“I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven Churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea” (Revelation 1:9-11).

Having concluded his salutation to the Churches, St. John proceeds to address them, and at once states the circumstances and the conditions that surrounded him at the time when he beheld the vision of Christ

described in the succeeding verses. He begins by identifying himself with his fellow Christians, using the unassuming term of brother. He announces himself as simply a companion with his fellow Christians in affliction, and as possessing the one hope, and patiently waiting with them for the realization of the reward at the appearing of Jesus Christ. It is well known that St. John had been already severely persecuted, but he modestly refrains from making mention of this only as it is implied in his statement that he was a prisoner on the lonely Isle of Patmos, because of his faithfulness in proclaiming the Word of God, the Gospel of Christ. With becoming humility the beloved John avoids mentioning his previous testimony for the Truth, which had brought him this persecution, and also lightly passes over the persecution itself.

It appears to be a well established principle, observed in God’s providence, that faithfulness to Christ, while it often brings persecution in some form, brings also clearer revelations of the Divine plans and purposes, and though it may even mean imprisonment, the service to others is not hindered thereby, but rather increased. Joseph in prison became the “revealer of secrets.” Luther in bonds translated the Scriptures into his own tongue and gave to his fellow countrymen their first privilege of learning the contents of the Bible, thus breaking the chains of superstition that bound them to Papal idolatry. John Bunyan incarcerated wrote his world-famed “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Likewise, St. John in banishment was the medium chosen to complete the Divine canon of Scriptures. And those who have faithfully followed as he did in the footsteps of Christ have had, as a rule, clearer unfoldings and a clearer understanding of the Divine Word.

In the Spirit on the Lord’s Day

St. John informs us that he was in the spirit on the Lord’s day, when he beheld this sublime vision of Christ. The word spirit may refer, as some think, to either the holy Spirit, or to some state of mind such as the holy Spirit produces — a spirit of elevated devotion — a state of high and uncommon religious enjoyment. A very worthy commentator has given a much better translation and interpreta- tion, we believe: “ ‘I became in the spirit on the Lord’s day.’ It was not simply in the right and normal Christian state in which John found himself, as so many think, but carried out of himself by the power of the spirit; his senses closed to other things, his spirit awake to behold the things presented to him, and hear the voice that speaks to us also in him.” Still another has very properly urged that “the visions granted to St. John, recorded in the book of Revelation, are in no sense and in no part to be understood as realities, and this is the significance of St. John’s statement in our lesson, ‘I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day.’ ”

It would seem then that the statement “I was in the spirit” teaches us that the things he saw in the visions were not realities, but symbolical representations of great facts and realities. The expression “on the Lord’s day” is variously interpreted. “ ‘On the Lord’s day’ does not mean, as some suppose, the prophetic ‘day of the Lord,’ for which there is a different expression, and which would not really apply at all to this first vision and what follows. It is the Lord’s day, the day of Christian privilege, in which in the joy of his resurrection we look back upon his death. Yet this does not surely shut out the looking forward to his coming: ‘Ye do show forth the Lord’s death till he come.’ This is the only right attitude for the Christian to be in, as one who expects the Lord. And this is indeed why, as it would seem, the voice that John hears speaks behind him, and he has to turn to see the one who speaks to him. His attention is to be directed to the present state of the Church; turned back, therefore, from the contemplation of the coming glory, to what to one so engrossed is a thing behind.

“He turns, and sees seven golden candlesticks, or lampstands, as the word is … They represent, as we are told, the seven assemblies (1:20), and plainly, as responsible to exhibit the light of the Spirit, during the night of the Lord’s absence [the Gospel Age].”

The word here translated Lord’s occurs in only one other place, namely 1 Corinthians 11:20, where it is applied to the Lord’s Supper. It properly means pertaining to the Lord, to the Lord Jesus. It is, therefore, apparent that the expression refers to some particular day distinguished from all the other days of the week, a day particularly devoted to the Lord Jesus, for this is the natural meaning of the word Lord, as used in the New Testament. If the Jewish Sabbath were intended, as some Christians believe, the word Sabbath would have been used. The term Lord’s day was generally used by the early Christians to refer to

the first day of the week. Supplementing this thought further it is explained that “although the words, ‘on the Lord’s day,’ might not unreasonably be understood to signify that St. John in vision was carried down the stream of time to the great Millennial Day, the Day of Christ, the Lord’s Day, nevertheless, we think it reasonable to understand him to mean also that he saw this vision on the first day of the week. And how appropriate it was that our Lord, who arose on the first day of the week, and who most frequently manifested his resurrection powers on that day, should on the same day reveal himself and certain great instructions to the Church through St. John, honoring the same day of the week.

It is no wonder, therefore, that Christian people from the very earliest times have held the first day of the week in special reverence as the symbol of the fulfillment of all our hopes, whereof God gave us assurance in the resurrection of our Lord Jesus on this day. Besides, to confine the meaning of the expression to the Millennial Day exclusively, would be to ignore the fact that the larger proportion of St. John’s visions related not to the Millennial Day, but to the intervening time.”

