“At thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore” (Ps. 16: 11)
“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.” (Rev. 1:20).
The last verse of this chapter may be considered the introduction to the next two chapters. In this section of Revelation that is opening up, messages are being given to the angels of the seven churches of Asia. We have learned earlier that the Lord Jesus was standing in the midst of seven lampstands (Rev. 1:12-13), and that He also held seven stars in His right hand (Rev. 1:16). We are also told that a sharp two-edged sword came out of His mouth. So we were told earlier that this was the case. In this this verse, we are given the meaning of the mystery, and in the two chapters to come, we are told how the Lord exercises this ministry.
Here we are told that the seven lampstands are the seven churches, which means that the Lord Jesus was walking around in the midst of His churches. The seven stars that He held in His right hand were the seven “messengers,” or pastors of these churches. The sword in His mouth is His Word, which He gives to the successive pastors in the upcoming passages.
So this is how it works. Jesus speaks, and then He tells John to write what He has spoken. The implication is then that the angel of the church is in turn to speak what he has read. Jesus speaks, John writes, the angel reads, the angel speaks.
…and, hopefully, we hear. I, for one, am all too personally familiar with the principle that when iniquity abounds… love waxes cold. He that does not get angry at sin lacks enthusiasm for good.(M Henry?)
Lord help me to care… like You care.
How would you dispute the interpretation that the angels are not pastors, but rather in John’s visions churches have representative angels the very same way that in Daniel’s visions nations and peoples have representative angels?
The same Greek word is used for messenger and angel in the NT.
Of course. The semantic range of “angelos” is common knowledge. How does that, by itself, prove in which sense it is being used here in this particular passage?
Could be because we know John’s writings were circulated among the churches in Asia Minor and read to the people there?
Also angels typically communicate between God and man?
Pastor = Messenger?
John = messenger?
Not seeing it.
If I want to go back and re-read Wilson’s other recent posts on Revelation, is there a way to easily find all those posts in one place? I see this is tagged under “Books,” but that gives me a lot of other stuff too. Am I missing something here?