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Isaiah 6 and The Four Beasts in Revelation 4

Rev 4:8 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.
Rev 4:9 And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.

Introduction

Last week we finished our studies in Ezekiel 1 and 10. Those two chapters are the very foundation for this fourth chapter of Revelation. At that time I had said we would start studying the fifth chapter of Revelation this week, but I cannot move on to the fifth chapter without commenting on why the four cherubims and four living creatures have only four wings in Ezekiel chapters 1 and 10 and why they are said to have six wings here in Revelation 4.

Eze 1:5 Also out of the midst thereof [came] the likeness of four living creatures. And this [was] their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.
Eze 1:6 And every one had four faces, and every one had four wings.

Eze 10:20 This is the living creature that I saw under the God of Israel by the river of Chebar; and I knew that they were the cherubims.
Eze 10:21 Every one had four faces apiece, and every one four wings; and the likeness of the hands of a man [was] under their wings.

These cherubims are “patterns of the true” around the throne of God in heaven. These cherubims were first mentioned in Genesis 3 where we are told that they “keep the way of the tree of life.” The next time they appear is in the book of Exodus as overshadowing the mercy seat above the ark of the covenant which is in the holy of holies. It is here that we first learn that they have wings, but they are seen with merely two wings here in Exodus:

Exo 25:20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

How many wings?

1Ki 8:7 For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above.

In the final revelation of these creatures, we find them with six wings:

Rev 4:8 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.

Why are these creatures revealed to us in such a piecemeal manner? The answer is that God’s Word is gradually revealing to us “the things of the heavens themselves… line upon line and precept upon precept.” He has made known to us the whole of mankind’s experience “here a little and there a little…”

Isa 28:9 Whom shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts.
Isa 28:10 For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little:
Isa 28:11 For with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people.
Isa 28:12 To whom he said, This is the rest wherewith ye may cause the weary to rest; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13 But the word of the LORD was unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, and there a little; that they might go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken.

We are all “snared and taken” by failing to acknowledge the truths of these verses as long as we insist that meat is milk, and as long as we fail to see that each revelation adds to the rest of God’s Word. It takes the book of Revelation to give us the whole overview of the predestinated plan of God for all mankind and for “the things in the heavens” called in scripture ‘the whole creation.” Never forget that ‘the heavens’ are part of God’s creation.

Exo 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.
Rom 8:23 And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.

The revelation was not all given in the Garden of Eden. The “seed of the woman” was promised there in the garden, but the meaning of the “seed of the woman” has been kept secret over the lifetimes and generations of mankind. This secret is referred to and gradually revealed “line upon line” all along, and finally “Now made manifest” and revealed to be “Christ in you, the hope of glory.”

Col 1:26 Even the mystery [Greek: musterion, secret] which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints:
Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

That is “the mystery” which has been hidden from age/aions and from generations. It will not be done until “the whole creation” and “every man” has been presented “perfect in Christ.”

Why Six Wings?

God gave wings only to those creatures which were to fly “above the earth in the… heavens,” so the wings on these creatures typify their heavenly existence:

Gen 1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Why are these pattern beasts ‘around and in the middle of the throne’ of God in the first place? Why are they given six wings? Is not the symbol of a ‘beast’ the very symbol of all that withstands the spirit? Is not the number six the very symbol of man’s rebellion against his Creator?

2Pe 2:12 But these, as natural brute beasts [Greek: zoon, animal] made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;

Jdg 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

That Greek word for ‘beast’ in these two verses of 2 Peter and Jude, is the exact same word we find in this verse of Revelation 4:

Rev 4:6 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.

Here we have four beasts in the middle of and round about the very throne of God. Add to that the fact that these four beasts each have six wings, and in scriptural terms, we have an undeniable connection to the man of sin, who must be destroyed:

Gen 1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
Gen 1:25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

What other beast was created on that day?

Gen 1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

What day was this?

Gen 1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

Man was created on the sixth day, along with all the other “beasts of the earth.” The four beasts, who are patterns of the true heavens, are called ‘beasts’ and we are told that they have ‘six wings.’

Who are the Seraphim?

Now add the following verses to what we have just learned about “the patterns of the things of the heavens themselves.”

Isa 6:1 In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.
Isa 6:2 Above it stood the seraphims [Hebrew: fiery serpent]: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly.
Isa 6:3 And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
Isa 6:4 And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.
Isa 6:5 Then said I, Woe is me! for I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.
Isa 6:6 Then flew one of the seraphims unto me, having a live coal in his hand, which he had taken with the tongs from off the altar:
Isa 6:7 And he laid it upon my mouth, and said, Lo, this hath touched thy lips; and thine iniquity is taken away, and thy sin purged.
Isa 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

It is of utmost importance we come to see that this word ‘seraphims’ is the same word translated “fiery serpent” in Numbers 21, to which serpent Christ referred when He made this statement concerning the salvation of all mankind:

Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

That’s right, the most popular verse in the entire Bible is actually a reference to the fiery serpents of Numbers 21, and the salvation of all. Let’s see what role these serpents played in Israel’s history and in the patterns of the things of the heavens:

Num 21:4 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.
Num 21:5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.
Num 21:6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.
Num 21:7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.
Num 21:8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, [Hebrew: seraph] and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Num 21:9 And Moses made a serpent [Hebrew: nachash, serpent] of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

The Lord sent seraph nachash among the people, and they died of the bites of this seraph nachash. A seraph is what Moses was told to make, and he made a nachash, a serpent. This is a repetition of Romans 5:14, where Adam is referred to as “a figure of Him that was to come.” Here it is a serpent instead of the ‘son of the serpent’, the first Adam.

