The Son of Man Part 2

Introduction

Do you realize that there is no description of the Lord’s appearance in the gospels? The closest thing that comes to that would be what transpires on the mount of transfiguration. Maybe a few things during the crucifixion. His crown of thrones and His purple robe.

What that means, is that any time you see a picture or painting of Christ, the artist is putting something forth that is purely of his own conception or imagination. And if that artist puts something out for the purpose of worship, he actually is violating the law of God. Scripture forbids any representation like that for the purpose of worship.

However, what we have in Revelation IS a description. And after the account of His clothing, we then have seven features of the Lord that our attention is drawn to.

Head and Hair

His eyes

His feet

His voice

His right hand

His mouth

His countenance

This IS the appearance.

Now there are well meaning people who take everything we have here as being symbol. They would say none of it is literal. They look at the account of Him holding seven stars in His hand or the sword preceding out of His mouth as symbolic, which is clearly the case. But there are other features given where there is no reason to take them as symbolic. The Lord is wearing apparel, why not a robe down to His feet and a golden sash around His chest? He has hair, why not white hair. He has a voice, why not a voice as the sound of many waters?

So my point, before we go further, is that there are features here that we do not need to treat as symbolic.

Regardless as to whether you take this description as literal or symbolic, everyone agrees that the appearance is more than just description, but that it is telling us something about His character or attributes.

So what we need to do, is take our time with this. And treat this like we are looking at a painting and try to soak in all of its features. At the same time, we don’t want to over interpret what is taking place. Like if you were looking at a rainbow, you can behold it’s beauty, but if you separate the colors you end up destroying it.

This is intended to move us from seeing Him as Jesus of Galilee to the description we have of Him here. This description is not soft or warm and embracing. This is far from His humiliation on the cross. Our observance of the Lord’s table does and ought to bring us back to that image. But we need to let this description have the affect that it is intended to have. This is the Son of Man, the Lord of Lords and King of Kings displayed in His glories.

His head and hair

Revelation 1:14 KJV 1900

His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

Something that is widely dismissed, even by the people of God but shouldn’t be dismissed by us, is that hair is not merely a covering of someone’s head, but is often a demonstration of their station.

1 Corinthians 11:14 KJV 1900

Doth not even nature itself teach you, that, if a man have long hair, it is a shame unto him?

But… what about a woman?

1 Corinthians 11:15 KJV 1900

But if a woman have long hair, it is a glory to her: for her hair is given her for a covering.

Proverbs 16:31 KJV 1900

The hoary head is a crown of glory, If it be found in the way of righteousness.

Gray head. It is a crown of glory. If a gray head is he is still in the way of righteousness

Proverbs 20:29 KJV 1900

The glory of young men is their strength: And the beauty of old men is the gray head.

That is the beauty. Now if this is truth, then it should be unaffected by personal taste, style or fashion.

His head and hair are while like wool and white like snow. So what is communicated about His station if that is the case? If a gray head is an old man’s glory, how much more… white.

Remember the description of the Ancient of Days we had in Daniel last week?

Daniel 7:9 (KJV 1900)

I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.

So there it was the Ancient of Days, but here in Revelation it is the second person. So what is being communicated about Him if that is the case?

So obviously there is an identity of glory and splendor being communicated.

John 5:22–23 KJV 1900

For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him.

So the Son of man identical in His appearance as the Ancient of Days should be honored like you would honor the Father. And surely the attribute that is being called attention to is His eternality.

Now I don’t think that’s spiritualizing. If someone came in with an heir of regalness and his head was pure white, at a minimum you would say to yourself that person has lived a long time.

He is the only one who could walk among those churches in Asia minor, but also those severely persecuted churches in the first century. The little pockets of believers in the middle ages. He ministered to all of them and He ministers to us now. He’s the only one that could.

His Eyes

Revelation 1:14 KJV 1900

His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire;

What do you do with our eyes. You see things. So what does He see?

Now it says that His eyes are like a flame. So think about this: If you put anyone of us in a room without lights our eyes become useless. We simply must have light to see. I remember being deep in a cave at Carlsbad when we turned all of the lights off. Have you been in darkness you could feel?

