NOTES for Rev 4:1-11
This passage from the Book of Revelation consists entirely of symbols. It makes no sense at all to take it literally: any attempt to picture God's appearance, as though He must resemble precious stones, is doomed to failure. Yet through symbols John tries to express the reality revealed to him. God is the center of light: this is precisely what the images of glittering stones and the rainbow convey. In the opinion of many commentators, the twenty-four elders represent the founders of the Old Testament and New Testament Churches: the twelve patriarchs and the twelve apostles. The four “living creatures” may be angels; in Church tradition these four beings correspond to the four Evangelists. John depicts the incomprehensible glory of God and the no less incomprehensible communion with Him in His Kingdom. And the summit of communion with Him is praise: the praise to which we are all called.