REVELATION 1:14-17 JESUS BEYOND COMPREHENSION

REVELATION

A Verse by Verse Study

My own personal journey

"A journey of studying what’s revealed to me!"

Jesus, Beyond Comprehension

Revelation 1: 14-17 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; ¹⁵ His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; ¹⁶ He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. ¹⁷ And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.

In the last note we talked about Jesus the Lampstand and delved into what John saw just a little. I’m not doing this study so I can know the details of the end times or the possible meaning of numbers.  I’m not touching on too much symbolism except when obvious. I don’t need to know exactly when Jesus is coming back or exactly what will happen. The Word says it’s for the Father to know the exact day and hour of Jesus return and no man will know. We can know seasons though and we can look into the things God has revealed to us. The book of Revelation is just that! It’s a Revelation.

John saw one that looked like the Son of Man as revealed in previous verses. Let’s delve a little deeper….. Who else had a similar vision?  Daniel did.  Daniel said he saw “THE ANCIENT OF DAYS,” sitting on a throne and he had hair as white as wood.  John said he saw one like the Son of Man with hair like wool and eyes like fire. Daniel saw “THE ANCIENT OF DAYS,” with hair like wool and his throne was of fire!  Then Daniel saw one like the Son of Man come TO THIS ANCIENT OF DAYS.  Daniel saw the Son of Man receive all power and authority from the ANCIENT OF DAYS.  They are one and the same yet the Son of Man is yielded to The ANCIENT OF DAYS!

Vision of the Ancient of Days

Daniel 7:9 “I watched till thrones were put in place,
And the Ancient of Days was seated;
His garment was white as snow,
And the hair of His head was like pure wool.
His throne was a fiery flame,
Its wheels a burning fire;
¹⁰ A fiery stream issued
And came forth from before Him.
A thousand thousands ministered to Him;
Ten thousand times ten thousand stood before Him.
The court was seated,
And the books were opened.

First, Daniel saw one identified as THE ANCIENT OF DAYS.

The one John saw was identified as THE SON OF MAN!  

Daniel also saw THE SON OF MAN a few verses later!

Revelation 1: ¹² Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

The one John saw had hair as white like wool! 

The one Daniel saw had hair as white as wool!

Are these one and the same or are they different?  Is both true! 

Friends, this is why you can’t explain God in human, secular, natural terms.  Jesus our Savior is both one with God and distinctly the Son of God! He is also distinctly man, born of a virgin!  Everything about Jesus is both supernatural and natural. Jesus is God in the flesh! He and his Father, the ANCIENT OF DAYS are ONE! They can’t be separated. This is what makes our God different from any God.  This is what makes our book, the bible different than any other “alleged” religious book.  No other book makes the claim our book makes.  Our Jesus, our Savior is both the ANCIENT OF DAYS AND THE SON OF MAN!  He IS THE ANCIENT OF DAYS and he is submitted TO the ANCIENT OF DAYS!  His claim is that there is only ONE God but that he IS God and that he has a FATHER who is God!  In God three CAN BE ONE and they are inseparable and distinctly individual.  With God all things are possible!

Look at more of Daniel’s vision.  One like the Son of Man comes to the ANCIENT OF DAYS who is on the throne!

Daniel 7:¹³ “I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
¹⁴ Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.

Here, one like the Son of Man comes TO the Ancient of Days!  John saw one like the Son of Man! He looked the same as THE ANCIENT OF DAYS!  Now look at the throne of the ANCIENT OF DAYS.  His throne in Daniel’s vision in verse 9 says it is a throne of fire!

Ezekiel was another one, in addition to John who fell on his face when he saw God’s glory.  He also had a Revelation very similar to both Daniel and John.  Read the whole chapter of Ezekiel 1 to find what Ezekiel saw! I’m excluding the whole text for the sake of space saving.

Ezekiel first saw a vision of the glory of God that could not be imagined in the mind of mere man!  He didn’t just see 3 as 1. He saw 4 living creatures, all moving in unison, being lifted by wheels within wheels.  Each creature reveals something about God. The creatures look in four directions which represent the directions of the earth, the directions of man and then they move as the Spirit leads them.  The bible says the eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the earth looking for those whose heart is toward him, that he can show himself strong to (2 Chronicles 16:9!) There was glory all around. Ezekiel could barely describe the glory!  I have another study where I break down this glory to the best of my ability but that’s for another time.  Ezekiel saw wheels in the middle of wheels.  He saw the appearance of fire and brightness and in the middle of it all he saw a man!

