Seven Stars and Seven Candlesticks
Book of Revelation
Chapter 1 verses 12-20
We need to remember
that up until this point all we know is the John was worshiping alone
on the Isle of Patmos and the Holy Spirit just overwhelmed John and
as he says:
Rev 1:10 I was in
the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as
of a trumpet,
If you are a
Christian, you know what John is saying here. Most all of us got in
the Spirit the day we prayed that sinner’s prayer and was
gloriously saved.
Most of us have had
a visit from the Holy Spirit on other occasions. Those that say they
haven't, just are not paying attention. The Holy Spirit sometimes
speaks in a real small voice
John was having
Church. He and the Holy Spirit and the Lord Jesus Christ were
gathered together. What did Jesus teach us?
Mat 18:20 For where
two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them.
We can worship when
we are alone with the Lord and the Holy Spirit!
BUT Those who do not
attend a true House of God do not know what they are missing.
It is sin not to
attend the House of God on a regular basis!
Heb 10:25 Not
forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some
is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the
day approaching.
In our day, we do
see the "Day of the Lord" approaching so, we should be in
the House of God more today than we have in the past
John and the Holy
Spirit were having themselves a time when, in came the Lord Jesus
Christ.
There was no doubt
in John's mind that this was Christ, but he remained motionless for
just a moment listening to the Lord.
It was now time for
John to turn and see where this voice was coming from.
Remember John was
alone on this Isle of Patmos at least he was alone as he worshiped
the Lord.
The Isle of Patmos
was a barren lonely place which was John's punishment.
*****Rev 1:12 And I
turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw
seven golden candlesticks;
Rev 1:13 And in the
midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed
with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a
golden girdle.
John first saw seven
golden candlesticks.
First John heard a
voice.
Next John turned
toward that voice.
Next John saw seven
candlesticks.
Again we see the
number seven and we will see this number many times in the Book of
Revelation and it will have the same meaning each time.
It is a fact that
the number seven is considered to be a holy number by many peoples.
To the Hebrew
people, every seventh day has a meaning.
Every seventh year
has a specific meaning and the multiples of seven have specific
meanings.
They would mourn for
the dead seven days.
They would also
celebrate weddings for seven days.
These things began
with the seven days of Creation Week.
Notice to
evolutionist, the number seven has no meaning at all except, on the
calendar that they do not agree with.
They do like
multiples of years but its millions of years and billions of years,
so just about anyone will say "well in that many years anything
could happen" just to get away from one simple Creation Week
when the Lord made everything we see and everything that we cannot
see.
The candlestick of
the Jewish Temple is called a "menorah".
How did Moses
construct such a candlestick?
Exo 25:31 And thou
shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the
candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his
knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
Exo 25:32 And six
branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the
candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the
candlestick out of the other side:
Exo 25:33 Three
bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch;
and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop
and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the
candlestick.
Exo 25:34 And in
the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with
their knops and their flowers.
Exo 25:35 And there
shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two
branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same,
according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.
Exo 25:36 Their
knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one
beaten work of pure gold.
Exo 25:37 And thou
shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps
thereof, that they may give light over against it.
Exo 25:38 And the
tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.
Exo 25:39 Of a
talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
Exo 25:40 And look
that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the
mount.
When John says a
candlestick then this is what he saw, and he saw seven of them.
They were either
placed in a circle or in a straight line because in the midst of them
was the Lord Jesus Christ and I believe they were placed in a circle.
We will see later
that these candlesticks represent these seven Churches and seven
Church Ages, and they all are to get their light from Him.
Eph 5:8 For ye were
sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as
children of light:
The Lord Jesus was
in His human form, but oh how wonderful it was the sight of Him.
We could say John
saw the Lord as He presents Himself in Heaven.
He had on a garment
such as a robe that covered His body down to His feet and was most
likely a white robe, but it could be that same scarlet robe He wears
later.
Rev 19:13 And he
was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called
The Word of God.
Jesus was wearing
the robe of a prophet because He proclaims the Word of Truth to us.
Jesus was wearing
the robe of a priests, because He gives us access into the presence
of our Heavenly Father.
Jesus was wearing
the robe of a King, because He rules this earth that belongs to Him.
He had on a golden
cloth used as a belt around His waist. Much like a priest but it also
represents dignity and authority.
The Lord Jesus was
dressed as if He were going on a journey!
We must understand
that the message of the Book of Revelation is from Jesus Himself!
He was just
marvelous to look upon.
Both Ezekiel and
Daniel had similar views of the Lord!
What else did John
see about the Lord?
*****Rev 1:14 His
head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his
eyes were as a flame of fire;
The head and hair of
Jesus were as white as snow which pictures our Lord Jesus as the
"Ancient of Days".
The Prophet Daniel
spoke often of the "Ancient of Days".
Dan_7:9 I beheld
till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit,
whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the
pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as
burning fire.
Dan_7:13 I saw in
the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the
clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought
him near before him.
