Tag Archives: Seven Stars

Vision Of The Exalted Christ Part 1

Revelation Commentary, , , ,

Read Revelation 1:11-20.

As John turned facing the north, he saw the beautiful Seven-Star Constellation that appears to be the center of the universal heavens, orbiting the pole star. In the midst of this constellation was “one like unto the Son of Man”. This is so breath-taking a picture that we can hardly imagine it. Yet it is even more magnificent when we see that it had been prophesied by the prophets hundreds of years earlier.

Read Isaiah chapters 11-13.

This appearance of Christ in His majestic position in the height of the heavens is a fulfillment of the promise of Isaiah 11:1: “And there shall come forth a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots.”

This “Rod” is to stand as an Ensign of the people, (Isaiah 11:10). The Ensign was the Banner that served to signal the people to gather. The signal was to be observed and obeyed by the Gentiles of the whole universe. In Isaiah 12, this gathered Host of the Lord is the true Zion, as it worships and praises Him. Christ is the Holy One of the New Israel in the midst of Zion, His regathered people.

We see this “Banner” again in Isaiah 13:2:

“Lift ye up a banner upon the high mountain, exalt the voice unto them, shake the hand, that they may go into the gates of the nobles.”

The “high mountain” was that of the heavens. These who gathered to this “Banner” were the sanctified ones, those who rejoice in the righteousness of the Lord. They are a mighty army. They are about to witness the destruction of “Babylon”, (Isaiah 13:1); for it is the “Day of the Lord”.

Christ Fulfilling Isaiah 11, 12 and 13: The Ensign, Banner, Diadem:

Revelation 1:11-20 shows Christ in His position in the heavens of the exalted Banner of God. The Hebrew word for ‘ensign’, ‘banner’, ‘diadem’, is nâçaç II, ‘To lift up, to exalt’; whence a form of the word is found in Zechariah 9:16: “They shall be as stones of a diadem, (RSV: “Jewels of a Crown”), lifting themselves up in his land,” (RSV “They shall shine on”). A related word, nêzer, that is, (1), the diadem or token by which anyone is separated from the people at large, (2) consecration…the consecrated head.’ We also see these jewels again shining in the New Jerusalem of Revelation 21:18-21.

As this exalted Banner, Christ is also described by another closely related word nêç: “something lifted up, a token to be seen far off, specially, (1) a banner, such as went up on high mountains, esp. in case of an invasion, when it showed the people where to assemble, as in Isaiah 5:26; 11:12; 18:3; 62:10; Jeremiah 4:6, 21; Psalms 60:6, (vs. 4 KJV),….(2) a standard, or flag, as of a ship… (3) a column or lofty pole, as in Numbers 21:8,9, (4) Metaphorically, a sign by which anyone is warned, as in Number 26:10.”

Christ also fulfills the active participle form, nəçibâh, meaning “bringing about the guidance of God.” This ‘Ensign, Banner, Diadem’ was the guiding Light of God when the Christians were called out of Jerusalem as foretold by Isaiah 52:11, 12: “And the God of Israel will be your gathering place,” (or “glory of the Lord shall be thy gathering place.”) Then verse 13: “Thy servant… he shall be exalted and extolled and be very high.”

The outcasts of Israel were to be gathered to this Banner, (Isaiah 10:12), Christ.

John’s vision sees Christ, exalted to the heavens, fulfilling all of the majesty, beauty, and power of the visions of the prophets.

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, orwww.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.

Being Turned

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Revelation 1:12: “Being turned I saw seven golden candlesticks.”

Praying Toward Jerusalem

John was in the isle of Patmos. The Jews in exile from the land of Judea were taught that they should pray toward Jerusalem according as Solomon had prayed at the dedication of the temple:

“Yet have thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer, which thy servant prayeth before thee to day: 29 That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, [even] toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. 30 And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive.” (1 Kings 8:28)

We know that Daniel followed this tradition while Israel was captive in Babylon:

“Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” (Daniel 6:10)

“Being Turned” Away From the Fallen Jerusalem

We can understand, then, that John was praying toward Jerusalem and the Temple. From the Isle of Patmos, he would have been facing in a southerly direction. Upon hearing the Voice, John turned. He would then have been facing north. It was as he was facing north that he saw the seven golden candlesticks, (KJV), or “lampstands,” (RSV). John’s “turning”, then, symbolized turning away from the old Judaism to the Church of Jesus Christ, visually represented by the north polar constellations, sometimes known in the Hebrew culture as the Menorah, or seven-branched candlestick of the Temple.

