IN considering this important subject it may be well, at the outset, to deal with the particular numeral given, which is found here as elsewhere in scripture to signify perfection. And as in symbolic language “the eyes” or “eyes” signify intelligence, and further, in the passage under consideration, “seven” and “eyes” are brought together, it is obvious that the correct interpretation of these two symbols here conjoined is, that they thus are expressive of the perfection of intelligence.
This boundless range of a vision, so penetrative and clear-sighted that no object can possibly be hidden from it, had been pointedly referred to by earlier inspired writers, and ascribed to Him “that sitteth in the heavens.” To give an instance we quote from Psa. 33 (R. V.)—
“The LORD looketh from heaven;
He beholdeth all the sons of men;
From the place of His habitation He looketh forth
Upon all the inhabitants of the earth;
He that fashioneth the hearts of them all;
That considereth all their works...
Behold, the eye of the LORD is upon them that fear Him,
Upon them that hope in His mercy;
To deliver their soul from death,
And to keep them alive in famine.”
In another (Psa. 11) we read—
“The LORD is in His holy temple,
The LORD, His throne is in heaven;
His eyes behold, His eyelids try, the children of men.”
Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great before the flood, but Noah found grace in His eyes.
What more desirable truth could Moses possibly have uttered with reference to Israel's promised land than this— “The eyes of the LORD are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year” (Deut. 11:1212A land which the Lord thy God careth for: the eyes of the Lord thy God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year even unto the end of the year. (Deuteronomy 11:12))? The personal responsibility of each individual inhabitant in a land thus highly privileged was correspondingly grave and great. He was to hearken to the voice of the LORD God, to do His commandments, and “to do that which is right in the eyes of the LORD thy God” (Deut. 13:1818When thou shalt hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, to keep all his commandments which I command thee this day, to do that which is right in the eyes of the Lord thy God. (Deuteronomy 13:18)).
As having, each in his day, acquitted himself well in the carrying out of his personal responsibility, honorable mention is made of David (1 Kings 15:55Because David did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, and turned not aside from any thing that he commanded him all the days of his life, save only in the matter of Uriah the Hittite. (1 Kings 15:5)), of Asa (1 Kings 15:1111And Asa did that which was right in the eyes of the Lord, as did David his father. (1 Kings 15:11)), and of Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:4343And he walked in all the ways of Asa his father; he turned not aside from it, doing that which was right in the eyes of the Lord: nevertheless the high places were not taken away; for the people offered and burnt incense yet in the high places. (1 Kings 22:43)). Each therefore might take comfort from the express promise given to such in Psa. 101:66Mine eyes shall be upon the faithful of the land, that they may dwell with me: he that walketh in a perfect way, he shall serve me. (Psalm 101:6), even when experiencing searchings of heart because of personal failures, which each had occasion to mourn over with humbled spirit. Absolute perfection is only to be seen in the LORD'S “Servant.” He alone could abide the being tested by this high standard of excellence, and say, “Though Israel be not gathered, yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the LORD, and my God shall be my strength.”
To Him did the Spirit of God draw the attention of Joshua and his fellows. What though but a remnant had returned as yet, and the great bulk of the nation of Israel was still in foreign lands; this fact could not to faith make Him less “glorious.” More than this, the conscious weakness of that feeble remnant “in a day of small things” only made it the more incumbent upon them to accept Him as their strength. Well might their memories revive painful recollections of past dark days, wherein their guilty fathers had been again and again admonished that, in consequence of their shameless wickedness, Jehovah's eye would not spare them, nor would He have pity upon them; because their tongue and their doings had been against the Lord, “to provoke the eyes of His glory” (Isa. 3:88For Jerusalem is ruined, and Judah is fallen: because their tongue and their doings are against the Lord, to provoke the eyes of his glory. (Isaiah 3:8)). But giving place to slavish fear did not become these living representatives of the same nation, whose safe return to the land had made themselves examples of mercy glorying against judgment. He, Jehovah's servant, was interested on their behalf, and His grace would be sufficient to meet their present and future need.
That Stone with seven eyes should be their abiding confidence. All the past was fully known to Him: yet had these personally been restored by grace into His favor. Their feeble condition at the moment then present could not escape His notice. Their realized weakness He would make an occasion of proving the all-sufficiency of the might of His power. As to the future, He understood them better than they did themselves; He would not fail them; and in their own and the nation's interests would take upon Himself responsibilities which none save Himself could possibly fulfill.
When one reads the significant words addressed to Israel by Isaiah (“And when ye spread forth your hands; I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear” Isa. 1:1515And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you: yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood. (Isaiah 1:15)), one can enter in some measure into the feelings of Hezekiah upon receiving Sennacherib's letter of impious threatenings. Then in the anguish of his spirit he cried, “Incline Thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open Thine eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.” Henceforth Joshua and his fellows should have the comfort of knowing that before them was the Stone with seven eyes.
At a moment when he had least expected this, Nathaniel suddenly recognized Him in Jesus, on His saying, “Before that Philip called thee,
WHEN THOU WAST UNDER THE FIG TREE I SAW THEE
The surprised Israelite could not but instantly exclaim, “Rabbi, Thou art the Son of God; Thou art the king of Israel.”
The woman of Samaria discerned first “a Jew,” next “a prophet,” and ultimately “the Christ” in Him; for He had brought up before her notice all her past actions, and, while arousing her conscience, attracted her heart and satisfied her longing soul.
Others in the synagogue at Capernaum may never before have had the faintest suspicion that amongst them was a man possessed of an unclean spirit, until his inability to endure the presence of Jesus was made manifest by his crying out in real alarm. Nor did those who brought the woman taken in adultery ever in all their past lives experience such searchings of heart as when He made each one's sins manifest to himself. Herod's deep craftiness, as also theirs who raised the question about the paying of tribute, He openly exposed, and thoroughly disconcerted the hypocritical and self-righteous by answering, not simply their designing questions, but also their own heart's most secret thoughts.
Not one of her “many sins,” committed by the woman that stood behind Him weeping in Simon's house, had escaped His notice. Of them He bore witness before all, yet gave her the assurance that all were forgiven, and that those affections for Him that flowed out from her broken and contrite spirit were already met by her Savior's incomparable love for this repentant sinner.
The thrice repeated “Lovest thou Me? searched poor Peter's heart and conscience. “Lord, Thou knowest all things; Thou knowest that I love Thee,” was his reply, at that moment discerning to his unspeakable relief that before him stood the “Stone with seven eyes.” And we, beloved brethren, have “boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus,” yea, to “draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith;” although we do well ever to bear in mind that, concerning ourselves and others, “all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do.”
John beheld, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, standing “a Lamb as it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes.” Here we have the perfection of power allied with the perfection of intelligence. He has absolute authority over emperors, kings, and all nations.
Those ministers of His that do His pleasure go every one of them straight forward, giving place to none as they perform His sovereign will. The earth's mighty ones can place no obstruction in their path.
His “eyes” run to and fro through the whole earth, beholding the evil and the good. Nothing can by any possibility escape His notice, whether it be done in the far east, or the extreme west; at either of the poles, or at the equator. He that has, again and again, shown “Himself strong in the behalf of those whose heart is perfect toward Him,” is He that controls the destinies of the nations, and of the whole earth.
When He shall break each seal in heaven, the corresponding effects will be experienced on this earth.