Chapter 10: The Throne Of God

As we rose, the light became multicolored, vibrant, alive almost. The sound of the chant intensified a hundred-fold as we followed the flaming plumbline into the third Heaven:

His righteousness is from everlasting to everlasting.

His judgments are sure and will be withheld no longer.

Jubilant Celebration

When Jesus appeared on the "sea of glass," a great shout went up; those singing burst into spontaneous rejoicing at the sight of Him. We had entered the third Heaven at what seemed to be the back of the throne room.

The redeemed began to dance as one-sidestepping in a swift, gliding movement, as dancers on earth might in an oldfashioned courante. The movements were vigorous and joyful. Those passing near us would reach out a hand to touch Jesus; He reached out to touch hand after hand of those passing by in the dance. All were laughing. I was certain the dance was spontaneous. The redeemed were dancing by the power of the Holy Spirit, thousands upon thousands led by the Spirit Himself.

Jesus glanced over at me. "I am needed, Anna," He said. He motioned for someone to draw nearer to us. It was the large formal angel whom I had met on the moving path. As the Lord spoke to me, He was still smiling and touching the hands extended to Him. "Epaggelias will be with you."

The Angel Epaggelias

So that is his name, I thought to myself, smiling inwardly.

The angel bowed from the waist to Jesus. The Lord smiled at me, reached over and squeezed my hand, and was gone.

Epaggelias and I continued to watch the exuberant dancing.

"You have come at a joyous time," Epaggelias said.

"Why?" I asked.

He answered, "We rejoice daily for those who have recently come into the kingdom, but this celebration is in response to your Father's proclamation that a great ingathering is about to commence. His children are filled with thanksgiving to Him for His faithfulness, for He is about to do a quick work and redeem many of their brothers and sisters through Christ Jesus our Lord."

"That is exciting," I smiled. "Thank you for telling me, Epaggelias."

He bowed in acknowledgment and smiled in spite of himself, for it was a private joke between the two of us that Jesus had just given me his name.

The thousands of dancers gathered into circles, each circle containing about twenty-four dancers. They began circling and weaving in and out within the rings. Some were laughing, but everywhere there was rejoicing. They began to sing as they danced:

Again and again we sing of His glory,

Again and again rejoice in our God.

All were executing the same movements, twirling and whirling within the circles, and singing the same song everywhere on the sea of glass.

Silent Worship

Then, as by the spirit's leading, the music slowed to a sigh, a pause, a selah. The redeemed paused also, silently with arms raised, abandoned to God. I remembered Psalm 65 where it states, "There will be silence before You... praise in Zion, O God."

Silent worship.

After a long pause, a slow, stately melody began. Besides the tone of the instruments I recognized, some of the music was being played on instruments I had never heard. Perhaps they were from other cultures or of ancient design. In harmony with the instrumental music was another lovely sound. It was not singing, nor was it being played by musicians. What was it?

Dance of worship

The redeemed responded to the music by beginning a majestic dance of worship. The movements were regal and noble, and they executed them with great care and intensity. Perhaps a pavane is the dance on earth most closely resembling this worship of the redeemed. I felt they were dancing to express their respect. Their dancing was homage. The change of pace allowed me to get my bearings.

The Throne Of God

The throne room was as brilliant with light as satan's kingdom had been dark.

The surface on which the redeemed were dancing was a pavement of light that looked like a translucent blue. The area was as immense as a huge plaza. At the far end of this expansive "sea" was a dazzling white light, in the center of which was the throne of God."

A great yearning welled up within me, and a whisper involuntarily escaped: "Daddy." His presence drew me with the cords of love. Epaggelias looked down at me and smiled.

The Father's being is manifested by light of an indescribable whiteness. His uncreated glory radiates outward in all directions to from a great sphere of awesome colors. From a considerable distance this radiance looks like an eye with a dazzling white pupil. Perhaps the sphere is due to the reflection upon the sea of glass. I could not tell. But I remembered that often the early church had mosaics or frescoes of the "eye of God" in its buildings. Standing on the sea of glass, I wondered if they were seeking to depict the glory of the Father as well as His omniscience.

The splendor of His person radiates out into bands of color, like a bow whose hues blend from white to yellow, to gold, to the Shekinah reddish-gold, and on through the color spectrum of reds, purples, blues, and ending with green. The rainbow on earth is a type of "My God's bow."

Moving closer to the Throne

Transfixed, I was lost in the wonder of Him. Epaggelias touched my shoulder to draw my attention to that which he was about to say. "Come with me," he said, and with that he began to move toward the throne area. We began to pass through those worshiping, sometimes ducking beneath a dancer's arm as we made our way forward.

The light into which we were entering began to intensify, as well as the sense of power. As we moved nearer to the throne, the radiance looked more like the waves of light in the aurora borealis when it forms an arc of lights across the sky.

The blazing light was not blinding as would be the earth's sun if you gazed at it. One could experience, feel, and even look at this light.

Angelic Praise

Thousands of angels were circling above the throne area, and thousands more seemed to be arriving to join them.

Countless numbers of angels were already within the bow of the corona around the throne. Each group wore the color of that particular hue. They were making musical sounds by flying at different levels and speeds and patterns. Just as a whirling stick might make a different sound-increasingly higher or louder by the speed with which it is whirled-so these angels in their flying brought forth various sounds of praise. The tones that their flight made were different from singing or the playing of instruments. This must have been the musical sound whose origin I could not detect earlier, rare in its beauty.

