Rosy Maple Moths and the Creatures Covered With Eyes

Wonder and Worship of the One Who Is Worthy

A sense of wonder at creation and worship of the Creator are some of my favorite themes. When I walked through the mountains this summer the whole thing felt like communion with God. I was worshiping in his temple.

But when I attempted to communicate these ideas in a sermon on Revelation 4 last Sunday, I felt like I failed to get things across clearly. That happens every once in a while. Thankfully, the reality of God does not depend on the clarity of my words. But since God and speaking about God clearly are important, I decided to write things down.

Revelation 4 gives us an image of God’s throne in heaven. The first response from secular people is that this is make-believe. All theists (Jews, Christians, and Muslims are the main ones) agree that God is the source and creator of all things. Atheists believe that the physical world is all there is. There is no spiritual reality. At the same time, many atheist and agnostic people I know do have a sense of wonder about the world. What do they do with that sense of wonder? Some have even had mystical experiences. I asked one woman if her experiences could be clues or signposts leading the way to something. “If they are,” she replied, “I would rather not follow them. That would take away the mystery.”

I think I understand her view, but if she followed the signs to the source, God, that would only lead to mystery upon mystery. God is holy, powerful, and eternal, the source of all things, the overflowing fountain of goodness, whose love is beyond comprehension. This is exactly what the strange creatures surrounding God’s throne say night and day without ceasing. What four creatures? The ones that have six wings and are covered with eyes on every surface. One has the face of a lion, one an ox, another a man, and the last an eagle. This is what they say day and night without ceasing:

            “Holy, holy, holy

            Is the Lord God Almighty,

            Who was, and is, and is to come.”

A friend said that his first response to hearing that these four creatures repeat the same thing forever was, “That sounds boring.” Here is where the book of Revelation is both challenging and exciting. John saw and heard things “in the Spirit” who took him through the “door standing open in heaven.” How could John communicate the reality of God? Through language and symbol, many of which refer back to the Old Testament. In fact Revelation is jam-packed with references to the Old Testament, making it rich with layer upon layer of meaning that can only be uncovered by careful, Spirit-filled reading of the entire Bible.

One of the challenges of making my sermon clear was the abundance of connections between Revelation and other parts of the Bible. The throne, the living creatures, the crowns, the creation, the threefold repetition of the word “holy” – all light up with numerous references. One thing that scholars seem to agree on here is that the four creatures represent the whole created order. Lion, ox, human, and eagle are the kings of their spheres. There they stand giving God glory at his throne.

Earth is represented in heaven. The four creatures represent all creation glorifying God in heaven. In the same way, heaven is reflected in the earth.

Heaven, by the way, does not mean a far-off place. Heaven is the Bible’s way of referring to God’s space, in contrast with our space, which is the earth. Heaven and earth are not completely separated, but are interconnected. John had a much fuller experience than most of us, but the woman I mentioned earlier experienced a little window of heaven. Spiritual reality is present here on the earth.

The temple was the primary place where heaven and earth overlapped. This is where things get even more complicated. The temple contained many themes of a garden – trees, flowers, fruits, and so on. That leads many people to think that the temple was modeled on the garden of Eden. And the garden of Eden, of course, is the place where Adam and Eve were placed after God created the world. Genesis 1 recounts the creation of the world in 6 days, and God rested on the 7^th. An interesting book by biblical scholar John Walton suggests that the important part of Genesis 1 is not the time or the materials used in the creation, but the purpose of the creation. He argues that ancient people would have understood that the creation account was about the setting up of a temple. Indeed, there are references to the temple as God’s resting-place (Psalm 132:7-8. 13-14, Isaiah 66:1-2).

What does this mean about the universe we live in? It is the temple of God! And the thing about temples is that a god dwells there. God made the entire universe as the temple in which he intends to dwell. Ancient temples all had images of some god or gods places inside. The one God commanded, “Make no images.” But when he created the universe, he said, “Let us make humankind in our image…to rule.” We are God’s image, through whom God would dwell in his temple and rule his kingdom. We are “a kingdom and priests,” as the Bible repeats in several places.

