I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,
Though John was exiled from all who were of like faith, and almost from the world, he was not at all exiled from God, nor from Christ, nor from the ministry of the Holy Spirit and heavenly angels. He still had communion with his beloved Savior. It can be assuredly said that the last living apostle was experiencing the highest state of spiritual elevation into which a person can be brought by the Spirit of God in spite of some of the most forbidding circumstances the powers of sin and darkness can agitate against a faithful servant of God. In his mind and life, certain and almost palpable was the reality of the glorious promise found in Paul’s Epistle to the Romans:
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” – Romans 8:38, 39
Inclusive to this, of course, and significant to be noted, was God imbuing John with spiritual discernment in preparation for a vision regarding future events (John 14:26; John 16:13; I Corinthians 2:12-14; 2 Timothy 3:16; see on Revelation 4:2, Revelation 17:3, and Revelation 21:10). Again, here, we have irrefutable evidence that the book of Revelation was wholly to be studied and understood, for the Holy Spirit is given for the edification of the Church (Ephesians 4:12–13, 15). Of course, one cannot be edified by that which they can’t understand (I Corinthians 14:1-5).
By implication, this phrase marks the commencement of his vision.
and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,
John hears a voice that has a loud reverberating quality‒in tones, like the clearest music (I Thessalonians 4:16; see on Revelation 4:1, Revelation 8:2, 6, 13, and Revelation 1:11). It is the majestic voice of Jesus (see on Revelation 1:11).
