It is assumed in the Bible that folks are right-handed. Anyone whose dominant hand is his left is noted in Scripture (Judges 3:15; 20:16). In Revelation 1:16 John gives us a picture of the Lord’s power in protecting the leaders of his church. In his right hand, Jesus holds seven stars, which are the angels of the seven churches (Revelation 1:20; 2:1, 3:1). However, the word angel (G32) doesn’t necessarily mean a heavenly being. Rather it is often used of human messengers. It was used of John the Baptist (Matthew 11:10; Mark 1:2; Luke 7:27). It was used also of men John had sent to Jesus (Luke 7:24), and it is used of men Jesus had sent out to secure accommodations for his party, while they went on the way to Jerusalem (Luke 9:52). So, the seven stars that Jesus holds in his right hand probably point to the human leadership of the seven churches (cf. Malachi 2:7; Daniel 12:3), and John’s mention of Jesus’ right hand points to his power to protect them (cf. John 10:28).
We are told in the text that a double-edged sword came out of the mouth of Jesus (Revelation 1:16). The image we are given is symbolic and not a literal picture of Christ. What it means is: he is coming as Judge to both to deliver his persecuted people and punish their enemies (Isaiah 11:4; cf. 2Thessalonians 2:8; Revelation 19:13-15). The sword actually represents the word of God (Malachi 2:7; Isaiah 49:2; Ephesians 6:17), which is sharper than any double-edged sword or any other device of man (Hebrews 4:12).
Jesus’ face is like the sun in brightness, which should remind us of his Transfiguration (Matthew 17:2). However, another image is seen in the Song of Deborah, where the Scripture asks the Lord to let his enemies perish, but those who love him shine as the sun in its strength (Judges 5:31). In other words let the Lord’s enemies (darkness) perish with the rising of the sun.
This same image is found in the Parable of the Wheat and the Tares (Matthew 13:36-43). Jesus planted good seed, and the good seed are the children of the Kingdom of God (Matthew 13:37-38). The tares or weeds are the children of the evil one who planted them among the good seed (Matthew 13:38-39). They were allowed to grow together until the end of the age (Matthew 13:27-30). At that time the Lord sent out his messengers,[1] as he promised he would (Matthew 23:34-36), and, by virtue of the Gospel, they separated the tares from the good seed (Matthew 13:41) for the purpose of judgment (cf. Matthew 13:42). When the Lord’s enemies are destroyed, as they were in 70 AD, then the righteous will shine as the sun in its power (Matthew 13:42-43), just as the darkness flees with the rising of the sun.
In Revelation 1:16, Jesus is seen as the rising sun, and the seven stars should probably be understood as the seven visible planets,[2] which revolve around the sun and reflect its light, viz. the leaders of the churches reflecting the image of Jesus. During the end of the age Jesus sent out his messengers to preach the Gospel of the Kingdom. According to Daniel 12:1-3, the end of the age would prove to be a time of exceptional trouble for the Jewish nation, trouble not known since it was a nation (Daniel 12:1). It would be the time of the resurrection of the righteous (Daniel 12:2), and a time when the living righteous would shine like the sun (i.e. Jesus shining in their lives) and turn many to God.
However, the Jews, as a whole, rejected that message and rather embraced the darkness, which flees or is destroyed with the rising of the sun. The picture John reveals is that the persecution (Revelation 1:9), which the churches were experiencing (cf. Revelation 2:9, 22; 7:14; 12:13) would not last forever, but would end in the destruction of the power of their persecutors (i.e. the Jewish nation).
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[1] It is angels in the text, but it should be human messengers; see Youngs Literal Translation.
[2] See Robertson’s Word Pictures at Revelation 1:16
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