Revelation Day 11 - Holy, Holy, Holy

DAY 11
Holy, Holy, Holy
Revelation 4:1-11 

I’ve often been frugal with money (“cheap” some might say). But the older I get, the more I want quality than a cheap price. I want something of worth. I think we all want stuff worthy of our time, our money, our effort. We don’t want to waste our lives on worthless stuff.

Revelation 4 and 5 show us something worth our time. John of Patmos gets another vision. By the way, one of the ways of reading Revelation that swept American Evangelicalism in the 20th c. was Dispensationalism. More or less invented in the 1800s, it reads Jesus’s command in 4:1 to “come up here” as the so-called Rapture. I’ll say more about the Rapture another day but for now, I’ll just say that is not what this verse or vision is about.

Here, Jesus speaks again, taking John to heaven's throne room. This vision is the heart of Revelation. John's getting a sneak peek at two things at the future and at the usually unseen spiritual layer of reality.

The main attraction of heaven's throne room is God. John gets a picture-of-a-picture of God because no one sees God the Father directly. God's throne is surrounded by 24 worshiping elders. They represent the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles, symbolizing together the whole church across time and space. Four living creatures also gather around the throne, representing all of creation.

This unique congregation constantly worships God. They celebrate God's awesome uniqueness by calling out, "Holy, holy, holy!" In their second praise song, they celebrate God as Creator. One of the biggest questions we sort through in life is, “Where do I come from?” John sees the Source. Pause today and think about how big the universe is, about its diversity, about the wisdom and power it takes to keep it all going. God is holding it all together! And God made you, too. Sit and think today about God our maker.

REFLECT
Think about God’s wisdom, power, and goodness. Think about how big the universe is. Think about how “big” God is.

PRAY
Holy, holy, holy are you, O Lord God Almighty. 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. Amen.