Revelation 1:13

 

John heard a great voice as of a trumpet, and he turned and saw Jesus Christ and seven golden candlesticks, and John described what he saw in Rev. 1:13-16, "And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle. His head and his hair were white as wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like as unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shining in his strength."

 

John said that he saw Jesus in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks. We know that the seven candlesticks represent the seven churches to whom John was writing. When John saw the appearance of Jesus, the first thing that John noticed was that Jesus was in the midst of the candlesticks. In other words Jesus was in the midst of the churches. The same thing would happen today if Jesus were to suddenly manifest Himself right where He is. We would see Him in the midst of His people. Did not Jesus make the promise, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." He also said, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

 

Over the centuries some people have tried to portray what they think Jesus might have looked like with a painting or a drawing, and some of those pictures are popular today. There have been movies made and passion plays involving the life of Christ; but none of them use the description that we find in Revelation chapter one. Of course, this is not a description that would be easy to depict with brush or pen or picture, nor has it been given to us for that reason. Evidently God wants us to know the character of Christ, not His physical appearance.

 

We are told that His "hair was white like wool, as white as snow." White hair is symbolic of the wisdom of the aged. Older means wiser, and the ageless one, the one who is the beginning and the end, is the wisest of all. In the midst of difficult times we need His wisdom to guide us through the treacherous ways we have to walk. There are pitfalls on every side. There are enemies. There are challenges to face, and there are decisions to be made. Where can we possibly find the wisdom to deal with all of this? We find it in the teachings of Jesus, the greatest teachings ever given. And we can find the wisdom that we need in the person of Jesus. James wrote to us that, "If anyone lacks wisdom, let them ask of God who gives to all liberally." Beware of whom you listen to and where you go for answers. The Christian should go to the Word of God and the Spirit of God.

 

Rev. 1:14 also says that "His eyes were as a flame of fire." Sometimes in the eyes of a human being a story is told and the heart is revealed. In the eyes of a human you can see anger or hatred. Oftimes love and sometimes fear is seen there. What do we see in the eyes of Jesus when we are told that His eyes are as a flame of fire? A great passion burns there and great desire. What is it? These are the same eyes that wept at the burial site of Lazarus and that poured out tears of sorrow on a hill overlooking Jerusalem when Jesus said, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, how often I would have gathered you together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not."

 

Perhaps the flame of fire in the eyes of Jesus is symbolic of His passion for the lost souls of mankind. In the time of the end Jesus will guide the events so that even the terrible sorrows that come upon the human race will cause some of them to want to look to Him for salvation. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

 

Perhaps the flame of fire is symbolic of His piercing knowledge and impending judgement. He knows. He sees. He will judge. The government has been placed upon His shoulders. He must right all wrongs, and He must judge all sinners. He will trample the winepress of the wrath of God alone. None shall escape His gaze. It will pierce their soul and spirit asunder. The truth will all come out in the presence of the Truth. Because He sees all and knows all, He will judge with righteous judgment.

 

John looked at Jesus and said in Rev. 1:15 that "his feet were like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace." The refining of metal has a basic factor that is the same today as it was 2,000 years ago. Apply fire, and the impurities are burned, and the metal that is left is more pure and more fine than it was before. There must be a purging process that can only take place by the use of fire. John saw Jesus as He now is, but there was a time when Jesus walked this earth as a man. Jesus knew what it was to face the fire of trial. He was tried and He was tempted just like we are, yet He was without sin. One of the main things that happen in our lives on this earth is the guiding hand of God to improve us.

 

Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted. We also will be led by God into firey trials. Our faith will be tried. The purpose of God will be that after the trial our metal

 

(our faith) will be more pure, and therefore more useful for His service.

 

John wrote in Rev. 1:15 that the voice of Jesus was "as the sound of many waters." In verse 10 John said that the voice of Jesus was "as the sound of a trumpet." These images are symbolic of power and authority in the speaker. It was said of Jesus that no man ever spake like this man.

 

He spoke and the world was created.

 

He spoke and people rose from the dead.

 

He spoke and His words pierced the hearts of those who heard Him.

 

The disciples recorded His words for us, and we study them and marvel at them and feed upon the written words of Jesus. How much greater it will be to one day hear Him speak in person, just as John heard Him on the isle of Patmos. We will all hear Him when the Day of the Lord is come, and it will be a voice that will possess the greatest authority and power.

 

The next thing that John wrote about Jesus is found in the first part of Revelation 1:16 that says, "And he had in His right hand seven stars." One of the things that must always be remembered about some of the passages of the Bible is that symbolic language may be used. If so, the passage can only be fully understood if the symbolism is known. This is especially true of prophecy. Sometimes the symbolism is explained to us directly from the Bible itself. In cases where it is explained clearly, then we know for sure what it means. The mistake that some people make when studying passages with symbolism is that they think they have an answer for everything, forgetting that God has not revealed everything. Watch out for those who teach their own personal opinions as if they are the truth. The truth is everything that is revealed. Everything else is opinion. Now having and sharing an opinion is all right as long as we acknowledge to our hearers and readers that what we are sharing is simply our opinion or our idea based on our understanding of a particular symbolic scripture. I can recall our pastor in Atlanta, Georgia when we attended Mt. Paran Church of God, Dr. Paul Walker would frequently use the term "Walkerology". He was sharing his educated and Spirit-led idea on a particular subject. He would always point out these particular areas then challenge us to try it on, check it against the scriptures and weigh it in our hearts and spirits and allow the Holy Spirit to guide us to accept or reject the idea.

