A Voice So Loud Like a Trumpet

When the Lord Jesus descends from heaven to remove His church from the earth, He will come with a shout. And the shout will be so distinctive that it will sound like a war trumpet.

Hi everyone, I’m Tammy Becker.  Welcome to the Almighty God & Gospel Girl Podcast.  This is week three into our brand-new series of Revelation and our podcast today is titled:  All About the Messiah.   My podcast today will be based on the reading of Revelation chapter 1:10-20 with just a backtrack of one verse, verse 10.  And if you would like to follow along with the notes or maybe you would like to find the links to anything mentioned in the podcast today, you can go to the link in the description or by visiting www.youministries.com and visiting the corresponding page.  As we get started today, I would like to remind you that as always…do not take my word, or anyone’s word for what you read…get yourself in the Bible and let God discern His Word to you.  I am only human and make many mistakes and do not claim to know or understand everything in the Bible…I just hope by bringing out this study that your interest is sparked enough to get into God’s Word and begin to deep dive on your own.

First Thessalonians 4:16 tells us His voice will be like an archangel, but it will be Jesus’ own voice. John hears the voice and turns to see Jesus standing there, saying to him, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches ….”

What a thrill it is to see this picture of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah! When John saw Him, he fainted at His feet as if dead, and Jesus pulled him back on his feet and reassured him that it was Him. Well let’s face it I’m sure I would faint as well.  I cannot even image this day that I will be standing in the presence of the Son of God, whom gave His life to free me of my sins and give me eternal life.  Wow, that song just keeps humming around my mind, “He paid a debt He did not owe, I owed a debt I could not pay”.  Takes my breath away really!  So back to John, listen to how he describes Jesus. Notice how many times John said, “it was like…” because he hardly had words to describe what he saw:  quote

 “He was like the Son of Man wearing a long robe with a golden sash around his chest. His hair was snow white and His eyes were like flames. His feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of raging waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full strength.”

Here John sees Jesus is standing among seven golden lampstands. The lampstands aren’t described in detail, but when the Bible mentions a lampstand absent any additional detail, we must assume a menorah.  Take a moment to reflect back to the tabernacle, which had one lampstand with seven branches.  The seven branched lampstand that God instructed Israel to construct for the tabernacle is the only kind of lamp in the Bible.  So if the Bible says lampstand and nothing more, we should assume what the Bible assumes.  And there are seven of them, which is that perfect complete number again.  So we know these objects are supposed to represent something to us, but what? Remember our rule about interpreting symbols? Where do we look first? In the same context…So let’s wait to see if we get our answer here before we go searching elsewhere.  Standing in the middle of the lampstands is a figure, and it’s clear He is the focus of the vision The description begins with the phrase “one like a son of man” That phrase clearly points us to Jesus, but in the context it simply means someone who looks human yet not exactly And at first the figure looks very human…with a robe down to His feet and a girded sash around the waist These details are reminiscent of a person of authority, particularly a priest or king But the “not exactly” becomes clearer as we get to the description of the Person’s features.  His hair is white as wool and like snow, while His eyes are like a flame of fire.    And the description goes on to say feet that were like bronze in a furnace, red hot and glowing And his voice was like the sound of a huge torrent of water rushing as in a canyon or over a waterfall And the figure is holding seven stars in one hand and out of his mouth came a two-edged sword And His face is shining as bright as the sun (imagine trying to look directly into the sun) How do we interpret all these details? We follow our rules!  First, we glance down the chapter and in v.20 we find that the objects in the vision are explained for us. 

Rev. 1:20 “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.

Here’s a prime example of how symbols will be explained in context. These lampstands represent seven separate churches, but they all function the same—as lights in the world (see John 8:12).

The Lord Jesus Christ our Messiah, is pictured here with the lampstands as our Great High Priest. His white robe, like a high priest (see Exodus 28:2-4), represents His inherent righteousness. In Him is no sin, and He knew no sin. The gold sash around His chest speaks here not of service (or else it would be girded around His loins), but of strength. He is the strong one who now will judge in truth.

As our Great High Priest, Jesus, our Messiah,  is currently judging the churches, judging believers so our light might continue to shine. Scripture does not leave us in the dark about three specific ministries Jesus is doing today.

