Revelation 4 explained: A Glimpse of Heaven's Throne Room

Called up into heaven (vv. 1-2)

The voice like a trumpet from chapter 1 calls John through an open door in heaven to show him what lies ahead. Being "in the Spirit" means he was caught up in a vision, and the first thing he sees is a throne with someone seated on it.

The one on the throne (v. 3)

God is pictured only through the shine of precious stones, never with a face or body. The ring of emerald green light around the throne may recall the rainbow of God's promise to Noah and the glow around God in Ezekiel 1, though that is interpretation.

Twenty-four elders (v. 4)

Who these crowned elders are is debated. Many read them as standing for all God's people (perhaps twelve for Israel's tribes and twelve for the apostles), while others see them as heavenly beings or link them to the 24 groups of temple priests in 1 Chronicles 24.

Thunder, lamps, glass sea (vv. 5-6a)

The lightning and thunder echo God's appearing at Mount Sinai, and the clear sea may recall the waters above the sky in Genesis 1 or the huge bronze washing basin in the temple that was called "the sea." The seven lamps are called the seven spirits of God, which many read as God's Spirit in its fullness (seven meant completeness) and others as seven angels, and the translations differ on whether to capitalize the word.

Four living creatures (vv. 6b-8)

These creatures blend the guardians with four faces in Ezekiel 1 with the beings with six wings in Isaiah 6, whose song "Holy, holy, holy" they repeat, and their many eyes suggest a watchfulness that misses nothing. Many read the lion, ox (or calf), human and eagle as the noblest of each kind of creature praising God on behalf of all creation, while later Christian tradition linked them to the four Gospels.

Crowns laid down (vv. 9-11)

Whenever the creatures praise God, the elders bow and lay their crowns before the throne, as lesser or defeated kings in John's world sometimes did before an emperor. They hail God as Creator of everything, and since the emperor Domitian reportedly liked to be called "Lord and God," many scholars hear a quiet challenge to Rome's claims.

Key verse: Revelation 4:11

Where Christians differ

Christians differ over when the events John is shown from verse 1 onward happen: in his own time, across all of church history, in a future end time, or as timeless symbols, and some Protestants also read his call upward as a picture of the church being taken to heaven before end time troubles.

Something to think about

Is there anything before which you would willingly set down your own achievements and status, and what would it have to be like?