Revelation Chapter 1:12-20

(*Scripture verses are from the NIV unless otherwise noted)

Matthew writes about the spiritual significance of light as Christian testimony illuminating a dark world:

Matt 5:14-15 “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden.Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.

Rev 1:20 will reveal what the seven lampstands signify.

The prophet Ezekiel used this phrase frequently to refer to himself. For example, He said to me, “Son of man, stand up on your feet and I will speak to you (Ezek 2:1). Daniel used the phrase to refer both to himself and the divine personage speaking to him in a vision:

Dan 7:13 “In my vision at night 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.

Dan 8:17 As he came near the place where I was standing, I was terrified and fell prostrate. “Son of man,” he said to me, “understand that the vision concerns the time of the end.”

Throughout the gospels, Jesus refers to himself as the “son of man.” (e.g. Matt 8:20). Rev 1:17 and 2:18, identify the “son of man” speaking to John as “The first and the last,” and “The Son of God.”

There were peculiar garments appointed for the priests, and for all the rest…in the first place, he puts on that which is called Machanase, which means somewhat that is fast tied. It is a girdle, composed of fine twined linen, and is put about the privy parts, the feet being to be inserted into them in the nature of breeches, but above half of it is cut off, and it ends at the thighs, and is there tied fast. 2. Over this he wore a linen vestment, made of fine flax doubled: … it is girded to the breast a little above the elbows, by a girdle…

…this vestment has no loose or hollow parts anywhere in it, but only a narrow aperture about the neck; and it is tied with certain strings hanging down from the edge over the breast and back, and is fastened above each shoulder…. 3. Upon his head he wears a cap, not brought to a conic form nor encircling the whole head, but still covering more than the half of it…and its make is such that it seems to be a crown, being made of thick swathes, but the contexture is of linen; and it is doubled round many times, and sewed together… (Antiquities of the Jews, vol. 3, Chapter 7)

The ancient Temple priests interceded for the people by sacrificing animals as atonement for their sins. Jesus is declared the High Priest who atones for the sins of the world:

Heb 2:17  For this reason [Jesus] had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.

Heb 4:14  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.

Heb 7:26 Such a high priest truly meets our need—one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens. 27 Unlike the other high priests, he does not need to offer sacrifices day after day, first for his own sins, and then for the sins of the people. He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself.

Heb 9:12 He did not enter by means of the blood of goats and calves but he entered the Most Holy Place once for all by his own blood, thus obtaining eternal redemption.

Compare what John was seeing to the following verses:

Dan 7:9 “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool…

Isa 1:18 “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.

Matt 17:2 There he was transfigured before them. His face shone like the sun, and his clothes became as white as the light.

In modern cultures as well as ancient ones, white typically symbolizes cleanliness and purity. “Sparkling” white or “brilliant” white intensifies that image.

Phrases like, “Her eyes blazed with anger!” Or, “The little boy’s eyes were bright with joy!” are used quite often. Bible authors used similar expressions to describe the awesome power and presence of God.  Where a modern writer might use images such as burnished titanium, rockets bursting in the air, and powerful machines to illustrate God’s might and power, ancient writers relied on things that were familiar to them, like valuable gems, blazing fires, mighty oaks and cedars, violent storms, and deep seas:

Dan 10:6 His body was like topaz, 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.

Ps 21:9 When you appear for battle, you will burn them up as in a blazing furnace. The LORD will swallow them up in his wrath, and his fire will consume them.

Ps 65:7 …who stilled the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.

Ps 29:5 The voice of the LORD breaks the cedars; the LORD breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

To express strength and power, images such as horns, stones, and bronze were employed:

Mic 4:13 “Rise and thresh, Daughter Zion, for I will give you horns of iron; I will give you hooves of bronze, and you will break to pieces many nations.”

Jer 15:12 “Can a man break iron— iron from the north—or bronze?

