The Blazing Throne of God

I am intrigued by the use of fire in the scriptures. It seems to be a dividing line between the glories of eternity and the torments of hell. I once quoted a verse in Isaiah as I was teaching a group of youth. The verse reads, "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings?" (Isaiah 33:14). Before reading further, I asked my students if Isaiah was speaking of heaven or hell. There is "that lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment" (2 Nephi 9:19). The students were convinced that this was hell.

Then we read the next verse together, "He that walketh righteously, and speaketh uprightly; he that despiseth the gain of oppressions, that shaketh his hands from holding of bribes, that stoppeth his ears from hearing of blood (violence), and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil" (Isaiah 33:15). That certainly doesn't sound like a candidate headed for hell, rather it sounds like celestial glory.

Jesus gives the interesting parable of Lazarus. The story goes as follows.

"There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day:

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores,

And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores.

And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried;

And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.

 And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame.

But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

And beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass to us, that would come from thence" (Luke 16:19-26).


Lazarus is carried into Abraham's bosom, as a type of being embraced by the Father, where he sees as he is seen and knows as he is known (see D&C 76:94). The unnamed rich man sees the Abrahamic Covenant from afar, rather than being embraced by it. And he is tormented in the flames of glory.

Where is the dividing line? Is it not the gulf between? I'm thinking Lazarus is in the midst of flames too. 

Nephi explains this gulf in his father's vision of the tree of life, and describes it as "an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God." He further explains, "And I said unto them that our father also saw that the justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire, which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever, and hath no end" (1 Nephi 15: 28,30).

The fire, like Lazarus, ascends up to the presence of God to be embraced by the Father. Lazarus, like the burning bush, representing the presence of God and seen by Moses, was not consumed nor tormented in the flame (see Exodus 3:2).

When Joseph Smith sees the Celestial Kingdom, he describes it as follows:

"I saw the transcendent beauty of the gate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire;

Also the blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son" (D&C 137: 2-3).

As two lighted matchsticks are held closely together, they become one flame. Jesus prayed during His great intercessory prayer, "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us" (John 17: 21). Isn't that the meaning of atonement--at-one-ment.

As doesn't that perfectly express celestial glory?