Chapter 3: Revelation 1:9-20

 

John begins this section by telling us the place where he received this revelation. He was in exile on account of the word and testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation 1:9 says,

⁹ I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

John tells us here that he was already “in the tribulation.” This is the first of just five direct references to “tribulation” found in John's book. The five are: Rev. 1:9; 2:9, 10, 22; and 7:14. In 1:9 John claimed to be in the tribulation already. In 2:9, 10 the Church of Smyrna is in tribulation. In 2:22 God casts the Church of Thyatira into “great tribulation” because of her “adultery.” As we will see in our study of The Seven Churches, these churches represent ages within the overall Church Age—that is, the Age of Pentecost. So whether we view Smyrna and Thyatira in a literal manner in John's day, or see them as representing church ages, neither view fits well with the modern idea of “the great tribulation” that is said to be yet future.

In 7:14 John catches a glimpse of the future time when this tribulation is completed, and he sees those who came forth perfected by it. But even here he says nothing of timing nor does he say how long this great tribulation had lasted. This is why there are different opinions even among futurists, some saying that the tribulation lasts seven years, and others just half that time. They arrive at this short period of time primarily through a literal view of the 1,260 “days” and 42 “months” that John mentions later.

As we will show later, when we look at the actual outworking of the historical fulfillment, it becomes plain that John was speaking of a day for a year (Num. 14:34). When the Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness to be tempted for 40 days (Matt. 4:1, 2). He did this to overcome 40 days where Israel had failed 40 years when they were tempted in the wilderness, a day for a year. Acts 7:38 calls Israel “the church in the wilderness.” They were a type and shadow of the Church in the Age of Pentecost, which had its own trial and temptation for 40 Jubilees (40 x 49 = 1,960 years).

Israel being tried in the wilderness under Moses established the prophetic parallel to the trials and tribulations of the Church in the Age of Pentecost. As history shows, most of the Church in general failed the tests for lack of faith, but in each case there were the minority of overcomers who succeeded, even as Jesus passed the tests.

Hence, in order to understand the biblical concept of “tribulation,” we must compare the Old Testament Church with the New Testament Church, for one prophesied of the other. Once we see this, it is apparent that the purpose of tribulation is to test or try the Church—not to bring trial to the world, as is commonly thought. This is also why John speaks of the Churches of Smyrna and Thyatira as going through tribulation. In the case of Smyrna, we read in Rev. 2:10,

¹⁰ Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days.

The purpose of tribulation is to test the Church to find out who truly has faith, and who has merely been persuaded by men to follow Christ. God Himself gives the Church into the hands of “the devil” in the same manner as Jesus Himself being “tempted of the devil” (Matt. 4:1). And all of this is laid down in the law in Leviticus 16, where the second goat is “for Azazel,” a satyr, which is an ancient picture of “the devil.” On the Day of Atonement, the first goat was “for Yahweh,” while the second goat was “for Azazel.” Jesus presented Himself to Yahweh as the first goat on the Day of Atonement when He was baptized by John. Then He took upon Himself the role of the second goat as well, being led into the wilderness to be, as it were, devil's food, for 40 days.

Jesus was the original Overcomer. Those who follow in His footsteps are those who overcome even as He overcame. They are like Caleb and Joshua in the wilderness under Moses. The overcomers in The Seven Churches are a tiny minority as well, yet all must be tried in the same manner. This is why the tribulation is specifically applicable to the Church and not, as is commonly thought, against “the Antichrist” and his supporters.

And so, John speaks of tribulation as being continuous from his own day to the day when jurisdiction over the earth is transferred to the saints of the Most High. There is no particular reason to view the tribulation as a future event, unless we assume ahead of time that this is the case. One certainly could not prove it by the book of Revelation.

John wrote this book no later than 96 A.D. when he was an old man in exile on the island of Patmos. He had been exiled by the Roman Emperor Domitian (81-96 A.D.). Along with Nero, Domitian was the second of the Roman Emperors to persecute the Church. Eusebius, the bishop of Caesarea in the fourth century, wrote in his Ecclesiastical History, I, iii, 20,

“After fifteen years of Domitian's rule, Nerva succeeded to the throne. By vote of the Roman senate Domitian's honours were removed, and those unjustly banished returned to their homes and had their property restored to them. This is noted by the chroniclers of the period. At that time too the apostle John, after his exile on the island, resumed residence at Ephesus, as early Christian tradition records.”

John calls himself a “fellow partaker in the tribulation,” implying that others were being persecuted at the same time.

As a matter of interest, in this persecution the Emperor Domitian personally interrogated Jude's grandsons, because he was suspicious of anyone descended from King David. Jude, the author of the book by this name, was Jesus' brother. Eusebius, bishop of Caesarea in the fourth century, quotes Hegesippus (an earlier writer) in his History of the Church, III, 20, telling us the story:

“And there still survived of the Lord's family the grandsons of Jude, who was said to be His brother, humanly speaking. These were informed against as being of David's line, and brought by the evocatus [arresting officer] before Domitian Caesar, who was as afraid of the advent of Christ as Herod had been. Domitian asked them whether they were descended from David, and they admitted it. Then he asked them what property they owned and what funds they had at their disposal. They replied that they had only 9,000 denarii between them, half belonging to each; this, they said, was not available in cash, but was the estimated value of only thirty-nine plethora of land, from which they raised the money to pay their taxes and the wherewithal to support themselves by their own toil.

“Then, the writer continues, they showed him their hands, putting forward as proof of their toil the hardness of their bodies and the calluses impressed on their hands by incessant labour. When asked about Christ and His Kingdom—what it was like, and where and when it would appear—they explained that it was not of this world or anywhere on earth but angelic and in heaven, and would be established at the end of the world [age], when He would come in glory to judge the quick [living] and the dead and give every man payment according to his conduct. On hearing this, Domitian found no fault with them, but despising them as beneath his notice, let them go free and issued orders terminating the persecution of the Church. On their release they became leaders of the churches, both because they had borne testimony and because they were the Lord's family; and thanks to the establishment of peace they lived on into Trajan's time.”

