Soothingly He laid the hand with the stars in it on the terrified Apostle, and gentle words, which he had heard Him say many a time on earth, came soothingly from the mouth from which the sword proceeded. How the calming graciousness rises into majesty! I am the first and the last.' That is a Divine prerogative (Isa. 44:6). The glorified Christ claims to have been before all creatures, and to be the end to which all tend.
Rev. 1:18 should be more closely connected with the preceding than in Authorised Version. The sentence runs on unbroken, and the Living one,' which is equivalent to the claim to possess life in Himself (John 5:26), on which follows in majestic continuity, and I became dead'--pointing to the mystery of the Lord of life entering into the conditions of humanity, and stooping to taste of death--and, behold, I am alive for evermore '--the transient eclipse of the grave is followed by glorious life for ever--and I have the keys of death and of Hades '--having authority over that dark prison-house, and opening and shutting its gates as I will.
Mark how, in these solemn words, the threefold state of the eternal Word is set forth, in His pre-incarnate fulness of Divine life, in His submission to death, in His resurrection, and in His ascended glory, as Lord of life and death, and of all worlds. Does our faith grasp all these? We shall never understand His life and death on earth, unless we see before them the eternal dwelling of the Word with God, and after them the exaltation of His manhood to the throne of the universe.
The charge to the Apostle, which follows on this transcendent revelation, has two parts--the command to write his visions, and the explanation of the symbols of the stars and the candlesticks. As to the former, we need only note that it extends to the whole book, and that the three divisions of what thou seest,' the things which are,' and the things which shall be hereafter,' may refer, respectively, to the vision in this chapter, the letters to the seven churches, and the subsequent prophetic part of the book.
As to the explanation of the symbols, stars are always, in Scripture, emblems of authority, and here they are clearly so. But there is great difference of opinion as to the meaning of the angels,' which are variously taken as being guardian angels of each church, or the presiding officers of these, or ideal figures representing each church in its collective aspect. It is impossible to enter on the discussion of these views here, and we can only say that, in our judgment, the opinion that the angels are the bishops of the churches is the most probable. If so, the fact that they are addressed as representing the churches, responsible for and sharing in their spiritual condition, suggests very solemn thoughts as to the weight laid on every one who sustains an analogous position, and the inseparable connection between the spiritual condition of pastor and people.
The seven candlesticks are the seven churches. The formal unity of the ancient church, represented by the one candlestick with its seven branches, is exchanged for the real unity which arises from the presence of Christ in the midst. The old candlestick is at the bottom of the Mediterranean. The unity of the Church does not depend on compression into one organisation, but on all its parts being clustered around Jesus.
The emblem of the candlestick, or lamp-holder, may suggest lessons as to the Church's function. Each church should be light. That light must be derived. There is only one unkindled and unfed light--that of Jesus Christ. Of the rest of us it has to be said, He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.' Each church should be, as it were, a clustered light, like those rings of iron, pierced with many little holes, from each of which a tiny jet of gas comes, which, running all together, make one steady lustre. So we should each be content to blend our little twinkle in the common light.
