Year of the Bible

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Commentary on the Book of Revelation, Chapter 4:

Having completed the letters to the Churches that reveal earthly realities for Christians (chapters 2-3), Revelation now moves to supernatural realities in Heaven. John is given a vision of worship in Heaven. He sees God’s Throne Room where the Father is seated amidst vibrant colors, fire, lightning, and thunder. John hears singing that describes God as the holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty. This is sung by four living creatures who defy earthly description and whose imagery are drawn from the prophets. Around them are twenty-four elders who have the thrones, white garments, and crowns promised to those who conquer in chapters 2-3. The elders bow in humbleness, casting their crowns before God who created them all.

The Book of Revelation, Chapter 4:

The Heavenly Worship

1 After this I looked, and be­hold, in heaven an open door! 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.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and be­hold, a throne stood in heaven, with one seated on the throne! 3 And he who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian, and round the throne was a rainbow that looked like an emer­ald. 4 Round the throne were twenty-­four thrones, and seated on the thrones were twenty­ four elders, clothed in white garments, with golden crowns upon their heads. 5 From the throne issue flashes of lightning, and voices and peals of thunder, and before the throne burn sev­en torches of fire, which are the seven spirits of God; 6 and before the throne there is as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
And round the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living crea­ture like a lion, the second liv­ing creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle. 8 And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all round and within, and day and night they never cease to sing,
“Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty,
who was and is and is to come!” 9 And whenever the living crea­tures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty­-four el­ders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever; they cast their crowns before the throne, singing,
11 “Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things, and by your will they existed
and were created.”

*Daily Lectio Divina Question:

This chapter describes what is happening in Heaven and what we are joined with every time we celebrate Holy Mass.  We join with "the four living creatures" (v.8) when we sing at mass: "Holy, holy, holy!" (v.8) Meditate on this reality and ask God to draw you further in to both the reality and to the mystery of this heavenly worship in which we get to participate when we go to mass.

Biblical Commentary provided by the Catholic Biblical School of Michigan. Join a Catholic Biblical School of Michigan class this September at Holy Family in Grand Blanc, or online.

Revised Standard Version; Second Catholic Edition. (San Francisco: Ignatius Press, 2006).
Permission to use the RSV-2CE given for Bishop's Year of the Bible by Ignatius Press. Many thanks to Ignatius for this.
If you're looking for a good Catholic edition of the Bible, look no further.