Revelation Chapter 4

VERSE 3 continued, “And He who sat there was like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald.”

AND THERE WAS A RAINBOW AROUND THE THRONE:

A rainbow in Scripture represents a covenant.

IN APPEARANCE LIKE AN EMERALD:

It is not that the covenant is like the STONE, but like the stone APPEARS, i. e., GREEN = everlasting. Thus the Green Rainbow tells us of the EVERLASTING COVENANT (Heb. 13:20; Psa. 104:8-10; Isa. 55:3.)

“While a rainbow viewed from the surface of the earth is semicircular in appearance, the same phenomenon seen from an airplane frequently appears as a circle or ring of variegated light. In Scripture the complete circle, or fractional part thereof (the bow), usually indicates a covenant. Thus the nose, the ear, finger rings, and bracelets generally denote a covenant either of marriage or friendship, or of servitude of some kind. The rainbow-encircled throne describes Jehovah’s sovereignty and His general attitude and conduct towards man in redemptive grace.

The miracle of the rainbow, which is formed by a glorious refraction and reflection of the sun’s rays by droplets of rain in the sky, was intended by its Creator to be a reminder of the waters of the Great Deluge, calling to mind not only that His wrath was severe but, more important still, that the Flood itself is a backdrop which magnifies the riches of His grace in providing a way of escape for repentant sinners. As a type, Noah and his sons represent, respectively, The Christ and the willing and obedient of Adam’s race who will be carried over, beyond the Millennium, into the new life and age of eternal bliss (in the ages to come).

Furthermore, the bow in the cloud represents God’s recognition of mankind’s need for mercy and tolerance on His part if they are to survive the searching scrutiny of divine justice. The bow was the token of God’s promise that nevermore would He destroy all flesh as He did in the Flood (Gen. 9:12–17). Of course the bow of promise did not indicate that henceforth God could not, or would not, reserve the right to exercise severe judgments; rather, it indicated His purpose to never again destroy such an extremely high percentage of humanity—only eight souls survived!

In regard to John’s description of the throne scene, he reveals that the bow or arc encircling Jehovah’s throne did not characteristically exhibit the various colors of the spectrum, but consisted solely of one color: emerald green. In other words, the bow about the throne resembled the rainbow in form but not in color composition. Not only did the bow fail to possess variegated colors, but also it did not have the usual aqueous appearance or hazy, misty quality. Instead, it had a hard, durable finish, resembling the surface as well as the color of the emerald. If the bow had been typically aqueous, John would have stated that a green rainbow encircled the throne, instead of a rainbow “in sight like unto an emerald [stone].”

The lesson here is similar to that already considered in connection with the enduring administrative qualities of God’s office prefigured in the Sard and jasper stones. His “emerald rainbow covenant” would not be illusory, vague, and ephemeral like the ordinary bow in the heavens, but would be steadfast and enduring . . . a concrete assurance of hope for the future.

The emerald green color denotes that freshness, vigor, and eternal youth will be the fruitage of this covenant. These desirable qualities will be the proverbial pot of gold, God’s gift, at the end of the rainbow, namely, at the conclusion of the next age (1 Cor. 15:24–26; Luke 20:35, 36). “I will make a man more precious than fine gold; even a man[‘s life] than the golden wedge of Ophir” (Isa. 13:12).” The Keys of Revelation

“The rainbow as described in Rev 4:3 is not seven colored like a normal rainbow, but is shades of green in color. Green represents life and this seems to show that all life comes from God. New life will spring up in the world of mankind through the restitution of all things (Acts 3:19-21). This restitution will come through the New Covenant, which will come through literal Israel and then through them to all mankind in the millennial age. The church is being developed as ministers of that covenant and when they are complete in number, they along with the Lord will use (administer) that covenant to restore mankind to the perfection they had before the race fell.”

We will move on to Verse 4 in our next post.