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Revelation 4: 1-11
I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven,
and I heard the trumpetlike voice
that had spoken to me before, saying,
“Come up here and I will show you what must happen afterwards.”
At once I was caught up in spirit.
A throne was there in heaven, and on the throne sat one
whose appearance sparkled like jasper and carnelian.
Around the throne was a halo as brilliant as an emerald.
Surrounding the throne I saw twenty-four other thrones
on which twenty-four elders sat,
dressed in white garments and with gold crowns on their heads.
From the throne came flashes of lightning,
rumblings, and peals of thunder.
Seven flaming torches burned in front of the throne,
which are the seven spirits of God.
In front of the throne was something that resembled
a sea of glass like crystal.
In the center and around the throne,
there were four living creatures
covered with eyes in front and in back.
The first creature resembled a lion, the second was like a calf,
the third had a face like that of a man,
and the fourth looked like an eagle in flight.
The four living creatures, each of them with six wings,
were covered with eyes inside and out.
Day and night they do not stop exclaiming:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God almighty,
who was, and who is, and who is to come.”
Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks
to the one who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever,
the twenty-four elders fall down
before the one who sits on the throne
and worship him, who lives forever and ever.
They throw down their crowns before the throne, exclaiming:
“Worthy are you, Lord our God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things;
because of your will they came to be and were created.”
The Word of the Lord.
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Advent is an appointed season, when we’re called to contemplate the return of Christ, the end of the world, and the new world being ushered in by him.
As we near this holy season, the Church offers us excerpts from the Book of Revelation as our first reading to warm us up, as it were. Revelation contains some of the most graphic images of what heaven is like.
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“I, John, had a vision of an open door to heaven,” he says today, “and I heard the trumpetlike voice saying, ‘Come up here and I will show you.’”
Just as a door connects two different spaces, so heaven and earth are linked; bound together. Once John passes through that door, he sees God seated upon his throne. But he does not describe God using human-like qualities.
In a single word, God is light.
Three colors that emanate from God are green, red, and an unbearably bright crystal. The green represents God’s mercy; the red, his wrath for those who have harmed his “little ones”; and the brilliant crystal, his holiness.
Thus, God is merciful, just, and pure.
Beneath his throne is a sea of glass, representing the purity, expansiveness, and luxuriousness of heaven.
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Surrounding God’s throne are four living creatures, which resemble a lion, an ox, an eagle, and a human. These creatures represent many things, including the four Gospels and the life of Christ.
The lion represents the strength and power of Christ. The ox, being an animal of sacrifice, represents Christ’s self-offering. The human represents his incarnation. And the eagle represents the Holy Spirit, who comes to us at Pentecost.
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Finally, John hears a loud chorus of praise, the only possible reaction to being in God’s presence. Together, they sing, Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God almighty, who was, and who is, and who is to come.
As we prepare for the Lord’s return, may we join our hearts with the choirs of heaven, praising the God of yesterday, today, and forever for having loved us and given himself for us.
Some day we, too, shall see for ourselves what the splendor of heaven is like.
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Image credits: (1) Bible Pics (2) Bible Only, WordPress (3)