19 Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. 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 assemblies, and the seven lampstands are the seven assemblies.
In verse 19 John is told to write three things: 1) the things he saw, 2) the things which are, and 3) the things which will take place after these things. This is the very first clue that we as readers of the Letter of Revelation get about the possible structure of John’s composition. There will be others too and we will address those as we come upon them in the text.
In verse 20 the Son of Man explains to John and by extension to his readers that the symbolism of seven stars in his hand and seven lamp stands among which he was seen walking earlier (Rev.1:12-13) is intricately connected with the seven Jesus-believing assemblies in Asia Minor and their angels/messengers.
There is often a confusion about the word “angel” in biblical texts and Revelation is not an exception. Angels are always seen as heavenly beings. Thus every time the word angel comes up in biblical context the presence of supernatural heavenly beings is assumed (usually looking the way we’ve been thought they look). But in Hebrew the word MALACH also means a human messenger. The same is the case in Koine Judeo-Greek’s meaning of ANGELOS.
Can one make a case for human messengers/angels delivering and reading letters to their congregations? Yes. On the other hand apocalyptic literature is rich with heavenly messengers delivering messages to humans. This is a common feature of this type of Jewish literature. John writes within this apocalyptic genre.
Just like verses in John’s Revelation in the book of Jubilees Jacob receives seven tablets from an angel. He reads them and discovers in these seven tablets information about the future of his family and things to come in general. We read in Jubilees 32:20-21:
“And He finished speaking with him, and He went up from him, and Jacob looked till He had ascended into heaven. And he saw in a vision of the night, and behold an angel descended from heaven with seven tablets in his hands, and he gave them to Jacob, and he read them and knew all that was written therein which would befall him and his sons throughout all the ages.
As other apocalyptic Jewish books John’s letter of Revelation includes prediction of the future events that are meant to be a comfort in the time of discouragement and persecution especially. At the time of brutal persecution of followers of Jesus by the Roman government the true King of Israel Jesus, the Son of Man and the high priest of heavenly tabernacle affirms that all those who trust in him can be confident in their future. Christ holds them in his right hand of strength and authority. They have nothing to be afraid of. Their future is secure.
(The image used in this post is part of Jerusalem Wall of Life mural – www.jerusalemwalloflife.org)
Wonder full & precious,Revelation my favorite book Loved to teach & know more about Revelation.
Study with us. Thanks.
Praise God for the apocalyptic book of Revelation. A perceptive article!
The whole article is true but my focus is on the last paragraph.
“At the time of brutal persecution of followers of Jesus by the Roman government the true King of Israel Jesus, the Son of Man and the high priest of heavenly tabernacle affirms that all those who trust in him can be confident in their future. Christ holds them in his right hand of strength and authority. They have nothing to be afraid of. Their future is secure.”
A perceptive reader will ask these questions!
1. At what time was the brutal persecution of followers of Jesus? At the time when Rome was the One World Government!
2. Who was the true king of Israel? Jesus, the Son of Man and the High Priest of the Heavenly Tabernacle.
3. What affirmation did He make to His persecuted followers? All those who trust in Him can be confident in their future.
4. What reason was given? Christ holds them in his right hand of strength and authority.
5. What have Jesus followers got to be afraid of? They have nothing to be afraid of.
6. How secure is the future of the followers of Jesus? Their future is secure. (Very, very secure.)
Future Scenario:
1. At what time again will the brutal persecution of the followers of Jesus be? At the time when the “Rome based One World Government” governs the world again – soon!
2. But it shall be cut short by who? It will be cut short by the true king of Israel Jesus, the Son of Man and the High Priest of the Heavenly Tabernacle. (Mat. 24: 29 & 30)
3. Jesus is the same yesterday, today and for ever. The affirmation: the reason and the future of His followers is secure in Him.
Dear Jo, shalom. Jewish tradition looks at history in a very cyclical way. What has happened before in some way will be repeated. This is the foundation of prophecy. How much of this all history and how much of it prophecy we can debate into the next millennium. 🙂
That is something about Jewish thought I didn’t know. The implications of that are astounding. I won’t ask the obvious questions which occur to me here. It gives me some food for thought. Thanks!
beautiful
Hi DR.Eli Shalom do you know any reference of canonical value about the ark if it levitate or not did the preists levitate/ Thanks God bless you shalom
Sorry, nothing comes to mind at the moment.
Dear Dr. Eli,
I’m a Christian Pastor, can you give me your insight/interpretation about “666” in Jewish views
We are not up to those verses in Revelation yet and for the sake of those who study with us I do not want to jump too far ahead. Why don’t you study together with us? We will get there!
Thank you Dr. Eli for encouraging me to return to my Hebrew studies! I love looking at the roots of Hebrew words and pondering their derivatives. So for m-l-ch and its compounds/derivatives we get not only melech (king), and malak (to reign) but malachi (prophet, messenger – specifically from God, deputy, angel, teacher, ambassador…), malkiy’el (king appointed by God), mleketh (queen), Malkiy-Tsedeq -> Melchizedek (king of righteousness)…. And of course the Koine Greek of New Testament times includes the word ‘angelos’ which means both angel or (human) messenger.
Glad you can join us on this journey.
Thank you very much Dr. Eli, a very useful insight again in the marvellous book of Revelation!!
You are welcome!
Thank you, I am trying to understand a promise of God from a prayer warrior recently that God is giving me two messenger angels in human form that I can trust
Since the Kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17:21), could humans belonging to the Kingdom also be “heavenly” messengers?
Heavenly here is a domain, as in point of origin or primary residence. We by definition of our origins are not quite heavenly, but earthly, Adam literally means “soil”. Though we may visit heaven because of our connection to God, who is heavenly. 🙂
Soil? I love it. Another separation from the theory of evolution. President Kennedy stated that out of the sea we came and into the sea we will return. He didn’t understand his scripture, for we came from dust and will return to it. Of course now they have the testing that shows we are made up of dirt compounds, not of the sea.
funny 🙂
excellant study, the angels are sent to minister to the ones to minister to those of salvation. Hebrews 1: 14 also we entertain angels unaware. they are here all the time and only when we need, can we see them.
True
Regarding “Can one make a case for human messengers/angels delivering and reading letters to their congregations? Yes. On the other hand apocalyptic literature is rich with heavenly messengers delivering messages to humans. This is a common feature of this type of Jewish literature. John writes within this apocalyptic genre.” . . . This is also, as you know, a feature of the Syriac Aramaic in the Peshitta text. MALACHA is used for human messengers, teachers, and ministers to the congregations. The ministers here have delegated responsibilty from God through His Meshika (Christ). Thank you Dr. Eli for your work in this area of coordinating Jewish studies for Christians as well as Jews
.
Yes regarding MALACHA. On the passage Rev. 1:20a, Saint Bede the Venerable says “The stars are the rulers of the Church. For the priest, as Malachi says, is ‘the angel (messenger) of the Lord of hosts [cf. Mal. 2:7].’ ”
“The Explanation of the Apocalypse” translated by Edward Marshal, M.A., F.S.A. Oxford & London: James Parker & Co. This portion printed as endnote 37 to the passage as published in “The Orthodox New Testament” Vol. 2 Second Edition, 2000, Holy Apostles Convent, Buena Vista, Colorado. p.553.
Thank you for the encouraging words. I have some more ideas on this in my next post in a couple of days. It is a pleasure bringing this content forward online and thinking together. Aramaic and Hebrew are very close on this.