Scripture Reading: Ezek. 1:26-28; Exo. 24:10; Gen. 9:12-15; Rev. 4:2-3; 21:19; 22:1
In the foregoing message we pointed out that in the Christian life and in the church life we need a clear sky with a throne in it. To have a clear sky means that we have no clouds or darkness between us and the Lord, and to have the throne means that we are under the ruling of the heavens. We all need to have a life with a clear sky and the throne above the clear sky. In this message we will go on to consider the One sitting on the throne (Ezek. 1:26-27).
Verse 26b says, “Upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it.” Here we are told that the One on the throne looks like a man. This is absolutely different from the human concept and also different from the religious concept, including the concept widely held in today’s Christianity. Mainly, our concept is that the One on the throne is the mighty God. Have you ever thought that the Lord on the throne is not only the mighty God but is also a man? Oh, the One who sits on the throne is a man! However, verse 28 speaks of “the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.” The One on the throne looks like a man, yet with Him there is the appearance of the glory of the Lord.
Christians realize, of course, that the Lord Jesus was a man when He was on this earth. They recognize the fact that from the manger in Bethlehem to the time He was on the cross at Golgotha He was a man. We all have this concept. However, many believers in Christ have not considered that the Lord who is on the throne today is still a man. He is a man there. As the One on the throne, the Lord is still a man. Although He is the almighty God, on the throne He looks like a man. Therefore, Matthew 19:28 tells us that “in the restoration,” that is, in the coming kingdom age, the Son of Man will be sitting on the throne of His glory.
How precious it is that the One sitting on the throne in Ezekiel 1:26 has the appearance of a man! This verse speaks not of the almighty God but of One who has “the likeness as the appearance of a man.” There is at least a twofold significance to the fact that the One sitting on the throne here has the appearance of a man. First, there is surely a connection between Ezekiel 1:26 and Genesis 1:26, which says that God created man in His own image and according to His likeness. Second, in the incarnation God Himself became a man. Having the nature of man, He lived, died, resurrected, and ascended as a man, and now in heaven He is still the Son of Man (John 6:62; Acts 7:56).
In the Bible there is a mysterious thought concerning the relationship between God and man. God’s desire is to become the same as man is and to make man the same as He is. This means that God’s intention is to mingle Himself with man and thereby make Himself like man and make man like Him. The Lord Jesus is the God-man; He is the complete God and the perfect man. We may also say that He is the Man-God. The One whom we worship today is the Man-God. Furthermore, to be a man of God, as Moses was (Deut. 33:1; Josh. 14:6; Psa. 90, title), is to be a God-man, a man who is mingled with God. It is a delight to God that all His chosen and redeemed people would be God-men.
God’s intention on earth is to have a man. This is His desire. Eventually, He Himself became a man, and today on the throne He is still a man. People may want to be like God, but God wants to be a man. God’s intention is to work Himself into us, making us the same as He is, and even more, making Himself the same as we are. Thus, God’s intention is to have a man and to work Himself into man. We need to be deeply impressed with the fact that the Lord is still on the throne as a man. In the book of Ezekiel, the term the son of man is used more than ninety times. This indicates how much God desires to have a man.
If we would live out God and express God, we need to be a man and have the appearance of a man. Ezekiel 1:5 says that the four living creatures have the appearance of a man, and verse 26 says that the One on the throne has the appearance of a man. The crucial point here is that because man was created in the image of God in order to express God, only man is like God. A person must have the appearance of a man in order to live out the image of God and therefore express God. If we want to live out God and express God, we must be a man and have the appearance of a man. Anyone who does not have the appearance of a man cannot express God. The One on the throne and the four living creatures both have the appearance of a man, indicating that the four living creatures on earth are the expression of the One on the throne.
Chapter one of Ezekiel is the deepest chapter in the Bible. The thought in this chapter is profound. We have seen that the throne is above a clear sky, above a spiritual and heavenly expanse, or firmament. God’s grace works upon a group of people to such an extent that their condition now is the very condition of heaven. In this condition, indicated by a sky that is crystal clear, the throne of God is present. The place of the throne is the place where heaven and earth are connected. Because with the living creatures on earth there is a throne above a clear sky, God is not only the God of heaven but also the God of the earth. Through these living creatures, who have the throne over their heads, heaven and earth are joined.