Mr. Barnes says that the term Lord’s day “occurs twice in the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians (about 101 AD), who calls the Lord’s day, ‘the queen and prince of all days.’ Chrysostom (on Psalms 119) says, ‘It was called the Lord’s day because the Lord rose from the dead on that day.’ Later Fathers made a marked distinction between the Sabbath and the Lord’s day; meaning by the former, the Jewish Sabbath, or the seventh day of the week and by the latter, the first day of the week, kept holy by Christians. So Theodoret speaking of the

Ebionites, says, ‘They keep the Sabbath according to the Jewish law, and sanctify the Lord’s day in like manner as we do.’ ”

The fact that St. John’s attention was first called in this vision by hearing a voice behind him would suggest that the beginning of the message was not in St. John’s day, nor from some future time, but that the things to be revealed had already commenced and were already to some extent in the past. As an evidence that this is the correct thought the reader is asked to consider the statement in Revelation 5, in which Christ is seen receiving the sealed scroll from the Heavenly Father. This is symbolical of what took place after his resurrection, nearly a half century before St. John saw the vision, namely his receiving the full knowledge concerning the history of the witnessing, suffering Church, as well as his Divine commission to carry out and execute the eternal purpose of God.

The “voice” that St. John heard was like a trumpet, which may either mean that its tones resembled a trumpet or that it was as though the voice spoke through a trumpet, seeming to imply that it was clear, distinct, and loud. The Hebrew trumpet, on account of its clearness, is often referred to as employed to summon people upon public occasions, as well as to marshal hosts for battle. Thus the symbol would seem to teach that St. John, as well as the entire Church of Christ whom he in some respects represented, were being officially summoned by him in no uncertain announcement — but by a message of great importance.

Visions are Not Realities

In addition to the words, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last,” the Apostle was instructed by the voice to write down or make a record of what he saw, and of what he was to see, and to send the same to the seven Churches of Asia. St. John immediately turned to see from whom the voice proceeded and beheld … “Seven golden candlesticks; 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. his head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; and his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” (verses 12-16).

Most commentators have understood that the vision was an actual appear- ance of Christ himself; in other words, that Christ actually appeared to St. John on the Isle of Patmos, instead of its being a vision of Christ. A vision is not a reality, but something which is designed to picture, to symbolize, to represent the reality. The thought has been very ably expressed thus: “Visions are not realities, though they symbolically represent them. This is true, whether the visions come, as Daniel describes his, as ‘visions of my head upon my bed,’ or whether they come in broad daylight, as with the transfiguration scene, which our Lord declared was a vision (Matthew 17:9).” “We are not to regard the word picture of verses 13-16 as a portrait of our Lord in glory; for it is merely symbol- ical. When we shall see him in glory he will not look as here described. Nevertheless this symbolical picture has precious lessons for us, more valuable than an attempt to describe to our minds the appearance of our Lord as a spirit being, ‘dwelling in light which no man can approach unto,’ and which we cannot appreciate until we shall be changed to ‘be like him and to see him as he is’ (1 John 3:2, 1 Corinthians 15:50-53).”

The principal and most important symbols of this vision are interpreted by the “voice” that St. John heard. These important symbols are those of the “seven golden candlesticks” (lampstands) in the midst of which the one like unto a Son of Man was standing, and the “seven stars” which were held in his right hand. The explanation was made that “the seven stars are the angels [messengers] of the seven Churches; and the seven candlesticks [lampstands] are the seven Churches.” This Divine explanation assists us to grasp the meaning of some of the other symbols; and other Scriptures where similar symbols are employed enable us to understand others of the vision.

The appellation “Son of Man” is used by the Prophet Daniel (Daniel 7) and is appropriated by Christ to himself, as we learn from frequent references to the same in the Gospels. This alone would be sufficient to prove that the personage of the vision symbolized Christ. Thus the description that “His head and his hair as white as wool and snow tells us of his wisdom, his splendor, and his glory. his eyes like a flame of fire tell us in symbol that our Master is all-seeing,

omniscient; that he is not deceived by outward forms and ceremonies; but that he can, and does, read every thought and intent of the heart. The contempla- tion of his glance should of itself purge and purify our hearts and cause us to put far from us, to the extent of our ability, everything which would have his disapproval.

“Having described the head, St. John mentions the hands and the feet. The remainder of the body was covered with a garment reaching from the head to the feet. This may possibly represent the fact that the glory of Christ was manifested in his own person, in his own ministry, and in that of his twelve Apostles, his representatives — St. Paul taking the place of Judas; and that with their death the body of Truth was almost veiled throughout the eighteen centuries inter- vening, until now, in the end of the age, the feet members of the Body of Christ will be illuminated by the Truth and will shine forth — not like the Head, but as polished brass.”

“Copper is a symbol of humanity, and this copper being furnace-refined would seem to say that those who belong to the Body of Christ, and whom the Lord would use in his service, ‘the feet’ members of the Body, must, in their contact and dealings with the world, be refined, purified, clean — ‘Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord’s house.’ The feet would thus represent the living members of the Body, all down through this age; and the refining process to each and all will be fiery trials.

“Thus understood, the figure of a Son of Man (a human figure) in the midst of the seven candlesticks, etc., symbolically representing Christ standing criticizing, judging, directing, in the midst of his Church, upholding his chosen stars or ministers, and represented in the various members by his people, is an impressive picture or symbol, full of instruction, leading us to expect the Lord’s guidance in all the affairs of his Church, and to realize that things are not happening to her haphazard. To so recognize that the Lord’s people in every part of this age have been ‘feet’ members of the Body, carrying forward his work, is not to contradict our previous application of Isaiah 52:7, which merely represents the ‘feet’ members of the present time, and identifies them as the ones who declare unto Zion, ‘Thy God reigneth’ — in this manner distinguishing these from their predecessors in the pilgrim way.”

