and in the midst of the [seven] lamps [one] like [the] Son of man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle
John's first sight in this book is a figure standing among seven lampstands. Every detail of His dress points one way, and the role it gives Christ is not the one most readers expect.
Scripture shows Christ among His people in many ways. This vision picks one role and rules out the others.
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. He is not viewed as the one Shepherd uniting the sheep into one flock, nor as the Head of the Church — His body. He is seen in the solemn character of the Judge in the midst of the Christian profession. He walks among the assemblies. He watches their condition and passes sentence — either praise or blame.
The name John uses carries a specific weight. Yet the description that follows borrows marks Daniel gave to another figure.
Here we have to note that this vision shows Christ as Judge. Scripture speaks of Him as Son of man. As we know, this is the character in which He is given every kind of judgment to carry out. Yet the One seen as Son of man is described with the marks that belong to the "Ancient of Days" alone. Daniel sees the Ancient of Days in one way, and the Son of man in quite another. John sees the Son of man with the qualities of the Ancient of Days. He is man; but the man seen then and in this way is a divine person, the eternal God Himself.
A robe reaching the feet is impossible to work in. That is the point of it.
It is not the Father sending messages to the church, as in the various letters; it is Christ walking in the midst of the churches to judge them. He is therefore seen here neither as the Head of the body nor as the Servant. He has His garment down to the feet, but if I want to serve, I tuck my garment up. He is walking in their midst to judge their state. That is a new thing.
The robe is priestly, but not every priestly task is in view. Where He stands shows which one.
Here John sees the Lord as High Priest ready to judge the sanctuary. He does not show Himself to John as the Priest at the golden altar, with the censer and the burning incense. Instead, He stands at the lampstand with the golden snuffers, as though He were asking, and that for the last time, whether the lamps of the sanctuary would burn in a way worthy of the place — or whether He would soon have to remove them.
The sash sits high on the chest, not at the waist where a worker would tie it. That placement holds something in.
The golden sash round the chest is like a band that holds the affections in. The love of Christ is there, as we know well from His messages to the churches. But here He appears as Judge, and the golden belt of divine righteousness stands out against the long robe. Look at the responsible body of Christendom, and it is clear that this is not the time for the full and free exercise of the affections. Divine justice draws a boundary round the region of the heart, for there is much to be judged.
The material matters too, and it differs from the sash worn by Israel's high priest.
The high priest's sash was made of gold and linen, and the linen showed the colours blue, purple and scarlet. This pointed to the union of divine and human righteousness in Jesus our great High Priest. The colours set out His heavenly character (blue), His sufferings (purple), and His glory (scarlet). But the sash here is wholly of gold — divine righteousness. Worn at the chest instead of the waist, it shows calm repose.
The scene is solemn, but He has not left. One writer sets this beside Jeremiah, who saw the same thing in Israel after it turned away.
Even after they had turned away from the Lord, Jeremiah sees Him in the midst of Israel. John also sees Him in the midst of what symbolises Christendom, before the Babylon system develops. Truly they both see Him in a unique way. Still, He is there. It is very important that we recognise this now.
- Midst — Christ stands among the lampstands, not far off. He is there even when what bears His name has drifted.
- Judge — but He stands there as Judge, not as Head of the body, Shepherd, or the One leading His people's praise.
- Man — "Son of man" is the title under which judgment is His. Yet John describes Him with the marks Daniel gave the Ancient of Days. The Man is the eternal God.
- Robe — the floor-length garment is not for serving. He stands at the lampstand with the snuffers, asking whether the lamps still burn.
- Gold — the sash is pure gold, divine righteousness. Worn high, it holds His affections in check. The love is real, but this is not the hour for its free exercise.
his head and hair white like white wool, as snow; and his eyes as a flame of fire;
John turns to see who is speaking. He finds a figure with dazzling white hair and eyes of fire. Why should the risen Jesus, walking among His own churches, look like the Ancient of Days of Daniel's vision?
The white head and hair are not a new image. They carry a title from the book of Daniel.
When John turns to look at the Almighty, the Alpha and the Omega, he sees Jesus. He sees what characterised the Ancient of days (Daniel 7:9, 13).
In Daniel that title belongs to the Almighty. The same chapter goes further.
Head and hairs white like wool remind us of the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:9. The Son of Man comes to Him with the clouds of heaven, and receives all the rights and dignities of the Kingdom. But verse 22 of the same chapter lets us know that the Son of Man is Himself the Ancient of Days! In verse 7 the Son of Man comes, and in verse 22 it is the Ancient of Days who comes! So the Son of Man and the Ancient of Days are one!
White hair on a man means years of experience. Applied to Christ, the symbol stretches past anything human.
First of all, "The hairs of His head were white, like white wool, like snow." That is the character of the Ancient of days. In a man, the years that should teach wisdom supply the symbol. But in Him, what a man has to attain is perfect and original. The wisdom that is His is dazzling with its purity. It is absolute righteousness and holiness, and nothing else.
One writer notes a difference from Daniel. The vision shows His own nature, not the badges of His office.
Daniel 7:9 describes "the Ancient of Days" in a similar way… Daniel does not mention the whiteness of the head. Here the head is uncovered. What we see are personal qualities, not the glories of office, which come in verse 16.
Fire pierces and burns. One writer traces this gaze through the history of the churches.
His eyes like a flame of fire mean sharp perception that spares no evil. How many hidden actions, church plots, concealed sin, buying and selling of church office, and cruelty have those eyes seen in church history? And do not forget: the searching glance of Christ has always seen through what is outward. It reaches the very motives and counsels of the heart, and the conscience of everyone under His far-seeing view. Those eyes see all at this present moment, detecting the inmost thoughts of our souls.
He is standing in the middle of the churches. That position decides who He examines first.
What does astonish us is to find Him standing like this among the churches, the circle where people claim to love and honour the name of Jesus. They are the first to come under the all-searching eyes of flame. And yet it must be so. How could He deal out righteous judgment to the vast outer circle, if He let evil grow undetected and unrebuked in what we may call His own household?
This figure wears no crown.
In due time He will come out crowned with many crowns: here there is no crown, for the time to reign has not yet come. The judgment throne must come before the kingdom glories. He must first clear the scene of all evil as the Judge, before He reigns in glory as the King.
One writer sets this fiery gaze beside another picture of His eyes.
In Revelation 1:14, "His eyes were like a flame of fire." There He is the judge, searching out and judging everything that does not match His holy nature. But here His eyes like doves speak of gentle, tender, faithful love. The dove is always faithful to its mate. Nothing will transform our hearts and draw them to Him so much as having our eyes fixed on His love.
So His searching becomes something to ask for, not to fear.
There is no more necessary devotional service for us than to be at the feet of Jesus, and to ask Him to search us thoroughly, as the Psalmist did long ago (Psalm 139:23-24). Let His eyes of flame search us to discover and burn away every hateful motive. We are apt to deceive ourselves, but when we feel that His eyes are on us we make no mistake.
- Identity — The white head marks Jesus as the Ancient of Days of Daniel 7. Daniel 7:22 shows that the Son of Man and the Ancient of Days are one.
- Wisdom — White hair here is not age but wisdom that is original, not learned, and dazzling in its purity.
- Sight — Eyes of flame miss nothing: plots, hidden sin, and the motives of every heart.
- Order — That gaze falls first on His own household. He will not judge the world outside while evil grows unchecked inside.
- Timing — No crown appears yet. The judgment throne comes first, the kingdom after. And the same eyes that search in fire look in faithful love on those He died for.
and his feet like fine brass, as burning in a furnace; and his voice as the voice of many waters;
The vision of Christ among the lampstands moves down to His feet, then out to His voice. What does glowing metal say about how Christ deals with sin, and what does a voice like crashing water say about who He is?
The ESV calls it burnished bronze; older translations say brass. Either way, it is the metal of the altar in Israel's tabernacle, where God dealt with man's responsibility to Him.
Since brass is a mixture of metals, copper is probably the metal often referred to in Scripture. In some cases it may be bronze. Scripture uses brass as a symbol for righteousness according to the claims of God upon man, as in the brazen altar. The Lord, as seen in the vision in Revelation, has feet like fine brass, "burning as in a furnace" — that is, righteous judgement according to responsibility.
The ESV says this bronze was "refined in a furnace." One writer was asked why the same word turns up again in Revelation 3:18, and answered that the context settles its force.
The aim of the context differs, though the same remarkable word reappears. In chapter 1:15 it is part of the Lord's judicial attributes. He has not only "eyes as a flame of fire," but "feet like brilliant brass (or copper), as though they glowed in a furnace." This is penetrating and firm unsparingness to the last degree in judgment of responsible man. They were as though red-hot in a furnace. In chapter 3:18 the scope is wholly different.
The image covers both His own walk and His dealings with others.
"His feet like fine brass, as if burned in a furnace" — they could pick up no defilement. They are unbending in judicial strength, dealing with responsible man according to God.
Another writer takes the same detail as a picture of holiness that never wavers:
"His feet like fine brass as if they burned in a furnace" speaks of a holiness of walk that never bends. It never turns aside into any crooked way, and no soil of earth defiles it.
The two symbols work together, and they are picked up again later in the book when Christ comes to claim the earth.
His eyes as "a flame of fire" refer to His moral intolerance of evil. He will search out sin and discover it, however hidden. "His feet as fine brass." What His eyes discover, His feet shall tread upon… When the Lord comes in person to make good His sovereign right over the whole scene under heaven, His feet are likened to "pillars of fire" (Revelation 10:1-2).
The last image in the verse has a clear Old Testament background, and it points to who this Man is.
In Ezekiel 1:24 the wings of the cherubim make a sound "like the sound of many waters, like the sound of the Almighty." Later, "the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east. And His voice was like the sound of many waters" (Ezekiel 43:2). So a voice like the sound of many waters is a scriptural figure of the glory and majesty of God. It is in this glory that Christ, though man, now appears.
There is a striking change of tone from the Gospels, where His sheep knew His voice.
Many waters picture the tremendous power of His voice, with its irresistible, awe-inspiring sound. It is no longer a voice of gentle grace that only His own sheep hear (John 10:27). Every ear in the whole universe will hear it.
The setting matters: He is standing among the lampstands, which stand for His assemblies. That places this searching first among His own people.
The Lord stands among the lampstands, which represent His assemblies on earth (Revelation 2 and 3). He is now looking with eyes like a piercing flame of fire, and with heart-searching words, among those who are in the place of responsible testimony for Him… This is not the execution of judgment upon our Substitute. Nor is it the infliction of judgment upon us. It is the testing and trying of our ways by the Son of God, according to the authority given Him to judge among His people, before He judges all the earth at a later day.
- Metal — Brass stands for righteousness measured by God's claims on man. It is the metal of the altar.
- Furnace — "Burning" here means red-hot. It is unsparing firmness in judgment, not the refining sense the same word carries in Revelation 3:18.
- Feet — They pick up no defilement and never turn into a crooked path. In burning holiness He will subdue all things under them.
- Voice — The sound of many waters is Ezekiel's figure for the majesty of God. The voice His sheep once knew in grace, every ear will hear.
- Nearness — He walks with these feet among the lampstands first. He tests the ways of His own people before He judges the earth.
and having in his right hand seven stars; and out of his mouth a sharp two-edged sword going forth; and his countenance as the sun shines in its power.
John's first sight of the risen Christ ends with three symbols: stars in the right hand, a sword from the mouth, and a face too bright to look at. Together they show how He rules His churches — in authority, in judgment and in glory.
Read as a set, the three images move from what Christ delegates to what belongs to Him alone.
Then, "out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword," that is, the word in judgment. "And He had in His right hand seven stars" — subordinate authority. "His countenance was as the sun shines in his strength" — supreme sovereign authority and glory.
Verse 20 identifies the stars as the angels of the seven churches. Where they are held matters as much as what they are. One writer marks off this grip from the better-known promise of John 10.
Christ holds all Church authority, all ministry, and all spiritual rule in every assembly. The stars held in His right hand mean this above all: He is able to give or withhold, to preserve and sustain every true minister of God. When the question is the eternal security of believers, Scripture puts them in His hand and in the Father's hand, where no power can pluck them out (John 10:28-29). But it does not put them in His "right hand," as here… "The right hand" signifies supreme authority and honour.
Notice which object He grasps. Not the lampstands — only the stars are in His hand.
In His right hand He holds those seven stars, and His grip is firm. We are soon told they are the angels of the seven assemblies. Notice: not the lampstands, but the stars. The lampstands are earthly profession; the stars are heavenly reality. Where He finds this, all the strength of His right hand is there to uphold it.
The weapon comes from His mouth, not His hand. That tells us how He carries out judgment.
"A sharp two-edged sword" is the word of judgment. It is not only moral judgment, but judgment to death where needed, even against the apostates at the end. This sword went out of His mouth, because with the Lord Jesus Christ, to speak the word is to strike the blow at once. "He spoke, and it was done."
The same sword appears again later in the book, and behind it stands the word Christ spoke on earth.
reason: 77-word very-hard block split; Scripture set to ESV
That word is already at work now, and a day is coming when it will not be needed.
What comes out of His mouth is the "sharp sword with two edges." The word is God's power to detect evil and deal with it. In heaven there will be no need of the sword to cut. Now God comes right into our circumstances and lays everything bare by His word. He lets nothing pass.
The sun is the last feature John names. Its meaning comes from the creation account.
Nothing pictures His power and glory better than this figure of the noonday sun. The sun is the greatest of God's visible works, so it stands for supreme authority. God made it "the greater light" "to rule the day." John and his companions saw Him in this same glory when He "was transfigured before them, and His face shone like the sun, and His clothes became white as light." (Matt. 17:2.)
Set the blazing face beside the small lights in His hand, and a lesson for every servant appears.
Once the vile spittle of men rested on His patient face (Matt. 26:67). Now the face of the Lord shines with divine glory, far brighter and more radiant than the midday tropical sun… Christ is called the Light of the World (John 8:12), the Sun of Righteousness to Israel (Mal. 4:2), and the Bright and Morning Star to the Church (Rev. 22:16)… The stars are only reflectors. They have no light of their own… We count for very little except as held in the right hand of Christ. Only the servant's connection with the Lord gives him dignity.
- Hand. The right hand means authority, not just safekeeping. Christ holds all ministry and rule in the assemblies, and He can give it or withhold it.
- Held. He grips the stars, not the lampstands. Where He finds heavenly reality and not just outward profession, His full strength holds it up.
- Mouth. His judgment needs no hand to strike; He speaks, and the blow lands — the sword of Revelation 2:16 and 19:21 is the same sword.
- Now. That word is already at work exposing evil among His people; in heaven there will be nothing left for it to cut.
- Face. The face once covered in spittle now shines like the noonday sun. Beside that light every servant is only a reflector, held in His hand.
And when I saw him I fell at his feet as dead; and he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Fear not; *I* am the first and the last,
John is a prisoner on Patmos, and the risen Christ appears among the assemblies in judicial majesty. The sight flattens the disciple who once leaned on His breast — and the same Lord lifts him with a hand and a word.
The vision was not of a stranger. The same Jesus John had known now appeared as Judge, and His holiness emptied John of strength.
