Articles
The Throne of God
The Throne of God
When Moses was involved in setting up the whole new nation and religion of Israel, God allowed him to have a vision of the Throne of God.
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. There was under his feet as it were a pavement of sapphire stone, like the very heaven for clearness. 11 And he did not lay his hand on the chief men of the people of Israel; they beheld God, and ate and drank." (Exodus 24:9–11).
When God called Isaiah to the difficult task of trying to turn Israel from its idolatry and consequential destruction, He allowed Isaiah to have a vision of the throne (Isa. 6:1-3). When Ezekiel was called to prophecy to the children of Israel in Babylonian captivity, God again revealed himself in a throne scene (Ezek. 1 – 3, 10:1-22). In the middle of Daniel's long of life of being a prophet, God also revealed a throne scene unto him (Dan. 7:9-10).
Difficult times for God's people on earth can be helped by a firm grasp of the fact that God is ruling the universe from His throne. Such visions led the Psalmist to write:
1 The LORD reigns, let the earth rejoice; let the many coastlands be glad! 2 Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. 3 Fire goes before him and burns up his adversaries all around. 4 His lightnings light up the world; the earth sees and trembles. 5 The mountains melt like wax before the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth." (Psalm 97:1–5).
So, when we turn to Revelation and the church enters into the era of Roman persecution, God again blesses His people with a view of heaven where God is on His glorious throne and the host of heaven are worshiping and praising Him. When challenged to choose between proclaiming the Roman Emperor as 'Lord' or being faithful to God, such a vision would be invaluable. Likewise, whenever WE today are faced with the pomp and glitter of worldly empires, we need to recall this great vision of God on the Throne. Hugh DeLong
NOTE: This is part of the Sunday evening sermon. David led us some great singing of appropriate hymns that went along with Revelation 4 & 5. You can see the full powerpoint outline and listen to the audio from our webpage:
http://churchofchristtucson.