Commentators as a rule see no special symbolical significance in the expression, “and his voice as the voice of many waters.” The suggestion offered by one presents the thought that there is a deep significance associated with it: “Waters tell of nations and peoples. The voice of men may have been flattering to the assembly [Church], but here is one voice equal to all. What shall be his verdict?”

An interpretation that seems to properly meet all the requirements is “that the Lord could and did speak to his Church sometimes as the voice of musical rippling waters of the brook, and sometimes as the roaring of the sea; or the many waters might be understood as peoples, nations, and languages, as elsewhere explained in this book, and that thus our Lord, present with his Church, would speak to her and through her by many tongues, in many languages.”

We are next informed that St. John beheld proceeding out of the mouth of this symbolic personage, a sharp two-edged broad sword. “No part of the description could more thoroughly convince us that the description of our Lord given here is a symbolic one than does the statement that out of his mouth proceeded a two-edged sword. As a symbolic picture, however, it is full of meaning, speaking to us of the Word of the Lord, the sword of the Spirit, ‘sharper than any two- edged sword’ (Ephesians 6:17, Hebrews 4:12). It reminds us that our Lord’s words are not onesided, not directed merely against sin in one class, but that his Word is sharp, cutting in every direction, that sin is reproved by him as much when found in his most earnest followers as when found elsewhere.”

The two edges of the sword cutting both ways is a striking symbol of the penetrating power of the Truth, or of the Word of God, proceeding from the mouth of God’s messengers. In Isaiah 49:2, a prophecy referring to Christ, it is said: “And He hath made my mouth like a sharp sword,” and in Hebrews we read, “The Word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two- edged sword.”

“And his countenance as the sun shineth in his strength.” The overpowering splendor of the sun is here used to describe the majesty and glory of the countenance of Christ. This figure is employed frequently in the Scriptures. “Let them that love Him [the Lord] be as the sun when he goeth forth in his might” (Judges 5:31). “And He shall be as the light of the morning, when the sun riseth, even a morning without clouds” (2 Samuel 23:4).

Thus closes the description that St. John gives of the glorious personage of our Lord in his conduct and office as these stand related to his followers, the members of his Body, and their experiences throughout this Gospel Age. It is probable, too, that the vision was designed to impress upon the mind of St. John and of all Christ’s followers a sense of the glory and majesty of his person, and thus enable him to appreciate the authoritative character and importance of the messages he was to receive and which he was to send to the seven Churches, particularly named by the “voice” he heard. And the full significance of the symbolical personage can be understood only by viewing it in the light of, and in connection with, the history of the true Church symbolized by the golden lampstands.

St. John next describes the first effects that the seeing of the vision had upon him: “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead” (verse 17), that is, as if he were dead — deprived of sense and consciousness. He was completely overwhelmed with a sense of his own littleness. It is not probable that he would immediately recognize who was represented by the personage of the vision — not probable that the personage looked at all like the one whom he was accustomed to seeing and conversing with sixty years before. The effect upon St. John was the same as that produced upon Daniel when he saw a heavenly messenger; the same also as that produced upon Saul of Tarsus as he beheld a vision of the same Divine one. “So it is symbolically with the Christian, when once he gets a glimpse of the glories of the Divine character. When once we get a true view of him with whom we have to do, as the great heart-searcher and caretaker of his Church, we fall before him, humbled to the dust, realizing that we are imperfect, that we cannot stand before our Master, that we are unworthy of his favor and blessing. But as our Lord [the one who represented him] touched St. John gently, raising him up, so he has spoken to us comfort, peace, and love, assuring us that we have a High Priest that can be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, one who is able to sympathize and mercifully to assist, one who has bought us with his own precious blood, and who has accepted us and will number us as his Body members as long as we abide in him, seeking in our hearts to know and to do his will. To us his comforting assurance is:

“‘Fear not.’ The same message the Father has sent us through the Prophet, saying, ‘Their fear of Me is not of Me, but is taught by the precepts of men’ (Isaiah 29:13). This is one of the first lessons which we must learn. We cannot come into close sympathy with our Lord and be taught of him respecting other features of his Plan until we learn to fear not, learn to have confidence in him as the one ‘who loved us and bought us with his own precious blood,’ and whose purposes toward us continually are for our welfare and, if we submit ourselves to his guidance, will bring us off conquerors and more than conquerors.”

The expression, “I am the first and the last,” having already been considered, we pass on to the words, “I am the living one: I was even dead, but, behold, I am living for the Ages of the Ages”; this language would immediately identify him in St. John’s sight as representing the Lord Jesus Christ; for to no other personage could these words apply. He knew Christ had been put to death, and he knew that he was raised from the dead by the Father. This was also designed to allay St. John’s fears. We are not to forget that while this was a vision of Christ, it was as actual to the Apostle as though the real Christ in his glory stood before him. To him it would be as real as if the Savior whom he had known in person sixty years before, the one whom he had so tenderly loved when in the flesh, the one whom he had faithfully served for those long years since he beheld him ascend out of their sight, was before him. To him it would be the same as if he saw that one whom he had seen laid in the tomb; the one who was to live forever. Likewise all the faithful, catching the inspiration of their Master’s words to St. John, gladly acknowledge him as the one who was dead, “The one who really died for our sins, but who was as really raised out of death, by the Father. We must realize that he is alive forevermore, that death has no more dominion over him, that the work is finished, that neither sacrifices of the Mass nor death in any sense or form ever will be needed. his work is perfect; and, as he cried on the Cross, ‘It is finished!’

