four

As part of the vision John the Evangelist saw in the Island of Patmos were four living creatures who were described in the King James Version (KJV) as “four beasts”. These beings are mentioned ten times in the Book of Ezekiel and twenty times in Revelation.

Did You Say Beasts?

In the King James Bible they are referred to as “four beasts”, a rendering that is rather inappropriate and misleading. The Greek word from which it is translated is zo’on whichmeans “living thing”. This word has been used for animals, e.g. in Heb. 13:11, 2 Pet. 2:12, and Jude 1:10. But to use the word “beasts” in relation to the four beings is crude. A beast standing before the throne of God in heaven sounds very absurd. John Wycliffe (c. 1320-1385) who was the first to refer to them as “beasts” probably did so because of the weird appearance of these spirit beings. Although John did not give full details about the appearance of these beings, the description of them given by prophet Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:5-12) is more enlightening:

“At the center of the storm I saw what looked like four living creatures in human form, but each of them had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, and they had hoofs like those of a bull. They shone like polished bronze. In addition to their four faces and four wings, they each had four human hands, one under each wing. Two wings of each creature were spread out so that the creatures formed a square, with their wing tips touching. When they moved, they moved as a group without turning their bodies. Each living creature had four different faces: a human face in front, a lion’s face at the right, a bull’s face at the left, and an eagle’s face at the back. Two wings of each creature were raised so that they touched the tips of the wings of the creatures next to it, and their other two wings were folded against their bodies. Each creature faced all four directions, and so the group could go wherever they wished, without having to turn” (Ezek. 1:5-12 GNT).

 They are living, animated, moving beings. Therefore the use of “living creatures” or “living beings” by newer versions of the English Bible are more appropriate than “beasts” used by Wycliffe and the translators of the KJV.

Their Description

Apostle John’s description of the living beings, although slightly different from what Ezekiel saw, have striking similarities in their appearance:

• The first living creature seen by John was like a lion, the second like an ox, the third had a human face, and the fourth was like a flying eagle (Rev. 4:7). But each of the four living beings seen by Ezekiel had four faces – of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle (Ezek. 1:5,10,11). While Ezekiel saw the four faces united on the head of a cherub (Ezek. 1:6,10), John saw each of the appearances in each of the four living beings. From this it may be inferred that John was not  given to see the full appearance of each of the living creatures. But Ezekiel was allowed to see that each of the cherubim had the four faces.
• Each of the four living creatures seen by John had six wings (Rev. 4:8), similar to the seraphim seen by Isaiah (Isa. 6:2). But in Ezekiel’s description, each of the four living creatures had four wings (Ezek. 1:6; 10:21).
• The living creatures were always praising God; they kept calling to one another, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty…” (Rev. 4:8). When Isaiah saw the seraphim, they were doing exactly the same thing (Isa. 6:3).
• Ezekiel saw the whole bodies – the backs, hands, and wings of the living creatures were full of eyes all around(Ezek. 10:12). John saw their front and back, and wings were full of eyes around and within (Rev.4:6,8).
• Ezekiel saw four living creatures (Ezek. 1 & 10). John also saw four living creatures (Rev. 4:6,8; 5:6,8,14; etc.). When Isaiah said, “one cried to another” (Isa. 6:3, KJV), some people misunderstand Isaiah as referring to two seraphim. But the rendition of some versions of the English Bible like NIV, NET, BSB as “they were calling to one another” removes this misleading idea. Isaiah too might have seen four living creatures which he called seraphim. In his own account, he did not tell us how many seraphim he saw.

These similarities in their appearance and their unending singing of praises to the Most High God are too striking to be ignored.

Who Are They?

Many different interpretations have been given of the four living creatures:

• The four living creatures represent Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph.
• The four living creatures represent the four Gospels – the man is Matthew; the lion is Mark; the ox is Luke; and the eagle is John.
• The four living beings are the four great apostles – the lion is Peter; James the brother of the Lord is the ox; Matthew is the man and Paul is the eagle.
• They represent the four patriarchal churches – the man is Alexandria, the lion is Jerusalem, the ox is Antioch, and the eagle is Constantinople.
• They represent the four motive powers of the human soul – reason, anger, desire, and conscience.
• They represent the attributes of divinity – wisdom, power, omniscience, creation.
• They represent the four principal angels – Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael.

All these interpretations are mere conjectures as they lack both implicit and explicit scriptural support. For example, in the apocryphal Book of Tobit, angel Raphael said he is one of the seven archangels who stand in the glorious presence of God, ready at all times to do His bidding (Tobit 12:15). In another apocryphal Book of Enoch, the seven principal angels are named as Uriel, Raphael, Reguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel, and Ramiel (1 Enoch 10). Then in the Book of Revelation, we read of “seven lamps of fire burning before the throne which are the seven spirits of God sent into all the earth” (Rev. 4:5; 5:6). In Rev. 8:2, these seven spirits of God are called seven angels. Archangels are principal or chief angels. Nowhere is it written that the principal angels are four in number.

There is also nowhere the Bible talks of four great apostles. Our Lord Jesus did have three of the apostles who seemed to be closest to Him – Peter, James and John (Matt. 17:1; Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33; Luke 8:51; 9:28). Apostle Paul referred to them as those who seemed to be pillars in the Jerusalem church (Gal. 2:9). Matthew was never mentioned as one of them. Neither was Paul ever called one of four great apostles.