1. Jesus Christ intercedes for us at the golden altar in heaven today (see Hebrews 7:25). This is a wonderful part of His ministry to us right now.
2. Jesus intervenes for us. He steps outside of the Holy Place to the laver where He washes the feet of those who are His own who confess their sins. Christians have sin, and those sins must be confessed in order to have fellowship with Him (see 1 John 1:9). He’s girded today with the towel and carries the basin. He is on our side, our advocate who defends us when Satan accuses us (12:10).
3. Jesus Christ inspects us. This ministry isn’t so popular. We don’t like to be inspected, but in Revelation we see Him walking the lampstands, examining them. The lamps represent the Holy Spirit; the golden lampstand itself represents Christ—His glory and His deity. The golden lampstand holds up the lamps, and the lamps, in turn, reveal the beauty and glory of the lampstand. Even now the Holy Spirit will make Christ— in all of His glory, wonder, and beauty—real to you that you may see yourself in the light of His presence as He inspects you.

In the Old Testament tabernacle, the high priest had the sole oversight of the lampstand. He lit the lamps, poured in the oil, and trimmed the wicks. If one of the lamps began to smoke and didn’t give a good clear light, he snuffed it out. The Lord Jesus is walking among the lampstands today, in the midst of His church made up of individual believers. As He inspects, He trims the wicks. John 15 tells us He prunes the branches of believers so they might bring forth fruit. One of the reasons He lets us go through certain trials on earth is so He might get some fruit off our branches or that He might make our light burn more brightly. He is the One who pours in the oil, which represents the Holy Spirit. If any light comes from a ministry, it’s from the Holy Spirit. No light originates with us.

The Lord Jesus sometimes must use a snuffer. If a lamp won’t give good light and it keeps smoking up the place, the Lord Jesus snuffs it out. This is what John meant when he wrote about a “sin leading to death” (1 John 5:16). We can be set aside if our lives do not produce light. (We do not lose our salvation, but we lose the opportunities and rewards.)

But what about the details of Jesus’ appearance? There is no immediate explanation of these details so what do they mean? As our rules require, we go back in the Bible looking for other examples to explain it to us for example, we find this description in Daniel: 

Dan. 7:9 “I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow and the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire. And again, in Daniel:

Dan. 10:4 On the twenty-fourth day of the first month, while I was by the bank of the great river, that is, the Tigris, Dan. 10:5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz.

Dan. 10:6 His body also was like beryl, his face had the appearance of lightning, his eyes were like flaming torches, his arms, and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of his words like the sound of a tumult.

So, we see that John’s description is consistent with those of Daniel.  So, let’s now go to Isaiah and find several of these details brought together for us as explained

Is. 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, and a branch from his roots will bear fruit.

Is. 11:2 The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

Is. 11:3 And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, And He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear.

Is. 11:4 But with righteousness He will judge the poor and decide with fairness for the afflicted of the earth; And He will strike the earth with the rod of His mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked. Is. 11:5 Also righteousness will be the belt about His loins, And faithfulness the belt about His waist.

Jesus Christ’s appearance to John, with white hair and eyes of fire, speaks of His eternal existence. He is the “Ancient of Days” (Daniel 7:9). His penetrating insight and eyewitness speak of His total knowledge of the life of the church. He knows all about us, all about our churches—for good and for bad.

His feet “like fine brass” (v. 15) represents His judgment. That brass or brazen altar outside the tabernacle proper represents Christ’s work down on the cross. There He bore our judgment for sin, and now He judges His own.

Human nature rebels against judgment being passed on it. Instead, we’re happy just to have a few little rules to go by. That’s why Jesus’ work of inspection is largely ignored by the church.  He judges the church; He doesn’t flatter. He doesn’t ignore what He sees or shut His eyes to sin. His constant charge and command to His own is repent—“turn around or I will remove your lampstand” (2:5). The church through the ages has always squirmed under this indictment because we’ve lost sight of the righteous Christ.

The voice that John heard called our universe into existence; that voice will raise His own from the grave; that voice will take His own out of the world to be with Him; that voice roars like raging waters and is the ultimate voice of authority.

All these images of Jesus add up to the picture of Jesus as our Great High Priest, inspecting and judging His church. The Spirit of God will help you see Jesus in all of His beauty and glory.

Jesus explains, “As for the mystery of the seven stars and the seven lampstands …” (see v. 20). A mystery in Scripture means a sacred secret, that which has not been revealed before. Whenever John uses symbols, he helps us understand what they mean. Otherwise, he is not using symbolic language but talks about literal things.

Now, what is that in Jesus’ right hand? “Seven stars” means He controls this universe. Now Jesus reveals that the seven stars are messengers, or angels, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches of Asia, as we shall see. Then, in turn, these represent the church as a whole, the church as the body of Christ.

The stars represent authority. In Jude 1:13, apostates are called “wandering stars.” The word angel literally means “messenger” and may be either human or angelic beings. It could refer to a messenger of the angelic hosts of heaven or to a ruler or a teacher of a congregation on earth.