“Kingdom and priests” means that the king’s throne and the temple are related. Psalm 132 speaks as if the resting place of God – the temple – is also his throne (actually, just the footstool of his throne, God’s throne is heaven itself). This leads us back to Revelation 4. John sees the throne in heaven and around it are four creatures. Before describing the creatures, John tells us things that stretch the imagination, like rainbows that shine like emeralds. There is indescribably beauty there. If the creatures represent all creation, this tells us that all created things reflect God’s glory. When you see leaves shimmering in the sun, a lake reflecting the light of the moon and stars, when you observe a lion, ox, man, or eagle or any other animal – you see a reflection of God. All creation sings. “Let all the trees of the forest sing for joy,” says Psalm 96 (along with similar verses in 1 Chronicles and Isaiah.). What does creation sing? God’s holiness, power, and eternal nature. Creation sings God’s goodness, beauty, wisdom, and creativity.

Heaven is reflected in the earth. Like a painting reflects the artist, a gourmet dish reflects the chef, a song reflects the author and artist, so the universe reflects the Creator. I think every person has a sense of wonder about the world we live in, at least at certain moments. Many people think that science has eliminated the possibility of faith in God. I disagree. The tools and technology of science open up the wonders of the world. I recently discovered the YouTube channel Ant Lab. I know the channel for its slow-motion videos of insects taking flight. Many are a combination of clumsiness and grace. The video 7 Spectacular Moths in Slow Motion! shows creatures that are as fascinating and weird as the four creatures around God’s throne. Watch a minute or two. Do these fill you with a sense of wonder?  The first one, the rosy maple moth, looks like a stuffed animal. Surely that’s not real?

I may be weird, but I often find myself marveling at the basic facts of chemistry – the universe is made up of uncountable atoms, which elude description at their most basic level, but which combine to form minerals, molecules, and complex enzymes. All of those are essential for biology. These videos of moths show physics as well. We copied flight eventually, but with fixed rather than delicate, pliable, luminous flapping wings. And these moths are beautiful too, with their iridescent colors. Humans are the ones observing, studying, and thinking. In another video, the Ant Lab creator describes acorn weevils as “awkward, determined, and glorious.” In yet another video, a scientist describes ant nests as “beautiful.” His book on the topic is called Ant Architecture: The Wonder, Beauty, and Science of Underground Nests. Scientists have a sense of wonder and delight in the world.

That is because heaven is reflected in the earth. The whole universe is the temple of God. Here there is, of course, a great gap between those who believe and those who do not. Actually, it’s not true that atheists don’t believe anything. They do believe. They believe that the universe exists on its own, apart from any power or personality that caused it to exist. They believe that biology came spontaneously from chemistry. They believe that the human sense of wonder is a byproduct of evolution. I find this impossible to believe. And also far less satisfying than worshipping God. Whether the universe is billions of years old or not doesn’t matter (God is “the one who was, and is, and is to come.”) What matters is whether the universe explains itself or not.

The astronomer Allan Sandage helped to calculate the speed at which the universe is expanding. But he was always troubled by questions that were beyond the reach of science. “Why is there something rather than nothing?” he wondered. It was so much against his habits as an atheist that he had to will himself to belief. But his new faith in the Creator was not anti-scientific. “It was my science that drove me to the conclusion that the world is much more complicated than can be explained by science,” he said.

Besides the four strange creatures, 24 “elders” surround God’s throne in John’s vision. The elders fall down and lay their crowns before the throne. They give back to God the glory and honor they have received. Their words parallel their action: “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

They go beyond wonder to worship. All creation sings God’s praise. Humans sing God’s praise with intelligence: “You are worthy…to receive glory and honor and power, because you created all things.” The fact of existence is cause for worship of God. That was the astronomer Allan Sandage’s conclusion.

People sometimes wonder why God desires worship. The questions deserves some attention, but I will just say here that the person who knows that God is love doesn’t wonder about worship. They know that worship is joy.

Revelation 4 shows us how to think about the space we live in, this universe. It is God’s temple. It reflects heaven. Since we are made to be God’s kingdom and priests, let us lead the song of God’s praise.

Amazingly, the biblical view of the universe, which seems so solid, tells us that it’s only temporary.

In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth,
    and the heavens are the work of your hands.
They will perish, but you remain;
    they will all wear out like a garment.
Like clothing you will change them
    and they will be discarded.
But you remain the same,
    and your years will never end.

• Psalm 102:25-27

The only thing that is permanent is God, the one who was, and is, and is to come. He will do away with the heavens and the earth in order to make a new heaven and a new earth. There will be no temple there, because God himself and the lamb will be its temple. And we will be his people. And we will reign forever and ever. The lamb of God shows up in Revelation 5, which we will get to this coming Sunday. I am looking forward to the stories of some young heroes from Uganda who exemplify the lamb’s way of life. This is another favorite theme. I pray that I may communicate it clearly the first time.