Глава IV

A vision of the heavenly throne, its external setting, the 24 elders surrounding it and four animals with four faces: a lion, a calf, a man and an eagle. Constant praise and thanksgiving (1–11). Rev.4:1. After this I looked, and behold, a door was opened in heaven, and the former voice, which I heard like the sound of a trumpet, speaking to me, said: Come up here, and I will show you what must happen after this. Starting from chapter 4. and up to Rev. 22:6 comes the second part of the Apocalypse, the revelation of which was received partly with the gates of heaven open, and partly with the sky open. This part contains a series (or five orders) of phenomena that pictorially and symbolically depict the eschatology of the world and the church. The expression “after this” can be considered as the usual transition of the Apocalypse to the future and represents an indefinite indication of time. – “Looked” indicates the unexpectedness of the appearance of the object and the lack of connection with the previous field of vision and can be conveyed: I was in a state of vision 18. Ev. John, in his state of excitement, imagined heaven with an open door, with access to heaven open to his eyes (and spirit), where a mysterious voice invited him to ascend. The “old” voice is heard; therefore, by the speaker here it is natural to mean the same Jesus Christ (Rev. 1:10–15) as the teacher of revelation 19. The sound of the voice that spoke was like the sound of a trumpet in its power. A voice commands John to come up here. Comparing this expression with Rev. 11:12, one must agree with the opinion that John was indeed caught up spiritually into heaven 20. Rev.4:2. And immediately I was in spirit; and behold, a throne stood in heaven, and on the throne was one who sat; Rev.4:3. and this Seated One looked like a jasper and sardis stone; and a rainbow around the throne, similar in appearance to emerald. The expression: “and immediately I was in the spirit” explains the previous one, making it clear that here there was not a bodily ascent, but a spiritual, highest state of ecstasy. The one sitting on the throne is not called by name, because St. John wants to point out the first Person of the Holy Trinity, God the Father in His difference from Jesus Christ (Rev. 5:6) and from the Holy Spirit (Rev. 4:5). Assuming the indescribability and incomprehensibility of the Divine, St. John depicts the Seated One in appearance as jasper and sardis stones. Under the rainbow around the throne, of course, it is not a rain rainbow, since it did not consist of seven colors, but of one - emerald; it was a circular refraction of the rays of the brilliance of jasper and sardonicus and had a greenish color 21 (emerald). Rev.4:4. And around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and I saw twenty-four elders sitting on the thrones, who were dressed in white robes and had golden crowns on their heads. Who the elders were who surrounded the throne is decided differently by interpreters. Based on the fact that these elders, sitting on thrones, were dressed in white clothes as a sign of their holiness and purity (Rev. 3:4, 7:13), and on their heads there were golden crowns, serving as a symbol of the victorious reward (Rev. 2:10), one must come to the conclusion that by 24 elders one must mean not any specific classes of individuals (at least patriarchs and apostles), but also actual representatives of all glorified humanity, as much as the Old Testament, as much as the New Testament. These elders are real individuals, they are chosen from among the glorified (Rev. 5:9) to be exponents of people's service to God and God's love for people. Rev.4:5. And from the throne came lightning and thunder and voices, and seven lamps of fire burned before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God; By voices here it is more correct to understand not sound-separate human voices, but sounds in general, noise in general as a manifestation of constant movement, constant life 22 . Under the seven lamps, as in Rev. 1:4, there is an indication of the third Person of the Holy Trinity - the Holy Spirit, Who acts in the world as a dispenser of grace-filled gifts. Rev.4:6. and before the throne was a sea of ​​glass, like crystal; and in the midst of the throne and around the throne were four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind. In the general description of the Divine Throne, the glass sea must be attributed to the setting of this latter. It must constitute an essential feature of the general characteristic and is a phenomenon like a rainbow, as necessary as the latter. This is an environment, not like our air, and not like the sea. But, undoubtedly, something completely real, like the throne itself and all its furnishings. – “In the middle” cannot be taken literally, in the sense that the animals were placed on the throne itself: the throne was occupied by