John’s Vision of God’s Throne

“And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold a throne was set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.”  Revelation 4:2

Continuing from yesterday’s blog, “John’s Vision of the Future”, we find John, in his vision, had been supernaturally lifted into heaven and his eyes gazed upon a throne on which was seated Almighty God Himself.  God is not identified by name until verse 11, but anyone who is paying even only a small amount of attention would know that this was God who was sitting on God’s throne in heaven, His home.  His throne is mentioned 40 times in the book of Revelation and symbolizes His complete, final authority and His sovereignty.

John gives a detailed description of the appearance of God in His palatial and magnificent seat.  Some folks, unfamiliar with scripture, conjure up an image of God the Father as an old Man with long, flowing white hair and a white beard wearing robes and sandals.  This is somewhat how He appears in the painting done by Michelangelo, “Creation of Adam”, which adorns the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, Italy.  Michelangelo painted his masterpiece between 1511-1512.  His depiction of Almighty God may be what gives people their idea of what God looks like.  However, scripture tells us that: 1.) God is a Spirit (John 4:24) and 2.) no one can look upon Him and live (Exodus 33:20).  Therefore, John did not see a human form of God sitting on the throne like he had seen Jesus when they sojourned together across Galilee and Judah.  What he saw was like brilliant jewels of jasper and a sardine stone.

There are many different descriptions of jasper.  Some commentators view jasper as a stone of red or yellow while others see it as blue and green with rosy tints.  Most scholars claim it is clear with the appearance of a diamond.  The sardine stone was also known as a carnelian stone, or ruby, a deep red.  It was also known as a sardis stone.  It is interesting to note that the first and last of the twelve stones embedded in the breastplate worn by the high priest in ancient Israel were sardis and jasper (Exodus 28:17-21).  Rather than God having a human form like the one in Michaelangelo’s painting, God is pictured as brilliant colors, possibly transparent, which would have been captivating in John’s eyes.

A rainbow encircled the throne and glowed like an emerald (deep green).  The rainbow symbolizes the promises of God.  (The rainbow has been hijacked by those who pervert God and His word to their own detriment).  God place the rainbow in the sky after Noah and his family landed safely on Mt. Ararat (Genesis 8:4, 9:13) as a promise that He would never again destroy the earth by a flood and as a token of the covenant between God and man.  The rainbow is symbolic of peace and mercy.  The predominate color of emerald green in the rainbow suggests a peaceful rest from earth’s turmoil.  Our landscape is covered in green leaves on trees, shrubs, grass, and flowers.  We know that it is the chlorophyll that makes the leaves green as the sunlight converts it into food for the plants, but Who made the chlorophyll?  Green is a peaceful, restful color.

As John continued to describe the glorious scene of which he has been privileged to view, we see that there are 24 seats which encircle God’s throne, and on these seats sit 24 elders whose clothes are white, and each wears a crown of gold.  Who are these elders?  We are not told, but it has been speculated by commentators that twelve are leaders of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the remaining twelve are the twelve apostles whom Jesus selected to accompany Him when He was on earth, teaching and preparing them to carry on His work after His ascension back to heaven.  (One apostle, Matthias, was appointed after Jesus’ ascension to replace Judas-Acts 1:26).  These 24 men would be the logical persons to sit on these 24 thrones.  Or they could be symbolic of the 24 priests of I Chronicles 24:7-18 who were selected to serve in the temple.  The number 24 is the “number of representation” according to the Bible Knowledge Commentary as illustrated by the 24 orders of the priesthood as set forth in the Law of Moses.  We will find out who they are when we get to heaven.

John’s vision was not static, but a dynamic one as the worship of God began to get underway.  We can picture John’s description of heaven and God’s throne in our mind’s eye, but we are not able to feel the full impact of such a glorious celebration.  We do occasionally have happy and joyful times on earth, but what we experience here is nothing compared to what heaven will be like for all those who are born again by the amazing grace of God.  I will write more at some future date to describe John’s vision of a time that will come maybe sooner than later.