Revelation 1:12-21 - The Son Of Man (Lesson)

"Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."

     We've looked at John's greeting, introduction, and prayer of praise in the beginning of the book of Revelation. We saw to whom he wrote, and we heard the voice. Now we will begin to try to grasp what he saw when he turned around.
     At first glance, John sees seven golden lampstands. The first thing to observe is that it is a plurality of lampstands, the image that popped into my mind when I first read this is the Jewish menorah, the lampstand with seven candlesticks. This is different though, it does not mention multiple candlesticks, but rather multiple lampstands. Each of these lampstands represents an individual church. It's interesting the way in which the number seven is related to the church. There are seven lampstands for the seven churches, the book is addressed to only seven churches, and, as a sidenote, the apostle Paul wrote to exactly seven churches. John also see Someone in the midst of the lampstands. This is Christ, and it is comforting to see Him in the midst of the lampstands because we will see Him in this vision as our Great High Priest. Here He is tending to the churches: an OT priest would be responsible to trim, clean, and refill the lampstands in the temple, and in the same way Christ maintains the church by trimming out those who do not belong, cleaning out sin, and empowering us with grace.

     John sees one like the Son of Man, a title which may seem lowly, but which is there for a reason. Daniel 7 implies deity in the title, and Christ, judging by the Gospels, used this name to describe Himself more often than any other name (81 times I believe). It is a name which clearly shows Christ's work on earth: He -- while remaining fully God -- was able to be born of a woman and become a son of mankind. The greatest miracle in history is contained within this title, yet not only humanity but deity is included when read in the context of Daniel 7 where Christ is seen as one and the same with God!
     John also details for us the physical appearance of Christ, the only picture-painting description in the Bible. The first observation we receive is that Christ is wearing a long robe. It is important that John mentioned the length of the robe because that meant a lot back in the early A.D.'s. The average Joe wore a short robe (yes, men wore them as well) because he didn't want to step on it while he was plowing, trip on it while chasing a wild animal to rescue his sheep, burn it on ashes he put his feet near in the winter, etc. Only rich people wore long robes because they didn't have much to do in the way of physical exercise and didn't have to worry about ruining their robe. Also, cloth was often spun by hand in those days, so a long robe would have cost more materials and time to construct. Christ is also wearing a sash, but the sash is around his chest. That changes things up some because priests or servants would wear the sash around their waist for service, but Christ is wearing it around his chest the position of the sashes for royalty and magistrates. Lastly, John mentions that the sash is made of gold, this also indicates royalty because gold was and is not cheap; a priests robe was made with gold not of gold. Christ is dressed as both priest and judge.
     Christ's hairs were white, like white wool, like snow. This white is purity and wisdom. Christ does not age so these are not venerable, gray hairs, they are the hairs of righteousness. Christ's eye's were like a flame of fire; burning, piercing, and omniscient, they uncover all that men wish to hide. Christ's feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a fire. They were hot and heavy, ready to tread the winepress of the wrath of God and crush all evil. Christ's voice was like the roar of many waters. It is now no longer like a trumpet calling attention, but it is a roar of authority, thundering like a waterfall and crashing like the waves of the sea on rocks -- a sound which John heard often.
     In Christ's right hand he holds seven stars, the angels or leaders of the church. Those who bring the message of salvation to God's people. From Christ's mouth came a two-sided sword. This is not the Greek word for a fencing sword, this is a large broadsword commonly employed in mass destruction. Christ's sword is the Word which comes from His mouth; two-sided, it destroys the enemies of Christ and strengthens those who are His. We too are armed with this sword of the Word and must use it. Christ's face was shining like the sun in full strength, it was the blazing glory of God. Moses saw it on Mt. Sinai and glowed like a nightlight afterward; Peter, James, John saw it on the Mount of Transfiguration and were stupefied; and Paul saw it on the road to Damascus and was blinded. John saw it and fell to the ground as though he were a dead man. This is common reaction for those who see glorious spiritual beings -- Abraham, Ezekiel, and Daniel all did -- but it is still amazing that John reacted in such a way because he had such an intimate relationship with Christ while Jesus was still on earth.
     Christ then laid His right hand on John, perhaps reminding John that He is the same Christ that John knew before, and  said “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."  Christ has the keys of both Death and Hades, He determines when people will die and also where they will go when they die. He also commands John to write what he sees, past, present, and future, so that others will be able to know of the end times. What a comfort it is to see Christ's sovereignty so plainly shown in these words to the apostle John despite the visions to come!