And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and [one] sat on the throne.
2. I was in the spirit ] As Rev 1:10 q.v. It is implied that he was caught up through the open door into Heaven, and saw what was going on above.
was set ] i.e. was there already not that he saw it put in its place. There is a description of the Throne of God in the apocryphal Book of Enoch, Rev 14:17-20, very like this: probably St John had read it (cf. Judges 15), and his language shews quotations of it, as well as of the canonical passages in Ezekiel 1 and Daniel 7.
and one sat on the throne ] God the Father, not the Trinity: the presence of the other Persons being otherwise indicated, Rev 4:5, and Rev 4:6. It is intimated, though with an intentional vagueness, that the Divine Presence was symbolised by a human Form, as in Isa 6:1; Isa 6:5; Eze 1:26 sq.; Dan 7:9: contrast Deu 4:12, but compare Exo 24:10-11; Exo 33:23. Apparently God revealed Himself by such symbols to men whom He had educated to such a point that they should not imagine them to be more than symbols. Therefore perhaps to attempt to include representations of the Father in the range of Christian art is rather of dangerous boldness than ipso facto illegitimate: see on this question Ruskin’s Modern Painters, Part III. Sec. ii. Chap. v. 7.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
And immediately I was in the Spirit – See the notes on Rev 1:10. He does not affirm that he was caught up into heaven, nor does he say what impression was on his own mind, if any, as to the place where he was; but he was at once absorbed in the contemplation of the visions before him. He was doubtless still in Patmos, and these things were made to pass before his mind as a reality; that is, they appeared as real to him as if he saw them, and they were in fact a real symbolical representation of things occurring in heaven.
And, behold, a throne was set in heaven – That is, a throne was placed there. The first thing that arrested his attention was a throne. Tiffs was in heaven – an expression which proves that the scene of the vision was not the temple in Jerusalem, as some have supposed. There is no allusion to the temple, and no imagery drawn from the temple. Isaiah had his vision Isa 6:1-13 in the holy of holies of the temple; Ezekiel Eze 1:1, by the river Chebar; but John looked directly into heaven, and saw the throne of God, and the encircling worshippers there.
And one sat on the throne – It is remarkable that John gives no description of him who sat on the throne, nor does he indicate who he was by name. Neither do Isaiah or Ezekiel attempt to describe the appearance of the Deity, nor are there any intimations of that appearance given from which a picture or an image could be formed. So much do their representations accord with what is demanded by correct taste; and so sedulously have they guarded against any encouragement of idolatry.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Rev 4:2-5
A throne was set in heaven.
The majestic government of the great God
I. The majestic government of the great God has heaven for the chief scene of its administration.
1. When a good man is privileged to look into heaven, the first thing that attracts his attention is the majestic government of God.
2. Earth does not contain the supreme power of law, but is under the government of heaven.
3. The government of God is in sublime contrast to that which obtains amongst men.
(1) Firm in stability.
(2) Great in majesty.
(3) Constant in exercise.
(4) Calm in triumph.
II. The majestic government of the great God is conducted on the principles of purity, equity, and mercy.
1. It is pure in its administration. The aim of His rule is to subdue moral evil, and to permeate life with laws, the observance of which will sanctify it. This cannot be predicated of all human governments, which are often gained by the sword, and upheld by terror.
2. It is righteous in its administration. Under it the poor and the oppressed may take welcome refuge.
3. It is merciful in its administration.
III. The majestic government of the great God is approved by all redeemed and glorified intelligences.
1. In exalted station.
2. In peaceful posture.
3. Of unsullied purity.
IV. The majestic government of the great God is sometimes associated with terrific agencies. The judgments of God are as–
1. The crash of thunder.
2. The blaze of forked lightning.
3. Not only thunderings and lightnings, but voices proceeded out of the throne; the meanings of Divine judgments are partially unfolded; all judgment is vocal to the soul of man.
Lessons:
1. That God rules all things by the word of His power.
2. That the Church is safe under the Divine rule.
3. That men must not provoke the terrible agencies of the government of God. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)
The throne of God
I. The throne of God is the throne of universal nature and providence.
1. He superintends all the affairs of His creatures.
2. He governs all by the sceptre of His power.
II. The throne of God is the throne of mercy and grace.
1. His throne of grace has its foundation in justice and holiness.
2. The throne of grace is accessible to all.
III. The throne of God is the throne of justice and judgment.
1. God deals justly with impenitent sinners in this world.
2. God will eventually appear in general judgment on all mankind.
IV. The throne of God is the throne of glory and of blessedness.
1. It is a throne of glory. God is the King of glory (Psa 24:10). His throne is a throne of glory (Jer 14:21); a glorious high throne, the throne of our God (Jer 17:12).
2. It is a throne of bliss. There the wondrous assembly are beyond every evil, and above every imperfection; they enjoy without any interruption the beatific vision of God, manifested in the person of Christ. (Pulpit Studies.)
The Triune God
I. The throne.
1. Above all the strife and discord and confusion of this world, above those thrones and dominions which caricature royalty and pervert justice, above the Neros and Domitians and all their brood of lesser tyrants, there is a dominion, an authority, a throne which is supreme. The world is not without a Ruler; it is not rolling on from age to age, like a ship without a pilot; it has a Guide, a King, whose eternal throne is established on high.
2. The majestic repose and ethereal majesty of the throne of God. But before the throne of God is a sea of glass–image of calmness and repose; a sea whose smooth surface is never ruffled, whose transparent depths are never disturbed.
II. The monarch.
III. The hymns of praise. (R. H. McKim, D. D.)
The throne in heaven and its surroundings
It is a curious fact that the last book of the Bible is, upon the whole, the most mysterious. It has been said that John Calvin evinced his wisdom by declining to write an exposition of this book. To a great extent the book is prophetical; but other parts are doctrinal, and these it is our privilege to endeavour to understand.
I. The throne itself. Behold, a throne was set in heaven, and One sat upon it. St. Johns vision in Patmos reminds us of the vision of Micaiah in the reign of Jehoshaphat. I saw the Lord, says he, sitting on His throne and all the host of heaven standing by Him, on His right hand and on His left. This part of the chapter may be considered as bringing before us the sovereignty of the Lord God Almighty. God is no epicurean, taking no interest in the welfare of His creatures: God is King of all the earth. His sceptre is a sceptre of righteousness. To acknowledge the existence of a God is, in point of fact, to acknowledge the supremacy of His reign. Having created all things He governs all things.
1. The sovereignty of God is universal in its extent. His kingdom ruleth over all–over angels, men, and devils, over the good and the bad, over birds and beasts anal creeping things, over mountains and mole-hills, storms and sunshine, peace and war, plague and pestilence, abundance and famine, great events and little ones. All are subservient to His governance and submissive to His power.
2. The sovereignty of God is not only universal in its extent, but is also independent and absolute. As He receives His essence from none so He derives His dominion from none, says old Stephen Charnock. His right to reign has not been won by war, or obtained by bribery: it is not the bequest of some predecessor or the gift of some superior. He is not a King by the votes of the vassals whom He governs, but by His own eternal excellence and by His own omnific acts. As a sovereign whose dominion is absolute you see Him continuously sustaining creation when He might, in an instant, suffer it to relapse into its primeval nothingness. You see Him redeeming men, promulgating laws, instituting rites, and appointing conditions, without the observance of which sinners cannot be saved. He doeth according to His will.
3. Let me add that whilst the government of God is universal and absolute, it is not tyrannical, but wise and pure and just and good. Clouds and darkness are round about Him often, but at all times righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne. His throne is a throne of holiness. We may often be puzzled by His proceedings: we ought never to murmur and malign. I would remind you of the fearful position of the man who dares to rebel against such a King. Of all the creatures in God Almightys wide creation, except the lost in hell, man is the only one in whose heart lurks rebellion. Woe to the man that strives against his Maker! Pharaoh ventured to do that until Pharaoh and his legions sank in helplessness just at the moment when they were anticipating victory. Nebuchadnezzar set himself against God, the result being that Nebuchadnezzar became a wild and wandering maniac. Man cannot sin against such a sovereign as this with impunity, without his sin entailing punishment sooner or later. Do not forget that you are not your own and, therefore, you have no right to live for your own aggrandisement and gratification. God governs the universe. Yes, and let us not forget that God our Governor is infinite in greatness and also in goodness, and if so, then in our direst emergencies we may venture safely to repose trust in Him. We may be mean and miserable, but do not forget that Gods sovereignty takes cognisance of everything Gods power has made. If there is nothing too little for God to make, there is nothing too little for God to govern.
II. Leaving the throne itself, look at the rainbow which spans it. There was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. The rainbow round about the throne naturally leads us to contemplate God as entering into a covenant engagement with man. Glorious is the fact that God not only rules as a sovereign, but in infinite condescension He has made covenants with His creatures which He cannot break. I will make a covenant of peace with thee, says God by the prophet Ezekiel, and it shall be an everlasting covenant. Oh, how infinite is condescension like this l God the uncreated, the infinite, the all-perfect Being exercising universal sovereignty, binds Himself by promises to bless. Man makes leagues and covenants, and then snaps them asunder at his pleasure. Gods covenants and compacts, like Himself, are unchangeable. The mountains shall depart, and the hills shall be removed; but My kindness shall not depart from thee, nor the covenant of My peace be broken. Oh, for faith in these compacts which God has made with man! After daily trusting in consonants made by mortals like yourselves, will you dare to call in question the truthfulness of compacts God has made? God promises me a pardon through Jesus Christ if I seek it in penitence and faith. Shall I question Gods readiness to fulfil that promise? God promises finally a mansion, a throne; and shall I doubt His readiness and His ability to fulfil His covenant? Did He fail me when I came to Him a burdened penitent for the pardon of my sins? Patriarchs, prophets, and others believed the covenant not because they had seen it verified, but simply because Gods own living lips had uttered it; and, if so, shall I, with the experience of six thousand years before me, dare to doubt it? God forbid!
III. Leaving the rainbow which spans the throne, let us go, in the third place, to the lightnings and thunderings and voices coming out of it (verse 3). The lightnings and thunderings and voices coming out of the throne bring us a step farther in the history of the Divine Being, and leads us to contemplate Him as a great Lawgiver–a Lawgiver issuing precepts for the guidance and discipline of mans probationary being. This part of the chapter reminds us of the scene which was witnessed on Mount Sinai, as you will find if you turn to the 19th chapter of Exodus, beginning at the 16th verse. Oh, that we could make you unconverted sinners to feel in the presence of this legislative God as these Hebrews did! Let me say that in order to be saved you must first of all, to some extent at least, have an experience like that to which I am now adverting. Do not imagine that you are in a fit frame of mind to come and ask God for pardon until you feel the terrors of that God whose laws were published on Mount Sinai in sounds and voices so terrific. Issuing from the legislative mount, thunders and voices and flashing lightning scare them, and they are made willing to be saved on any terms, at any sacrifice.
