Rev
4:2
At
once I was in [special communication with] the Spirit; and behold, a throne
stood in heaven, with One seated on the throne.
Not long ago I watched a video showing the interior of
Buckingham Palace, which included the throne room of the king. On first glance,
the opulence and grandeur of all these rooms are too much to take in - I can
imagine that if you actually stood there, you would not know where to start
looking! Hundreds of rare and costly ornaments are displayed on every available
surface; so many objects are gilded or made of marble; cut glass and crystal reflect
the light throughout the rooms. Not to mention the authentic art portraits,
antique and more modern, adorning the walls. Remarkable indeed!
And yet….there is no perception of life and emotion here,
it feels like a spectacular display of wealth meant to impress, not to draw one
into a community of warmth and shared human experiences. The throne room is
used only on rare occasions, and then with scripted pomp and ceremony that has
been left unchanged for centuries, meant only to impress and convey superiority.
So different from our Father’s Throne Room in heaven!
This Throne Room, (we know from eyewitnesses who wrote
about it in the Bible), is more spectacular than anything found on earth. We
read about God being present here, sitting on His Throne, and His appearance is
bright like jasper and sardius. We read about the bow of emerald encircling
that Throne, and flashes of lightning and rumblings and peals of thunder emanating
from it. Arranged around the Throne are more thrones, upon which elders sit
wearing white clothing and golden crowns upon their heads, and in front of it
are the seven Spirits of God blazing like torches. There is a sea of glass in
front of the Throne, and around it four living creatures as guardians. And
these creatures never stop saying, ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who
was and Who is and Who is to come’, upon which the elders prostrate themselves
before Him, throwing down their crowns before Him in worship.
The description above speaks of life, and majesty, and
supreme authority! But also of warmth and love and compassion without end - we
know this from the fact that we are invited to enter that very same Throne Room
whenever we want, or need, to (Heb 4:16 Let us then approach God’s throne
of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help
us in our time of need.)
Pearls to ponder:
Let us meditate on the wonder of this, that we have
unlimited access to the Throne Room of the All-Powerful Creator of the
Universe! Unlike here on earth, where people may only enter earthly throne
rooms by invitation, an event most will never experience in their lifetime. We can
be sure that this Throne Room exists, as several people, whose lives were separated
by hundreds of years, wrote about their visitations there (Ez 1:26-28;
Dan 7:9-10; Is 6:1-4; Micaiah in 1Kings 22:19; Jesus in
Matthew 19:28 and 25:31, Stephen in Acts 7:55 to name a
few). Come then, and enter the Throne Room of our Abba in absolute faith that
we will be warmly received and welcomed there!
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