Chapter 4: In the Beginning, God
“Thy throne is established of old: Thou art from everlasting.” Psalm 93:2
“‘God is love.’ 1 John 4:16. His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be. ‘The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,’ whose ‘ways are everlasting,’ changeth not. With Him ‘is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’ Isaiah 57:15; Habakkuk 3:6; James 1:17.
“Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The sovereignty of God involves fullness of blessing to all created beings....
“The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a demonstration of God’s unchanging love.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 33.
Chapter four of the Revelation opens with a view of that eternal throne from which flowed life and love and awful authority. Before John sees things which will shortly begin to happen, he is given a view of the everlasting kingdom, the joy of the whole universe.
Just as Ezekiel saw the eternal throne of the Most High elevated far atop the sky arching high above the great activities of cherubim below; and as Isaiah saw the very throne of God high and lifted up and His glory filling the temple; Daniel saw the throne of the Infinite One like a sphere of brilliant glory and His rings of attending intelligences like wheels of light! As Paul was carried in vision to the third heaven, and as Jacob beheld a ladder from earth to heaven, as Moses and the seventy elders dined before the throne of the Lord, and David loved to dwell in the house of the Lord continually; now John was given to see what they had all had the privilege of seeing. “A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” Jer. 17:12.
At the base of God’s great mountain of righteousness (Ps. 36:6;48:1), far below and before it, lay a glistening sea of glass, “as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone,” (Ex. 24:10) calm and clear as crystal. Enveloped by and surrounding the awesome glory were four orders of created beings, each representing aspects of character of the Godhead: a lion, dreaded and courageous; a calf, lowly and self-sacrificing; a man, omniscient and noble; and a flying eagle, ever-existent and omnipresent. Like the camp of Israel in the wilderness, laid out by tribe in ever-widening rings, the hosts of heavenly orders surrounding the throne of God were full of eyes, all happily riveted on the great Center. Like the galaxies in deep space with their streams of blazing light encircling their great nuclei, the hosts of created beings reverently sought a closer proximity to the great sanctuary of the Creator’s presence. Circumscribing the immediate presence of God sat twenty-four elders, possibly vicegerents, among whom Adam might have ranked first. Blinding excellence shrouded the great white throne of Him from whose sight the beauty of the heavens fled away, who dwelt in a light which no angel could approach except the cherubs that veiled His majesty.
And the billions of hosts never ceasing, found rest in expressing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” Rev. 4:8. And as the four orders gave glory and honor and thanks to Him that dwelt on the mount, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders were constrained to fall down before the Creator and cast their brilliant crowns before the throne, crying, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” Rev. 4:11.
“That temple, filled with the glory of the eternal throne, where seraphim, its shining guardians, veil their faces in adoration, could find, in the most magnificent structure ever reared by human hands, but a faint reflection of its vastness and glory.” Great Controversy, p. 414. Breathtaking.
But as wonderful as the purity and blissful trust of heaven had been through the timelessness, it came to a sad end. Beginning at chapter 5, a sudden change comes over the whole happy scene before John’s wondering eyes.
“‘God is love.’ 1 John 4:16. His nature, His law, is love. It ever has been; it ever will be. ‘The high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity,’ whose ‘ways are everlasting,’ changeth not. With Him ‘is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.’ Isaiah 57:15; Habakkuk 3:6; James 1:17.
“Every manifestation of creative power is an expression of infinite love. The sovereignty of God involves fullness of blessing to all created beings....
“The history of the great conflict between good and evil, from the time it first began in heaven to the final overthrow of rebellion and the total eradication of sin, is also a demonstration of God’s unchanging love.” Patriarchs and Prophets, p. 33.
Chapter four of the Revelation opens with a view of that eternal throne from which flowed life and love and awful authority. Before John sees things which will shortly begin to happen, he is given a view of the everlasting kingdom, the joy of the whole universe.
Just as Ezekiel saw the eternal throne of the Most High elevated far atop the sky arching high above the great activities of cherubim below; and as Isaiah saw the very throne of God high and lifted up and His glory filling the temple; Daniel saw the throne of the Infinite One like a sphere of brilliant glory and His rings of attending intelligences like wheels of light! As Paul was carried in vision to the third heaven, and as Jacob beheld a ladder from earth to heaven, as Moses and the seventy elders dined before the throne of the Lord, and David loved to dwell in the house of the Lord continually; now John was given to see what they had all had the privilege of seeing. “A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary.” Jer. 17:12.
At the base of God’s great mountain of righteousness (Ps. 36:6;48:1), far below and before it, lay a glistening sea of glass, “as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone,” (Ex. 24:10) calm and clear as crystal. Enveloped by and surrounding the awesome glory were four orders of created beings, each representing aspects of character of the Godhead: a lion, dreaded and courageous; a calf, lowly and self-sacrificing; a man, omniscient and noble; and a flying eagle, ever-existent and omnipresent. Like the camp of Israel in the wilderness, laid out by tribe in ever-widening rings, the hosts of heavenly orders surrounding the throne of God were full of eyes, all happily riveted on the great Center. Like the galaxies in deep space with their streams of blazing light encircling their great nuclei, the hosts of created beings reverently sought a closer proximity to the great sanctuary of the Creator’s presence. Circumscribing the immediate presence of God sat twenty-four elders, possibly vicegerents, among whom Adam might have ranked first. Blinding excellence shrouded the great white throne of Him from whose sight the beauty of the heavens fled away, who dwelt in a light which no angel could approach except the cherubs that veiled His majesty.
And the billions of hosts never ceasing, found rest in expressing, “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come.” Rev. 4:8. And as the four orders gave glory and honor and thanks to Him that dwelt on the mount, who lives for ever and ever, the twenty-four elders were constrained to fall down before the Creator and cast their brilliant crowns before the throne, crying, “Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.” Rev. 4:11.
“That temple, filled with the glory of the eternal throne, where seraphim, its shining guardians, veil their faces in adoration, could find, in the most magnificent structure ever reared by human hands, but a faint reflection of its vastness and glory.” Great Controversy, p. 414. Breathtaking.
But as wonderful as the purity and blissful trust of heaven had been through the timelessness, it came to a sad end. Beginning at chapter 5, a sudden change comes over the whole happy scene before John’s wondering eyes.
posted by David | 10:19 AM
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