Since John wrote Revelation during the time of his exile on Patmos, it is plain that it was written no later than 96 A.D., when he returned to Ephesus. Eusebius quotes Irenaeus in Eccl. Hist., I, iii, 23, saying, “The church at Ephesus was founded by Paul, and John remained there till Trajan's time.” After Domitian and Nerva (96-98 A.D.), Trajan was the Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 A.D. Though we have no precise date for John's death, the early Church historians tell us that he lived until early in the rule of Trajan, that is, until at least 98 A.D.

Revelation 1:10-11

¹⁰  I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,  ¹¹ saying, Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches; to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.

Some teachers attempt to connect “the Lord's day” with “the day of the Lord.” They believe that John was caught up to a future time called “the day of the Lord.” Among such teachers was Dr. E. W. Bullinger himself, author of the notes for The Companion Bible. He wrote a Commentary on Revelation as well. On page nine of this Commentary, he writes,

“There is no evidence of any kind that ‘the first day of the week' was ever called ‘the Lord's Day' before the Apocalypse was written.”

Bullinger probably believed that the Didache (the "Teaching" of the Apostles) was written some time after the time of John. But most believe it was written earlier in the first century. It is usually dated from 60-110 A.D., yet a top scholar, Enrico Mazza, has argued persuasively that it was composed no later than 48 A.D. If so, "the Lord's day" was a term used commonly in the Church even before John wrote the book of Revelation.

The Didache is perhaps the earliest of the Church writings other than those written by the New Testament writers themselves. In the book, Didache, the Unknown Teaching of the Twelve Apostles, edited by Brent Walters, Curator of the Ante-Nicene Archive, we read in his introduction, page 35,

“The earliest is called the Teaching of the Twelve Apostles—the most modest of the orders, dating between the year 70 and the close of the first century. The Teaching consists of: instruction regarding Christian ethics, precepts, and behavior; Christian practices such as baptism, fasting, and prayer; Christian liturgy as we find in the Eucharist, worship, and tithing; Christian offices, such as apostles, prophets, elders, teachers, and deacons; and a section on Christian eschatology. It was the first manual of church customs and practices, and consequently became the model for several later writings of a similar type.”

Walters' book is a compilation of essays about the Didache, written by various scholars. In an essay by John Wordsworth, he quotes a portion of Chapter Fourteen of the Didache:

“On the Lord's day of the Lord gather together and break bread and give thanks, adding confession of your sins, that your sacrifice may be pure.”

This peculiar expression is of interest to us because it can be read either as “the Lord's day” or as the “day of the Lord.” It seems obvious that the two phrases were synonymous to the early Church.

A second witness was Ignatius, bishop of Antioch, who was born about 30 A.D. and died in 107 A.D. Ignatius was reputed to have been the child that Jesus set forth in the midst of His disciples in Matthew 18:2 as an example of how one must become as a little child to enter the Kingdom of heaven. While some think this to be mythical, all historians recognize that Ignatius was born about 30 A.D. and, as a child, met Jesus personally. In fact, he tells us specifically that he had personally met Jesus in his letter to the Church of Smyrna, chapter three. The four-century writer, Jerome, translated Ignatius' letter into Latin. He wrote about Ignatius,

“In this last he [Ignatius] bore witness to the Gospel which I have recently translated in respect of the person of Christ, saying, ‘I indeed saw Him in the flesh after the resurrection, and I believe that He is'.”

Jerome thus bears witness that Ignatius, as a child, was one of the 500-plus brethren who saw Jesus after His resurrection (1 Cor. 15:6). He was a disciple of John the Revelator. This same Ignatius uses the term “the Lord's day” and clearly identifies that day as the day the Romans called Sunday. He writes in chapter nine of his letter to the Trallians,

“On the day of the preparation [Friday], then, at the third hour, He received the sentence from Pilate, the Father permitting that to happen; at the sixth hour He was crucified; at the ninth hour He gave up the ghost; and before sunset He was buried. During the Sabbath [Saturday], He continued under the earth in the tomb in which Joseph of Arimathea had laid Him. At the dawning of the Lord's Day [Sunday] He arose from the dead, according to what was spoken by Himself . . . The day of the preparation, then, comprises the passion; the Sabbath embraces the burial; the Lord's Day contains the resurrection.”

If Ignatius had been using incorrect terminology, the Apostle John would have had many years in which to correct him, for they were contemporaries for about 70 years and knew each other well. Ignatius clearly uses the term “the Lord's Day” to mean the day after the Jewish Sabbath, or the day that the Romans called Sunday. Again, the same author uses “the Lord's day” in his letter to the Magnesians, saying in chapter nine,

“If, therefore, those who were brought up in the ancient order of things have come to the possession of a new hope, no longer observing the Sabbath, but living in the observance of the Lord's Day, on which also our life has sprung up again by Him and by His death . . . ."

Ignatius is a first-century witness, though the two letters above were actually written in Smyrna on his way to Rome where he was to be thrown to the wild beasts either in 107 or 113 A.D. He died under the Emperor Trajan, who, at that time, was on an expedition against the Parthians and Armenians.

In the Martyrdom of Ignatius, his death is dated in the ninth year of Trajan's reign (107 A.D.). Hence, the Orthodox Church commemorates his death on December 20, 107 A.D. However, others dispute this, pointing out that Trajan declared war on Parthia in 113 about the time that Governor Pliny wrote to him asking him how to deal with the Christians. As I wrote in Book II of Lessons in Church History, chapter 6, "It is likely, then, that he came to Antioch in 113 where he condemned Ignatius before hurrying to Armenia."

Either way, though, Ignatius barely outlived his mentor, the Apostle John, who died early in the reign of Trajan. Trajan reigned from 98-117 A.D.

Bullinger says there is no evidence that “the Lord's Day” was applied to the first day of the week prior to John's Book of Revelation. Certainly he must have known of Ignatius' writings. Technically, Ignatius wrote the two letters above in 107 A.D., which was 11-15 years after John wrote the book of Revelation. So his argument is unfair, since Ignatius had probably used this term in his teaching ministry for decades prior to writing the letters quoted above. Furthermore, since Ignatius was John's disciple, it is highly unlikely that Ignatius would have suddenly introduced an idea of “the Lord's Day” after John's death.

At any rate, from this time on, we find “the Lord's day” used consistently to mean Sunday, the day that the early Church commemorated Jesus Christ's presentation to the Father in fulfillment of the Wave-sheaf offering. But Ignatius is not the only witness. He is only the earliest, other than The Didache itself and, of course, Revelation 1:10. We conclude, then, that John's reference to “the Lord's day” is not to be interpreted according to the Old Testament term, “the day of the Lord,” but rather as the day of the week called Sunday, as the early Church used it.

