What does the throne of God look like?

In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Isaiah 6:1

Have you ever wondered what the throne of God might look like? Isaiah gives us a grand description of the throne room, and Revelation 4:3 gives another powerful description, but did you know that Exodus actually describes it? I found this scripture while doing a word search of gemstones. Take a look at this.

“Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and the seventy elders of Israel went up (the mountain) and saw the God of Israel. Under his feet was something like a pavement made of lapis lazuli, as bright blue as the sky. But God did not raise his hand against these leaders of the Israelites; they saw God, and they ate and drank.” Exodus 24:9-11

Some translations of the Bible label this as sapphire, but sapphire was unknown before the Roman Empire and unavailable in Egypt during the Hebrew captivity. The Elder Pliny who was a historian between AD 23-69 gives a description of a stone by the name of sappir which is translated by most as sapphire, as being like the night sky, spangled with stars. Sapphire does not have a spangling of any kind, however Lapis Lazuli does. Several hundred years later a Greek by the name of Theophratus describes “sappir as spotted with gold.” Again, sap­phire lacks these physical properties. Lapis Luzuli is the only blue stone that is spotted with gold (pyrite). I believe that the sapphire in the Bible was actually sappir which is known today as Lapis lazuli. Newer transla­tions of the Bible list Lapis Luzuli, instead of sapphire. So when read­ing about sapphire in the older translations of the Bible, remember it is probably speaking of Lapis Lazuli.

As you can see from the above verse, 74 people including Moses and Aaron, traveled to the top of the mountain to meet with God. Not only did they meet with God, but they had a picnic with the Creator of the universe whose throne sits on a pavement of Lapis Lazuli!

The blue color represents the heavens and lapis has gold flecks (py­rite) within the stone which would also fit the representation of royalty in the heavens. But there is something else we can add to this. If you were to look at a Lapis, it would look like the universe. That’s right. You can actually see the solar system in every Lapis. This is why early rabbinical writings say it is spangled with stars. How amazing is that?

Going back to Isaiah 6, let’s take a look at verse 2 and 3.

Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. 3 And one called to another and said:

“Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory!”

Did you catch what the seraphim says? “The whole earth is full of His glory!” That means that everything in the earth declares God’s glory, including the rocks and gemstones. Jesus said that if we didn’t praise Him, the rocks would cry out. All creation was made for God’s glory, (Colossians 6:1) and the Psalmist says that mountains leap, (Psalms 114:6), the sun, moon, and stars praise Him, (Psalm 148) and according to Isaiah, the trees clap their hands (55:12). How amazing is this? The creator of the universe made Himself known to all of His creation, including you and me. And He has made Himself and His throne of Lapis, accessible to everyone, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Every hour, every minute His throne is available for us!

Is it any wonder that Lapis Lazuli is my favorite gemstone?