Rom 5:14 Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.

In this case it is the poisonous or “fiery serpent” upon which Israel had to look to be saved. A serpent, in this instance, “is the figure of Him that was to come”, and John 3:16 is a reference to that fact. “Looking on the serpent” and living, is likened to believing on Christ and receiving “everlasting life.”

Has man yet become the image of God? Has he yet been given dominion over the fish of the sea, the fowl of the air, over the cattle, over all the earth and every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth? Obviously not! If mankind were already conformed to the image of Christ, and in control of the beasts of the earth, and if that were an accomplished fact, then why do we see these verses in Ecclesiastes 3?

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19 For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.
Ecc 3:20 All go unto one place; all are of the dust, and all turn to dust again.

Here we  have the one ‘beast’ which man has not yet overcome. It is ‘the seed of the serpent’ (Gen 3:15), that beast we confront in the mirror every morning:

Rev 13:4  And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, Who is like unto the beast? who is able to make war with him?

If Genesis 1:26 meant that God had completed His work, and mankind was already in God’s image and was already given power over all of God’s creation, then mankind would have great preeminence above a beast. However, the truth is that “a man has no preeminence above a beast.” Now we find that the pattern of the things in the heavens includes fiery serpents with six wings doing all the things that the six-winged beast does. Like the four beasts, they “take coals of fire from the altar” and cleanse Isaiah’s lips. Like the four beasts, these seraphims also cry ‘Holy, holy, holy.’ It is plain that we are again being given one more view of the same creatures, and this view is that of a fiery serpent. Why a beast? Why six wings? Why a serpent?
The answer is that as long as we are “in the midst of and round about that throne,’ we will never be unaware that we were created “out of the ground”, and that we were originally “had no preeminence above a beast” and that we were originally ‘the seed of the serpent’.

Gen 2:9 And out of the ground made the LORD God to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight, and good for food; the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of knowledge of good and evil.

Gen 3:15  And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed [our old man] and her seed [our new man]; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

Ecc 3:18  I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.
Ecc 3:19  For that which befalleth the sons of men befalleth beasts; even one thing befalleth them: as the one dieth, so dieth the other; yea, they have all one breath; so that a man hath no preeminence above a beast: for all is vanity.

That is why there are “seraphims… above the temple” (Isa 6:1-2) crying, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord of hosts”.

We will always be aware that from our origins we were merely beasts, the seed of the serpent, and “out of the earth”:

Ecc 3:18 I said in mine heart concerning the estate of the sons of men, that God might manifest them, and that they might see that they themselves are beasts.

Also, we will forever remember that we, too, were first “of our father the devil… that old serpent the Devil…”

Joh 8:43  Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word.
Joh 8:44  Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

This is all of us “… even as others.” We are all “of our father the devil” before we become “the seed of the woman… sons of God.”

Eph 2:2 Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:
Eph 2:3 Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.

Col 3:6 For which things’ sake the wrath of God cometh on the children of disobedience:
Col 3:7 In the which [wrath] ye also walked some time, when ye lived in them.
Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.
Col 3:9 Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds;
Col 3:10 And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him:

In their final appearance these beasts tell us who they are.

Rev 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.
Rev 5:9 And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;
Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

We now know that these four beasts here in Revelation 4 and 5, and throughout this book, are the patterns in the heavens of the overcomers, the elect of God, to whom it is granted to sit with Him on His throne.

Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Our salvation comes through our death and destruction. Death leads to life, the destruction of the flesh leads to a new spiritual body. The natural man cannot accept this truth. The things of the spirit are worthless and are foolishness to the natural man.

Mat 16:25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.

Joh 12:24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.

2Th 2:8 And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of his coming:

Heb 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

It is through losing our life that we find life. It is through dying that we live. It is through the destruction of the old Adam that the new Adam is born, and it is through the destruction of “him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” that our father the devil is also given life, when “then cometh the end.” The destruction of “him that has the power of death,” and the destruction of death itself, is a simultaneous event. It is for this reason that Christ came in our sinful flesh “that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;” That is why we are told that the last enemy to be destroyed is death:

1Co 15:26 The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

The lake of fire is actually “prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Mat 25:41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

We are that lake of fire which will purify all who are placed in our charge:

Isa 33:14 The sinners in Zion are afraid; fearfulness hath surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?
Isa 33:15 He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood, and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil;

Satan, the Devil, is cast into that ‘lake of fire,’ along with the beast and the false prophet. What that lake of fire does to the beast and to the false prophet is what it will do to the Devil and his angels:

Rev 19:20 And the beast was taken, and with him the false prophet that wrought miracles before him, with which he deceived them that had received the mark of the beast, and them that worshipped his image. These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with brimstone.