“We must recognize that he has the keys, the authority, the power over the tomb, to deliver from it all who are therein imprisoned. We must also realize that he has the key, the power over death, in order that those whom he liberates from the prison-house of death, like those who have not yet gone into the tomb, but who are under the death sentence, may all be ultimately delivered, set free from the dominion of sin and death, delivered into the full liberty of the sons of God — righteousness and life everlasting (Romans 8:21).”

In view of all this St. John was instructed: “Write therefore¹ the things thou sawest, even those which are, and the things which are about to transpire after these” (verse 19). This is undoubtedly a better translation of the original text than that of the Common Version, and it makes clear the division or plan of the whole book of Revelation:

(1) “Write therefore the things thou sawest, even those which are, and

(2) “The things which are about to transpire after these.”

The first evidently refers to the vision of Christ walking amongst the lampstands; the significance of the lampstands, and the messages to the Churches, are contained in the first three chapters. The second refers to the things that are about to transpire after this — symbolized in the prophetic visions from chapter 6 to the end of the book.

Interpreting the words as rendered in the Common Version, Mr. Barnes has very ably explained them as signifying the division of the book into three parts:

“(1) Write the things which thou hast seen. An account of the vision which thou hast had.

“(2) And the things that are. Give an account of those things which thou hast seen as designed to represent the condition of the seven Churches. He had seen not only the Savior, but he had seen seven lampstands, and seven stars in the hand of the Savior, and he is now commanded to record the meaning of these symbols as referring to things then actually existing in the seven Churches. This interpretation is demanded by verse 20.

“(3) And the things which shall be hereafter. The Greek phrase rendered hereafter, means ‘after these things,’ that is, he was to make a correct representation of the things which then were, and then to record what would occur ‘after these things’: to wit, of the images, symbols, and truths, which would be disclosed to him after what he had already seen. The expression refers to future times. He does not say for how long a time; but the revelations which were to be made referred to events which were to occur beyond those which were then taking place. Nothing can be argued from the use of this language in regard to the length of time embraced in the Revelation — whether it extended only for a few years, or whether it embraced all coming time. The more natural interpretation, however, would seem to be that it would stretch far into the future years, and that it was designed to give at least an outline of what would be the character of the future in general.”

(¹) There appears to be no excuse whatever for the translators of our Common Version to have omitted the word therefore from this text — an omission that no previous translator had made. No question has ever been raised as to the right of this word to a place in the text. “With what intention the illative particle is used is perhaps best referred to what immediately goes before: Seeing that I am this mighty one, the first and the last, who was dead and am alive, do thou, therefore, write; for the things declared by me are all steadfast and sure.”

This same writer summing up the first chapter of the Revelator’s visions has with becoming eloquence said: “Such is the sublime vision under which this book opens; such the solemn commission which the penman of the book received. No more appropriate introduction to what is contained in the book could be imagined; no more appropriate circumstances for making such a sublime revelation could have existed. To the most beloved of the Apostles — now the only surviving one of the number; to him who had been a faithful laborer for a period not far from sixty years after the death of the Lord Jesus, who had been the bosom friend of the Savior when in the flesh, who had seen him in the mount of transfiguration, who had seen him die, and who had seen him ascend to heaven; to him who had lived while the Church was founded, and while, it had spread into all lands; and to him who was now suffering persecution on account of the Savior and his cause, it was appropriate that such communications should be made. In a lonely island; far away from the abodes of men; surrounded by the ocean, and amid barren rocks; on the day consecrated to the purposes of sacred repose, and the holy duties of religion — the day observed in commemoration of the resurrection of his Lord, it was most fit that the Redeemer should appear to the ‘beloved disciple’ in the last Revelation which he was ever to make to mankind. No more appropriate time or circumstance could be conceived for disclosing, by a series of sublime visions, what would occur in future times — for sketching out the history of the Church to the consummation of all things.”

The Seven Stars and the Seven Golden Lampstands

“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” (Revelation 1:20).

The Savior speaks of the seven stars and the seven golden lampstands as a secret, and in explaining their meaning, He not only shows that they are symbolical, but also that his relationship to them, as described in the vision, is symbolical. A star evidently represents a teacher whose commission is to spread the light of God’s Truth in the circle that surrounds him; and a lampstand represents a Church of Christ supporting such a teacher in the station he is qualified by Christ to fill. The thought evidently is that the Lord upholds and directs such teachers or representatives of his Churches, in proportion as they are found loyal and faithful to him.

In considering the significance of this vision of the seven stars and the seven golden lampstands, in the midst of which the Savior is represented as standing, and following closely his interpretation of its meaning, we may with confidence say that when the vision was given there were seven Churches of Christ existing in Asia Minor in the different cities mentioned, namely Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea; and the messages primarily applied to them.