IV. I pass to the fourth point, namely, the sea of glass and the seven lamps of fire before the throne (verses 5, 6). I will simply say that by the sea of glass we are reminded of a text in the Book of Exodus–the 38th chapter, beginning at the 17th verse: The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Thou shalt also make a laver of brass, etc. Accordingly, we are told in the 8th verse of the 38th chapter of Exodus, that Moses made a laver of brass of the brazen looking-glasses presented by the women. Then, again, you will remember that when Solomon built his temple, he also made a similar laver capable of containing twenty-two thousand gallons, and he designated that laver a molten sea. It is intended to typify the provision that has been made for the sanctification of sinners in the sacrifice and death of Jesus Christ. Then as respects the seven lamps of fire which are the seven spirits of God, I have as little doubt that that is symbolical language intended to signify the sanctifying agency of the Holy Ghost. I will just remind you that the word seven in the Scriptures is a sacred number, and is often used in the same sense as the word perfection. The word horn is often used to signify authority, power; the word eye to signify intelligence, wisdom, light. Now blend all these things together, and then you learn from these symbolical texts that the Spirit of Christ is possessed of perfect wisdom and perfect power, and is sent forth into all the earth. Apply all that to the Holy Ghost, and you will find it strictly true. The Holy Ghost is an all-perfect Spirit. He is the Spirit of the Son as well as of the Father, and He is sent forth into all the earth, for the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. We have just now been reminded, by the lightnings and thunderings and voices coming out of the throne, of the law which God published in the days of Moses, and of our transgression of that law, and of our need of a Mediator to obtain for us pardon and purity. And here, in the sea of glass and in the seven lamps of fire, our necessities are fully met. In the blood of the Mediator atonement is made for our transgressions, and in the agency of the Holy Ghost provision is made for the removal of our darkness and depravity and sin. As a sinner exposed to the wrath of God–Wherewithal shall I come before the Lord, and bow myself before the High God? How shall I gain access to His mercy-seat? How shall I enter the tabernacle in which He dwells? Before Moses and Aaron were allowed to avail themselves of bliss like this they had to wash in the brazen sea; and I also must wash in the sea of glass, or, in other words, in that fountain which has been opened in the House of David for sin and for uncleanness. Without the blood there is no admission into heaven, just as without the molten sea there was no admission into the temples tartest holy place; and without the Spirit we are without the wish to wash in the cleansing blood, and, in point of fact, despise it.
V. And now, as a result of the whole, let us look at the holy ones by which the throne, set and established in the heavens, is surrounded. And round about the throne were four-and-twenty seats; and upon the seats I saw four-and-twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. Good old James Kershaw, one of John Wesleys itinerant preachers, lays it down with authority that these elders–these grand seniors of heaven, as he calls them, mean the four-and-twenty elders or presbyters from the patriarchal age, from Adam to Jacob, and including Job and Melchizedek. I am not going to controvert it, but there are one or two other kindred interpretations, perhaps, equally to be commended; for instance, some of you are well aware that king David divided the Jewish priests into twenty-four divisions, and at the head of each division placed a prince or chief priest; and some think that when the text speaks of four-and-twenty elders, there is a reference to these twenty-four priests or princes of the priests belonging to the Jewish Church. Another interpretation says that the four-and-twenty elders are intended to signify the heads of the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles of the Lamb, and that these twenty-four constitute the elders of the Jewish and Christian Churches united. Any one of them will serve my present purpose, namely, to show that as a consequence of Gods care of His creatures, and of His sovereignty, and of His covenant engagements, and of His legislative acts, and of His redeeming mercy–as a consequence of this, I find men in heaven–men who were once sinners. All this has a tendency to strengthen our confidence and our faith in God–in His ability and willingness to bring us safe to the realms of blessedness and peace. (Luke Tyerman.)
A rainbow round about the throne.—
The circle rainbow
A semi-circle rainbow is all that presents itself to our vision, and that is often a very imperfect half. We see things in this world only by halves. Imperfection characterises all our powers, and limitation all surrounding objects, and incompleteness all our pleasures. The things that shall be hereafter shall be in circles, complete and perfect.
I. The circle of promise.
II. The circle of truth. The ancient philosophers perplexed themselves in their search after truth. They failed to see that while truth is a perfect circle, it is not visible as a whole to mortals. We know in part, and prophesy in part. In other words, we know but a small part of truth, and can teach only the part we know. What shall be said when we ascend to the higher plane of truth? If such the earthy, what of the heavenly? But we shall yet know in full. Hereafter the whole circle shall be unfolded. Then our knowledge shall be perfected.
III. The circle of providence. The wisdom of God is best judged of by the view of the harmony of providence. The single threads may seem very weak, or knotty and uneven, and seem to administer just occasion of censure; but will it not as much raise the admiration to see them all woven into a curious piece of branched work? (A London Minister.)
The rainbow round about the throne
I. Let us view the nature, and scriptural history, of the rainbow.
II. The rainbow is presented to our notice as connected with the most splendid representations of the Divine glory. There are three instances of this in the Scriptures.
1. The first is Eze 1:28. Here is an evident reference to Jehovah, as governing all things in the person of His Son, of which mention is made in verse 26 as having the appearance of a man. And it is in and through Christ that Jehovah treats with mankind, and by whom He directs and upholds all things both in heaven and earth.
2. The second instance is our text, where the Godhead, high and lifted up on His holy throne, and surrounded by the worshipping hosts, is represented as encircled with a rainbow, in sight like unto an emerald. This evidently intimates the gracious connection subsisting between God and man; and that however elevated and glorious He may be, yet His grandeur and majesty are made to act in blessed concert with the arrangements of grace.
3. The last representation of the rainbow is Rev 10:1, where we are taught that however Jehovah may step forth, arrayed in garments of terror, or however black the dispensations of His providence may appear, yet that His head is ever adorned with the rainbow of grace, and that as such He will ever be recognised by all those who love and put their trust in Him; that while He is the destroyer of His impenitent enemies, He is the unchanging friend and consolation of His people.
III. A striking symbol of Gods gracious regards to our fallen world.
1. The rainbow is turned up towards heaven–is unstrung–and without arrows. And here we have a representation, or symbol, of Gods being in a state of perfect reconciliation to our world.
2. In the rainbow is exhibited the union of the various prismatic colours. A beautiful symbol of the harmony of the Divine perfections in the economy of Divine grace.
3. The rainbow appears to reach the heavens. Symbolical of the origin of all the blessings of grace.
4. The rainbow seems to unite both heaven and earth. And this union is truly effected in the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, of whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.
5. The rainbow is all Gods work. Man has no part in making it. So with respect to our salvation; all is of God from first to last.
6. This rainbow is said to be round about the throne of God, indicating that all His attributes and perfections are under its influence.
7. This rainbow is likened to an emerald. The meaning of which is, that the beautiful green colour of the emerald was the leading appearance it presented. So when the awakened sinner beholds the rigour of Divine justice in its most awful form, even at this moment the Divine compassion is most apparent, and demands the most implicit confidence.
8. The unmerited freeness of Divine mercy. So salvation is not of debt but of grace.
9. The unspeakable delight which the sight of this rainbow excited.
10. Look upon the rainbow, and praise Him that made it.
11. Let the mourning penitent look at the bow, and be encouraged.
12. Let the troubled soul look and be comforted. (R. Simpson, M. A.)
The rainbow of the covenant
I. It is only by the covenant of grace and peace, revealed to us in the holy scriptures, that we can contemplate, with calm serenity, the attributes and perfections of God.
II. It is only by the covenant of grace and peace, revealed in the gospel, that we can contemplate with satisfaction and comfort the dispensations of providence.
III. It is, in all probability, only through the medium of the covenant, by which we are saved from perdition, that we shall behold and adore the glory of God, in the mansions of celestial bliss.
1. Consider the perfections of God, as they shine in the person and work of Christ, the Mediator and Redeemer.
2. Consider the dispensations of Providence in their connection with the covenant of grace and peace.
3. Consider the glory which shall be disclosed to you in a future, eternal world. (Essex Remembrancer.)
The rainbow
I. Is the rainbow a reflection of the rays of the sun upon a thin watery cloud? The covenant of grace owes all its excellences to Jesus Christ, the Sun of righteousness.
II. Are our minds struck with the diversified colours of this beautiful phenomenon in nature? Let them remind us of the numerous blessings which are treasured up in the everlasting covenant.
III. Was the rainbow an emblem of peace between God and man after the flood? The covenant of grace declares reconciliation, and secures the redeemed for ever from the deep waters of affliction, which had often before overwhelmed them.
IV. Is the rainbow said to be round about the throne of God? The covenant of grace includes in it, and glorifies all the Persons in the Trinity, and is ever in their sight and remembrance.
V. Are we informed that the rainbow was in sight like unto an emerald, green, beautiful, and durable? How delightful to contemplate and enjoy the blessings of the covenant of grace! It is always new, and lasting as the throne which it surrounds. (T. Spencer.)
The throne and the rainbow
I. First, let us look up at this wonderful throne. Of course, we understand such a thing to be the symbol of government–of the Divine government in the universe–for that Being in the seat of royalty is God. But what do the other emblems mean?
1. Observe that the exalted Monarch is said to be like a jasper and a sardine stone. See the supreme advantage we have in knowing that we are under a splendid and sufficient government in this world of ours, where all appears so confused and independent. I confess my mind grows restful and glad when I look up and seem to see this dazzling diamond of infinite perfection subduing itself to my weak comprehension till it looks like a carnelian, which I gaze upon constantly and yet live.
2. Then, next to this, observe in like manner the attendants which are represented as forming the Kings retinue: And round about the throne were four and twenty thrones, etc. Here again is a disclosure upon which it will cheer the Christians heart to dwell. This is more than a splendid government; it must be amazingly potent and irresistibly strong. The very nobles are crowned, and wear royal raiment: their ordinary seats are thrones.
3. But does God know what Him wicked and wilful creatures are doing so far away from His presence? That leads us forward another step in the vision, and we observe that this must be a very watchful government; the language is quite peculiar: there was before the throne, as it were a glassy sea like unto crystal, etc. We cannot delay to examine in turn every one of these interesting symbols. It must be enough to say that the lion is the chief of wild beasts, as the ox is the chief of those tamed and domestic; the eagle is the king of the air, and man is the monarch among created things; each is sovereign and supreme of his kind, for the Lord God could receive no less into Him court for His servants. But the main particular to notice in this description is the suggestion–here twice made–that they were all full of eyes, and the floor beneath the throne was of glass as transparent as crystal. And thou sayest, hove doth God know? can He judge through the dark cloud? But now this vision teaches that earth can always and everywhere be seen from heaven.
4. Observe, once more, that this is an unimpeachable government. These living creatures are worshipping while watching: they have no rest day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, etc. No one can know better than those nearest to a monarch how pure he is. This King in the throne never broke one of His promises, never deceived one of His subjects, never forgot one of His creatures in its time of possible need.
II. Thus much does this first symbol in the vision teach. Now we come to study the second; the rainbow, in sight like unto an emerald. This represents a covenant, as the other represented a rule.
1. Observe first, that the ancient covenant of reaction has in it the promise of the covenant of grace. This is Noahs bow repeated with fresh and better engagements for John.
2. Notice again, that its appearance just here in Johns vision is welcomed more for its graciousness than for its antiquity. No one can read the Bible without noticing more and more ]plainly that the God of nature desires to transfer the allegiance of His creatures so that they may fully recognise Him as the God of grace.
3. Once more: observe how well this vision teaches us that Gods covenant is completed. A perfect circle is the finest figure we could imagine of the covenant of Gods love fully complete.
4. The symbols here employed seem to teach that this is an abiding covenant: it will stand for ever. In oriental countries green is the emblem of unchangeableness. It signifies fidelity, incorruptible and for ever to be trusted.
5. This covenant is to each of us individual and personal. Each beholder is the master and owner of his particular arch in the heavens. Thus it comes to pass that we are sure no two persons ever see the same iris even on the clouds of the same storm, though they are almost side by side in their outlook; for there are different drops which fall into the angle of range, and different sunbeams to touch them. Do not waste this conception in admiration of the beautiful phenomenon of nature. Gods covenant is made with a generous distribution of grace, but to each reception and bestowment of favour there are only two parties, Himself and a single believer.
III. Thus we reach the last point for our consideration; namely, the collocation of the two symbols. The rainbow was round about the throne.
