^4:8 And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, "Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come."

And the four LIVING CREATURES

• each one of them having six WINGS,

  Compare this description with Isaiah's vision in Isaiah 6:1-3.

  • * 2 wings covered the face - reverence before God.
  • * 2 wings covered the feet - all their goings are in humility
  • * 2 wings were for flying - created beings doing the Lord's commands in perfect obedience.

  If the "King of Tyre" in Ezekiel 28:11-19 is Satan as many scholars believe, then we get a different picture of a created being who has fallen. Note the contribution that material things (verse 16) and beauty (verse 17) made leads to the ultimate downfall. The four LIVING CREATURES, while very powerful, are the opposite: reverent, humble, and obedient.

• are full of EYES around and within, and

These four creatures see all on behalf of the Lord. Zechariah records this differently in Zechariah chapters 3 and 4, BUT the eyes go throughout the earth anyway.

• day and night they do not cease to say,
  • "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is the Lord God, the Almighty,

  Technically, there is no night in heaven, so these living creatures give ceaseless honor. Furthermore, in Hebrew the repetition of a word adds emphasis. Double is rare, so three times is major emphasis!!!

                     HOLY, HOLY, HOLY       
  

  His name is HOLY and awesome -- Psalm 111:7-10.

  Nothing UNCLEAN can be in heaven -- Revelation 21:22-27. All must be HOLY.

  Somehow, we have the perception (deception - Revelation 12:9) that God will overlook some shortcoming (uncleanness) BUT not so. Remember the testing will be done by fire on the temple of God, which we are and is HOLY (1 Corinthians 3:12-17).

  • who WAS and

    Perfect = HOLY in creation (John 1:1-2; Psalm 90:1-2).

  • who IS and

    Perfect = His work of redemption (Hebrews 10:11-13; Hebrews 7:23-25).

  • who IS TO COME."

    Perfect = His work of consummation (John 14:1-21).