We will examine first the primary significance of the lampstands and stars, that is, the significance as they relate to the seven Congregations or Churches existing in Asia Minor at the time St. John saw the vision, and to whom he was commanded to send the messages. In doing this we believe we will be better able to correctly apply the symbols. The primary application to seven local churches existing in St. John’s time would seem to be the basis of interpretation to be followed. The number seven denoting completeness would seem to signify that these seven Churches were selected as representatives of the complete Church existing at that time. It would hardly be reasonable to suppose that these seven messages were intended for these seven Churches alone; and this would imply that the many other churches existing at the time would also need the exhortations, reproofs, and encouragements contained in the messages. It is quite certain that at this time these Congregations contained both “wheat,” true Christians, and “tares,” mere professors. This is proved both from history and from the character of the messages themselves. The “lampstands,” therefore, would symbolize these Assemblies as a whole, containing both true and nominal believers. This has, indeed, described the condition of the churches of Christ ever since that time. “There are many reasons for concluding that while the messages were given to the seven Churches specified, and were applicable to them, nevertheless these messages should properly have a still wider application to the whole Church of Christ, the number seven representing completeness and the order representing different epochs in the history of the Church. Thus the Church at Ephesus would represent the condition of the [whole] Church at the time of the writing of the messages; while the Laodicean Church would represent the Church in our day — in the end of the Gospel Age. The other Churches would correspondingly represent different epochs intermediate, between then and now” (C. T. Russell).

In all seven phases it has been the professed mission of the Churches represented by the lampstands to hold forth the light of life, the Word of Truth, and thus cause it to shine out in the surrounding darkness. “Alas, how poor the wicks have sometimes been! How feeble the light that has sometimes shone out into the darkness of this world! How much trimming has been necessary, and how much more may yet be required!”

As recorded in verse 11, St. John was commanded to send the messages to the Assemblies, Congregations. These messages, that is, the words of commendation, encouragement, rebuke, condemnation, etc., contained therein, are addressed to the angels as well as to the Churches. Each message opens with the words: “Unto the angel of the Church … write” (Revelation 2:1). In the Savior’s explanation he states that the stars are the angels of the seven Churches. Whom these stars or angels represent is a very important matter to settle. It is quite certain that they were not Apostles; neither was there a custom to have diocesan bishops, that is, bishops appointed over certain territories containing several churches, as has been a custom since. If there was anything of this nature existing in St. John’s day, it did not have the sanction of Divine authority or approval. It was indeed this unauthorized kind of an official in the church, that gradually but surely developed into prelacy or Papacy. It is well known that the order established by the Apostles was that each congregation have its teachers — elders, bishops, or pastors. These, doubtless, were the ones referred to as the “angels,” messengers, symbolically called “stars,” in the seven local Churches in Asia Minor. It should be borne in mind that the Savior has never abdicated his right, never given to another, the honor and responsibility of qualifying, placing, and upholding any of his ministering ones. The only Apostolic succession taught in the scriptures is that referred to by St. Paul in his Epistle to Timothy, “And the things that thou hast heard of me, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.”

Recognizing that these seven assemblies represented all the assemblies existing at that time, it is a most reasonable and Scriptural deduction then that the term “seven stars” would represent in the complete sense all the pastors and teachers of the different churches over the world at that time — those duly and Scripturally selected by the different congregations under the Lord’s direction, to fill the positions, and thus represent them. These, like the assemblies themselves, would be more or less imperfect, but according to their faithfulness would be upheld and used by Christ in ministering, serving their respective congregations. The responsibilities of these pastors would be first to Christ; and their services and influence would be as far reaching as the Lord in his providence might see best to make them.

Concerning the messengers to whom the messages were addressed, Mr. Barnes has very truthfully urged: “This does not refer to them as a collective or associated body, for the addresses are made to them as individuals — an epistle being directed to ‘the angel’ of each particular Church (Revelation 2:1,12). The evident meaning, however, is that what was recorded should be directed to them, not as pertaining to them exclusively as individuals, but as presiding over, or representing the Churches, for what is recorded pertains to the Churches, and was evidently designed to be laid before them. There has been much diversity of opinion in regard to the meaning of the word angels here. By the advocates of Episcopacy, it has been argued that the use of this term proves that there was a presiding bishop over a circle or group of churches in Ephesus, in Smyrna, etc. …

“It cannot be proved that the reference is to a prelatical bishop presiding over a group or circle of churches, called a diocese, for there is nothing in the word angel, as used in this connection, which would be peculiarly applicable to such a personage — it being as applicable to a pastor of a single church as to a bishop of many churches. There is no evidence that there were any such groups of churches then as constitute an episcopal diocese. The use of the word ‘church’ in the singular, as applied to Ephesus, Smyrna, etc., rather implies that there was but a single church in each of those cities. Compare chapter 2:1,8,12,18, see also similar language in regard to the Church in Corinth, 1 Corinthians 1:1,2. …

“If it does not refer to a prelatical bishop, then it follows that it must refer to some one who presided over the church as its pastor, and through whom a message might be properly sent to the church. Thus understood, the pastor or ‘angel’ would be regarded as the representative of the church; that is, as delegated by the church to manage its affairs, and as the authorized person to whom communications should be made in matters pertaining to it — as pastors are now. The supposition that a pastor of a church is intended, will meet all the circumstances in the case: — for, (1) it is an appropriate appellation; (2) there is no reason to suppose that there was more than one church in each of the cities referred to; (3) it is a term which would designate the respect in which the office was held; (4) it would impress upon those to whom it was applied a solemn sense of their responsibility. Further, it would be more appropriately applied to a pastor of a single church than to a prelatical bishop — to the tender, intimate, and endearing relation sustained by a pastor to his people — to the blending of sympathy, interest, and affection, where he is with them continually, meets them frequently in the sanctuary, administered to them the bread of life, goes into their abodes when they are afflicted, and attends their kindred to the grave, than to the union subsisting between the people of an extended diocese and a prelate — the formal, infrequent, and, in many instances, stately and pompous visitations of a diocesan bishop; to the unsympathizing relation between him and a people scattered in many churches, who are visited at distant intervals by one claiming a ‘superiority in ministerial rights and powers,’ and who must be a stranger to the ten thousand ties of endearment which bind the hearts of a pastor and people together. The conclusion, then, to which we have come is that the ‘angel of the Church’ was the pastor or the presiding presbyter in the Church; the minister who had the pastoral charge of it, and who was therefore a proper representative of it.”

