A Deeper Dive Into the Book of Revelation - Part 87

After John described the One seated on the throne in Revelation 4:3, he wrote about a rainbow that encircled the throne.

“And He who was sitting was like a jasper stone and a sardius in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.”—Revelation 4:3 (NASB)

Undoubtedly, this is the same rainbow that God referred to in Genesis when he made the covenant with Noah.

“I will establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the water of a flood, nor shall there ever again be a flood to destroy and ruin the earth.”

And God said, “This is the token (visible symbol, memorial) of the [solemn] covenant which I am making between Me and you and every living creature that is with you, for all future generations; I set My rainbow in the clouds, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth. It shall come about, when I bring clouds over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the clouds, and I will [compassionately] remember My covenant, which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and never again will the water become a flood to destroy all flesh. When the rainbow is in the clouds and I look at it, I will [solemnly] remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

And God said to Noah, “This [rainbow] is the sign of the covenant (solemn pledge, binding agreement) which I have established between Me and all living things on the earth.”—Genesis 9:11-17 (AMP)

This rainbow encircles the throne in Heaven, but it is not an aspect of the throne, but of God Himself. In speaking with Noah, God calls it “My rainbow.”

In some spiritual circles people who are spiritually sensitive describe “auras” that people carry. These auras are sometimes described as “energy fields” that emanate from certain individuals with shades of different colors.

Although the concept of auras is usually attributed to parapsychology and New Age spirituality, it may be rooted in spiritual truth.

Could it be possible that each of us carry a personal aura that is as much a part of us as our bodies?

Could it be possible that the rainbow that John saw surrounding God on His throne was actually what a New Age parapsychologist might call God’s aura?

If the rainbow is an aspect of God that is always present to some degree, and we are made in God’s image, could it be possible that each of us, like God, carries an individual aura that is always emanating from us just like God’s rainbow that John saw surrounding Him?

Maybe the New Age spiritualists have recognized a spiritual truth that the Church is just very slow to acknowledge.

John Paul Jackson had an experience in which a man approached him in a meeting because, as the man told him, John Paul had an aura unlike any he had seen before. The man described John Paul’s aura as a bright white light that emanated from him. It was very different from the dull or muted auras that he usually saw around people.

It turned out that this man was the ghost writer for Shirley MacLaine, the actress, and had been involved in helping the actress write some of her books about metaphysics and New Age spirituality.

Neville Johnson had an experience that might help us better understand the phenomenon of personal auras.

For a period of about three months, God opened Neville’s spiritual eyes so that he saw into the spiritual realm and the physical realm simultaneously as he was going about his daily business. He couldn’t turn it off.

In addition to seeing angelic and demonic beings among us, he also saw colors emanating from people very clearly. He saw that people emanated colors constantly, and that the colors indicated the conditions of their souls.

If a person became angry, or depressed, or greedy, or lustful, the color emanating from that person would change to reflect that. Over time, Neville was able to tell the condition of a person’s soul just by noticing the colors emanating from them.

This helped him to understand that devils do not need to read our minds in order to know how to tempt us. Devils just recognize the colors (as well as the aromas and the sound vibrations) emanating from us, and they know how to tempt us, because it is obvious to them when we are giving in to sinful thoughts. They see it clearly.

This may help to explain some Scriptural passages, too.

In the four Gospels, demons sometimes recognized who Jesus was immediately, even though the people around Him didn’t.

“In the synagogue was a man who had a demon. He screamed with a loud voice, ‘Oh, no! What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God!’”—Luke 4:33-35 (ISV)

Satan also recognized who Jesus was and targeted Him with temptations in the wilderness after His baptism. (See Matthew chapter 4 and Luke chapter 4.)

How did Satan and the demons easily recognize who Jesus was, without a doubt, while the people around Jesus often had no idea that He was the Son of God?

I believe that Jesus emitted an ‘aura’ (if we want to call it that) that clearly identified him as a divine being, much more than a mere man, to anyone who could see into the spiritual realm.

