The writers who share their Throne Room experiences with us, even though inspired by the Holy Spirit, do not present a picture that is easy to understand. While the Holy Spirit wants us to know something of this experience, at the same time language cannot do the experiences justice. It is said that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words.’ Yet Jesus is the Word and the primary method He has chosen to communicate with us is via the written word. However, this word only truly releases life when breathed upon by the Holy Spirit. At the same time that He has given us His word He has also communicated the experiences of others and described heavenly eternal realities because He wants us to know about them. The pictures below illustrate the challenge of people conveying what they think Ezekiel saw, the wheel within a wheel, or Daniel’s vision of the Ancient of Days.
While I like the pictures I know they are not accurate. At the same time both convey something of the majesty and awe of this eternal realm – the eternal fire issuing forth from the Godhead is captured as well as eternal motion (the wheel) which is reminiscent of gyroscope and may be what the writers were trying to describe. While they focused on different aspects of the throne room, if we read Daniel’s account below we see that Daniel saw what Ezekiel saw, who saw what Isaiah had seen and in Revelation John looked into the same scene.
9 “I watched till thrones were put in place, And the Ancient of Days was seated; His garment was white as snow, And the hair of His head was like pure wool. His throne was a fiery flame, Its wheels a burning fire; 10 A fiery stream issued And came forth from before Him. A thousand thousands ministered to Him; Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him. The court was seated, And the books were opened. Daniel 7:9-10 (NKJV)
Daniel saw this fiery being seated on a throne among thrones. In our modern church age we have many who claim experiences of heaven. While that is not the norm for Christians it doesn’t fall outside the scope of scripture. I have serious questions in listening to some experiences, yet others carry the ring of truth. For me one was an experience I heard John Paul Jackson describe (he went home to Jesus in February 2015). Like Paul he did not initiate this experience, he was taken to the throne room. Part of what he described, other than a great fear of the Lord, was seeing the fiery seraphim travelling at great speed around the throne crying out ‘Holy, Holy, Holy!’ What John Paul described was seeing them moving rapidly liking electrons orbiting the nucleus of an atom. This was the first description that ever made send to me of Ezekiel’s description, “The appearance of their workings was, as it were, a wheel in the middle of a wheel.” (Ezek. 1:16).
What does this tell us? Our Father has beautifully woven into the design of His creation a model of the small natural parts (an atom nucleus of neutrons and protons being orbited by electrons) reflecting the eternal spiritual realm so that we know one came from the other. Other than sitting before the throne room by faith, one of the greatest things we can draw from this is confidence that He is in charge and on the throne. If we truly love Him and embrace His purpose all things that come into our lives will work together for our good (Rom. 8:28) because He is conforming us to the image or His Son. We can rest confidently in His work and purpose.
The wheels are a picture of the entire Bible as in Ezek. chapter one. To me that is the analogy a spiritual one leading us to the incredible movement of Biblical teaching thru ages, the incredible flexibility of the Ancient of Days to move in any direction at any time, a picture of the Incarnate Jesus Christ 600 years before His birth Wow
Don’t entirely follow your thought Bill though like the comment on His flexibility in how He move.