THE CHURCH HAS BECOME THE MENORAH

The “seven golden candlesticks” are the seven churches of Asia, Revelation 1:20: “The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.”

These same seven are also the seven spirits of God, Revelation 4:5. These same seven spirits are also the seven eyes of the Lamb, Revelation 5:6.

(See also my Commentary at 1:4 “Asia”.)

In Revelation 1:20 the seven stars are the fire upon the top of the lampstands: “The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches.”

These angels are spirits, Psalm 104:4 and Hebrews 1:7, 14. Therefore, in this writing, these are all synonymous and interchangeable to some degree: Lampstands, Churches, Spirits, Eyes of the Lamb, Angels and Stars.

How the Natural is Analogous to the Spiritual

It is probably helpful to understand that there is a natural reality that corresponds to, or is analogous to, the spiritual reality. “For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse,” Romans 1:20.

For example, the “Angels” of the seven churches of Asia are spiritual entities that inhabit the natural pastors or leaders of the earthly churches. However, the earthly churches are merely the counterpart of a heavenly reality, the Eyes of the Lamb and the Seven Spirits of God. As in all use of analogy, the analogy only holds for certain parts of the entities represented. The two figures are not identical in every respect.

This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book, Revelation in Context, available locally at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma or www.Amazon.com, orwww.XulonPress.com.
Free downloads are also available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net.

THE ALMIGHTY

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Revelation 1:8. “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”

The Greek word for Almighty is “pantokrator.”  This term is found seven times also, in Revelation 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 14; 19:15; 21:22. According to Malina the term literally means “Controller of Everyone and Everything” (Malina, 261*). The like term polokrator was used in the Greek cultures to designate the “god” who exercised control over the pole of the universe, upon which the whole heavens and earth apparently turned. The word pole meant “that central pivot plus all the sky connected with it that rotated around the earth due to the power applied at the pole,” (ibid. 73). In identifying Christ as the ‘pantokrator,’ He is the One Who has all power in the universe.

Various Names of the Constellation of Ursa Major

The seven stars of Ursa Major which is the constellation containing the pole star, (often called “the North Star”), were known variously in that era “… as simply the ‘Seven Stars’; or as ‘Septem Triones,’ the seven oxen that plow or thresh around the pole,’ (in Latin, a common word for northern is ‘seven-oxen-ward’ septemtrionalis); or ‘the Turner,'” (ibid. 92). So when John turned and saw the “seven stars” he was seeing Ursa Major.

The Symbolism of the North Star

On this view, the polokrator held the pivotal stars in his right hand (ibid. 262).  Christ is, therefore, being portrayed in Revelation 1:16 as the God of the universe, not merely the Messiah of the small nation of Israel.

It is in this idea of the pole as the pivot point upon which the whole universe turns that we find an analogy with the Garner also as a place where the good grain is gathered, ( see Matthew 3:12; Luke 3:17), for the oxen tread out the grain around just such a pole. Symbolically, Christ is gathering His good grain into His garner.

The Lamb/Ram Sign as the First Sign of the Mazzaroth

This polokrator is also identified with the constellation of the Lamb/Ram, believed to be the first of the zodiacal signs. [Remember, however, that the Hebrews did not use the word ‘zodiac’, a circle of animals, but rather ‘mazzaroth’, meaning “moving things.”] The ancients popularly believed that when the sky revolved to the position where the Lamb/Ram was again the first of the signs of the year, then the whole universe would be transformed. By referencing the symbol of the polokrator, the Book of Revelation is declaring that Jesus now occupies, not only this position of power, but also ALL power; not only physical power, but ALL kinds of power in the universe. As the Great Lamb of God, He is in this first position; it is therefore the time for the transformation of the universe.

*Malina, Bruce J. On the Genre and Message of Revelation. Hendrickson Publishers. Peabody, Mass. 1995.