One Like a Son of Man

Revelation 1:9-20

Immanuel – 11/14/21

In our first two weeks in Revelation we have learned about three critical elements.

Source: Jesus received a revelation from the Father about the day and the hour of the End Times.

Dating: That revelation was given to John and written down during the reign of Nero.

Theme: The revelation of Jesus Christ tells of events that were soon going to happen. These were the Last Days of the old covenant, of a system of righteousness twisted and corrupted by men. Jesus, the Messiah, the ruler of the kings of earth, was coming in judgement upon apostate Israel.

Not only did we see these three things in 1:1-8, I also gave you snapshots of them throughout the book of Revelation. Additionally, I showed you how Scripture – Old and New Testaments – points to these same three elements.

I say that because what I am not doing is taking a small piece of the Bible, a couple verses, and stretching it to fit something that I like, or that makes sense to me. I am trying to show you that the context of the Bible teaches these three elements. Whenever possible, we want to use the Bible to interpret the Bible.

Granted, it is not easy to work through Revelation. It is not easy to collect all the pieces and understand how they fit together. It can be a mighty challenge; which in one reason that Revelation has sparked so much controversy and so many different interpretations.

But shouldn’t that be characteristic of a God who transcends our understanding – that even His revelations call men up to think with all their might? And even if we are able to reach the pinnacle of human understanding, we would realize that we are merely standing on a bluff, gazing out upon an endlessly vast and deep sea.

Today it is likely that you will see many things you have not seen before. And by the end of this message you will realize that there is an ocean stretching beyond our comprehension. If you are like me, then all you will be left with is doxology – as it was with Paul:

Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgements and how inscrutable His ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been His counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to Him that he might be repaid?” For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be glory forever. Amen. -Romans 11:33-36

But know that the sacred heights we tread today are meant for our understanding. God has given us Revelation so that we can understand. It was not given to confuse. It was not given only to remain out of our reach. We can know and we can understand, and with minds filled with the Holy Spirit, we will.

Today the visions of Revelation begin. Today we will see how the book of Revelation works. We will begin to understand how to unlock Revelation.

Purpose

How does Biblical symbolism work?

What is the meaning of this first vision?

Read Revelation 1:9-20

Present Experiences

To those in the seven churches, John is their brother and partner; meaning he is on the same level as them and he is sharing the same experiences with them. Then he lists the three experiences that they are presently sharing: tribulation, the kingdom, and patient endurance.

Christ does not remove His people from tribulation, but He refines us as we patiently endure difficulty. The King has brought the kingdom, and yet it is not fully consummated; so we patiently endure the days until it is consummated. It is true for John’s day and it is true of ours.

And yet, let us not forget the context in which John writes. In one hand Jesus brought the kingdom in one hand and the Tribulation in the other. Just as Jesus announced when He said the words of Isaiah had been fulfilled (Luke 4:16-21):

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good new to the poor; He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captive, and the opening of the prisons to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God. -Isaiah 61:1-2

Though we Christians – throughout the ages – are partakers in both the kingdom and tribulation, Revelation was sent to people experiencing the beginning of the birth pains. The thunderheads of the Great Tribulation were gathering on the horizon (Luke 12:54-56). The day of Vengeance was coming on the clouds. The first readers of Revelation indeed needed a supernatural measure of patient endurance.

And those present experiences of tribulation, kingdom, and patient endurance were all linked together in one person: Jesus Christ. He is the seed from which the kingdom is now growing. He is the One who comes on the clouds bringing judgement. He generously grants His saints patient endurance.

Yes, it is the testimony of Jesus Christ that changes the course of history, that ends one age and ushers in a new one. And John receives this testimony, this revelation, while on the isle of Patmos.

Read vs 9b-10a

No matter the human reasons that landed John on Patmos, God’s purpose was to have John on that desolate island to receive the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. That phrasing is the exact same phrasing found in verse 2. The testimony of Jesus Christ, stated here in verse 9, is now all about Christ’s Revelation. It is Jesus speaking and showing the things that must soon take place.

There are different ideas about what John means by the Lord’s day, but that discussion is not important for our study today.

The Pen of a Prophet

What is important though, is that John uses a technical prophetic phrase: “I was in the Spirit.” It was Old Testament language signaling to the reader that the author received a prophetic revelation from the Almighty – that he had been admitted into the heavenly council-chamber. This phrasing validates the prophetic and signals the beginning of a prophetic utterance.

The oracle of David, the son of Jesse…“The Spirit of the Lord speaks by me; His word is on my tongue.” -2 Samuel 23:1-2

The Spirit entered into me and set me on my feet, and I heard Him speaking to me.

