Dazzling Beauty

My cousin's daughter was married this past Saturday. The wedding not only celebrated the new union of husband and wife, but it also celebrated their union with the Lord. This was illustrated by the bride and groom when they used their braiding skills to create a three-stranded cord. (See Ecclesiastes 3:12) The wedding itself was a celebration of the beauty of this new union—one with each other and one with the Lord.

In fact, scattered on our table at the reception were dazzling "diamonds" of many sizes. These sparkled beautifully on the deep blue table runner.

The very next morning, our pastor spoke about the breathtaking scenes of praiseful worship in heaven around the Throne. My thoughts went back to those "diamonds" as he read Revelation 4:3.

And He Who sat there appeared like [the crystalline brightness of] jasper and [the fiery] sardius, and encircling the throne there was a halo that looked like [a rainbow of] emerald.

Revelation 4:3 (AMP)

The Expanded Bible notes that those two stones are symbols of great beauty, purity and value. This reminded me of the words of Psalm 96:9a (NKJ)—

Oh, worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!

Imagine yourself standing alongside the writer of Revelation. Before you, this majestic Being whose appearance is like a fire-lit diamond. And not only that—He is surrounded by an emerald rainbow and in front of Him is a sea of glass, like crystal. I think my hand would be over my eyes due to the amplified brilliance!

Dazzling beauty!

And, as we read through the rest of Revelation 4 and 5, we become party to amplified praise doing just what the psalmist did. Of all these praise groups, what caught my attention was the third in 5:8-10. Here the 4 living creatures are joined by the 24 elders and the saints through their prayers which are contained in golden bowls offered by the elders. My Thomas Nelson Study Bible notes that the "prayers of the saints (believers) play an important role in the Lamb's opening of the scroll and the ensuing judgment."

Did you realize your prayers of praise offered to this One of dazzling beauty were so important?

 

And the smoke of the incense, with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it to the earth. And there were noises, thunderings, lightnings, and an earthquake.

Revelation 8:4-5 (NKJV)