Dan_7:22 Until the
Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the
most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom.
Hair on the head of
the Lord was white as white wool, a perfect whiteness.
Wool is also an
emblem of eternity! The Lord is eternal, who was, who is, and who is
to come!
His eyes were as a
flame of fire.
His eyes are a token
of His omniscience, eyes that can pierce through all things clearly.
Eyes that can penetrate even into the heart.
Heb 4:13 Neither is
there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things
are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
Jer 23:23 Am I a
God at hand, saith the LORD, and not a God afar off?
Jer 23:24 Can any
hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the
LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.
Nothing can be
hidden from our Savior!
And of what of His
feet?
*****Rev 1:15 And
his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and
his voice as the sound of many waters.
Brass signifies
strength but also lasting! Jesus Christ has no weakness at all, and
our God is eternal. There is no one and nothing that can overcome the
power of God.
Brass that has been
through the furnace reaches a "white heat". This answers
that burnish look, that glowing look that can only be Jesus Christ.
The voice of the
Lord. If you were near the Niagara Falls you could not hear anything
but the roar of the waters as they flowed down the falls.
The voice of the
Lord was the same to John. John could here no other sound as the Lord
spoke with the authority that He has.
Remember when the
Lord speaks all of nature is listening to His voice for His next
command!
John knew he was in
the presence of the Almighty God and once He spoke, he had John's
full attention!
Psa 93:1 The LORD
reigneth, he is clothed with majesty; the LORD is clothed with
strength, wherewith he hath girded himself: the world also is
stablished, that it cannot be moved.
Psa 93:2 Thy throne
is established of old: thou art from everlasting.
Psa 93:3 The floods
have lifted up, O LORD, the floods have lifted up their voice; the
floods lift up their waves.
Psa 93:4 The LORD
on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the
mighty waves of the sea.
Psa 93:5 Thy
testimonies are very sure: holiness becometh thine house, O LORD, for
ever.
When the Lord speaks
to you, you will have no doubt who is speaking! If you have doubts,
then it is not the Lord speaking!
We should understand
that the Lord Jesus Christ will be a sight to behold and the only One
who deserves our worship forever more!
It is the Lord Jesus
Christ who holds the true Church in His hand!
The next two
chapters will deal with those seven churches, their problems and the
Lord's solution to their problems!
When the Lord is
speaking to the Church, He is expecting us all to pay attention.
We need to hear what
the Lord is speaking to us, but we also need to hear what the Lord is
speaking to all the church!
*****Rev 1:16 And
he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a
sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in
his strength.
As we read ahead, we
know that these seven candlesticks represent those seven churches and
these seven stars represent seven angels who are messengers to those
churches.
A true church is a
church whose message comes from our Heavenly Father! Anyone, anyone,
who has a message that opposes the written Word of God has a false
message.
God intends for the
true church to survive until He takes the true Church home! Remember
this message is to the true Church.
Any gathering of
people together that is not to promote the Gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is then not a true Church.
Those who follow a
perverted or twisted up version of the true Scriptures are not a true
Church.
Those who search for
power that is not the power of the Holy Spirit are not a true Church.
The message of our
Holy Father is as a two-edged sword!
Truth: Dan 12:3
And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament;
and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and
ever.
Judgment: Rev 19:15
And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should
smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he
treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
God the Father has
given us His message of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.
There is only one message! There is only one true Messenger!
God the Father also
gives us the message of righteous anger, to all those who oppose His
message of truth!
A two-edged sword
cuts on both sides!
The countenance of
our Savior implies His abundance of favor toward His children.
Psa 21:5 His glory
is great in thy salvation: honour and majesty hast thou laid upon
him.
Psa 21:6 For thou
hast made him most blessed for ever: thou hast made him exceeding
glad with thy countenance.
To the Church:
Act 2:25 For David
speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face,
for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:
Act 2:26 Therefore
did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh
shall rest in hope:
Act 2:27 Because
thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine
Holy One to see corruption.
Act 2:28 Thou hast
made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy
with thy countenance.
Act 2:29 Men and
brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that
he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this
day.
Act 2:30 Therefore
being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him,
that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would
raise up Christ to sit on his throne;
Act 2:31 He seeing
this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was
not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.
Act 2:32 This Jesus
hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.
The countenance of
our Holy Father is seen in His Son the Lord Jesus Christ, the
Almighty Living God!
This is what John
knew and this is what John saw!
*****Rev 1:17 And
when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right
hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:
Rev 1:18 I am he
that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore,
Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
What are we going to
do when we first meet the Lord Jesus Christ in all His glory at the
Bema Seat, where Christ will judge His church for rewards or loss of
rewards?
We will fall down on
our faces as dead men and women at the feet of our Savior!
There is a great big
difference in sinfulness and sinlessness!
Luk 5:8 When Simon
Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me;
for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
Some may feel
differently, but they will be the first ones to fall at the feet of
Jesus!
Then if that same
light is shining in our heart, the Lord will say "fear not"!