1. Gods promise surrounds Gods majesty. The ancient Rabbins used to render the verse in Genesis concerning the rainbow thus: It shall be a sign between My word and all the earth. So now we look up at this vision of John, and we learn to rest in our Creator. We are not left to vague considerations of Jehovahs consistency with His own character, or, as we sometimes phrase it, His name; we dwell upon His recorded language of blessing, Thou hast magnified Thy word above all Thy name. The word is round about the name, the rainbow is round about the throne.
2. Gods grace surrounds Gods justice. We lift our eyes, and see this rainbow as really the most conspicuous thing in the vision. Its vast emerald arch shines all around the supreme tribunal on the floor of crystal. The suggestion is immediately clear, it is a comfort that we are now under the New Testament.
3. Gods love surrounds Gods power. Love is symbolised in the rainbow, and power in the throne; and the rainbow is round about the throne.
4. Gods glory surrounds Gods children. For just look up and see the position and collocation of these two objects; the emerald ring is all around the sapphire seat of royalty. (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
Rainbow and throne
I. There is a rainbow round about the throne in the works of creation. In the threefold kingdom of nature the throne is conspicuously manifest, for authority and power are everywhere obvious. Law reigns permanent and supreme, and sometimes asserts itself with apparent severity and sternness. But there is a rainbow encircling the throne-for the storms that terrify produce in their train fertility and health. Processes that seem to produce death give birth to new life. Floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, tempest, etc., work upon the whole for the good of man.
II. There is a rainbow round about the throne in the providential government of God. In all Gods dealings with man there have been blended mercy with judgment, forgiveness with chastisement. This is true of nations as well as of individuals.
III. There is a rainbow about the throne in the scene that was enacted at calvary. In the death of Christ–the sinless One–the throne of authority and righteousness is unveiled; but the rainbow encircled the head of the suffering Redeemer; on the Cross mercy and truth met together, righteousness and peace kissed each other.
IV. There is a rainbow round about the throne in the preaching of the gospel of the glory of God. The glad tidings of salvation proclaim Gods righteous indignation against sin, and to some become a savour of death unto death. The rainbow of the covenant of grace, full of exceeding great and precious promises, encircles that throne of authority, so that whosoever will may come and obtain pardon and peace.
V. There is a rainbow round about the throne in the predictions of the day of judgement. This vision of John gives us a guarantee:
1. Of the perpetuation of the evolution of the seasons in the world of nature.
2. Of the fulfilment of the promises contained in the covenant of grace.
3. Of the absolute safety of all who cling with deathless tenacity to the enthroned Redeemer.
4. Of the final accomplishment of Gods gracious purposes in relation to our race. (F. W. Brown.)
The rainbow round the throne
The picture introduces us into the midst of the heavenly world, and shows to us its enthroned Sovereign spanned with an arch of iridescent light, ineffable majesty blossoming out in forms of tender beauty, the beauty brightening the majesty, the majesty solemnising the beauty, Divine and eternal, and yet raying out into lines of genial and affectionate colour such as the eye can delight in, and the face and heart grow bright and cheerful under. There is the throne and there is the rainbow, the solemnity of the throne qualifies the rainbow and the rainbow qualifies the throne, and they make not two pictures, but one picture; the two features that customary thought divorces, the imagery marries in solid wedlock, and righteousness and peace are shown to have kissed each other. That is a wonderful answer that stands in the Westminster Assembly Shorter Catechism in response to the question, What is God? God is a Spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. That is a wonderful answer, but then it is not my God any more than putting arms, legs, trunk, and head alongside of one another compose my father. Considered as a schedule of detail, as a bill of Divine particulars, that answer cannot be surpassed, but it will have to yield instant precedence to the imagery of our verse when the object sought is not a God dissected in the interests of philosophy, but God whole, and entire, in the interests of love and worship. What I feel that I need for myself in my religious character and relations, is to be able to come to God in the entireness of His personality–come to Him, in that respect, in the same way in which a boy comes to his father. True personal approach combines into indistinguishable unity all those ingredients that to pure speculation stand separate and distinct. Now, that is the charm and the truth of the Apocalyptic picture in our text. It brings the solemn sovereignty of God and the sweet, accessible beauty and loveliness of God so into relation with each other, and so draws them through one another, that each quality is felt to inhere in the other, and one indivisible God to be the issue of it, all whose majesty is sweet, and all whose sweetness is majestic. You behold the rainbow about the throne, and you behold the throne by the light of the rainbow. The world is going to grow better by coming to know God better. What St. Paul said at Athens still holds, Whom ye ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you. To help people to feel God as He is, is the one only comprehensive service that we can render them; and if the peculiar glimpse of God afforded us by this imagery of St. John once becomes an appreciated and a conscious truth with us, it will easily, not to say necessarily, work practical results in our theology and in our hearts and lives. Once let us feel, as Johns picture suggests, that God all belongs together, that violence is done Him whenever any one of His attributes is plucked from its coherency with His other attributes, and we shall be saved from what has been the bane of all theology–namely, founding on some individual attribute which has been rudely dislocated from its companion attributes, taking the amputated member and electing it to be the vitals of a living system. Now, that makes theology easy, but it makes it a lie. The throne is a lie without the rainbow, and the rainbow is a lie without the throne. Now, that conducts directly to two schools of theologic thought. One starts with the solemnities of God, and the other starts with the amenities; they both make bad start, and consequently they both make a bad finish. One begins with the majesty of God, and gets along as best it can with His love; the other starts with the love of God, and gets along as well as it can with His majesty. One gives us a solemn despot, and the other gives us a doting old grandfather. One is just as good as the other, and neither is good for anything so far as being a just statement of the truth is concerned. We often conceive of God as acting at one instant out of His pure mercy, as if His justice had for a time been put in a dark closet or gone off on a vacation, and that His mercy was the only attribute that had remained at home and that was doing all the work. Then, after mercy has worked until it is tired, we think of Him as putting that to sleep and letting everything for a time be managed at the arbitrament of unassisted justice. I venture to say that there is not among us the conception that, when God acts, He acts in the entireness of His being always, as He always does, and always will; that His justice and His mercy, for example, have no existence apart from each other; that He never surrenders Himself to a single impulse, has no pet attribute, but that all of Him is in everything that He does. (C. H. Parkhurst, D. D.)
The rainbow a pledge of mercy
I. The circumstances under which the rainbow was given as a sign to men.
1. The Most High had proved His hatred of sin by the consuming wrath with which it had been punished.
2. The Lord had also recently accepted the sacrifice of Noah.
3. The rainbow appeared in heaven at the very time when the patriarchs fears must have been renewed.
II. The character of the covenant of which the rainbow was the appointed pledge.
1. The unmerited freeness of Divine mercy.
2. The faithfulness of God.
3. The infinite compassion of the Lord.
4. The universality of Divine mercy.
5. The perpetuity of redeeming mercy. (R. P. Buddicom, M. A.)
The rainbow round the throne
I. This emblem.
1. It tells us that God is in covenant with man. Such was the meaning of the rainbow in the time of Noah. The world, which had been taught so solemnly the terror of Gods wrath, was now to learn the riches of His goodness. But the covenant which God makes now is more gracious still–as much more, as the soul is more precious than the body, and things eternal more important than things temporal. And with whom is this covenant made? With all who will accept it: that is to say, with all believers in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith in Christ is the acceptance of the covenant. What a covenant!–well called the covenant of grace. It includes, first, forgiveness; then, renewal of heart; then, preservation from sin; and finally, the eternal joy of the souls of believers.
2. Again, this covenant shows all the attributes of God together. Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. How safe then the shelter of those who have an interest in this covenant: they are protected by the combined attributes of the eternal God!
3. By this covenant God binds Himself. Where is the rainbow? Round about the throne. Majestic as He is, and just and holy, He is content to be bound–bound by His own word, His sure promise, His unchangeable covenant.
II. Some confirmation of this truth. The doctrine of Gods covenant of grace is not only clearly revealed in Scripture; it is also not opposed to reason.
1. There is nothing in it unworthy of Him. It is not a covenant of unjust severity–nor is it one of unjust mercy. Mercy there is in it–conspicuous mercy; but it is in harmonious alliance with holiness and equity and truth. What, then, is to hinder Him from carrying out the covenant of grace? Nothing! His sovereignty is free.
2. It is a covenant that promotes His glory. Practical lessons from the covenant of grace:
1. Here is joy for the believer.
2. Here, too, is encouragement for the inquirer. (F. Tucker, B. A.)
An emerald rainbow
I. The rainbow.
1. Let us see in what respects the rainbow serves as an illustration of the covenant, and first–the rainbow is the child of the cloud and the sun. No sooner did man fall, and consequently the cloud gather, than the light which had been shining from before all time flew apace, and darting through the gloom, kissed with its golden rays the threatening cloud. In a moment there was a heavenly transformation, a belt of light encircled the cloud in the shape of that sweet promise given to our parents, The seed of the woman shall bruise the serpents head.
2. Mercy met misery, and the result was the covenant of grace. Mans depravity forms the dark background that throws up in glorious contrast the brightness of Gods grace, but the covenant rests on other foundations. It is founded on the purposes of God, and although his sweet engagements are for man, they rest not on man; it is a covenant of I will and thou shalt.
3. Again, the rainbow is an emblem of reconciliation and security. It was so to Noah. God has said, I will look upon the bow; well, then, do you look upon it too, for in that you are reconciled to Him with a reconciliation that He has declared shall never be broken.
4. The rainbow was Gods handiwork. I do set My bow in the cloud. So with the everlasting covenant of grace, from first to last it is Gods.
(1) It is His in conception.
(2) It is His in provision. All that was necessary for its accomplishment has been provided by the same One who sketched the marvellous plan.
(3) It is His also in execution. The power that convinces–the grace that draws–the faith that accepts–the peace that follows–the security that abides, are all, all of God.
5. This rainbow never melts.
II. Its position. Round about the throne.
1. May not the fact of the rainbow being all round the throne teach that God in all His persons is included in the covenant of grace? It is a blessed truth that it is so. The covenant embraces the whole Trinity–not one of the Persons is omitted. The bow encircles the whole throne. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost all have their glorious part in the salvation of man by grace.
2. Being round the throne, it was always in view. I speak with reverence, but it was impossible for Him who sat upon the throne not to behold the rainbow–it was around Him on every side; its emerald hue would be ever attracting attention. John only saw Him who was like jasper through the bow, and He only looked upon John through the same hallowed medium. God only looks upon His people as they are in covenant relationship with himself.
3. As the rainbow was all round the throne, it follows that there is no coming unto God but through it. Sinner, wouldst thou be saved? Then thou must be saved by grace. (A. G. Brown.)
The rainbow round about the throne
I. The rainbow.
1. It reclaimed the fact of the Divine reconciliation. What! is the rainbow in the cloud the symbol of the God of peace? And can the rainbow round about the throne be the symbol of the God of wrath, the God of war? Nay, it bears the same import in both the one case and the other; and how, then, like the elders before the throne, should the new song be ever so much upon our lips at the sight, and even at the very thought, of it.
2. And then, in virtue of the Divine reconciliation, the rainbow further intimated that providence is administered under the reign of grace.
3. After all, the grand purpose of the rainbow was to seal or ratify the covenant of God. It is certain there cannot be a flood in presence of a rainbow.
II. The position of the rainbow. The rainbow is round about the throne–not above, as dominating, or upon, as occupying, but round about, as encompassing the throne; and in this regard its position is as significantly instructive as it is itself.
1. It evidently carries us up to the Divine origin of the covenant. This covenant is most certainly of Divine authorship. It is an exclusively Divine product. The rainbow is made up of various intermediate elements, the eye, the sunshine, and the rain. But not the covenant. It is all God Himself.
2. This further intimates that the Divine majesty rules in the covenant throughout. Let us never suppose that God has abdicated His throne when He dispenses mercy, that He has laid aside His majesty when He exercises grace.
