In the first eight verses of the Revelation we found the superscription, salutation, and solemn preface of the book. Now we come to the body of it and the first and dominant vision: the Vision of the Son of Man.

      "I John, your brother and partaker with you in tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus." This is the introductory sentence. Banished to the lonely, barren island of Patmos in the Aegean (Icarian) sea is John--"I, John," well known to all without further epithet or description; and although an apostle, yet simply a brother, and sharer along with other brethren in Christ in the same trials and sufferings, in the same privilege and promise, in the same task and test. No distinctive title adorns his simple name. He is not an ecclesiastical dignitary; not a prince or magnate of the church: not a be-titled clergyman--only and simply "His servant John" (v. 1) and "John your brother."

      "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day," he continues. By this is meant a state of special inspiration and ecstatic vision granted to him through the Spirit of God, later on again referred to in 4:2; 17:3; 21:10. (Compare Matt. 22:43; Ezek. 37:1.) Some have thought that John was carried away "in the Spirit" into the midst of the scenes of the "Day of the Lord"--that "great and terrible day." Others call attention to the difference in the Greek--not "hemera tou kuriou," the day of the Lord; but "kuriake hemera," indicating a day consecrated to, and belonging to the Lord; in the very earliest Christian writings (Didache, Ep. of Barnabas, et al.) recognized as the day of Christ's resurrection, the first day of the week, the day when Christians met to break bread. (Acts 20:7.) It is sufficient to note that, in the first vision and through chapter 3 at least, John was evidently not transported into the Day of the Lord, but was occupied with things then present and still present: the conditions of the churches. (Strictly the Day of the Lord does not break till the Lord Himself appears to execute vengeance and judgment in chapter 19:11ff.)

      And thus, in the Spirit, on the Lord's Day, John heard behind him a great Voice, like a trumpet (many a "great voice" is heard in this book!) announcing the first vision and commissioning the apostle to write it in a book and send it to the seven churches: "What thou seest write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea." All he was to see was to be sent to all the seven. Seven separate messages, one to each church, follow; yet they were not to be separated: all must read all. Moreover, there is significance in this "write on a scroll." Not an oral message to be heard once; nor was it a written message of merely present and transient importance it was; but "write it in a book" for the [10] church to have, to read, to keep, through all the coming days. Thus was Jeremiah bidden to write in a book the visions that were for the consolation of Israel in the future years. (Jer. 30:1-3.) The book makes a message permanent--a constant treasure of truth and comfort "till He come."

      Now John turns to "see the voice"--and having turned HE SAW: first of all, seven golden candlesticks (properly, lamp-stands). But in the midst of the golden lamp-stands he beheld a wondrous figure: one like unto a son of man (the same words as in Dan. 7:13--a significant fact, indicating the close relation of this book to Daniel's prophecies). There follows a nine-fold description of His Person:

1. Clothed in a garment reaching to the foot,
2. Girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle,
3. His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow;
4. His eyes were as a flame of fire;
5. His feet like unto burnished brass, as if it had been refined in a furnace.
6. His voice as the voice of many waters.
7. He held in His right hand seven stars.
8. Out of His mouth proceeded a sharp two-edged sword.
9. His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

      Here is symbolism. The description is not so much intended to give us a picture of the external appearance of our Lord's Person. The various descriptive items by which He is here portrayed are not such as would lend themselves to the art of the painter or sculptor.¹

      But these descriptions are, in part at least, symbolic, emblematic of His Divine dignity, power, office, and character. The meaning of some of these items is obvious: some are explained here or further on or elsewhere in the scriptures.

      But though the Son of Man is here presented to us in symbolic array, note well that all is not symbolic, nor is He Himself symbolic. It was actually the Lord Himself whom John saw, not merely a symbolic vision representing Him. It was the same Person whom Stephen had beheld standing at God's right hand, and Saul saw on the road to Damascus. The glory of His countenance also "as the sun shineth in his strength" was simple, sober fact. Beware of the false assumption that says, "If any part of a scripture is symbolical, then all is; and if any is literal all is literal." Such a principle would be entirely misleading. We shall constantly find symbolism grouped around central literal fact; and literal truth woven into symbolic texture.² [11]

      But flesh and blood could not endure such glory. "When I saw Him I fell at his feet as one dead." In the presence of even one of the angelic princes Daniel fell dumbfounded to the earth, and all his strength was turned into helpless weakness. (Dan. 10:8, 9.) How overwhelming then must be the unveiled glory of the Son of God! No wonder Paul tells us (2 Thess. 2:8) that the Man of Sin shall be brought to nought by the manifestation of Christ's coming (literally, "the outshining of His presence"). But for John is the welcome, reassuring word, "Fear not," and the gentle, reviving touch of His right hand. No--we have nothing to fear, for this is He who loved us and gave Himself for us.

      "Fear not," He says to John, "I am the first and the last and the living one" (titles belonging exclusively to God, yet openly applied to our Lord Jesus Christ: He and the Father are of one glory, John 17:5); "and I was dead and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the Keys of Death and of Hades." To the conqueror are delivered up the keys of the fallen fortress and citadel, in token of his right and authority over it. So holds the Lord Jesus authority over the realm of Death, and the keys of the gates of Hades. At His bidding the dead come forth (John 5:28); at His command the eternal prison-gates swing open and release their prey. (Rom. 14:9.) WRITE THEREFORE! "Go ye therefore," He says in Matthew 28:19. On what ground shall they go? "All authority in heaven and on earth is given unto me. go ye therefore." And on what ground shall John write? "I am the first and the last and the Living one; I was dead and behold I am alive for evermore and I have the Keys of Death and Hades: Write, therefore." All the books of the New Testament are alike given by the inspiration of the Spirit; but behind none other is so specific and solemn a commission to write. This is not the book to be ignored.