Our eyes can only see as far as the light goes, but what about a being whose eyes are their own light? The light is in His eyes. They are a steady stream of fire. What does that communicate?

He is walking in the midst of His churches, and wherever He walks He can see. The darkness and the light are the same to Him. Clearly this is an indication of omniscience.

His eyes see secrets, they can penetrate spirits, they can know motives.

Hebrews 4:13 KJV 1900

Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.

We should be deeply impacted by that thought. So how do you feel about that? How do you feel about being completely visible to God. In the moment of your sin, in the dark, He sees. And His eye is a flame?

Do you know what the sanctified view of this is? This is how you ought to feel about that?

Psalm 139:23–24 KJV 1900

Search me, O God, and know my heart: Try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.

The sanctified view toward’s God’s omniscience is Psalm 139:23-24.

That is a sanctified view of God’s penetrating gaze. So do we feel that way? Or do we recoil? Do we seek to shut the door? Do we understand that all such attempts to hide are vanity.

Then from His eyes, we drop all the way to his feet.

His feet

Revelation 1:15 KJV 1900

And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.

Now we pass feet by. People don’t talk about how beautiful feet are. Feet are just feet. But not His. His feet look like they are burning in a furnace. Now compare that with the Lord stooping to wash the feet of His disciples or the woman coming to wash His feet with her hair. That was a sign of humility.

She took her glory, her hair, to wash the most uncomely part of His body. But now His feet , are like molten metal. Have you looked at metal that was heated like that? It can be overwhelming. Again, He is walking on those feet in our midst. Again, what would the affect on you be if you saw feet like this? And again, at a minimum. There is more that might be said, but at a minimum, this is saying that what would be our most uncomely parts, He is all glory.

From head to foot, He is nothing but glory and majesty.

Now

His Voice

His voice is the sound of many waters.

Revelation 1:15–16 KJV 1900

And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

His voice is like the sound of many waters…

Think about the sound of a soft rain at night. I have an app on my phone called “rain rain” that I will play sometimes, because just that little amount of sound will drown out a ton of other noise. The constant steady sound can be very soothing. Now move outside to a stream or river. My family used to spend a couple of weeks every summer or more at a place called Roaring river. My Father and Grandfather loved to trout fish there. There were many places on that river where you would have to yell to have a conversation with each other even though you were standing next to each other. Now take that and move to an ocean or what it would be like to stand at the edge of Niagara falls. Constant, steady, uninterrupted, and unbreakable noise.

Now the point of this isn’t intended to teach us that when He speaks, that it is loud. The point is the power of it.

Think about this. When we measure people’s power, we never do it in terms of their voice. We do it in terms of the amount of weight they can lift, how fast they can run, or how long they can run. You never think of their voice. But when it comes to this being, even His voice is powerful. It’s like the rushing and roaring of many waters. It is powerful and full of majesty.

What about this: have you ever split wood? Have you ever tried to split wood that is full of knots. I have completely exhausted myself trying to split a knotty piece of wood with multiple wedges. Psalm 29 says this

Psalm 29:5 KJV 1900

The voice of the Lord breaketh the cedars; Yea, the Lord breaketh the cedars of Lebanon.

You and I can yell at a piece of wood until we are blue in the face and that log will not even recognize that we are there. And there are innumerable things that won’t budge even with all of our strength. But when the Lord speaks, He is able to break the cedars, He can shake the earth.

This phrase is repeated two more times in Revelation, and twice in Ezekiel as well. His voice is like the sound of many waters. But though we know this is the case from what the Scripture says, people are constantly bewildered by the fact that they never hear God talk. Haven’t you ever thought of that? People say things like this all the time. If there really is a God, why doesn’t He say something? Why doesn’t He speak?

Well… looking at what we have just seen, what if He did…?

It is so much better to hear Him through His preachers. And that is what comes next. Look at the first part of verse 16. “And he had in his right hand seven stars” His voice is like the rush of many waters and in His right hand He holds seven stars. Now we know that these seven stars are the messenger/preachers of the seven churches which Jesus Himself is going to address in chapters 2 and 3. He explains this symbol in verse 20.