3. Once more, by the position of the rainbow, we are assured that the covenant will never pass from the Divine remembrance.
III. The aspect of the rainbow. The natural rainbow is of varied hue; but green is the prevailing colour in the rainbow round about the throne–here said to be in sight like unto an emerald. Now, let us observe why this rainbow has so much in it, not of heavens, but of earths colour, not sky-blue, but emerald-green.
1. It indicates that there is a refreshing beauty in the covenant which is never wearisome to look at. Some colours, even heavens own azure-blue, soon dazzle or fatigue the vision. The earths soft emerald-green never does. Hence the prevailing colour of this rainbow. To look at the throne, and Him who sits on it, in the fire-light resplendence of His holiness, like a jasper and a sardine stone, how can we do so without having our eyes, as it were, burned out? But with this emerald-green of covenant love and grace all round, how the sight of that very glory becomes a beatific vision. We see God and live.
2. And again, this emerald-green of the rainbow may be held to intimate that there is an essential unity in the covenant, whatever variety may circumstantially distinguish it. There is no rainbow without the sevenfold variety of the prismatic colours, yet these colours are all harmoniously blended together in its arch of beauty; at least, they are so blended together by the prevailing green of the rainbow round about the throne. And yet, again, the symbol is in this regard significant. There is a manifold variety of Divine promises and blessings which at sundry times and in divers manners have been given in sovereign manifestation from the throne; but they are all suffused with the one ever-permeating tint of grace, new covenant grace.
3. Yet, once again, the everlasting duration of the covenant may be said to be shadowed forth in the emerald aspect of the rainbow round about the throne. (E. A. Thomson.)
The rainbow round the throne
I. The obvious idea connected with a throne is that of power or dominion. It is the known public seat of legislation, government, and judgment, surrounded with all the pomp and circumstance of state ceremony and outward splendour. Before it the loyal are proud to bow in token of their homage. At its footstool the rebel is eager to fall prostrate, that he may sue for mercy. And from it the traitor hastens to flee lest his sentence of condemnation should be pronounced by the sovereign. Now let us carry these simple ideas to the interpretation of the symbol employed in the text. Conceive for a moment that the vision vouchsafed to the apostle were granted to you. How inconceivably exalted would your views of the Divine glory become! You would feel that power belongeth unto God! Let us consider how it is exalted by His other perfections. Omnipotence alone, if it were not guided by omniscience, would only he the source of unmeasured and inconceivable confusion and mercy. But blessed, says the prophet, be the name of our God for ever and ever, for wisdom and might are His. Again, even this combination of attributes would not afford sufficient security for the happiness of His subjects, unless it were hallowed by the most perfect purity. But He is emphatically the Holy One of Israel.
II. A second emblem connected with the former, which, whilst it detracts nothing from its glory, softens its splendours, and mitigates its terrors. And there was a rainbow, it is said, round about the throne. This is the symbol of mercy; and independently of its being Gods own instituted type, it has a native significance which it is delightful to notice. The most striking feature in the natural rainbow is the skill in which its beauteous variety of colours is blended together. Have we not here a most exquisite emblem of the way in which the Divine attributes all harmonise together, whilst mercy, so to speak, is the emerald grace, and presents the prevailing and refreshing hue? What, to the sinner, is power without mercy but a sure pledge of his destruction. Infinite wisdom only closes the door against the possibility of escaping detection. Holiness banishes him for ever from the presence of Him who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity, whilst justice records the sentence of His condemnation in characters of flame. But how blessed the change when mercy and truth meet together–righteousness and peace kiss each other. The eternal wisdom is engaged to plan, almighty power to execute, the scheme of redemption–justice is appeased in the person of the sinners surety–all guilt is removed, and perfect righteousness imputed through faith in the blood of atonement; and holiness itself is satisfied through the sanctifying work of the Spirit. But the most precious and important feature of the emblem is still unnoticed. It not merely tells of mercy, but covenant mercy; and was instituted as Gods own sign for this very purpose. And blessed indeed are the provisions of that covenant! It tells no more of works of righteousness to be done by the sinner as the condition of his eternal salvation. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord. I will put My laws into their mind, etc. (C. F. Childe, M. A.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 2. I was in the Spirit] Rapt up in an ecstasy.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
In the Spirit; in an ecstasy, as Paul, 2Co 12:2, and Peter, Act 10:10, and Ezekiel, Eze 3:12, and himself was both before and after this, Rev 1:10; 17:3; 21:10.
A throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne: God is constantly described, in the prophetical visions, as sitting upon a throne, to denote his power and dominion, that he is the King of kings, and Lord of lords. See Dan 7:9, &c.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. Andomitted in the twooldest manuscripts, Vulgate, Syriac.
I was, c.Greek,“I became in the Spirit” (see on Re1:10): I was completely rapt in vision into the heavenly world.
was setnot wasplaced, but was situated, literally, “lay.”
one sat on the thronetheEternal Father: the Creator (Re4:11): also compare Rev 4:8Rev 1:4, where also the Father isdesignated, “which is, and was, and is to come.” When theSon, “the Lamb,” is introduced, Re5:5-9, a new song is sung which distinguishes theSitter on the throne from the Lamb, “Thou hastredeemed us to God,” and Re5:13, “Unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto theLamb.” So also in Re 5:7,as in Da 7:13, the Son ofman brought before the Ancient of days is distinguishedfrom Him. The Father in essence is invisible, but in Scripture attimes is represented as assuming a visible form.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And immediately I was in the Spirit,…. As he had been before, Re 1:10; it seems he had been some little time out of his ecstasy, how long cannot be said, and now, upon this new scene of things, returned to it; upon the opening of the door in heaven, and hearing the former voice, and the things it said, the Spirit of God at once possessed and filled him, in an extraordinary manner; and his soul or spirit was immediately taken from the consideration of all sensible objects, and was fixed and intent upon the things presented to it in the vision, so that it was as if it was out of the body. The Arabic version reads, “then therefore I went in the Spirit”; in obedience to the voice that called him up, in which he was assisted by the Spirit of God, who lifted him up as he did Ezekiel, when he saw what follows:
and behold, a throne was set in heaven; not for the final judgment, on which the son of man will sit, when he comes to judge the quick and dead, for he is not the person that fills this but this is a symbol of the power, authority, and dominion now exercised by God, not over the world in general, who has prepared his throne in the heavens, and governs among the nations, according to his sovereign will and pleasure, but which he exercises in his church, signified by “heaven”. The allusion is to the temple, and the throne of God in it, Isa 6:1. The temple was an emblem of the Gospel church, Jerusalem, or the Gospel church state, and was to be called the throne of the Lord, Jer 3:17, and now his throne is set there. Here he exercises a jurisdiction and government; he is King and lawgiver in it; he has enacted laws, and he writes them on the hearts of his people, and puts his Spirit within them, and makes them both able and willing to obey them.
And [one] sat on the throne; not the trinity of persons in the Godhead, which some think are signified by the three precious stones in Re 4:3, the jasper, sardine, and emerald; for, as distinct from him that sat upon the throne, the Lamb is said to be in the midst of it, and the seven spirits of God are said to be before it: nor is Jesus Christ intended, and his two natures; his divine nature by the jasper, and his human nature by the red and blood coloured sardine; since he, the Lamb, is represented as in the midst of the throne, and is often distinguished from him that sat upon it; see Re 5:6; but God the Father is designed, who sits on the throne, though not to the exclusion of the Son and Spirit, yet in distinction from them. This clause is left out in the Ethiopic version.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Straightway I was in the Spirit ( ). But John had already “come to be in the Spirit” (1:10, the very same phrase). Perhaps here effective aorist middle indicative while ingressive aorist in 1:10 (sequel or result, not entrance), “At once I found myself in the Spirit” (Swete), not “I came to be in the Spirit” as in 1:10.
Was set (). Imperfect middle of , old verb, used as passive of . As the vision opens John sees the throne already in place as the first thing in heaven. This bold imagery comes chiefly from 1Kgs 22:19; Isa 6:1; Ezek 1:26-28; Dan 7:9. One should not forget that this language is glorious imagery, not actual objects in heaven. God is spirit. The picture of God on the throne is common in the O.T. and the N.T. (Matt 5:34; Matt 23:22; Heb 1:3 and in nearly every chapter in the Revelation, 1:4, etc.). The use of (sitting) for the name of God is like the Hebrew avoidance of the name Jahweh and is distinguished from the Son in Rev 6:16; Rev 7:10.
Upon the throne ( ). with the accusative, as in Rev 4:4; Rev 6:2; Rev 6:4; Rev 11:16; Rev 20:4, but in verses Rev 4:9; Rev 4:10; Rev 4:1; Rev 4:7; Rev 4:13; Rev 6:16; Rev 7:15 we have (genitive), while in Rev 7:10; Rev 19:14; Rev 21:5 we have (locative) with no great distinction in the resultant idea.
Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament
I was in the Spirit [ ] . Strictly, I became : I found myself in. Appropriate to the sudden and unconscious transportation of the seer into the ecstatic state. Thus Dante describes his unconscious rapture into Paradise :
“And suddenly it seemed that day to day Was added, as if He who had the power Had with another sun the heaven adorned.”
Beatrice, noticing his amazement, says : “Thou makest thyself so dull With false imagining, that thou seest not What thou wouldst see if thou hadst shaken it off. Thou art not upon earth as thou believest; But lightning, fleeing its appropriate site, Ne’er ran as thou, who thitherward returnest.” ” Paradiso, ” 1, 60 – 93.
A throne. See Eze 1:26 – 28.
Was set [] . Denoting merely position, not that the seer saw the placing of the throne. Compare Joh 2:6.
One sitting. He is called henceforward throughout the book He that sitteth on the throne, and is distinguished from the Son in chapter Rev 6:16; Rev 7:10, and from the Holy Spirit in verse 5.
He is commonly understood to be God the Father; but some understand the triune God. 79
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
1) “And immediately I was in the spirit,” (eutheos egenomen en pneumati) “Immediately I became (was, existed) in (the) spirit; In control of, in the power., or direction of the Spirit, inspired to receive and record what was being revealed to him, Joh 16:13-14; 2Pe 1:21.
2) “And behold, a throne was set in heaven,” (kai idou thronos ekeito en to ourano) “And behold a throne was set (located) in heaven,” Psa 11:4; Isa 6:1-3; Eze 1:26; Eze 1:28.
3) “And one sat on the throne,” (kai epi ton thronon kathemenos) “And upon the throne one was sitting,” God the Father, at whose right hand Christ is seated, was upon this central throne in heaven; 1Ki 22:19; Eph 1:20; Heb 1:3; Act 2:34.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
(2) And immediately I was in the spirit. Comp. Rev. 1:10. The mind and soul were absorbed in the vision of things celestial. (See. 2Co. 12:1-4.)
Words may not tell of that transhuman change;
If I were only what Thou didst create,
Then newly, Love ! by whom the heaven is ruled,
Thou knowst, who by Thy light didst bear me up.
Paradiso, i. 68-73.
And, behold, a throne was set (i.e., not that the seer saw the throne being set, but when he saw it was already set) in heaven, and one sat on the throne.Comp. Micaiahs speech (1Ki. 22:19). The enthroned One is not named. Have we here a touch of the Jewish reluctance to name Jehovah? or is it that the descriptive phrase, He that sat on the throne is Used here, and kept before us in the whole book to remind us that the great world drama moves forward ever under the eyes of the ruling One. (Comp, Rev. 5:1; Rev. 5:7; Rev. 6:15; Rev. 20:11; Rev. 21:5.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. Immediately On ascending and entering the door.
