Tunnel Vision (What Does God Look Like?)

My husband took with my camera this picture of me walking into and out of this tunnel carved out in sandstone at Scott's Bluff, Nebraska a few years ago. I liked it so much I decided to play with it and make something that resembled something I saw in a vision quite some years ago along with some dreams I've had. By titling this picture as I did, I'd hoped to create a play on words regarding this subject matter. --Victoria Tribby

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For good and ill deeds belong to a man alone, when he stands alone on the other side of death.... --T.S. Eliot

 

But for the saved...

 

Now we know that whatever the law says, it says to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be silenced and the whole world held accountable to God. Therefore no one will be declared righteous in his sight by observing the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of sin.

 

But now a righteousness from God, apart from law, has been made known, to which the Law and the Prophets testify. This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood. He did this to demonstrate his justice, because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished — he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies those who have faith in Jesus.

 

Where, then, is boasting? It is excluded. On what principle? On that of observing the law? No, but on that of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law. --Romans 3:19-28, (1984 NIV) [bold mine]

 

After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.--Revelation 4:1-6, (1984 NIV)[bold mine]

 

Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.--Ezekiel 1:26-28 (1984 NIV) [bold mine]

 

I delight greatly in the LORD;

my soul rejoices in my God.

For he has clothed me with garments of salvation

and arrayed me in a robe of righteousness,

as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest,

and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels. --Isaiah 61:10 (1984 NIV)[bold mine]

 

After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. And they cried out in a loud voice:

 

“Salvation belongs to our God,

who sits on the throne,

and to the Lamb.”

 

All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, saying:

 

“Amen!

Praise and glory

and wisdom and thanks and honor

and power and strength

be to our God for ever and ever.

Amen!”

 

Then one of the elders asked me, “These in white robes--who are they, and where did they come from?”

 

I answered, “Sir, you know.”

 

And he said, “These are they who have come out of the great tribulation; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore,

 

“they are before the throne of God

and serve him day and night in his temple;

and he who sits on the throne will spread his tent over them.

Never again will they hunger;

never again will they thirst.

The sun will not beat upon them,

nor any scorching heat.

For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;

he will lead them to springs of living water.

And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.” --Revelation 7:9-17, (1984 NIV) [bold mine]

 

If you would like to know more about what God looks like, please see what I wrote online about it here: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1397500646&ref=tn_tnm... Or you can read it below.

 

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What Does God Look Like?

 

I was asked recently on an online questionnaire what I thought God looks like and was told to explain my answer. But it, I felt, was too weighty of a question just to answer simply if one has a bit more insight into the matter than "the average bear." As a result, I decided to write my answer here so as not to bore the typical short-attention-span Internet reader by making him/her have to read a two or three page explanation of what I think God looks like and why, along with all of the other answers to those questions, bringing the total page number to about five pages. So here is the road I took in figuring out what God looks like and why.

 

If one really thinks about it, since the Trinity made us in His image according to Genesis 1:26 (1984 NIV), "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness...," He, they in One person, would be the perfection of what any human being could possibly look like. That doesn't mean that He would look like what the dictates of human society says beauty is but what true beauty is supposed to be in its perfected state found solely in Him. We are simply the result of His original mold. Thus the basics would be two arms, two legs, two knees, two hands with eight fingers and two thumbs, two feet with eight toes and two big toes, two ears, two eyes, two cheeks, one nose with two nostrils, one mouth, one head, one face, one body, hair, eyelashes, eyebrows, fingernails, toenails, teeth, tongue, lips, chin, etc. More importantly, we are a triune being: body, soul, and spirit...me, myself, and I...the three being one--just like Him--the Lord our God is One.