And “out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword” representing His Word (v. 16; see also Hebrews 4:12), by which Jesus judges today. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, and lays us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is unyielding to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what.

“His [face] was like the sun shining in [full] strength” (v. 16). Ever try to look at the sun? You can’t. Do you think you will be able to look at the Creator who made the sun, the One who is the glorified Christ? This is how wonderful He is! John is the only one who has seen the glorified Christ. But didn’t Paul see Christ on the road to Damascus? No—he said he saw “a light from heaven, brighter than the sun” (Acts 26:13). Paul couldn’t have seen Christ in all of His glory, but he knew He was there. The brightness even blinded Paul for a few days. Therefore, John was the first to see the glorified Christ here in Revelation.

And when John saw this Jesus, he fell at His feet as if dead. To fall like a dead man means to be completely immobilized, lifeless, we might say scared stiff.  But we know John was with Jesus for three years, and they had a close relationship as John says in His Gospel.

John hasn’t seen Jesus for 60 years, so we would expect their reunion moment to be a joyful scene Instead, John is terrified and that tells us that Jesus’ appearance during the time of Gospels was a unique period of history.  We’ve seen that before His incarnation Jesus appeared in the same way John describes here and it terrified humanity.   And this vision is showing us that Jesus is now again to be seen in His glory.  John is the disciple who had an easy familiarity with Jesus Christ on earth. He’s the one who reclined at His side in the Upper Room. John was so close to the Lord Jesus, he didn’t even mind rebuking Him on occasion. But when he saw the glorified Christ, he didn’t approach Him or even try to begin a conversation. He fell at His feet as dead! John was paralyzed by this vision of Jesus. Just imagine what it will be like for us! We won’t approach Him in a familiar way; He’s not our buddy. He’s the glorified Christ.

Yet listen to the marvelous thing Jesus says to John. He says, “Do not be afraid” (v. 17). This is Deity addressing humanity. And then He gives four reasons why we shouldn’t fear

1. “I am the First and the Last” (v. 17). This speaks of His deity. He came out of eternity, and He moves into eternity (see Psalm 90:2). The word everlasting means from the vanishing point in the past to the vanishing point in the future, He is God. He is first because there were none before Him, and He is last for there are none to follow Him.
2. “I am He who lives, and was dead” (v. 18). This speaks of His redemptive death and resurrection. We are guilty, of course. But Jesus asks, “Who’s going to condemn you?—I’m not” (see Romans 8:34). You can confess you are a great sinner, but when Christ died for you and then rose from the dead, He rose to show you are forgiven and you are going to heaven someday. Even now He’s at the right hand of God, praying for you.
3. “I am alive forevermore” (v. 18). He’s alive today, not only judging, but also interceding for us. How we need that!
4. “I have the keys of Hades and of Death” (v. 18). The keys speak of Jesus’ authority and power over death and the grave because of His own death and resurrection. Hades, Greek for “the unseen world,” refers to the grave where the body is laid or to the place where the spirit goes. Jesus holds the keys of death and can relieve us of the terrible fear of death.

Jesus then directs John in the chronological order (the past, present, and future) and division of how he should record what he sees.

1. “Write the things which you have seen.” So far, John has only seen the glorified Christ, and that is right since the glorified Christ is the subject of the book. The horsemen and the bowls of wrath and the beasts— they’re just passing through. Fix your eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the One who was, who is, and who will be, the same yesterday, today, and forever.
2. Then write, “the things which are.” This refers to the church in chapters 2–3.
3. Finally, write about “the things which will take place after this” (v. 19). This is the program of Jesus Christ that will take place on the earth after the church leaves it (chapters 4–22).

And that is the order we will now explore this amazing vision, this revealing of the glorious Christ.

In closing:

It’s easy to assume that the way Jesus appeared in His first coming is the way we will know Him when we see Him too.   But Revelation 1 was given to us to remind us that the eternal Creator exists in a glorified form and that’s how we will know Him.

He is to be worshipped and known for Who He is…and even someone like John felt the awesome presence of God and fell to His face In this detail, we’re learning that every chapter in the book of Revelation contains a prophetic aspect Even though the scene described here took place in the past (in the first century), nevertheless it still stands as prophecy even now.   The image of Jesus exists into eternity and is prophetic because we do not as yet see Him in this way, yet this is Jesus’ appearance now in Heaven and it will be His appearance as He returns to the Earth at His Second Coming.

Are you ready for His return?  Jesus paid the debt for our sins, ask Him into your heart today, ask for forgiveness of sins get into God’s Word.  Pray and meet me back here next wee as we talk about Personal Letter’s from the Messiah.  This is Tammy Becker, please visit youministries.com for corresponding notes and links to this podcast.  Have a blessed week.  Bye.