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THE GLORIFIED SAVIOR

IV. QUAR., LESSON XII., DEC. 17, REV. 1:9-20

Golden Text—”Wherefore, God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name.”—Phil. 2:9

VERSE 9. John, who received this vision, and was commissioned to convey it to the Church, so far from being puffed up by this privilege, humbly reminds us that the vision was from God, and that he who received it made no claims of superior sanctity or worthiness, and that he was simply their brother and companion in tribulation, a member with them of the embryo Kingdom of Heaven, which now suffers violence (Matt. 11:12), but nevertheless in patient waiting for its glorious triumph at the second advent of Jesus Christ.

Because of his faithfulness in believing and teaching the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, John had been banished to the lonely and sterile isle of Patmos; but the place of his exile was made glorious with the presence of the Lord and the manifestations of his grace, not only to his faithful Apostle, but also to all of the Church through him.

VERSE 10. The expression, “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day,” we understand to mean that on that day (the first day of the week) John was specially filled with the holy Spirit of love and adoration and joy in God as to be mentally lifted above his surroundings and out of the thoughts and feelings of the old nature; so that, forgetting for the time the things of time and sense, there came to his soul an overwhelming sense of the divine presence and favor. To such a condition his circumstances were peculiarly favorable, isolated as he was from all human intercourse, and alone with God. His was not a sickly sentimentalism causing him to shirk the duties and responsibilities of active life and impelling him to that of a recluse. No; far from it. He had been active, faithful and loyal to God and zealous for his cause; and when the enforced seclusion came as a penalty for such faithfulness, he rejoiced also in this “tribulation,”—this privilege of enduring hardness as a good soldier; and from his sense of the divine approval, both of his faithfulness in activity and of his patience in this enforced inactivity and seclusion, sprang the joy which only those know who have endured something for Christ’s sake and experienced the fellowship of his sufferings.

In such times of tribulation the Lord’s presence and comfort are most precious to his saints, and they begin to learn what it means to live “in the spirit”—above the world, and hence to a great extent unaffected by its conditions and circumstances.

Thus, as the Apostle drew near to the Lord, the Lord drew near to him; and on

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this occasion, as there was a special message to be conveyed to the Church, this beloved and faithful disciple, being in the proper attitude of mind and heart—”a broken and emptied vessel,” fit for the Master’s use—was the chosen and honored instrument. And, therefore, he was permitted to see and hear, in symbolic visions, the wonderful things which God had to reveal to his Church.

He heard “behind” him [from some unseen source] “a great voice as of a trumpet”—indicative of an important proclamation.

VERSE 11. The first announcement identifies the speaker as our Lord and Redeemer, the beginning and the ending of Jehovah’s direct creation—”the only begotten Son of God”—the alpha and the omega, the first and the last. See verses 8,17,18; John 1:2,3; Col. 1:15-17; Rev. 3:14; also WATCH TOWER, April 15, ’93.

Then followed the instructions to write what he was about to see, and to send the book to the seven churches mentioned. The number seven, being a symbol of completeness, meant here not merely the churches named, but the complete nominal Gospel church of the entire age;—the special addresses to each of these being specially applicable to the several stages of the Gospel Church which they represent: Ephesus representing the Church in apostolic times, Laodicea representing the church of the present time.

VERSES 12,13. When the Apostle turned to see the speaker, he saw an appearance like unto a son of man—representing our Lord Jesus (not really the Lord, but a vision, an appearance)—standing in the midst of seven golden candlesticks, which represented the above seven phases of the church.

Gold being a symbol of the divine nature, the seven golden candlesticks indicate that the divine institution of the Church is for the enlightening of the world, the same symbol

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used in the Jewish Tabernacle and later in the Temple, indicating the same thing.

VERSES 13-16. The Son of man is seen “clothed in a garment down to the foot”—a long, full flowing robe such as was worn by kings and priests; not the dress of the common people. And he was girded about the paps (not about the loins as one about to toil or run, but about the paps as of one in the repose and dignity of sovereignty) with a golden girdle.

The whiteness of the hair indicate both age and purity; the brightness of the eyes symbolize acute discernment; the polished and glowing feet indicate power; the voice as the sound of many waters indicate the universality of his authority and power; and the shining countenance—as the brightness of the sun in his strength—marks the glory and power and blessing of his presence and Kingdom. The seven stars—the angels or ministers of the Church, those whom the Lord recognizes as teachers in the Church (verse 20)—are held in his right hand, showing that the teaching, power and authority are vested in Christ, the head of the Church, and that the human teachers are only instruments in his hands, and accountable to him. And the two-edged sword out of his mouth symbolizes the mission of his truth and its final victory. The sword of the spirit—the Word of God.

VERSE 17. The vision had an overpowering effect upon the Apostle’s physical frame; and from excitement and fear, like Saul of Tarsus and like Daniel, the Prophet, he fell as one dead, until a kindly hand imparted new strength, and an assuring voice said, “Fear not; I am the first and the last [the only begotten Son of God]; I am he that liveth and was dead; and, behold, I am alive forevermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell [hades, the grave] and of death”—the power to open the graves and to loose the bands of death and set the captives free.

VERSE 19 commands the writing of the vision of the things past, present and future that the Church to whom the message is sent may ponder its deeply significant symbolisms.

The Golden Text is aptly chosen, pointing as it does, to the humiliation and vicarious sacrifice of Christ as the cause of his present exaltation and glory and power—”Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him,” etc.—Phil. 2:8,9.

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— December 1, 1893 —