 

On top of this, Colossians 1:15 states that the Son Jesus is "the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation" (1984 NIV). Basically, He is the exact physical representation of God the Father. For John 14:8-9 says, "’Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.’ Jesus answered, ‘Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father’” (1984 NIV). So Jesus, the Son, is the incarnate body of the three parts of God, being taken from the Spirit of God as His Power overshadowed Mary. That way, God became a part of humankind legally to be able to call them His own kind. The Heavenly Father, then, would look just like the Son, but older, since He is the dad. And since the Holy Spirit is, well, the Spirit part of God--in that Jesus tells us in John 4:24 that "God is Spirit"--that would mean the Heavenly Father is the Soul part of God. The three are then called One Person—Jesus/Joshua/Yeshua/YHWH(Yay-then a whisper sound kind of like an “sh” in between and then-Wah, not Yah-Way). Remember Jesus said according to John 8:58, “'I tell you the truth,’ Jesus answered, ‘before Abraham was born, I AM!’” (1984 NIV). And that is what YHWH means, “I AM WHO I AM” literally “I AMING,” according to Moses in Exodus 3:14 (1984 NIV).

 

We are given an even more intense look at God where the Heavenly Father and the Son and Holy Spirit look alike through the eyes of Ezekiel, Daniel, and John in Revelation.

 

Here it says in Ezekiel 1:26-28,

 

Above the expanse over their heads was what looked like a throne of sapphire, and high above on the throne was a figure like that of a man. I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him. Like the appearance of a rainbow in the clouds on a rainy day, so was the radiance around him. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord. (1984 NIV) [bold mine]

 

Note the rainbow surrounding the throne of sapphire. This is a reoccurring theme in Scripture and so is the man of glowing metal and fire, as we will later see. Then in chapter two, after seeing the Lord, Ezekiel was filled with the Holy Spirit, obviously a portion of Himself He gives when He comes into contact with people, as we will see again in Revelation later on, also referred to as "The Counselor" in John (14:16 and 26, 15:26, 16:7-15, 1984 NIV). And possibly what he saw was the Son Jesus and the Heavenly Father as One on the Throne (being the Holy Spirit) since he saw Him as three separate parts, like a man of glowing metal and like a man of fire on/in the Throne.

 

Daniel 7:9-14 says he saw that

 

Thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze [possibly the rainbow fluctuating from color to color]. A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened. ...In my vision at night [not a dream, a vision] I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. (1984 NIV) [bold mine]

 

That’s right; Daniel saw Him, not solely the likeness of His glory as Ezekiel did. The Ancient of Days was the Heavenly Father because we see the Son Jesus, the Son of Man, in this passage approaching Him. We know it is Jesus, the Son, because God does not share His being worshiped with another, and this "son of man" was worshiped according to the passage above. Also, Jesus more often than not referred to Himself as “The Son of Man.” Then Daniel explains what this man looked like in chapter 10. He says in verses five through six that "he was dressed in linen, with a belt of finest gold around his waist. His body was like chrysolite, his face like lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude" (1984 NIV) [bold mine]. Notice how His Throne, according to 7:9-14, was flaming with fire and it was coming out from before Him, ending up being the wheels or like Ezekiel said like a rainbow that is a wheel and a wheel and a wheel and etc. Basically what was seen here was that the Heavenly Father is a White Flame of Fire that rushes through His Blue Throne out to people before Him.

 

So then John shakes it up a bit in Revelation. First we are told by the gospel, which supposedly bears his name (though I think it was Lazarus who wrote it because he is the disciple whom Jesus loved), that no one has seen the Father. But then in Revelation, John tells of his seeing Him like Daniel AND Ezekiel did except it wasn't a dream or a vision. It was when he was awake and aware in the Spirit:

 

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lamp stands, and among the lamp stands [possibly a type for the rainbow] was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. (1:12-16, 1984 NIV) [bold and quotation marks mine]

 

