LIFE-STUDY OF EZEKIEL
Message 12
THE MAN ON THE THRONE
WEEK 5 - WEDNESDAY
Scripture Reading: Psa 89:14; Ezek 1:28; Rom 3:23; Rev 21:19-20
Read and pray: “But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us from God wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.” (1 Corinthians 1:30)
HAVING A RAINBOW
At this point, the four living creatures are not only for the manifestation of the Lord, nor only for the move of the Lord, but also for the administration, the government, of the Lord. The Lord is among them and above them for His manifestation, move, and government. This is truly wonderful.
As a result of having a clear sky with the throne and experiencing a man who has the appearance of electrum and a consuming fire, we will have the appearance of a rainbow. Ezekiel 1:28 says, “Like the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness all around. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” A rainbow is the brightness around the man who is sitting on the throne. This brightness represents the splendor and glory around the Lord on the throne.
In order to understand the meaning of the rainbow, we need to remember the rainbow in the time of Noah. A flood had destroyed the whole earth, and only eight people were spared from that judgment. After that, when people saw storm clouds in the sky, they could be afraid of being destroyed. Therefore, God made a covenant in which He promised never again to destroy all living beings by a flood, and He placed the rainbow in the cloud as a sign of that covenant.
“I set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud; and I will remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. The bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is upon the earth” (Gen 9:13-16).
The rainbow, therefore, was a sign of the faithfulness of God’s promise not to destroy the fallen human race by a flood. In His judgment and destruction of the fallen human race in the time of Noah, God spared some because of His faithfulness. This is also our situation as believers in Christ.
We need to realize that we were spared by God. We were all fallen and deserved to be destroyed, but God spared us. Praise the Lord that we were spared by His faithfulness! Now we have a rainbow as a sign of God’s faithfulness. Although God is a holy God and a consuming fire and no one can exist in His presence, because of His faithfulness we were spared.
In the rainbow there are several different colors, but the basic colors are only three: red, yellow, and blue. When these colors are shining and mingled, they produce other colors, such as orange, green, and violet. It is very significant that the three primary colors of the rainbow are red, yellow, and blue, because they correspond to what we have already seen in Ezekiel. The throne looks like a blue sapphire stone, the electrum is yellow, and the fire is red. For their shining and refraction, these three colors combine to make a rainbow.
Now we need to see the spiritual meaning of these three colors. Blue represents the throne. According to Psalm 89:14, the foundation of God’s throne is righteousness. This indicates that the blue throne represents the righteousness of God. Fire represents the consuming, sanctifying, and separating fire. This means that the red here refers to the holiness of God. Yellow signifies the glory of God in the shining electrum. Therefore, here we have God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory represented by the colors blue, red, and yellow.
God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory are three divine attributes that keep sinners away from God. Before we were saved, we were kept away from God by His righteousness, holiness, and glory.
But the Lord Jesus came, died on the cross to satisfy the requirements of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory, and rose again, and He is now our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor 1:30). He is also now our glory. In ourselves we are deprived of the glory of God (Rom 3:23), we are under God’s righteous judgment, and we are kept away by God’s holiness.
But now, as believers, we are in Christ, and He has become our righteousness, holiness, and glory. Furthermore, because we are in Christ, we even have Christ as righteousness, holiness, and glory. Because we are in Christ, in God’s eyes we appear as righteousness, holiness, and glory.
This should not merely be a doctrine or a teaching to us. We need to experience Christ in such a way that when others contact us, they may sense righteousness, holiness, and glory. This means that they should be able to perceive that we have a clear sky, that we have a throne, and that we are righteous and proper, not careless or light in any way.
We must also have the electrum, resplendent, shining, weighty. Then we will have the appearance of a rainbow, and the angels, the demons, and Satan will be able to see it. This rainbow is the sign of God’s faithfulness in sparing us, the fallen ones. As those who had fallen but have now been saved, we become a testimony of God’s faithfulness in saving us.
Every local church should have the testimony of such a rainbow. Even the New Jerusalem has the appearance of a rainbow. The foundations of the New Jerusalem are of twelve layers, each layer being of a different color (Rev 21:19-20).
Some time ago I read an article which stated that the twelve layers of stones of the foundation have the appearance of a colorful rainbow. From this we see that the holy city, the New Jerusalem, looks like a rainbow.
This rainbow means that the city is built upon and protected by God’s faithfulness in keeping His covenant. This rainbow will declare for eternity that when God judged sinners according to His righteousness, He did not destroy all, but saved many from destruction as a testimony of His faithfulness.
In eternity, we, the aggregate of the saved ones, will be a rainbow testifying forever that our God is faithful and righteous. We, who were spared by God, will be this holy city. By His righteousness, holiness, and glory, we will have the appearance of a rainbow, declaring to the whole universe God’s saving faithfulness.
At the end of the Bible, there is a city whose foundation has the appearance of a rainbow around the eternal God as His strong testimony. The experience of the Christian life and the church life will consummate in such a rainbow.
When this rainbow appears, God will have the fulfillment of the desire of His heart. Throughout the ages, God has judged fallen man according to His righteous throne, His holy fire, and His glorious nature. Yet God has saved some in such a way that they have become a bright rainbow reflecting His glory and testifying of Him and of His faithfulness forever.
The appearance of this rainbow indicates that heaven and earth have been connected and that God and man have been united. Around the throne in the New Jerusalem, there will be a group of people who have received salvation because of God’s faithfulness, and for eternity they will be a rainbow reflecting the shining of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. At that point, the plan of the eternal God will have been accomplished.
Although this rainbow will be manifested in eternity, its bright spiritual reality must be manifested in the church today. In the church life, we need to allow God to work in us and we need to receive grace as everything becomes pure, righteous, and holy.
This means that God’s holy fire must burn away everything that does not correspond to God, so that the nature of God may be manifested as shining gold in and through the humanity of the brothers and sisters. Then the church will be filled with God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. These three characteristics will join together and reflect one another to form a bright rainbow expressing God and testifying for Him.
I say once again that this should not be merely a teaching to us. Rather, the reality of this rainbow must be wrought into us, so that, as those who were spared by God, we will have the appearance of a rainbow, having God’s testimony and declaring God’s faithfulness to the whole universe.
This means that we will have God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. Ezekiel said that what he saw was the appearance of the glory of the Lord. “When I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking” (Ezek 1:28b).
If we want to hear the word of the Lord in the following chapters of Ezekiel, we all need to come to the same point — under a bright firmament, before the throne with a man sitting upon it and with the rainbow shining and reflecting. This is the place where we can hear the voice from above.
Being here positions us to hear the voice speaking from the heavens. I hope that each one of us will come to this point, and I also hope that all the local churches will be here. Then the Lord will have a way to speak to us.
🌿Enjoy more:
Hymn: Worship to the Father - “His Faithfulness”
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