Text:
Revelation 1: 9 - 20
Title
: A Magnificent Vision
Date: 04/08/2013
We are now coming to the main body of the Book of Revelation which consists of numerous visions. In Ch. 1: 9 – Ch. 3 f we
find the first vision.
Outline of the Vision :
(i)
A vision of the glorified Christ walking in the midst
of the golden candlesticks and commissioning John to write the things which he
saw. (Ch. 1:9-20)
(ii)
A message from Christ
to John which he must deliver to the 7 churches in Asia. (Ch’s. 2-3)
This vision comes to
the apostle John ( who is probably the
last surviving apostle) from the Lord
Jesus Christ who is speaking from His position as the exalted Christ. At this time
John was living
on a rocky
and barren little island
called Patmos,
not far off the coast
of Asia Minor (modern Turkey).
According to early church
historians he had been sent into exile
there during the rule of the Roman emperor Domitian ( emperor from AD 81 - 96) . He
was a devoted worshipper of the
Roman gods , and appears to have
opposed the Christians. Our text tells
us that John was banished there “on account of the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus.” If it was
under the rule of Domitian, then we
may conclude that John was on that
island around 95 AD.
The vision given to
John is for the benefit of 7 churches in Asia (v.11). In this vision John does not see himself as aloof from the church. He sees himself
as a “brother and a partner in the
tribulation and the kingdom and the patient
endurance that are in Jesus ...” (v.9) . All these experiences are true of the church in history
and today. She always participates
in the sufferings of our Lord Jesus. [1]
The church is the
agency through which the Lord Jesus makes His kingdom visible . It is only in the power of that patient endurance
that we can bear the tribulation and persevere unto the end. The tribulation of
the Christian church in Namibia relates to the fact that she
struggles to survive in the midst
of materialism and the good life, and
with prayerlessness and lack of heartfelt devotion and
attachment to Christ. Thank God
that the kingdom of God is advancing
among us, but you will appreciate that unless the Lord Jesus had granted
us patient endurance we would almost have become discouraged.
God used this
obscure, lonely little island to send a mighty
Word into the world like ours. That which we hold in our hands now
known as “the Revelation to John”, continues to encourage and inspire countless
Christians today.
John received this
vision when, as he says, “I was
in the Spirit on the Lord's day [2]“.
On this Sunday the
Lord Jesus visited him in a very
profound way. On that day John was given insight into
the mind of Christ concerning
that which must soon take place (1:1,19)
. And John records: “I heard behind me
a loud voice like a trumpet saying, write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches...”.
We shall consider
the content of that writing in chapters
2 &3. At this point John is not so much concerned with the content of
what he must communicate to the churches. He is preoccupied with the vision of the Lord Jesus
Christ. As he hears the voice behind him, he says:
“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….”. He sees the glorified Lord Jesus in the midst of golden lampstands.
Four things
are described here:
1.
He describes the glorified Christ (vv. 13-16)
2.
He describes the effect
which this vision had on him (v.17,18)
3.
He
describes the commission which he receives from Christ: Write ! ( v. 19)
4.
He receives an
interpretational key concerning the 7
stars in his right hand (v.20)
1. The description
of the glorified Christ : (vv.
13-16) .
John describes Jesus being “ like a son of man”. This is significant ! “Son of
man” – that was Jesus favourite self- designation.[3]
The term is probably derived from Daniel 7: 13,14.
“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with
the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to
the Ancient of Days (described
in Dan 7: 9-10) and was presented before him.
And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples,
nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting
dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be
destroyed.” The “son of man”
who in Daniel’s vision is described
as separate from “the
Ancient of days”, now appears to be one and the same person
in Revelation 1:13-16. The nature of the Trinity indeed is a mystery.
Let’s get back to
the revelation of the “son of man”. The
Lord Jesus, the eternal Son of
God, appeared in time as a man. He was born of
Mary, through the agency of the Holy Spirit ( Lk 1:35) . He ascended to heaven
with a resurrection body, as a glorified
man. He presently rules
there as a glorified man, and He shall come from there in in His
glorified state as a man. His return will
be a visible return- as a glorified
man. John’s vision confirms this. Everything that
John says here, bears
testimony to the fact that our Lord Jesus is indeed the Son of man. He clearly displays the features of man. Consider the following:
·
He is clothed. Only bodies
are clothed. Here He wears a long
robe and with a golden sash around His chest. These are the robes of a High priest, and that is what Jesus is (Hebr. 9:11) . He has finished His sacrificial work on the
cross, but He is still engaged as our High Priest and
Intercessor with the Father, as our man in heaven.
·
His hair is white like white wool or
like white snow. Hair is a very
human thing. The whiteness of His hair pictures the Savior in His divine
nature, as very God- as the eternal Son of God, and God the Son, “whose coming forth is from of old , from
ancient days.” (Micah 5: 2).
·
He has eyes, and they are like a flame of fire. Eyes too are
part of human anatomy.
But the eyes of Christ penetrate
into the deepest recesses of the hearts of men; they discover hidden things.
They are omniscient eyes. All
things (even the secret thoughts)
to Him are an open book. Those
eyes discern every evil thought or deed. Those flaming eyes also
express holiness and righteous indignation and wrath.
