In this chapter we find Jesus Christ in His glory, occupying His throne and showing us that He is the Son of God.  It is the same throne that has existed from eternity and is it He who is the Creator and totally in charge of all things.  The throne in itself is a real curiosity.  It may not be what you think.  It doesn't take much to imagine that God's throne could be a vehicle or craft that moves about when He so desires.  Some modern teachers think that this is so, and you know what?  It just might be.  Let's get into it.

Rev. 4:1  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.

Remember from chapter 1 that John was seeing all these things on the day of the Lord?  That is what this book is all about and the events described herein are those just prior to, during, and after that horrible day.  The trumpet like voice that John is hearing is pointing us to the day of the blowing of trumpets, sometimes called the Feast of Trumpets (Jewish - Rosh Hashanah).  It is a high sabbath holy day commanded by God which should rightly occur each year on the autumnal equinox even though that is not when it is observed today.  It is important in that it is warning us that the day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) is imminent.  The day of Atonement, that terrible day and all it portends, occurs just ten days after the day of trumpets.  It is synonymous with the great and terrible day of the Lord, as spoken of by the prophets from the beginning, and the sound of trumpets on the day of the blowing of trumpets is a warning that it is near.  This follows right along with what we learned in chapter 1, that the central theme of the book of Revelation is the day of the Lord.

Some teach that the statement come up hither refers not only to John, but to the church which is to be spirited away to Heaven before Antichrist appears so they won't have to go through his tribulation.  This is what is generally referred to as the rapture and trying to interpret this verse in that manner is an attempt to back up that concept.  But John is the one being spoken to here, no one else.  There is absolutely no evidence in the scriptures that a so-called rapture of this type is going to occur, however, there is scriptural evidence that God's people will be gathered by the angels from the four corners of the Earth at the second appearance of Christ.  But this is after Antichrist has done his thing, because when Christ appears the tribulation, or temptation, of Antichrist is over.  Christians shouldn't want to run away and hide from him, the very idea is repulsive.  I tell you with confidence that the Elect will never run away and abandon their family, friends, and neighbors to the devices of that evil one without a fight.  That is their job, to resist the spirit of Antichrist now and to fight like champions when he appears de facto.   How will your light shine if you never stand forth to the challenge?

All of us who are alive on the Earth in the flesh at the time of the end will go through the temptation of Antichrist.  That is certain, so you may as well forget running from him, and instead set your heart to run straight at him like David did Goliath.  Be courageous and prepare to fight a good fight because it is my confident assertion that that God doesn't like spiritual cowards.

Rev. 4:2  And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne.

Rev. 4:3  And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.

Rev. 4:4  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.

Rev. 4:5  And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices: and there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

1 Cor. 12:4  Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

1 Cor. 12:5 And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.

1 Cor. 12:6 And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.

1 Cor. 12:7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.

1 Cor. 12:8 For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom;  to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

1 Cor. 12:9  To another faith by the same Spirit;  to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit;

1 Cor. 12:10  To another the working of miracles;  to another prophecy;  to another discerning of spirits;  to another divers kinds of tongues;  to another the interpretation of tongues:

1 Cor. 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

Rev. 4:6  And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.

Rev. 4:7  And the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle.

You will find another description of God's throne in Ezekiel, chapters 1 and 10.  Some try to say that these chapters prove that God's throne is a UFO (unidentified flying object), but that cannot be because we know what it is.  Granted, it moves about and behaves in a manner similar to a UFO in Ezekiel, but the appearance of it and the usual description given for a typical UFO are drastically different.  It is an entirely plausible idea that the One sitting on the throne uses it to move from place to place, in fact, it is probable.  There has been much written about these chapters of Ezekiel, so dig into it and you will see that it is the same throne that John was seeing here in Revelation 4.

In addition, the layout of the throne, just as Ezekiel and John describe it, existed in type in ancient Israel when they left Egypt and wandered in the wilderness.  The way that they set up camp was a picture of this same throne that John is seeing.  In effect, it identified them as God's people and that He was with them.  Read chapters 2, 3, and 4 in the book of  Numbers to see how God told them to set up the camp.  They each had their places in groups of three on each side of the camp and surrounding the tabernacle, which contained God's throne, with the priests surrounding the tabernacle.

Judah was to the East with his companions and on his standard (flag or banner) was a  lion.  Reuben was to the South with his companions and on his standard was a man. Ephraim was to the West with his companions and on his standard was an ox (calf).  Dan was to the North with his companions and on his standard was an eagle.

Come on now!  Work with it.  Get into the Bible and compare these scriptures to see the similarities to God's throne as John saw it, what Ezekiel saw, and how Moses was instructed to set up the camp of the twelve tribes of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness.  You will see a definite correlation between these things.

Rev. 4:8  And the four beasts had each of them six wings about him; and they were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.

Rev. 4:9  And when those beasts give glory and honour and thanks to him that sat on the throne, who liveth for ever and ever,

Rev. 4:10  The four and twenty elders fall down before him that sat on the throne, and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying,

Rev. 4:11  Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.