We are continuing the series we started last week entitled “Visions of Victory”. Listen for God’s word to you from Revelation 1:9-20…
I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was 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 coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels[e] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The First Vision
Last Sunday we dealt with verses 9 through 11 and talked about the author of this book, the place where he received these visions, and the churches to whom he sent this letter. Today I would like to focus on the first of several visions John receives.
In verse 12 he says, “I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me.” It is an interesting expression. John hears a loud voice behind him, like a trumpet, and then naturally he turns to see who is speaking to him. But he says, “I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me.” It’s kind of hard to see a voice, isn’t it? So, what is happening here?
Many scholars have noted how the language and grammar of the book of Revelation differs from that of the Gospel of John. Many scholars assume therefore that the two books could not have been written by the same person because the Greek of the Gospel of John is so much better than that of Revelation. But what if the author of Revelation was literally writing down a dream, a vision that he had? What affect might that have on the language and grammar of Revelation?
Have you ever tried to write down the contents of a dream after you wake up? Of course, the dream quickly fades from memory. The only way to properly write down a dream is to have pen and paper by one’s bedside. I have done this, but still, the description of dreams that I write down is very fragmentary. If John was doing the same thing, this might account for the fragmentary nature of some of the grammar in Revelation.
One wouldn’t normally say, “I turned to see a voice.” One would say, “I turned to see the person speaking to me.” But if you were John and you were trying to write about a dream you just had, you might write something strange like this.
Seven Golden Lampstands
What does John see when he turns to look at the one speaking to him? The first thing he sees is seven golden lampstands.
Much of what John writes in Revelation has a dreamlike quality to it. But it is also clear that the book of Revelation is a carefully wrought literary product. For example, each of the qualities of the Son of Man we are going to talk about today are later applied, in chapters two and three, to the churches. We will see later how this works out.
The other thing to note is that John’s mind is filled with the Hebrew Scriptures. There are some very definite literary allusions in John’s visions. The symbols are not pulled out of thin air. They arise, for the most part, from the Old Testament.
Where does this picture of golden lampstands come from in Scripture? We first read of a seven-branched candelabra in Exodus 25:31-37. This candelabra was to stand in the Holy Place in the Tabernacle or Tent of Meeting. Then, in 1 Kings 7:49, this single candelabra is replaced by ten golden lampstands, five on the left and five on the right of the Holy Place. Each of these lampstands may have had seven lamps on them. Examples of these sevenfold lamps have been found at several places in Palestine and they look a bit different from the menorah with which we are familiar, a product that dates from the time of Herod the Great. Zechariah 4:1-2 gives us the best description of what these more ancient lampstands looked like…
Then the angel who talked with me returned and woke me up, like someone awakened from sleep. He asked me, “What do you see?”
I answered, “I see a solid gold lampstand with a bowl at the top and seven lamps on it, with seven channels to the lamps.
John alludes to the book of Zechariah a number of times throughout Revelation, so this, undoubtedly, was the picture he had in his mind. Zechariah contained apocalyptic literature just like Revelation. Both books are filled with symbols.
But then John changes the picture from Zechariah, or we might say that he saw something a little bit different from what Zechariah saw. For John sees seven separate lampstands and he sees one like a Son of Man walking among the lampstands. John tells us later in this passage that these lampstands represent the seven churches to whom he is writing.
But who is the one like a son of man? The phrase, “son of man”, is used often in the Hebrew Scriptures, especially in the book of Ezekiel. In most of these references “son of man” refers to a human being. It is simply another way of saying “man”. But then there is “one like a son of man” in Daniel 7 who approaches “the ancient of days” (God) and is closely associated with him. In the Gospels, Jesus takes this term from Daniel and applies it to himself. He refers over and over again to himself as “the son of man”.
So, when you take all this together, it becomes clear that when John sees someone “like a son of man” he is referring to Jesus. And this Jesus is walking in the midst of the churches. Though he has been exalted to heaven, Jesus is somehow still present with his people. He is not an absentee landlord.
How good it is to know that Jesus is still “God with us”. He has said, “I am with you always, to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:20)
One Like a Son of Man
What does the one like a son of man, whom John saw, look like? The picture, the vision of Jesus, that John presents to us, is highly symbolic. We should not think for a moment that if we were to see Jesus in a vision today that he would look quite like this. Nor should we imagine Jesus will look like this when we stand before him at the end of time. Rather, each symbol in John’s vision tells us something important about the person, the character, of the risen and ascended Lord Jesus Christ.
First, John tells us that this one like a son of man is “dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest”. The Greek word that is used here to describe a robe descending to the feet, ποδήρη, was also used to describe the robe of the High Priest in the Greek version of the Old Testament (Exodus 28:4; 29:5; Leviticus 16:4). The golden sash around the chest also describes what we know from the historian Josephus about the garments worn by the priests in the Jewish Temple. This gives us a picture of Jesus as our high priest. The writer to the Hebrews speaks of Jesus in the same way. In Hebrews 4:14-15 we read,
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.
Now, priests were not the only ones in ancient times who wore long robes with a sash around their chest. The same Greek word that is used in Revelation to describe this robe was also used in 1 Samuel 18:4 to describe the robe worn by Jonathan, the son of King Saul, and the word is also used of the robe worn by King Saul himself in 1 Samuel 24:5,11. So, the robe Jesus is wearing in this vision is also a robe of royalty. Jesus is not only our great high priest, but he is also our king.
And there is a third place where we see this word, ποδήρη, used in Hebrew Scripture. It is in Daniel 10:5. There a divine figure comes to tell Daniel the truth of God and he is clothed in the same way as the high priests and the ancient kings of Israel. So, this manner of dress also presents Jesus to us as a messenger of God. Jesus is not only our great high priest, and our king, but he is also a prophet.