In God’s case, a better word than ‘aura’ might be ‘glory’. This is how Ezekiel described the rainbow he saw around God’s throne.

“Above this surface was something that looked like a throne made of blue lapis lazuli. And on this throne high above was a figure whose appearance resembled a man. From what appeared to be his waist up, he looked like gleaming amber, flickering like a fire. And from his waist down, he looked like a burning flame, shining with splendor. All around him was a glowing halo, like a rainbow shining in the clouds on a rainy day. This is what the glory of the Lord looked like to me. When I saw it, I fell face down on the ground, and I heard someone’s voice speaking to me.”—Ezekiel 1:26-28 (NLT)

When Moses came down from the mountain, after spending forty days and nights in the presence of God, his face was shining brightly. It is reasonable to expect that, after spending an extended period of time in the very presence of Almighty God, the glory of God’s presence would have a dramatic effect on Moses’ body.

“When Moses came down from Mount Sinai, he had the two tablets in his hand, and he did not know that the skin of his face was ablaze with light because he had been speaking with God. Aaron and all the Israelis saw Moses and immediately noticed that the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him.”—Exodus 34:29-30 (ISV)

If it is true that the rainbow that John saw around the throne was actually God’s glory emanating out from Him, then it would make sense that, if a person spends an extended period of time in the very presence of God, he could not help but be affected by the radiance of God’s glory.

Peter, James and John may have caught a glimpse of Jesus’ “aura,” or more accurately, his glory, when his body was transfigured before their eyes.

“And His appearance changed dramatically in their presence; and His face shone [with heavenly glory, clear and bright] like the sun, and His clothing became as white as light.”—Matthew 17:2 (AMP)

Living in the physical realm, as we do, there is much about life in the spiritual realm that we do not yet understand.

There is an interesting passage in the book of Acts that speaks of sick people just wanting to be near Peter as he passed by because there was healing power in just being near him.

“More and more believers in the Lord, crowds of men and women, were constantly being added to their number, to such an extent that they even carried their sick out into the streets and put them on cots and sleeping pads, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on one of them [with healing power]. And the people from the towns in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing the sick and those who were tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.”—Acts 5:14-16 (AMP)

Was it really Peter’s shadow that had power to heal?

As we learn more about life in the spiritual realm, and we realize that each of us emanates an “energy field” or “aura” around our bodies, it seems more likely that Peter emanated the glory of God, similar to the rainbow that surrounds God on His throne, and that glory contained the healing power of God. Peter was very close to Jesus as a member of His inner circle. It is very possible that as His relationship with Jesus grew closer, that Peter emanated more of the life and power of God from his body.

The testimonies of Peter, Moses, John Paul Jackson, and Neville Johnson give us hope that, if we will draw closer to God, we can become living carriers of His glory, emanating the very life and power of God from our bodies!

Like an Emerald

John described the appearance of the rainbow around God’s throne in this way:

“there was a rainbow around the throne, like an emerald in appearance.”—Revelation 4:3 (NASB)

It’s not clear exactly what John meant when he wrote that the rainbow had the appearance of an emerald, but if he was referring to its color, it is significant that green would be the dominant color of the rainbow.

Throughout the Bible, green is the color of life. In Revelation 9:4, when the fifth trumpet sounds and locusts are released upon the earth, they are commanded not to hurt “any green thing.”

Green is the color in the very center of the seven colors of the rainbow that we commonly see in the sky after it rains.

These seven colors of the rainbow also represent the seven spirits of God spoken of in Isaiah 11:2:

“And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” (ESV)

I believe green is the color which represents the Spirit of the Lord. If this is true, it makes sense that this would be the dominant color in the rainbow around God’s throne, which is really the glory emanating from God Himself.

This image from Paul Keith Davis shows the colors that we believe represent the seven spirits of God:

Gods Rainbow

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