We are then told that the stars and the lamp stands are a "mystery" and then are explained as the fire which comes out from before His Throne in 4:5-6 becoming the Sevenfold Spirit of God as explained in 1:4 that embodies and forms the Church according to 1:20. The rest of what he saw was not a mystery unless it was explained as such. It was as it is. Note that the Son's hair and head was white like the Father's (Ancient of Days) hair and head, the Father and the Son looking alike. And the Son seemed to embody the fire since He was lit brightly from the inside out as depicted by the fact that His eyes were like blazing fire, showing the Heavenly Father within Him. That the Son no longer had the appearance He had while He walked on the face of the earth is corroborated by Luke 9:28-35 when "The appearance of his face changed" at His Transfiguration as witnessed by His disciples Peter, James, and John one time when they were alone with Him up on a mountain praying (1984 NIV). Is it any wonder, then, that God commanded the people NOT to worship any image of Himself, in other words not to count on it since it was going to change upon His Resurrection? Hello!

 

Then if we fast forward to Revelation 4:2-6, we are told this about the Heavenly Father:

 

At once I was in the Spirit, [as was Ezekiel upon coming into contact with God] and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal. (1984 NIV) [bold mine]

 

In essence, Ezekiel saw the rainbow in all its vast array of colors. Nevertheless, John shows us a bit more in that the rainbow before His Throne changes from hue to hue to hue, etc. It isn't just a half rainbow we typically see. It actually encircles God's Throne like a wheel. At the current state it was in when John saw it, it was emerald green. Furthermore, John gives us more insight into what Daniel saw of the fire that came out before God's Throne: The Holy Spirit is seen here as sevenfold when it comes out from the Throne before those who are in front of the Throne--that is those who are in God's Presence--actually in His Rainbow. So as people stand in front of Him, they are enveloped by His Rainbow which is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit and the Heavenly Father as God the Father's white firelight mixes with the blue of the Throne. Apparently, there are seven colors the rainbow turns as this light emanates from the Throne and the Heavenly Father's light. As we stand in His Rainbow, we receive different parts of His Spirit, depending on what color the rainbow is at the time. If one remains in His Presence/Rainbow, he/she will continue to receive ALL of the different colors, or parts, of His Spirit.

 

Then if we fast forward to Revelation 5:6-7, we are told this about the Son Jesus as the Passover Lamb and His connection with the Holy Spirit and the Son’s oneness with the Father Jesus:

 

Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing IN the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. (1984 NIV) [bold mine]

 

After this we are then told of the lovely songs ringing out for Him. So who John saw was the Son Jesus and the Heavenly Father Jesus and the Holy Spirit Jesus though they were One since Jesus, the Son, stood in the center of the Throne and manifested the Holy Spirit being one with Him through the seven eyes and horns He had. John saw God just as Daniel and Ezekiel did, all looking like metal/light and fire and smoke mixed, except that the Son seemed to take on a bronzer hue than the Heavenly Father did with the exception of the hair and face, along with the Throne and a Rainbow under and surrounding them, being the manifestations of the Holy Spirit also.

 

Furthermore, some have described God as being all-seeing as Jeremiah did in his book, according to chapter one. It tells me that possibly He has no white in his eyes, pupil alone though not all demonic-looking--like how Hollyweird makes demons look in the movies. Since the Son Jesus is the exact physical image of the Heavenly Father, then that’s what He looks like, too, though the Father is referred to as The Ancient of Days, telling me He appears to look older than the Son Jesus does or that He is just immortal, the epitome of health and beauty, having no beginning and no end. Also Isaiah wrote about how the train of His robe filled the temple when he saw God (that's right; Isaiah saw him, too), according to chapter six. To others like Moses (that's right; Moses saw Him also), this smoke appeared as a cloud as it enveloped God (Exodus 13:21-22). Then later we find that even Isaiah made the connection between the two as he said God rides on a cloud (Isaiah 19:1).

 

As we can see by these three witnesses (though there are so many others listed in Scripture like them as noted above along with Abraham, Joshua, Solomon, etc.), we know under the Lord's grace and mercy and His righteousness, some of His own have and will be able to see Him and have helped us out as to how we may recognize Him. Thus, it is not far-fetched for any of us to think that, once we belong to Him, we may someday see Him as He manifests Himself to us in His triune state of being even without dying first.

