Following the messages to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3, there is an abrupt shift as we open chapters 4 and 5. We are ushered into the presence of God on the throne, and this glorious God is surrounded by worshiping elders and lightning flashes and four living creatures singing 24–7 “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come” (4:8).
