Revelation 4:2 - Exposition

And immediately I was in the Spirit . Omit "and" (see above), so that the passage may be rendered, After these things, immediately, I was in the Spirit; a new scene was opened out, as before (in Revelation 4:1 ). St. John was already in the Spirit; but now receives a fresh outpouring of grace, enabling him to see yet more deeply into the mysteries of the kingdom of God. And, behold, a throne was set in heaven; or, a throne was situated ( ἔκειτο ). There is no action of placing or setting up. Compare the vision of Ezekiel, "In the firmament that was above the head of the cherubims there appeared over them as it were a sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne" ( Ezekiel 10:1 ), where the throne appears above the cherubim, in the position of the cloud of glory (cf. also Isaiah 6:1 , Isaiah 6:2 , where the seraphim are above). And one sat on the throne. Probably the Triune God, to whom the Trisagien in verse 8 is addressed. Some have thought that the Father is indicated, in contradistinction to the other Persons of the Holy Trinity, and that it is from him that the Son takes the book in Revelation 5:8 . But as Cornelius a Lapide remarks, "The Son as Man may well be said, especially in a sublime vision like this, to come to God." The Person is not named, because