In Ezekiel 1 the One on the throne is the union of God and man. Thus, the place where the throne is, is the place where heaven and earth are joined. The One on the throne is God, but He manifests the appearance of a man. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was God manifest in the flesh, for He was the God-man and had the appearance of a man. Inwardly, He was God, but His appearance on earth was the appearance of a man. Now, as the One on the throne after His ascension, He is still the God-man; He is God, yet with the appearance of a man.
In the church life today, there should be a condition where God is manifested in man. This means that in the church we should have not only a clear sky with a throne and the Lord on the throne but also the expression in man of the One who is on the throne. When this is the condition of the church, there will be in the church the great mystery of godliness — God manifested in the flesh (1 Tim. 3:15-16). On the one hand, there are a clear sky, a throne, and the Lord on the throne; on the other hand, the Lord’s manifestation in the church is in the appearance of a man. In the church life there should be the manifestation of God in the flesh. In order for this to be the situation, there must be in the church the glorious union of God and man. Inwardly we should have God, but God is manifested in the flesh, manifested in and through a normal and proper humanity. All those in the church life — the brothers and the sisters, the elderly ones and the young ones — should behave in a way that is normal and fitting for their respective ages. Instead of pretense, there should a genuineness that is both human and divine. This is the condition of God being manifested in humanity.
God’s eternal plan is to connect heaven and earth and to join God and man. God in heaven wants to gain man on earth for His expression by working Himself into man. The desire of God’s heart is to reach the one goal of connecting heaven and earth and of joining God and man. Where there is such a condition, there is the throne. The One sitting on the throne is God, but His manifestation has the appearance of a man. God’s eternal plan is to have such a manifestation. In the church today we need to be in a condition where God is manifested in the appearance of a man.
God’s intention is to work on man in order that man can be on the throne. Have you ever realized that this is His intention? We might be satisfied to go to heaven. This might satisfy us, but it would never satisfy God. God will not be satisfied until we are on the throne.
In Revelation 3:21 the Lord Jesus says, “He who overcomes, to him I will give to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat with My Father on His throne.” The Lord Jesus seemed to be saying that He became a man, and as a man He went to the throne. God’s intention is to take us to the throne. His desire is to make us people of the throne. God’s kingdom cannot come in full until we are on the throne. Furthermore, God’s enemy will not be subdued until we are on the throne. God’s goal, therefore, is not merely to deliver us out of hell but to bring us to the throne.
We need to consider our present condition in light of God’s intention. In many things we are careless and loose. The Lord will bring us to the throne, but if we are still careless and loose, we are not ready to be on the throne. No one can sit on the throne in a way that is undignified or improper. I do not agree with the forms in formal Christianity, but neither do I agree with the looseness that is so widespread today. If you mean business with the Lord as a Christian and as a disciple of the Lord Jesus, you cannot be loose, careless, and undisciplined. When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was not careless in anything. Many believers today, on the contrary, do not seem to have the proper concept and feeling about how to be a proper human being. Such a person cannot be on the throne.
God has chosen us. He has called us to the throne. A strong proof that God has called us is that we call on the name of the Lord. God’s calling is to bring us to the throne.
Why does God want to bring us to the throne? God desires to bring us to the throne because of the rebellion of Satan against God’s throne (Isa. 14). If we read the Bible carefully, we will see that the greatest difficulty God faces in the universe is that His throne has been opposed and attacked by rebel forces. God’s throne is absolute, but one of His creatures has rebelled and seeks to exalt his throne to be equal with that of God. In his rebellion against God’s throne, Satan intended to exalt his throne to the heavens and thereby to intrude upon God’s authority. Isaiah 14:12-14 says, “How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!...For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God...I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the Most High.” From the time of Satan’s rebellion until now, there has been a dispute in the universe regarding authority. Much of what is happening on earth is an expression of Satan’s resistance to God’s throne. The crucial question is this: Who is actually reigning on earth — God or Satan?
When the Lord Jesus was on earth, He was absolutely submissive to God’s authority. To obey the Lord is to be a person under the throne. Because the Lord Jesus obeyed God the Father and submitted to God’s authority in an absolute way, after He was resurrected from the dead, God gave Him all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt. 28:18) and exalted Him to the throne. Now the One sitting on the throne is not only God but also man, for this One is the mingling of God and man. Therefore, after the ascension of the Lord Jesus, there has been a man on the throne.
