Revelation 22:4Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

Those who have become thrones of God, because the Master rests upon them, will live in this city and will see Him face to face. They will not see Him in riddles, but, according to the testimony of the great Dionysius, in the form in which the apostles saw Him on Mount Tabor. Instead of the gold plate of the ancient high priest, they will have the inscription of the name of God, not only on the forehead but also in the heart. This means love for Him that is firm, unchanging, and bold. For the inscription on the forehead signifies boldness.

"And they shall see His face," that is, they will behold Him as far as human nature can receive it. And His name, as it is said, will be on their foreheads. This saying testifies to their unceasing remembrance of God and communion with Him. For as God rests upon them and is imprinted on them, so He is eternally present with them. This is clear from what Paul said: "And so we shall always be with the Lord" (1 Thess 4:17).

The vision of God has prepared for us the reward of faith. Of this the Apostle John says: “When He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is” (1 Jn 3:2). The face of God should be understood as His manifestation, not as some bodily part known to us. God will become known and perceptible to us. He will be seen by the action of the Spirit. Each of us will see Him in himself, and one person will see Him in another person. He will be seen in Himself, in the new heaven and the new earth, and in every creature that will be in that world; cf. 1 Cor 13:12.

The reward of our faith is the vision of God. Philip understood that this is the highest good when he cried out, "Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us" (Jn 14:8).

Its inhabitants will be all the heavenly powers and the saints, who have become the throne of God because the Master rests upon them. They will see God face to face, according to the Apostle (1 Cor 13:12). To see God means to have in the heart not passions, but love. The seal of this love will be on their foreheads. They will need neither the light of a lamp nor the light of the sun, for they themselves, according to the word of Christ, will be illumined by the King of Glory.

All this points to the uninterrupted and most complete communion of the members of the heavenly Church with their Master, joined even to the vision of His face. This bond of the heavenly inhabitants with their Master, weakened by nothing and never ceasing, will be the source, or cause, of their eternal delight and blessedness. With such majestic and beautiful features the holy seer depicted the new Jerusalem, or the triumphant Church of the Lord in heaven, after the fulfillment of the ages.