Ezek 1:7  Their legs were straight; their feet were like those of a calf and gleamed like burnished bronze.

Isa 8:14 He will be a holy place; for both Israel and Judah he will be a stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.

Verse 16 conveys Christ’s eternal supremacy and might, using the most powerful images John’s culture was familiar with. These same images will be seen multiple times throughout John’s vision.

The seven stars are explained in verse 20, and in Rev 2:1.

Explore the image of a double-edged sword in the following verses:

It’s possible that the prophets of old were literally seeing a personage with the face of the sun and legs made out of burnished bronze, all covered with sparkling gems. But it’s more likely that they were trying to describe the awesome brilliance and majesty of the Lord using the most powerful language at their disposal!

Genesis 3:24   After he drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the way to the tree of life.

Isa 4:5  Then the LORD will create over all of Mount Zion and over those who assemble there a cloud of smoke by day and a glow of flaming fire by night; over everything the glory will be a canopy.

Dan 7:9   “As I looked,“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.

Ezek 1:4  I looked, and I saw a windstorm coming out of the north—an immense cloud with flashing lightning and surrounded by brilliant light. The center of the fire looked like glowing metal,

Ezek 1:27-28 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.

Acts 9:3   As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

Throughout history, people have bowed low before kings and emperors, often out of a combination of respect and fear. This reaction would be magnified many times over in the presence of the Creator of the universe. When individuals describe feeling overwhelmed by His Glory and unable to stand in His presence, they’re not necessarily saying they fainted or lost consciousness. Instead, they describe being filled with awe and wonder, too overcome to stand before Him. Note the similar reactions to the presence of holiness in the following verses:

Gen 17:1 When Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to him and said, “I am God Almighty; walk before me faithfully and be blameless. 2 Then I will make my covenant between me and you and will greatly increase your numbers.” 3 Abram fell facedown, and God said to him…

Josh 5:14 And he said, “No; but I am the commander of the army of the LORD. Now I have come.” And Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshiped and said to him, “What does my lord say to his servant?”

Dan 10:8-9   So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. 9 Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.

Ezek 1:28  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. When I saw it, I fell facedown, and I heard the voice of one speaking.

Matt 17:6  When the disciples heard this, they fell facedown to the ground, terrified.

Acts 9:4  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”

Isa 44:6  “This is what the LORD says—Israel’s King and Redeemer, the LORD Almighty:I am the first and I am the last;apart from me there is no God.

John 14:9   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. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?

Rom 6:9   For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

Heb 1:3  The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.

Col 1:15-17  The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

There’s no ambiguity in this statement. He lives, He is, He has been, and He will be!

Deut 5:26 For what mortal has ever heard the voice of the living God speaking out of fire, as we have, and survived?

Josh 3:10  This is how you will know that the living God is among you and that he will certainly drive out before you the Canaanites, Hittites, Hivites, Perizzites, Girgashites, Amorites and Jebusites.

Psa 42:2  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.When can I go and meet with God?

Consider the significance these words had for those who worshiped dead idols of wood and stone – the reality they convey to those of the modern world whose gods are social media, science, and technology! As Jeremiah said, “He is a living God, the eternal King!” (Jer 10:10)

Unimaginable hope is expressed in these words, and any person who hears and embraces the reality of the Living God shares in this promise:

Rom 8:11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies because of his Spirit who lives in you.

1 Corinth 15:22-28   For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. 24 Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. 25 For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. 26 The last enemy to be destroyed is death.

Matt 16:18  And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.

The Greek word hades means, “Unseen,” “The place of departed souls”¹. The Hebrew word, Sheol, relates the same idea – the world of the dead:

Ps 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise?

