Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 4:1

"After these things I saw, and behold, a door opened in heaven, and the first voice that I heard, [a voice] as of a trumpet speaking with me, one saying, Come up hither, and I will show thee the things which must come to pass hereafter." — Revelation 4:1 (ASV)

Seeing a “door standing open in heaven,” John is told to “come up here” (cf. Ezekiel 1:1). He receives a new view of God’s majesty and power (throne) so that he can understand the events on earth that relate to the seven-seal vision (cf. 1 Kings 22:19). For the first time in Revelation, the reader is introduced to the frequent interchange between heaven and earth found in the remainder of the book. What happens on earth has its heavenly counterpart.

Chapter 4 focuses on the throne vision that provides the setting for the dramatic action of the slain Lamb in ch. 5. There is a connection between this throne vision and the vision of the glorified Christ in 1:11–16. We are told that John heard the same voice speaking to him that he “had first heard speaking... like a trumpet” (cf. 1:10). The words of the messenger relate to what has just transpired: “I will show you what must take place after this”—after the time of the historical churches in Asia (cf. 1:19).

There is no good reason for seeing the invitation for John to come up into the opened heaven as a symbol of the rapture of the church. Some have so interpreted it and have inferred that the absence of the word “church” (GK 1711) from Revelation till 22:16 and the continued references to the “saints” indicate that at this point the church departs from the earth. But the word “church” or “churches” always stands in Revelation for the historic seven churches in Asia and not for the universal body of Christ. Since 4:1–22:15 concerns the believing community as a whole, it would be inappropriate to find the narrower term “church” in this section (cf. 3Jn 6, 9–10).

Finally, it is significant that the visions that continue to the end of the book refer to the throne, the book, the crowns, the four living creatures, the twentyfour elders, and the victory of the Lamb. In all this, the central focus appears to be the five hymns of praise that begin in 4:8 and continue through ch. 5.