MYSTERY OF THE 4 LIVING CREATURES
Beloved in the Lord, Shalom! I am Pastor Moses Lushiku. Today the Teacher has put it into my heart to share with you on the theme of the four living beings around the throne.
This is a direct revelation we received from the Lord Himself in 2007 when we had the Visitation of the Lord with the two Archangels, Gabriel and Michael. And here we are at the Messianic Church in Kinshasa where this experience took place.
We were given Revelation chapter 4 and we will read with you verses 6 and 7. The prophetic word declares
Rev 4:6 And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Rev 4:7 And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.
We repeat the words of the beloved Lord.
In verse 6, it says, And before the throne, there was a sea of glass like unto crystal.
The Lord told us during this visitation that this crystal sea of glass symbolizes the principle of limits or boundary between the throne of God and the realm of man. Man must traverse the sea of crystal glass if he wants to get to where God is on His throne. This is like the ocean being the boundary between the terrestrial world and the marine world. To pass from land to the marine world, one must pass through the oceans. Likewise, to pass from where we are to God's throne, one must pass the sea of crystal glass.
The crystal-like sea of glass is transparent and symbolizes transparency. Who should approach the throne of God? He who is transparent and lives apart from hypocrisy can advance towards the throne of God.
In the second part of verse 6, it says, and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
These four creatures with full of eyes are like the CCTV (closed-circuit TV) placed around the throne of God to see and scan everyone approaching the throne. They have eyes in front and behind. They are like the system control room of the security office of a building, monitoring everyone entering and leaving the building.
We now begin the prophetic analysis of these four living beings. These four living creatures were "in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne." They are close to God and occupy the role of the mighty ones because they are around the throne. The Lord said that those who resemble these living beings are the overcomers and they will be brought to the throne of God. The Lord said that He will let the overcomer sit with Him on His throne.
“To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.” (Revelation 3:21.)
The first living being is the Lion and that night, the Lord explained to us, "Is it not written about Me that I am the Lion of the tribe of Judah?"
Revelation 5:5 Behold, the Lion that is from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has overcome so as to open the book and its seven seals."
The second living being is the calf and the Lord said, "Is it not written in the scriptures that I was made a servant of the Master? The calf is the symbol of a servant who works in plowing the land to grow crops and plants."
Philippians 2:7 But made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men
Zechariah 3:8 Behold, I will bring forth My servant the BRANCH.
Isaiah 42:1 Behold My servant, whom I uphold; Mine elect, in whom My soul delighteth; I have put My Spirit upon Him: He shall bring forth judgment to the Gentiles.
The third living being has the face of a man and the Lord adds, "Is it not written in the scriptures that, In the beginning, was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1) and is that Word not Me? since it is written, And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. (John 1:14). This man, the only begotten of the Father, makes mention of Me."
The fourth living being is the eagle whom the Lord said is the king of the birds. It is the eagle that makes its habitation at the top of the high mountains and flies high in the skies. The Lord said, "This flying eagle symbolizes Me because I am supremely high and I was raised above all." Because it soars upward, the eagle is a symbol of the resurrection or ascension of Christ.
The Lord continued, "The four creatures being alive is My message that I give you under four phases."
The 4 phases manifest the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in four different aspects of the Lord Jesus.
In Matthew, we see the Messiah-King (the lion).
In Mark, we see Jehovah’s Servant (the ox).
In Luke, we see the Son of Man (the man).
In John, we see the Son of God (the eagle).
The four Gospels symbolize the four corners of the earth. The four corners of the earth symbolize the four winds and the four directions - North and South, East and West.
The Lord explained to us that to reach the throne, there are four phases that we have to pass through - the Lion, the Calf, the Man and the Eagle. The Lord said, "To reach the throne, you must be My imitators. I will give you a place to sit with Me on the throne when you pass through these four phases."
THE PHASE OF THE LION
The Lord Jesus said, "I am the Lion of the tribe of Judah. The first phase is the Lion, which is the symbol of decision and determination for it is written, No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. (Luke 9:62)"
To arrive at the throne in heaven, it is necessary to have the spirit of the Lion. The Lion attacks and never retreat. You have to be like lions, that is, when they attack, they never turn back. Lions come close to the throne and that alliance with the throne is the result and culmination of their decision and determination to press through and never retreat.
Matthew 11:12 And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.
We must be firm with our decision to pursue God so that we will develop the image of the Lion in us.
THE PHASE OF THE CALF
When we have the spirit of the Lion in us, we proceed to develop the spirit of servanthood like a Calf. The Calf or the young bullock works on the farms pulling heavy things like the plow to break up the soil in order that seedlings may be planted. The Calf is the symbol of the servant who plows the hard ground of sinners' hearts to plant the seed of the Word of God. When such seeds take root and grow, the recipients will mature to love each other and serve each other.
