Revelation 4:1 - Printer Friendly

ESV: After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."

NIV: After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."

NASB: After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.'

CSB: After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."

NLT: Then as I looked, I saw a door standing open in heaven, and the same voice I had heard before spoke to me like a trumpet blast. The voice said, 'Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this.'

KJV: After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.

NKJV: After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”

This verse begins the last, largest portion of Revelation. This writing began with a description of John's reception of this Revelation, and a message from Jesus to seven churches which existed in John's era. This segment describes those things which were yet to occur when John saw this vision. After describing messages to seven churches in chapters 2 and 3, John is now given information regarding the "end times" of the world.

In this verse we read that the apostle John saw an open door in heaven, and heard a voice which sounded like a trumpet. This is the same voice that spoke to John earlier (Revelation 1:10–11). Later, John specifically identified the voice as belonging to Christ (Revelation 1:12–18).

The open door symbolically affirms that God has made heaven accessible to human beings. Of course, admission is available only to those who believe on Jesus as their Savior. Speaking to His disciples about heaven, Jesus said, "I am the way…No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6). John, who recorded those words from Jesus and now sees an open door in heaven, was a believer and therefore already held assurance that he would enter heaven someday. However, seeing the open door in heaven when he lived in exile on Patmos must have surprised him. Jesus beckoned John to enter heaven, where Jesus would show him future events.

John's experience compares closely to the rapture of the Church. Described in 1 Thessalonians 4:16, the rapture occurs with a voice, the sound of a trumpet, and all believers experiencing being caught up from the earth.

Revelation 4:1–6 describes the apostle John's experience of being in the Spirit and being transported to heaven. There, he sees the radiance of God described as precious jewels. Further, he sees twenty-four other thrones, occupied by twenty-four elders. He also witnesses seven burning torches and a sea of glass in front of God's throne. Near the throne are four creatures that ascribe threefold holiness to God.

John reports in the opening verse of Revelation 4 that he saw a door open in heaven and heard a voice beckoning him to come up to heaven. From heaven's vantage point John would witness future events. Upon his arrival in heaven, John saw God. He was sitting on a throne surrounded by twenty-four other thrones. A sea of glass lay in front of God's throne, and four living creatures were beside the throne. When the living creatures ascribed honor and praise to God, the elders who occupied the twenty-four thrones fell down and worshiped God. They cast their crowns before Him and praised Him.

Chapter 3 concluded the description of ''the things that are'' (Revelation 1:19). Chapter 4 begins the final section of Revelation, regarding ''the things that are to take place after this'' (Revelation 1:19). Chapter 1 describes the appearance of Jesus to John on the island of Patmos, at which time He commanded John to write to seven churches in Asia Minor. Chapters 2 and 3 provide us with the contents of Jesus' letters. Whereas chapters 1–3 relate events on earth, chapters 4 and 5 describe what John saw in heaven. Because the word ''church'' does not appear in this ''after this'' section of Revelation, we may assume the church does not experience the judgments described in chapters 6 and beyond.

The word ''revelation'' means ''an unveiling or disclosure.'' This writing unveils future events such as the rapture, three series of judgments that will fall on the earth during the tribulation, the emergence of the Antichrist, the persecution of Israel and her amazing revival, as well as Jesus' second coming with His saints to the earth, the judgment of Satan and his followers, and finally, the eternal state. This content, combined with the original Greek term apokalypsis, is why we now refer to an end-of-the-world scenario as ''an apocalypse.''