God's Throne Room (Revelation 4, Isaiah 11:2, Hebrews 12:2)

"When things are down, remember to look up"
Luray Caverns, Virginia USA
Canon Rebel t1i

© Karen Kyle Ericson, all rights reserved.

2 ...looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
(Hebrews 12:2 NKJV)

We were on vacation this week in Virginia.  We stayed in a nice cabin by the Shenandoah River.  It was really great.  We had our meals at, "Uncle Buck's," a local restaurant in Luray.  It was fun swapping stories with the waitresses.  New Jersey has a, uh, reputation after all : )    After dinner one night we had a problem with my husband's GPS.  It sent us on a one-way gravel logging road over the Blue Ridge mountains.  We were both wondering if we'd ever see the cabin again!  Eventually we made it.   Then driving home we wound up in Washington DC.  So, as a last resort, I suggested we look at paper maps.  And prayed!  DC isn't the best place to be lost.  Eventually, we got home safe.

We took a tour in the Luray Caverns.  It's amazingly beautiful.  I looked around and wondered if God had a lot of fun creating this place : )  I found all sorts of cartoon characters in here: a dwarf, dragon, ice cream cone, carrot, and the list goes on...

"Dual Image- reflection off a cavern lake"
Luray Caverns, Virginia USA
Canon Rebel t1i
© Karen Kyle Ericson, all rights reserved.

On Friday we went to see, "Moses," at the Sight and Sound Theatre in Lancaster, PA.  It was so cool.  They did an excellent job.  Moses stuttered like in the Bible : ) Lots of great music and animals.  I felt like I was there with Moses. There's another theatre in Branson, MO.  

So here we are in God's Throne Room, in Revelation.  Some of this is a little hard to understand.  Like these caverns, we understand the scientific explanation but not the whole reason God created them.  I think He's a master artist personally.  

Chapter 4

1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, “Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this.”
The voice must have been loud and enthusiastic.  Jesus is excited to show us what happens next.

2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. 4 Around the throne were twenty- four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty- four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.
To me, "being in the Spirit," meant John was having a vision.  Jasper can be red, brown, or green.  Sardius is the color of rubies.  The lamps represent the seven spirits of God:  

the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD. (Isaiah 11:2)

God is good and full of wisdom, understanding, counsel and might.  So why should we fear Him?  I believe this means a healthy respect.  Sometimes we get into a rut thinking God is a magic genie and if we ask exactly the right way our wishes will come true.  He's not like that.  He knows our thoughts before we think them.  God truly wants us to trust Him and ask for His guidance.  Some of my worst nightmares came from things I thought I desperately needed but really didn't.  (Like a GPS that sends you in the wrong direction)!  In the Narnia Chronicles, C.S. Lewis wrote that Aslan is not a tame lion.  Our God is not a tame God.  He is power, might, and this incredible love.  He decides whom He will bless and how.  He loves our prayers and answers them as a loving Father.

6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second living creature like a calf, the third living creature had a face like a man, and the fourth living creature was like a flying eagle. 8 The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or night, saying:
“Holy, holy, holy,
Lord God Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come!”


9 Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty- four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying:
I have a feeling that "the living creatures" in this verse are us.  When we give God glory, honor and thanks a chain reaction happens in God's Throne Room!  That's pretty amazing. The elders fall before Him in worship.  We know that angels exist but we usually can't see them (wouldn't recognize them if we did).  God knows the difficulty of the faith we endure on earth.  We want to believe all the time and know His joy.  But we are tested.  We see and experience illness.  There are bad guys on earth.  Yet we believe God is not dead nor does He sleep.


11 “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created."
(Revelation 4:1-11 NKJV)


This is written in the book of Isaiah.  The prophecies about the second coming are written throughout the Bible.  My very favorite old hymn is, "Holy, Holy, Holy."  It's a great worship song. The words are also in Revelation 4:8 it's one of the common threads in the Bible.  

1 In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up, and the train of His robe filled the temple. 2 Above it stood seraphim; each one had six wings: with two he covered his face, with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one cried to another and said:
“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts;
The whole earth is full of His glory!”
4 And the posts of the door were shaken by the voice of him who cried out, and the house was filled with smoke.
5 So I said:
“Woe is me, for I am undone!
Because I am a man of unclean lips,
And I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips;
For my eyes have seen the King,
The Lord of hosts.”
6 Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a live coal which he had taken with the tongs from the altar. 7 And he touched my mouth with it, and said:
“Behold, this has touched your lips;
Your iniquity is taken away,
And your sin purged.”
8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying:
“Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?”
Then I said, “Here am I! Send me!"
(Isaiah 6:1-8 NKJV)

Here's a song by CentricWorship, Holy Holy Holy (link)