Face Down Worship, Part II: The Revelation Song

Here go the goose bumps again! Our fearless choir director tells us all the time, “There is nothing more powerful than a song taken from scripture!” Let’s continue to look at the powerful meaning behind “The Revelation Song”. Here are the lyrics to the 2nd verse:
Clothed in rainbows, of living color
Flashes of lightning, rolls of thunder
Blessing and honor, strength and glory and power be
To You the only wise King

Now compare that verse with the actual scripture from Ezekiel 1:
Then I noticed from the appearance of His loins and upward something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around within it, and from the appearance of His loins and downward I saw something like fire; and there was a radiance around Him. As the appearance of the rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the surrounding radiance. Such was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I saw it, I fell on my face and heard a voice speaking. Ezekiel 1:27-28.

What in the world are these verses describing? Ezekiel is getting a glimpse of God’s glory before he delivers the message of judgment to an idolatrous nation. As the prophet stood by the Chebar River, he saw some terribly awesome things. Verse 26 explains that it is a description of the throne of God – the only wise King from the song – that Ezekiel is seeing here at the end of chapter one. Note the description of God as having “something like glowing metal that looked like fire all around”. The “glowing metal” is such an underestimation of this scene. The meaning of glowing metal has a root meaning all the way back to “electrum”, which is related to our English word electricity! So when the song talks about the “flashes of lightning”, it is reference back to the glowing metal.

Any time God’s glory is present, there is always a glow that accompanies it. Remember how Moses’ face would glow after coming down from Mt. Sinai. Child of God, your face can glow too just by spending time with God who is now accessible to us at anytime and in any place! Can people tell by looking at you that you have been in God’s presence?

Now for the rainbow reference – we all know that a rainbow is a reminder of God’s covenant of preservation. So in the midst of this electrified vision, Ezekiel is reminded that even though God is going to remove His Shekinah glory from the nation of Israel, He is still going to preserve His people and longs for a restored relationship.

God was about to do a fresh work through Ezekiel and the vision was just what he needed to remind him of the all powerful God he served. Let’s not forget that we serve this same powerful God today. He is worthy of our whole-hearted praise. Ezekiel dropped face down to the ground in worship. So did the elders and the living creatures in Revelation 5 that we discussed in last week’s devotion. What is your response to the vision of God’s magnificent power?
Enjoy this song at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FObjd5wrgZ8.