So just as a side note: How would you like to be known by God and the company of Heaven as a star? That is how God looks at His preachers. To the world, Lebron James is a star. Brittney Spears is a star. To God… it’s His preachers.

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The seven stars are the angles of the seven churches. So in chapter 2:1 when it mentions the angel, is Jesus Christ commanding the apostle to write a letter to a heavenly angelic being? A heavenly angelic being who has been neither hot nor cold.

That makes no sense.

Mark 1:2 quotes from Malachi 3 angel (messenger) refers to john the baptist.

Mark 1:2 KJV 1900

As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

Remember when we went over that?

That wasn’t an angel, that was John the Baptist. But that’s the word we have for messenger.

Luke 7:24 KJV 1900

And when the messengers of John were departed, he began to speak unto the people concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind?

When the messengers of John were departed

Luke 9:51–52 KJV 1900

And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him.

Jesus sent messengers (angelos) before His face. These were members of the apostolic company

James 2:25 KJV 1900

Likewise also was not Rahab the harlot justified by works, when she had received the messengers, and had sent them out another way?

When Rahab the harlot received the spies, referred to here as messengers, but is the same word we have in revelation and the other passages in the plural. Angelos

The base meaning of the word angelos is messenger. It may be a heavenly being, and most of the time it is referring to an angel, but there is a minority where it clearly refers to a messenger.

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Revelation 1:16 KJV 1900

And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

The stars in His right hand.

These stars are the spokesmen, the messengers of His churches and they are (16) held in His hand

By referring to them as stars, these men are given a unique dignity. They are uniquely elevated among their human brethren.

The churches are lampstands, a wonderful picture itself, but these messengers are stars. They are elevated to the heavenlies.

Now that’s not due to their own merit. A preacher of the word is only a sinner saved by Grace. John, in this book, refers to himself simply as a brother and companion to those He is writing to. That is what the messenger ought to be saying Himself. But if you want the divine viewpoint, it is right here: In a dark word. A world literally groping around in darkness.

The churches are lampstands and those who give the word are the stars. They are the shedders of the light.

And we support men and ministries that are literally the light in the darkness.

For those of you who are training to be in the ministry, that should be a comfort. None can touch you, and none can quench your light, but at the same time that right hand of power can be a fearful thing if you are not faithful. You see that clearly in the next two chapters as well.

The Sword

To reinforce this we need to look at a cross-reference in Isaiah 49. Isaiah 49 is one of the servant psalms. So think about who the speaker is we read through this.

Isaiah 49:1–3 KJV 1900

Listen, O isles, unto me; And hearken, ye people, from far; The Lord hath called me from the womb; From the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; In the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, And made me a polished shaft; In his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

So at this point who is the speaker.

Isaiah 49:4–5 KJV 1900

Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: Yet surely my judgment is with the Lord, And my work with my God. And now, saith the Lord that formed me from the womb to be his servant, To bring Jacob again to him, Though Israel be not gathered, Yet shall I be glorious in the eyes of the Lord, And my God shall be my strength.

Ok… whoever is speaking now, can’t be Israel because this person is going to bring Jacob/Israel back to Him. And it really clears up in this next verse:

Isaiah 49:6 KJV 1900

And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob, And to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, That thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.

Ok… so who is it that can raise up the tribes of Jacob, restore the preserved of Israel AND be a light to the gentiles AND bring salvation unto the end of the earth.

This personage is identified as Israel in the first few verses, but is narrowed down by verse 6 as the Messiah. Only one person can bring salvation unto the end of the earth and that the Christ!

And all of that to go back to the description mentioned in the second verse where we see that His mouth is made like a sharp sword. So what kind of sword? Not a hand sword because it is wielded by His mouth.

This is a word sword.

It’s wielded by His speech. This is why Hebrews can say what it does...

Hebrews 4:12 KJV 1900

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The first description of the word of God is that it is quick… What does that mean? It means that it is living.

This sword is alive!

What about Ephesians 6. And take the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God. There really shouldn’t be any question as we think on the appearance of the Son of Man that the sword that proceeds out of His mouth is His word. Words are invisible, but God wants to reveal something to you about His speech. When He opens His mouth and something comes out, it is like a sword!