Having made this point, however, let me say that “the day of the Lord” is also applicable to the seventh millennium—the Sabbath millennium. Even as the term was applied to the seventh DAY, celebrated each Sunday in the early Church, so also the term could apply to the seventh MILLENNIUM. 2 Peter 3:8 quotes Psalm 90:4, saying,

⁸ But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

It was widely believed in the early Church—and in Jewish circles as well—that the Messianic Age would begin with the seventh millennium from Adam. While they differed on the chronological tables and did not have the benefit of archeology that we have today, they did teach this. For example, the Epistle of Barnabas is dated about 115 A.D. It says in Barnabas 13:3-5,

³ And even in the beginning of the creation, he makes mention of the Sabbath… ⁴ Consider, my children, what that signifies, he finished them in six days. The meaning of it is this; that in six thousand years the Lord God will bring all things to an end. ⁵ For with him one day is a thousand years; as himself testifieth saying, behold this day shall be as a thousand years. Therefore, children, in six days, that is, in six thousand years, shall all things be accomplished.

So we see that the “Day of the Lord” and “the Lord's Day” can be thought of as either a weekly Sabbath or a millennial Sabbath. The law sets forth three Sabbaths: the seventh day, the seventh year, and the Jubilee. There is no reason, then, to exclude the idea of a seventh millennium, especially since this idea was well known in biblical days.

Revelation 1:12

¹² And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands.

The seven golden lampstands are symbolic of the Church in its seven prophetic ages, for we read in Revelation 1:20, “the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

First we must explain “the seven stars,” which is a reference to the constellation known as the Pleiades, “the seven sisters.” Psalm 147:4 tells us that God named all the stars. Genesis 1:14-19 tells us that God created the stars (constellations) not only to be for light at night, but also to be “for signs and for seasons.” Thus, they are prophetic signs of things to come. Carnal men later began to use these things in an unlawful manner, but this degeneration in no way makes the stars less prophetic. To summarize the twelve constellations and their depiction, they are as follows:

1. Virgo—the sufferings of Christ 7. Pisces—The blessings in abeyance

2. Libra—the Redeemer’s atoning work 8. Aries—The blessings consummated

3. Scorpio—The Redeemer’s conflict 9. Taurus—Messiah coming to rule

4. Sagittarius—The Redeemer’s triumph 10. Gemini—Messiah, Prince of Peace

5. Capricorn—The results of His sufferings 11. Cancer—Messiah’s possession

6. Aquarius—The blessings assured 12. Leo—Messiah’s final triumph

The Pleiades are located in the shoulder of Taurus, which depicts Christ as the bull, or ox, the suffering Servant put forth in the Gospel of Mark. In Appendix 12 of The Companion Bible, Dr. Bullinger explains that the Hebrew name for the constellation Taurus is Shur (“coming and ruling”) and Re’em (“pre-eminence”). A bright star of the Pleiades, located in the shoulder of Taurus, is named Al Cyone, which means “the center.” It was thought in ancient times that the Pleiades constellation was the center of the universe and the place of the throne of God.

The Hebrew name for the Al Cyone is Succoth, “booths” or the feast of Tabernacles. These names indicate that the feast of Tabernacles, or Booths, is the center or goal of history. It is also supposed to be the center of focus for the Church, which is depicted by the Pleiades.

Any time the Church takes its eyes off this central focus, they begin to lose track of their divine purpose, which is to see the unveiling of Jesus Christ in their flesh. The Pleiades is the heavenly witness of the feast of Tabernacles and how it teaches us the path to the throne of God, His unveiled presence.

John saw not one, but seven golden lampstands. By contrast, Moses’ tabernacle there was only a single lampstand with seven lamps (Ex. 25:37). It was situated on the left side of the tabernacle as one faced the Most Holy Place. It was made of pure gold that was one talent by weight. Its function and purpose was “to shed light” (Ex. 25:37).

Centuries later when Solomon built the temple in Jerusalem, he had ten lampstands built to shed more light in a larger area (1 Kings 7:49). Five were placed on the left side, and five on the right. The alteration depicted the progression of the Kingdom from a small tent to a magnificent temple. The Kingdom of God was established first with the small nation of Israel and will ultimately fill the whole earth. Jesus Christ (under the name El Shaddai) revealed Himself first as the God of one man, Abraham, in Genesis 26:4, then in 1 Chronicles 29:10 as the God of one nation, Israel, and finally in Isaiah 54:5 as “the God of all the earth.”

The lampstand reflects this progressive revelation. At first only a small light is needed, for the people of the Kingdom were few. Yet seven is the number of perfection. But as time progresses, more light is needed to cover a larger area. Hence, under King Solomon, Israel was given ten lampstands, each having seven lamps for a total of seventy lights. Seventy is the universal number portraying the light of God to all nations.

Genesis 10 selects seventy families from Noah’s progeny to represent all nations. This is what gives meaning to the number seventy. Hence, we find ten lampstands, each having seven lamps, to give seventy beams of light—one for each nation.

7 x 10 = 70 (Nations)

In Revelation 1:12 there are seven lampstands, each having seven lights for a total of 49 beams of light. The number 49 signifies the Jubilee, which was to be proclaimed after the completion of 49 years. The seven lampstands represent the seven churches listed in verse 11. The seven lights on each lampstand are the seven “stars,” that is, the seven “angels” of the seven churches (Rev. 1:20).

7 x 7 = 49 (The Jubilee)

The lampstand itself was gold, and the fire that burned upon it provided the light. The seven golden lampstands represent the seven churches, but the light comes forth from the angel of those churches. The word “angels” means messenger. It can refer to spirits or to people. In this case it refers to both. God has messengers on earth who are called to proclaim the Good News (or, the Gospel of Jesus Christ). They have a message for the world. God’s earthly messengers are empowered by angels who work through them. These angels are spirits that are characterized by specific words of God. Angels determine the particular callings of the earthly messengers.

The full message of God comes from the seven spirits of God, which, collectively make up the Holy Spirit. One might view the Holy Spirit as the white light which, when refracted through a prism, is broken up into seven colors of light. White light is actually the combination of seven colors. Even so, the Holy Spirit is comprised of the seven Spirits of God.

