The Book Is Open, Revelation 1: 12-18

The concept of a verse by verse study of the Book of Revelation or even the Bible does not bode well with many, aside from the slow pace of study,  it restricts the ability to shape or twist the Word of God.  The confusion of Christianity is based upon the lack of understanding that is caused by this anomaly.  Any interpretation of the scripture must follow the rule of who is talking, who is being spoken to and what is the subject matter.   What will soon begin to appear most troubling in this study is the order of the events that will or is occurring and where we are in the timeline of events. 

In our study of Revelation, we will attempt to learn much about the event portrayed in the book, while we struggle to unlearn much of what we have been told.  Lets began.

Revelation 1:12  And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. He naturally turned round to see who it was that spoke to him in this solitary and desolate place, where he thought himself to be alone.  There is nothing profound in this verse unless it is to see the vision required an action on John's part.  To see the voice here means to see the person who spake. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks. These were the first things that met his eye. This must have been in vision, of course; and the meaning is, that there seemed to be there seven such lamps or candelabras. The word rendered candlesticks --lucnia--means properly a light-stand; lamp-stand;--something to bear up a light. It would be applied to anything that was used for this purpose; and nothing is intimated, in the use of the word, in regard to the form or dimensions of the light-bearers. Lamps were more commonly used at that time than candles, and it is rather to be supposed that these were designed to be lamp-bearers, or lamp-sustainers, than candlesticks. They were seven in number; not one branching into seven, but seven standing "separate" apart, and so far from each other that he who would appear to John could stand among them.

Revelation 1:13  And 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.

John is not describing the Son of Man in the natural state, he is describing Jesus in the supernatural state.  To do this he must use significations.  What he saw he used the words 'like unto' the Son of Man, he did not say he saw the Son of Man.  

Revelation 1:14   His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

This verse is often used in error to prove the ethnic make of the Son of Man. The structure of the verse indicates John in is again using a type of language to describe the indescribable.  John is merely trying to describe the purity of a supernatural being. 

His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow. Exceedingly or perfectly white--the first suggestion to the mind of the apostle is that of wool, and then the thought occurring of its extreme whiteness resembling snow--the purest white of which the mind conceives. The comparison with wool and snow to denote anything peculiarly white is not uncommon. See Isaiah 1:18. it is supposes that this means, not that his hairs were literally white, as if with age, which would be incongruous to one just risen from the dead, clothed with immortal youth and rigour, but that it means radiant, bright, resplendent--similar to what occurred on the transfiguration of the Saviour, Matthew 17:2. 

The usual meaning of the word is more obvious here, and not at all inappropriate. The representation was fitted to signify majesty and authority, and this would be best accomplished by the image of one who was venerable in years. Thus in the vision that appeared to Daniel, (Danial 7:9), it is said of him who is there called the "Ancient of Days," that his "garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool." It is not improbable that John had that representation in his eye, and that therefore he would be impressed with the conviction that this was a manifestation of a Divine person. We are not necessarily to suppose that this is the form in which the Saviour always appears now in heaven, any more than we are to suppose that God appears always in the form in which he was manifested to Isaiah, (Isaiah 6:1) to Daniel, (Daniel 7:9) or to Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu in the mount, Exodus 24:10-11. The representation is, that this form was assumed for the purpose of impressing the mind of the apostle with a sense of his majesty and glory.

And his eyes were as a flame of fire. Bright, sharp, penetrating; as if everything was light before them, or they would penetrate into the thoughts of men. Such a representation is not uncommon. We speak of a lightning glance, a fiery look, etc. In Daniel 10:6, it is said of the man who appeared to the prophet on the banks of the river Hiddekel, that his eyes were "as lamps of fire." 

Revelation 1:15  And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

As if they burned in a furnace. That is, his feet were so bright that they seemed to be like a beautiful metal glowing intensely in the midst of a furnace. Anyone who has looked upon the dazzling and almost insupportable brilliancy of metal in a furnace can visualize the image here presented.

And his voice as the sound of many waters. As the roar of the ocean, or of a cataract. Nothing could be a more sublime description of majesty and authority than to compare the voice of a speaker with the roar of the ocean. This comparison often occurs in the Scriptures. See Eze 43:2, "And behold the glory of the God of Israel came from the east: and his voice was like the sound of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory.

 Revelation 1:16  And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

He had in his right hand seven stars. Emblematic of the angels of the seven churches, not angels of God but leaders of the seven churches.  How he held them is not said. It may be that they seemed to rest on his open palm, or it may be that he seemed to hold them as if they were arranged in a certain order, and with some sort of attachment so that they could be grasped. It is not improbable that as in the case of the seven lamp-bearers, they were so arranged as to represent the relative position of the seven churches.

