"THE THRONE OF HIS GLORY"
Concerning the "Throne" and its occupant, MR. BARNES has said: "The throne here is the same which is referred to in Matt. 25:37, and called there the 'Throne of His Glory."' The occupant of the Throne he understands is the Lord Jesus Christ, "the final judge of mankind." Some commentators hold that it is God, the Father. The Pastor has thus expressed himself on this matter: "The one who sat in the Throne represents The Christ, primarily Jesus, the Head, but also the over-comers who sit with Him or share His glory and power (Rev. 3:21)—yet all one." "The Throne or Kingdom of Christ will be a pure--a righteous one, here symbolized by white, the symbol of peace and purity."--Z March '82-7, S.
Not a few Old Testament prophecies describe in strong symbolic language this passing away of the present arrangement or order, social, political and religious. In Isa. 24:1-3 we read,
"Behold the Lord makes the earth empty, and makes it waste, and turns it upside down, and scatters abroad the inhabitants thereof,"--and that this does not refer to the literal earth will be seen from the words that follow: "And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the taker of usury, so with the giver of usury to him. The land shall be utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled: for the Lord hath spoken this word."
This symbolic statement of the Prophet is in full harmony with this one of the Apostle John; the turning of the earth upside down evidently referring to the fact that a great revolution in the present order will take place, in which the proud and haughty, the "upper crust," will be debased, and the meek and humble will be lifted up. Another prophecy to the same effect is found in Isa. 40:4, in which is stated that "every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: the crooked [perverse] shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." This strong figurative language is only another way of describing the fact that society (earth) is to undergo a great change, be reconstructed on a basis in which equality of classes shall exist, and in which "individual merit will be recognized, blended with humility and benevolence."
In Isa. 24:17-20 we read of this same great revolution of the present order. The language is strongly figurative, and reads: "Fear, and the pit, and the snare, are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass, that he who flees from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that comes up out of the midst of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for the windows from on high are open, and the foundations of the earth (the present order of society) do shake . . . The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and be removed like a cottage; and the transgression thereof shall be heavy upon it; and it shall fall, and not rise again."
The earth in this prophecy means the present old social structure or order. It shall be removed as one would move a building to make way for the new building of God, the new earth, wherein righteousness and justice shall be the order. The 46th Psalm is another prophecy describing the same fleeing away of the present, old corrupt order. The new order will be the reign of Christ, the appointed judge of mankind, who shall judge the world in righteousness and the people with His truth. The vision of the Apostle John presents a brief symbolical description of the various features of that judgment Day, the most stupendous one of all being that of the awakening of all who have gone down into death under the sentence imposed upon father Adam.
Continued with next post.