Now what do you do with a sword? You fight with it. So who is threatened?

You do battle with swords

… you cleave things in two with swords.

Richard the Lionhearted and Alladdin. They are testing their prowess. Richard is a stout man and takes his great broadsword and cleaves a piece of iron in two

Aladdin, to show the quality of his sword, tosses a silk kerchief up in the air and it cuts the thing in half when it falls down.

So two things from this. In this fight against principalities and powers and darkness, the only weapon worth anything is going to be the Words of God. And that weapon is a mighty one. It will do what it sets out to do.

But secondly, and probably the thing we need to understand even more than that is that you can’t think that when the Lord speaks it will always be a shattering blow. If you are going to wield this sword, you have got to let it have its way with you first. And remember that this is a sword that can pierce between soul and spirit. To the dividing asunder of the thoughts and motives of the heart.

God’s words can lay your heart open with a touch. If you lay yourself subject to it. Please don’t be one of the people who thinks that God is indifferent to you because He has not cleaved you in two. That may happen from time to time, but it may never happen. Don’t think this way: If God really cared, and He was really there, He would just shake me to the core. That is just not true. You read the OT prophets and He will tell them that He is going to withdraw Himself until they seek Him out again. God is not a man, He doesn’t retaliate. He is calm, majestic, and unmoved.

If you are honest, you know that there have been times in your life where the word has sharply pierced you. That was God. That’s probably happening right now since you are being exposed to the word as much as you are. That was the Son of man moving in your midst. Don’t dismiss that. Let God’s words do the work intended for you.

Lastly. Now The Son of man does war with that sword as well.

In the 19th chapter of Revelation He has the same sword proceeding from His mouth. And the picture you have there is an extremely fearful one. He is going to come for those nations and peoples who remain in rebellion against Him. He is going to be on a white horse. And his garments will be dipped in blood. He will be in complete battle array with a massive army behind Him but He will not even need to raise His arm. He will not exert Himself or strain in any way, because that same sword, his voice will completely shatter all of those nations in a moment. His words are self-fulfilling. They carry out the execution in and of themselves. It is just like God saying let there be light. There was no need for any manipulation, His very voice is the execution of His will. So when He says let them be shattered, those very words will unmake them.

The other passage in Revelation that threatens with this sword is in Revelation 2 in the letter to Pergamos. They were going to need to repent, to change their minds or He was going to fight against them with the sword. So that sword is one that threatens the gentile nations who gather in defiance of Christ, but it is also one that is used in assemblies like ours. Who can stand?

We can’t be people who harbor the practice of known sin. And we need to have a determination to possess a completely changed life because of our sin. We are people who are constantly exposed to Scripture, but we are able to blunt the edge if we fail to yield. Now we will sin, we will transgress. But are you ok with it, or is it your grief and shame?

Last

His countenance

And this is a fitting end.

Revelation 1:16 KJV 1900

And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

He is holding the seven starts, but His face is as the Sun.

One thing about being in Peru was the oppressive and overwhelming intensity of the Sun. Now again, this is no figure. This is what the inner three saw on the mount of transfiguration. This is what Saul saw on the road to Damascus. They experienced a blaze that outshined the Sun. And we are going to see it too.

When we get to Heaven there is no Sun and there is no moon, but the lamb is going to be the light of it.

Now if you saw that, would your response be any different than what we see John’s was in verse 17

Revelation 1:17 KJV 1900

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last:

Can you accept this? Can you walk away from this passage knowing this is the way He is. You may say, that’s not very comforting? It isn’t intended to be. It is intended to put us down in our proper place. Just like John we are supposed to be brought low. Because only then can He lay His hand on us and say “don’t fear.”

God’s words are the most powerful thing you will have access to in this lifetime. They are full of the majesty and glory of the Son of man Himself. They are the only thing that can dispel the spiritual darkness in your friend or loved one, the people you will meet in Ecuador or South Africa. But they are the only thing that can carve away the imperfections that continue to prevent you from being more like Christ. It is the instrument that you must yield yourself completely to to make you who you need to be for Christ.