Chapter 3

The Fiery Light of the Church

Revelation 1:9-20

The story of the Bible is often “too big to see,” because many people read the Bible like reading a map. This is an illustration J.I. Packer gives in a book on the covenants of the Bible.

He says the Bible is not understood properly until you read it in the covenantal framework in which it is written. That is why he says many read the Scriptures like they read a map. For instance, if you were asked to find the Polynesian Islands on a map of the Pacific, your eye will catch dozens of island names as you search, no matter how small they are. Finally you would locate the Polynesian Islands in the blue ocean of the Pacific. But in your search for them, you may never have noticed the big letters going across the whole map that say PACIFIC OCEAN because you were focused on finding the islands.

So it is that we can study topics or passages of Scripture without seeing them connected to the big picture of the covenant. For just as each Polynesian Island is rooted in the Ocean, so each verse of Scripture, every subject found therein, finds its context and understanding from the idea of God's covenant relationship with man. We cannot understand any particular Scripture without understanding the story of the Scriptures. To read particular passages of Scripture without seeing the “big picture” can result in the same thing as a reading a roadmap wrongly. We end up lost!

As we now go and visit the Apostle John on the Island of Patmos, let us not lose sight of the ocean of God’s covenant that his revelation is set in (actually in this case the Mediterranean Sea!). Let us seek to understand this revelation the way this Jewish apostle writing to the first-century church would have understood it.

We need to see the true picture of Christ’s presence

The Island of Patmos was a barren, rocky little island roughly ten miles by five miles in dimension, lying 40 miles off the coast near Ephesus (located in Modern Turkey). Crescent shaped with horns pointed toward the east, it made for a good harbor and a convenient “Alcatraz” for the Roman Empire. John was on Patmos as a prisoner “for the word of God and testimony of Christ.” In one of the most desolate and lonely places on the earth, heaven paid a visit.

In verse 10 John tells us that it is the “Lord's Day.” Most Bible scholars see this as a reference to the Christian Sabbath, the day of resting in the resurrection of Christ. Note that another way to say this is the "Day of the Lord" (with a possessive, we can say “catcher's mitt” or “mitt of the catcher”). The "Day of the Lord" is an Old Testament term used to refer to a day of judgment. The “Lord's Day” then is a day to come before the Judge. This is further indicated by John telling us in verse 10 that he was "in the Spirit." This does not mean John was just having a good time. Rather it is a technical, prophetical phrase meaning he was where the Spirit was. John is seeing into heaven, and as he does he hears the voice of the Lord behind him. John turns around and sees the glorified Jesus. He then paints a verbal picture of what he saw.

The beatific vision John sees of Christ shows the modern picture of the risen Jesus is all wrong. The long brown hair and blue-robed pictures of Jesus hanging in many churches not only contradict what we read here as Jesus is described to us, but they violate the second commandment against using images to portray God. The Bible tells us that animals have a glory, that man has another glory, but there is a unique glory that belongs to God alone that cannot be pictured. When we represent God with these lesser glories, we are not giving Him the glory that He is due. For Jesus is not only a man, He is the God-man! Who can paint that? We need to see with eyes of faith the true picture of His presence, the picture Jesus instructs John to record and give to the seven churches (verse 11). This is where we need to put on the “glasses of Scripture” and use them to see the Spirit-painted picture of Christ properly. In so doing, we will be fascinated with the Scripture’s picture, and those who insist on visible images of Christ will look to us like ones who think the Mona Lisa looks better with a moustache.

Look carefully at verses 13-16. John tells us he saw “one like a son of man.” The One before Him is the Messiah of Daniel (Daniel 7:13-14). The unique privilege of the Messiah or Christ is that He would be both Priest and King to His people (Psalm 110). Note that He is wearing a multi-colored robe that reaches to His feet, and He has a golden sash across his chest. This was the clothing of the high priest (Look at Exodus 28:4; 29:5; 39:1-29; Lev 16:4 to see the similarity of the clothing. Next time you "trudge" through these passages, remember God is giving you a detailed picture of your High Priest. Get excited about seeing the picture!). When the high priest came out from ministering in the temple, with this robe of reds and blues and scarlets, a golden girdle with the jewels of the tribes of Israel mounted upon it, and then stepped into the light, many in antiquity say that he looked radiant in his array. Such radiance John now beholds in Christ.

Indeed, John tells us that His head is a pure white like the glistening snow on a bright wintry day, His face is shining like the brilliance of the sun, and His feet are like the burnished bronze over the hot fire of a furnace. John is beholding the glory of God unveiled, shining intensely from Jesus the High Priest from head to foot. The exact picture he's describing to us is seeing Jesus as a living flame!

Consider further now Christ’s awesome glory as King. John had told the church she was a kingdom of priests (Revelation 1:6), and now John relates how Christ had revealed to him the great royalty of His own priesthood. He has in his right hand seven stars. These are not the five-pointed gold stars you received in kindergarten. These are burning, shining suns being held in His right hand. The Christ standing before John is not five feet, ten inches tall. He towers above John in His magnificence, holding celestial bodies in His palm.

