibilities for these.
In Isaiah 6 we read rather of the seraphim (burning ones) whose cry is holy, holy, holy, and who are purgers of sin through God's method of provision. Revelation 4 links these with the cherubim. Thus once again we see the cherubim as concerned with the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. We note especially that both cherubim and seraphim use a pair of wings to cover themselves before a holy God (Isaiah 6:2; Ezekiel 1:11).
So the cherubim are constant companions of God in His service, preservers of God's holiness, preventers of the approach of sin towards God, and purgers of sin (but only through sacrifice - they use the coals of the altar) in one who is allowed to see God. This is partially apparent here in Revelation 4. Here they cry ‘holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty', and their whole concern is for ‘the one who was, and is and is to come'.
Here ‘the One Who was ' is the most prominent as coming first (compare Revelation 1:4; Revelation 1:8 where the concentration was on ‘the One Who is'). They watch over creation, as represented by four living creatures, lion, calf, eagle and man. Thus the heavenly living creatures are concerned with all earthly living creatures. They worship the Lamb (Revelation 5:8) and say ‘Amen' when the whole of creation praises Him (Revelation 5:14) for they recognise He is their God, and the God of creation. The fact that they are covered with eyes may suggest that nothing is hidden from them in their service for God (compare Zechariah 4:10).
It need hardly be said that we are not to take the representations of the living creatures literally (any more than we are to take anything in this chapter literally for it is representing spiritual ideas by ‘earthly' pictures). This is demonstrated both by the differing descriptions of the faces, and the differing number of wings, as compared with Old Testament representations. They represent ideas, not facts, the idea of God's concern for the holiness of creation.
The living creatures ‘stand in the midst of the throne and around the throne'. Apart from the Lamb Who is in the midst of the throne they are the nearest to the One Who sits on the throne. They do not share the throne as the Lamb does, for their position is qualified by ‘around the throne'. The idea would appear to be that they are stationed, as it were, at each corner of the throne platform.