These seven spirits of God, which we listed earlier, are the seven lights on the lampstand, for we read in Revelation 1:20, “the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” The earthly messenger of each church was primarily its leader through whom the light of God’s Word was preached. Yet because there were seven lamps on each of the lampstands (churches), we see that the preachers were supposed to be empowered by the Holy Spirit.

The earthly messengers were to be the embodiment of the spiritual messengers (angels). Angels are the embodiment of the Word of God. Specific angels have specific words or revelations in them and are named according to that word that makes up their character. So generally speaking, the entire church is empowered by the word in the angel, and not merely the leader or preacher.

The light from the seven lampstands give light to the churches and also to the world. In that these seven lampstands actually contain 49 lights, we see God’s ultimate purpose for the Church is to support the message of the angels (messengers, earthly and heavenly) as they proclaim the light of the Jubilee to the whole the earth.

Revelation 1:13

¹³ in the middle of the lampstands one like a Son of Man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast [mastos] with a golden girdle.

This is a visionary depiction of Jesus Christ, who dwells in the midst of the churches. He is called “one like a Son of Man,” which is Christ in His capacity as a resurrected and glorified man on earth. His role as Son of Man qualifies Him legally to have dominion over the earth, for we read in Genesis 1:26-28 in the creation of man that he was given the authority to rule and subdue the earth.

But in verse 13 above, Christ is described as wearing a robe with a “golden girdle” across his breast. The robe, of course, is a priestly garment of white linen as we find throughout the Scriptures. Jesus is our High Priest. But why is He pictured wearing a “golden girdle” across His breast? The Greek word translated “breast” is mastos. Strong’s Concordance says this means “a (prop. female) breast.” The root word means to handle, squeeze, or chew ("masticate"). Thus, the word primarily has to do with nursing a child.

Adam was created male and female (Gen. 1:27), and only later did God remove the female part of him and form a second person called Eve. Adam was created in the image of God, who is complete in Himself. Thus, we find that from Adam to Moses God revealed Himself to the patriarchs only in the feminine manifestation of El Shaddai, the breasted One. (Shad is Hebrew for a breast.) In Exodus 6:2, 3, when Moses asked the name of the One who was sending Him to deliver Israel and give them the law, we read,

² God spoke further to Moses and said to him, I am the Lord [Yahweh]; ³ and I appeared to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob as God Almighty [El Shaddai], but by My name Lord [Yahweh] I did not make Myself known to them.

Yahweh is the masculine side of God’s personality and being. Whereas El Shaddai is the nurturer and provider, Yahweh is the lawgiver, the disciplinarian, the tutor necessary to bring His children to maturity (Gal. 3:24; 4:2).

The golden girdle draws attention to His/Her breast and is meant to portray Christ’s feminine side as well as the masculine priesthood. If this seems strange, consider this: Jesus came as the Passover Lamb. In Exodus 12:5 this lamb was to be male, not female. When Jesus died on the Cross as that Passover Lamb, He fulfilled this prophetic law as a man. On the other hand, in Numbers 19:2 we read of the red heifer, whose ashes were to be used to purify the people. Jesus Christ came to fulfill this prophetic law as well in order to purify our consciences (Heb. 9:13, 14). The red heifer was female. Jesus was crucified on the top [“head, skull”] of the Mount of Olives, next to the place where the ashes of the red heifer were kept. Hence, Jesus fulfilled both a male and a female role in His crucifixion.

The same principle is established in the law of sacrifices, which could be either a male or a female (Lev. 3:1). When a ruler sinned, a male goat was offered (Lev. 4:23). When the congregation (church) sinned, a female goat was offered (Lev. 4:32). The congregation, or church, was the bride, the “Eve” of the Last Adam.

And so the terminology found in Revelation 1:13 presents Christ not only as a man, but as a complete man—as Adam was before God separated the woman from him. The golden girdle draws attention to his breast and invites the children of God to come to Him for motherly sustenance as well as for priestly ministry.

Revelation 1:14

¹⁴ And His head and His hair were like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire;

Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:14 that a woman’s hair “is a glory to her.” Paul also says that this is why she prayed with her head covered. Glory was always veiled or covered. When God came down upon Mount Sinai in His glory, He covered that glory (fire) with a cloud. The cloud veiled His glory. When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the veil which was His flesh covered His glory. His glory later was seen only briefly by three disciples on the mount of transfiguration.

And so in Revelation 1:14 Jesus Christ is pictured with white hair like wool and snow. The wool is to remind us that He is the Lamb of God; the snow is to remind us of the snow on the top of Mount Hermon, where (I believe) He was transfigured before the three disciples. (Compare Deut. 4:48 with Heb. 12:22.)

The Ancient of Days

There is another very important aspect of this description of Christ, which we see by comparing Revelation 1:14 with “the Ancient of Days” in Daniel 7:9,

⁹ I kept looking until thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, its wheels were a burning fire. ¹⁰ A river of fire was flowing and coming out from before Him; thousands upon thousands were attending Him, and myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; the court sat, and the books were opened.

In this role as Son of Man, Jesus has the authority to judge all mankind as the Supreme Judge of the earth (John 5:27).

This is a picture of the final resurrection at the Great White Throne judgment that is portrayed in Revelation 20:11. When the Ancient of Days takes His seat to judge the world, ALL RISE. This is prophesied in the law found in Leviticus 19:32,

³² You shall rise up before the grayheaded [Heb. saybaw, “old age;” that is, white or grey-headed], and honor the aged, and you shall revere your God; I am the Lord.

Hence, when the Ancient of Days is seated upon the throne for the purpose of judgment, the dead rise up before His gray or white hair.

His Eyes are a Flame

His eyes are associated with “a flame of fire.” In Zechariah 3:9 we read,

⁹ For behold, the stone that I have set before Joshua [Jesus]; on one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave an inscription on it, declares the Lord of hosts, and I remove the iniquity of that land in one day.

This is a reference to the foundation stone for the second temple that was built in the days of Zerubabbel, the governor, and in the days of Joshua, the high priest. The foundation stone is prophetic of Jesus Christ (1 Cor. 3:11). The high priest is also Jesus Christ and even carries His Hebrew name. The civil governor, too, is Jesus Christ—even as Moses, the civil governor of Israel was a type of Christ. What are the seven eyes upon this stone? The answer is found a few verses later, in Zechariah 4:10 where we read,

¹⁰ For who has despised the day of small things? But these seven will be glad when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel—these are the eyes of the Lord which range to and fro throughout the earth.

