In my previous article, I described the firmament and what it contains – the sun, moon, and stars. God’s throne is situated above the firmament.
From his lofty position above the earth, he watches and sovereignly rules over all things as the Creator, Sustainer, and Lord.
It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless. Isaiah 40:22–23 (NKJV)
The Throne
The Bible has some amazing revelations about the firmament that pertain to God’s throne. God’s habitation is mentioned in Exodus when God invited Moses and the elders of Israel to dine with him.
Then Moses went up, also Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel, 10 and they saw the God of Israel. And there was under His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and it was like the very heavens in its clarity. Exodus 24:9–10 (NKJV)
Obviously they were no longer on Mt. Sinai! God lifted them into heaven, above the firmament, as he did with Ezekiel and John the Revelator later. The description of the pavement agrees with other descriptions of the firmament, above which is God’s throne.
Below are verses that describe those later descriptions of the firmament as the location of God’s throne. The first is at the beginning of Ezekiel’s ministry. God revealed himself to that prophet before sending him to fearlessly speak to a rebellious nation who would not heed his words. The second passage is taken from Revelation near the beginning of what God would unfold to John.
It seems that God reveals the firmament in greater clarity before he is going to provide us with even more revelation and call us to be his fearless witnesses.
The likeness of the firmament above the heads of the living creatures was like the color of an awesome crystal, stretched out over their heads. 23 And under the firmament their wings spread out straight, one toward another. Each one had two which covered one side, and each one had two which covered the other side of the body. 24 When they went, I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of many waters, like the voice of the Almighty, a tumult like the noise of an army; and when they stood still, they let down their wings. 25 A voice came from above the firmament that was over their heads; whenever they stood, they let down their wings. 26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. 27 Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. 28 Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of One speaking. Ezekiel 1:22–28 (NKJV) Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. 3 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. 4 Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God. 6 Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures full of eyes in front and in back. Revelation 4:2–6 (NKJV)
The descriptions of the firmament agree – pavement as clear as the sky, crystal, and glass. Ezekiel 1:22 says the firmament is like “awesome crystal,” which literally means frost or ice. It is really high above the earth and may indeed be some sort of ice. Incidentally, frozen oxygen is sky blue in color. Just a thought…
If you are like me, I tended not to pay great attention to these verses before believing in a literal firmament because they seemed so otherworldly and loaded with almost unfathomable symbolism.
Once I started taking the existence of the firmament seriously, however, I began to see that these verses describe a heavenly reality.
Below are some significant insights they give us.
- God inhabits a place where the hard “pavement” has a clarity like the sky.
- From below the firmament looks like crystal. The Hebrew word here is qerach, which literally means frost or ice. The word for crystal from Revelation 5:6 uses the Greek word krustallos, which means congealed or transparent and is derived from a root word for frost. (You may wish to go back to the previous article and look at how lightning sprites illumine what looks like a crystalline firmament above them.)
- God’s throne rests on this glass-like pavement of the firmament and is the color of sapphire, very much like the color of the sky itself.
- The one who sits on the throne must be our Lord Jesus himself. In Exodus and Ezekiel this would have been a pre-incarnate theophany of the eternal Logos. We know from the words of our Lord Jesus that the triune God is a spirit (John 4:24) whom heaven cannot contain, but Jesus acquired a human body (John 1:14) and has been given authority to judge. It is he who sits on the throne as the glorious son of man prophesied by Daniel. (Daniel 7:13-14)
- The rainbow appears around God’s throne, which testifies to what an abomination it is that it has been subverted to represent something anti-God. John the Revelator describes the light as emerald green in nature, which is the main color of the aurora borealis, located at the north pole, which is directly below the apex of the firmament. Could it be that the northern lights are expressions of God’s glory above the firmament? One day we will find out for sure!
God told us that every matter or word will be confirmed out of the mouths of two or three witnesses. (Matthew 18:16).
Therefore, since we have three verses describing the firmament, I believe God wants us to accept these verses as describing reality, not some vague symbolism. If we do this, we will see other verses in a new light.
The Apocalypse
The apocalypse or revelation of Jesus Christ on the last day can be understood best when we accept the reality of the firmament as the location of God’s throne and the barrier that separates us from God’s realm.
God is called the Most High because he literally occupies the highest place in creation. When God told John the Revelator to “Come up here,” (Revelation 4:1) “up” had meaning, which it does not on a globe, since all positions are relative. (This should be a red flag in itself. Satan desires to make all truth relative and malleable.) Heaven is above. Sheol is below. Earth is in between. Jesus told us to “look up” as end time signs appear.
Now when these things begin to happen, look up and lift up your heads, because your redemption draws near.” Luke 21:28 (NKJV)
The reason we are to look up is because that is where God’s throne is and from where the Lord Jesus will appear when God rolls back the firmament like a scroll, dissolving the heavens.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 2 Peter 3:10–13 (NKJV)
Jesus said the the sun will stop shining, the moon will go dark, and the stars will fall to the earth.
But in those days, after that tribulation, THE SUN WILL BE DARKENED AND THE MOON WILL NOT GIVE ITS LIGHT, 25 AND THE STARS WILL BE FALLING from heaven, and the powers that are in the heavens will be shaken. 26 “Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN CLOUDS with great power and glory. Mark 13:24–26 (NASB95)
If the stars were distant suns larger than our sun, this could not happen. Because the stars are simply luminaries, not “suns,” in the firmament, when their habitation is dissolved, they will fall to the earth. To me, at this point, it is not clear exactly what stars are. Sometimes they seem to be living beings or angels. At other times, simply lights. One day we will know. For know we must be content with what God allows us to know. Going beyond that is what got humanity in trouble in the first place!
When the firmament is dissolved, the stars fall, and the sun and moon cease to give their light, it will be a day like no other.
For as the lightning that flashes out of one part under heaven shines to the other part under heaven, so also the Son of Man will be in His day. Luke 17:24 (NKJV) ...Thus the LORD my God will come, And all the saints with You. 6 It shall come to pass in that day That there will be no light; The lights will diminish. 7 It shall be one day Which is known to the LORD Neither day nor night. But at evening time it shall happen That it will be light. 8 And in that day it shall be— That living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, Half of them toward the eastern sea And half of them toward the western sea; In both summer and winter it shall occur. 9 And the LORD shall be King over all the earth. In that day it shall be “The LORD is one,” And His name one. Zechariah 14:5–9 (NKJV)
What will that be like? It shall be both wonderful and terrible, glorious and fearful.
When God says he will roll up or split apart the heavens like a scroll, he means he will peel back the firmament to reveal the glorious one who sits on the throne.
The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places. 15 Then the kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains; 16 and they said to the mountains and to the rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; 17 for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?” Revelation 6:14–17 (NASB95)
At that point in history, every eye shall see him. His throne is so high, higher than the North Star, and his being is so gloriously bright that he will be seen by all those who dwell on the earth plane.
...when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels, 8 in flaming fire taking vengeance on those who do not know God, and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 These shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power, 10 when He comes, in that Day, to be glorified in His saints and to be admired among all those who believe, because our testimony among you was believed. 2 Thessalonians 1:7–10 (NKJV)
The one who ascended through the heavens after his resurrection (Ephesians 4:10) will be revealed in flaming fire when the heavens are dissolved. Afterward God will create a new haven and a new earth (2 Peter 3:13). Glory to God. What a day that will be!
