(Rev. 1:9-189I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11Saying, 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. 12And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13And 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 paps with a golden girdle. 14His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; 15And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. 16And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: 18I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death. (Revelation 1:9‑18)) The vision of the Son of Man, in His dignity as the Judge, is introductory to the messages which give His judgment on the Seven Churches. We do well to linger over the vision, for it is the greatness of the Speaker that gives value to His words. Thus the deeper our sense of the glory of the One who speaks, the more heed shall we give to that which He utters.
(Vss. 9-10). Before we see the vision of Christ, we learn that such sights call for special circumstances; they require a suited condition of soul, and their appropriate season. Thus it is that John finds himself in circumstances of trial, and, though truly in the kingdom as subject to Christ, yet not in the kingdom and glory, but, in the kingdom and patience in Jesus. Furthermore, he is banished to the barren Isle of Patmos. If, however, he is banished to some desolate spot by the decrees of man, it is that, withdrawn from every other influence, he may receive the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. How often, in the history of God's people, times of trial have become seasons of spiritual illumination. As another has pointed out, Joseph must go to the prison to become a revealer of secrets: David must be driven into the dens of the earth to sing his sweetest songs: Paul must suffer imprisonment to receive his highest revelations; and John must go to his Patmos prison to hear words, and see visions, that mortal had never heard nor seen before.
John is not in this lonely spot as a self-exiled anchorite, embittered against the world; but an outcast for whom the world has no use. Though withdrawn from the Lord's people, he can still speak of himself as their "brother and companion in tribulation," and the Lord makes the loneliness of Patmos an occasion for John to serve others in love.
Moreover, John was not only in the suited place to receive the Revelation, he was also in a suited condition, for he can say, "I became in the Spirit." This would indicate something more than the fact that he was in the normal and proper condition of the believer, as in the Spirit, according to Rom. 8:99But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. (Romans 8:9). It would rather set forth a special condition in which the Apostle was so completely in the power of the Spirit as to be oblivious to all but the wondrous vision, and communications, he was about to see and hear.
Further, the Revelation was given to the Apostle at a special time. It was on "the Lord's day." This term must not be confounded with "the day of the Lord," an expression found in the prophets, and used by the Apostles Paul and Peter, to signify the day when the Lord will suddenly come as a thief in the night to execute judgment (1 Thess. 5:2; 22For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. (1 Thessalonians 5:2)
2But even after that we had suffered before, and were shamefully entreated, as ye know, at Philippi, we were bold in our God to speak unto you the gospel of God with much contention. (1 Thessalonians 2:2) Thess. 2:2; 2 Peter 3:1010But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. (2 Peter 3:10)). Obviously the things which are described in chapters 2 and 3 of the Revelation, and the greater part of "the things that are about to be after these things," do not take place in the day of the Lord. There would be no meaning in the Apostle being carried in spirit to the day of the Lord to see things that must take place a couple of thousand years before that day. Thus it seems clear that the Lord's day is the resurrection day, referred to in other Scriptures as the first day of the week. It is called the Lord's day to indicate that it is not a common day; as, indeed, the Lord's Supper is so called to distinguish it from a common meal. It is a day specially set apart, not by a legal command, as in the case of the Jewish Sabbath, but as a special privilege for the worship and service of the Lord.
Thus it is in a place withdrawn from the world, in a suited condition-in the Spirit; and on a special occasion-the Lord's Day, John is arrested by a great voice, as a trumpet, in order to see these wondrous visions, and hear these solemn communications.
(Vs. 11). What John sees he is told to write in a book and send unto the seven Churches. Already the Apostle has sent greetings to the seven Churches, now they are designated by name. Only seven Churches are addressed; nevertheless, the Spirit of God has selected the written, rather than the oral, form of communication so that the whole Church, for all time, may benefit by these communications.
(Vss. 12-13). John turns to see the One that spake with him, and at once we have the first great division of the Book, referred to by the Lord as "the things which thou hast seen" (vs. 19). John is first arrested by the vision of seven golden candlesticks. A little later we learn that the candlesticks represent seven Churches. The symbol of a candlestick would at once suggest that they represent the Church in its responsibility to maintain a light for Christ in this dark world. The gold would signify that the Church in its beginning on earth was set up in suitability to the Divine glory as a witness for Christ. Moreover it is surely the professing Church that is in view, for later we learn there is the possibility of the candlestick being removed, and finally that which the candlestick represents becoming wholly nauseous to Christ.
