Chapter 4

Again referring to the flowchart, we see that the Ch4 box is right after the vertical arrangement of the Ch2 and Ch3 boxes. It is right here that we embark upon the mysterious portion of the book.

V1 states that John is about to be shown "what must take place after this," which I take to refer to the rest of the book of Revelation. Interestingly enough, though, the imagery in chapter 6 begins a panoramic view of all history from the beginning to the cross, with the rest of the book leading up to the end, which is all that is left. And so when the end is described, the background leading up to it has already laid the foundation for it.

This chapter and the next one actually form a sort of prelude to the rest of the book. Up till now everything has been pretty much straightforward, and fairly easy to understand. But from here on it is very easy to become confused and actually discouraged if some of the more violent passages are not considered in their context.

The central messages of chapters four and five are messages that we need to keep in mind as we continue on through the book, so we need to nail them down right now, beginning here with chapter 4.

There is much confusing imagery in this chapter four, from the voice that sounds like a trumpet to the meaning of the rainbow in v3, to the twenty-four thrones with twenty-four elders to the four living creatures and what they might represent.

There has been much speculation over the above. I would like to suggest that the exact identity of the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures is not nearly as important as what they are doing and why. Understand who they are in whatever way you think best, so long as it doesn't take away from the central message of this chapter.

That message, I believe, is found in the songs that are sung by them, especially the last verse. "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power..." Why? The answer is in the rest of this verse, and is the key to understanding the central message of this chapter. "...for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being."

So regardless of what some of the imagery represents, there is only one main point in this chapter, and that is that God is the creator of everything.

If we consider this chapter to be one side of a coin, so to speak, then the next chapter is the other side of that same coin.