John's visions come from God, for sure, but they come from God through a divine inspiration bequeathed to John himself. This inspiration activates and energizes John's own interpretive and narrative powers. Welling forth from his ecstatic trance, his stories give form and meaning to the events through which he and his fellow Christians are living. John's visions also concern the future, of course, but in this respect, too, they resemble the activity of dreaming. Like dreams, John's visions are full of expectancy.
Angels appear from secret places deep within the soul.
Chambers open up to disclose mysteries. The seals on a scroll are broken, and the scroll is unrolled. A door swings open. A bolt of lightning cuts a rift through a veil that hangs before a hall of enigmas. Voices are partly concealed within the rumblings of thunder.