And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.  Remember the language is symbolic, not literal.  On the form of the ancient two-edged sword, the two edges were designed to cut both ways; and such a sword is a striking emblem of the penetrating power of truth, or of words that proceed from the mouth; and this is designed undoubtedly to be the representation here-that there was some symbol which showed that his words, or his truth, had the power of cutting deep, or penetrating the soul. In Isaiah 49:2 it is said of the same personage, "And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword." In Heb 4:12, "The word of God is quick and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword".

Revelation 1:17  And 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: 

To see the Glory of God was a profound experience for John, one of the season disciples.   And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. As if I were dead; deprived of sense and consciousness. He was overwhelmed with the suddenness of the vision; he saw that this was a Divine being, but he did not as yet know that it was the Saviour. It is not probable that in this vision he would immediately recognize any of the familiar features of the Lord Jesus as he had been accustomed to seeing him some sixty years before; and if he did, the effect would have been quite as overpowering as is here described. But the subsequent revelations of this Divine personage would rather seem to imply that John did not at once recognize him as the Lord Jesus.  Now that is a point to ponder as we proceed.

And he laid his right hand upon me. For the purpose of raising him up. Compare Da 8:18, "He touched me, and set me upright." We usually stretch out the right hand to raise up one who is fallen.

Saying unto me, Fear not. "It is I; be not afraid." The fact that it was the Saviour, though he appeared in this form of overpowering majesty, was a reason why John should not be afraid. Why that was a reason, he immediately adds--that he was the first and the last; that though he had been dead he was now alive, and would continue ever to live, and that he had the keys of hell and of death. It is evident that John was overpowered by that awful emotion which the human mind must feel at the evidence of the presence of God. Thus men feel when God seems to come near them by the impressive symbols of his majesty--as in the thunder, the earthquake, and the tempest.  Yet, amidst the most awful manifestations of Divine power, the simple assurance that our Redeemer is near us is enough to allay our fears and diffuse calmness through the soul.

I am the first and the last. This is stated to be one of the reasons why he should not fear--that he was eternal: "I always live--have lived through all the past, and will live through all which is to come--and therefore I can accomplish all my promises, and execute all my purposes."

Revelation 1:18   I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.

I am he that liveth, and was dead. I was once dead, but now I live and shall continue to live forever. This would at once identify him who thus appeared as the Lord Jesus Christ, for to no one else could this make this statement. He had been put to death, but he had risen from the grave. This also is given as a reason why John should not fear, and nothing would allay his fears more than this. He now saw that he was in the presence of that Saviour whom more than half a century before he had so tenderly loved when in the flesh, and whom, though now long absent, he had faithfully served, and for whose cause he was now in this lonely island. His faith in his resurrection had not been a delusion; he saw the very Redeemer before him who had once been laid in the tomb.

 Behold, I am alive for evermore. I am to live forever. Death is no more to cut me down, and I am never again to slumber in the grave. As he was always to live, he could accomplish all his promises, and fulfill all his purposes. The Saviour is never to die again. He can, therefore, always sustain us in our troubles; he can be with us in our death. Whoever of our friends die, he will not die; when we die, he will still be on the throne.

Amen. A word here of strong affirmation--as if he had said, it is true, or certainly so. This expression is one that the Saviour often used when he wished to give emphasis or to express anything strongly. 

 And have the keys of hell and of death. The word rendered hell refers properly to the underworld; the abode of departed spirits; the region of the dead. This was represented as dull and gloomy; as enclosed with walls; as entered through gates which were fastened with bolts and bars. For a description of the views which prevailed among the ancients on this subject, read Luke 16:23, Job 10:21-22. To hold the key of this, was to hold the power over the invisible or supernatural world. It was the more appropriate that the Saviour should represent himself as having this authority, as he had himself been raised from the dead by his own power, thus showing that the dominion over this dark world was entrusted to him.

And of death. A personification. Death reigns in the natural world, the same as day and night.  But to Christ wide-extended realms of control over the natural and spiritual world, he holds the key, and can have access when he pleases, releasing all whom he chooses, and confining there still such as he shall please.  As Christ always lives; as he always retains this power over the regions of the dead, and the whole world of spirits, it may be further remarked that we have nothing to dread if we put our trust in him. We need not fear to enter a world which he has entered and from which he has emerged, achieving a glorious triumph; we need not fear what the dread king of darkness that reigns there can do to us, for his power does not extend beyond the permission of the Saviour, and in his own time that Saviour will call us forth to live to die no more.

Join us next week as we began to unravel the mystery.