The eyes of the Lord see all things happening in the earth. But more than that, they rejoice “when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.” The plumb line is a piece of string weighted by a stone that was used to construct the temple (and all other buildings). It was used to make all things straight up and down. The plumb line is a symbol, then, of truth, by which the temple of God is made perfect. The seven eyes “see” and rejoice. To see means more than just to look or observe something. It also carries the meaning of recognition and approval. If a man wants to “see” the king, he could petition that the king would “see” him. If the king “sees” the petitioner, it means that the king has recognized him in an official capacity.

The seven eyes on the stone are meant to picture the seven spirits of God, by which they judge the building of the temple of God. When the temple is built upon truth, the seven eyes of God rejoice. This is because God is love, and love always “rejoices with the truth” (1 Cor. 13:6).

His eyes are pictured as a flame of fire, because God’s Word is truth (John 17:17). Because in Him is all the fullness of God, He is fully endowed with the seven spirits of God, which make up the Spirit of Truth (John 16:13).

The work of God is to build a spiritual temple in the earth. This is what the second temple signified in its building when Zerubbabel laid its foundation in the earth. His name itself means “the seed of Babel (Babylon).” When the foundation stone was laid in the earth, it was like a seed planted in an earthly Babylonian world system. This is how the Kingdom of God is built in the earth. First the Foundation Stone is planted in the ground, and then this “temple” is built upon it with the apostles, prophets, and living stones.

Zerubbabel, who was born in Babylon, is a type of Christ in that He was that “seed-stone” which God planted in the earth of Babylon in order to bring forth the Kingdom of God.

God rejoices when the earth becomes full of His glory. This is the purpose for creation. We ought to stop thinking of a division between heaven and earth, for heaven is coming to earth as Jesus prayed (Matt. 6:10). The earth was not made out of nothing; it was made out of God Himself, for He fills all things. God is spirit, and the earth is also spirit, though a lower form of spirit made visible by the slowing down of its electrons.

The purpose of creation was for God to glorify Himself in this earthly dimension, even as He is glorified always in the heavenly dimension. It was to unite the candle with the flame, using earthly material to create light and truth. While this seemed to fail with the first Adam, it will succeed with the Last Adam. But first, He must transform mankind from Adamic flesh to the flesh of the body of Christ. The fleshly body as we know it today is not suitable to house His glory. We must have the kind of spiritual flesh that Jesus had in His post-resurrection body to house the glory of God in its fullness.

Revelation 1:15

¹⁵ and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.

In Revelation 1:15 we see Jesus’ feet pictured “like burnished bronze,” because in this scene He is pictured as the Judge of the whole earth. Bronze is the metal that symbolizes judgment. Hence, the brazen altar (Ex. 27:1, 2) in the tabernacle of Moses depicted the judgment for sin laid upon the sacrifices, which were types of Christ.

As a point of interest, other metals also have symbolic meaning. Gold is associated with the divine nature, and hence the Ark of the Covenant was wood overlaid with gold (Ex. 25:10, 11) in order to depict Christ as a man (wood) but overlaid with the divine nature. Silver is the metal associated with redemption, and hence the Levites were redeemed with a half shekel of silver (Num. 3:45-51). Bronze, brass, or copper is associated with judgment, and so the outer court had its brazen altar.

Also, His voice is like the sound of “many waters,” that is, like a waterfall or a rushing river. The same description is found in Rev. 14:2, speaking of the sound of the many voices of the 144,000. The sound of many waters in this case describes a multitude of people talking or singing, such as a person might hear when walking into a large, enclosed auditorium or stadium. The term, “many waters” is also used in Rev. 17:1, where the great harlot is said to be sitting upon “many waters.” In this case, Rev. 17:15 interprets for us the meaning of the “many waters”:

¹⁵ And he said to me, The waters which you saw where the harlot sits, are peoples and multitudes and nations and tongues.

And so when Rev. 1:15 speaks of Christ having a voice “like the sound of many waters,” the idea being conveyed is not merely the Head speaking, but also the many individual overcomers who make up the body of Christ. All are speaking as one—that is, in agreement with the Head. The wording of this text is to show us that the body has a “say” in these matters, for even though the Head is speaking, the voice is one with the many-membered body.

Revelation 1:16

¹⁶ And in His right hand He held seven stars; and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.

As we said earlier, the seven stars are the Pleiades, pictured in the heavens as the Seven Sisters, who are also the Seven Churches in the book of Revelation. In Prof. E. Raymond Capt’s book, The Glory of the Stars, he writes on page 101,

“In the neck of Taurus is another cluster of stars called the ‘Pleiades’ (the Seven Sisters). The word means ‘the congregation of the judges’ or ‘rulers’. The brightest star in this group is ‘Al Cyone’ (Arabic), which means ‘the center’. Some leading astronomers believe it is the center of the universe. Apparently that is what was implied when Job is asked of God, ‘Canst thou bind the sweet influences of the Pleiades?’ (Job 38:31).”

Identifying the Seven Churches with the Pleiades, as John does, shows us that the Church is called as “the congregation of the judges.” The Church is the “congregation,” rather than an organizational structure. The Old Testament word kahal, is translated in the New Testament Greek as ecclesia (Heb. 2:12) which is translated into English as “Church.” The Church in the wilderness under Moses (Acts 7:38) was not the organization or the tabernacle; it was the congregation. The Church is the congregation who go to the building, not the building where the people gather.

The Pleiades are thought by some astronomers to be located at the center of the universe. The Pleiades were also thought to be the throne of God. It is interesting, then, that the Church—that is, the congregation—is called to rule in His throne, which is the center of all things. Rev. 2:1 says the Seven Stars are “in His right hand,” even as Paul says in Eph. 1:20 that Christ was raised up to sit at the right hand of the Father. The “right hand” signifies power, authority, rulership. In this case, it has a dual meaning. First, Christ has power over the Seven Churches, for He is the Head and has pre-eminence over all. Second, the Church itself is given authority in view of their position in Him and under Him. Their authority is simply an extension of Christ’s own power.

