Sea Of Crystal Before The Throne
Written by Elinor Montgomery – emontgomery@cogeco.ca
July 7, 2003
The apostle John was spiritually raptured up to the throne of God. The voice he heard was like a trumpet saying, “Come up here.” John’s life plays out as that of the marriage planner. He is the advisor on being the bride, what is required of her, and what she can expect as her rewards. He gives the bride and her friends, or wedding guests, a picture of the wedding plans and a picture of the home her father-in-law is preparing for her, along with her husband.
He was immediately taken before the throne of God. He gives us a picture of God as the most precious of stones, like a diamond, which, of course, is transparent as a reflector of light. Its brilliance can be blinding, as was the case with Saul of Tarsus, when he was blinded by the light. Around the throne was a rainbow. This takes us back to Noah and the first promise to man of the covenant salvation. It speaks of Jesus, the brilliant light broken for you and me. Joseph, the prototype of Jesus, wore a coat of many colors, representing the brokenness of Jesus, the light, broken for you and me. His brokenness is life-giving, as is the green of plant life. The emerald speaks of His life-giving qualities. Near to the throne are the perfect worshippers, who have earned crowns of gold by purifying themselves and worshipping only in Spirit and in Truth. White speaks of their purity. Twelve is God’s number used in connection with salvation. Two twelves speak of one complete Israel, yet divided into two parts. There is the counterpart of Israel, in the Godhead of Father and Son, just as there were Abraham and the true son, the church, the inheritor of the Promised Land, the kingdom of God.
Now pictured before the throne is God’s separation from sin by judgment, shown by lightnings, thunderings and voices. There were seven lamps of fire burning, which are the seven Spirits of God, corresponding to the seven angels of the churches and their seven golden lamp stands. The lampstands picture only the Spirit-filled church, refined by the fire. Before the throne was a sea of glass like crystal. This sea speaks of water very different to our seas or oceans that rise and fall with the swell, with raging waves from the storms. An ocean is dark and foreboding. It has none of the characteristics of this sea of glass like crystal. Sin and religion produce the rage. Truth and holiness can only result in such a calm sea worthy of being called crystal. And of such is implied transparency that comes with truth, but the cover-up of the lie makes the waters of the earth opaque and murky with sin. The waters of our lives will eternally be one or the other. They will either fill us with darkness and a raging, violent spirit, or they will fill us with peace and a joyous, contented Spirit. Hate is at the heart of one and love is at the heart of the other. The living creatures with eyes all around represent complete and perfect understanding, reaching out to the four corners of the earth. The four animals are used to describe the characteristics of Jesus as given in the four gospels, being in the midst of and surrounding the throne.
This total description of the throne is to point to Jesus as God, and His worthiness of the name Lord. It shows that it is His holiness, we are overcome with the desire to worship Him and proclaim His Lordship. He is recognized as creator and as being all-powerful. This is the message to the true church. There can be no other Jesus than the one of the gospels, who is the same Jesus that rules and reigns in heaven. A revelation of Jesus brings the transparency of understanding. The symbols are shown to take us back to the Word with a greater clarity of things to come. John himself could not understand what he had seen, for the four gospels were unknown to him as part of the Word. The panorama of world history had not yet unfolded for him, but still Jesus used the apostle He loved to disclose to the bride, things yet to unfold for us today. Unknowingly, John is giving the marriage plan of Israel to the world with its message of a new creation born of the water and the Spirit. What he wrote formerly, would become one of the gospels. In it he declares that Jesus says a rebirth of the water and the Spirit is the necessary element of Kingdom inheritance. In Revelation, he carries this forward for the pure bride, the over-comer, the inheritor of the New Jerusalem, as opposed to the nations of believers, according to their tribal blessing, who dwell about the tabernacle, also recipients of salvation, but not necessarily over-comers. Then the judgment is described as coming upon those desirous of riding the beast in religion and the lie, those who are as harlots, having taken the number of the beast, which is 666. This harlot will most certainly go to her destruction.
