The former vision which John saw, contained in the foregoing Chapter s, represented the state of the church at the time when the vision was given, or the things that then were, (Revelation 1:19,) and gave suitable directions to the churches, with their pastors, to encourage their faith and patience, and excite them to constancy and perseverance. Now the apostle records a second vision, in which the things were revealed to him that should be afterward, namely, to the end of time: or the things which were to come to pass, in successive order, from the time of the vision till the mystery of God should be finished. In order to raise the greater attention of the church, and to represent the certainty and great importance of the things revealed, both to the glory of God and the salvation of mankind, God himself is represented as seated on his heavenly throne, in the midst of his saints, and the whole general assembly of his church, and the glorious majesty and infinite perfections of God are set forth by very lively, expressive, and beautiful images, together with the high regard which the churches ought always to have for the counsels, designs, and dispensations of divine providence, declared and published in so solemn a manner.
After this That is, after I had seen the foregoing vision, and had written as I was directed, the seven letters to the seven churches, from the mouth of Christ; I looked Being directed so to do; and, behold, a door was opened in heaven So it appeared to me, and hereby I understood that other heavenly discoveries, such as had not been made before, were about to be communicated to me, and that I should obtain a further insight into the divine counsels. Other openings like that here spoken of are successively mentioned. Here a door is opened; afterward, the temple of God in heaven, Revelation 11:19; Revelation 15:5; and, at last, heaven itself is opened, Revelation 19:11. By each of these openings, St. John gains a new and more extended prospect. He saw and heard, and then, it seems, immediately wrote down one part after another. By the particle and the several parts of the prophecy are usually connected: by the expression after these things, they are distinguished from each other, Revelation 7:9; Revelation 19:1; and by that expression, And after these things, they are both distinguished and connected, Revelation 7:1; Revelation 15:5; Revelation 18:1. And the first voice which I heard Namely, that of Christ, (afterward he heard the voices of many others,) was as it were of a trumpet talking with me There may probably be an allusion here to the custom of the Jewish Church, in which, upon opening the gates of the temple, the priests sounded their trumpets to call the Levites and priests to attend to their several offices; which said, Come up hither Not in body, but in spirit, which was instantly done; and I will show thee things which must be hereafter To such things, then future, the whole subsequent prophecy refers.