Revelation 4:5

And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. PROCEEDED - `proceed.' THUNDERINGS AND VOICES. 'Aleph (') A B, Vulgate, transpose, 'voices and thunderings.' Compare, at the giving of the law, . 'The thunderings express God's threats against the ungodly; there are voices in them (): i:e., not only does He, threaten generally, but predicts special judgments' (Grotius). SEVEN LAMPS ... SEVEN SPIRITS - the Holy Spirit in His sevenfold operation, as the light-and-life-giver (cf. ;...

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 4:5. _SEVEN LAMPS OF FIRE_] Seven angels, the attendants and ministers of the supreme King. See Revelation 1:4, and the note there....

AND OUT OF THE THRONE PROCEEDED LIGHTNINGS AND THUNDERINGS AND VOICES - Expressive of the majesty and glory of Him that sat upon it. We are at once reminded by this representation of the sublime scene that occurred at Sinai Exodus 19:16, where “there were thunders and lightnings, and a thick cloud upon the mount, and the voice of the trumpet exceeding loud.” Compare Ezekiel 1:13, Ezekiel 1:24. So Milton: “Forth rushed with whirlwind sound. The chariot of Paternal Deity, Flashing thick flames.”...

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 OUT OF THE THRONE PROCEEDED LIGHTNINGS AND THUNDERINGS, AND VOICES,.... Which may be understood either of the doctrines of the Gospel which come out of Zion, and out of Jerusalem, the church of God, where he has his throne; and which are comparable to "lightning", both for the light and knowledge they give, and for the swiftness with which they were spread over the world, by the apostles of Christ; and to "thunderings", for the awfulness, authority, and majesty of them, especially as they were delivered out by the Boanergeses, or sons of thunder; and as the prophesies of the prophets are called "the voices" of the prophets, Acts 13:27; so may the doctrines of the Gospel be called "voices", as they are the voice of God, and of Christ, and of his ministers; and are voices of love, grace, mercy, peace, pardon, righteousness, and eternal life. The allusion is to the giving of

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