“The Throne of God and of the Lamb”
“Then he showed me the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” - Rev. 22:1, RSV.
Some trinitarians claim that if there is only one throne that God and the Lamb share, then they both must be God.
First, let’s look at some scriptures where “throne” is used:
(1) “Let the king and his throne be guiltless” - 2 Sam. 14:9, RSV.
(2) “Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne ....” - Is. 66:1; Mt 5:34; 23:22.
(3) “Blessed be Jehovah thy God, who delighted in thee, to set thee on his throne.” - 2 Chronicles 9:8, ASV.
(4) “Then Solomon sat on the throne of Jehovah as king instead of David his father.” - 1 Chron. 29:23, ASV.
5 He [Jesus] will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord will give him the throne of his father David ... his kingdom will never end.” - Luke 1:32.
(6) “[Jesus] sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” - Heb. 12:2, NASB.
(7) “To him who overcomes, I [Jesus] will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.” - Rev. 3:21, NIV.
(8) “Round the throne [of God] were twenty-four thrones, and seated on the thrones were 24 elders...with golden crowns upon their heads.” - Rev. 4:4, RSV.
(“The 24 elders on their thrones....represent...the heads of the 12 tribes together with the 12 apostles.” - The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, p. 615, v. 2; also, see New Oxford Annotated Bible [1977 ed.] f.n. for Rev. 4:4.) - cf. Rev. 20:4, 6.
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Scriptures (1) and (2) quoted above show some of the Bible’s figurative meanings for the word “throne.” The first, of course, shows that “throne” can stand for the rule or authority of a person. The second shows “throne” may include the entire location (room, building, city, territory, etc.) where that government is stationed.
Scriptures (3) and (4) show that the “throne” or authority of a much higher ruler can be delegated to another, much inferior ruler. Even King David (and Solomon) was said to be sitting on God’s throne. That is, he wielded the authority over God’s people on earth as a representative for God. So it was the throne of God and of David and of Solomon.
Scripture (5) shows that Jesus, like David, sat “on the throne of Jehovah.”
Scripture (6) shows that when Jesus assumed David’s God-given authority (or throne) over God’s people, he “sat at the right hand of the Throne of God.” Cf. Ps 110:1 where Jesus is to sit at the right hand of Jehovah. A footnote in the trinitarian The NIV Study Bible for Ps. 110:1 tells us:
“right hand.... thus he [Christ] is made second in authority to God himself. NT references to Jesus’ exaltation to this position are many (see...Mark 16:19;...Acts 2:33-36;...Heb 10:12-13).” Compare the NIVSB footnote for Mark 16:19 - “right hand of God. A position of authority second only to God’s.” - The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan, 1985.
Scriptures (7) and (8) similarly show that Jesus’ sitting on his own (subordinate) throne (Rev. 3:21) can be figuratively described as sitting “down with my Father on his throne” (who, in effect, shares some of his authority with Christ). The same description then applies to the Apostles who “sit with me on my throne” (Rev. 3:21) which can also be described as sitting upon their own separate thrones around the throne of God (Rev. 4:4) because the Christ shares some of his God-given authority with them. (See The New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, Vol. 3, p. 588.)
As in certain other “trinitarian” interpretations the separate consideration of God and Christ proves in itself that Christ is not God. (It might have been worth considering, at least, if it said “the throne of the Father and of the Lamb.”)
Obviously, we wouldn’t give a thought to the “Godhood” of David and Solomon if we saw a reference to “the throne of God and David and Solomon” - cf. scriptures (3) and (4) above! We are speaking of only one throne (perhaps), but there is certainly no reason to think that one throne unites all three mentioned who had the authority symbolized by that throne!
And the fact that God is mentioned as one person (and David and Solomon as others) precludes any possibility of honest error. For example, even when we add the testimony of the scripture which says that all the assembly bowed down and worshiped [”shachah”] Jehovah and King David (1 Chron. 29:20 - see the WORSHIP study), we still wouldn’t reason that David was Jehovah! The fact that they are so clearly represented as two separate individuals compels us to find some other solution to the problem of what seems to be “equal worship” (unless, of course, you already have an unshakable tradition or mindset that David is Jehovah). So why should we accept such reasoning for Rev. 22:1?
