What John Sees While In the Spirit

Text: Revelation 4:1-8

Reflection and Question: This extended image of God and of worship at God’s throne has inspired Christians through the ages. From the one seated on the throne looking like jasper and carnelian, then surrounded by a rainbow and twenty-four elders with golden crowns, then lightning and torches, then fantastic creatures glorifying God, the picture is so powerfully drawn that we shield our eyes or squint as the scene forms in our mind’s eye. And the worship at the throne never ceases, for the living creatures lead the elders to fall down in eternal praise. When have you been caught up in such worship?

Prayer: Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee.
Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea;
Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee,
Who wert, and art, and evermore shalt be. Amen.

This meditation is based on the Daily Lectionary Year 2 from the Book of Common Worship for the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) (1993).