The Sharp Sword

Few people would believe that a literal sword would come jumping out of His mouth. It is obviously symbolic. Many Christians have been taught to think of this as a sword of judgment where He destroys His enemies. But this is not really accurate. It is first the sword of the Word, as Paul tells us in Eph. 6:17,

¹⁷ And take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.

Because words come out of one’s mouth, this spiritual sword is said to come out of His mouth. The “sword of the Spirit” is in contrast to the sword of the flesh—that is, a material sword by which men are physically and literally killed. The sword of the Spirit kills “the flesh” but not the body.

For example, under Moses the Israelites worshipped the golden calf and in the judgment the Levites were told to take up their physical swords and kill the idolaters. Exodus 32:27, 28 says,

²⁷ And he [Moses] said to them, Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, Every man of you put his sword upon his thigh, and go back and forth from gate to gate in the camp, and kill every man his brother, and every man his friend, and every man his neighbor. ²⁸ So the sons of Levi did as Moses instructed, and about three thousand men of the people fell that day.

This occurred at the base of Mount Sinai, the place of the giving of the law, and the place where the Feast of Pentecost was instituted. Pentecost, or the “feast of weeks,” was the celebration of the day God gave the law to Israel. If you read that story in Exodus 20, you find that the people refused to hear the law (Ex. 20:18-21). Hence, they were unable to hear the word and receive the Spirit. The fulfillment of Pentecost, then, was held in abeyance for 1,500 years until the disciples met in the upper room in Acts 2.

This means that the Israelites, in refusing the “sword of the Spirit,” were left only with a physical sword by which to subdue the earth—specifically, the land of Canaan, which God gave to them as their inheritance. The people did not have the spiritual empowerment to conquer the land by the sword of the Spirit, by which they might have conquered (evangelized) Canaan in the pentecostal manner of the New Testament. Being left only with physical swords, God told them to conquer the land and leave nothing alive (Deut. 7:2, 16).

Such is the power of the physical sword. It is too weak to deal with the root of the problem, and so it can only leave a trail of blood in its wake. But in the New Testament we find God giving the believers a new sword, one that is described in Heb. 4:12,

¹² For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Physical swords are too dull to divide soul from spirit, nor can they “judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” Only the sword of the Spirit can do these things, for the gifts of the Spirit include the “word of knowledge” (1 Cor. 12:8). What the Israelites lacked under Moses, the believers have been given in Christ, if they come into the experience of Pentecost.

The sword of the Spirit is the sharp sword that comes out of the mouth of Jesus Christ in Rev. 1:16. If John had meant to portray the type of blood-and-gore battlefield such as is found in the Old Testament in the Mosaic period, he might have seen Jesus with a sword in his hand, dripping with blood. But instead, he sees the sword coming from His mouth, indicating that it is the word of God. The word of judgment judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart, making them manifest, so that the sinners must see themselves as they really are—and repent, so that they may be saved.

Yet even in the Old Testament we see this sword of the Spirit in operation in the mouth of the prophets who gave Israel the word of God. We read in Hosea 6:5,

⁵ Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth.

Hence we see that not all of the Israelites were deprived of the sword of the Spirit, even in the Old Testament era. The prophets spoke the word of God by inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and this was pictured as a sharp sword coming from their mouth that hewed them in pieces. The result, however, was not physical death, but repentance, a dying to self, a submission to the word of God, rather than to one’s own will. Such a sword brought “death” to the flesh, but also resurrection life by the Spirit.

In Rev. 19:15 we are shown another picture of Christ coming with the sword of the Spirit in His mouth. It says,

¹⁵ And from His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may smite the nations; and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God, the Almighty.

While the image is the frightful carnage of a battleground, the scene is not meant to be interpreted in that manner. The sword of the Spirit, as we have seen, results in life, not death. Even as He hewed Israel by the mouth of the prophets (Hos. 6:5), so also now He hews “the nations” with the same sword. It is a sword that brings men to repentance, so that the blessing of Abraham may be theirs, for we read in Acts 3:25, 26,

²⁵ It is you who are the sons of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed. ²⁶ For you first, God raised up His Servant, and sent Him to BLESS YOU by turning every one of you from your wicked ways.

In other words, God blesses men by turning them from their wicked ways—that is, by causing them to repent. In that way, Abraham’s seed will bless all the families of the earth—by causing them to repent, whereby they may be saved. Such repentance involves the “death” of the flesh—though not of the body—by the sword of the Spirit, which alone is sharp enough to divide soul and spirit.

When Christ comes in Revelation 19, pictured as using the sword of His mouth upon all nations, He is using the same sword by which the prophets hewed that single nation of Israel. But this time, the sword is turned upon all nations, for God will have all men come to repentance. Every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord (Isaiah 45:23; Phil. 2:11). In this way He will “smite” the nations.

The “fierce wrath of God” (Rev. 19:15) may conjure up thoughts of an emotionally angry God, but this does not do Him justice. “Wrath” is used in a legal sense, for it is the law that brings judgment. The term is not meant to portray the emotional state of the Judge. The anger that God displays is a fatherly anger toward the disobedience of His children, not as a mentally unstable tyrant who might strike people down in a fit of anger. God ought not to be thought of as a petulant or cruel tyrant, or even as an imperfect father, but rather as a wise Judge or a loving Father who takes responsibility to bring His children into maturity.

His Face Like the Sun

The face of Christ is said to be shining “like the sun.” Here John sees Christ fully unveiled, manifesting the glory of the Father as seen by the three disciples in His transfiguration on the mount. That story is found in Matt. 17:2, where it says,

² And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as the light.

This manifestation was in turn a New Testament parallel to the transfiguration of Moses when he too was “in the mount.” We read of that in Exodus 34.

The Transfiguration of Moses

Moses went up the mount, where, on his sixth ascent, God gave him the Ten Commandments in stone. While there, however, the people had built a golden calf to worship. When Moses returned after forty days and saw what the people had done, he broke the tablets of the law (Ex. 32:19).

He then ascended on his seventh trip to intercede for the people (Ex. 32:21). God told him that He would no longer lead Israel personally but lead them through an angel. Afterward, Moses made his eighth and final ascent into the mount, as recorded in Exodus 34:4. God then made a separate and distinct covenant with Moses and Israel in verse 10,

¹⁰ Then God said, Behold, I am going to make a covenant. Before all your people I will perform miracles, which have not been produced in all the earth, nor among any of the nations; and all the people among whom you live will see the working of the Lord, for it is a fearful thing that I am going to perform with you.

This covenant was foreshadowed in the light that shone from the face of Moses when he returned from the mount with the new tables of the law. Moses’ transfiguration was the beginning of this covenant of miracles. This, I believe, provided the basis for the celebration of Israel’s final feast, the Feast of Tabernacles—specifically the eighth day of Tabernacles. It is the day of receiving the fullness of the Spirit and the glorified body. Moses was the first to set the pattern, commemorating it as a feast day. Later, the same pattern was repeated in Christ, for He was the prophet like Moses (Deut. 18:18; Acts 3:22). The final fulfillment will be seen in the body of Christ on the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles in some year.

Neither Moses’ nor Christ’s transfigurations are specifically dated, for God has hidden much of His plan in types and shadows. We know from the story in Exodus that this occurred some time in the fall of the year. But the fact that Moses was returning from his eighth trip up the mount gives us our first clue. Secondly, he was carrying the second law, the first having been broken, shows us a picture of the New Covenant, where the law is kept, whereas the first law was broken (Heb. 8:8-12). It was, by the way, the same law (Exodus 34:1). The only difference was that the second law was not broken, for it is an abiding covenant, based upon what God will fulfill in us, not how well man can fulfill it for God.

The Transfiguration of Christ

In the case of Christ’s transfiguration, the scene is again not dated. Matthew 17:1 and Mark 9:2 merely tell us that it occurred “after six days.” Luke 9:28, dating it from a particular time of teaching, says it occurred “eight days after these sayings.” This timing is meant to prophecy that the transfiguration in the body of Christ will occur after six “days” of Adamic history, which we understand as 6,000 years (2 Peter 3:8). Luke’s statement is prophetic of the glorification of the “wheat company” on the eighth day, or after 7,000 years, as we reckon time. This will be when the rest of the believers receive immortal life at the time of the Great White Throne Judgment.

But nowhere does it tell us anything about the time of year that the transfiguration of Jesus occurred. In this way, the text is as silent as in Moses’ writing.

The most significant clue is found in John 7, where we find the only biblical record of a time when Jesus observed the Feast of Tabernacles. John 7:2 says,

² Now the feast of the Jews, the Feast of Booths [Tabernacles] was at hand.

Jesus sent His disciples ahead, while he tarried. Then He came and manifested Himself openly in the temple in the middle of the feast. John 7:14 says,

¹⁴ But when it was now the midst of the feast Jesus went up into the temple and began to teach.

This was the fulfillment of Malachi 3:1, which says,

¹ Behold, I am going to send My messenger [John the Baptist], and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord [Heb., ha Adon, “the Lord,” a reference to the Messiah], whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, he is coming, says the Lord of hosts.

The sudden appearance of Christ in the temple in the middle of the Feast of Tabernacles is a most significant prophetic event. It suggests that Christ will come in some manner in the middle of this feast some year. Most likely, this should be understood as His coming in His New Temple, that is, in the body of Christ, which is now the Temple in which He dwells and is building in a corporate sense.

The prophetic picture in John 7 shows Him coming to His Temple for the purpose of teaching. The fact that He comes in His temple and is teaching speaks prophetically of the day of the manifestation of Christ in us. In other words, this is not necessarily a prophecy of the type of “the return of Christ” that the average Christian anticipates.

This is most likely a prophecy that is to be taken with the transfiguration scriptures of Moses and Christ. That is, the middle of Tabernacles of some year will be the time when Christ will appear to the world in the overcomers. It will be the time when the sons of God are manifested, and the word of God will be taught from His temple—that is, His body of overcomers or “sons.” At this manifestation, the covenant of miracles that God made with Moses in Exodus 34:10 will be fulfilled in the sons of God. It will be the time that Jesus likely had in mind when He said in John 14:12,

¹² Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father.

We have not yet seen greater works than Jesus did. I believe, however, that these greater works will be done, and that these will be part of the great outpouring of the Spirit that the sons of God will bring to the world when Christ is manifested (unveiled) in them. The reason this full empowerment has been deferred is to wait until all the overcomers have had opportunity to be born throughout the centuries, and to allow them time to grow into full maturity.

God has seen fit to use this interim pentecostal era to develop in them the fruit of the Spirit—love in particular—in order that they might not misuse the gifts of the Spirit. The covenant of miracles that God intends to implement in the sons of God is so great that He will not entrust this power to those whose love is yet immature.

There is still one thing that is unclear in this prophecy. It is in the fact that Jesus prophesied of the final outpouring of the Spirit on the eighth day of Tabernacles—not in the middle of the feast. We read of this in John 7:37-39,

³⁷ Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink, ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water. ³⁹ But this He spoke of the Spirit, whom those who believed in Him were to receive; for the Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.

As we have already shown, this was spoken to fulfill Isaiah 12:2, 3, which says,

² Behold, God is my salvation [Heb. Yeshua, or “Jesus”], I will trust and not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation [Heb. Yeshua]. ³ Therefore you will joyously draw water from the springs of salvation [Heb. Yeshua].

Isaiah, then, prophesied that we would draw water from the wells, or springs of Yeshua. Yeshua was Jesus’ Hebrew name, which was translated into Greek as Iesous, and into English as Jesus. His name means “salvation.” Jesus used this play on words in John 7:37 to identify Himself as the subject of Isaiah’s prophecy. The fact that He did so on the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles dates the real fulfillment of this outpouring of the Spirit on that day at some point in history. The Feast of Pentecost was the beginning of this outpouring, but in the final analysis, it was only an earnest of the Spirit (Eph. 1:14).

So the question yet remains a mystery: how can the outpouring of the Spirit occur on the eighth day of Tabernacles, and yet the manifestation of Christ occur in the middle of the feast? The only explanation we have is in the story in John 6:16-25. This is the story of Jesus coming to the disciples in the middle of the Sea of Galilee. Peter, who represents the believers at the end of the age, goes out to meet Him, even as believers will “meet” Christ in the air (1 Thess. 4:17). Peter goes to escort Him back to the boat—not to return to the shore from which Jesus had come. Likewise, when we go to meet Christ, we will escort Him to earth, not go with Him back to heaven.

