Revelation 4:1-5; Revelation 10:1-7
Behold, a door was opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard was as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will shew thee things which must be hereafter. And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And round about the throne were four and twenty seats: and upon the seats I saw four and twenty elders sitting, clothed in white raiment; and they had on their heads crowns of gold. And out of the throne proceeded lightnings and thunderings and voices.
And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. And he had in his hand a little book open: and he set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot on the earth, and cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roareth: and when he had cried, seven thunders uttered their voices. And when the seven thunders had uttered their voices, I was about to write: and I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Seal up those things which the seven thunders uttered, and write them not. And the angel which I saw stand upon the sea and upon the earth lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven, and the things that therein are, and the earth, and the things that therein are, and the sea, and the things which are therein, that there should be time no longer: But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished, as he hath declared to his servants the prophets.
ROBERT HAWKER (1753-1827): John saw Christ as a mighty Angel come down from heaven, clothed with a rainbow, and His face was as it were the Sun, and His feet as “pillars of fire.” So John had seen him before, in Revelation 1:15,16. It is the peculiar prerogative of Christ, to shine as the sun upon His people, and to lift up the light of His countenance upon them.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): “He set his right foot upon the sea and his left foot upon the earth,” to show the absolute power and dominion He had over the world.
ADAM CLARKE (1760-1832): The rainbow is an illustrious token of mercy and love…Almost every critic of note understands this of the rainbow, which God gave as a sign that the earth should no more be destroyed by water; see Genesis 9:12-17.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): “A rainbow around about the Throne!” I have a notion concerning this rainbow, that it was a complete circle. In the 10th Chapter, the Apostle John tells us that he saw “another mighty angel with a rainbow upon his head,” which could hardly have been the semi-circular arc we are accustomed to see in the sky in times of rain and sunshine. It must have been, I should imagine, a complete ring.
ROBERT HAWKER: There are so many very blessed things connected with this token of the rainbow, that I beg the Reader’s indulgence, to dwell upon the subject somewhat more particularly—“Out of the throne proceeded lightnings, and thunderings, and voices.” Perhaps these were meant to show, the many dispensations of the Lord, both to the Church and to the world. But whatever dispensations come from the throne, they must all pass through the rainbow, for the rainbow was all round the throne, so that nothing could be manifested but through it. And this, very blessedly teacheth the Church, how everlastingly safe all Christ’s redeemed must be, since nothing can come to pass, but it must pass His hands. On the other hand, how awful to His enemies, since Christ is in all dispensations, and nothing can escape Him.
MATTHEW HENRY: The rainbow has fiery colours in it, to signify that though God will not again drown the world, yet, when the mystery of God shall be finished, the world shall be consumed by fire.
THOMAS COKE (1747-1814): A fire of love to His people, a fire of wrath to His enemies.
EDWARD PAYSON (1783-1827): His countenance, like the pillar of cloud between the Israelites and Egyptians, will present a double appearance; and though clothed with the rainbow of peace toward His friends, it will lower on His enemies like a stormy sky; and while His eye, at every glance, pours upon the former a flood of joy, it will flash lightnings on the latter, which will scorch their inmost souls, and fill them with unutterable, inconceivable anguish.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): The Angel that hath a rainbow about His head, hath “pillars of fire” for His feet to consume them who refuse His peace. “He hath appointed a day, in the which He will judge the world in righteousness by that Man whom He hath ordained,” Acts 17:31.
EDWARD PAYSON: Then shall He come in the clouds of heaven, and every eye shall see Him, and yours, my friends, among the rest. Then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they who condemned Him as guilty of blasphemy will find, to their eternal shame and confusion will find, that He uttered a solemn truth when He said, “Hereafter ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven,” Matthew 26:64. Then shall His murderers find, that He whom they buffeted, scourged, mocked, and crucified, was indeed the Lord of life and glory, and they, with all who have since despised, and all who are now despising His offered grace, will then be convinced by their own sad experience, that “whosoever falls on this stone shall be broken, and that on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind him to powder,” Matthew 21:44.
ROBERT HAWKER: Great Father of mercies! hast Thou said, that Thou wilt set thy bow in the cloud, that it shall be a token of thy merciful engagements to mankind? that Thou wilt look upon it, and that Thou wilt remember Thine everlasting covenant? Genesis 9:17. Oh! then, give me grace, to look upon it also; and to behold in it, by an eye of faith, that mighty Angel, even the Lord Jesus Christ, whom John saw clothed with a rainbow round the throne.
EDWARD PAYSON: But it is also necessary to guard against the perversions of such as would derive from it encouragement to hope for heaven while they continue in sin…They may say, since there is so much reason to hope, we will hope for the best, and not despair of salvation, though we should continue a little longer in sin. If any are saying this, I do most solemnly protest against this perversion, this abuse of the grace of God, and warn them of its danger. This is what the apostle calls making Christ the minister of sin, and turning the grace of God into wantonness…If any such still pretend, from what has been said, to hope in God’s mercy, I would remind them of the words of the apostle John: “Whosoever hath this hope in Him, purifieth himself, even as He is pure,”1 John 3:3.
JOHN BUNYAN (1628-1688): It is necessary, because God calls for it, and will not pardon sin without it. “Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish,” Luke 13:3.
H. A. IRONSIDE (1876-1951): “Heaven and earth shall pass away,” declared the Lord Jesus, “but my words shall not pass away,” Matthew 24:35. To keep His Word is to live. To refuse it is to die eternally! Let not Satan persuade any that God will be better than His Word; He will fulfill it to the letter, though man may think otherwise and hope for mercy apart from Christ.
EDITOR’S NOTE: What a terrible awakening the Day of Judgment will be for those who turn God’s rainbow, His covenant symbol of mercy and love, into a proud emblem of perverted sexual abominations which God condemns in His Word, Leviticus 18:22; Romans 1:22-27; and which brought God’s fiery judgment upon Sodom, and a global destructive flood in Noah’s day. It is such an open Satanic affront to God, that surely the “cry of it comes up to heaven,” as God phrased it in Genesis 18:20,21.
A. W. PINK: And “what shall the end be of them that obey not the Gospel of God?” 1 Peter 4:17. What can it be? What must be the portion of those who love darkness and hate the Light? Only one answer is possible. And Scripture does not leave us in ignorance thereof. “If they escaped not who refused Him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from Him that speaketh from Heaven,” Hebrews 12:25. Escape they shall not…And in that Day, He shall say, “But those mine enemies, which would not that I should reign over them, bring hither, and slay them before me,” Luke 19:27.
C. H. SPURGEON: Oh, turn, you heathens—some of you as vile as the inhabitants of Sodom—turn! turn to God!
