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“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and wrapped around the chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been heated to a glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (Revelation 1:12–20, NASB 2020)

This vision in Revelation brings together symbolic visual images from all over scripture and is an enigma meant to be meditated on. It isn't a secret code. It's a "revelation" or "apocalypse" of Jesus' identity. Each detail brings to mind different aspects of who he is. In this piece I've chosen to focus on the Golden Lampstands as Christ's churches. Each lampstand is a symbolic tree of life...as this was the symbolic function of the lampstand in the Exodus tabernacle. Christ being in the midst of these flaming, luminous symbolic trees, places him as the new Imago Dei, the new Image of God, the new Adam in a golden garden. Each of these golden trees are a church which are lights for the world. Jesus stands in their midst...with them in the fires of tribulation. His weapons? Only his Word which cuts and creates in equal measure. His face is the light pushing back the darkness, his feet and eyes burning with the fire of God's purifying presence.

Description

“Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and wrapped around the chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze when it has been heated to a glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength. When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (Revelation 1:12–20, NASB 2020)

This vision in Revelation brings together symbolic visual images from all over scripture and is an enigma meant to be meditated on. It isn't a secret code. It's a "revelation" or "apocalypse" of Jesus' identity. Each detail brings to mind different aspects of who he is. In this piece I've chosen to focus on the Golden Lampstands as Christ's churches. Each lampstand is a symbolic tree of life...as this was the symbolic function of the lampstand in the Exodus tabernacle. Christ being in the midst of these flaming, luminous symbolic trees, places him as the new Imago Dei, the new Image of God, the new Adam in a golden garden. Each of these golden trees are a church which are lights for the world. Jesus stands in their midst...with them in the fires of tribulation. His weapons? Only his Word which cuts and creates in equal measure. His face is the light pushing back the darkness, his feet and eyes burning with the fire of God's purifying presence.