In the Spirit If this means his own spirit, then the thought is, that his consciousness, withdrawing from all perceptions of the things of sense, concentrated itself into the higher realm of the spirit, and, entering into full sympathy with the divine Spirit, became fully perceptive of things in the supersensible world, and especially of a series of symbols presented by the divine Spirit to the eye of his spirit.
A throne was set Literally, was tying; again the thing is there in the position before seen by the seer. Bengel says, the term lying is applied to the throne, from its breadth; to which Dusterdieck replies, that the same term is used in the Septuagint, Jer 24:1, in Joh 2:6; Joh 19:29, and in the classics; and so is the ordinary term to express a throne’s position. Nevertheless, it may be, and probably is, we think, from the breadth of the ancient thrones, (upon which more than one could sit, Rev 3:21,) that the term became ordinary.
One sat Unnamed: not merely (as Alford and others) because the writer strictly narrates “only what he saw,” though that was measurably true. The one was doubtless both unseen and unnamed for the same reason, namely, as says Herder, finely, “the mind has no figure and the tongue no word by which to express him.” The seer beholds and describes only the colours of the dense glory that indicates his presence. It is true, as Dusterdieck objects, that the same withholding of name appears with regard to Christ in Rev 1:13-20, and following two chapters, also, perhaps, in the angelophany of chapter 10, where see note. And that, we reply, is from a similar reverent mystery suited to Christ, who is designated with a whole cluster of glorious paraphrases, but never by his proper name. Here the symbolic mystery of reverence as suited to God is sublimely expressed by Herder’s words. Nor is its reality at all affected, as Dusterdieck supposes, by the fact that elsewhere the occupant of the throne is explicitly named; see Rev 7:10; Rev 7:15; Rev 12:5; Rev 19:4; Rev 22:1. The symbolic purpose is none the less intended here because it is not preserved elsewhere. The purpose is here the same as it was in the Holy of Holies namely, to symbolize the truth of divine Personality and specialty of Presence, yet to refuse all specific form, which would authenticate idolatry.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
‘Immediately I was in Spirit and, behold, there was a throne set in Heaven, and one sitting on the throne.’
There is no suggestion this time that he is carried forward to the Lord’s day. Rather he is carried ‘upward’ into Heaven. And there he sees a throne set in Heaven. Whatever happens on earth, God is on His throne.
‘One sitting on the throne’. This is the description used throughout the book for God the Father (see Rev 5:13; Rev 6:16; Rev 7:10). The Lord reigns! (1Ch 16:31; Psa 93:1; Psa 96:10; Psa 97:1; Psa 99:1) That the throne was ‘set’ in Heaven does not mean set for a special purpose, for, unlike in Daniel, there is no suggestion that the other thrones are less than permanent. In a sense (from a literal point of view) the throne was set for all time
Throughout the Bible God is regularly depicted as being on a throne because He is sovereign over the universe. In 1Ki 22:19 Micaiah declares, ‘I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the host of Heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left’. The point is that he does view the Lord in terms of a king on His throne with heavenly attendants.
Isaiah says, ‘I saw the Lord, sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. And above him stood the ‘seraphim’ ( probably meaning ‘those who burn up’, therefore purifiers – see Rev 4:6-7); each one had six wings, with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet and with two he flew, and one cried to another and said, “holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts. The whole earth is full of his glory” (Isa 6:2 on).’ Again the Lord is depicted as a king on His throne, this time with fewer heavenly attendants, but in this case they are within the Temple for a special purpose, the purifying and commissioning of Isaiah for His task ahead. (Rev 4:7-8 seem to equate the seraphim with the cherubim, see later on those verses).
Eze 1:4-28 depicts four living creatures, the cherubim, each in the likeness of a man, each with four faces and four wings, two of the wings connecting with those of the other living creatures and two covering their bodies. The four faces are those of a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle. Their appearance was like burning coals of fire, like the appearance of torches, and they were accompanied by bright fire and lightning. (In Eze 10:12 their whole body, and their backs and their hands and their wings, and the wheels, are full of eyes round about).
They were also accompanied by sets of wheels (called ‘the whirling wheels’ Eze 10:13 – possibly with whirlwinds in mind) which went wherever the living creatures went. Over their heads as they flew, joined together by their wings, was the likeness of a firmament (beaten out plate), like the colour of awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads, which they were clearly bearing along. And above the firmament was the likeness of a throne as the appearance of a sapphire stone, and on the likeness of the throne was ‘the likeness of the appearance of a man on it above, and I saw as the colour of amber, as the appearance of fire within it round about, from the appearance of his loins and upwards. And from the appearance of his loins and downward I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and there was brightness round about him. As the appearance of the rainbow was the appearance of the brightness round about. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord’. This whole description is clearly based on the mercy seat above the ark of the covenant in the Tabernacle, confirming that that was seen as the throne of the invisible God, and in Ezekiel it is seen as a moving chariot bearing the Lord around.
There the Lord is depicted as on a transportable throne, borne by the cherubim (Rev 10:1), with the aim of showing that He has deserted the Temple and is now with His people in the land of the Chaldeans.
Daniel says, ‘I watched until thrones were placed, and one who was ancient of days did sit, his clothing was white as snow and the hair of his head like pure wool. His throne was fiery flames and the wheels of it burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came out from before him, thousand thousands ministered to him and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The judgment was set and the books were opened’. Interestingly Daniel also sees God’s throne as transportable (wheels of burning fire). Note also that there were either two or a number of other thrones ‘placed’. The other may have been awaiting the coming of the son of man. This seems the most probable as no other reason for the plural thrones is given, whereas his enthronement is described, or they may possibly be for the more important members of His court who are seen as sitting in judgment (Dan 7:9).
A throne is also assumed (and specifically mentioned in Heb 12:2) in such passages as Heb 1:3, where the Lord Jesus is sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high (compare Mar 16:19; Luk 22:69; Act 2:33-35; Act 7:56; Rom 8:34; Eph 1:20; Col 3:1; Heb 8:1; Heb 10:12; Heb 12:2; 1Pe 3:22). The stress in these cases is that Jesus is sat down (or stands) at the right hand of God, i.e. takes His place with the Father, receiving supreme authority. He is His ‘right hand man’ (Psa 80:17).
It is clear from all this that God is seen as having a throne wherever He wills in order to reveal His sovereignty and to carry out His purposes. He is always accompanied by heavenly attendants, although of varying descriptions. When limited to only one kind they are there to perform a particular service. When His purpose is to carry out judgment He is attended by a considerable host, some of whom are possibly enthroned, as with minor kings to a Great King on earth. The passages depicting Jesus as at the right hand of God may be thought to suggest a permanent throne, but what they in fact declare in picture form is God’s permanent sovereignty and Jesus’ participation in that sovereignty. So the throne set in Heaven follows this pattern.
However, although the vision that John sees may appear to be of what seems physical, it is really, as with the other visions, a way of revealing spiritual truth. Thus for example, when in 2Ki 6:17 Elisha’s servant sees horses and chariots of fire, this does not mean that in Heaven there are permanently horses and chariots. Rather he is being shown in terms that relate to his own day the power of God to save and deliver from the hands of men. In the same way John is having spiritual reality brought home to him in a way he can understand and appreciate, and pass on to others. In fact there is no physical throne like an earthly throne in Heaven for God is not physical. He is Spirit (as we also will be in our resurrection bodies – 1Co 15:42-45). It is put in earthly terms for our benefit. What there really is we cannot begin to conceive
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Rev 4:2. Immediately I was in the spirit: This phrase signifies to be under a strong and supernatural impulse, caused by the miraculous operation of the Spirit of God, acting on the imagination in such a manner as to open extraordinary scenes, which had not any exact, external archetype; and it is much illustrated by the view presented to Ezekiel, when he sat in his house among the elders of the people, who probably saw nothing but the prophet himself, as one in a trance or extacy, or whose thoughts were so attentively fixed as to be insensible of what passed around him. We are not therefore to imagine, that the Person sitting on the throne, or the four living creatures, or the four and twenty elders, were real beings existing in nature, though they represented, in a figurative manner, things which did really exist. And though it is possible that aerial scenes might, by divine or angelic power, have been formed, it seems much more probable that all which passed, was purely in the imagination of St John. This will keep us, in our interpretation, clear of a thousand difficulties, not to say absurdities, which would follow from a contrary supposition; namely, that there is in heaven an animal in the form of a lamb to represent Christ; that there are such living creatures as are here described, &c. This observation is made once for all, and may be applied as occasions present. The representation of the throne of God in this verse, is very agreeable to several descriptions of the ancient prophets, as Isa 6:1-3. Eze 1:26; Eze 10:1. Dan 7:9.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Rev 4:2 . . The asyndeton emphasizes the significance of the . After John has heard the voice, Rev 4:1 , he is immediately and that too because of the voice [1668] “in the Spirit,” and thereby made capable of ascending into heaven, and beholding the objects there presented. Although in Rev 4:1 , John is already , i.e., in such a condition that he beholds the opened door, and can hear the heavenly voice, yet the mode of presentation, Rev 4:2 , which, considered in itself alone, can designate the entire recent entrance of the ecstatic condition, has its justification in that an entirely new elevation of prophetic ecstasy belongs thereto, whereby John can ascend in spirit to heaven, and behold what is there shown him. Hence De Wette and Ebrard properly compare with this, Eze 11:5 . Even Hengstenb. [1669] has to acknowledge, that, while Rev 4:2 designates “the complete entrance into the state of ecstasy,” yet Rev 4:1 already is to be regarded a “preparation” to this condition.
Zll., incorrectly, just as Rev 1:10 : “I was there [in heaven] by ecstasy.”
In rapid succession directly follows the description of that which is presented to the view of the one drawn into heaven: , , . . . To this entire description, there is a parallel in the Pirke , R. Elieser, [1670] which is very instructive, because it shows how differently, with many similar features, the O. T. types [1671] appear in a N. T. prophet, and the rabbins: [1672] “Four bands of ministering angels praise God. The first is of Michael, on the right; the second, of Gabriel, on the left; the third, of Uriel, before him; the fourth, of Raphael, behind him. But the shekinah of God is in the centre, and he himself is seated on a lofty, elevated throne; and his seat is high, suspended in the air. The splendor of his magnificence is like Chasmal (Eze 1:4 ). Upon his head is placed a crown, and upon his brow a diadem with Schemhamphorasch. His eyes go through the whole earth; a part of them is fire, but a part hail. On his right is life; on his left, death; and a fiery sceptre is in his hand. Before him is stretched out a veil ( ), and seven angels who were created from the beginning minister before him within the veil. But that which is called , and the footstool of his feet, are like fire and lightning, and shine beneath the throne of his glory like sapphire and fire. About his throne are righteousness and judgment. The place of his throne is that of the seven clouds surrounding him with glory; and the wheel of his chariot, and the cherub, and the living ones give to him glory. His throne is like sapphire, and at his feet are four living ones, each of whom has four faces, and as many wings. When God speaks from the east, this is done between the two cherubim with the face of a man; when from the south, then between the two cherubim with the face of a lion; when from the west, then between the two cherubim with the face of an ox; when from the north, then between the two cherubim with the face of an eagle.
The living ones also stand beside the throne of glory, yet they know not the place of his glory. The living ones stand also in fear and trembling, in horror and agitation, and from this agitation of their faces, a river of fire flows forth before them. Of the two seraphim, one stands at God’s right hand, another at his left. Each has six wings; with two they cover their face, lest they may see the face of the shekinah; with two they cover their feet, lest the feet may see the shekinah, and immediately be able to find his footstep; but with two they fly, dread and sanctify his great name. One cries out, and another replies, saying, etc.
And the living ones stand beside his glory, yet they know not the place of his glory, but in every place where his glory is, they cry and say, Blessed be the glory of God in its place.”
