The Throne of Heaven
God's Throne
Isa 66:1 | Thus says the LORD, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool." |
Matt 5:34 | Jesus said "Heaven...is God's throne" |
Psalm 103:19 | "The LORD (Jehovah) has established / set/ prepared His throne in the heavens" |
Psalm 11:3 | The LORD is in His holy temple, the LORD's throne is in heaven |
Psalm 47:8 | God sits upon the throne of His holiness |
Psalm 89:14 | Justice and judgment are the habitation of His throne |
2Chron
18:18 1Ki 22:19 |
Micaiah
"saw the Lord sitting upon His throne, and all the host of heaven standing on his right hand and on his left" |
Luke
1:32,33 Simeon
prophesied that Jesus "will be great, and will be called the Son of the Highest;
and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David.
And He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there
will be no end." Heb 1:8
God said to the Son, "Thy throne, O God, is forever and ever."
The throne of David was
situated in Jerusalem, the capitol of Judea and of the united kingdom.
Jesus is not yet seated on David's throne.
Matt 25:31 He said, "The Son of man shall come in His glory...then
shall He sit upon the throne of His glory."
Rev 3:21 He is now "set down with his Father in His throne."
Heb 8:1 "We have such a High Priest, who is seated at the right hand
of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens."
Heb 12:2 Jesus, "the author and finisher of our faith...is set down at
the right hand of the throne of God"
Heb 4:16 "Therefore let us come boldly unto the throne of grace."
While Jesus yet intercedes for us as our High Priest He is seated on the throne
of grace.
But when He lays off His high priestly robes and returns to save us, He will
then sit on the throne of glory.
The word "throne(s)" appear 39 times in Revelation chapters, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12, 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, 22.
Rev 4:2-10 John beheld
a throne "standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne."
Isa 6:1 Isaiah saw "the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up,
and his train filled the temple"
Ezekiel 1:26 also sees God's throne like (blue) Sapphire and upon the
throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man.
Dan 7:9 Thrones were cast down and the Ancient of Days did sit...
His throne was like the fiery flame and his wheels as burning fire.
John said there was an emerald-colored rainbow around the throne. A single color!
Ezekiel also sees a "bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain" Ez 1:28
A rainbow.
The multicolored rainbow was God's covenant with Noah and "all flesh" of this
earth.
The single emerald green bow is God's eternal covenant with His entire creation.
Around this throne there
were 24 other thrones upon which were seated 24 crowned elders.
who fall down before Him who sits on the throne, cast their crowns before the
throne and worship Him.
Rev 11:16 24 The elders stting on their thrones before God, fall on their
faces and worship God.
Rev 19:4 The 24 elders and 4 creatures fall down and worship God who
is seated on the throne.
These 24 might be composed of the 12 apostles and representatives from the 12
tribes of Israel.
Rev 4 Out of the central throne proceeded forh flashes of lightning, thunder
and voices.
Exod 19:16 Lightning and thunder was seen and heard at Mount Sinai
Zech 9:14 The LORD's arrow shall go forth as the lightning, and the Lord
God shall blow the trumpet.
Psalm 29:3 The God of glory thunders...the voice of the LORD is powerful
It is like thunder.
When God spoke to Jesus in the temple, some thought it was thunder.
Rev 4:8 the One on the throne is "Lord God Almighty, which was, and is,
and is to come"
Three parts are emphasized
three times:
1) "Holy, holy, holy" 2) Lord God Almighty 3) was, is, is to come
Another three part name is "Lord Jesus Christ"
1) Kurios (King, Master, Ruler), 2) Saviour, 3) Anointed One
Representing the Father, the Son and their Spirit.
Rev 1:7,8, 11, 17,18
Every eye will see him coming with clouds, even those who pierced him (Jesus).
Then One speaks: "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the
Lord,
which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."
The description John
uses in Rev 4 of the One who sits on the throne is a comparison of two stones.
"He who sat there appeared like jasper and carnelian"
In Exod 28:17-21 the 12 tribes of Israel are represented as different
stones embedded on the breast plate of the high priest.
Carnelian was the first stone; jasper was the last.
Ezekiel describes the one who sits on the throne "as the color of amber, as
the appearance of fire" Ez 1:27
Then John, while "in the
Spirit", hears a voice saying, "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last..."
He turns to see who was speaking and he sees "one like unto the Son of man,
in the midst of seven candlesticks.
John falls as if dead at His feet; Ezekiel also fell on his face when he saw
"the glory of the LORD" Ez 1:28
But the "son of Man" lays His hand on John and says, "Fear not, I am the first
and the last.
I am He that lives, and was dead (this must be Jesus); and, behold, I am alive
for evermore."
Both the Father and the Son identify themselves as "Alpha and Omega".
There were 7 Spirits of
God burning like lamps before the throne.
There was a sea of glass like crystal before the throne.
