The letters to the seven churches, which also picture the seven ages of the age of grace, are finished. Revelation 4 opens a new scene: John is called up into heaven, where he sees the throne, those who surround it, and a sealed scroll that only the Lamb can open.
"Come up hither"
The chapter begins with a voice from an open door in heaven:
Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.
— Revelation 4:1
When the seven church ages end, the Lord calls his bride, the church, up into the sky. This is the rapture (rupantar, the "transformation"), and John's being called up is a figure of it. He sees a throne with One seated on it, shining like a jasper and a sardine stone, and a green rainbow round about it.
The twenty-four elders
Around the throne sit twenty-four elders in white clothing with golden crowns. In Israel the head of each of the twelve tribes was called an elder, so twelve elders represent Israel and the old covenant. The church of the new covenant likewise has twelve elders, the twelve apostles, who represent the church before God.
Their golden crowns mean they have been honoured as victors; their life in the world is over. When the living creatures give glory to God, the elders fall down, cast their crowns before the throne and say:
Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
— Revelation 4:11
Voices and lamps before the throne
Lightnings, thunderings and voices come out of the throne. There is a difference between hearing a sound and hearing a voice. When God's words are not meant for us, we hear only thunder. In John 12 a voice answered Jesus from heaven; some said it had thundered and others that an angel had spoken, but Jesus said:
…This voice came not because of me, but for your sakes.
— John 12:30
The same happened to Paul on the road to Damascus: the words came to him, while those with him heard only a noise. God's word is like an encoded message, sent to a fixed destination and understood only by the one it is meant for.
Seven lamps of fire burn before the throne; they are the seven Spirits of God (Revelation 4:5). Seven separate lampstands, as in chapter 1, would picture the seven churches and their seven messengers. But Zechariah 4 shows one lampstand with seven lamps, fed with oil from two olive trees, God's two anointed ones. Read that way, the lamps belong to the last church and are the seven who carry the seven thunders, and the two are prophets. The text does not say which is meant, so both meanings are kept in mind.
The sea of glass and the four living creatures
Before the throne is a sea of glass like crystal. In Revelation 15:2 it is mingled with fire, and those who overcame the beast stand on it, having come through the great tribulation (mahasankat). Here it is plain glass, a picture of those who have won the victory.
Four living creatures stand in the midst of the throne, full of eyes, each with six wings: one like a lion, one like a calf, one with a man's face and one like a flying eagle. Being at the centre of the throne, they represent the Spirit of God working in four ways:
- like a lion, with strength and power;
- like a calf, which can be caught and led away, put to work and even killed;
- like a man, with intelligence;
- like a flying eagle, seeing far ahead into much later times.
Day and night they cry that the Lord God Almighty is holy, "which was, and is, and is to come". Since he is still to come, this vision belongs to the close of the age of grace, followed by the seven years and then his coming. Chapter 6 will show the work of each creature.
The scroll and the Lamb
In the right hand of him who sits on the throne is a scroll, written within and on the back, sealed with seven seals. A seal means that only the person it is addressed to has authority to open it. No one in heaven, on earth or under the earth is found worthy, and John weeps. Then an elder says:
Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof.
— Revelation 5:5
Christ's victory is that he gave himself without sin and bore death, the wages of sin. So others who have sinned can be forgiven, and he gained authority to destroy death itself. The scroll holds the way to this. After Adam and Eve were driven from Eden, cherubim and a sword were set to guard the way to the tree of life, so that man could not reach everlasting life and would have to die. The road to that tree is written in the scroll: a way by which a person need not die and can go to the Lord alive. When the seventh seal is broken, the scroll will be opened and read, and its message will reach God's people through the seven thunders.
John then sees the Lamb, as though slain, standing in the midst of the throne; he did not come from far away, he was already there. He takes the scroll, and heaven worships, with golden vials of incense that are the prayers of the saints. Angels beyond number, and every creature, join in glorifying God and the Lamb. The Lamb will now break the seven seals one by one, as chapters 6 to 10 unfold.
Takeaway
Christ, the Lamb who bore death without sin, alone has won the right to open the scroll. The way it holds is meant for God's people, so that they may enter eternal life alive, without dying. It will reach them through the seven thunders once the seals are opened.