The Calf is the image of consecration towards the ministry. You want to go to heaven and be an overcomer to sit with Christ (Rev 3:21) on His throne, you will have to serve like a Calf.
The nature of the Calf is such that when it is hitched with the yoke to pull the plow, the Calf closes its mouth and humbly does its job. This symbolizes the servant who serves God without murmuring or complaining.
The fields may be very big, the work is very hard and may be fraught with dangers from tigers and lions. Nevertheless, the Calf must still pull the plow. It symbolizes the endurance of the ministry.
The servant makes many sacrifices for the work of God. When he takes on the image of the Calf, he begins to look like Jesus the Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53:1-5, Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from Him; He was despised, and we esteemed Him not. Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon Him; and with His stripes, we are healed.
Jesus is the One who carried the load of the sins of mankind. Jesus was a man of pain accustomed to suffering. We must make sacrifices for the work of God. We must suffer to pay the price for plowing this land of the hearts of the sinners and sowing the seeds of God's Word into their hearts.
This is the prophetic significance of the Calf. He who wants to go to heaven must have the emblem of the Calf, which is the image of the Servant of God who works for a great harvest.
The proof is that Revelation 1:6 tells us Christ "hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen."
All priests must have an altar under which he must offer the sacrifices of souls to God. As Paul says in Romans 15:16, to be a minister of Christ Jesus to the Gentiles. He gave me the priestly duty of proclaiming the gospel of God so that the Gentiles might become an offering acceptable to God, sanctified by the Holy Spirit.
The Calf is the servant who works for the conversion of souls. The world has to convert to Jesus Christ and to know the things of God.
THE PHASE OF THE MAN
The third living being has the face of the Man. Among the four living beings, two are animals, one is a bird and one is the Man. Why is there a Man among the animals? To reach the throne, one must be like the four living beings and that includes having the nature of the distinguished Man.
During God's creation of the world, God said in Gen 1:26-27 Let us make man in Our image, after Our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them.
The third living being having the face of a Man is the profession of the image of God. We must develop the nature of man to become the image of God to reach the throne of God. Man must develop the image and nature of God to be distinguished from the thousands of creation. That is why we see a Man among the two animals and one bird. Man is the only one among the four living beings that can develop the image and nature of God.
Paul says in 2 Corinthians 3:18, But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.
Among the created beings, only Man is endowed with consciousness and intelligence. Animals do not have the capacity to fear God. Man is the only one who can have the fear of God.
As Ecclesiastes 12:13 says, The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
2 Corinthians 7:1 Since we have these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from every defilement of body and spirit, bringing holiness to completion in the fear of God.
The prophetic significance of the Man among the four living beings is to have the image of God and the fear of God to come to the throne of God.
THE PHASE OF THE EAGLE
The fourth living being is the Eagle. It has wings spread out in a position of flight. Isaiah 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary, and they shall walk, and not faint.
The Eagles run and do not get tired. They walk and do not faint. The Eagle is already in the heavenly realm without any earthly resistance or attachment. The Eagle is the king of the birds and goes the farthest and highest.
When the Eagle takes flight, it lifts its wings and raises up its legs. The legs being raised up symbolizes its detachment from earthly and worldly things.
The Lord Jesus said, "I order you, My people, to separate from the Earth. When you put your faith in Me, you become masters and to become masters, it is necessary to avoid the things of this earthly life."
"As the Eagle fly furthest and highest, it sees vast landscapes at a glance. It sets its heart on very big goals. Eagles are those who see very big goals when they walk with Me."
Eagles are those who believe in "Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us." (Eph 3:20)
The Lord said that the Eagle has tendencies to climb higher and higher in the sky. Those who have the image of the Eagle have the tendencies to go further and higher in the things of the Lord.
The Lord added that the Eagle is a bird of the mountains, which means to be an Eagle, one must seek the presence of God every day. It is written of Jesus that He often went up to the mountains to pray.
Matthew 14:23 tells us, “And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up into a mountain apart to pray: and when the evening has come, He was there alone.”
We read in Luke 6:12, “And it came to pass in those days, that He went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
We also read where the Lord took some of His disciples with Him to a mountain to pray. Luke 9:28 says, “And it came to pass about an eight days after these sayings, He took Peter and John and James, and went up into a mountain to pray.”
The habitation of the Eagle on the mountain enables him to go very far in the things of heaven while the vision of the earth becomes smaller and smaller in his sight. The Eagle purifies himself from earthly things and becomes heavenly minded as he spends time on the mountain in the presence of God.