Ezekiel 1: 26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it. ²⁷ Also from the appearance of His waist and upward I saw, as it were, the color of amber with the appearance of fire all around within it; and from the appearance of His waist and downward I saw, as it were, the appearance of fire with brightness all around. ²⁸ Like the appearance of a rainbow in a cloud on a rainy day, so was the appearance of the brightness all around it. This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the Lord.

So when I saw it, I fell on my face, and I heard a voice of one speaking.

This ONE Ezekiel saw was both God and man! It says he saw the appearance of the glory of the Lord! It says from within that glory he saw the appearance of a man!  He said he saw a throne.  Daniel saw a throne of wheels. Ezekiel saw a throne of wheels. Upon that throne Daniel saw was THE ANCIENT OF DAYS! Coming from that throne and on and above that throne Ezekiel saw a man!  God is not a man! The Word of God says he is not a man that he should lie! 

What we are seeing friends is another shining example of our beloved Trinity!  These examples are found in many places throughout the Word of God!  God who is not a man has a son, called The Son of Man.  He is submitted TO the Father but he and the Father are one!  Jesus is God. The Father is God. They are both one and the same and they are also different.  The Father is not a man. Jesus is both God and Man!  God became flesh so he could be a man and in all points be tempted as we are yet without sin!  Jesus is both God and Man!  Praise his name! This is beyond human description! As the beautiful song says, “You are beautiful beyond description, too marvelous for words, too wonderful for comprehension, like nothing ever seen or heard!”  If our book and our God was comprehendible to the human mind, he wouldn’t be God but he’s not comprehendible to the human mind. It takes a Spiritual revelation as John, Ezekiel and Daniel saw!  Ours is the only book that goes beyond human comprehension which is why our bible must be read and understood with spiritual revelation from God! Praise God!  Aren’t you glad you are not in the hands of man but in the mighty hands of a living God, who is more beautiful and powerful than human minds can fathom!

Maybe that’s why they fell on their face! When we get a Revelation of God, we may also fall on our face.   Let’s address that for a moment!  As Pastors, Teachers, Evangelists, Prophets and Apostles, those of us in ministry and those of us who are lay ministers should see people fall on their face.  If God is coming through our ministry, he’s going to touch people and when he does, if they get a Revelation as John, Daniel and Ezekiel did, they too may fall on their face.  When we are so dignified, we are embarrassed to respond to the touch of God, we may be finding ourselves too dignified to receive a touch from God because most people touched by God in the bible showed a physical reaction.  Both Ezekiel and John fell on their face!  As I think about it so did the guards present at The Resurrection! So did the soldier when Jesus healed his ear!  So did Abraham and Paul and the disciples present at Pentecost!  So did the keeper of the prison at Paul and Silas’ supernatural jailbreak!  Daniel was already down in a lying position but said he was troubled in his spirit and body! He said his countenance changed when he had visions from God.  I myself have been supernaturally touched while in a lying position and found myself unable to get up until the Spirit released me. I have also been touched while standing to the point I could no longer stand.  May we get back to believing in the Power of God and may all ministers be as Paul and let their preaching not be done with just convincing Words but with demonstration and power!

1 Corinthians 2:4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, ⁵ that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

Our God is supernatural.  He is above and beyond all things. He is beyond comprehension with the natural mind. Look at this scripture in 1 Corinthians 2: 9-14:

1 Corinthians 2: ^9-14 But as it is written: “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man, The things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”

¹⁰ But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God.¹¹ For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. ¹² Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God.

¹³ These things we also speak, not in words which man’s wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¹⁴ But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

We can’t comprehend our God or the things of God with a natural mind. Our God is Super-Natural and that is why he is above all.  Every other religious book on the planet can be understood with the human mind but our book takes Spiritual revelation and is veiled to those who read who do not have the Spirit of God within!  Praise his name, he reveals himself to his servants!

REVELATION 1:12-14 JESUS YOUR REVELATION

REVELATION

A Verse by Verse Study

My own personal journey

"A journey of studying what’s revealed to me!"

Jesus, YOUR Revelation

Revelation 1: 12-14 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ¹³ and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. ¹⁴ His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow...