Revelation describes the true point of separation in the Bible, where God’s portion Israel, finally is separated from the Gentile nations of this world. The mistakes of man in the garden are rectified only by repentance of sin, and a belief in Jesus for salvation from death, the sentence for our sins. There are many who make the choice to not believe. Miracles will not change their hearts, as was seen in the wilderness, when Israel rebelled after less than three days of liberty from the captivity of slavery, after God had miraculously parted the waters of the Red Sea. They really wanted what few worldly comforts they had had in Egypt more than they were willing to sacrifice in the temporary discomfort of the wilderness, in order to possess the land.
Christians want their religion more than they are desirous of the promise of the Kingdom. The world has greater appeal with its relative security than the promise of things unseen, with its total security. The first will temporarily ease pain, while the latter will cause present pain. Separation from the world and religion is too great a command from God for them to obey. Is tradition not the enemy of progression along the Way to salvation? Tradition in religion clouds like the sea, while truth leads on the path to crystal clarity. The crystal sea speaks of perfect vision and understanding. Our hearts will determine the degrees of vision and understanding that God will give to us. God knew Saul of Tarsus had scales of tradition and religion clouding his vision, but He also saw him as clay broken down and reshaped in the Master’s hands. The self is what keeps us from the reshaping and understanding.
How much of self are we willing to give up to gain understanding? Are our hearts truly open to it, or does pride block the way? The religious could not receive Jesus’ message. Sadly, they will only ever know the raging seas and never have the privilege of seeing the sea of crystal before the throne of God. Their spirits shall know torment rather than peace. God wants this made clear to the church, so that she might know the importance of a relationship with Jesus. Revelation is a continuing message to the church, culminating with the last call of the bride for all to come and drink of the living water, in order to experience life in truth rather than death in religion. The church is in a life and death struggle in this hour, one greater than has ever been seen in any other part of the church age. All the powers of Satan are released on the earth, as he is cast out of heaven. We are called to be over-comers until the end. God is giving the world a greater revelation for this time, than He had ever given before. Will we lay hold of it, or will we reject His last act of mercy for us, as we become caught in a spiritual battle for our very souls?
Listen carefully to the voice of the messenger. Israel would not listen to John the Baptist, before Jesus came the first time. Instead, religion held her sway to the devil and continues to do so to this very day. Tradition, they cry, is for Israel. The Israelite never made the crossover that took place at the cross. As the pope and his hierarchy for centuries denied the flock the Bible and the Word of truth, he and his hierarchy denied the Christian the gospels, the letters of the apostles, and the revelation of the New Testament. At the same time, prophecy became dead to the Israelites, as they continued to await a Messiah who came. They all, both church and nation, have been denied the prophecy of Revelation, with the understanding that the testimony of Jesus is the testimony of prophecy, of things yet to come before the time of the fullness of the gentiles is complete. How can we be prepared if we do not understand God’s plan?
The living water that the Spirit gives is crystal clear. The Word is as the clear glass, which we are able to look through to see the panoramic picture from Genesis to Revelation and all there is in the pages between. It is an Alpha and Omega story, where in the eternal picture, the beginning and the end disappear when time will be no more. It is a full circle picture of man’s return to the garden in which the prophetic Word guides the way. That Word is Jesus, and He, and only He, is the answer for our salvation, allowing our return to the very presence of God. It is the east gate that holds us back, so beware, my friends, of the religion of the east. It is the east gate that shuts off Jerusalem, just as it closed off the garden. It is a spiritual gate that God closed, as the spiritual battle rages between religion and truth. Only truth will open that gate. Only Jesus will enter in with His saints into the city.
(1 Corinthians 13:12) For now we see through a glass darkly; but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know even as I also am known. For which is it that you are known? Are you known for truth or are you known for religion?