REVELATION CHAPTER 1 – THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST – THE FATHER’S PERFECTION PART 4 OF 6
Welcome everyone. Today we will continue our special examination into the Person, Ministry and Character of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ from the first chapter of Revelation. Remember there awaits a blessing for everyone who reads the words of Revelation, and for all who listen to the words of the book. Verse after verse of Chapter 1 reveals one great picture after another of the Lord Jesus.
Revelation 1:15 “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.”
Daniel also saw the Lord in judgement as recorded here – {{Daniel 10:6 “His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.”}} The vision had a profound effect on Daniel. No wonder it did, for it was a fearsome sight. It is the figure of One in judgement. In the Old Testament, and carried on in the New, there were words that denoted wrath and judgement, such as lightning, flaming torches, bronze, and loud noise.
It is a dreadful revelation John saw, for it is the Lord, the Judge. Jesus Christ is the Judge over the whole earth and will be the One on the great white throne of revelation 20. Brass, and we can include bronze, is always one of the symbols of judgement in the Bible, hard and strong. It is always consistent – always a symbol of judgement. That is why the sacrificial Altar in the Tabernacle had to be made of brass, for it was on that altar that the sacrificial offerings for sin were always a judgement on sin. Armageddon is the great wrath of God on the armies of all nations that will be gathered in Israel for the extermination of God’s chosen nation and so the Lord in wrath is described using the language of judgement.
{{Revelation 19:11-15 “I saw heaven opened and behold, a white horse, and He who sat upon it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness He judges and wages war. His eyes are a flame of fire, and upon His head are many diadems and He has a name written upon Him which no one knows except Himself. He is clothed with a robe dipped in blood and His name is called The Word of God. The armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen, white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 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.”}}
The verse also speaks of a voice sounding like many waters. Our nearest connection with that would be the raging of a flood, and more strongly, would be the rushing of mighty waterfalls in full flood. It speaks of power and authority. The Lord speaks with power and authority. Why, it was that voice that created the universe from nothing, the voice that thundered out to the distant galaxies. It is Jesus in creative power and in judgement.
SUMMARY REVELATION OF JESUS 1:15 {{Revelation 1:15 His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, (He is the Judge of ALL the earth – image from Daniel – the all conquering future King of Revelation chapter 19, and Judge at the great white throne) and His voice was like the sound of many waters. (The Lord who is powerful in creation and judgement)}}
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Revelation 1:16 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.
The seven stars are the messengers to the churches or the messengers in the churches, maybe the ones to receive the correspondence; in a loose way, the Secretary, or the communicating brother (see the last verse). I see this as the Lord Jesus who upholds all His faithful office bearers and His ministers (a wider sense than just a church pastor). Jesus is the Upholder of His brethren. He is the Lord of His churches. -Then there are two further revelations of the Lord –
(a). A sharp, two-edged sword coming from His mouth. We know the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword and is meant for battle. When you combine this verse with the ones we had from Rev 19 quoted above, then you see the whole scene is of judgement. The word of God in the mouth of the Word of God will be like the sound of many waters at the great battle of Armageddon in Rev 19 when He conquers all those armies assembled against Israel. {{Hebrews 4:12 “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.”}} We know this verse is used in regard to preaching and conviction and the gospel, but it will have a great application in Revelation 19, for there the Sword will discern the thoughts and intents of the combatants against Israel and see their evil intent and they will be slain as God’s word and The WORD condemns them. A two edged sword cuts both ways and both thoughts and intents of every individual will be bared before the King of the universe. {{Zechariah 12:9 “And it will come about in that day that I will set about to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.”}}
(b). You see in the second part of this verse it speaks of His face being like the sun in its full strength. The sun is a burning heat and He will burn His enemies when He comes. This is an image of judgement. He is the Sun of Righteousness and He will shine as the Sun on His redeemed people Israel as we are told in Malachi – {{Malachi 4:1 “For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff, and the day that is coming will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of hosts, “so that it will leave them neither root nor branch.” Mal 4:2 “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. Mal 4:3 “And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing,” says the LORD of hosts.”}}
As the sun dawns after the dark night, so too shall the sun of righteousness dawn on a troubled and persecuted Israel at the Second Coming and its rays will bring in righteousness in the Millennial kingdom. The face like the sun that John saw, is properly the face in judgement as it is connected with the sword, but an application from it, is that the Lord will usher in righteousness in His Kingdom. There is a very special event in store for those who honour, reverence, fear, and worship the Lord’s name (the name of Jehovah). They will experience “the sun of righteousness”, which will arise with healing in its wings. Jesus the Messiah is the Son of Righteousness, but here the expression in Malachi is the sun of righteousness, which will arise in a glorious sunrise to end the dark, horrible night of the Tribulation. The great and glorious day will dawn, but remember this is Jewish and the saints have endured the Tribulation, and it ushers in righteousness throughout the world, beginning with His people in Jerusalem first.
Now Messiah comes as the sun of righteousness after He deals with all the world’s enemies gathered against Israel. It will have an immediate effect on the saved of Israel who enter the Millennium for they will skip about for joy with great expression of delight. There is an application for us Christians also. We wait for the dawning of the sun of righteousness when He snatches us away to the righteousness of heaven at the Rapture.
