The Revelation of John and the rainbow connection

Why are there so many songs about rainbows
and what's on the other side?
Rainbows are visions, but only illusions,
and rainbows have nothing to hide.
So we've been told and some choose to believe it.
I know they're wrong, wait and see.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.

Rainbows are a natural phenomenon, a scientific splitting of light into its elemental colors.  It was created by God, and designated to be a sign of an everlasting covenant.  It is visible in nature only after a rainstorm, or a heavy dew; I've even seen one in a waterfall.  Each time you see one, it is after a cleansing of the earth with water.

In the fourth chapter of the Revelation, John describes his vision of heaven, beginning with a description of the throne of God.  "At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.  And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian.  A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne." (Revelation 4:2-3)

What does it mean to be "in the Spirit"?  It means to be in a state of spiritual exaltation by the power of the Spirit of God--not a dream, but a vision like Peter's in Acts 10:10.  If you look up that verse, it speaks of Peter being in a trance, i.e. a state of mind that God produced and used to communicate with Peter.  It was not merely imagination or a dream; Peter's consciousness was heightened to receive the vision from God.  And so it was with John.  Revelation 1:10 says, "On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet." I discussed God's trumpet-like voice in my last blog entry; but today I just want to point out that to experience God, you have to dwell in the Spirit.  And you must be willing to go places you have never been, and see things that you have never seen.  Revelation 17:3, 6 says, "Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert.  There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names, and had seven heads and ten horns...I saw that the woman was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus."  In the desert, John saw the blood of the martyrs. Then in Revelation 21:10, it says "And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God."  So when John was in the Spirit, he saw great and terrible things, both good and bad.

So we see how John arrived at his vision; now let's look at what he saw there: a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it.  Revelation 4:9-10 says, "Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives forever and ever.  They lay their crowns before the throne and say, 'You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being'."

When you approach the throne of God, you must acknowledge:

• He is holy.  "God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne." (Psalm 47:8)
• He is high and exalted.  "In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, seated on a throne, high and exalted, and the train of his robe filled the temple." (Isaiah 6:1)
• He is lofty, holy and glorious.  "Look down from heaven and see from your lofty throne, holy and glorious. Where are your zeal and your might? Your tenderness and compassion are withheld from us."(Isaiah 63:15)
• He is indescribably beautiful. "Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man." (Ezekiel 1:26)
• He is the source of brilliant light.  "As I looked, thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat.  His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool.  His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze."

Since God dwells in "unapproachable light" and is one "whom no one has seen or can see (see 1 Timothy 6:16), he is described in terms of the reflected brilliance of precious stones--an emerald rainbow around the throne.  Revelation 21:11 says, "It (the City of God) shown with the Glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal."  Revelation 21:19-20 says, "The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone.  The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst."  The precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain, but since carnelian is mentioned specifically in the verse we are studying, I looked it up.  Wikipedia says that carnelian is a brownish-red mineral which is commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone, similar to sard (which is generally harder and darker).  Both carnelian and sard are varieties of the silica mineral chalcedony colored by impurities of iron oxide.  The color can vary greatly, ranging from pale orange to an intense almost black coloration.  So this is how John described his vision of God, seated on the throne--in terms of precious stones: beautiful, mysterious and lovely.

Encircling the throne of God was a rainbow, resembling an emerald.  Ezekiel 1:26-28 says, "Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man.  I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.  Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him."

It must have been terrifying for John to be taken up in the Spirit.  It must have been blinding to see the very throne of God--John must have wondered if he would live to tell about his experience.  Yet the word he chose to describe the radiance of God, the aura that surrounded Him, was full of hope and promise.  Genesis 9:13 says, "I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth."  The rainbow became a sign of God's pledge never to destroy the earth again by a flood.  And in the future that John's vision allowed him to see, the rainbow was a prominent sign.  Revelation 10:1 says, "Then I saw another mighty angel coming down from heaven.  He was robed in a cloud, with a rainbow above his head; his face was like the sun, and his legs were like fiery pillars."

Have you been half asleep and have you heard voices?
I've heard them calling my name.
Is this the sweet sound that called the young sailors.
The voice might be one and the same.
I've heard it too many times to ignore it.
It's something that I'm supposed to be.
Someday we'll find it, the rainbow connection.
The lovers, the dreamers and me.