Revelation 1:12-16
The first thing John saw was the seven golden candlesticks, each candlestick representing one of the seven assemblies addressed. The figure of a candlestick is symbolic of the light or testimony borne by each assembly.
Next the apostle tells us he saw one “like unto the Son of Man” walking in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, truly the Lord Himself, for He could say to John: “ I am the First and the Last.” His appearance was terrifying, judged by the effect upon John, who tells us that he fell at His feet as dead.
He was girt about the paps with a golden girdle, speaking of affection being restrained as to its expression. Divine affection remains unchanged towards those on whom it is placed, but its expression may differ. The girdle usually encircles the waist, not the breast.
His head and hair white like wool, and as white as snow, symbolize His judicial character.
His eyes, as a flame of fire, speak of discernment that nothing can escape.
His voice as the sound of many waters speaks of majesty and dignity.
The seven stars in His right hand represent the angels of the seven churches (vs. 20). The angel of a church does not represent a single individual in our judgment, but those in an assembly who are directly and mainly responsible to the Lord in connection with it on account of their intelligence and weight as guiding and ruling. But being in the right hand of the Lord betokens that supreme power and authority belong to Him. Once those who have the place of guiding get away from the direct control of the Lord there is trouble and sorrow.
It is significant that the addresses given are not addressed to the assembly directly, but to the “angel” of the assembly, though once the angel is addressed the message is clearly through that chosen channel for the assembly, and the appeal thus made to every individual in it.
The sharp two-edged sword proceeding out of the Lord's mouth denotes summary judgment. He has but to speak, and judgment is carried out. For long in grace He has been silent, but speak He will in the end, and men must hear.
His countenance shone as the sun shineth in its strength. What a symbol of glory—divine and universal glory as the Son of Man. The Lord Jesus Christ is thus depicted in a striking, arresting way.
Once men rejected Him, but the day of judgment will come when men will have to take account of Him.
The Book addresses itself to the assemblies first, before branching out to Israel and the world. “Judgment must begin at the house of God” (1 Peter 4:17).
No wonder that the Apostle fell at His feet as dead; but the Lord tells him to fear not, and presents Himself as the First and the Last, as the living One that was dead, and who is alive for evermore, and the Possessor of the keys of hades and death.
Then the Lord instructs John to write down:
(1) “The things which thou hast seen,”
(2) “The things which are,”
(3) “The things which shall be hereafter.”
But in bringing us to this point John has already—in response to the command in verse 2—described the things which he had seen. May we pay heed to these things, and have deepened in our souls a true sense of God's holiness, and of the jealous observation by the Lord of all that is contrary to Him in that which professes His name, and of the sure fact that judgment must fall upon all that is not according to Him.
We now come to the second section of the Book—
“ The Things Which Are.”
There are two ways of looking at this section, both of which have their place. There were seven local assemblies existing at the time, to whom the addresses were applicable. It may be that the evils were not then full-blown, but the germs of them all were apparent to Him whose eyes are as a flame of fire.
But it would scarcely be considered that this view, true and right as it is, would exhaust the meaning of God's Spirit in inditing these remarkable addresses, and embodying them in the great prophetical book of the New Testament, and one of the very last books of the canon of Scripture.
It has long been acknowledged that these seven addresses present to us a prophetic course of the Church's history from the day in which John wrote until the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, when He shall present that Church unto Himself, a glorious Church without spot or wrinkle or any such thing. The addresses are seven —the number seven speaking, as it does, of Divine perfection. So the seven addresses to the seven churches bring before us the Lord's perfect and complete dealing with His Church in discernment and discipline all through her checkered history.
In this aspect there are two or three general remarks to be made. At the close of each of the seven addresses we get the exhortation: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches” (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22). “An ear” means a receptive moral condition, without which Divine communications would meet with no response.
But note, it is what the Spirit saith, not to the particular church addressed, but to all the churches. This is particularly significant. There is not one evil or corruption in any phase, or at any time, of the Church's history that we are not capable of. Whatever the time in which our lot is cast, we do well to pay heed to what is said to every one of the churches.
It is also worthy of note and careful study to observe that the Lord presents Himself to each of the Churches in a character that is calculated to help the overcomer to overcome just those peculiar difficulties and temptations that mark each church.
Further, it is well to state at once that the first four phases of the Church are successional, that is, one gives place to the other; whereas the last four, counting the fourth of the successional churches as the first of the next series, are contemporaneous, that is, as they come into existence, one after another, they run side by side to the end.
A diagram like the letter L will illustrate our meaning, and fix this thought upon the mind of each reader.