Restarting from the begining just for the sake (chinese wine)
Alright. Here we go--the first chapter of Revelation. Highly charged imagery, dense Jewish symbolism, intense cultural and religious pressure, and a rich history of literature collide, producing (in my opinion) the greatest spiritual vision in the Christian experience. If you can enter into this vision, you will see Christ.
Visions in Flame and Smoke (Revelation 1.12-13a)
Before we hear the messages to the seven churches, we are first introduced to the messenger. This is the angel of Jesus, his deputy and representative in this present world. This character will prove an important one, as he is the central figure of Revelation throughout, and so we’ll pause here to take a look at the crucial spiritual portrait John paints:
Revelation 1.12 And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;
The number seven is a number that pops up over and over again, an irrepressible symbol in the Jewish tradition, a traditional symbol firmly cemented into the writings of the Revelator. It is a symbol which we cannot overlook now, for we will see in Revelation seven churches, seven candles, seven angels, seven plagues, seven bowls or vials, seven-headed beasts, seven seals, seven thousands, even seven sevens.
Here we see seven different candlesticks, presumably alight. In Greek, the word here rendered “candlestick” is literally “lampstand;” translated back into Hebrew, the word “lampstand” is “menorah.” This golden candlestick is an intricate part of Jewish religious ceremonies, and is described at length in Exodus:
Exodus 25.31-32 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. 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:
Picture borrowed from
www.templeinstitute.org
http://www.templeinstitute.org/vessel_i ... enorah.jpg
One main shaft, with three branches out from either side, creating seven total bowls to burn from. This golden candlestick was situated in the Holy Place, a small chamber outside the Holiest of Holies where resided the Ark of the Covenant. Initially, there was only one menorah inside this antechamber, but when Solomon upgraded the tabernacle into the Temple, he created ten menorahs, lining the left and right sides of the Holy Place with them. After Solomon’s temple was sacked, the temples later reconstructed returned to the single-menorah layout.
Some suggest that, in John's vision, we are seeing a single menorah; others suggest seven menorahs, lining the Holy of Holies as in Solomon’s temple. Either way, we are looking at a symbolic cluster of seven, ablaze with the fire of the Spirit, which reveals to us an angel:
Revelation 1.13a And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man.
There is only one way the Son of Man could appear figuratively in the “midst” of the seven candlesticks—above them. Hovering above in the smoke and shimmering heat of the candles, this figure to us appears. As these candles burn collectively, they reveal to us an ageless symbol, the Son of Man. We are told plainly—when it becomes necessary—what these seven different candles represent, and understanding the source of the fire, we understand better the symbol revealed to us in the heat and smoke of that flame:
Revelation 1.20c And the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
Burning together, the seven churches reveal to us the Son of Man, the collective Church. Independant and seperately, the churches are small flames and simple lights—together, they are the light of the world. This Son of Man is a complex character, one that has evolved through the psalms, the prophets, and the law. This Son is a symbol adopted by Jesus for the purpose of restoring Israel, and a symbol revered by the earliest Christians, as the benediction of Colossians shows us. This is the One “that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father,” the symbol of God’s kingdom, who “cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him.” This is the character Jesus mentions time and again in parable, and the hope he reaches for at his own fated trial:
Mark 14.61b-62 Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him, Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed? And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Up in arms about Jesus’ messianic claims, Caiaphas asks Jesus plainly if he is the expected Son of God. In the same breath that Jesus confirms his anointing, our Christ points to the arrival and vindication of the Son of Man. Jesus knew how his trial would end, and he expected his own death would launch a movement, the movement, that, in time, became a kingdom of saints, immortal and eternal, the glorified Son of Man, the Church, the Body of which Christ is the head, the Temple of which Christ is the cornerstone.
From JJStaller 2008
I appreciate your efforts, it is quite an undertaking and although I'm sure we will disagree on a lot of it, its always nice to see another point of view. Thanks!