I've alluded to this statement before. John turned and saw the voice that spoke to him.  The bible says Jesus is and was the Word of God.

John 1:1,2 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was in the beginning with God.

When John turned, he saw more than a person; he saw seven golden lamp stands and one "like" the son of man!  We'll learn later the lamp stands represent the seven churches where the letter will be distributed.  This distribution did address each individual church but there were more than 7 churches in that day. Those were the ones in Asia. There were many house churches  scattered in various places.  These were the ones Jesus addressed that would ensure this Word reached the church at large.  Because of this distribution, you have the letter before your eyes today!  When he said give these to the churches in Asia, he was writing his love letter to you!  Jesus TODAY is walking among us. He is walking among his church. His church is not only in 7 places. His church is his bride in the world at large.  He IS in our midst. He is the light in our midst!  He is our direction. He gives us sight. He causes us to see through the murky waters and through the dense forest of the trials of life.  When we're lost in the woods, he's the way out! When we go through the storms of life, he is there. When he is pleased he lets us know and when we need discipline we hear his conviction... as they did! The bible says he will never leave us or forsake us.  He has given us his Spirit and at times God opens our eyes to see the voice that is the way.  As long as we are on this earth we will hear his voice saying "This is the way, walk ye in it!" At times we are able to see the Word of God as John did!

This reminds me of a song that says, "Open the eyes of my heart Lord.... I want to see you!"  We need to see him as he is, not as he was!  We need to hear what he is speaking to us today!

In studying this, I wrote the above day before yesterday and yesterday evening on the way home, I heard the Lord say in my Spirit to me and all who read:

He said "There is a lamp inside of you and I walk among your lamp stand in the midst of your heart!" 

This really is about us. Sure he's number one but on this little speck in the universe called Earth, God placed man and before he made the first man or laid the foundation of the earth, the plan of salvation for all of mankind was put into place.  It's about you and it's about me.  We're living in the middle of the story and just as he knew John, and he knew the churches, he knows you and he knows me.  One day all the world will worship the King of Kings and Lord of Lords!

Revelation 13:8  All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

He is the fire that burns.  We see in this passage we'll see his eyes like fire! Jesus is the lamp stand lit with the very presence of God!  This reminds me of the passage where Abram went into a deep sleep.  He had cut a sacrifice into two parts, representing the covenant of God, as he had been instructed by God to do.  God put him into a deep sleep and then passed among the sacrifice with a burning lamp.  When I looked up the Hebrew pictorial word meaning of the word interpreted "lamp," I found it means a man despised.  Jesus is the lamp.  The man that was despised and rejected now lives within our hearts. How can a lamp mean a man despised. Think about it for a moment.... to be in the light you have to accept the light. To reject the light, you simply flip the switch.  We can choose to flip the switch and walk in darkness.  When we do that, we are rejecting the light.  The man that was despised and rejected was the one cutting covenant and the covenant was his body broken.  He lives within our hearts today! He is risen!  He is the Word of God. He is the lamp that burns. He is the fire inside. He is our guide! He does walk among us and we need to cry out to him, "Open the eyes of my heart Lord! I want to see you!"  I want to walk in the light of the lamp!  We don't want to see him as dead and gone. We don't want to walk and live in a world of darkness!  We want to see him as alive and risen and sitting on the throne in his kingly garments.  We are living in the middle of the Greatest Story Ever Told!  He's the star of the show and we are the co-stars.  It's all about him and all for us!  At the end of this book, we'll read "He wins!" When we read that it also means, "We win!" When he wins, we win!  Never fear my friends because the lamp inside of you is walking in your midst, burning with the fire of the oil we have been given, the oil of the Holy Spirit. He guides the way until we reach that day! Jesus will in the next few verses address the Church that leaves its first love.  Let's keep our fire burning bright.  Turn and see the voice that speaks.  Cast your cares upon him and fall in love with him all over again because he is in your midst today!  Just as he will never leave you, let us never leave him.  Let's not flip the switch and despise the lamp! Let's renew our love and speak with him today!