Further, John sees, in the midst of the seven candlesticks, one like the Son of Man. This we know is a vision of Christ as about to judge, for all judgment is committed to the Son of Man that He may be honored in the very nature in which He has been despised and rejected by men. Nevertheless He is spoken of as One like the Son of Man, indicating that He is a Divine Person who has become flesh.
Here Christ is not presented as in the midst of the Assembly to lead the praises of His people; nor in the midst of two or three to guide their prayers. Neither is He viewed as the One Shepherd to unite the sheep into one flock, nor as the Head of the Church-His body. He is seen in the solemn aspect of the Judge in the midst of the Christian profession. He is walking (ch. 2:1) in the midst of the Assemblies, observing their condition and passing sentence, whether of commendation or censure. Every feature by which He is described is in accord with His character as Judge.
His garment is not girded for the service of grace and love, as in the glad day yet to come when His servants will be gathered home and He "shall gird Himself, and make them sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them" (Luke 12:3737Blessed are those servants, whom the lord when he cometh shall find watching: verily I say unto you, that he shall gird himself, and make them to sit down to meat, and will come forth and serve them. (Luke 12:37)). Here the Lord is seen in "a garment reaching to the feet," as befitting the dignity of the Judge. Moreover He is "girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle" indicating that the affections are held in by every consideration to the Divine glory.
(Vss. 14-16). "His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow." These symbols, as we know from Dan. 7, verse 9, set forth the glory of God as the Judge upon His throne. Thus we learn that the Son of Man, Himself, possesses the characteristics of the Ancient of Days seen in the vision of Daniel. In due time He will come forth crowned with many crowns: here there is no crown, for the reigning time is not yet come. The judgment throne must precede the Kingdom glories. He must first clear the scene of all evil as the Judge, before He reigns in glory as the King.
"His eyes were as a flame of fire;" setting forth the searching character of that gaze from which nothing can be hid.
"His feet like unto fine brass as if they burned in a furnace," speaking of the inflexible holiness of walk, that never turns to any crooked way, and is undefiled by any soil of earth.
"His voice as the sound of many waters," expresses the power of His word that no man can resist.
"He had in His right hand seven stars." All subordinate authority, as represented by the stars, is under His control, and maintained by His power.
"His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength," a symbol that implies that, as the Judge, He is invested with supreme authority.
(Vss. 17-18). The effect of this great vision of the Son of Man, as the Judge, is so overwhelming that even an Apostle falls at His feet as dead. John had known Christ in His humiliation in the days of His flesh, and had once reposed his head on His bosom; he had seen the vision of Christ in His kingdom glories on the Mount; he had communed with Christ in His glorified body in resurrection; but never before had he seen Christ in His dignity as the Judge. Yet, be it remembered, this is the attitude that Christ takes toward professing Christendom. It is true that as believers we know Him as our Savior: as members of His body we know Him as our Head; as servants we know Him as our Lord; nevertheless, as connected with the great Christian profession, we have to do with Him as Judge of all our Assembly ways. As we say, the believer knows Him in other and more privileged ways; but the great mass of the Christian profession-composed of mere professors-can only know Him as the Judge. The mass may profess to honor Him by erecting magnificent temples for His worship, and doing great works in His Name; if, however, they caught but a glimpse of His glory they would find He is walking in the midst of the profession as a Judge, and they would fall at His feet as dead.
For John, a "brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience in Jesus," it was far otherwise. There was no need for his fears. The Lord's touch, and the Lord's voice, recall John to the Jesus so well known in the days of His humiliation, whose voice he had so often heard uttering these peace giving words, "Fear not." The One who is the Judge-the first and the last-is the One who had been into death, and is now living for evermore. Everything that would cause the believer-represented by John -to shrink before the Judge, humbled as he ever must be in the consciousness of failure in his witness, has been borne and forever removed by the death of the One who is going to judge. The keys of death and of Hades are in His hand. The believer then need have no fear, for those keys cannot be used apart from the One who loves us and has died for us. As one has said, our Lord "is the absolute Master of all that might threaten man, whether for the body or the soul."