Revelation 4: The One on the Throne

• v.1 Taken into Heaven
• v.2,3 The Occupant of the Throne
• v.4,5 Other Thrones
• v.6-11 The Four Creatures

v.1 Taken into Heaven

v.1 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.”

[Note: John is called into heaven to see the vision.]

v.2,3 The Occupant of the Throne

v.2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.

v.3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.

[Note: Overwhelmed by the Spirit he sees the throne in heaven and multicolored light strikes him.]

v.4,5 Other Thrones

v.4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads.

v.5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God.

[Note: But around the throne are twenty-four other thrones with leaders on them and from the throne comes light and power and before it is the Holy Spirit.]

v.6-11 The Four Creatures

v.6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back.

v.7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle.

v.8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”

v.9,10 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

v.11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,  to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

[Note: The throne is surrounded by purity, and close in to the main throne are four all-seeing creatures and they each have different characteristics: royalty, servant-heartedness, humanity, visionary. Having wings suggests they are seraphim [senior angels Isa 6:3] Their role is to remind us to give honor to God. It is their instinctive response to being close to Him. As they lead the way, so to speak, the elders join in, and they submit to the throne (laying down their crowns) and worship God.]

[Additional Note: Chapters 4 & 5 go together in that they both reveal the central characters in the throne room of heaven. However, chapter 4 focuses on God the Father alone and the worship that is given to Him by those closest to Him.]

For those who may wish to make a study of this chapter, to perhaps think some more about what you have been reading, use the link below: