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.