Who Was, and Is, and Is To Come!
Revelation 4:8 (ESV) – And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”
There are people who we know as historical figures. George Washington and Napoleon lived hundreds of years ago. King Cyrus of Persia lived thousands of years ago. We also have people living in the present. You and I are two of them. Michael Jordan, George W. Bush, and Joe Rogan are other people alive right now. Then there are people that exist only in the mind of God who will come in the future, if the Lord tarries. There are people from the past, present, and will be people in the future.
Our passage today teaches us that God is unlike any of us in that He exists eternally in the past, present, and future. We read this in Revelation 4:8, “And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, ‘Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!’”
This passage is from John’s vision in Revelation. The four living creatures, likely angels, cry day and night singing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God Almighty.” They extol His holiness and greatness. This is similar to the language of the cherubim in Isaiah 6 crying “holy, holy, holy.” But notice they say more. They continue, “who was and is and is to come.” What does this mean?
This phrase marks the eternal and timeless nature of God. He is the holy one who always is. God exists in all times, at all times. He is unlike anyone else.
There has never been a time when God has not been. Nor will there ever be a time. This is mind-blowing to consider and reflect on.
Worship the Lord God Almighty today.
He is holy, holy, holy. He is the one who was, and is, and is to come. Every step into your future is one in which He awaits you there.
Reflection & Journal:
- Why is the eternal nature of God such a difficult thing to contemplate?
- What sort of practical applications does this make in our lives?
- How does the worship of the four living creatures demonstrate a standard for all creatures?
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