The appearance of God’s glory and of his throne is described in Isaiah 6, Revelation 4, 21, and 22 and Ezekiel 1. This is the throne of the one true God, the Holy One of Israel, the Lord of Hosts, the Creator.
The glory and radiance of God, his throne, and the temple cannot be separated. When you study these passages, you get as complete a picture as possible. I made an attempt to consolidate and merge what is described in the various passages, to get as complete a picture as possible.
A Description of the Throne of God and of the Lamb
- The throne is currently in heaven
- Heaven, the location of God’s throne and the Lamb, is far above – greatly higher than ALL rule and authority and power and dominion.
- Jesus Christ is seated “at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.” Ephesians 1:20-21
- Out from the throne come flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder
- The foundations of the thresholds tremble at the voice of Him who calls out
- The temple is filled with smoke
- The throne is like Sapphire in appearance
- There is a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance; as the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. More on this in the next post.
- On that which resembled a throne, high up, was a figure with the appearance of a man.
- The Lord is sitting on the throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple
- He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance
- There was a radiance around Him; Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD.
- There are seven lamps of fire burning before the throne (a Menorah? ) which are the seven Spirits of God
- Before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal
- In the center and around the throne, four living creatures full of eyes in front and behind. The first creature was like a lion, and the second creature like a calf, and the third creature had a face like that of a man, and the fourth creature was like a flying eagle.
- Seraphim stand above Him, each having six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew.
- Around the throne were twenty-four thrones; and upon the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and golden crowns on their heads.
The Current Worship Before the Throne
- And the four living creatures, each one of them having six wings, are full of eyes around and within; and day and night they do not cease to say, “HOLY, HOLY, HOLY is THE LORD GOD, THE ALMIGHTY, WHO WAS AND WHO IS AND WHO IS TO COME. Holy, Holy, Holy, is the LORD of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”
- And when the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, to Him who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders will fall down before Him who sits on the throne, and will worship Him who lives forever and ever, and will cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are You, our Lord and our God, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and because of Your will they existed, and were created.”
- There is the voice of many angels around the throne, the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing.”
The Coming Worship Before the Throne
- Soon, there will be a great multitude which no one can count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, and palm branches in their hands; and they cry out with a loud voice, saying, “Salvation to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” All the angels standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures; and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying,
- “Amen, blessing and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might, be to our God forever and ever. Amen.”
- Every created thing which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all things in them, I heard saying, “To Him who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb, be blessing and honor and glory and dominion forever and ever.” And the four living creatures kept saying, “Amen.” And the elders fell down and worshiped.
The great multitude of humans who placed their trust in God and in the Lamb. They will be there in God’s kingdom forever, together with the myriads of the heavenly hosts – the army of God. Imagine the scene around the Throne of God with human beings raised to everlasting life together with these amazing angelic beings – myriads upon myriads – an expanse of life the likes we cannot comprehend. The LIFE that has crushed death forever.
Its hard to comprehend this many beings shouting at the top of their voices the praise and the worrship of the God of Heaven, the King of all Creation.
What is this worship like? Well, let me give a small imperfect example: I remember a basketball game in high school many years ago where the venue was packed with people because it was a city playoff game. One of the player’s father had just passed away the day before but he was there playing the game in honor of his father. Everyone in the building knew this. At the end of the game the all city team was named. When the name of this young man was called out as having made the all city team, the building went wild with cheering. It was deafening and it went on for over 5 minutes. It was literally pandemonium – people filled with joy at having this player’s courage recognized. I have never experienced anything like that ever again – to the point that I remember it even today, 40 years later. I even remember his name.
Now imagine that joyful noise – that times infinity. That’s what it will be like – myriads upon myriads overflowing with joy worshiping at the presence of the Almighty and of the Lamb, the final victory over death. All evil entities and those who were deceived by them never again corrupting the final reality of a New Heavens and a New Earth, the Holy City the New Jerusalem.
Bring it Oh Lord! Holy is your Name in all the Earth. May your Kingdom come soon!
Next post: the Rainbow, the symbol of God’s authority and of His Promise.
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