“After this I looked, and there in heaven was an open door. The first voice that I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this’” (Revelation 4:1 CSB).
This passage marks a change from the pastoral letters of earlier chapters to the apocalyptic imagery and divine judgments that will follow. Thus, our text from Revelation 4:1 starts where those judgments begin: the throne of God. Unlike the preceding chapters in Revelation two and three, chapter four begins with a heavenly perspective that leads us to the first interpretive possibility concerning the future events detailed within this book.
That possibility involves the phrase “after this” in reference to a period that has come to be known as “The Great Tribulation.” To put it another way, the phrase “I will show you things which must take place after this” from Revelation 4:1 corresponds with “after the time of the churches” detailed earlier in chapters two and three. Therefore, we can say that this passage describes a post-church era.
From this perspective, the church has fulfilled God’s purpose on earth and has received a divine invitation to “come up here” in advance of that tribulation. This view holds that devout followers of Christ will have the privilege of joining Him during that tumultuous period to come. For instance, consider Jesus’ message from John 14:2-3 below and compare it to the passage from the book of the Biblical prophet Isaiah that follows…
“There are many rooms in my Father’s house. I wouldn’t tell you this, unless it was true. I am going there to prepare a place for each of you. After I have done this, I will come back and take you with me. Then we will be together” (CEV).
“Go, my people, enter your rooms and shut the doors behind you; hide yourselves for a little while until his wrath has passed by. See, the LORD is coming out of his dwelling to punish the people of the earth for their sins. The earth will disclose the blood shed upon her; she will conceal her slain no longer” (Isaiah 26:20-21 NIV).
When the voice of Revelation 4:1 says, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this,” it may symbolize the departure of God’s people prior to the onset of the catastrophic events to follow. We’ll explore those topics at greater length as we progress through our study of this book.