They seemed to be unbelievably happy, swimming, as it were, in the glory of God. I too felt this joy; forever would not be long enough to praise Him and to receive His joy back from Him.

At times some angels would fly together, producing a tone different from the sound of those in flight in a single color.

One With Praise

The melodies, like the light in the throne room, went right through me. The music of praise entered me and passed through me, and I became one with the sound. It was as though I became praise. I remembered that in the Book of Psalms David said, "But, I prayer"-meaning that he was prayer. So it is with praise in the throne room.

Epaggelias paused amid the dancers and spoke, "The harmony, the unity, and the desire of these here to give to the Father His due-constantly giving of themselves and receiving more of Him when they praise and adore-bring forth a sweet music."

"Yes," I agreed.

We watched and listened a moment before moving forward again.

As we drew nearer to the throne, it was as though I began to see praise. It was translucent, almost invisible, but I could see it.

It seemed to have different properties. Some kinds of praise were like fabric, some like particles. Thanksgivings looked similar to bird flights of light.

Praise Purified

The angels in flight gathered some of the praise from the sea of glass and wove it into their praise within each color of the bow (that is, the radiance around the Father) before it went to Him. Some worship went to a small altar on which there appeared to be smoldering coals. I wondered why some went one way and some another.

Epaggelias addressed this unspoken question. "Some praise is already in harmony with heavenly praise, but some must pass through the fire," he said.

Angels Of His Presence

Angelic beings in pale lavender were at this small altar. Their robes were embroidered with deep purple and gold on the sleeves and hem, and they were bound with golden girdles. The palms of their hands were also tinted with the purple color. I felt that they must be angels of His presence. They took great care with all that was going to the Father. There was a delicacy in handling that which belongs to Him, like a shepherd encouraging and assisting a newborn lamb. Whether being woven into the angelic harmony within each color of the radiance, or like a homing pigeon, drawn into the coals on the small altar-all, all goes to Him. Nothing is carried away nor stolen.

Interwovenness

I became more aware of the pleasant fragrance around the throne area and of the interwovenness of sound and color and smell. These cannot be woven together on earth the way they are blended here in Heaven. We below can experience them simultaneously, but above they seem to have the same properties. It is more like water being poured into water. Water, having the same properties, can be mixed. So it is here with sound, light, and fragrance. It seems strange to see sound, hear color, and for smell to have a tangible quality to it; yet in Heaven it all seems natural and right and even obvious.

Seven Great Flames

There were seven great flames of fire, seven torches, before the throne.

Epaggelias spoke, "These are manifestations of the Holy Spirit. They burn before the throne continually. He reveals Himself here [above] and on earth. The Lamb embodies these, and the Spirit takes of Him. Of the created, heavenly hosts, the seraphim, burning in holiness, most closely resemble these lamps of the Spirit. They burn above, and the lamps burn before *the throne+."

Seraphim

I looked up to see heavenly beings burning right above the most intense light of the throne. Each had six wings. Now and then I could see their faces or the movement of their wings. They burned like blow torches. From them came the sweetest and purest music I had ever heard.

The Twenty -Four Elders

In the midst of the intensely white light of the throne area, there stood twenty-four very tall beings with crowns on their heads. Each wore a chain with a single gold medallion hanging from it. The hair on their heads was white, and they were full of light. I could sense that they were ancient, wise, and bore much authority.

Epaggelias led me into a clear area nearer the throne.

Four Living Creatures

Within the greater light, I could see four living creatures. Each was whiter than white, so full of light were they. Each had six wings. One looked like a calf, one like a lion, one like an eagle, and one like a man. Their heads and their feet, paws, hoofs, or claws were golden. They were full of eyes, awesome and very beautiful.

The living creature of light that looked something like a man wore a transparent garment with a collar that came up high from the neck to the ears. This collar looked like an open fan of white lace interwoven with golden thread. A golden yoke and front panel completed the center of the robe. Through the gossamer fabric of his clothing, I could see that his body was covered with eyes. Beneath the wings of each of these living creatures were hands.

When the redeemed dropped to their knees during the dance, these four bowed before the King. Within their hands they held golden bowls that they presented before the throne.

Epaggelias spoke to me: "These represent four great divisions of animate creation." The Word says that all things are to praise Him. These are the remnant of creation that fulfill that Word. That which they do is attributed to all that God has made."

"Why do they have golden heads?" I whispered.

"Gold shows their place among those representing creation before the throne," he answered. "It is a precious metal on earth and representative of Christ here, so their color reflects that which is precious: worshiping God. God deals with the remnant.

These four are a certain remnant. Before the throne, God the Almighty, the glorious One, is being praised and worshiped by His creation. The white represents the innocence of all He brought forth originally. It reminds Him that what He created was created pure and uncorrupted in the beginning."

Concluding the offering of Praise

The offering of worship and thanksgiving by the redeemed was drawing to a close. As one, the redeemed saints stepped forward, their arms around each others' waists. They knelt on their right knees before the throne, bowing their heads in reverence. The twenty-four ancient ones and the four living creatures knelt, saying amen at the conclusion of the dance.

The myriads of angels praising Him aloft within the radiance stood still. They looked like thousands upon thousands and tier upon tier of organ pipes as far as I could see.

In the silence that followed, God spoke.