-Ezekiel 2:2

What we read after John writes, “I was in the Spirit,” should then be taken as authoritative, prophetic, and divine revelation. And again, let it remind us that we are reading a prophetic, apocalyptic book. With prophetic, apocalyptic literature comes phrasing that signals different and specific things. John is using a technical prophetic phrase signaling that he is a prophet and that God has spoken.

And when in the Spirit, something amazing and terrifying happens.

Read vs 10

Picture it. John in prayer, focused in one direction, and then from behind him comes a mighty voice. It is a voice like a trumpet. And John is suddenly caught up in the Spirit.

You should not be thinking of a musical instrument. You should think of a terrifying sound, one that would make you tremble to the core, one that would make you think you are about to die. For that is the effect it had upon the Israelites when God spoke to them from Mount Sinai.

On the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain and a very loud trumpet blast, so that all the people in the camp trembled. -Exodus 19:16

Now when all the people saw the thunder and the flashes of lightning and the sound of the trumpet and the mountain smoking, the people were afraid and trembled, and they stood far off and said to Moses, “You speak to us, and we will listen; but do not let God speak to us, lest we die.” -Exodus 20:18-19

When I try to imagine what this great voice like a trumpet sounded like, I think of this…

But through this overpowering sound, John hears a voice; just as Moses heard a voice on Sinai. And this voice tells him to write.

Read vs 11

These seven churches are all located in modern day Turkey; and the names of the churches are listed in a clockwise order.

John hears this terrifying voice behind him, speaking instructions to write. I imagine that in terror, he turns and he sees. This is going to be a tool often employed in Revelation. John hears, and then he sees. He hears one thing; he sees another thing. But they are not different things, they are the same thing – which is exactly what is happening here in chapter 1.

This first instance of hearing-then-seeing will teach us how symbolism in Revelation works. More on this later.

So, John heard that he must write to seven churches, what does he turn to see?

Read vs 12-16

John Sees

The first thing John sees are seven golden lampstands. This is meant to remind you of the seven spirits who are before the throne, spoken of in verse 4. Those seven spirits are symbolic of the Holy Spirit. And inside the temple in Jerusalem was a golden lampstand with seven arms and seven flames. This lampstand also represented the Holy Spirit. I spoke of these things in last week’s sermon.

But in John’s vision there are seven separate lampstands. And in the midst of the lampstands, one like a son of man. This is a direct reference to Daniel 7.

I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him. And to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples should serve Him; His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom one that shall not be destroyed. -Daniel 7:13-14

One like a son of man is God who became a man – the Son of God. Daniel’s vision is of Jesus Christ’s coronation ceremony which occurred after He ascended into Heaven. Jesus left on the clouds and appeared before God on the clouds. That was the moment that Christ was given dominion and glory and a kingdom. That was the moment that Jesus was given the crown – the King of all kings, the Lord of all lords!

That imagery from Daniel is woven into the fabric of Revelation.

John goes on to describe what he sees of this “one like a son of man” with some descriptive language employed elsewhere by Daniel. Each one of these descriptions is a reference to an Old Testament prophecy. They all have significance in their own right, and some of these descriptions we will see again in Revelation. But we are not going to explore the meaning of each descriptor today because that would diminish what it is John is communicating: the majesty, the other-worldly appearance, the terror of this one like a son of man.

Though, let us note a critical and absolutely powerful detail. In the right hand of this glorious person are seven stars. O, the depth of that image!

Read vs 13-17a

It is as if every part of this being is on fire, but He is not consumed. He is brilliant, blinding – like looking into the blazing sun. His voice is deafening like Niagara. And His glory absolutely overwhelms the senses of John, and John falls down as if dead. Jesus is the manifest glory of God, the incarnate glory of God. Just seeing the glorified Christ is enough to drop a man to the ground.

But with the same hand that held the seven stars, the King touches the shoulder of John. Though it is completely natural for John to be terrified of what he hears and sees, he is told not to fear.

Why should John not fear? Jesus tells him.

Read vs 17b-18

The one like a son of man calls Himself the first and the last. With these words Jesus declares Himself to be God.

Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts: “I am the first and I am the last; besides me there is no god. Who is like me? Let him proclaim it. Let him declare and set it before me, since I appointed an ancient people. Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen. Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides me? There is no Rock; I know not any.” -Isaiah 44:6-8

The Living One is another title for God. He died, and behold, He lives forevermore.

As Paul writes: We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. -Romans 6:9

And since death does not have dominion over Christ, but Christ overcame death, Jesus has dominion over death – or, He holds the keys of Death and Hades. In other words, Jesus is the Lord of life and He is the Lord of death. And as the first and the last, He reigns over all eternity, knowing all things from beginning to end. He can be trusted!

