The apostle John had been arrested by the Romans for his faith and was imprisoned on the Isle of Patmos, a small island thirty miles off the coast of Asia Minor in the Aegean Sea. During his imprisonment, he received a series of visions over the space of two years, from A.D. 95 to A.D. 96; these visions he wrote down, and which would later form the book famously known as Revelation.
An angel (Revelation 1: 1) was appointed to guide John through the visions he would receive. This angel was a man (Revelation 21: 17) and a prophet (Revelation 22: 9); in fact, he was the prophet William Marrion Branham (Malachi 4: 5; Revelation 10: 7). The prophet whom John saw by vision would later appear on the earth in flesh at the end time, because everything that the angel told John, is exactly the same as what the prophet taught us by the message he brought.
John was transported into the Lord’s Day by the visions he received from the Holy Spirit. The Lord’s Day was way in the future, and is actually this present time (Zephaniah 1: 14), when the kingdoms of man are falling apart, and the Kingdom of God is being ushered in. Whilst caught up in such a vision of this present time, he heard behind him a Voice, and when He turned around to see the one speaking, he saw the Lord Jesus standing in the midst of a seven-branch candlestick. John’s turning around to see the seven-branch candlestick, shows that he was looking back into the seven church ages that had already run out by his being caught-up into the Lord’s Day.
The Lord Jesus stood before John as the Supreme Judge of Heaven and Earth, for the description of His bodily appearance strongly speaks of His present office as Judge, between His former office of priest and His future office as King. Like an English judge wearing a white wig when a court is convened, the Lord Jesus stands there with hair white like wool and with feet of shining brass, whilst His fiery eyes record the lives of all flesh. It is He who passes sentence and will execute the judgment of the sentence upon all who reject His Word, as it is written in Romans 12: 19: …Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord.
Christ’s standing in the midst of the seven-branch candlestick is of great importance, for this piece of furniture is representative of the seven church ages (Revelation 1: 20) that would unfold following the outpouring of the Holy Ghost on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2). Jesus stands in the midst of the candlesticks to show that what He was in the first age, He will continue to be to the end of the ages. This is beautifully summed up by the words of Hebrews 13: 8: Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.
But in what form is the Lord Jesus as He stands among the candlesticks? We find the answer in verse 13 which says that John saw… “one like unto the Son of man…” This is Jesus veiled in His Church. We know this to be so because when Saul went about persecuting the Church and was struck down by the Pillar of Fire, the Voice spoke to Saul and said… “I am Jesus whom thou persecutest (Acts 9: 5)…” When Jesus ascended to Heaven, He sent His Spirit back down to the Church on the Day of Pentecost, so for seven ages, Jesus was indwelling the hearts of the true believers by His Spirit, meaning that the true Church is the feminine expression of Him, for a woman represents a church in the Book of Revelation.
The seven church ages which the seven-branch candlestick is representative of, are named after seven churches that were located in Asia during the time when John lived (Revelation 1: 11). These were Gentile churches, and were specially singled out by God because of their characteristics, which same characteristics would be found in the church ages they would come to represent. To each church age would be sent a messenger. These messengers are the seven stars in the right hand of Christ (Revelation 1: 20), and who would bring the appointed Word to the age in which each lived.
Proceed to Revelation Chapter 2