If these views of the meaning of these symbols are correct, then the idea which would be conveyed to the mind of John, and the idea, therefore, which should be conveyed to our minds, is, that the government of God is energetic, firm, intelligent, and that in the execution of its purposes it is _rapid_ like the unobstructed flight of an eagle, or _protective_ like the care of the eagle for its young. When, in the subsequent parts of the vision, these living creatures are represented as offering praise and adoration to Him that sits on the throne (ver. 8; ch. v. 8, 14), the meaning would be, in accordance with this representation, that all the acts of divine government do, as if they were personified, unite in the praise which the redeemed and the angels ascribe to God. All living things, and all acts of the Almighty, conspire to proclaim his glory. The church, by her representatives, the “four and twenty elders,” honours God; the angels, without number, unite in the praise; all creatures in heaven, in earth, under the earth, and in the sea (ch. v. 13), join in the song; and all the acts and ways of God declare also his majesty and glory: for around his throne, and beneath his throne, are expressive symbols of the firmness, energy, intelligence, and power with which his government is administered. 8 And the four beasts had each of them [188]six wings about _him_; and _they were_ full of eyes within: and they [189]rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.