Revelation 4:6

Revelation 4:6. And before the throne as it were a glassy sea like unto crystal. The most various opinions have been entertained regarding the ‘glassy sea' here spoken of, some of which may at once be set aside. It can hardly be intended to signify ‘the will and law of God in constituting the kingdom of grace,' or ‘the mysterious judgments of God,' or ‘the purity, calmness, and majesty of God's rule,' for no passages of the Old Testament can be referred to in which these principles of the Divine government are represented by a sea similar to that now mentioned. Other interpretations, again, such as those that understand by it ‘Baptism' or ‘the volume of the Scriptures,' may also be rejected as having no foundation in the imagery of this book. The idea that the sea is identical with the river of the water of life ‘clear as crystal' in chap. Revelation 22:1, may likewise be regarded as untenable A sea and a river are entirely different from one another, and it is impossible to connect the ‘sea' of chap. Revelation 15:2, which must be the same as this one, and upon which those who had overcome took their stand, with the ‘river' of chap. 22. More naturally might we be led to associate the great brazen sea of Solomon's temple (1 Kings 7:23-26) with the sea here spoken of, were it not that, as a general rule, the imagery of the Apocalypse appears to be taken not from the temple, but from the tabernacle, and the ‘laver' of the latter is never called a sea.

In endeavouring to determine the meaning of the figure, we must have recourse to that rule of interpretation so often needed in the Apocalypse, which calls us to supplement the description given of any object in one place by what is said of it in another. Doing so in the present instance, the ‘glassy sea' of chap. Revelation 15:2 supplies various hints which may be helpful to us here. That sea is not only glassy, but ‘mingled with fire,' an expression which at once suggests the thought of the Divine judgments, while the same thought comes prominently forward in the song sung by those who, standing upon the sea, celebrate the ‘righteous acts of the Lord which have been made manifest.' Again, it is to be observed that the song sung by these conquerors is called ‘the song of Moses, the servant of God,' as well as ‘the song of the Lamb;' and the most natural reference of these words is to the song of triumph sung after the crossing of the Red Sea, of which it is said, ‘Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea' (Exodus 15:1). The propriety of this reference is confirmed by the fact that it is not said of these conquerors that they ‘had gotten the victory over the beast' (Authorised Version), or even that they ‘had come victorious from the beast' (Revised Version), but that they ‘had come victorious out of the beast,' the preposition used distinctly indicating that they had been delivered by escape from their enemies rather than by victory over them in the field. To these considerations let us add that the deliverance of Israel from Egypt had been always appealed to, both by Psalmists and Prophets, as the peculiar token of that providential care and guidance which the Almighty extended to His people (Psalms 66:12; Isaiah 43:2-3), and we shall be led to the conclusion that in the ‘glassy sea' of this verse we have an emblem of that course of Providence by which God conducts those who place themselves in His hands to then-final rest in His immediate presence. The different manner in which the ‘sea' is viewed in the words before us, and in chap. Revelation 15:2, seems to favour this conclusion. In the one it is simply ‘before the throne,' and under the eye of Him by whom the throne is occupied. It is seen from the Divine point of view, and is therefore only ‘clear as crystal.' Its darker are to Him as bright as its more transparent elements. The ‘fire' that is mingled with it is not less a part of His counsel than its most pellucid waters: ‘the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to Thee' (Psalms 139:12). In the other it is occupied by man, and is seen from the human point of view. Hence the ‘fire,' always there, but not mentioned in the first instance, is now seen. They who stand upon it cannot forget those ‘righteous acts' of God which they have witnessed, or the troubled paths by which they have escaped the great enemies of their salvation. Judgment upon their foes, as well as mercy to themselves, marks the whole of that way by which they have been led. It may be only further remarked in conclusion, that to behold in the glassy sea the Almighty's providential guidance of His people harmonizes with the whole spirit of a chapter dealing mainly with creation and providence before we pass in chap. 5 to the more special subject of redeeming grace.

The description is continued, and we are next introduced to four living creatures full of eyes before and behind, which were in the midst of the throne and round about the throne. The living creatures do not support or bear up the throne; nor are they to be thought of as stationed together at the same spot. They are rather at the extremities of two diameters passing through the centre of the round throne, thus preserving perfect symmetry. In other respects the relation of these beings to the throne presents some difficulty, because it is natural to think that the Seer, having begun his description with Him that sitteth on the throne, is now proceeding from the centre outwards. The four living creatures would thus appear to be outside both the Sitter on the throne and the twenty-four elders and the glassy sea. But this is not probable (1) Because the words describing their position indicate a greater degree of nearness to the throne. (2) Because of the position of the cherubim in the tabernacle. (3) Because in chap. Revelation 5:6 the absence of the words ‘in the midst of' before ‘the four living creatures' seems to show that the latter are so closely connected with the throne as to be almost a part of it. The real explanation is to be found in this, that the position of the cherubim in the Holy of Holies of the tabernacle was above the mercy-seat. In like manner the living creatures here spoken of are not on the same level as the throne. Although, therefore, St. John really describes from within outwards what he beheld, and although, before we reach the present point of his description, he has already spoken of the outermost circle, that which bounded the glassy sea, it does not follow that the living creatures were beyond that circle. They were really above it, yet within it; and it is by now lifting his eyes upwards that the Seer beholds them. What has been said finds support in the language of Isaiah 6:2, where the prophet, after speaking of the Lord's sitting upon a throne high and lifted up, adds, ‘above it stood the seraphim.' It is remarkable to see how St. John manages to combine the visions of both Isaiah and Ezekiel, the one the prophet of the coming Saviour, the other the prophet of the restored Church. By the view now taken the harmony of the description is preserved, and the four living creatures' are a part of the accompaniments of the throne, and not beyond it.

They are full of eyes, we are further told, before and behind: they share the attribute of God, seeing in all directions with a penetrating glance (comp. chap. Revelation 1:14), that they may the better execute the Divine purposes.

A fuller description of them is now given.