[[[ SPECIAL NOTE: The next 966 words were not part of the messages on Revelation chapter 1, but the section is taken from my Bible Study on Malachi. As it deals with the sun of righteousness, I thought I would include it here for this posting if anyone is interested. It is a much fuller explanation of those Malachi verses. ]]]
Malachi 4 verse 3. So that there is no misunderstanding as to when this happens, it has nothing to do with the faithful of Malachi’s time or the Maccabees or any other historic timeframe. It has not yet happened. The key is found in the phrase, “on the day which I am preparing,” and that is the same day as verse 1 “for behold, the day is coming.” That day is when God goes to battle for His Jewish saints on the great day of His Second Coming. We did much on that in Zechariah chapters 12 and 14. Malachi says, “and you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet,”. This is the same as {{Zechariah 12 v 6 “In that day I will make the clans of Judah like a firepot among pieces of wood and a flaming torch among sheaves, so they will consume on the right hand and on the left all the surrounding peoples, while the inhabitants of Jerusalem again dwell on their own sites in Jerusalem.” Zech 12 v 8 “In that day the LORD will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and the one who is feeble among them in that day will be like David, and the house of David will be like God, like the angel of the LORD before them.”}} God will enable the oppressed Jews to rise up when He comes to do their part in the great deliverance. The victory belongs to the Lord of heaven’s hosts. The saints in Jerusalem are empowered to do their part.
Now for a few comments from the writers - Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges says this – “The day of its manifestation is at hand. That discriminating day shall award to each their righteous recompense. To the wicked it shall come as a burning furnace to consume them: upon the righteous it shall dawn as a day of which the very sun that makes it, is righteousness. Just as in the material world the shadows and distortions and illusions of night vanish before the light of the rising sun, which shows all things as they really are, so in the moral world the sun of righteousness shall put to flight the difficulties and perplexities, the inequalities and anomalies, which have been the trial of the faithful and the weapon of the scoffer. No place for them shall be found, when the sun of righteousness shall dawn. [with healing in his wings] ? Compare “the wings of the morning”, Psalm 139:9. In both cases, the rising of the sun is compared, not with the use of the wings in flight, but to lifting them up, or spreading them out. In the Psalm the suddenness and rapidity with which this is done, when the sun “flares up from behind the mountain-wall of Moab,” is the point of comparison (Compare “the morning spread upon the mountains,” Joel 2:2; and the swift travelling of the light across the landscape in our own country, when the sun emerges from a cloud on a windy day). Here the healing virtue of the outstretched wings is in view. “A pleasant, and a wholesome, thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun.” Ecclesiastes 11:7.
The Pulpit Commentary on verse 2 says - The Sun of Righteousness. The sun which is righteousness, in whose wings, that is, rays, are healing and salvation. This Divine righteousness shall beam upon them that fear the Name of God, flooding them with joy and light, healing all wounds, removing all miseries, making them incalculably blessed. The Church Fathers generally apply the title of "Sun of Righteousness" to Christ, who is the Source of all justification and enlightenment and happiness, and who is called (Jeremiah 23 v 6), "The Lord our Righteousness."
Before we enter into the final four verses of Revelation chapter 1, I want to give Gabelein’s thoughts on the three verses we just did in Malachi (You will notice that ACG follows the old Church Fathers in rendering “Sun of Righteousness” as Christ) – “In the fourth chapter is the final message of the Old Testament Prophetic Word. The day, that coming Day of the Lord, so often mentioned in every portion of the Old Testament, is once more brought before us. It is the day of fire, the day of reckoning with the wicked, who will be consumed like stubble. But that day brings not only the fire of judgment, the winding up of “man’s day,” the dethronement of evil; but it will be the day of the sunrise. “The Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in His wings.” The Sun of Righteousness is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the beautiful symbol of His personal, visible, and glorious coming to usher in that day, which will last for a thousand years, in which He will rule in power and glory. The Old Testament knows nothing of His coming as the Morning Star. That coming is exclusively revealed in the New Testament in relation with the Church (the Rapture). The Morning Star precedes the sunrise. Even so, before that day comes, before the great tribulation, with wrath poured out, He comes for His saints as the Morning Star. The Church does not wait for the rising of the sun, but for the rising of the Morning Star. While the world sleeps, and the world-church dreams its idle dreams, true believers look for the Morning Star. Some day we shall see that glorious Morning Star, when suddenly He descends with that long promised shout.
When the Sun of Righteousness arises, He will bring healing and blessing. His waiting earthly people, the remnant, will be filled with joy and gambol as calves, while the wicked will be trodden under foot.”
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SUMMARY REVELATION OF JESUS 1:16 {{Revelation 1:16 In His right hand He held seven stars (The upholder of His people, The Lord of the Churches, the Bridegroom of His Bride, the Upholder of His brethren), and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword (Again the Judge of the earth. The sword of the Lord! The Word of God is Judge and Avenger, the Deliverer of His people. Link with Rev 19), and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. (The Sun of righteousness with healing in His wings, the glorious God, the One who will usher in Millennial Righteousness.)}}
That ends PART 4. We shall do Part 5 next time.
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
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