Bearing in mind that all these messages are addressed to the “stars,” or ministering class which has been duly selected and recognized as representing each separate assembly, we observe that the messages are not meant for these alone, but for the various individuals who make up these assemblies as well. The command is for every one to hear “what the Spirit saith to the Churches,” and we ask, To whom could the instructions, the exhortations, the encouraging commendations, the reproofs, the severe rebukes and threatenings contained in these messages of Christ be more properly entrusted in St. John’s day than to the several pastors of the different Congregations mentioned as existing in the cities designated. It would be supposed that the men selected by these Churches possessed the necessary qualifications for such a ministry, and that they were chosen in the Scriptural way by these Congregations to serve them in this capacity.

“He Shall Give His Angels [messengers] a Charge Concerning Thee”

Applying the matters contained in these messages, indeed the whole system of Truth, to our day, we ask, Are not these duties of instructing, exhorting, rebuking, expected of those chosen to fill the position of teacher in the Church? It would seem that there could be but one answer. This conclusion is in perfect harmony with the words of St. Paul, that there is a ministry in the Christian Church and that various gifts or ministries are distributed in the Church; and as one is recognized as possessing these gifts he is elected in the Scriptural way by the church to represent it. By this election, these persons possessing more or less of the pastoral gift become bishops or elders (the terms being synonymous). From the fact that these are addressed, we are enabled to discover something of the nature and responsibility of those filling such a position in the Church. We learn, in harmony with St. Peter’s words, that this position is not one of lordship, but one of service — a service in which they are held responsible to God and to Him alone as to the manner in which they render it. It would seem to be one of the duties of this angel, bishop, or pastor, to read, expound, and make forceful the exhortations and the lessons, etc., contained in these messages. And so far as these are faithful in their special sphere of service and work, they are upheld by the Savior, who holds the seven symbolic stars in his right hand. The Divine care over his flock and the duties of shepherds or pastors is well expressed by Mr. Russell in the following comment on the ninety-first Psalm:

“‘For he shall give his angels [messengers] a charge concerning thee, to guard thee in all thy ways.’ That is, God will raise up some faithful pastors and teachers who will ‘watch for your souls as they that must give an account.’ True, there shall arise false teachers, perverting the Word of the Lord and seeking by cunning sophistries to subvert your souls; but if in simplicity of heart God’s children require a ‘Thus saith the Lord’ for every element of their faith, and carefully prove all things by the Word, they will be able to distinguish readily the true from the false. And having done so, the Apostle Paul (Hebrews 13:17) counsels us to have confidence. The Lord, our Shepherd, will care for the true sheep.”

It would seem, then, to be in harmony with the Scriptures, to apply the term “star” to the shepherds, teachers, bishops, elders, pastors, as a class, of all the churches throughout the entire Gospel Age, and that these according to their loyalty and faithfulness are upheld by Christ. However, all the true light emanating from these, comes from the one divinely appointed source — the Prophets, Christ, and the twelve Apostles, whose teachings alone are infallible. It is true that there have been throughout the entire age, false stars or teachers who have deceived the many, and led into wrong paths.

Again we urge the reader to observe that these Divine messages were addressed to the “stars” or “angels” of the seven Churches, and that the form of address to each of the symbolical messengers was the same. The Common Version renders it, “Unto the angel of the Church write.” The Diaglott translation, which in some instances is preferable to that of the King James Version, renders these words, “By the messenger write,” etc., instead of “unto” or “to the messenger write,” as all other translations render them. Some who accept the Diaglott as the correct translation, when applying the messages to seven distinct periods of the Church’s history, have interpreted the text as teaching that the messengers are to do the writing for these several periods — a single individual writer for each period. This is manifestly not the correct interpretation of this passage as seen from verses 10, 11, and 19, where it is very plainly stated that St. John, himself, and not the angel is to do the writing. “And I [John] heard behind me a loud voice as of a trumpet, saying, ‘What thou [John] seest write in a scroll, and send to those seven Congregations, etc.’” “‘Write therefore the things thou sawest, even those which are, and the things which are about to transpire after these.’” These utterances comprehend everything contained in the book of Revelation; therefore, St. John was the writer. St. John was also the sender, and the messages we are about to consider are the translations of the same into the English language, and the “stars,” “angels,” or messengers, primarily, were the representative bishops or pastors of the seven local Churches to whom they were sent. In view of the foregoing we accept the rendering as given by nearly all translations: “To the angel … write.” The learned and devout Dr. Bengal recommended these epistles above everything to the study of young ministers especially.

Having therefore clearly recognized that the things commanded by Christ to be written were written by St. John over eighteen centuries ago, and that these writings have been preserved for us, and are in our possession today, we would logically next examine what is written, taking advantage of the help to be derived from the explanations of others to whom these messages belonged, as much as they belong to us today. In doing so, we find that as the history of the Church has unfolded, the light has increased, and therefore more and more clearly do we see that these seven messages have been applicable to all of the Church throughout its entire history. There can be no doubt of the fact that there is contained in each and all of these messages very important matters that were intended by Christ to apply to all of God’s consecrated ones throughout the entire Gospel Age. This is plainly implied, indeed, it is stated in the words of the Savior addressed to each Church: “He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches.” The vital importance of this exhortation is emphasized by the fact that these words are repeated seven times; and in each instance reference is made to all the Churches (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29, 3:6,13,22). Not to understand the matter thus would be to deprive the Church throughout the age of the most edifying exhortations and warnings to be found in all the volume of Divine inspiration.