I don’t have time to read you the whole passage from Daniel 10, but I would urge you to read it on your own. If you do then you will see that there are many points of comparison to this passage in Revelation.
The second thing John tells us about the one like a son of man is that “the hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow”.
Once again, John takes us back to Daniel, this time to Daniel 7:9 where the Ancient of Days has hair as white as wool. This symbol speaks to us of a number of things. It associates Jesus with deity because he is like the Ancient of Days. The white hair is an obvious symbol of great age and so speaks to us of the eternal existence of Jesus. White also speaks to us of Jesus’ purity. In Isaiah 1:18 we read,
“Come now, let us settle the matter,”
says the Lord.
“Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.
Then we go back to the figure in Daniel 10:6, his eyes were like blazing fire. When we read the Gospels, we get the sense that anyone who saw Jesus’ eyes could never forget them. Often his eyes search a crowd. (Mark 3:34; 10:23; 11:11) Sometimes his eyes flashed with anger. (Mark 3:5) Other times, Jesus looked on people with great love. (Mark 10:21) Still other times, Jesus’ eyes were filled with sorrow. (Luke 22:61) We have probably all met someone whose eyes were alight with life. I imagine Jesus’ eyes had this quality to the Nth degree.
Next, we read that Jesus’ feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace. Daniel 10:6 uses this same description for the feet of the divine messenger. In Ezekiel 1:7 the angels have similar feet. Perhaps the bronze feet are symbolic of two things: the strength and steadfastness of Jesus, but also the swiftness of the feet of Jesus to run and help us. Paul tells us that Jesus, who is at the right hand of God, is also interceding for us. (Romans 8:34) Jesus is praying for you and me right now.
And what does his voice sound like? John tells us it sounds like many waters. This is how God’s voice is described in Ezekiel 43:2. But we may also here have an echo of John’s experience on the island of Patmos where he was surrounded by water. The waves, when they get any on the island of Patmos, are actually gentle. So, I imagine the sound of the water there was also quite soothing. Remember in 1 Kings 19:12 God speaks to Elijah in a still, small voice.
But we also get the sense that there was a gentle strength to Jesus’ voice: “Coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword.” Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.” There is something penetrating about the words of Jesus.
Finally, we have what may be my favorite part of John’s description. He says that Jesus’ face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. I wonder, was John remembering what Jesus’ face looked like when he and Peter and James saw Jesus transfigured in their presence on the mountaintop?
I remember Pastor Mike Macintosh preaching on this passage many years ago. He told about the time he was teaching his young son to ride a bike. It was about sunset, and as Philip turned to try riding his bike toward his dad for the umpteenth time, he finally got it. Suddenly, he wasn’t falling down anymore, he was sailing along, with a smile from ear to ear, and his face was lit up by the setting sun.
Imagine, some day we are going to see the face of Jesus and it will be like the sun shining in all its brilliance. And we will be given new eyes to look into that sun without turning away. And we will see the love in his eyes. And we won’t want to take our eyes off his face.
How does John respond to this vision? He tells us… “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.” There will be something so awesome about seeing Jesus face-to-face in all of his glory that perhaps this will be our natural response, to fall on our faces before him. But then Jesus will come to us, as he came to John, and he will place his right hand on us and lift us up.
Heard & Seen
The final thing in this first vision of John is not something seen but rather heard. Jesus says to him, “Do not be afraid.”These are so often the words we read in Scripture, the words of angels to human beings when they encounter the divine.
I love the story of Jesus calming the storm on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus gets into the boat with his disciples and tells them they are going over to the other side. But Jesus falls asleep, his head on a little cushion. (That’s an eyewitness detail if there ever was one.) The storm whips up. The disciples wake Jesus saying, “How can you sleep through this? Don’t you care if we drown?” And Jesus gets up, rebukes the wind and says to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind dies down, and the water is completely calm. And he says to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” Then Mark says, “They were terrified and asked each other, ‘Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!’” The disciples’ fear of the storm, fear of natural disaster, is replaced by a new fear, total awe in the presence of Jesus.
I think that is something of what John must have felt in this new encounter with Jesus. He had been there in the boat. He had felt that awe. And now he is feeling it again in the presence of his Master.
And Jesus says, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last.” Only God can say that. Only God is the beginning and the end of all things.
Further, Jesus says, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever!” Who else can say that but Jesus? He is the ultimate living one in whom all things find their life. And he is the only one who has ever died and been raised, never to die again.
The amazing, good news is that Jesus offers the same resurrection life to us. He says, “And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Jesus has the keys to unlock the hells in which we sometimes find ourselves. And Jesus has the keys to unlock the ultimate prison—death.
Jesus goes on to tell John to: “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.” Revelation is very much about things that were happening in the first century, but it is also about things to come, because Jesus is still coming.
The Seven Stars
Finally, Jesus reveals a mystery. “The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
Jesus walks amidst his churches. Jesus is with you and me even now. He will never leave us or forsake us.
But who are the seven stars? Jesus says they are the “angels” of the seven churches. And next week we will see how Jesus says to John, “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write…” Why would Jesus have John write a letter to an angel?
We must remember that the word for angel simply means messenger. Who are the messengers of the seven churches? I believe they are the pastors of those churches.
What an amazing and beautiful picture. Jesus walks among his people, the churches, and he holds the pastors in his hand. Next Sunday we will begin to see why the pastors of these seven churches in Asia Minor in the first century needed to hear this encouraging word.
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