Rev 20:10 And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever [the eons of the eons, the lives of all men of all time].

This all explains and agrees with Paul’s declaration that “the whole creation… waits for… the manifestation of the sons of God.”

Rom 8:22 For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now.

For what does the whole creation wait, and groan and travail? It waits, groans and travails for this:

Rom 8:19 For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

It is that spiritual “conforming to the image of His Son” of those who will be “the firstborn among many brothers;” It is that blessed and holy first resurrection… the manifestation of the Sons of God” for which the whole creation waits, groans and travails. It is not waiting for something that was only begun in Eden. That was a “vessel of clay” which was, by design, “marred in the Potter’s hand.” Eden is where the entire predestinated plan all began. That word ‘predestinated’ is such a despised and unfamiliar word to the ears of the natural man that my spell check underlined it in red in both of these last two sentences. Yet it is the truth of God’s Word:

Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery [Greek: musterion, secret] of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:
Eph 1:11 In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will:

The Concordant Version has “the Christ;”

Eph 1:9 making known to us the secret of His will (in accord with His delight, which He purposed in Him)
Eph 1:10 to have an administration of the complement of the eras, to head up all in the Christ – both that in the heavens and that on the earth
Eph 1:11 in Him in Whom our lot was cast also, being designated beforehand according to the purpose of the One Who is operating all in accord with the counsel of His will,
Eph 1:12 that we should be for the laud of His glory, who are pre- expectant in the Christ.

This “vessel of clay” we call a physical body, was deliberately “marred in the hand of the Potter” by the predestination which only the Potter can effect.

Jer 18:4 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it [Conformed to the image of His Son].

The Potter is God, who through Christ created Adam on the sixth day along with all the other “beasts of the earth.” Satan is not “the Potter.” Satan did not mar the earthen vessel of clay. The “mystery” or secret of God’s will was not revealed in Eden in a “vessel of clay.” How absurd to suggest such a thing! Eden was not “the dispensation of the fullness of times.” Eden, and all that happened in Eden; Adam, Eve, Cain and Abel and all that all these principals did, was what the scriptures call “the foundation of the world.” It is not what the scriptures reveal to be “the secret of God’s Will… revealed in the dispensation of the fullness of times.” Adam and Eve were not free to choose to do good and obey God. Adam and Eve were just as “predestinated according to the purpose of Him who works all things after the counsel of His own will” as are you and me.  The events surrounding their lives which have been recorded for our edification, are only the beginning of “the secret of God’s will”, which would be revealed only in “the dispensation of the fullness of times.”

Luk 11:50 That the blood of all the prophets, which was shed from the foundation of the world, may be required of this generation;

When was “the foundation of the world?

Luk 11:51 From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

Abel is the second son of Adam who was killed by his own brother Cain. It is this period of time, from Adam and Abel, that the scriptures refer to as being “from the foundation of the world.” Adam was created on the sixth day, along with all other “beasts of the earth.” It is for this reason that Adam is in scripture a beast, and it is for this reason than mankind’s number is three sixes.

Rev 13:18 Here is wisdom. Let him who has a mind calculate the number of the wild beast, for it is the number of mankind, and its number is six hundred sixty-six.

It is for this reason that there are beasts around the throne of God, and it for this reason that in the final line upon line of these four beasts, we find them with six wings. These four beasts are those of mankind who will be given the great honor of ruling and reigning with Christ in His throne:

Rev 3:21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

Summary

We have seen that the single most familiar and most popular verse of God’s Word reveals that the seraphims are just one more aspect of Christ and Christ’s elect who are like Christ in this world:

Joh 3:14 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:
Joh 3:15 That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.
Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.

1Jn 4:17 Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

We have seen that the six wings of the four beasts of Revelation 4 and 5 connect them to the six-winged seraphims of Isaiah 6. We saw that both are given the task of handling the coals of fire from the heavenly altar, that both cry holy, holy, holy, and both are one and the same thing, present in different ways to tell us different things about who we are in Christ.

We have seen that it is Christ’s willingness to identify with His creation that leads Him to call the first Adam a figure of Him that was to come and to call the serpent that was raised in the wilderness a type of Christ being raised up on the cross so that all who “look upon” or “believe in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

Heb 2:11 For both he that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren,

We now know that the lake of fire is the channel for the purging of all things, both in the heavens and in the earth.

Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

What we have seen is that Christ will lose no one in heaven or in earth, and that the reason there are so many things around the throne which seem contrary to our way of thinking is that God does not think as we think. One of those ways is that we will never be permitted to forget that we came out of darkness and out of the ground as beasts and as the children of disobedience. Another way men do not think as God thinks is to discover that ‘our father the Devil’ is a part of the creation of the Creator, “Both which are in heaven and which are on earth,” which is to be redeemed in a lake of fire.

Rom 11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches.

Next week, Lord willing, we will finish chapter four of Revelation:

Rev 4:10 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,
Rev 4:11 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.