Rev.4:5 – Out from the throne *came flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder. And there were seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God; and before the throne there was something like a sea of glass, like crystal;
Of all the things John saw when he was caught up before the throne I think the most puzzling may be the crystal sea. John saw the One seated on the throne, the emerald rainbow, the twenty four elders, and the four strange creatures worshipping the Lord. Each of those are quite unusual but each seems to have a clear explanation. The crystal sea was a head scratcher for me. Some said it was a picture of the laver which was for purification in the temple. Others said it was a glimpse of the purity and holiness of the Lord. Some said it was heaven’s floor and creation’s ceiling. All of those explanations didn’t quite satisfy my curiosity. When I read the following quote from John Wesley his explanation made sense to me; check out what Wesley thought about this.
“Wide and deep, pure and clear, transparent and still. Both the “seven lamps of fire” and this sea are before the throne; and both may mean “the seven spirits of God,” the Holy Ghost; whose powers and operations are frequently represented both under the emblem of fire and of water. We read again, Rev.15:2 of “a sea as of glass,” where there is no mention of “the seven lamps of fire;” but, on the contrary, the sea itself is “mingled with fire.” We read also, chap. Rev.22:1, of “a stream of water of life, clear as crystal.” Now, the sea which is before the throne, and the stream which goes out of the throne, may both mean the same; namely, the Spirit of God.”
I like this, think about John’s description of the River of God in Rev.22:1, “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb”. The crystal sea appears to be the source of the River of God, it is like an bottomless ocean that flows out from the Father and the Son. So here we have John, caught up into heaven, observing the interaction between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it can’t get any better than that.
There awaits so very much, incomprehensible, right, an over abundance for our senses to process and of course as the things of this world fade away from our greatest attention and we begin to focus our awareness in His Word and in His Spirit, heavenly things enter our thoughts with much greater ease and frequency. Yes our future, oh wow, but let’s not neglect today, that would be wasteful.