Rev.1:12-16 – Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden lamp-stands; and in the middle of the lamp-stands 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.
One moment John was alone on the beach on the Isle of Patmos, in the next moment he is there on the seashore with Jesus. John may have been reminded of that first time he met Jesus on the beach by the Sea of Galilee.There had been sixty years since that encounter on the beach in Galilee. In that first encounter John was called to follow Jesus and become a fisher of men. In this second encounter John is seeing the end of all things, the harvest of the whole earth is about to come about. Here are some comments from Adam Clarke about this event.
“These seven lamps represented the seven Churches, in which the light of God was continually shining, and the love of God continually burning. And they are here represented as golden, to show how precious they were in the sight of God. This is a reference to the temple at Jerusalem, where there was a candlestick or chandelier of seven branches; or rather six branches; three springing out on either side, and one in the center. This reference to the temple seems to intimate that the temple of Jerusalem was a type of the whole Christian Church.”
Jesus is now standing with John in the midst of the seven lamp-stands. The first time Jesus met John he was calling him to fish with Him for the harvest of the earth. At this second encounter the Lord is speaking of the completion of the harvest. The lamp-stands represent the church or the final harvest of mankind. So maybe Revelations is about more than thunder and bowls of judgement and more about the harvest of souls at the end of the age.
