2 and immediately I was in the Spirit, and lo, a throne was set in the heaven, and upon the throne is `one' sitting,
`I was seeing till that thrones have been thrown down, and the Ancient of Days is seated, His garment as snow `is' white, and the hair of his head `is' as pure wool, His throne flames of fire, its wheels burning fire.
In the year of the death of king Uzziah -- I see the Lord, sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and His train is filling the temple.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord's-day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying,
and when the living creatures do give glory, and honour, and thanks, to Him who is sitting upon the throne, who is living to the ages of the ages,
A throne of honour on high from the beginning, The place of our sanctuary,
And I saw upon the right hand of Him who is sitting upon the throne a scroll, written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals;
And the sum concerning the things spoken of `is': we have such a chief priest, who did sit down at the right hand of the throne of the greatness in the heavens,
And I look, and lo, on the expanse that `is' above the head of the cherubs, as a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne, He hath been seen over them.
And lift me up doth a spirit, and I hear behind me a noise, a great rushing -- `Blessed `is' the honour of Jehovah from His place!' -- even a noise of the wings of the living creatures touching one another, and a noise of the wheels over-against them, even a noise of a great rushing. And a spirit hath lifted me up, and doth take me away, and I go bitterly, in the heat of my spirit, and the hand of Jehovah on me `is' strong.
As the appearance of the bow that is in a cloud in a day of rain, so `is' the appearance of the brightness round about.
He who is overcoming -- I will give to him to sit with me in my throne, as I also did overcome and did sit down with my Father in His throne.
And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, bright as crystal, going forth out of the throne of God and of the Lamb: in the midst of its broad place, and of the river on this side and on that, `is' a tree of life, yielding twelve fruits, in each several month rendering its fruits, and the leaves of the tree `are' for the service of the nations; and any curse there shall not be any more, and the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and His servants shall serve Him,
and he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and did shew to me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, coming down out of the heaven from God,
And He who is sitting upon the throne said, `Lo, new I make all things; and He saith to me, `Write, because these words are true and stedfast;'
And fall down did the elders -- the twenty and four -- and the four living creatures, and they did bow before God who is sitting upon the throne, saying, `Amen, Alleluia.'
and he carried me away to a wilderness in the Spirit, and I saw a woman sitting upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of evil-speaking, having seven heads and ten horns,
After these things I saw, and lo, a great multitude, which to number no one was able, out of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and before the Lamb, arrayed in white robes, and palms in their hands, and crying with a great voice, saying, `The salvation `is' to Him who is sitting upon the throne -- to our God, and to the Lamb!' And all the messengers stood around the throne, and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell upon their face, and bowed before God, saying, `Amen! the blessing, and the glory, and the wisdom, and the thanksgiving, and the honour, and the power, and the strength, `are' to our God -- to the ages of the ages! Amen!' And answer did one of the elders, saying to me, `These, who have been arrayed with the white robes -- who are they, and whence came they?' and I have said to him, `Sir, thou hast known;' and he said to me, `These are those who are coming out of the great tribulation, and they did wash their robes, and they made their robes white in the blood of the Lamb; because of this are they before the throne of God, and they do service to Him day and night in His sanctuary, and He who is sitting upon the throne shall tabernacle over them; they shall not hunger any more, nor may the sun fall upon them, nor any heat, because the Lamb that `is' in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and wipe away shall God every tear from their eyes.'
and they say to the mountains and to the rocks, `Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of Him who is sitting upon the throne, and from the anger of the Lamb,'
and every creature that is in the heaven, and in the earth, and under the earth, and the things that are upon the sea, and the all things in them, heard I saying, `To Him who is sitting upon the throne, and to the Lamb, `is' the blessing, and the honour, and the glory, and the might -- to the ages of the ages!'
and I saw, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, a Lamb hath stood as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the Seven Spirits of God, which are sent to all the earth, and he came and took the scroll out of the right hand of Him who is sitting upon the throne.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Revelation 4
Commentary on Revelation 4 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 4
In this chapter the prophetical scene opens; and, as the epistolary part opened with a vision of Christ (ch. 1), so this part is introduced with a glorious appearance of the great God, whose throne is in heaven, compassed about with the heavenly host. This discovery was made to John, and in this chapter he,
Rev 4:1-8
We have here an account of a second vision with which the apostle John was favoured: After this, that is, not only "after I had seen the vision of Christ walking in the midst of the golden candlesticks,' but "after I had taken his messages from his mouth, and written and sent them to the several churches, according to his command, after this I had another vision.' Those who well improve the discoveries they have had of God already are prepared thereby for more, and may expect them. Observe,
Rev 4:8-11
We have considered the sights that the apostle saw in heaven: now let us observe the songs that he heard, for there is in heaven not only that to be seen which will highly please a sanctified eye, but there is that to be heard which will greatly delight a sanctified ear. This is true concerning the church of Christ here, which is a heaven upon earth, and it will be eminently so in the church made perfect in the heaven of heavens.