But as soon as Jesus steps into the boat, the sea becomes calm, and the entire boat finds itself at the shore of Capernaum [kaphar-nacham], which means “the covering of the Comforter.” This speaks of the outpouring of the Spirit at the other side of the lake (picturing the other side of the Feast of Tabernacles). But the miracle of “time travel” appears to be the key to resolving the mysterious connection between the middle and end of Tabernacles. The two dates are linked and appear to be the same “time” by some miracle of time. And yet they remain distinct as well. That is the mystery that is yet to be understood.

Because the book of Revelation is specifically about the “unveiling of Jesus Christ,” it seems appropriate to treat this subject of transfiguration in some detail. Moses’ face shone with the heavenly light, but nothing is said about his body or garment. But Jesus’ face and garment was said to be shining “like the sun.” This shows us that even as He was transfigured, so also shall His body shine as the sun. In this we see an essential difference between Moses and Christ, and also the difference between the body of Moses under the Old Covenant and the body of Christ under the New.

The People Yet Veiled

When Moses descended from the mount in Exodus 34, his face was filled with light, and the people were afraid (Ex. 34:30). Moses found it necessary to veil his face while he talked with the people.

The Apostle Paul comments on this in 2 Corinthians 3-5. The apostle makes it clear that those who remained under the Old Covenant were still blinded by this veil, as the effects of Moses’ veil was still being felt in their descendants. The veil is removed in Christ alone. 2 Cor. 3:15, 16 says,

¹⁵ But to this day whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their heart; ¹⁶ but whenever a man turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.

The veil hid the presence of God in Moses from the people. Though Moses himself wore the veil over his face, the veil blinded the people, not Moses. In the same manner, the veil separating the Most Holy Place did not in any way prevent God from seeing the people, but rather prevented the people from seeing God.

God’s ultimate purpose was to remove the veil, so that all men could see God face to face without fear. God’s intent is to remove the veil that is spread over all nations (Is. 25:7). This could not be accomplished in Moses, who was only the mediator of the Old Covenant. But we see in Christ the true beginning of the unveiling. We are changed into His image by beholding Him, as we read in verse 18,

¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

This is fulfilled in those who follow the path from the outside into the Most Holy Place. Through the first door a man comes into the outer court, the place of sacrifice. This is represented by the Feast of Passover, the place of Justification.

The second door leads to the Holy Place, which represents the realm of Pentecost and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Finally, as we pass through the veil into the Most Holy Place, we experience the Feast of Tabernacles, whereby we may see God face to face. This is the place of the full unveiling of Christ, where we may behold Him and be transformed into His image, as God intended from the beginning when He said in Genesis 1:26,

²⁶ Then God said, Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness; and let them rule . . . ²⁷ And God created man in his own image, in the image of God He created them; male and female He created them.

The whole Bible from Adam’s fall to the end of time is the story of how God is creating man in His own image. The fall presented a detour to the plan, but it will surely be accomplished, for God does not fail. The book of Revelation presents the most advanced commentary of all. It shows us the progression of history during and through the Pentecostal Age to the unveiling of Christ to the overcomers in the first resurrection and beyond.

Revelation 1:17, 18

¹⁷ And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, ¹⁸ and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore [eis tous aionas ton aionon, “for the ages of the ages”], and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

John fell down “as a dead man.” Jesus then tells him, “I was dead, and behold, I am alive.” This alludes to the fact that the pre-requisite for resurrection is death. It is not a requirement to actually die physically, for there will be those alive at the end of the age who are “changed” without dying (1 Cor. 15:51; 1 Thess. 4:17). But to qualify for “life” one must die to self—that is, one must submit to Jesus Christ and declare Him to be Lord. This is the meaning of baptism, where one identifies with Christ’s death and resurrection (Rom. 6:3-8).

Jesus tells John that He is alive “for the ages of the ages.” This specifically alludes to the final and greatest of the ages—first the Messianic Age of world-wide evangelism, and then the Age following the Great White Throne Judgment, where the rest of mankind is redeemed through judgment by the laws of redemption and Jubilee. (See my book, The Judgments of the Divine Law.)

Jesus says that He is in possession of “the keys of death and of Hades.” This He accomplished by His life, death, and resurrection, for Hebrews 2:14, 15 says,

¹⁴ Since then the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil; ¹⁵ and might deliver those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

This tells us that the devil had the power of death until Jesus came to do His work in the earth. He overcame death by His resurrection, and since He had come in “flesh and blood,” He overcame on behalf of all flesh-and-blood people. Since that time, we find His angels are given the keys to the abyss, or bottomless pit (Rev. 9:1; 20:1).

Revelation 1:20

²⁰ As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands; the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

We see here a basic distinction between the seven stars (Pleiades) and the seven lampstands. The seven stars are the ANGELS of The Seven Churches, while the lampstands represent The Seven Churches themselves. The angels (or “messengers”) of The Seven Churches were first the ministers of those literal churches. However, those churches had a much larger prophetic application, for The Seven Churches also represent the seven church ages spanning a period of 40 Jubilees. The ministers of the prophetic seven churches, then, are no longer human messengers of the Gospel who lived and died among the local believers.

The “angels of the seven churches” really are angels who support and empower the ministers. One’s angel determines one’s calling and particular revelation-word that a person is called to dispense to others. The seven stars are therefore the angels that are sent by God to inspire and reveal a particular word to The Seven Churches through their ministers.

The fact that the seven stars also depict the Pleiades identifies them with heavenly beings. While the pagans might have thought the Pleiades were goddesses, or the Seven Sisters, the Bible gives us a more accurate understanding of their symbolism. They are not goddesses, but angels. And since Al Cyone, a bright star of the Pleiades, was called Sukkoth in Hebrew (“Booths” or the Feast of Tabernacles), the message of these seven stars, or angels, is specifically designed to bring The Seven Churches through Pentecost into the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Feast of Tabernacles is the unveiling of Christ in us. Hence, the revelation of God to The Seven Churches—and to all of us—is the history of the New Testament Church in the Wilderness in its progression from Passover (the Cross) through Pentecost to the final perfection of the Feast of Tabernacles at the end of the age.

So ends the first chapter of Revelation. This final verse also forms the bridge between chapter one and chapter two, where we find a fuller study on The Seven Churches.