God’s mind is on man (Heb. 2:6), and He wants man to express Him and to exercise His authority. Man has God’s image and God’s dominion with His authority. God desires to manifest Himself through man, and He desires to reign, to administrate, through man.
God’s intention is to cast Satan down and to redeem many of those taken captive by Satan and bring them to His throne. God cannot receive the full glory until we are brought to the throne. One day we will be brought to the throne, and then God will be able to boast to Satan. He will triumphantly declare that His chosen ones, who had been taken captive by Satan, have been brought to the throne.
However, we need to realize that in our present condition we are not qualified to be on the throne. Do you look like a king? If you were weighed on the heavenly scales to determine your spiritual weight, how much would you weigh? I am concerned that many of us would weigh hardly anything at all. This is a very serious matter. We have been called to be sons of God, and we are destined to be kings, but we need God to work in us and on us to qualify us for kingship.
Through His crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, the Lord Jesus was brought to the throne. A real man whose name is Jesus is on the throne. This is why we declare, “Jesus is Lord” and why we call, “O Lord Jesus.” God has always been the Lord, but now a man is on the throne as the Lord. Through His resurrection and in His ascension, “God has made Him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus” (Acts 2:36). God has made Jesus, a Nazarene, the Lord, and now today the Lord of heaven and of earth is a man.
Do you really realize that the Lord of the universe today is a man? Hallelujah for this man! It would not seem strange to us to say that Jehovah Elohim is the Lord of the universe. But it is not easy for us to realize that a man who could be crucified and buried could be the Lord of the universe. When Judas and the multitude came to arrest Him, He did not run away. He willingly made Himself weak and allowed Himself to be arrested and crucified. In the words of 2 Corinthians 13:4, “He was crucified out of weakness.” But after He was crucified and buried, God resurrected Him and set Him at His right hand, making Him the Lord of all the universe. Today, the Lord of the universe is a man.
We also need to see that the Lord Jesus led the way to the throne. He was the Pioneer, the Forerunner (Heb. 6:20), cutting the path to the throne (2:10). This indicates that He is not the only man destined for the throne. He has cut the path and has taken the lead so that we may follow. He was the first one to the throne, and we will come after Him. Now we are marching to the throne, for God intends to bring us into glory and to set us on the throne.
Ezekiel 1:27 says, “I saw as the color of amber, as the appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about.” Here we see that the appearance of the man on the throne has two aspects: From His loins upward He looks like electrum, and from His loins downward He looks like fire. Why does His upper part look like electrum, and why does His lower part look like fire? The upper part of a man, from his loins to his head, is the part of feeling, of sensation. This part signifies his nature and disposition. According to His nature and disposition the Lord Jesus on the throne looks like electrum. The lower part of a man’s body is for moving. The appearance of fire from the loins downward signifies the Lord’s appearance in His move.
When the Lord comes to us, He first comes as fire. When He stays with us, He becomes electrum. Furthermore, whenever the Lord moves through us, He moves like fire to burn, enlighten, and search. After this burning something will remain, and that will be the electrum — a mixture of gold and silver signifying the Lamb-God, the redeeming God.
God wants us to gain Him as the electrum. In order for this to be our experience, He must first come to us as fire to enlighten, search, and burn. Then through the fire He becomes electrum to us. Thus, if we would gain Him as the electrum, we need to experience Him as the fire.
Eventually, we need to realize that nothing good dwells in us. Like Paul, we should be able to say, “I know that in me, that is, in my flesh, nothing good dwells” (Rom. 7:18a). The following is a partial list of the negative things that we have within us: division, strife, hatred, envy, temper, self-love, self-goals, ambition, selfishness, ego, and many other ugly, evil things. We are full of these things, but we may have very little of the Lord. Therefore, we need the Lord to come to us and burn away all these negative things. After these things have been burned out, the electrum, the redeeming God, will remain in us.
No matter how clear our sky is and no matter how much we may have the throne in our sky, we still need the Lord’s presence as the fire which enlightens, searches, and burns so that we may have Him remaining in us as electrum. This is the Lord’s visitation with us, and this is the Lord’s move with us and on us. It is a great blessing to be under the Lord’s visitation. The Lord comes to us as a consuming fire, and we gain Him as electrum. Often there is no need for us to declare that we have such a God. When others are with us, they will be able to sense that we have the electrum, the redeeming God, remaining with us. They may also have the impression that we are not light but are persons of weight. We are weighty with electrum, weighty with the Lamb-God.
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.