His hair is as white as wool, not the dark wavy hair we see in pictures!  White hair represents age and wisdom! Jesus is THE Ancient of Days! He was with God in the beginning! He was present when earth was created! He was There when God said, "Let US make man in OUR image!"  We stand in the presence of the Ancient of Days! He is our God! He is THE very wisdom of God incarnate in man!  Society tends to reject the elderly at times.  The elderly are viewed as a passing generation- as old fashioned! People want to be youthful and they admire youthfulness but the bible tails us to stand in the presence of the gray head!  The gray head represents wisdom. The elderly have more knowledge and many have more wisdom than the youthful grasp yet they are rejected.  My father has a hard time remembering things these days. I love just sitting in his presence and listening to him tell stories of the past. There's nuggets of wisdom in the stories he remembers.  Someday it will be too late. I won't hear him speak anymore until that day we meet again and his memory is fully restored. Treasure the wise elderly in your life and treasure the Ancient of Days who is not only filled with wisdom, but he IS wisdom!

1 Corinthians 1:30 But of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God—and righteousness and sanctification and redemption

When I think of Jesus hair as white as wool, I can't help but also consider in addition to wisdom, the color of the hair of a lamb! Most lambs are white.  Remember, the sacrificial lamb the Jews offered year to year had to be a perfect lamb! Jesus was our perfect lamb AND our risen King. When we see him as King, we are never to forget he was the perfect lamb of God! The King of Kings left his place in glory to be our lamb of God that would pay the price for us to have a resurrection body in the presence of God, just as Jesus does!

John said he saw one "like" the son of man!  Well, he did see the Son of Man but he didn't really recognize him! This was Jesus but this may have been the first time John saw him since the Resurrection!  Maybe it has been a while since some of us have seen him, making it hard to recognize him.  Maybe we are seeing him through glasses clouded with our earthly troubles.  We need to know Jesus came as a humble servant but he is now our Risen King! He's no longer hanging on a cross.  He is risen, victorious and is clothed in royal garments.  In those days and even in these days your garments identify you! Garments identify royalty and wealth.  Garments are also uniforms and identify profession! Jesus was clothed in kingly garments right before John's eyes and in those garments he was walking among his church. We need not fear! The King of Kings is among us!  He was no longer wearing the crown of thorns that mocked him. He was no longer wearing the tattered garments that were stained with blood.  In this vision, his sash was one of gold identifying him as the king everyone had hoped he would be! They just didn't know it would happen like this so John was surprised and said he looked like the son of man!  Jesus carried both titles, Son of Man and Son of God! He was the Word of God incarnate!  He was with God in the beginning before he ever came to earth and he was also born of a woman in the lowly state of the son of man!  He was both lowly and king and this was something the human mind could barely fathom. This was what shocked the religious world and this is what shocked the devil.  Because he was son of man, he could pay the ultimate sacrifice as the Son of God and pay the penalty for every other son or daughter of man! He could become our redemption, being the first to receive the resurrected body and he could dwell in the presence of God and man for all eternity, being the mediator that brings us together! This was more than the devil could have possibly imagined and this was blowing John's mind and he said "I saw one that looked like the son of man!"  In the same way Jesus blew the devil's mind and John's he's got more mind blowing victories in store for his children. No matter where you are or what you are going through never forget Jesus on the cross was temporary; John on Patmos was temporary and you in your trials are just temporarily there. Your savior lives and your future is good!

This Revelation given John is our Revelation! We see Jesus in his risen state. We see the Risen King and we see him walking among us! Another thing God asked me in this study is, "How have I revealed myself to you?"  We all have an experience with God- that moment we were born again or the times God has dealt with us!  Just fathom for a moment the thought that this same Jesus was Adam and Eve's Revelation, the one that would crush the head of the serpent.  He was Jacob's Revelation, the ladder to heaven!  He was Ezekiel's Revelation, the enormous rolling fiery cloud, the Wheel In the Middle of the Wheel, the Glory of God that lives, breathes and moves in every direction at the moving of the Spirit of God; Isaiah's Revelation, the suffering servant and victorious Messiah; John the Baptist's Revelation, the one who's shoes we are unworthy to loosen yet was the perfect the Lamb of God who hung on the cross... for us!  He was Peter's Revelation, the Son of the Living God! He is John's Revelation, Son of Man AND the one moving among the lamp stands of his church! He is our lamp! He is our stand! He is our fire! He is our love! He's alive and well and today he wears a sash of gold! He's King of Kings! He's your Revelation!  Praise his holy name!