      In giving John the commission to write, the Lord also laid out for him and for us the ground-plan and division of the book: "Write, therefore"

(1)   The things which thou sawest,
(2)   And the things which are,
(3)   And the things which shall come to pass hereafter.

What the first part includes we already know. What had John seen thus far? Obviously it is nothing else than the Vision of the Son of man, which he records in verses 10-18. The last of the three sections, the things future, obviously begins at chapter 4:1, which see. The middle one, deals with "the things that are," things present, therefore lies between chapters one and four. [12] This division, so clearly marked, has an important bearing on the proper understanding of the whole book.

      Some have disputed this division. That is not strange; there is not a verse or statement in the book that has not been controverted. Contending that the first chapter is too closely related to the next two to form a separate division, some would translate thus: "Write therefore the things which thou sawest and what they are," or"--even the things which are." The chief objection to that is that it makes poor sense. The common translation is better and more natural. John had seen something--namely, the vision of the glorified Lord; and he was bidden to write that, and did so. The next two chapters do actually refer to "things that are"--present existing church-conditions. And the "things which shall come to pass hereafter" (or "after these") specifically introduced at 4:1--"Come up hither and I will show thee the things which come to pass hereafter."

      Let us hold fast, then, to this simple, three-fold division of the book. It is God's own division of it, and necessary to a proper understanding of the Revelation.

      To the commission to write, the Lord adds an explanation of the significance of the stars in His right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.³

      The mystery of the seven stars. In the New Testament "mystery" does not mean an enigmatical, incomprehensible thing, but a previously unrevealed thing; a secret, now disclosed. "The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches." But there is a difficulty in determining what or who is the angel of a church. The commonest meaning, a messenger (2 Cor. 8:23; Phil. 2:25), does not seem to apply here: these angels are more important personages. Moreover, we send messages by a messenger; but the messages that follow are addressed to the angel. Nor is it a heavenly angel, for obvious reasons. However, this need not detain us. Sufficient to recognize that the angel in each case is a representative of the church, and seems more or less responsible for what the church does.⁴

      But "the seven golden candlesticks are seven churches." They were of gold--as were all the furnishings of the inner sanctuary of the Tabernacle and the Temple where God's presence dwelt. They were lightbearers; for the church is the pillar and the ground of the truth. (1 Tim. 3:15).

      Beyond this lies more to challenge our inquiry and attention. [13] Why are they seven? We think at once of the seven-armed candlestick that stood in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. But that was one candlestick, all its branches uniting in one central stem. Here we have seven separate ones--each representing a church. This is significant. It proclaims loudly the great principle of congregational independence. Each candlestick stands on its own base, carries its own light, and is entirely independent and distinct from the others. Though all co-operate in sending forth the light, each congregation of His church stands as a separate entity before God. In the messages that follow no single church is criticized or commended for what another does; nor is one directly affected for good or ill by the faithfulness or disobedience of another. Each church is autonomous: there is no visible centralized government that controls the congregations. This fundamental, God-ordained constitution of the church cannot be violated or even tampered with without disastrous consequences. It is one of the safeguards of the church's purity and spiritual power.

      But though as to their visible state separate and independent, the candlesticks are nevertheless joined together. They do after all form a unity, a "seven-armed candlestick." The central stem is there--clearly seen by John: it is the Son of man in the midst. They are not one in earthly connection: they are one in Him, and in a sevenfold inward unity of the Spirit (Eph. 4:4-6). The many churches (congregations) become in Him the Church Universal.

      But why just seven? The question is not yet answered. "John to the seven churches in Asia. . . . What thou seest write in a book and send it to the seven churches . . . . I saw seven golden candlesticks and in the midst of them one like unto a son of man. . . ." Did the Son of man walk only in the midst of these seven? Were there no others? Was He not in the same relation to them all? Did He not hold all their stars in His right hand? Were there no other churches in "Asia"? What about Colossae? What about Hierapolis? Or were the hundreds of other congregations in the world not included in this scene which John saw nor in the messages that follow? Assuredly they are. Then why limit to the seven? The answer lies in the symbolic value of the number seven; and in the representative character of these seven churches. We have already had a reference to the "seven Spirits of God" (1:4; 3:1). But we know of a certainty that there is but one Spirit. The "seven Spirits" represent the One Spirit in His totality and perfection, in all His offices and functions:

Seven is the number of perfection and completion. Seven rounds out a cycle and makes a whole. There are many series of sevens running through this book, and we shall have occasion to observe that in every case the seven signifies a fullness. [14]

      So here. The seven churches are representative of all the churches, then or since or now. In those seven all are included, from the worst to the best and every degree between, answering to all possible conditions and situations in which the church may ever be found. The cycle of all the phases of the One Church is summed up and completed in these "seven churches that are in Asia," and what is said to them is said to all.

[TR3A 10-15]