Immediately around the throne were 4 creatures who give glory and honor and
thanks to Him who sits on the throne,
who lives forever and ever.
The 4 creatures are like a lion, an ox, a man, and an eagle.
Ezekiel 1:5,10 also mentions "four living creatures: like a man, wings
(like an eagle),
feet like a calf And they had faces like a man, a lion, an ox and an eagle.
Ezekiel has even more fours: four wheels which go "upon their four sides" 1:18.
The 4 wheels move with
the 4 creatures; the spirit of the living creatures are in the wheels.
"The rings (rims of the wheels) were full of eyes round about them four."
Chapter 4, therefore, describes a single central throne seating One person,
the Lord God Almighty.
Rev 5:1-13 In the
right hand of Him who sat on the throne was a book with 7 seals.
Between the throne with the 4 creatures and the 24 elders John saw a Lamb.
Also around the throne beyond the 24 elders John heard the voice of many angels
giving blessing and honor "to Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb"
Chapter 5 describes a single central throne seating One and introduces the Lamb.
Rev 6:16 The lost
call for the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hide them
"from the presence of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb"
Still only One sitting on the throne.
Rev 7:9-17 John
sees a great multitude standing before the throne and before the Lamb.
They cry out "Salvation to our God who sits on the throne and to the Lamb"
All the angels and elders and creatures fell down before the throne and worshiped
God.
He who sits on the throne spreads His tabernacle over them.
The Lamb, in the center of the throne, is their shepherd.
Oneness Unitarians point to this verse as proof that Christ the Lamb is God
the Father.
They see this acapolyptic vision as symbolic, the Lamb representing the incarnation
and atonement.
Still only one throne and God sits on it.
But verse 17 tells us that the Lamb is in the center of the throne.
Rev 8:3 An angel
stands before the golden altar offering incense with the prayers of the saints.
This golden altar of incense is before the throne.
The altar of incense in the sanctuary is positioned before the veil into the
most holy place.
This suggests that God's throne is in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary.
Jer 17:12 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our
sanctuary In other words,
the sanctuary is located in the glorious high throne.
Rev 12:5 The woman
gives birth to a male child. Her son is caught up to God and to His throne.
Acts 2:30 Peter preached that God swore to David regarding "the fruit
of his loins, according to the flesh."
He would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.
Peter understood this to mean that "He (God)...spoke of the resurrection of
Christ"
This Jesus has God raised up...being by the right hand of God." Rev 16:17
When the 7th plague is poured out, a loud voice comes out of the temple from
the throne saying, "It is done!"
This voice from the throne suggests that it is the voice of the Father.
In Rev 19:4,5 from the throne came a voice crying, "Praise our God, all
you his servants."
Surely, God did not speak these words. Who else is in the throne?
Rev 20:4 John saw
thrones for those who came to life, who are given judgment, and who reign with
Christ 1000 years.
Matt 19:28 Jesus told the disciples that "in the regenertion...the Son
of man shall sit in the throne of His glory"
and they "also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel."
Rev 20:11 Then he saw a great white throne. Earth and sky fled away from
the presence of Him who sat upon it.
Psalm 122:3-5 "Jerusalem is built, a city compact together, where the
tribes go up to give thanks to the name of the Lord.
For thrones are set there for judgment, the thrones of the house of David."
Jer 3:17 They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the LORD.
Rev 21:5 He who sat upon the throne said, "Behold, I make all things
new."
Rev 21:22 The Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are (is, singular in the
Greek) the temple of the New Jerusalem.
The literal Greek is: And (a) temple not I-saw in her; the for Lord the God
the almighty (pantokrator) (a) temple of-her is,
and the lamb (arnion).
The verse continues with singular pronouns:
"And His servants shall serve Him; and they shall see His face; and His name
shall be in their foreheads."
Rev 14:1 says the
144,000 have both the name of the Lamb and the name of His Father written in
their foreheads.
Literal Greek: "having the name of him and the name of the father of him" Rev
14:3,5
The 144,000 sing a new song before the throne and stand without fault before
the throne of God.
Rev 22:1,3 The river
of life flows from the throne of God and of the Lamb.
The throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in the New Jerusalem.
The throne belongs to both God and the Lamb, it is a shared throne.
Or God is the Lamb and the Lamb is God, even as the Word was with God and God
was the Word.
Only one throne and one person sitting on it: our Lord Jesus Christ, Father,
Sviour, and Holy Spirit anointed,
"for in him dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily" Col 2:9.
He that has seen him "has seen the Father" John 14:9 (one in character or one
in person?)
But there is another throne,
a throne born of blind ambition.
Lucifer said in his heart, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God."
Isa 14:13
Lucifer is also described as being covered with precious stones:
Ezek 28:12-17 sardius, topaz, diamond, beryl, onyx, jasper, sapphire,
emerald, carbuncle, gold. 10 stones.
He was the "anointed cherub that covers" "upon the holy mountain of God"