At this point the four living creatures are not only for the manifestation of the Lord and not 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 of 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, “As the appearance of the bow that is in the cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about. 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 signifies the splendor and glory around the Lord on the throne.
In order to understand the significance of the rainbow, we need to remember the rainbow at 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 might have been afraid of being destroyed. Therefore, God made a covenant in which He promised never again to destroy all living things by a flood, and He set the rainbow in the cloud as a sign of this covenant. “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token 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. And 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 God’s faithfulness and promise not to destroy the fallen human race with a flood.
In His judgment and destruction of the fallen human race at the time of Noah, God spared some by His faithfulness. This also is our situation as believers in Christ. We need to realize that we have been spared by God. We all are fallen and deserve to be destroyed, but God has spared us. Praise the Lord that we have been 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 none can exist in His presence, by His faithfulness we have been 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 blending, 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, the fire is red. By their shining and refracting, these three colors combine to make a rainbow.
Now we need to see the spiritual significance of these three colors. Blue signifies the throne. According to Psalm 89:14 the foundation of God’s throne is righteousness. This indicates that the blue throne signifies the righteousness of God. Fire signifies the sanctifying, separating, and consuming fire. This means that red here refers to God’s holiness. Yellow signifies God’s glory in the glowing electrum. Therefore, here we have God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory signified 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 was resurrected, and He is now our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption (1 Cor. 1:30). He is also now our glory. In ourselves we are short of God’s glory (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. Moreover, because we are in Christ, we even bear Christ as righteousness, holiness, and glory. Because we are in Christ, in the sight of God we look like righteousness, holiness, and glory.
This should not be simply a doctrine or a teaching to us. We need to experience Christ in such a way that when others contact us, they can sense righteousness, holiness, and glory. This means that they should be able to sense that we have a clear sky, that we have a throne, and that we are righteous and proper, not careless or loose in any way. We should also have the electrum, glowing, shining, and 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 were fallen but who have now been saved, we have become a testimony of God’s faithfulness in saving us. Every local church should bear the testimony of such a rainbow.
Even the New Jerusalem has the appearance of a rainbow. The foundation stones of the New Jerusalem are of twelve layers, with each layer being a different color (Rev. 21:19-20). Some time ago I read an article which stated that the twelve layers of the foundation stones have the appearance of a rainbow in color. From this we see that the holy city, New Jerusalem, looks like a rainbow. This rainbow signifies that the city is built upon and secured 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 everyone 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 righteous and faithful.
We, God’s spared ones, 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 is a city whose foundation has the appearance of a rainbow surrounding the eternal God as His strong testimony. The experience of the Christian life and of the church life will consummate in such a rainbow.
When this rainbow appears, God will have the fulfillment of His heart’s desire. Throughout the ages, God has been judging fallen man according to His righteous throne, His holy fire, and His glorious nature. Nevertheless, God has saved some to such an extent that they have become a bright rainbow reflecting His glory and testifying of Him and His faithfulness forever. The appearing of this rainbow indicates that heaven and earth have been connected and that God and man have been joined. 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 brightness of God’s righteousness, holiness, and glory. At this point, God’s eternal plan will have been accomplished.
Although this rainbow will be manifested in eternity, the spiritual reality of this bright rainbow should be manifest in the church today. In the church life we need to allow God to work in us and we need to receive grace to the extent that everything becomes pure, just, and holy. This means that God’s holy fire must burn away everything that does not match God so that God’s nature is manifested as bright 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 combine and reflect one another to form a bright rainbow expressing God and testifying for Him.
Once again I say that this should not be merely a teaching to us. Rather, the reality of this rainbow must be wrought into us so that, as God’s spared ones, we will bear the appearance of a rainbow, bearing God’s testimony and declaring God’s faithfulness to the entire universe. This means that we will bear 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 upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake” (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 clear sky in front of the throne with a man sitting on it and bearing the shining and reflecting rainbow. 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 every one of us will come to this point, and I also hope that all the local churches will also be here. Then the Lord will have a way to speak to us.