 

Fortunately we do not have to give an opinion about the seven stars that were in the right hand of Jesus. Jesus Himself tells us what the seven stars are in verse 20. He said that the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. The word angel means messenger. Sometimes the word is used in the Bible to refer to a real angel, and sometimes it’s used to refer to a human being who is a messenger. In this case it is probably referring to a human being, because in the next two chapters John is told by Jesus to write to the "angel" of each church. For example, Jesus says in Rev. 2:1, "Unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write..." Jesus says in Rev. 2:8, "And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write..." This same phrase is used by Jesus concerning each of the seven churches. These verses could be translated, "unto the messenger of the church…" John wrote a real book, and he sent it to real people.

 

It is important to notice that the seven messengers are portrayed as being in the right hand of Jesus. How does God work in the age in which we live? He works through His chosen people. God said to Isaiah in Is. 6:8, "Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?" One of the works that God is always doing in the world is the sending of messengers. God gives a message to someone, and then God sends that person to others so that they also may benefit from the message. When Jesus was on the earth, He taught Peter and the other apostles and then He said to Peter, "If you love me, feed my sheep." God gave these messengers of the seven churches a message in the same basic way that He still gives messages to people: through His written Word. The apostle John wrote the message, it was read by someone at each church, and undoubtedly they pronounced the word and taught it to the others. If you want to know that you also are like a star in the right hand of Christ, then teach the Word, spread the Word, and be a messenger of the truth that you have read from the written Word of God. Be a helper of those who do. If you can’t go, give so others may.

 

Because the Word of God is so important, there are many obstacles and pitfalls that will keep people from fulfilling their calling to learn and to teach the Word. There are distractions, there are false doctrines, there are the traditions of man, and there is the pride of man. These things and many more have kept some from being messengers. The unfolding of the history of the human race will prove the failure of man to be faithful to His most important calling: to learn, teach and share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus will not fail.

 

Though all men become liars, Jesus will remain true.

 

Though all fail at their opportunities and responsibilities, Jesus will not fail to be true to the Word.

 

That’s why John saw that one of the characteristics of Jesus was that "out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword."

 

The Word of God is characterized as a sharp two-edged sword because of its unique capacity to get to the inner man and to divide apart the soul or emotions of man and man’s spirit. Human knowledge can feed your mind, but only the Word of God can feed your spirit. Jesus said, "Man shall not live by bread alone but by every Word that proceeds out of the mouth of God." Without the Word of God the best that anyone can be is half a person. They will never be all they can be. But with a regular diet of the Word, a person will become more and more Christlike.

 

They will accomplish things of value.

 

They will have an impact for the kingdom of God.

 

"They will be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that brings forth its fruit in its season."

 

They will be able to do this because they will understand more and more what life is really all about.

 

They will be enlightened in a way that can be done only by the Word of God and only by Jesus Christ.

 

That’s why the next description of Jesus in Rev. 1:16 says that "his countenance was as the sun shining in his strength." One source of mankind’s dilema is the spiritual darkness that is so prevalent and currently envelopes the world. Jesus gave sight to the blind when He was on earth partly because blindness was symbolic of spiritual darkness. A human being cannot see, cannot perceive, cannot understand the truth about themselves or the truth about God unless they are enlightened by Jesus Christ. Jesus is the Light of the world. In our day and time individuals come to know the enlightenment that only Jesus can give, but in the end-time His resplendent brightness shall shine at once to all the world.

 

John gave his reaction to seeing Jesus in Rev. 1:17 where he wrote, "And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead." John’s reaction was very similar to the one that Isaiah had in Isaiah Chapter 6 when Isaiah saw a vision of the throne of God.

 

This reaction is also very similar to what many humans feel when they consider the greatness and the holiness of God compared to their own weakness and sinfulness. But once we receive the forgiveness of Christ, we are fully accepted by God as one of His saints. There will never be condemnation or rejection from Him. He came into the world to save sinners, not to condemn them. It is their rejection of Jesus and His work of Salvation that condemns them. God never sends a man to hell, man makes the choice to enter hell. Peter wrote to us that God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

 

The response of Jesus to John is given in the second part of Rev. 1:17 and Rev. 1:18 that says,

 

"And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last; I am he that lives and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen; and I have the keys of hell and of death."

 

Jesus told John to fear not. It’s one of the things that Jesus said many times to the disciples. God wants His followers to be courageous. There is nothing that should make us fear. One of the great enemies of mankind has always been fear: fear of poverty, fear of the unknown, fear of forces that are greater than we are, fear of failure. But the right amount of faith in Jesus can conquer all fears. Jesus is the giver of perfect love and the Word of God states that "perfect love casts out all fear."

 

Jesus gave John several reasons not to fear. All of the reasons centered around who Jesus is:

 

Jesus is the first and the last.

 

Jesus is the beginning and the end.

 

Jesus is in control.

 

As far as the march of human history in concerned, when it’s all over, Jesus will be there. There is nothing to fear. He is going to take care of everything.

 

There is also nothing to fear because Jesus is the one who is alive after having been dead. You might look at life and say that the worst thing that can happen to a person is that they will die. But Jesus died, and He is still alive. He is alive for evermore. The same eternal destiny awaits those who are His followers. Therefore, you have nothing to fear. The worst thing that might happen due to some accident or act of violence or disease is that you will die, but you will awaken in the wonderful happiness of the presence of God to be alive forever.