Behold-"Four Living Creatures"!

John now observes another feature. He writes: " And in the midst of the throne and around the throne there are four living creatures that are full of eyes in front and behind."-Revelation 4:6b.

What do these creatures picture? A vision reported by another prophet, Ezekiel, helps us to find the answer. Ezekiel saw Jehovah enthroned on a celestial chariot, which was accompanied by living creatures embodying characteristics similar to those described by John. (Ezekiel 1:5-11, 22-28) Later, Ezekiel again saw that chariot throne accompanied by the living creatures. This time, however, he referred to the living creatures as cherubs. (Ezekiel 10:9-15) The four living creatures that John sees must represent the many cherubs of God-creatures of high rank in His spirit organization. John would not think it unusual to see cherubs positioned so close to Jehovah's person, since in the ancient tabernacle arrangement, two cherubs of gold were displayed upon the lid of the Ark of the Convenant, which represented Jehovah's throne. From between these cherubs, Jehovah's voice issued commandments to the nation. -Exodus 25:22; Psalm 80:1.

These four living creatures are "in the midst of the throne and around the throne." Exactly what does this mean? It could signal that they are positioned around the throne in such a way that one is standing in the middle of each side. Thus, the translators of Today's English Version paraphrased the original Greek expression in this way: "surrounding the throne on each of its sides." Alternately, the expression could mean that the four living creatures are in the central position in heaven where the throne is. Likely, that is why The Jerusalem Bible renders the phrase: "in the centre, grouped around the throne itself." The important thing is the closeness of the cherubs to Jehovah's throne, comparable to that of the cherubs that Ezekiel 1: 15-22) All of this harmonizes with the words of Psalm 99:1: "Jehovah himself has become king. . . . He is sitting upon the cherubs."

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