2Co 4:6 For God,
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our
hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the
face of Jesus Christ.
2Co 4:7 But we have
this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power
may be of God, and not of us.
Jesus Christ was the
hope of His Church in the past, since He went back to Heaven and
Jesus Christ is the Only Hope for His Church today.
His message is that
of truth and love!
Our encouragement
will always come from the Lord! Today and when we meet Him in the
air!
When He reaches down
with that right hand of power to touch us in love and says those
words "fear not" we will then know for sure we are redeemed
and it’s time to go home with Him!
That same hand that
holds those stars also holds my soul!
Joh 10:27 My sheep
hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me:
Joh 10:28 And I
give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither
shall any man pluck them out of my hand.
Joh 10:29 My
Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able
to pluck them out of my Father's hand.
Joh 10:30 I and my
Father are one.
And those keys!
As the Church we
need to understand that all power has been given to the Lord Jesus
Christ and He holds the power over death, and He holds the power over
who and who does not go to hell.
Mat 28:18 And Jesus
came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in
heaven and in earth.
In reality we hold
this power ourselves. Make that decision today to call on the Lord.
Rev 6:8 And I
looked, and behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was
Death, and Hell followed with him. And power was given unto them over
the fourth part of the earth, to kill with sword, and with hunger,
and with death, and with the beasts of the earth.
We know that only
the Lord Jesus Christ can take away the life and that is at His
choosing!
He may dispatch this
to some other as this verse states. He gave the power to Death and
Hell, which would be the Angel of Death and the Keeper of Hell who
will both be tossed in the Lake of Fire also.
Rev 20:14 And death
and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
When this takes
place, there will be no more death and Hell will no longer be a
place, the Final Place for those sentenced to eternal death will be
the Burning Lake of Fire.
You see the gates of
Hell will never prevail over the Church!
Mat 16:18 And I say
also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build
my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
If you place your
life into the hands of the Lord, you are assured of safety throughout
eternity!
And now the Apostle
John is given his instructions.
*****Rev 1:19 Write
the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the
things which shall be hereafter;
Rev 1:20 The
mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and
the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the
seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the
seven churches.
John is to write
down the things he sees in all his visions, whether they be in the
past, whether they be in his present, or whether they be in his
future and therefore in our future as it seems to be.
Some of these facts
are that of Christ's Incarnation.
We know that the
Lord Jesus Christ left Heaven's glory to come to this earth and grow
as a man from a child born in Bethlehem as the prophesies foretold.
As the God-man He
became the foundation of the Church and of all Christianity.
All other religions
are just man-made rejections of the Lord Jesus Christ!
Faith in Jesus
Christ is faith in God and there is no other God than He, Jehovah!
Jehovah Himself said
man was created in His image and that of His Son!
Gen 1:26 And God
said, "Let us" make man in "our" image, after
"our" likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over
all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the
earth.
Gen 9:6 Whoso
sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed: "for in
the image of God made he man".
We may not totally
understand exactly what being in the image of God means, but we do
know we have this connection to our Almighty Creator, Elohim.
God created man and
God continues to reveal Himself to man and He explains His
relationship by giving us His Book of the Living, we call the Bible.
Pro 8:17 I love
them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.
We are caught up the
prophecy of the Messiah.
Pro 8:22 The LORD
possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old.
Pro 8:23 I was set
up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the earth was.
Pro 8:24 When there
were no depths, I was brought forth; when there were no fountains
abounding with water.
Pro 8:25 Before the
mountains were settled, before the hills was I brought forth:
Pro 8:26 While as
yet he had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part
of the dust of the world.
Pro 8:27 When he
prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the
face of the depth:
Pro 8:28 When he
established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of
the deep:
Pro 8:29 When he
gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his
commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
Pro 8:30 Then I was
by him, as one brought up with him: and I was daily his delight,
rejoicing always before him;
Pro 8:31 Rejoicing
in the habitable part of his earth; and my delights were with the
sons of men.
Pro 8:32 Now
therefore hearken unto me, O ye children: for blessed are they that
keep my ways.
Pro 8:33 Hear
instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
Pro 8:34 Blessed is
the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the
posts of my doors.
Pro 8:35 For whoso
findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD.
Pro 8:36 But he
that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul: all they that hate me
love death.
How can we deny our
Creator or His Son, the only means to reconnect with our Creator in
His house!
The Lord takes the
time to tell us that those seven candlesticks represent those seven
churches in Asia and therefore all the types of the Church and all
the Church Ages since the beginning of the first true Church in
Jerusalem and then Antioch, where the first missionaries were sent
out and deacons were elected.
Those seven stars
are then the seven messengers to the church which in my mind means
those pastors or preachers, even though I am sure God's Angels watch
over not only that Church but also each and every Christian and
certainly every true called man of God!
There are not really
any mysteries in the Scriptures, if you study the Bible because the
Bible itself is its own best commentary if you are filled with the
Holy Spirit.
Amen
Let's Pray!