REVELATION 1:10B-16
John continues the vision: I "heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. And I turned to see the voice
that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks" (Revelation 1:10b-12).
The "seven golden candlesticks" takes us back to the tabernacle in the wilderness (Exodus 25:31-39).
A part of its furnishings was a golden menorah, a candelabrum with three branches protruding from each side of the main stem. These seven sticks had little cups which served as candleholders. This furnished the light in the sanctuary.
These seven golden candlesticks represented what the nation Israel was to be to the world. It was to be God's light to the world. The seven golden candlesticks, when applied to the church, show God's intention for the church in the world. The church is to be God's light in the world.
Jesus said, "Ye are the light of the world" (Matthew 5:14).
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 breasts with a golden girdle (Revelation 1:13).
Jesus is walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks and is described as the Son of man. Jesus made reference to Himself as the Son of man as well as the Son of God.
The Son of man was a prophetic reference to Daniel's prophecy concerning the second coming of Jesus Christ the King, and was one of the titles
of the Messiah (Daniel 7:13-14).
John then describes a little bit of His clothing:
Clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the breasts with a golden girdle. His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like 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 shineth in his strength (Revelation 1:23-16).
Jesus said, "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst" (Matthew 18:20). Here John sees Jesus in the midst of His churches.
Jesus is in the midst of His church as we gather together in His name.
He is present with us. He has promised to bestow upon us His love, His grace, His kindness, His mercy, His Word. Jesus is here to minister to you and to your needs. He is still in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks - His church through the ages.
John saw Him holding the seven stars in His right hand. The seven stars are the seven angels of these churches (cf. Revelation 1:20).
The word angel translated in Greek means "messenger," which is usually the pastor. What joy and comfort to the pastor to realize that Jesus holds him.
This is the only description of Jesus Christ in the New Testament.
We have one description of Him in the Old Testament in Daniel (Daniel 7:9-10).
Revelation 1:13-16 is not a description of a suffering Savior but of our exalted Lord in His
glory in heaven. John sees Him in His glory and describes Him in that glory.
Jesus said in His prayer in John 17, "Father, I would that they that you have given me, might see me in my glory that I had with thee before the world was" (John 17:5, 24).
He asked for that glory to be returned, and then He asked that we might see Him in that glory.
Here John sees Jesus and what He'll look like when we see Him. His face is shining like the sun at noontime. His head and His hair are like wool, white as snow. His eyes are like flames of fire and His feet like fine brass heated to the point of incandescence.
His words sound like a great waterfall. Out of His mouth is a sharp two-edged sword. "For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword" (Hebrews 4:12).
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