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Rev_4:5. The throne of God corresponds in its appearance to the majesty of the king sitting thereon. As in Psalms 29.,[1743] the regal[1744] omnipotence of God is made visible in the violence of the thunder-storm, so John here uses the same image in order to describe the unlimited omnipotence of the enthroned one, particularly as exercised in judgment. The throne itself, out of which proceeded “the lightnings, thunderings, and voices,” appears filled with this sign of the Divine omnipotence. The φωναί which are here distinguished from the βρονταί —so that passages as Rev_6:1, Rev_10:3, Rev_14:2,[1745] must not be here compared,—have[1746] to be regarded as the roar which in a storm accompanies the thunder and lightning.[1747] The misunderstandings of the description depend upon the crudeness and arbitrariness of the exposition. So in N. de Lyra:[1748] “The coruscation of miracles, and declaration of rewards for good and the terror of punishments for evil deeds.” Solely on account of the ἐκπορεύονται ,”[1749] Aretius understood by the ἀστραπ ., φων ., and βροντ ., even, the Holy Ghost. De Wette[1750] discerns in the lightning, etc., figures of God’s manifestations of power and life in nature, which are to be distinguished, as “critical and powerful revelations of God,” from the seven lamps as “his calm and perpetual influences;” while in Rev_4:6-8, “nature itself, or the realm of the living,” and finally in Rev_4:9-11, “the harmony of creation with redeemed humanity, and thus God in his living efficiency and reality,” are brought into consideration. But this interpretation is in more than one respect without foundation. The lightning, voices, and thunder are, according to the O. T. view, on which the present description depends,[1751] not figures of the revelation of God in nature as distinct from another revelation, but of the unlimited power of God, especially as judging;[1752] only we dare not, with Grot., understand the ἀστρ . and βροντ . of general threats, but the φων . of particular afflictions. The throne whence the lightning, etc., proceeds, agrees with that whose form appears to be not only like jasper, but also like a sardine stone.
καῖ ἑπτὰ λαμπάδες πυρὸς , κ . τ . λ . The authentic explanation immediately follows: αἵ εἰσι τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα τοῦ θεοῦ . Cf., besides, Rev_1:4. The pragmatic significance of the Spirit of God in this connection is not that the Spirit of God “is the principle of the psychical[1753] and spiritual life, and that through him the inner influence of God on nature and the human world occurs;”[1754] for the idea of the λαμπάδες πυρός does not suit the explanation of the closely connected first half of the verse. But Hengstenb. also, who very arbitrarily combines the “seven” of the Spirit with the “three” of the lightning, voices, and thunder, into a “ten,” and herein finds indicated a connection of the Spirit with that lightning, etc., improperly thinks only of an operation of the Spirit, “bringing corruption, punishing, and annihilating.” If also the idea of the work of the Spirit in judging[1755] dare not be left out of consideration, partly because of what precedes, and partly because of the expression, πυρός ; on the one hand, the expression λαμπάδες , and, on the other, the parallel Rev_5:6 ( ὀφθαλμοί ), indicate that the Spirit is to be regarded chiefly as illuminating, seeing, searching all things,[1756] and just on that account everywhere[1757] active in his holy judgments. Essentially the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne of God indicate nothing else than the eyes of the Lord “as a flame of fire” in Rev_1:14.[1758]
[1743] Cf. Psa_97:1 sqq., Rev_18:8 sqq.
[1744] Psa_29:10.
[1745] Hengstenb.
[1746] Cf. Exo_19:16.
[1747] Cf. Vitr., Ew., Hengstenb.
[1748] Cf. already Primas, Beda; also Zeger.
[1749] Cf. Joh_15:26.
[1750] Cf. also Ebrard.
[1751] Cf. Rev_8:5, Rev_11:19, Rev_16:18.
[1752] Vitr., Hengstenb., etc.
[1753] Gen_1:2; Psa_104:30.
[1754] De Wette, Ebrard.
[1755] Cf. Isa_4:4; Joh_16:8.
[1756] Cf. 1Co_2:10.
[1757] Cf. Rev_5:6; Psa_139:7.
[1758] Cf. Dan_10:6.