«　WEEK 42　DAY 3　»

　　Rev. 10:1 And I saw another strong Angel coming down out of heaven, clothed with a cloud; and the rainbow was upon His head, and His face was like the sun, and His feet like pillars of fire.

　　4:3 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.

　　In Revelation 10:1-11 we have a clear vision of Christ coming to take possession of the earth. In this chapter Christ is “another strong Angel,” like the One in 7:2; 8:3; and 18:1. This vision is a hint that, before the seventh trumpet, Christ is still on His way to earth.

　　Revelation 10:1 also says that Christ is “clothed with a cloud.” He is not yet on the cloud, as in 14:14 and in Matthew 24:30; 26:64. To be on the cloud is to come openly, whereas to be clothed with a cloud is to come secretly. This indicates that even after the sixth trumpet, which will be in the midst of the great tribulation, Christ will still be coming secretly, not openly, until He will be seen by all the tribes of the earth [Rev. 1:7]…Even at the time of the sixth bowl, during the gathering at Armageddon, Christ will give the warning that He is coming as a thief (16:15)…By this we see that the general teaching that Christ will come before the great tribulation is inaccurate. (Life-study of Revelation, p. 296)

　　In this vision Christ has a rainbow upon His head. Here the rainbow indicates that Christ in His judgment upon the earth and in His coming to take possession of it will keep the covenant that God made with Noah concerning the earth (Gen. 9:8-17). The rainbow is a sign of God’s covenant with man and all living creatures that He will not destroy them again with a flood (vv. 8-17). The book of Revelation shows that God will judge the earth with all its inhabitants. The rainbow around His throne [4:3] signifies that God is the covenanting God, the faithful God, who will keep His covenant while executing His judgment upon the earth. He will not judge mankind again with a flood nor destroy all mankind, but will keep a part of mankind to be the nations of the new earth for His glory (21:24, 26). This rainbow indicates that God is faithful in His administration toward mankind. In chapter 4 God is about to judge mankind, but in exercising His judgment, He will remember His covenant with Noah. He is the judging God, and He is also the covenant-keeping God.

　　This rainbow around God’s throne is like an emerald in appearance. An emerald is a precious stone whose grass-green color signifies the lives on earth. This indicates that as God is executing His judgment upon the earth, He will remember His covenant and will spare some of the lives on earth, as indicated in Genesis 9:11. An emerald, being a precious stone, is solid. God’s reminder to keep His covenant is solid. There is this solid reminder around the throne.

　　In Revelation 4:5 we are told that “out of the throne come forth lightnings and voices and thunders.” All of these signify God’s wrath in His judgment. In the Epistles, out of the throne of grace come the mercy and grace of God for anyone who approaches Him through the redeeming blood of Christ. But here, out of the throne of judgment come forth lightnings, voices, and thunders as warnings to the sinful world. In the book of Revelation, after all of God’s judgments have been executed, the throne of God will be the throne of eternal life supply, out of which will proceed the river of water of life with the tree of life growing in it. All the believers who are participating in God’s mercy and grace today by approaching God’s throne of grace will enjoy the river of life and the tree of life out of God’s throne as their life supply for eternity, while the unbelievers, who will be judged by God’s throne of judgment, will have no share in the eternal enjoyment issuing out of God’s eternal throne. (Life-study of Revelation, pp. 296-297, 208-209)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Revelation, msg. 17