 

As a result, that's how I imagine Him, just as they described. The resurrected Son Jesus, according to them, looks like a shiny and bright glowing bronze type of man with a linen type of robe and a golden sash or belt around his chest. His feet are bare it seems. He has a bright white face and hair and appears like a lion and a lamb in character and possibly in some features, since He has also been referred to in Revelation 5:5 as the Lion of the tribe of Judah. He has a voice that sounds like the ocean or like many people (a multitude) speaking at one time but saying the same thing like in a stadium with people shouting out a catch phrase for a football team. His eyes appear to be full of passionate love and sensitivity, fierce yet kindly, possibly even actually appearing to glow. At the same time, what He speaks seems to have the effect of cutting us like a knife in our inner beings, and His Words may actually take on a shiny ray of light quality as they come out of His mouth, kind of like how fog emanates from our mouths on a cold morning when we speak, depicting the Holy Spirit’s Presence in them. He completely exudes pure light from His inner being out, being the Heavenly Father shining through, like a florescent light or like the sun that seems as though it could blind us if we had not been prepared for it by His coverings from the Presence of the Holy Spirit who enters us (covers us) as we come before Him.

 

Moreover, the light that surrounds the Heavenly Father is like how a diamond sparkles in the sunlight since I looked up "jasper" and there was some kind of mix up in translation. Instead, this "jasper" is supposed to look like how a diamond looks, keeping in mind Revelation 21:11, since "jasper" is described here as being clear as crystal. Keeping the diamond effect in mind with the white fire and His white "clothing" and white hair and face, the Father is fiery in form and thus possibly whiter instead of bronze whereas the Son Jesus has a resurrected human body and thus bronzer looking. And His voice is slightly different than the Son's voice according to John 12:27-32. It sounds like thunder instead of many waters or many peoples.

 

Where the Father Jesus and the Son Jesus reside on and in His sapphire-type Throne (possibly being an extension of the Holy Spirit Jesus) is described as such: A rainbow surrounds it along with the sparkles radiating from the Father accompanied by the sea of glass and the river of a sevenfold kind of fire that goes out before it along with the smoke that envelopes the Heavenly Father and the Son, perhaps taking on the appearance of a cloud like the Shekinah(sp?) Glory cloud. Keeping the cloud/smoke in mind along with the sapphire Throne, perhaps even the two are the same, these two descriptions may just be different ways to describe where God resides. If this Throne or Shekinah(sp?) Glory is in fact the Holy Spirit, He has also been sent out to us who belong to God to counsel us in all things about the Lord through the seven manifestations of Him in that firelight. If so, He would be a kind of florescent blue since He would be white fiery light mixed with the color of sapphire, a dark deep blue.

 

All the while, lovely music rings out for God, perhaps even some of it coming from within Him out. And in that place, His followers love Him so much that they just dote on Him, showing that He must be more than wonderful and sweet and kind and loving for tens of thousands to behave this way before Him.

 

In this passage, we are clearly given the picture of these three together as One Unit, the Trinity:

 

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come [the Father], and from the seven spirits before his throne [The Holy Spirit], and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth [The Son]. (Revelation 1:4-5, 1984 NIV)

 

Keeping all of this information in mind, that must have been quite a breath-taking sight for His witnesses to see--God in all His glory! How blessed Abraham, Sarah, Moses, the 70 elders (Moses chose to represent Israel while in the wilderness) along with two of Aaron’s sons and Aaron and Moses, Joshua, Sampson's parent's, David, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Micaiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, John, etc. were to see Him with such clarity! And how kind of God to have given us their description of Him in order to let us know ahead of time what to look for in recognizing Him and what precedes Him--His glory, that is the rainbow around Him, His radiance--when we get to see Him. Thus, their description of Him is exactly what I expect to see when I come face to face with God in His triune state of being.

 

Copyright © 3-29-2010 Victoria Tribby

Done