Rainbows

Revelation 4:2-3: "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."

Have you ever seen a rainbow? It is a spectacular sight, full of beautiful colors. Scientists have determined that a rainbow is made by the process of light refracting through water molecules, changing the light into the various colors that we see.

In reading Revelation 4, we see that heaven contains a rainbow, which encircles the throne of God. Knowing the process by which a rainbow is revealed, one wonders how the rainbow is produced in heaven. This is where the testimony from the book of Revelation is so significant. In Revelation 21:6, Jesus says, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life." This water to which Jesus refers is seen in Revelation 22:1 as flowing as clear as crystal from his throne down the middle of the great street of the eternal city, with the trees of life for the healing of the nations perched on either side of its banks.

We also see Jesus in Revelation 1:16, 21:23, and 22:5 as one whose "face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance . . . . The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp . . . . They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light." So Jesus, the Light of the World and of Heaven, who chooses to provide the water of life to his chosen people for eternal life, uses these two ingredients to project beautiful light . . . the light of life!

And this rainbow will be unique in that it resembles an emerald. If the writer John was trying to describe the color of the rainbow here, then it would make perfect sense, for green is the color of the emerald. In a rainbow that we see in the sky today, the color green is the center color of the multi-colored rainbow. If the heavenly rainbow is green (emerald), then it may very well be that our Lord is revealing to us that He is the center of heaven (Revelation 4:6) to which all heavenly beings are directed to give praise, honor, and glory. Today, we should focus our lives upon Him and give Him glory, for He is the Sovereign One who is worthy of our lives, our praise, our all!