the One sitting. It is necessary to bring the concept of “in the middle” closer to the concept of “around”. It is necessary to imagine that the animals, being between the thrones of the elders and the throne of the One sitting, some were behind and in front of the throne (in the middle), while others were on its sides. Who were the animals? – They are called animals (not beasts), that is, living beings, and this can be brought closer to the concept of man, who is also a living being. In any case, these are independent living beings, individuals. These animals are full of eyes in front and behind, that is, we must assume that St. John saw them having many eyes both in front and behind. This indicates the purity and sublimity of their nature. Rev.4:7. And the first living creature was like a lion, and the second living creature was like a calf, and the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. The animals seen by John, although they resemble the animals of the prophet. Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:4–8, 10), but differ from him in the most essential ways. Although there are also four of them, there each was a combination of four, here each is independent. Therefore, we can assume that the apocalyptic vision was not borrowed or altered from the vision of the prophet. Ezekiel, but was completely independent. Since John is silent about the animal figures themselves, and probably because he himself did not see these figures, one must think that the figures in the vision do not have any special meaning, but only their similarity to the four classes of living beings - the creatures of God - is important. These creatures, the first - the lion - are an expression of strength, the second - the calf (ox) - of nutrition, the third - man - of intelligence and the fourth - the eagle - of sublimity. Rev.4:8. And each of the four animals had six wings around, and inside they were full of eyes; and they have no rest day or night, crying out: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, who is, and who is to come. In Ezekiel's vision, the animals have four wings, and therefore the six-winged animals of the Apocalypse are more similar to the seraphim seen by the prophet. Isaiah (Is.6:2), who had six wings. The animals covered themselves with their wings, they covered them completely, so that their figures, except for their heads, were invisible to the viewer, and the purpose of the wings, thus, was to hide the figures of the animals. – The word “inside” must be given the meaning of indicating the fact that John also saw eyes under the wings that covered the bodies of animals. This means that the animals of the Apocalypse are the same as the animals of the prophet. Ezekiel, had eyes not only on their faces in front and behind, but their whole body was equipped with eyes: they were many-eyed. The purpose of the animals was the same as for the seraphim in the vision of the prophet Isaiah (Is. 6:3). They sing almost the same thing, and the difference in the content of their doxology lies in its greater length. The animals of the Apocalypse constantly praise not only the holiness of the Lord as the omnipotent ruler of the world, but also as the Almighty. – The epithet: “Who was, is and is to come” does not speak about the trinity of the Divinity, but about the fact that the Lord, having revealed Himself in the Old (which was) and the New (is) Testaments, will reveal Himself as the giver of bribes at the end of the world (and is coming). Thus, in these four animals one can and should see the ethereal forces that surround the throne of God. These are completely special (not seraphim or cherubim) heavenly powers, which only St. John and for which he did not give any other name than animals, living beings par excellence, the first creatures of the Lord God. Rev.4:9. And when the animals give glory and honor and thanksgiving to Him who sits on the throne, Who lives forever and ever, Rev.4:10. then the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and lay down their crowns before the throne, saying: Rev.4:11. You are worthy, Lord, to receive glory and honor and power: for You created everything, and everything exists and was created by Your will. The words: “when they reward” are equivalent: every time animals reward, and indicate the repetition of actions. The song of angelic praise to the Eternal was repeated again and again. And every time it ended, the 24 elders sitting on their thrones stood up. They took off their crowns and placed them near them, before the throne of God, and they themselves worshiped the One who sat. Their worship was an expression of consciousness of God's beheld greatness. And in their hymn they say that the Lord is worthy to accept not only the glory and honor that the incorporeal forces bestow upon Him, but also power, that is, the glorification of God’s omnipotence. You might be interested in: