Notes on Revelation: 1:12-20

John then turns to see who is talking to him in the Spirit-induced vision.

I turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, and when I did so, I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet and he wore a wide golden belt around his chest. 14 His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His face shone like the sun shining at full strength. 17 When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 18 and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive – forever and ever – and I hold the keys of death and of Hades! 19 Therefore write what you saw, what is, and what will be after these things. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.  

The imagery in Revelation 1:13–18 echoes that said of the Ancient of Days in Daniel, as well as some things said in Ezekiel of God, but is now being applied to Christ.  Daniel 7:9-14 presents the following vision.

⁹ “As I looked,

“thrones were set in place,
    and the Ancient of Days took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
    the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
    and its wheels were all ablaze.
¹⁰ A river of fire was flowing,
    coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
    ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
    and the books were opened.

¹¹ “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. ¹² (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)

¹³ “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. ¹⁴ He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

John uses the terminology of the “Son of Man” receiving His kingdom and exalted above the other kings and empires in Daniel of Christ here in Revelation. However, His receiving His kingdom is through His Church, represented by the seven lampstands and governed by the seven stars (i.e., all of the holy angels). 

That John wishes to present Jesus as God is clear. In Ezekiel the voice that sounds like many waters is God’s voice (Ez 43:2), and John likely uses this to expand upon the description of the divine Son in Daniel 10. He is the first and the last, the Alpha and the Omega, the One who was and is and is to come (1:8, 17; 22:13) just like God the Father (1:4; 21:6). Hence, His appearance is as the appearance of the Ancient of Days, i.e., God the Father, in Daniel. In fact, the other half of the imagery applied to Christ is taken from Daniel 10:5–11.

⁵ I looked up and there before me was a man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. ⁶ His body was like topaz, his face like lightning, his eyes like torches of fire, his arms and feet like the gleam of burnished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude.
⁷ I, Daniel, was the only one who saw the vision; those who were with me did not see it, but such terror overwhelmed them that they fled and hid themselves. ⁸ So I was left alone, gazing at this great vision; I had no strength left, my face turned deathly pale and I was helpless. ⁹ Then I heard him speaking, and as I listened to him, I fell into a deep sleep, my face to the ground.
¹⁰ A hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. ¹¹ He said, “Daniel, you who are highly esteemed, consider carefully the words I am about to speak to you, and stand up, for I have now been sent to you.” And when he said this to me, I stood up trembling.

This Person that Daniel encounters in Chapter 10 is said to be one like a human, lit. “Son of Man.” Notice that John has the same reaction to him that Daniel has in the original scene. He commands the two greatest of archangels in Second Temple Jewish thought, Gabriel (8:15-16) and Michael (10:13, 20–21). John now reveals that this is the Son who holds all of the holy angels in His hand, i.e., under His authority. He will bring out throughout the book that Jesus is the King of Kings who opposes the devil’s kingdom, which has now switched from Persia in Daniel 10 to Rome in Revelation 13.

This contrast between Jesus and the Roman Emperor is important because Domitian has lifted himself up as deity, and Christians now must make a choice about who they are going to obey when there is a conflict of commands. In the same way, government lifts itself up as deity with a will of its own and it has conflicted with God’s will for His people throughout history. Knowing that Jesus is the true God, and not one of the devil’s fakes, is a comforting theology that also gives strength in the moment where one’s livelihood and very life are at stake. He is the Pantokrator, the Almighty, the Victorious One over the death and the grave itself, the Ruler of all rulers, and those persecuted Christians undergoing tribulation can take refuge in this truth.

The lampstands represent His kingdom and they refer to things found within His temple. Christ is dressed as the High Priest in the temple and walks among the individual churches/lampstands in the temple. What is the temple? According to the book, the temple is God’s/Christ’s dwelling place, and can refer to either heaven or the people of God themselves. Here, it clearly refers to the church.

Christ states that John is to write ἃ εἶδες καὶ ἃ εἰσὶν καὶ ἃ μέλλει |γενέσθαι| μετὰ ταῦτα “that which you see [Aorist as a perfective aspect, not past tense], that which is and what is destined to take place” in v. 19.  “That which is” is typically understood as referring to the present judgment of Christ concerning the churches in the letters and then “that which is destined to take place after these things” refers to the future. This is not completely false, but may need some nuancing. What is likely being said is that the microcosmic events occurring now and the macrocosmic events occurring in the future are what John is seeing and writing about throughout the book. They are combined and one is being placed in the context of the other rather than seen as two separate events that don’t have much to do with one another. The judgment Christ renders of the churches now is part of the judgment to come. The salvation He gives to the churches now is part of the salvation that is to come. Hence, John is told to write in the typical framework of the apocalyptic genre. What is now is placed in the context of what is to come as though what is to come is, to a smaller degree, taking place now through the microcosmic event occurring in the present. This is made clearler by understanding that John has split the scene in Daniel, where the Ancient of Days opens the books to render judgment. The Son comes to render judgment upon the churches and receive His kingdom in the present, but will ultimately not receive it from the Ancient of Days until the final judgment (i.e, John's "already-not yet" framwork is on display in Revelation as it is in his Gospel).

With this understanding, he begins Christ's assessment of the churches in Chapters 2-3.