Revelation 4:1-3

4After this I looked, and there in heaven a door stood open! And the first voice, which I had heard speaking to me like a trumpet, said, ‘Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.’ ²At once I was in the spirit,^* and there in heaven stood a throne, with one seated on the throne! ³And the one seated there looks like jasper and cornelian, and around the throne is a rainbow that looks like an emerald.

Can you imagine being in a community where it’s all going very differently than you first thought. The possibility of persecution has turned into reality. The person who has nurtured you, taught and led you has been arrested and sent to a prison island. The promise and hope of a new community that you once felt is ebbing away. A letter arrives from your friend who is being detained on the prison island.  He writes that there is no need to worry, all your hopes for freedom and peace are coming true and soon you will all be together again in the Kingdom of Peace. Your security is assured and it’s all working out according to the plan. Very difficult days lie ahead but the hope of the Kingdom of Peace and the rule of the liberation King are encoded in every line of your friend’s letter. It’s difficult to speak openly with so many enemies around. Life is dangerous at the moment. The coded message speaks of the promises sent directly from the King. A rainbow is described to remind His people that every time there is a flood, a storm in life it will not drown us. Never again will we live under the threat of being overcome with the storm of adversity and oppression. Our hope is built on the rock of following our King not on the sand of disloyalty. Our liberation King of Peace is already on His throne; He is faithful and will keep all His promises. We are suffering but safe. Red, white and green precious stones form the basis of a rule of great human value and worth, incorruptible by the tyranny of the present time. Despair gives way to determination to remain faithful to the King of Peace. He is on His way to set us finally free and we will reign with Him forever. Just imagine and be thankful.