chapter seven

Four Beasts Around The Throne

About this chapter:
The four beasts and their relationship to Christ.

The four beasts around the throne were the four symbols that were on the banners of Israel, when they traveled through the wilderness. These same symbols were symbols of Christ, who would come to Israel someday. These beasts also tell us something about His relationship with Israel during the whole seven years of tribulation. These are all given to us during the first four seals.

The first beast in Revelation 6 to say "come and see," was the lion. This gives us a picture of Jesus as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. It is in this first seal that Jesus begins to recognize Israel as a nation to God once again. The number of this seal is also significant. It is the number one. This number also stands for Christ; His number is the number one. He is the only way to salvation. During this seal, Israel will become His number one priority in salvation. She has been neglected for nearly two thousand years. He longs for her salvation, the way Joseph longed to see Benjamin, in the book of Genesis.

The lion is the way God saw Israel in the wilderness.

He said this in Numbers 24:9, concerning Israel:

  • He couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? Blessed is he that blesseth thee, cursed is he that curseth thee.

    • This becomes a test to the nations. Those nations who help Israel during the seven-year tribulation will be given much grace and help from God during that time. It will result in almost complete salvation of those nations, and fulfill the promise to Abraham that he would become the father of a multitude of nations.

    The second seal is announced by the calf, or ox. It is a baby ox. This symbol, or beast, is the shadow of Jesus becoming the supreme sacrifice for sin; the eternal sacrifice. The calf was used as a sacrificial animal, the red heifer. Under this seal, Israel begins to accept Jesus as the sacrifice that God gave. The Gentiles will play an important role in this period by sending missionaries to Israel. The 144,000 Jews will be saved under this seal, and begin to preach Jesus, and Him crucified, to the rest of Israel. Many will hear and some will believe. This will cause great excitement in Heaven, and much distress to the unbelieving Jew in Israel.

    The number of this seal, number two, is also important. This number represents marriage, or joined. It is during this seal that Israel begins to be joined to the Lord, to finally become exalted among the nations by the end of the fourth seal.

    The next seal, the third, is announced by the face of a man, the symbol of Jesus, the Messiah. It represents Emmanuel, or God with us, God in the flesh, the Son of God, sent from heaven, to walk as a man, the Messiah. It is during this seal that Jesus begins to reveal Himself to Israel. The Christians in Israel, and all over the world, will become more like Jesus than in any other Church age, since the time of the crucifixion. He will indwell the Church through the Holy Spirit, like no other time. World Revival is about to erupt.

    The number of this seal, number three, is also important. This number, in God's numbers, represents death. When Jesus was crucified, He was in the earth for three days. There were three crosses at the crucifixion; three were crucified.

    When Jonah was in the whale, he was there for three days. He, himself, was a shadow of Israel, running from God until God caught him in the fish's belly.

    Through this distress that is about to come upon Israel, God will bring repentance. This will cause them to do the job that He had originally intended for them to do, to preach the Gospel to the world! They will warn the world of the wrath of God to come!

    In Daniel's time, there were three Hebrew children put into a fiery furnace. This was a shadow of the Remnant of Israel going through the fire that is caused by the Antichrist. But, Jesus appeared in the fiery furnace with the Hebrew children. Jesus will appear in the hearts of the Remnant of Israel, to take them through this fiery trial. He will deliver Israel, just as He did the three Hebrew children. These three children represent the whole Remnant of Israel, the third part of Israel, which I believe will be the whole house of Israel alive today.

    Most Jewish people have rejected Jesus for the past two thousand years. Out of all of Israel that have been born in the past two thousand years, those that are alive today could very well only be a third part of Israel, since the time of Christ. In the Old Testament, He said that it would not be a few.

    Israel is invaded during this third seal, and barely escapes the Antichrist and his army. Death does come to Israel. Some will die for Jesus, but, the death in this seal is, for the most part, spiritual. They will die out to the Law, to live with Christ, in the Spirit. This will cause their rebirth to God, and rebirth as a nation to God.

    Malachi 3:2-3:

  • But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He appeareth? for He is like a refiner's fire and like a fuller's soap, and He shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and, He shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness.

    • Malachi 4:1-2:

  • For behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly shall be stubble: and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. But, unto you who fear my name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with healing in His wings: And ye shall grow up as calves of the stall.

    • This time will be very stressful to Israel, but God takes them to a land among the Gentiles. There they will receive the Gospel and be saved. In the next seal they begin to evangelize the world!

    The fourth beast was a flying eagle. This beast is also a symbol of Christ. This is the last beast, there will be no more. This beast announces the fourth seal. In Ezekiel the 17th chapter, we see the riddle of the eagles. In this riddle, God compares the nations of Babylon and Egypt to eagles. These nations were swift, powerful nations in their day. He also compares the Kingdom of Heaven to an eagle. The great Speckled Bird in the Bible is an eagle. The Kingdom of God, as it is made up of every race of people on the face of the earth. Christ, Himself, is an eagle, who, like an eagle, will bear His young upon His wings, to the highest heights the Church has ever known.

    It is no wonder this fourth seal is announced by the eagle, for it will be eagle against eagle during this last three and one half years, or, nation against nation. By the end of this seal, the Church will mount upon the wings of an eagle to be taken to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, in Heaven. Then they will return like an eagle, only to swoop down like an eagle, with Jesus, to destroy the Antichrist and his armies at Armageddon. Jesus will then establish His kingdom on the earth for a thousand years.

    The Battle of Armageddon will end with the saved nations, and Jesus, standing around the body of the beast (ten nations), lying on it's back, dead, in the valley of Megido.

    Matthew 24:28:

  • For wheresoever the carcass is, there will the eagles be gathered together.

    • Isaiah 66:24:

  • And they shall go forth, and look upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed against me.

    • The number four in this seal is important also. In God's numbers, four represents the full extent. It represents the four corners of Heaven, the four corners of the earth, the four winds, the four directions, the four seasons, the four gates of Jerusalem, etc. Under this fourth seal, we will see the full extent of man's rule on this earth. This final three and one half years involve a struggle between the four corners of the earth and the four corners of Heaven. It will end at Armageddon, when the Church returns to help Jesus destroy the Antichrist.

    During this seal the Gospel will be preached to the whole world, the four corners of the earth. After Jesus destroys His enemies, He will land on the Mount of Olives, and open the fourth gate to Jerusalem, the Eastern Gate. He will then be crowned King, and reign and rule over the four corners of the earth. Hallelujah!

    End Chapter Seven