Revelation 4 is the fourth chapter of the Book of Revelation or the Apocalypse of John in the New Testament of the ChristianBible. The book is traditionally attributed to John the Apostle,[1][2] but the precise identity of the author remains a point of academic debate.[3] This chapter contains an inaugural vision of heaven, portraying the throne room of heaven,[4] and the heavenly worship which the writer observes there.[5][6]
God's sovereignty over all things is symbolized by the throne, which visions are found both in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament prophetic tradition (cf. 1 Kings 22:19—23) as well as in some Jewish apocalypses, and in this chapter (echoing Isaiah 6 and Ezekiel 1) is seen as "already fully acknowledged in heaven, and therefore as the true reality which must in the end prevail on earth".[6] Taken up into heaven, John can see that "God's throne is the ultimate reality behind all earthly appearances".[6]
Verse 1
After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven.
And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this."[10]
And by Your will they exist and were created."[15]
The depiction of God's sovereignty starts with him as the 'Creator of all things', then as 'Redeemer' to restore his universal sovereignty on earth (Revelation 5), with the expectation to renew his whole creation in the end (Revelation 21:5).[14]
^Davids, Peter H (1982). I Howard Marshall and W Ward Gasque (ed.). New International Greek Testament Commentary: The Epistle of James (Repr. ed.). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Eerdmans. ISBN0802823882.
^Evans, Craig A (2005). Bible Knowledge Background Commentary: John, Hebrews-Revelation. Colorado Springs, Colo.: Victor. ISBN0781442281.
^F. L. Cross, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, (New York: Oxford University Press, 1997), 45
^Elliott, J. K. "Revelations from the apparatus criticus of the Book of Revelation: How Textual
Criticism Can Help Historians." Union Seminary Quarterly Review 63, no. 3-4 (2012): 1-23.
^Claremont Coptic Encyclopaedia, Codex Vaticanus, accessed 29 September 2018
