“After this I looked, and, behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter.”
After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! 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' — the open door in heaven signals transition from the earthly church (chapters 2-3) to the heavenly vision; the trumpet-voice is Christ's, calling John into eschatological disclosure. The formula "what must take place" (dei...genesthai) repeats 1:1, emphasizing divine necessity and predetermined order.
Church Fathers on Revelation 4:1
“After this, I beheld, and, lo, a door was opened in heaven.” The new testament is announced as an open door in heaven. “And the first voice which I heard was, as it were, of a trumpet talking with me, saying, Come up hither.” Since the door is shown to be opened, it is manifest that previously it had been closed to men. And it was sufficiently and fully laid open when Christ ascended with His body to the Father into heaven. Moreover, the first voice which he had heard when…
Nicene & Post-Nicene / Ante-Nicene Fathers translations · public domain
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