He had leaned on the Lord's breast at supper. He had enjoyed His confidence and His love. These were so real to him that he called himself "The disciple whom Jesus loved." Had that love changed? Far be the thought! Then why is he so overcome? It was because of the fiery holiness he saw among the assemblies. He saw the Lord shining in the full splendour of His supreme majesty as the divine Judge. Who could stand before Him like that?
Falling is not failure here. What flattened John is what fits a servant for the Lord's use.
The sight of this puts John at His feet as dead (v. 17). Yes, John, who could lean on His bosom in the days of His flesh (John 13), falls at His feet as dead. Such, dear friends, is the condition of soul that the Lord can use — "a broken vessel." True, His love cheers His servant with "Fear not." But I do ask: is a soul "trained for the ministry" if it can stay unbroken in the presence of the Lord's majesty?
The Lord does not wait for John to recover on his own. He reaches out first, and He reaches out with power.
"He laid His right hand upon me," relates the Seer. The hand of power. On the mountain the touch of the hand and the voice of Jesus instantly dispelled the fear of the disciples (Matt. 17:6-7). Here, too, the hand and voice of the glorious One restores the disciple from his death-like faint. It was more than a touch, "He laid His right hand upon me." How that hand, pressed on him in life-giving energy and strength, would thrill "the disciple whom Jesus loved." This was the very same Jesus in time and eternity, on earth and in heaven.
The command rests on something outside John. The cross has already settled what he is.
How the Christ of the gospel comes out here! What words are more characteristic of Him than this, "Fear not"? "Perfect love casts out fear," and such love belongs to Him who speaks. He says it not only to John here, but to all who feel His majesty more than His grace. They would push Him back into the distance and darkness out of which He has come to us. What we are is no longer in question; the cross has fully shown that. All for us now lies in what He is; and the cross has revealed that too.
The title Jesus gives Himself is not new. It is Jehovah's own name in Isaiah, and it settles who is speaking.
"I am the first and the last." This is essentially a divine title. Jehovah claims it for Himself alone three times in the prophecy of Isaiah (Isa. 41:4; 44:6; 48:12), and Christ claims it three times to match in this book (Rev. 1:17; 2:8; 22:13). To apply this Jehovah title to the Son of Man is absolute proof of His deity… As the "FIRST," He is before all, and above all, and from Him all proceed. As the "LAST," He is after all, and in Him all things centre… Calmly consider this magnificent title, claimed and borne by Jesus of Nazareth glorified in heaven. Then fear disappears like mist before the rising sun.
John is about to hear terrible things. The hand and the voice come first, on purpose.
He does not turn away the more-than-homage of His servant. He reassures the man whose nature had withered before Him. He is Jehovah, yet man. But if He had not died, we would not have known Him in the blessed character and energy of life that He has now proved — life more abundantly. Who then could say "Fear not" as He could? … John is going to hear about judgments, and about the schemes, power, and anger of Satan beyond anything men had known before. But he knew that the right hand of the One alive for evermore had been upon him, and he had heard the words of His mouth. That knowledge would give him strength and courage for everything to come. He wrote the book in this spirit, and we should read it in the same spirit.
Writers apply the "Fear not" past Patmos to the reader's own day.
The blessed Saviour would not have him cast down. He would cheer and strengthen and encourage him. He laid His right hand upon him and said, "FEAR NOT!" How often he had heard those words fall from His gracious lips before, and they banished all terror from his heart. And those words were spoken for us. May we be able to hear them, for we surely need them. The state of Christendom has not improved; things have become worse and worse; the assemblies have not returned to that first love which they so early left; nevertheless, "FEAR NOT!"
- Sight — John saw the holiness and judicial majesty of Christ among the assemblies. Even the disciple who had leaned on His breast fell as dead.
- Broken — that collapse is no disqualification. A broken vessel is what the Lord can use.
