Who Are The Four Living Creatures?

Would you rather listen than read? Listen here.

I Love Talking Animals

Have you seen the Chewy commercial? The one with the Saint Bernard and Chihuahua, also known as Georgio and Ralph. It begins with the Saint Bernard looking out the window and saying, “The peanut butter box is here.” The Chihuahua then tries to correct him by reminding him it is medications and not peanut butter. I find this hilarious. I love anything with talking animals.

However, I highly dislike movies with talking creatures. Growing up, my mom loved “The Never-Ending Story.” It felt like that to me, never ending. The scales on the talking dog dragon thing really bothered me. Anything fantasy, no thank you.

So, one would think the book of Revelation would not be something that would interest me with all the strange characters, but on the contrary, it intrigues me. Let’s jump in and look at four interesting beings.

The Four Living Creatures

“In the center and around the throne were four living beings, each covered with eyes, front and back. The first of these living beings was like a lion; the second was like an ox; the third had a human face; and the fourth was like an eagle in flight. Each of these living beings had six wings, and their wings were covered all over with eyes, inside and out. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God, the Almighty — the one who always was, who is, and who is still to come.’”

Revelation 4:6-8 NLT

Known as the ‘Four Living Creatures’, these angelic beings fascinate me just as much as the twenty-four elders, mostly because of their interesting description and their worship. Most people think this is the only place we see them, but we can find them in multiple places throughout the Bible. Isaiah sees them almost exactly as John sees them in Isaiah 6:1-3.

“In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another: ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.’”

Isaiah 6:1-3 NIV

Ezekiel also shares his visions of the creatures in Ezekiel 1:4-14 and Ezekiel 10:8-22. I encourage you to take some time to read them. In these scriptures, we read of them as cherubim. From Hebrew origin, Cherubim are supernatural beings that serve in the presence of God.

Appearance Of The Four Living Creatures

The appearance of the Four Living Creatures is quite interesting. We read in Revelation and Isaiah of each creature having a different appearance: one is like a lion, one is like an ox, one is like a man, and one is like an eagle. When we read Ezekiel, all four creatures portray all four appearances.

It gets even more interesting from here. They have eyes covering their six wings. Can you envision this? So what does all this mean? I want to preface that we will not know for sure until we see them for ourselves on the other side of glory. Everything we know is an educated guess based on what we know from the Bible.

Attributes Of God

Some scholars say the appearance of the lion, ox, man, and eagle represents the many attributes of God. The lion refers to God’s power and majesty. The ox illustrates God’s patience and justice. Man represents God’s wisdom and knowledge. The eagle points to God’s glory.

The Four Gospels

Others would lean towards the idea that the four appearances symbolize the four gospels. Throughout church history, we have seen Mark represented by a lion, Luke by an ox or calf, Matthew by a man, and John by an eagle.

Six Wings Covered In Eyes

Let’s turn our focus now to the six wings covered with eyes. There are several ideas behind this. One thought is the eyes symbolize the all-seeing and all-knowing nature of God. Yet others say the eyes emphasize their role as protectors of the throne of God.

Worship

Ready for what I love most about them? You guessed it, their worship. The Four Living Creatures constantly give glory and honor to God. We read that day after day and night after night; they worship Him. They represent the complete and perfect worship of God, and serve as a reminder of the constant presence of his divine power and sovereignty.

What can we take from this? It shows that worship of God should be constant, not just limited to specific times or places. God desires our worship all the time.

As we have all experienced, this is not always easy. Sometimes in life, when everything feels like it is falling apart, it is hard to worship. We don’t know what to say. Our hearts are so broken we lose focus on how to worship.

I am going to encourage you like I did the group going through the study of Revelation with me. Go through Revelation chapters four and five. Write out the moments of worship. Between the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures, there are five moments of worship.

Write these in a journal or a place you can easily access them. Writing it helps you remember it. Read them out loud and use them as guides in prayer. These words are powerful and can transform any broken heart into something new and whole.