This is why John need not fear. Jesus holds John’s life in His hand, just as He held those stars, just as He put His right hand upon John. Though His appearance be awesome and terrible, that hand is still scarred. He loves John deeply, and gave His life for him. He will not let death separate Him from John. And not only did Jesus conquer His own death, He conquered John’s death.

And what is true of John is true of all those that Christ loves. We need not fear. Christ holds the keys to Death and Hades. Surely as He lives, so also will we live!

For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.

-Romans 6:10-11

Again, Jesus tells John to write.

Read vs 19

This phrasing is in parallel with the description in verse 4: of Him who is and who was and who is to come. John must write what he has seen – past. He must write the things that are – present. He must write the things that are to take place – future.

And notice the time stamp regarding the future: the things that are to take place after this. John is not writing about things that will take place in the distant future, but things about to happen right after this – and the “this” is the revelation that John is receiving. Like the first sentence of this book says, John is writing about the things that must soon take place. For, like verse 3 says, the time is near.

A Mystery

After telling John to write, Jesus unveils a mystery. What we read next is like a key that unlocks book of Revelation.

Read vs 20

In the Bible, the word mystery does not carry the sense of a puzzle, or riddle; as if there were some set of clues you could follow to unravel the mystery. No, a mystery cannot be understood without God. Biblically, a mystery is a hidden truth that needs divine revelation to understand. An example of this is when Paul uses the word mystery in the exact same way when he talks about Jews and Gentiles partaking in God’s promises.

The mystery was made know to me by revelation. -Ephesians 3:3

Again, a mystery is a hidden truth; and to know the truth you need divine revelation.

Based on that definition of mystery, Jesus is not telling John, “Here is the symbol and here is its meaning.” That would be like saying, “Here is the clue, here is the answer;” like lampstand is a codename for a church. That is not what’s happening.

What Jesus is saying is that these two things correspond to one another. They are equally true. This is how symbolism works in Revelation, as it does all over the Bible. Verse 20 is not an explanation; it is an equivalence. And this goes back to what John heard, and then what he saw. He heard the names of seven churches, he saw lampstands and stars and Christ in their midst.

This same usage of symbolism is going to happen again with the 144,000, the New Jerusalem, and a number of other symbols in Revelation. These are not descriptions of people and cities. They are parts of a correlation, and you need both parts of the revelation to understand the mystery.

Notice also the language of Jesus in verse 20. He does not say that the lampstands represent churches, but the lampstands are the seven churches. Again, its language of correlation. And because John has already drawn our attention to the seven spirits of God, the greater truth when these two parts come together is that the Holy Spirit lives within the church. The Spirit is the flame that illumines the church.

And Christ is in the midst of the seven lampstands, meaning that the church – in all of its various locations – is centered on Christ. He is the unifying element to all people in all time within the Church. He is the central post to these seven lampstands.

This correlation, with the Spirit in the heart of the church and Christ at the center, is what Jesus was talking about.

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand (like a lampstand), and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

-Matthew 5:14-16

You see, lampstand is not code for church. The church is a lampstand, the light of the world! It was true of the seven churches listed, it is true for Immanuel. This is a city set on a hill, a burning lampstand. It cannot be hidden!

At this point it would be easy to lose sight of the fact that there were, in reality, seven churches in Asia Minor to which John was instructed to write. They had issues and they needed encouragement, for tribulations were upon them. In Chapters 2 and 3 we will see Christ speaking directly to these particular churches. But even though they are particular churches with particular issues, the things spoken to them are applicable to all churches in all times – which we will see in the coming weeks.

But you might ask yourself, why these seven churches? What is so special about them? And here we begin to see just how great is the expanse of the majesty and wisdom and the dominion of our Lord.

7 Stars

That question is answered as we consider the seven stars in Christ’s hand. Jesus tells us that these seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. The Greek word for angel also means messenger. I want to show you, as we use the Bible to interpret the Bible, that Jesus is not talking about a special guardian angel for each church. Rather, there is copious Biblical warrant to understand these stars as the pastors of the seven churches.

In our Bible study two weeks ago we dove into Biblical imagery of sun, moon, and stars representing kings, rulers, and government systems. Here is one example of stars symbolizing rulers:

The kings came, they fought; then fought the kings of Canaan, at Taanach, by the waters of Megiddo; they got no spoils of silver. From heaven the stars fought, from their courses they fought against Sisera. -Judges 5:19-20

These seven stars in the hand of Christ symbolize the rulers of the seven churches. But these are not rulers as found within the kingdoms of men. These rulers are shepherds/elders/overseers/pastors. The seven stars are the seven pastors – or seven messengers – of the seven churches.