It would seem, therefore, that the exhortations, the warnings, the threatenings, the encouragements, and the promises contained in the messages apply in the following special ways:

(1) To the seven particular Churches and their pastors mentioned by Christ as existing at the time St. John wrote.

(2) To all the churches and their pastors of St. John’s day scattered over the Roman Empire.

(3) To the individuals of all these churches.

(4) To local churches existing in every generation since St. John’s day. The words of Richard Trench, an eminent Scripture writer of the middle of the Nineteenth Century, are very pertinent on this point: “The seven must be regarded as constituting a complex whole — as possessing an ideal completeness. Christ, we feel sure, could not have placed himself in the relation which he does to them — as holding in his hand the seven stars, walking among the seven golden candlesticks, these stars being the angels of the Churches, and the candlesticks, the Churches themselves — unless they ideally represented and set forth, in some way or other, the universal Church militant on earth.”

Another of these older writers, Trotter, has spoken to good effect in this connection: “The number seven is used throughout the Apocalypse in a symbolic sense, and is admitted to be expressive of completeness or perfection. Why should the ‘seven Churches’ be an exception to the rule? Were the seven local Churches, the names of which are given, the only light-bearers or candlesticks? Did the light entirely cease to shine when these Asiatic Churches ceased to exist? Let these seven Churches, or candlesticks, be regarded as a sevenfold or perfect representative of the one Church, in its responsibility to Christ, as his light-bearer or witness before the world, and we have an interpretation at once consistent with the entire character of the book, and sufficient to account for the selection of seven local Churches, the divers states of which furnish for this a sevenfold or perfect view of the whole professing body.”

(5) To individuals in the churches, existing in every generation since St. John’s day. As one has well said: “In dealing with these epistles, every man, of every age, has a Divine thermometer whereby to tell exactly where he or his church stands in Christ’s judgment, and one constructed and delivered to him by Christ himself for this specific purpose. They tell what Christ’s judgment of each of us is, and what we may expect in the great day of his coming. In every age, and in every congregation, Christ is walking among his churches, with open, flaming eyes; and these epistles give us his opinion of what his all-revealing glance discovers.”

(6) In a prophetic sense, they all apply to seven distinct periods or epochs of the Church since St. John’s day.

(7) In a very special sense, to the period in which we find ourselves as Christians today.

One writer who has given very close attention to the unfolding of these seven messages has noted that each one embraces seven distinct parts, which fact of itself is of very deep significance: first, an address — “Unto the messenger … write”; second, a citation of some one or more of the sublime attributes of the speaker, Christ — a different one for each particular Church; third, an assertion of Christ’s complete knowledge of the sphere, duties, and doings of the persons or churches addressed; fourth, a description of the state of each, and such interspersions of praise and promise, or censure and admonition, as the case required; fifth, an allusion to his promised coming, and the character it will assume to the persons described; sixth, a universal command to hear what is said to all the churches; and, seventh, a special promise to the ultimate victor or overcomer.

In the last four, the order of succession of these parts is different from the first three, and the call to “hear” the messages is placed after the promise to the “overcomer”; but in each one, these seven parts may be distinguished, thus showing that there is a fullness, a completeness about the whole, which proves that in their significance and application they cannot be confined to the few particular Churches to which the messages were originally addressed.

Messages Apply to Seven Distinct Epochs

From the world’s standpoint the Churches existing in St. John’s day were doubtless of little importance. They were despised or held in light esteem by the people of the world in general. However neglected, despised, or persecuted, we see by these special epistles of the Savior to them that imperfect as they were they were considered of more importance in heaven than any organization of earth, and had the first, chief place in the Savior’s mind, as well as that of the Heavenly Father Himself. We again emphasize the fact of the very wide and general application of the reproofs, the rebukes, the warnings, the dangers, and the evils pointed out, as well as the special words of comfort and promise to the overcomers, to all the generations of the Church’s history, both individually and collectively. However, the facts of history themselves have proved beyond any reasonable doubt that the peculiar characteristics described of each of these Churches, fit exactly seven distinct, successive epochs of the history of the Church in the order mentioned, which establishes the prophetic character of the messages themselves; in the measure that we become familiar with the history of these seven epochs, we will be able to see a most remarkable fulfillment of the messages. Their prophetic character has been recognized by many, if not by nearly all of the expositors who have written on the Revelation for the past two centuries. However, it is a perfectly reasonable supposition that all the various matters associated with these messages in their primary application to the seven particular Churches and their ministry, must be the Divine basis, as well as the Divine rule by which we interpret the symbols of the seven lampstands, among which the Savior is seen walking, and the seven stars held in his right hand.