- Touch — the right hand is the hand of power, laid on him with life-giving strength.
- Word — "Fear not" rests on what He is, because the cross already settled what we are.
- Title — "the first and the last" is Jehovah's own name in Isaiah, now claimed by the glorified Son of Man. Facing it, fear burns off like mist.
and the living one and I became dead, and behold, I am living to the ages of ages, and have the keys of death and of hades.
John falls at the feet of the glorified Christ as though dead, and the first thing he hears is a command not to be afraid. The words that follow are the ground for that command — a name, a history, and a set of keys.
Before He mentions His death, Christ names Himself "the Living One." The title belongs to Him as God:
"The Living One" is the next divine title. He was, is, and ever shall be the source of life. He is the Living One independently of the creature. His incarnation did not originate life, but showed what already existed (1 John 1:2). "The Living One was the name the Hebrews used to mark off the true God from all false ones." The eternal life of believers has its source in Christ, "the Living One." So does the eternal existence of unbelievers, and so does the immortality of angels.
Some translations read "I became dead" rather than "I died." Commentators find weight in that wording:
He agreed not only to become man, but just as willingly to die, whatever it cost. His death did everything needed to blot out the evil and prepare for all blessing. The phrase is the strongest way of putting the matter. It is not merely that He died: that is not quite what He says here, though it is said elsewhere, and very truly. He says that He "became" dead. This strongly implies He was willing to die, since He became what was never His own.
No one handed the keys over. Christ took them on enemy ground. One writer puts the Lord's words to John like this:
I have been down there where you were as sinners, under the sentence of death. I was there without sin, and death had no claim on Me. But in grace I went right down into the very scene of death's dominion, the very stronghold of Satan's power. And I have overcome him in his stronghold, which was death… I have gone through the dark tunnel of the grave. On my way through that tunnel I met the one who had the power of death — symbolised by the keys. I have pulled the keys from his belt. I have wrenched the sceptre from his hand.
Death and Hades are not the same thing. Each holds a different part of a person:
But this Living One has died, gone into death to become its Conqueror. Alive for evermore, He has the keys of death and of hades. Death holds the body; hades holds the soul of the dead. So man's condition is sounded to the very bottom, for death is the seal of that condition. Only what meets the condition can break its seal.
Note the order: death first, then Hades. Holding both keys means nothing lies outside His control:
Hades follows death, and does not go before it… The Lord says that He has the keys of death and of hades. He shows by this that He is the absolute master of all that might threaten man, whether for the body or the soul. Satan's power in this respect is annulled; Christ has it all.
His own life is now beyond death's reach, and keys open as well as lock:
He spoke of the completeness of the victory He gained by His death. Death has no more dominion over Him. He has annulled the one who had the power of death. He has authority (pictured by the keys — Isa. 22:22) over both Death and Hades, and will summon both at the appointed hour to give up their solemn charge.
John was about to see judgments, wrath, and the power of Satan. He meets the One holding the keys first:
John is going to hear about judgments, and the schemes, power, and wrath of Satan beyond anything men had known. But the right hand of Him who was alive for evermore had rested on him, and he had heard the words of His mouth. Knowing that would give him strength and courage for everything to come. And as this is the spirit in which the book was written, so it should be read.
- Person — "the Living One" is a divine title that marks out the true God. All life comes from Him: life in believers, life in angels, even the endless existence of unbelievers.
- Path — He "became dead": the wording points to willingness, not misfortune. He chose to go in, and He came out alive forevermore.
- Prize — He went into death's stronghold and took the keys from the one who held them. He won them in battle; no one granted them.
- Power — Death claims the body, Hades holds the soul. He keeps both keys, so nothing that threatens a person lies outside His hand. One day He will call both to give up what they hold.
- Peace — Christ says this to a man lying face-down and afraid, before He shows him anything terrible. Read the rest of the book the way John received it: from under that right hand.