-g0- -g0- . The expression indicates neither an especial breadth of the throne, [1673] nor that it rests upon the cherubim, [1674] because the word here, as in Jer 24:1 , LXX.; Joh 2:6 ; Joh 19:29 , and in the classics, [1675] expresses the simple idea of “being placed.” [1676]
. The mode of representation itself, according to which the reference here is to “one sitting,” and in Rev 4:3 , [1677] the one mentioned in Rev 4:2 is described simply as “the sitting one,” shows that John does not mention this sitting one more definitely, because he wishes here to do nothing more than with perfect fidelity to report the vision which he has had. [1678] In Rev 1:12 sqq., also, he has not expressly mentioned the manifestation of Christ. Utterly preposterous is the declaration of Heinr.: “The name seems to have been omitted only by carelessness in writing, which is especially conspicuous in this entire chapter.” Just as impertinent is the allusion to the Jewish dread of uttering the name of God. [1679] Suitable in itself to John would be the explanation of Herder: “To name him, the soul has no image, language no word;” [1680] but even this is not here applicable, as John in general, even where he definitely mentions the vision here described, expressly calls God the enthroned one. [1681] These passages show at the same time that the enthroned one is regarded [1682] not as the Triune God, [1683] but as God the Father, in distinction from the Son, [1684] and the Spirit. [1685] So Alcas., Stern, Grot., Wetst., Vitr., Beng., Hengstenb., etc.
[1668] C. a Lap., Beng., etc.
[1669] Cf. on Rev 4:1 .
[1670] 100:4 in Schttgen.
[1671] Isa 6 ; Eze 1 ; Dan 7:9 sqq.; 1Ki 22:29 .
[1672] Cf. also R. Rocholl, Ueber Merkabah., Zeitschr. f. Luther. Theolog ., 1875, p. 393 sqq.
[1673] Beng.
[1674] Hengstenb. Cf. Rev 4:6 .
[1675] Cf. Meyer on Joh 2:6 .
[1676] De Wette, Ebrard.
[1677] Cf. Rev 4:11 ; Rev 5:1 .
[1678] Cf. Hengstenb.
[1679] Eichh., Ew.
[1680] Cf. Aret., De Wette, etc.
[1681] Rev 7:10 ; Rev 7:15 , Rev 12:5 , Rev 19:4 , Rev 22:1 .
[1682] Cf. Rev 1:1 ; 2Co 13:13 .
[1683] N. de Lyra, C. a Lap., Calov.
[1684] “The Lamb,” Rev 5:6 sqq.
[1685] Cf. Rev 4:5 .
Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary
2 And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.
Ver. 2. I was in the spirit ] SeeRev 1:10Rev 1:10 . That is, I was ravished into a spiritual ecstasy.
And behold a throne ] So Isaiah was prepared for his prophecy by such a sight, Rev 6:1 . And Ezekiel (besides that stupendous vision, Eze 1:4-28 ) heard behind him a voice of great rushing, saying, “Blessed be the glory of the Lord from his place,” Eze 3:12 .
Sat on the throne ] As judge of heaven and earth, Gen 18:25 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
2 .] Immediately I was (became) in the Spirit (i. e. I experienced a new accession of the Spirit’s powerful influence, which transported me thither: qu. d. “I was in a trance or ecstasy:” see on ch. Rev 1:10 . It is hardly credible that any scholar should have proposed to understand after , “immediately I was there in the Spirit:” but this was done by Zllig, and has found an advocate in England in Dr. Maitland: cf. Todd on the Apoc., Note B, p. 297): and behold, a throne stood (the E.V. “ was set ,” gives too much the idea that the placing of the throne formed part of the vision: “ lay ” would be our best word, but we do not use it of any thing so lofty as a throne. is wrongly taken by Bengel as importing breadth ; and by Hengstb. as representing the resting on the cherubim. But it is St. John’s word for mere local position: see reff.) in heaven, and upon the throne (the accus. is perhaps not to be pressed; it may be loosely used as equivalent to the gen. or dat. The variations of the case in this expression throughout the book are remarkable, and hardly to be accounted for. Thus we have the gen. in Rev 4:10 , ch. Rev 5:1 ; Rev 5:7 ( Rev 5:13 ?), Rev 7:15 , Rev 9:17 , Rev 14:15-16 , Rev 17:1 ; Rev 17:9 , Rev 19:18-19 ; Rev 19:21 ; the dat. in Rev 4:9 , ch. ( Rev 5:13 ?), Rev 6:16 , Rev 7:10 , Rev 19:4 , Rev 21:5 ; the accus. in Rev 4:4 , ch. Rev 6:2 ; Rev 6:4-5 , Rev 11:16 , Rev 14:14 , Rev 17:3 , Rev 19:11 , Rev 20:4 ; Rev 20:11 . The only rule that seems to be at all observed is, that always at the first mention of the fact of sitting, the accus. seems to be used, e. g. here, and Rev 4:4 , ch. Rev 6:2 ; Rev 6:4-5 , Rev 14:14 , Rev 17:3 , Rev 19:11 , Rev 20:4 (11 seems hardly a case in point), thus bearing a trace of its proper import, that of motion towards , of which the first mention partakes. But the accus. is not confined to the first mention, witness ch. Rev 11:16 , and no rule at all seems to prevail as regards the gen. and dat.) one sitting (called henceforward throughout the book, . .: and being the Eternal Father (not as Lyra, “Deus trinus et unus,” so also Corn.-a-lap., Calov.; for He that sitteth on the throne is distinguished in ch. Rev 6:16 , Rev 7:10 from the Son, and in Rev 4:5 from the Holy Spirit): see ch. Rev 7:10 , Rev 19:4 , where we read expressly, . . So that it is not for the reasons sometimes suggested, that the Name is not expressed: e. g. that by Eich. and Ewald, on account of the Jewish unwillingness to express the sacred Name: that by Herder (see also De W. al.], that the mind has no figure and the tongue no word by which to express it: still less that of Heinr., “Nonnisi ex negligentia scribendi videtur omissum.” The simple reason seems to be, as assigned by Hengstb. and Dsterd., that St. John would describe simply that which he saw, as he saw it. For the same reason he does not name Christ expressly in the first vision, ch. Rev 1:13 ): and he that sat (no need to supply “ was ,” as in rec.: the nominatives are all correlative after ) like in appearance (lit., “ in vision ,” “ in sight ,” as E. V. in the next clause: dat. of form or manner, cf. Winer, edn. 6, 31. 6, and see 1Co 14:20 ; Phi 2:8 ; Php 3:5 ) to a jasper and sardine stone (Epiphanius, in his treatise on the twelve stones in Aaron’s breastplate says, , (see below). , , . , , . . . He then describes several other kinds, a purple, a yellow, &c. One kind appears to be that meant in our ch. Rev 21:11 , where we have the glory of God like : for he describes it as . It is true that Epiphanius may have put in this species merely to satisfy ch. Rev 21:11 . From this latter passage, where it is described as , which jasper, as commonly known, never was, Ebrard argues that by the diamond . is meant. , Heb. , a beautiful stone of various wavy colours, semi-opaque, granulous in texture, used in ancient times for gems and ornaments, but in more modern ones on a larger scale for pavements and tables. Even Pliny wrote, xxxvii. (8.) 37, “viret, et spe translucet iaspis, etiamsi victa a multis, antiquitatis tamen gloriam retinens.” The altar in Canterbury Cathedral stands on a platform of yellow Sicilian jasper pavement, 30 feet by 14 feet.
, Heb. , is, as this name shews, a red stone, commonly supposed to answer to our cornelian. But Epiphanius, in his treatise on the twelve stones in Aaron’s breastplate, says of it, , . , . , . . .
Several of the Commentators, e. g. Victorin [75] , Areth [76] , Lyra, Ansbert, Joachim, &c., Bengel, Hengst., Dsterd., have said much on the symbolic significance of these stones as representing the glory of God. Thus much only seems, in the great uncertainty and variety of views, to stand firm for us: that if is to be taken as in ch. Rev 21:11 , as, by the reference there to , it certainly seems it must, then it represents a watery crystalline brightness, whereas is on all hands acknowledged to be fiery red. Thus we shall have ample material for symbolic meaning: whether, as Victorinus, Tichon., Primas [77] , Bed [78] , al., of the one great judgment by water (or of baptism) and the other by fire, as Andr [79] , Areth [80] , Lyra, al., of the goodness of God in nature ( being green) and His severity in judgment, as Ansbert, of the divinity and humanity (“quia nimirum humanitas ejus tempore passionis sanguine coloratur”), &c., or as the moderns mostly, e. g. Bengel, Stern, Hengstb., of the holiness of God and His justice. This last seems to me the more probable, especially as the same mixture of white light with fire seems to pervade the Old Testament and Apocalyptic visions of the divine majesty. Cf. Eze 1:4 ; Eze 8:2 ; Dan 7:9 ; and our ch. Rev 1:14 , Rev 10:1 . But nothing can be confidently asserted, in our ignorance of the precise import of ), and a rainbow (cf. Gen 9:12-17 ; Eze 1:28 ) round about the throne (i. e. in all probability surrounding the throne vertically, as a nimbus; not, as Beng. and Hengstb., horizontally) like to the appearance ( is here an adj. with two terminations, as those in – frequently in Attic Greek: see Winer (reff.): the construction of is not as above, but the dat. is here after ) of an emerald (on (- is the possess. adj. of two terminations) all seem agreed, that it represents the stone so well known among us as the emerald , of a lovely green colour: Pliny says of it, ut supra, “quin et ab intentione alia obscurata aspectu smaragdi recreatur acies, scalpentibusque gemmas non alia gratior oculorum refectio est; ita viridi lenitate lassitudinem mulcent.” Almost all the Commentators think of the gracious and federal character of the bow of God, Gen 9:12-17 . Nor is it any objection to this (as Ebrard) that the bow or glory here is green, instead of prismatic: the form is that of the covenant bow, the colour even more refreshing and more directly symbolizing grace and mercy. “Deus in judiciis semper fderis sui meminit:” Grot. So far at least we may be sure of as to the symbolism of this appearance of Him that sitteth on the throne: that the brightness of His glory and fire of His judgment is ever girded by, and found within, the refreshment and surety of His mercy and goodness. So that, as Dsterd. says well, “This fundamental vision contains all that may serve for terror to the enemies, and consolation to the friends, of Him that sitteth on the throne ”).
[75] Victorin us , 380
[76] Arethas, Bp. of Csarea in Cappadocia, Cent y . X. 2
[77] Primas ius , Cent y . VI.
[78] Bede, the Venerable , 731; Bedegr, a Greek MS. cited by Bede, nearly identical with Cod. “E,” mentioned in this edn only when it differs from E.
[79] Andreas, Bp. of Csarea in Cappadocia, Cent y . VI.
