Revelation 4:2-3 2 Immediately, I was in the Spirit, and behold, a throne was set in place in heaven, and one sitting upon the throne, 3 and the one who was sitting had the appearance of jasper and carnelian, and around the throne was a rainbow that had the appearance of an emerald.
As John enters the throne room of heaven in his vision, he was in the Spirit. This is the same phrase used in 1:10 when John’s vision on the island of Patmos first began. The Holy Spirit of God came upon John in a powerful way when he came into the presence of God. A genuine vision like his can come only through the mediation of the Spirit. This was not a trance from meditation or drugs but a genuine encounter with the presence of God. John’s vision begins with the throne scene of God. This is the fourth description of God’s throne in the Bible. The first was Micaiah in 1 Kings 22, then Isaiah in Isaiah 22, then Ezekiel in Ezekiel 1. Each one gets more descriptive. John’s is the most descriptive of them all. What he saw echoes was is described in Ezekiel 1:26.
John can only describe the person on the throne in general terms because no one can see God because of God’s holiness expressed as inapproachable radiance. The description of the brilliant lights evokes beauty and power in one’s imagination. God is the source of true light, light that comes not from the explosion of atoms like in a sun but from holiness. The appearance of God on the throne changes our perspective about life on earth. There is much darkness around us. People walk in darkness, tripping and falling over the many obstacles that we all face. When we experience God’s holiness through the presence of the Holy Spirit, our spiritual eyes are opened, and we can know with certainty the path we should follow. The three precious stones represent different colors: jasper can be red, brown, yellow, or green, ruby is red, and emerald is green. Together, they make a beautiful rainbow. Obviously, John did not know the scientific colors of light, but his description here is amazingly similar to how scientists study light and break it down into its various colors.