·
He has feet and they are like burnished
bronze. Revelation 19:15 tells us
that that with these feet He will “ tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty”. As the Son of man He will soon crush Satan
under His feet (Rom 16:20) .
·
He has a voice, and it roars like
many waters - much more intimidating
that the
Victoria falls! “ He utters His
voice, the earth melts” ( Ps 46:6) It is the voice of power. With that
voice, the Lord Jesus at His coming “will kill the lawless one with
the breath of His mouth and bring him to nothing by the appearance of his
coming.” (2 Thess 2:8) .
·
He has hands, and in those hands He holds
seven stars; (more about that in a moment)
·
He has a mouth, from which comes a sharp two-edged sword. The sword in Scripture is symbol of authority
and
of power to punish evildoers. That sword is the Word which He speaks. It is "living
and active, sharper than any two-edged
sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of
joints and of marrow, and discerning
the thoughts and intentions of the heart."
(Hebr. 4:12)
·
His face was like the
sun shining in full strength! Moses,
when confronted with the glory of God
could not bring himself to look at that glory. He was afraid ( Ex 3:6).
And Moses himself when he had spent 40
days in the company of God on Mt Sinai
could not be looked at by his people ( Ex. 34:29-35) .
This is how John
sees Him: the Son of Man in the midst
of seven golden lampstands. Though
these are individual lampstands, the symbolism reminds us of the seven armed lampstand (the Menorah), which once stood in
the holy place in the temple in Jerusalem. These lamps had to be kept burning continuously,
symbolizing the truth that Israel was
the light of God shining in the darkness of this fallen world.
In this vision the seven lampstands represent
the church of all ages, concerning which the Lord Jesus had said: “You
are the Light of the world” (Matt
5:14). It goes without saying that the church
is a light, that derives its source of light not of herself, but from
the Lord who is in her midst.
2. The Reaction and Reassurance from Christ (Vv. 17 &18)
“When I saw
Him I fell at His feet as though dead.” [4]This is terrifying glory – something which Isaiah
also felt when in the year that Uzziah died, and when He saw the Lord sitting
upon a throne, high and lifted up, he cried “Woe is me . I am lost!” ( Isa. 6:1-7). The immediate reaction to
the unveiling of God’s glory is always fear. Those that encounter the glory of God always have to be assured: “Fear not”[5]!
Why must John not be afraid? The answer is
given: “I am the first and the last , and the living one. I died and behold I
am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of death and hades.” John is in safe hands. His life will not be
taken in the face of this severe
experience of glory. John is in the hand
of the Alpha and the Omega, the first
and the last. In v. 8 this was said of
God; here Christ claims this for Himself. There is no conflict here.
Christ is God of very God. In His particular role He fulfills the part of Mediator, the incarnate Son, the first to rise from the dead. He is the life! He has life in Himself, for He
is the eternal God come in the flesh! And He died, in order that as the great High Priest He
might finish the sacrifice for our sins.
Death could not hold Him in the grave. He
rose and now He is alive forevermore! And because
He rules over death the keys of death
and hell are His. Jesus has the keys to
life and death. What He opens no one
shuts , and what He shuts no one opens.
Therefore, John … fear not! We need not fear God ; we need not fear
death if we find ourselves in Christ . Blessed are they that put their trust in Him!
3. The Commission (v.19)
Having calmed John’s
fear, the Lord gives him his commission:
“Write therefore the things that
you have seen, those that are (present)
and those that are to take place after
this (future).” This no
doubt refers to the contents of the
whole Book of Revelation. “The things that are" refer to the first three chapters , and the "the
things which are to take place after
this “ relates from Chapters 4 to the end. We
will find that in these chapters there is repetition, but in the repetition
there is progress.
4. Interpretational help ( v.20)
You were perhaps wondering what the seven stars in Jesus right hand in v.
16 were symbolizing? Here is the answer
provided in v. 20. The
seven stars which Jesus holds in His right hand are said to be the angels of the seven churches. Commentators
differ with respect to what is
meant by these seven stars or angels which the Lord Jesus holds in His hands. I
will give you the two major views:
·
Some maintain
that these are the guardian angels of each church. This would be difficult to sustain. It
is difficult to conceive of the
possibility of writing letters to such guardian angels.
· Others have applied the words to the pastors or overseers of the churches. In the Bible, both the Hebrew word for angel
(mal’ak e.g. Malachi
means ‘my messenger’ ) and the Greek
word (angelos) literally translated also means, ‘messenger’.
It is most likely that the angel of the
church in this case is a human messenger of God. They are symbolized as stars, not because the churches receive
their light, but because stars, like
planets are only reflected lights. God
gives light to His
church through His messengers, who say
what He says. The Psalmist says: “Your
word is a lamp to my feet and a light to
my path” ( Ps 119:105) ; “ The
unfolding of your words gives light”( Ps. 119:130). These messengers cannot be separated from the churches. They
represent the churches. This close connection between the stars (or angels) and the churches is evident from the seven
letters which follow in the next two chapters, and it is evident that Jesus through John speaks through the messengers which they represent and serve.
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