bout the throne, were four beasts
full of eyes before and behind.

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.

8. And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they
were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy,
holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

9. And when those beasts give glory, and honor, and thanks, to him that
sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

10. The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the
throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their
crowns before the throne, saying,

11. Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and honour, and power;
for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were
created.

Vs. 6-11.--The "sea of glass before the throne" is a symbol taken from
the "brazen sea" in the temple, in which priests and victims were to be
washed. (Exod. xxx. 18; 1 Kings vii. 23.) This sea represents the same
thing as the "fountain opened," (Zech. xiii. 1,) which denotes the
atoning and cleansing blood of Christ. (Ch. vii. 14.) All who offer
"spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God," must first be washed; for the
"Lord had respect to Abel" _first_, and then to his "offering," (Gen.
iv. 4.)--Next, John saw "four beasts." The translation here is faulty,
as noticed by many expositors. Different words in the original
Greek,--not only different, but in some respects opposite in
signification, ought not to be rendered by the same English word; for
this tends to mislead the unlearned leader. He is thus bewildered
instead of being enlightened. There are several beasts besides these,
introduced as instructive symbols in this book. Two are mentioned in ch.
xiii. 1, 11, altogether different from these,--so different as to be
antagonistic. Instead of "beasts," they should have been called
"animals" or "living beings;" for even the phrase "living _creatures_"
hardly covers or conveys the whole import of the Greek word. The
position of these "four animals" is worthy of special notice:--"in the
midst of the throne, and round about the throne." How can this be? Well,
if the "seats" and the "elders" occupying them are "round about the
throne," in a segment of a circle, as viewed by John, then it will be
readily perceived that the "animals" seen from the s