Revelation 1:12-16
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
Commentary: This section is filled with allusions from the Hebrew Bible (the Christian “Old” Testament). But before we get to those, we should note that John, having heard a voice speaking behind him, turns to “see”, and what he sees captures his attention. There is a powerful requirement for understanding Revelation communicated in John’s turning to see. For most of us today it requires a good bit of effort to give our attention to any one thing; our senses are constantly called upon to process incredible amounts of information-images, texts, activities of the modern world. To give one’s attention is today truly an act of the will! But this is what is required for Revelation to have any meaning for us.
So John gives his attention to this vision. What does he see? First, lampstands. In Exodus 25:31-40, a description is given of the lampstand Moses was to make – according to the heavenly pattern, that would be used in the tabernacle (the tabernacle as the small-scale temple that Israel took with it through the desert on the way to the promised land- the place where Israel would meet with God along their journey). The lampstand itself carried images from creation – God creating the ruling “lights” of Genesis 1:16 – and from, likely, the tree of life in the midst of the Garden of Eden (Gen 2:9). The lampstand was shaped like a tree with branches, with lights illuminating the inner “world” of the tabernacle (and later temple). The fact that there were seven of them likely refers back to the seven churches – the number of fulfillment/perfection – mentioned earlier in the chapter.
In verse 13 it is one like a son of man (taken straight from Daniel 7!) who is walking in the midst of this heavenly temple and among the seven “lights” – i.e. the seven churches. The description of this one “like a son of man” is taken from a number of biblical texts including Daniel 7:9-10 (where they describe the Ancient of Days) and Ezekiel 1:26. The “son of man” is wearing priestly clothing and here, attributes that in Daniel only belonged to the Ancient of Days. In other words, here we have the resurrected Jesus described in terms of the Father (i.e. the Ancient of Days). The Son has ascended to the Throne of His Father and now shares in ruling – in particular in this section of Revelation – over His people the church (the seven stars, lampstands, etc.). It is a brilliant scene and one that is designed to invoke the relationship of the Father and the Son as King.
Application:
God is trying to get your attention. Let Him have it! I know this is often easier said than done, but it is crucial to settle our minds and hearts on who He is if we hope to make any progression in prayer and understanding.
So God and Christ as divine King, that’s where we want to start.
Take a few moments and get a picture in your mind of where this “one like a son of man” is positionally. He is portrayed in the image of the Ancient of Days, but he is not seated on a throne here, rather he is “in the midst” of the lampstands; this Jesus is found among the churches.
As we will soon see, the seven churches of Revelation are not perfect churches. But their imperfections do not keep Jesus away – they belong to Him.
Whether you currently identify with a local congregation or not, you are more than just a saved individual – you are a member of Christ’s body. In other words, Christ is not only manifesting Himself to you individually, but to you as a member of a corporate body. So lets think about it this way – Christ is in the midst of the modern American evangelical bible-belt church to which most of us have some degree of affiliation.
Now, as one who knows God (according to how He has been portrayed in Revelation thus far), you can see Him in our midst.
I am parking on this point because I believe it is super important that you see -from Christ’s perspective – you belong to an imperfect people. We could go on forever about all the things we would change about the church, but that usually leaves us more with a spirit of our own self-righteousness than it leads us to a place of seeing our inescapable connection to something greater than ourselves. The prophets of the Old Testament, just as the apostles of the New, did not just rail against the sins of God’s people, they suffered alongside them, grieved.
And it is both the vision of who Christ is (see our text above) coupled with our acknowledgment of our own failures as the church, that will lead to effective prayer and repentance.
So spend some time today reflecting on the fact that Christ does not lead His church from afar, but enters into our humble state and gives us a vision of where our true identity is found – in the midst of the Garden, the Tabernacle of His Presence, where a true burden for the church and the world is born.
Christ Tribe 