In this article, Josh Butler argues that Revelation 4’s classic depiction of worship around God’s throne presents a picture of prophetic political challenge. Butler proposes that the scene’s location in heaven places it over the public life of the world, through examination of the heavenly throne’s Old Testament roots as a symbol of God’s kingdom reign over the earth. In orienting worship around God’s throne, John confronts Roman imperial ideology in the first century, with its claims to autonomous rule over the earth. Likewise, John’s vision in Revelation 4 provides resources for today’s Church to counter the privatization of its faith: reclaiming worship and heaven as political categories and framing the church’s vision for and participation in the public life of the world around the kingdom reign of God.
The Institute for Cultural Engagement, an official program of Multnomah University and Biblical Seminary