[80]
Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament
Rev 4:2 . A fresh wave of ecstasy catches up the seer. , repeating Rev 1:10 , not because the author had forgotten his previous statement, and still less because a new source begins here (Vischer), but simply because every successive phase of this Spirit-consciousness, every new access of ecstasy, was considered to be the result of a fresh inspiration; so the O.T. prophets ( e.g. , Eze 11:1 . . ., followed by Eze 11:5 , Eze 2:2 and Eze 3:24 ; cf. Enoch xiv. 9 followed by ver 14 . . . . . ., lxxi. 1 and 5, etc.). The primitive Christian conception of the Spirit was that of a sudden and repeated transport rather than a continuous experience (Act 4:8 ; Act 4:31 , etc.), particularly in the region of ecstasy. The royal presence is depicted in this theophany by means of similes and metaphors (partly rabbinic) which originally were suggested in part by the marvellous atmospheric colouring of an Eastern sky during storm or sunset; several had been for long traditional and fanciful modes of expressing the divine transcendence ( e.g. , En. xiv. 18 f. the divine glory like crystal, etc.) which dominates the Apocalypse. God is a silent, enthroned ( cf. 1Ki 22:19 etc.), eternal Figure, hidden by the very excess of light, keeping ward and watch over his people, but never directly interfering in their affairs till the judgment, when mankind appears before his throne for doom and recompense. This reluctance to name or describe God, so characteristic of the later Judaism, was allied to the feeling which mediated his action upon the world through angels or through his Christ (see on Rev 1:1 and Rev 15:8 ). For the tendency to describe God and heaven in priestly terms, cf. Gfrrer, i. 276 f. The whole of the present passage is illustrated by Pirke Elieser , iv.: “majestas sancti benedicti est in medio quattuor classium angelicarum. Ipse insidet throno excelso eleuatus, atque solium eius sublime suspensum est sursum in aere, figura autem gloriae eius est sicut color Chasonal, juxta uerba prophetiae (Eze 1:27 ) atque oculi per totum orbem discurrunt. Sagittae eius sunt ignis et grando; a dextra eius uita est, a sinistramors, sceptrum ignitum in manu eius. Expansum est ante eum uelum, et septem angeli qui prius creati sunt, famulantur ei ante uelum infra thronum gloriae eius est sicuti lapis sapphiri.”
Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson
was = became, came to be. See Rev 1:9, Rev 1:10.
in the Spirit. i.e. in or by the power of the Spirit, as Rev 1:10.
Spirit. App-101.
sat = sitting.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
2.] Immediately I was (became) in the Spirit (i. e. I experienced a new accession of the Spirits powerful influence, which transported me thither: qu. d. I was in a trance or ecstasy: see on ch. Rev 1:10. It is hardly credible that any scholar should have proposed to understand after , immediately I was there in the Spirit: but this was done by Zllig, and has found an advocate in England in Dr. Maitland: cf. Todd on the Apoc., Note B, p. 297): and behold, a throne stood (the E.V. was set, gives too much the idea that the placing of the throne formed part of the vision: lay would be our best word, but we do not use it of any thing so lofty as a throne. is wrongly taken by Bengel as importing breadth; and by Hengstb. as representing the resting on the cherubim. But it is St. Johns word for mere local position: see reff.) in heaven, and upon the throne (the accus. is perhaps not to be pressed; it may be loosely used as equivalent to the gen. or dat. The variations of the case in this expression throughout the book are remarkable, and hardly to be accounted for. Thus we have the gen. in Rev 4:10, ch. Rev 5:1; Rev 5:7 (Rev 5:13?), Rev 7:15, Rev 9:17, Rev 14:15-16, Rev 17:1; Rev 17:9, Rev 19:18-19; Rev 19:21; the dat. in Rev 4:9, ch. (Rev 5:13?), Rev 6:16, Rev 7:10, Rev 19:4, Rev 21:5; the accus. in Rev 4:4, ch. Rev 6:2; Rev 6:4-5, Rev 11:16, Rev 14:14, Rev 17:3, Rev 19:11, Rev 20:4; Rev 20:11. The only rule that seems to be at all observed is, that always at the first mention of the fact of sitting, the accus. seems to be used, e. g. here, and Rev 4:4, ch. Rev 6:2; Rev 6:4-5, Rev 14:14, Rev 17:3, Rev 19:11, Rev 20:4 (11 seems hardly a case in point), thus bearing a trace of its proper import, that of motion towards, of which the first mention partakes. But the accus. is not confined to the first mention, witness ch. Rev 11:16, and no rule at all seems to prevail as regards the gen. and dat.) one sitting (called henceforward throughout the book, . .: and being the Eternal Father (not as Lyra, Deus trinus et unus,-so also Corn.-a-lap., Calov.; for He that sitteth on the throne is distinguished in ch. Rev 6:16, Rev 7:10 from the Son, and in Rev 4:5 from the Holy Spirit): see ch. Rev 7:10, Rev 19:4, where we read expressly, . . So that it is not for the reasons sometimes suggested, that the Name is not expressed: e. g. that by Eich. and Ewald, on account of the Jewish unwillingness to express the sacred Name: that by Herder (see also De W. al.], that the mind has no figure and the tongue no word by which to express it: still less that of Heinr., Nonnisi ex negligentia scribendi videtur omissum. The simple reason seems to be, as assigned by Hengstb. and Dsterd., that St. John would describe simply that which he saw, as he saw it. For the same reason he does not name Christ expressly in the first vision, ch. Rev 1:13): and he that sat (no need to supply was, as in rec.: the nominatives are all correlative after ) like in appearance (lit., in vision, in sight, as E. V. in the next clause: dat. of form or manner, cf. Winer, edn. 6, 31. 6, and see 1Co 14:20; Php 2:8; Php 3:5) to a jasper and sardine stone (Epiphanius, in his treatise on the twelve stones in Aarons breastplate says, , (see below). , , . , , … He then describes several other kinds, a purple, a yellow, &c. One kind appears to be that meant in our ch. Rev 21:11, where we have the glory of God like : for he describes it as . It is true that Epiphanius may have put in this species merely to satisfy ch. Rev 21:11. From this latter passage, where it is described as ,-which jasper, as commonly known, never was,-Ebrard argues that by the diamond. is meant. , Heb. , a beautiful stone of various wavy colours, semi-opaque, granulous in texture, used in ancient times for gems and ornaments, but in more modern ones on a larger scale for pavements and tables. Even Pliny wrote, xxxvii. (8.) 37, viret, et spe translucet iaspis, etiamsi victa a multis, antiquitatis tamen gloriam retinens. The altar in Canterbury Cathedral stands on a platform of yellow Sicilian jasper pavement, 30 feet by 14 feet.
, Heb. , is, as this name shews, a red stone, commonly supposed to answer to our cornelian. But Epiphanius, in his treatise on the twelve stones in Aarons breastplate, says of it, , . , . , . . .
Several of the Commentators, e. g. Victorin[75], Areth[76], Lyra, Ansbert, Joachim, &c., Bengel, Hengst., Dsterd., have said much on the symbolic significance of these stones as representing the glory of God. Thus much only seems, in the great uncertainty and variety of views, to stand firm for us: that if is to be taken as in ch. Rev 21:11, as, by the reference there to , it certainly seems it must, then it represents a watery crystalline brightness, whereas is on all hands acknowledged to be fiery red. Thus we shall have ample material for symbolic meaning: whether, as Victorinus, Tichon., Primas[77], Bed[78], al., of the one great judgment by water (or of baptism) and the other by fire,-as Andr[79], Areth[80], Lyra, al., of the goodness of God in nature ( being green) and His severity in judgment,-as Ansbert, of the divinity and humanity (quia nimirum humanitas ejus tempore passionis sanguine coloratur), &c., or as the moderns mostly, e. g. Bengel, Stern, Hengstb., of the holiness of God and His justice. This last seems to me the more probable, especially as the same mixture of white light with fire seems to pervade the Old Testament and Apocalyptic visions of the divine majesty. Cf. Eze 1:4; Eze 8:2; Dan 7:9; and our ch. Rev 1:14, Rev 10:1. But nothing can be confidently asserted, in our ignorance of the precise import of ), and a rainbow (cf. Gen 9:12-17; Eze 1:28) round about the throne (i. e. in all probability surrounding the throne vertically, as a nimbus; not, as Beng. and Hengstb., horizontally) like to the appearance ( is here an adj. with two terminations, as those in – frequently in Attic Greek: see Winer (reff.): the construction of is not as above, but the dat. is here after ) of an emerald (on (- is the possess. adj. of two terminations) all seem agreed, that it represents the stone so well known among us as the emerald, of a lovely green colour:-Pliny says of it, ut supra, quin et ab intentione alia obscurata aspectu smaragdi recreatur acies, scalpentibusque gemmas non alia gratior oculorum refectio est; ita viridi lenitate lassitudinem mulcent. Almost all the Commentators think of the gracious and federal character of the bow of God, Gen 9:12-17. Nor is it any objection to this (as Ebrard) that the bow or glory here is green, instead of prismatic: the form is that of the covenant bow, the colour even more refreshing and more directly symbolizing grace and mercy. Deus in judiciis semper fderis sui meminit: Grot. So far at least we may be sure of as to the symbolism of this appearance of Him that sitteth on the throne: that the brightness of His glory and fire of His judgment is ever girded by, and found within, the refreshment and surety of His mercy and goodness. So that, as Dsterd. says well, This fundamental vision contains all that may serve for terror to the enemies, and consolation to the friends, of Him that sitteth on the throne ).
[75] Victorinus, 380
[76] Arethas, Bp. of Csarea in Cappadocia, Centy. X.2
[77] Primasius, Centy. VI.
[78] Bede, the Venerable, 731; Bedegr, a Greek MS. cited by Bede, nearly identical with Cod. E, mentioned in this edn only when it differs from E.
[79] Andreas, Bp. of Csarea in Cappadocia, Centy. VI.
[80] Arethas, Bp. of Csarea in Cappadocia, Centy. X.2
Fuente: The Greek Testament
Rev 4:2. , in heaven) Thus the heavenly court is described. Those things which the Apocalypse everywhere touches upon of heavenly subjects, viz. the temple, the throne, the assembly, the altar, the ark of the covenant, may not inappropriately be illustrated from the writings of the ancient Hebrews. See the Dissertation V. of Christian Schoettgenius, appended to the Hor Hebraic, pp. 1212-1223.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
I was: Rev 1:10, Rev 17:3, Rev 21:10, Eze 3:12-14
a throne: Rev 4:5, Rev 20:11, Isa 6:1, Jer 17:12, Eze 1:26, Eze 1:28, Eze 10:1
and one: Rev 4:9, Rev 3:21, Rev 5:1, Rev 5:6, Rev 5:7, Rev 5:13, Rev 6:16, Rev 7:9-17, Rev 12:5, Rev 19:4, Rev 21:5, Rev 22:1-3, Isa 6:1, Dan 7:9, Heb 8:1
Reciprocal: Num 2:2 – about the 1Ki 22:19 – I saw the Lord Psa 11:4 – the Lord’s Eze 8:3 – the spirit Mat 22:43 – General Mat 23:22 – by the Act 10:10 – he fell 2Co 12:2 – in the Rev 7:10 – sitteth Rev 14:3 – throne
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE TRIUNE GOD IN HEAVEN
Immediately I was in the Spirit, and, behold, a throne was set in heaven.
Rev 4:2
Other Feasts of the Christian year show our Lord God in the works and wonders which He has done; the Feast of Trinity declares to us what God is in Himself, in His divine Being. Here we see the Triune God in heaven. The whole chapter is appointed as the Epistle for Trinity Sunday. Let us consider its teachings:
I. The enthroned Jehovah.St. John was permitted in the Spirit to pass the bounds of mortals, and as Moses (Exodus 24), as Isaiah (6), as Daniel (8), to behold the eternal Father
(a) In His ineffable majesty; like a jasper and a sardine stone (Rev 21:11). These describe His majesty, and are taken to represent symbolically that God is holy and just.
(b) In His glory as a covenant God. He is surrounded (like the vision of Ezekiel, chap. 1) with the rainbow of promise (cf. Gen 9:12-17). The emerald is of a lovely green colour.
(c) In His glory as a lawgiver to man. The lightnings and thunders call to mind God on Mount Sinai whom Moses saw.
(d) In unruffled and eternal calm. A tempestuous sea best represents the life of troubled mortals. A sea of glass, like the molten sea in the Temple, like the sapphire pavement seen by Moses in the Mount, is a true emblem of the immovable calm of the Judge of all the earth.
(e) As the dispenser of spiritual light and life to man by His Spirit. The seven lamps of fire were the seven Spirits of God.