The grim history of this area dates back to ancient Israel when some errant Israelites joined in the worship of the Ammonite god Moloch and sacrificed children on his altar which was located in that valley. The Hebrew word Topheth means “a place of burning”²:

Jer 7:31 They have built the high places of Topheth in the Valley of Ben Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire—something I did not command, nor did it enter my mind. 32 So beware, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when people will no longer call it Topheth or the Valley of Ben Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter, for they will bury the dead in Topheth until there is no more room. also, Jer 19:6 Jer 19:11- 14

Isa 30:33 “Topheth has long been prepared; it has been made ready for the king. Its fire pit has been made deep and wide, with an abundance of fire and wood; the breath of the LORD, like a stream of burning sulfur, sets it ablaze.

2Kgs 23:10 He desecrated Topheth, which was in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, so no one could use it to sacrifice their son or daughter in the fire to Molek.

Though there is little archeological evidence to the theory, some scholars maintain that over the centuries, the valley of the son of Hinnom, also known as Wadi el-Rababa, maintained its grisly past and became a dumping ground for trash and even discarded bodies of dead criminals.

In later rabbinic literature, “Gehinnom” became associated with divine punishment as the destination of the wicked for the atonement of their sins. The term is different from the more neutral term Sheol, which is the abode of the dead. The King James Version of the Bible translates both with the Anglo-Saxon word “hell“³.

It’s possible that when Jesus used this phrase, he was not only referring to the final judgment for those who choose sin over righteousness but also lamenting the lost state of those who reject his teachings – an illustration of wasted lives and dead works.

Matt 23:33 “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to [geenna] hell?

Matt 5:29 If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into [geenna] hell.

This phrase is an excellent expression of the eternal nature of the Revelation:

• What John has seen – his journey with Christ leading up to his exile to Patmos;
• What things are transpiring presently – the current state of the churches under John’s guidance;
• And those things that will happen in the future – A prophetic view of things to come.

Jer 8:2  They will be exposed to the sun and the moon and all the stars of the heavens, which they have loved and served and which they have followed and consulted and worshiped. They will not be gathered up or buried, but will be like dung lying on the ground.

From the beginning of time mankind has looked up at the stars in wonder. They marveled at their movements across the heavens. They eventually noticed the planets and learned to chart their dance across the night sky. Ancient peoples had little scientific notion as to what stars were, but the celestial lights played a part in religious ceremonies and navigation.  Early astronomers grouped the stars into constellations and used them to track the movement of the Sun and the planets, predicting when to plant fields and when to harvest. In many respects, stars were seen as guides, attendants, and controllers of time and destiny.

In our modern culture, we consider anyone who excels in something as a “star” – star athletes, star students, movie stars, and sometimes even politicians. John uses the dual image of stars as angels. The Greek word for angel, aggelos, and the Hebrew equivalent, mal’ak, have broad applications. They literally mean a person carrying forth a message from God, a prophet, priest, or teacher⁴.

In this respect, John is being shown that the pastors or leaders of the seven churches are being held in Christ’s right hand. These church leaders included:

Note the spiritual qualities these leaders were encouraged to have. We often regard elders, deacons, and bishops as titles or official church positions, but originally, they were simply descriptions of the service that individual believers carried out in the congregation. The elders were those leaders who were older and wiser and served as shepherds for the flock of saints. There may have been more than one elder in the group, in which case one was chosen to be the “head elder” or “bishop.” Those who took special care of the widows, orphans, and physical needs of the church were called servants or deacons.

Followers of Jesus were called to be a light to a world held captive by the darkness of superstition and paganism:

Luke 11:33 “No one lights a lamp and puts it in a place where it will be hidden, or under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, so that those who come in may see the light.

John 1:9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

John 8:12 When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

Footnotes

1. Strong’s G86 and H7585 ↩︎
2. Strong’s H8613. ↩︎
3. Matt 5:22, 5:29, 5:30, 10:28, 18:9, 23:15, Mark 9:43, 9:45, 9:47, Luke 12:5, Jas 3:6, 2Pet 2:4. ↩︎
4. Strong’s G32, H4397. ↩︎

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™