Revelation 4:1 – 16:21 form a unit within the book. Revelation 4:1–11 shows us God himself enthroned in majesty, then Revelation 5:1–14 the blessed effect of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. The chapters thereafter show us, in two cycles of seven (seals and trumpets), how the exalted Lamb gathers his church in the course of world history—“the things that must soon take place” (Revelation 1:1). Revelation 4:1–11 sets the stage for this work.
1 After this I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven! 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.”