The Spirit here is weaving several symbolic ideas together. Remember that Jesus often pointed to certain objects of creation to teach about himself, whether a door, a shepherd, or a light. Chilton says these stars are a reference to a constellation known as the Seven Stars, called Pleiades elsewhere in the Bible. The ancients thought of Pleiades as circular cluster tied together on a chain, like a necklace. Recall in Job 38:31 God declares that He bound Pleiades together. The kingly, creative power of Christ is seen in His holding these stars in His hand.

Yet this imagery also speaks of His rule. Think of how in our own day stars are used politically. The flag of the United States uses 50 stars to denote the 50 states over which the government has jurisdiction. The flag of our own state has a torch with stars coming from its flame. Stars are a symbol of rule, just as Genesis 1 says lights were given to govern the day and night. Even more fascinating is that the seven stars of Pleiades were used as a symbol on some of the Roman coins in circulation of John’sday. They represented the completeness of Roman rulers over their subjects. John sees Jesus holding these very stars. He rules over creation and the nations of the earth. As Jesus speaks with His sharp two-edged sword coming from His mouth (verse 16), He is indicating that all must listen to His command.

Friend, fill your mind with this vision of light and glory. Our minds today are filled with wrong pictures of Christ, even false christs, for we fail to see Him in all His magnificent glory.

God wants us to see that His Son is glorified now, serving as our heavenly intercessor and ruling as our almighty king . Fill your minds with this true image of Christ, and notice what your response should be.

Offering a True Response to His Presence

Notice the effect of this vision upon John. In verse 17 we read that he “fell before His feet as a dead man.” A quick survey of Scripture finds that great fear and trembling is the typical reaction of those that find themselves in the presence of God. At the burning bush, when Moses realized he was in the presence of God, he hid his face for he was afraid to look at God (Exodus 3:6). When the Lord appears to Joshua outside of Jericho, he fell with his face to the earth (Joshua 5:14). All Isaiah could do when he saw the Lord's glory was to declare his uncleanness (Isaiah 6:5). Daniel's response before a vision of the Lord was that “no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned into a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength…I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground”(Daniel 10:9-11). In Matthew 19:6, when the three disciples see Jesus transformed on the mountain, they fall face down to the ground, utterly terrified.

No fear of God exists in our day! No terror strikes us when the name “Jesus” is mentioned. We are going to see in this book how foolish this is! He has a name that should cause every knee to bow in holy confession of His Lordship at its mere mention. People today are far too comfortable with Jesus. He has become too familiar to us, because in American Christianity we have constructed a false image of Him. We think He is not bothered by our sin and is most concerned about our personal comfort. We quote “God is love” all the time, but never mention the Bible also says , “God is a consuming fire .” John is beholding the creative, authoritative Fire of Heaven standing before Him, and he falls down awaiting the death that is certainly to come.

You would think John would be getting used to Jesus by now. He had spent over three years of his life living and ministering with Christ. He had been one of the three that had seen Him on that Mount of Transfiguration. He had beheld Him after the resurrection. He had watched Jesus ascend into heaven. For forty years John had known and loved Jesus. Certainly if anyone should be used to Christ, it would be John. Yet this revelation of Christ once again fills him with a holy dread, a dread so great that John cannot even consider resting on past achievements for assurance. John is consumed by the presence of God. That alone is all he can comprehend.

The proper response to the knowledge of God is fear. That is why people reject certain teachings of the Bible. They will not listen to judgment portions of Scriptures and believe that it was Jesus who sent such things as that terrifying earthquake upon Turkey that killed thousands in 1999 . Churchgoers concentrate solely on the love of God, because the kind of Jesus that judges scares them. They do not want to think about His judgments on their lives. That is the real reason why people disdain the doctrine of predestination even though it is found on every page of Scripture . The idea that God is in supreme control scares them. Yet that is just the point. The One, True God should scare them! It should scare the dickens right out of them! Standing before the Consuming Fire of God just about scared the life right out of John. As you know and experience the resurrected Christ, you should know of times He has become your fear. Be sure you have not become too comfortable with Jesus. His disciples never did get used to Him.

Yet here we also see the wondrous grace of Christ. Though fear is a correct first response to encounters with the Lord, we must be revived and live in appreciation and trust of the mighty power of Christ. Look at the powerful tenderness demonstrated here by Him.

In verse 17, we see Jesus in love reviving John, using the same right hand that holds the stars to raise him up in power. He speaks those words John had heard so often, "Don't be afraid."

The resurrection power of Christ is again unleashed in John’s life. As believers in Christ, what once terrified us about God must become our comfort. The idea of judgment we used to fear and disdain in our sin must become the reality we experience and long for as Christ rights every wrong. His control over life and salvation we used to hate must become our greatest source of hope and comfort. His perfect love must cast out all our fears.

For notice how Jesus identifies Himself. "I am the First and the Last, " He says in verse 17. This is a clear identification as the Jehovah of the Old Testament, the One who said through Isaiah, "I am the first and the last, and there is no God besides Me” (Isaiah 44:6). He is "the Living One" (verse 18), of whom it said in Jeremiah 10:10, "The Lord is the true God; He is the living God and the everlasting King. At his wrath the earth quakes and the nations cannot endure His indignation.” Jesus is saying that the God who controls all, who is independent of all, who exists through all times, whom no one has made, the God of the Old Testament, that God is He! And because He conquered death and now lives forevermore, even death and hell is under his dominion (verse 18).

Respond appropriately to this picture of Christ by submitting your self to this revelation. Again Jesus told John to write this down for the church (verse 11,19), so that the church in seeing Christ would know what to do amidst the things that were happening and those things that were yet to come. In essence the Lord is saying that He does not want His people to miss what is being revealed here about His glory. This book is for you, friend. It is to be understood by the church. The one whose hand holds the power of the stars has touched your life with that hand. He has provided the strength you need to behold His glory and to be faithful to what you see, to which we now turn our attention.

Living in a true dependency on His Presence

In verse 20 Jesus now explains further the mystery, or the linkage of the groups of seven objects and the reality that they represent. Recall the stars He held in His hand, signifying His creative, ruling power over the earth. He now says quite clearly that "the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches." How do churches have angels, and why are the stars being used to represent them?

Again, in the Bible stars and angels often correspond to rule and government. Note that in Job 1:6 angels (called the “sons of God”) come before God in His courtroom (see also Job 38:7 where the angels are seen as stars). What John is seeing in his vision is Jesus ruling in God's courtroom as the King-Priest, and the angels are there as ministers in His court. The amazing thing is that these angels are the angels of the churches. In other words, for these local congregations existing in the seven cities God has elected representatives for them standing before Him in heaven. They are representing the churches' interest before the Great King.

Later on in this book, when we see God pronouncing judgment on the enemies of the church, it will be these seven angels who carry out the execution of the punishment. What God is telling the church through this symbolism is that her interests are known by Him and their heavenly representative shall take care of her.

Yet something even more awesome is to be realized. Note how at the beginning of each individual letter to the seven churches they are addressed to “the angel of the church” of the given location (Revelation 2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14). Here a little Greek will help. We get our word for “angel” from the Greek word “angelos,” a word that can also mean "messenger." The point is that so connected is Christ in heaven with His church on earth that not only are we represented before God in heaven, but we are considered by Him to be His representatives on earth! As the church rules on earth as God’s kingdom of priests, delivering His message of the gospel, we are considered His appointed messengers. We resemble the angels as we speak, intercede and rule on His behalf! The church is to shine like a star in this dark world, to speak like an angel to it. What representative authority God has granted to the church!

How fully Christ wants the church to understand her God-given importance is seen in the final aspect of the imagery. Jesus is seen as standing among seven lampstands, which He also clearly tells us are symbols of the churches (verse 20). Recall that in the temple there was one lampstand with seven branches whose light was never to dim , representing the light of the nation of Israel to the world. But now seven lampstands exist in the heavenly temple with Christ standing in their midst, the One whose glorious fire gives them light. The lampstands’ connection to Christ is seen again in the beginning of each address to the church. Note again how in Revelation 2:1,8,12,18; 3:1,7,14 Jesus repeats a portion of the description of Himself from the first chapter to identify who He is to the churches (to Ephesus He is the one who holds the seven stars, to Smyrna He is called the First and the Last, etc.). His message is simple. God has replaced the singular nation of Israel with the worldwide church. Her lampstand is never to burn out. It is always to burn continually with the fiery light of Christ .

Enflame your heart with this knowledge! Jesus is in the midst of the church, and our living flame is telling us to burn. We will see that to the Ephesians He says, "Burn with truth that is loving. " To the church at Smyrna He tells them, "Burn even when persecuted." To Pergamum He says, "Burn with doctrinal purity." To Thyatira "Burn with moral purity and get the wicked out of your midst." To Sardis "Burn with zeal for your ministry." To Philadelphia, "Burn with perseverance." To the lackadaisical in Laodicea the Light of the Church says, "Burn with desire for heavenly treasures and disdain for the riches of this world." Burn, church! Burn fiercely, burn zealously, burn hotly - burn for Me!

Conclusion

Hopefully you “get the picture.” Jesus is the fiery light of the church, and if the church does not burns with and for His glory, He will be displeased. This book will show us that like a falling star, like a snuffed-out candle, Christ removes the unfaithful people’s lampstand from His presence. Can we not see that throughout the land the church is dimming, running dry of heavenly light? May the faithful hear Christ calling, “Burn with My fiery light ! ”