Revelation 4:2

And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. AND. Omitted in 'Aleph (') A B, Vulgate, Syriac. I WAS - `I became in the Spirit' (note, Revelation 1:10); rapt in vision into the heavenly world. WAS SET - not was placed, but was situated [ ekeito (G2749)]. ONE SAT ON THE THRONE - the Eternal Father: the Creator (Revelation 4:11: cf. Revelation 5:8, with...

1-8 After the Lord Jesus had instructed the apostle to write to the churches "the things that are," there was another vision. The apostle saw a throne set in heaven, an emblem of the universal dominion of Jehovah. He saw a glorious One upon the throne, not described by human features, so as to be represented by a likeness or image, but only by his surpassing brightness. These seem emblems of the excellence of the Divine nature, and of God's awful justice. The rainbow is a fit emblem of that covenant of promise which God has made with Christ, as the Head of the church, and with all his people in him. The prevailing colour was a pleasant green, showing the reviving and refreshing nature of the new covenant. Four-and-twenty seats around the throne, were filled with four-and-twenty elders, representing, probably, the whole church of God. Their sitting denotes honour, rest, and satisfaction;...

Verse Revelation 4:2. _I WAS IN THE SPIRIT_] Rapt up in an ecstasy....

AND IMMEDIATELY I WAS IN THE SPIRIT - See the notes on Revelation 1:10. He does not affirm that he was caught up into heaven, nor does he say what impression was on his own mind, if any, as to the place where he was; but he was at once absorbed in the contemplation of the visions before him. He was doubtless still in Patmos, and these things were made to pass before his mind as a reality; that is, they appeared as real to him as if he saw them, and they were in fact a real symbolical representation of things occurring in heaven. AND, BEHOLD, A THRONE WAS SET IN HEAVEN - That is, a throne was placed there. The first thing that arrested his attention was a throne. Tiffs was “in heaven” - an expression which proves that the scene of the vision was not the temple in Jerusalem, as some have supposed. There is no allusi

EXPOSITION This is the commencement of the second great division, which embraces Revelation 4-22:5, that in which the revelation, properly so called, takes place. Revelation 4:1. and 5. contain the first of the seven visions, which is itself a prelude to the rest. REVELATION 4:1 AFTER THIS; or, _after these things _(μετὰ ταῦτα). There is no good ground for supposing, as some do, that, after the events narrated in Revelation 3:1., an interval occurred in the visions, during which St. John possibly wrote down the matter contained in the first three chapters. Nor is there any justification for assigning what follows to a time after this world.

AND IMMEDIATELY I WAS IN THE SPIRIT,.... As he had been before, Revelation 1:10; it seems he had been some little time out of his ecstasy, how long cannot be said, and now, upon this new scene of things, returned to it; upon the opening of the door in heaven, and hearing the former voice, and the things it said, the Spirit of God at once possessed and filled him, in an extraordinary manner; and his soul or spirit was immediately taken from the consideration of all sensible objects, and was fixed and intent upon the things presented to it in the vision, so that it was as if it was out of the body. The Arabic version reads, "then therefore I went in the Spirit"; in obedience to the voice that called him up, in which he was assisted by the Spirit of God, who lifted him up as he did Ezekiel, when he saw what follows: AND BEHOLD, A THRONE WAS SET IN HEAVEN; not for the fi

III. THE THINGS WHICH ARE AFTER THESE, THE END OF THE AGE, THE CONSUMMATION, AND FINAL MESSAGES (4-22) Chapter S 4-5 _ 1. The open door and the vision of the throne (Revelation 4:1)_ 2. The twenty-four elders and the throne (Revelation 4:4). 3. The four living creatures and the worship (Revelation 4:6) 4. Who is worthy to open the book? (Revelation 5:1) 5. The answer (Revelation 5:4) 6. The vision of the Lamb ...

REVELATION 4. THE VISION OF HEAVEN. In this chapter the real Apocalypse commences. A door is opened in heaven and the seer sees the throne of God, flashing like jewels, and surrounded by a rainbow. Twenty-four elders sit on thrones, and with four living beasts offer continual praise and worship to God. Much of the imagery is traditional, and derived from similar descriptions of heaven and the Divine majesty in OT; _cf._ Isaiah 6:1; Ezekiel 12:4; Daniel 7:9 f. REVELATION 4:1. THE FIRST VOICE: that mentioned in Revelation 1:10....

With the fourth chapter there is. remarkable change in the nature of Revelation. Two parts, the record of the things John _saw_ and the things that _were_ (are) have ended; the third part, the declaration of the things that _shall be hereafter,_ begins with these words: “After this. looked, and behold,. door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which. heard was, as it were, of. trumpet talking to me; which said, come up hither, and. will shew thee things which must be hereafter.” See also chap. 1:19. The prophetic portion, which embraces seventeen Chapter s, is now introduced by imagery of the most striking character. The scene has entirely changed. No longer does John behold Patmos and the sea, or the vision of the Son of Man moving among the golden candlesticks, with the seven stars in his hands, but in the spirit he is permitted to look through the open door of heaven and to beh...

THE OPENING HEAVENS AND THE OPENING DOOR (Revelation 4:1) _ 4:1 After this I saw, and, behold, a door in heaven was standing open, and there came to me the voice that I had heard before, speaking to me like the sound of a trumpet, and the speaker said: "Come up here, and I will show you the events which must follow these things."_ In Revelation 2:1-29; Revelation 3:1-22 we saw the Risen Christ walking amidst his churches upon earth. Now the scene changes to the court of heaven. A door was opened in heaven for the seer. There are two possibilities here: (a) It may be that he is thought of as already being in heaven, and the door is opening into still more holy parts of h