II. The adoring Church surrounding the enthroned Jehovah.These were four and twenty seated elders and four living creatures. The latter have been taken to symbolise (a) the four evangelists, (b) the ministers of God (it is observed that they lead the devotions), (c) cherubim (cf. Isaiah 6), (d) representatives of animated nature. Adopting the latter suggestion, we have here
(a) The Old and New Testament Churchtwelve tribes and twelve apostles. The Church is one.
(b) The adoration of the universal Church and the creation of God. O all ye works of the Lord, bless ye the Lord; the song is one of redeemed spirits from a redeemed earth. (i) Creation praises the Triune God, Holy, holy, holy. (ii) The redeemed praise the Triune God.
III. The Bestower of the vision of the enthroned Jehovah.
(a) It is He that opens the kingdom of heaven to all believers.
(b) It is He alone that can say, Come up hither.
(c) It is He alone that fills us with the Spirit.
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Rev 4:2. In the spirit means the vision was opening up before him. The first thing he saw was a throne in heaven and the throne was not vacant; one sat on the throne. That indicated that heaven had an occupant who had authority to give rule over the earth as well as over other persons in heaven.
Rev 4:3. These precious stones are used to indicate the worth and also the brilliance of the one on the throne. The rainbow refers to the arched halo that is generally pictured over the head of one occupying a place of authority. Like unto an emerald. This is another precious stone that is used to signify the glory about the head of the person occupying the throne.
Comments by Foy E. Wallace
Verses 2-3.
2. “A throne was set in heaven”–Rev 4:2.
The throne was not there for this vision only, it was set, established as the throne of heaven. (Psa 119:89)
3. “He that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone”–Rev 4:3.
Here was the figure of intense splendor. Jasper was an opaque species of different colors, subject to high polish. The New Testament use of the term “jasper,” here and elsewhere referred to a transparent gem, the diamond, or the translucent chalcedon. Sardine (or Sardius) was an ancient favorite of the engraver’s art, discovered in Asia Minor, of lasting beauty of color; it was a brilliant fleshred. But no physical or material substance can be made comparable to God’s person; at best it serves only as an emblem of the resplendent and exquisite grandeur and glory of his divine Being.
4. “A rainbow round about the throne”–Rev 4:3.
The rainbow stands for a covenant– Gen 9:13-17 — and the emblem here is of the covenanted protection from the judgment of impending events; not escape from the suffering, but exemption from judgments, which would come upon the enemies of the church.
5. “In sight like an emerald”–Rev 4:3.
The rainbow is a seven-color reflection. Its brilliance appears between the shining sun and the rain clouds. Here emerald in the bow is specified–a very precious gem, of deep green color-which is its real value, as the deepest colors were the prized. The word emerald had a root meaning of glowing. The emerald-green in the rainbow signified that through the grace of patience deliverance was vouchsafed.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Rev 4:2. As the closing expression of Rev 4:1 in the Authorised Version, after these things, is not necessary to complete the meaning of the clause to which it is at present added, it seems better to connect it with what follows at the beginning of the second verse. It thus constitutes a resumption of the same expression in Rev 4:1, and introduces the true beginning of the visions to be described. St. John is prepared for them by passing into the spiritual or ecstatic state. Even in Rev 4:1, indeed, he was in that state; but here, where the visions begin, there is a propriety in making special mention of the fact, and the word was, which is properly became, may be designed to call our attention to the renewal of the first vividness or fervour of his spiritual condition. Two things are seen:(1) A throne set in heaven (comp. Eze 1:26-28). The verb set seems to express not merely that the throne was there, but that it was so by the Divine appointment and arrangement (comp. Jer 24:1; Luk 2:34; Joh 2:6; Joh 20:5-7; Rev 21:16). For the particular shape and aspect of the throne see on Rev 4:6. (2) One sitting on the throne. It is not easy to determine who is meant. That the Sitter on the throne is neither Jesus nor the Holy Spirit is indeed obvious from the fact that in later verses He is distinguished from them both (chaps. Rev 5:5; Rev 5:13, Rev 6:16). But is He the Father or the Triune God? Commentators generally adopt the former view, but there is much that may seem rather to determine in favour of the latter. The whole scene is founded upon Isaiah 6, where we have not only the throne high and lifted up, the seraphim, and the train filling the temple, but also the Trisagion, Holy, holy, holy, etc. The vision of Isaiah, however, is always justly regarded as one of the greatest adumbrations of the Trinity contained in the Old Testament (comp. especially Rev 4:8, Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?), so that we are thus naturally led to think now also of the Trinity. In addition, it has to be observed that one great distinction between the visions of chap. 4 and chap. 5 seems to lie in this, that in the former we have the Almighty presented to us as He is in Himself absolutely, that in the latter only are we directly introduced to the Covenant of grace in which we learn to know God as Father. Nor does it seem that there ought to be any peculiar difficulty in accepting this interpretation on the ground that the Son and the Holy Spirit are afterwards spoken of as if distinct from Him who occupied the throne. All that is contended for is, that God is here introduced to us as He is in Himself, and not according to that separation of hypostases or personalities revealed to us in other passages of Scripture. We deal as yet with the Divine Being as He exists in Himself, and with Him viewed in that light the conception of Trinity in Unity is fundamentally connected.
Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament
I was in the Spirit; that is, in an ecstasy in a trance, in a rapture of delight and joy, ravished in spirit. This vision was represented to his mind more lively than any corporeal objects could be to his outward senses, which were now all bound up.
Observe here, 1. The vision itself, a throne set in heaven; St. John’s mind was not taken up with earthly matters: worldly crowns and sceptres were now poor things in his esteem, and will be so in the estimation of all others who have a prospect of a throne in heaven, as our apostle had.
Observe, 2. The person whom he saw sitting upon his throne: God the Father in royal majesty, whose power and glory was represented by the similitude of precious stones, particularly by the jasper and sardine stone; which stone, say some, being of a red and fiery colour, represented how terrible God is in judgment, clothed with omnipotent power inflexible justice; but to allay the terror of this vision, St. John saw a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald; this was very comforting, for the rainbow was of old a token of God’s covenant, Gen 9:12-17 that he would never more drown the world by water; here it denotes the covenant of grace, whereby the church is secured from the deluge of God’s wrath by the blood of a mediator: and mark, this rainbow was round about the throne; let God look which way he will, here is that which reminds him of his covenant and promise; and the colour of this rainbow was like an emerald, that is, of a most pleasant and delightful greenness: signifying, That Almighty God, in mindfulness of his covenant, takes unspeakable delight and pleasure in the exercise of mercy towards his children, even then when he appears clothed with terror, to judge and sentence an impenitent world.
Blessed be God, that he that sitteth upon the throne of judgment has a rainbow about him, giving full assurance, that for his covenant-sake, the floods of his wrath shall not overwhelm his children, when his enemies are swept away with the deluge of destruction.
Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament
Perhaps John repeats the fact that he is in the Spirit because he wants us to realize this is not a reference to his, or the church’s, bodily resurrection. ( Rev 1:10 ) With all that was, and would be, happening to these Christians, it seems very important that John should see the throne and God seated upon it. ( Psa 103:19 )
Fuente: Gary Hampton Commentary on Selected Books
Rev 4:2. Immediately I was in the Spirit Even in a higher degree than before. This phrase, says Doddridge, signifies to be under a strong and supernatural impulse, caused by the miraculous operation of the Spirit of God acting on the imagination, in such a manner as to open extraordinary scenes, which had not any exact external archetype. And it is much illustrated by the view presented to Ezekiel, when he sat in his house among the elders of the people, (Eze 8:1,) who probably saw nothing but the prophet himself, as one who was in a trance or ecstasy, or whose thoughts were so attentively fixed as to be insensible of what passed around him. We are not therefore to imagine that the person sitting on the throne, or the four animals, or the four and twenty elders, were real beings existing in nature, though they represented, in a figurative manner, things that did really exist. And, though it is possible that aerial scenes might, by divine or angelic power, have been formed, I think it much more probable that all that passed was purely in the imagination of St. John. This will keep us, in our interpretation, clear of a thousand difficulties, not to say absurdities, which would follow from a contrary supposition, namely, that there is in heaven an animal in the form of a lamb, to represent Christ, and that there are such living creatures as here described; and that God himself appears in a human form, &c.
Behold, a throne was set in heaven Representing that of the blessed God; and one sat on the throne Of a majestic form and appearance, and arrayed in robes of glory as a king, governor, and judge. Here is described God, the Almighty, the Father of heaven, in his majesty, glory, and dominion.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
4:2 And {2} immediately I was {a} in the spirit: {3} and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and [one] sat on the throne.
(2) The manner of revelation:
(a) See Rev 1:10 .
(3) A description of God the Father, and of his glory in the heavens, explained to men by his office, nature, attending company, effect, instruments and events that follow afterwards. In this verse he is presented in office as a judge as Abraham said; Gen 18:25 which is declared by his throne as sign of judgment, and his sitting on it.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
The glory of God 4:2-8
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
As soon as John heard this invitation, he entered another visionary state (cf. Rev 1:10). His body remained on the earth, but he saw a throne and someone sitting on it in heaven (cf. Eze 11:1; Eze 11:5). [Note: See J. M. Vogelgesang, "The Interpretation of Ezekiel in the Book of Revelation," (Ph.D. dissertation, Harvard University, 1985).] "Throne" occurs 45 times in Revelation and only 15 times in the rest of the New Testament. The tense of the Greek verb translated "sitting" (present participle here and in Rev 4:3) suggests continuous sitting. The person on the throne was undoubtedly God the Father (cf. Rev 4:5; Rev 5:5; Rev 5:7; Rev 6:16; Rev 7:10; Rev 19:4). John apparently saw a very large room with a throne in the center of it and someone sitting on the throne (cf. 1Ki 22:19; 2Ch 18:18; Psa 11:4; Psa 47:8; Isa 6:1; Eze 1:26; Dan 7:9).
"Daniel, the prophet, saw the same glorious sight (Daniel 7): the Ancient of Days enthroned, and ’One like unto a son of man brought near before him’ and given ’dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all the peoples, and languages should serve him.’" [Note: Newell, p. 84. Daniel 7:13-14; cf. Daniel 7:9; Ezekiel 1.]
This was probably a room in the heavenly temple since later John also saw the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant there (Rev 8:3; Rev 11:19).
"The major focus of chapter 4 upon the throne is its symbolism of God’s sovereignty exercised in judgment. From this point of origination proceeds the outworking of God’s wrath described in the body of the Apocalypse (cf. Rev 6:10; Rev 6:16-17; Rev 14:7; Rev 15:1; Rev 16:5; Rev 16:19; Rev 18:20; Rev 19:2; Rev 19:11). Though evil reigns for a time on earth, God will ultimately prevail." [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, pp. 339-40.]
Some pretribulational commentators have seen a representation of the rapture of the church in this verse. They view John entering heaven in his vision as symbolic of Christians entering heaven at the Rapture. [Note: E.g., Ironside, p. 80.] This is probably reading too much into the text since it was John himself who entered heaven, and he entered heaven in a vision, not in reality.
The absence of specific reference to the Rapture in Revelation has led some (posttribulational) interpreters to conclude that it will occur at the Second Coming, following the Tribulation judgments. Yet the differences between the Rapture and the Second Coming, as various Scriptures refer to these events, make this extremely improbable (cf. Joh 14:1-3, 1Co 15:50-58, and 1Th 4:13-18 with Revelation 19). The unusual absence of reference to the Rapture may be due to God’s purpose in chapters 4-19, namely, to focus on the judgments coming on unbelievers culminating in the Second Coming. There are 20 references to the church in chapters 1-3 but none until Rev 22:17. This strongly implies that the church is not on earth during the Tribulation. Evidently the Rapture takes place between chapters 3 and 4.