What John has written down will be sent to the seven churches. The pastors of these churches will then read them aloud, for they are the messengers. Such was the expectation we read about back in verse 3:

Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear.

Why this image? Why is it important for the pastors to be separated and correlated to stars? Because if Christ holds these stars, if the pastors are secure in the hand of Christ, then will not that church be led by Christ, and be likewise secured in the palm of Christ’s hand? If Christ holds the pastor, is He not also holding and guiding the church?

Indeed, the pastors are figureheads for the whole of the church.

Jesus said: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”

-John 10:28-30

Though the stars correlate to the pastors, securely held in the hand of Christ, they are figureheads of the church. They are representatives of the larger church, even the church universal.

Now the mystery gets deeper. There is a meaning even deeper that would have been clear to the first readers of Revelation.

There is a constellation of seven stars in our night sky that carried special significance deep into the ancient world: the Pleiades. Pleiades is named numerous times in the Old Testament, and what we see in Revelation 1 is an indirect reference to Pleiades.

Inn the spring Pleiades is visible at dawn. Right now it is visible at dusk. Many ancient cultures saw the morning Pleiades as the beginning of the season of planting, as well as the start of the seafaring season.

In Greek and Roman mythology, these stars were deified as seven sisters. Maia, somewhat in the center, was the greatest of these seven sisters. It is from her that the month of May gets its name.

There was a saying in the ancient world that went something like this, “As on earth, so in heaven.” Ancient people constantly drew parallels between the positions and movement of the heavenly bodies with the events happening on earth. Rome was commonly called the City of Seven Mountains, in the same sort of way that we call New York the Big Apple. In the mind of the Roman, on earth they were seven mountains, and they saw themselves reflected in the seven stars of the Pleiades. From its very foundations, it would seem that Rome identified itself with the Pleiades.

You can see the seven stars of Pleiades on many Roman coins. The seven stars represented Rome. The inscription on that coin in the center reads, “To the divine Caesar.”

You see, the Caesars though of themselves as gods. For if on earth they ruled Rome, the City of Seven Mountains, then in the skies they held the seven stars in their hand, like a god.

And if this god could control the growing season – from which comes sustenance and wealth; and if this god can control the season of seafaring, through which empires are expanded; then this god would indeed be the king of kings, the ruler of the earth. This is exactly what Rome thought of their Caesars, and this is why the Pleiades are employed to deify the Caesars.

Now, can you see what Jesus is doing in this Revelation?

Many people think that Revelation was written cryptically to hide its meaning from Rome; fearing that if Rome understood what Revelation was saying, those possessing the book would be executed for sedition. But to think this is to not understand the first century context. Any Roman bureaucrat would know exactly what was meant in Revelation 1. Jesus was claiming dominion over Rome and all the earth. Jesus was casting down Caesar and taking His place as the true King of kings.

And, instead of the Pleiades symbolizing Rome, the greatest empire the world had yet known, Revelation is symbolically stating that there is a kingdom great than Rome. It is the kingdom of the seven stars and seven lampstands, held by the true ruler of the kings of the earth. It is the Church.

And if you have doubts that a correlation is being drawn between the Pleiades and the seven churches of Revelation, then look again at this map. It was no coincidence that God told John to send this Revelation to these seven churches. Their locations bear a breathtaking resemblance to the seven stars of the Pleiades.

The seven churches, and their pastors, were real; for they, with John, partook of the tribulation, of the kingdom, and of patient endurance. And yet these seven churches stand as representatives of the church through history. Not in terms of different phases of the church, but in terms of an ever expanding kingdom, inaugurated in Christ, shattering the empires of earth.

In the days of those kings (Rome) the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break into pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever.

-Daniel 2:44

A Mystery Revealed

When we overlay the seven churches with the vision of Revelation 1, this is the mystery revealed:

We, as the church, are participants in Christ’s ever expanding kingdom.

We are a people united by the glorious grace and majesty of our great King.

He holds us, together, in His righteous right hand, and nothing can separate us from His love.

It is through us that the Holy Spirit is casting heaven’s light into the darkness of this world.

Now we see how mystery and symbolism and prophetic language works. Christ Himself has given us the key to understand His Revelation.

Brothers and sisters, fear not! Since all authority in heaven and on earth is Christ’s, go (Matthew 28:18-19) as lights of the world (Matthew 5:14). Proclaim the excellencies of Him who called you out of the darkness and into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9)!