In a very particular way these messages show us the moral and spiritual condition of these primitive Churches. From the fact that they were founded by the Apostles, one might naturally presume that they would be perfect patterns and models of excellence; that they would be pure in morals and free from evils, false doctrines, and the defections we find later on in history, as also in this last time. However, as we examine these messages, we find that those early congregations to whom they were addressed were very much like the churches that have existed in every generation since that time. There was equally as much to censure as there was to commend. There were loyal and true children of God, whose affections were centered on things above and whose citizenship was in heaven, but there were many whose love for Christ had lost its fervor; some whose affections were set on worldly things; others who had a name to live, but were dead to a real experimental knowledge of the saving power of Christ; and still others who were proud, boastful, claiming to be rich and increased with goods — with all that they thought was necessary for a Church to possess, and yet were so blind to the real riches that they are represented by the Savior as wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked — actually possessing nothing of the true inward qualities necessary to represent the Savior and to perform his work. With five of the Churches out of the seven, the Savior finds serious fault. In one of these five, Laodicea, he finds nothing whatever to commend; and two alone, Smyrna and Philadelphia, are not specially reproved by the Savior, though even these find themselves in contact with elements which he severely condemns.

We conclude this general description of these messages in the language of Mr. Seiss, long since passed beyond: “Viewing these epistles, then, as descriptive of the entire Church, I find in them this item of fact: that the professed Church, as pronounced upon by Christ himself, is a mixed society, embracing interminglings of good and evil from its beginning to the end. Whether we take the seven Churches as significant of seven successive or as seven co-existing phases, they must needs reach to the end, and so depicture the entire Church. And as there is not one of these epistles in which the presence of evil is not recognized, so there can be no period in the earthly history of the Church in which it is without bad admixtures. Whether the Ephesian Church extends, as in some sense it must, from the Apostolic era to the consummation, or whether it relates mainly to the first period alone, and the Laodicean the last, we still have a vast deal which the Lord and Judge of the Church condemns, stretching its dark image from the commencement to the close. There were fallen ones, and some whose love had cooled, and some whose first works had been abandoned, and some giving place to the base deeds of the Nicolaitans, and some false ones claiming to be apostles, and were not, even among the [few] warm, patient, fervent, enduring and faithful Ephesians. In Smyrna were faithless blasphemers, and those of Satan’s synagogue, as well as faithful, suffering ones, and those whom Christ is to crown in heaven. In Pergamos were those who denied the faith, and followed the treacherous teachings of Balaam, and the doctrines of the detested Nicolaitans, as well as those who held fast the name of Jesus, and witnessed for him unto death. In Thyatira we find a debauching and idolatrous Jezebel and her death-worthy children, and multitudes of spiritual adulterers, as well as those whose works, and faith, and charity, and patience are noted with favor, and who had not been drawn into Satan’s depths. In Sardis there was incompleteness, deadness, defalcation, need for repentance, and threatened judgment, as well as names of those who had not defiled their garments. In Philadelphia we discover ‘the synagogue of Satan,’ falsifiers, those who had settled themselves upon the earth, and such as had not kept Christ’s Word, as well as such as should be kept from the sifting trial, and advanced to celestial crowns. And in Laodicea there was found disgusting lukewarmness, empty profession, and base self-conceit, with Christ himself excluded.

“Never, indeed, has there been a sowing of God on earth, but it has been oversown by Satan; or a growth for Christ, which the plantings of the wicked one did not mingle with and hinder. God sowed good seed in Paradise; but when it came to the harvest, the principal product was tares. At earth’s first altar appeared the murderer with the saint — Cain with Abel. And in all ages and dispensations, the plants of grace have ever found the weeds upspringing by their sides, their roots intertwining, and their stalks and leaves and fruits putting forth together.

The Church is not an exception, and never will be, as long as the present dispensation lasts. Even in its first and purest periods, as the Scriptural accounts attest, it was intermixed with what pertained not to it. There was a Judas among its Apostles; an Ananias and a Simon Magus among its first converts; a Demas and a Diotrephes among its first public servants. And as long as it continues in this world, Christ will have his Antichrist, and the temple of God, its man of sin. He who sets out to find a perfect church, in which there are no unworthy elements, and no disfigurations, proposes to himself a hopeless search. Go where he will, worship where he may, in any country, in any age, he will soon find tares among the wheat, sin mixing in with all earthly holiness; self-deceivers, hypocrites, and unchristians in every assembly of saints; Satan insinuating himself into every gathering of the sons of God, to present themselves before the Lord. No preaching, however pure; no discipline, however strict or prudent; no watchfulness, however searching and faithful, can ever make it different. The Savior himself has taught us that in the Gospel field, wheat and tares are to be found; that it is forbidden to pluck up the bad, lest the good also be damaged; and that both are to ‘grow together until the harvest,’ which is the end of the economy — the winding up of the present order of things — ‘the end of the world [Age].’”

Christ, All In All

In Christ all fulness dwells: from him proceeds
All fallen man, poor, wretched, guilty, needs.

In him the contrite, bruised in spirit, and
Whate’er can heal the sorrows of the mind —
Forgiving love, that saves from blank despair,
Rich grace, that banishes each anxious care.

Soft pity, that relieves the bursting sigh,
And truth, revealing joys that never die.
Thrice happy they, who to his Word attend,
His favor seek, and on his strength depend.
‘Tis theirs to know his heart-consoling voice,
To share his smile, and in his name rejoice.

To them, reclaimed in mercy from the fall
And heavenward marching, Christ is all in all:
In want, their treasure — in distress, their stay —
In gloom, their day-spring — vigor, in decay —
‘Mid foes, their guard — in solitude, their guest —
In storms, their hiding place — in toils, their rest —
In bonds, their freedom — their relief, in pain —
In life, their glory — and in all things, gain.