Truth
On
Tough
Texts
ISSUE 22 –
May/2007
Who are the
“Angels” of the Seven
Churches?
Revelation
1:20
IN LIGHT OF A LITERAL
APPROACH TO THE BOOK OF REVELATION, GOD STRONGLY emphasizes the messages to the seven churches of
chapters 2–3. So important are these messages, in fact,
that they comprise a little over twelve-and-one-half
percent (or about one eighth) of the content of the
book. Moreover, there is a lot of “Church Truth” in
these messages that matches the Church Truth contained
in other New Testament Epistles. Let us not neglect
these two chapters in favor of the more “spectacular”
parts of Revelation. These two chapters will honestly be
of far more help to local churches and individual
believers than will the remainder of the
book.
In this issue of TOTT and
the next, we will examine the four-fold application of
these letters, the first of which provides us with our
first “tough text.”
I. The Contemporary
Application
By this is meant that
Christ was concerned with the state of each of these
physical, 1st Century local churches. As one
commentator observes, “The order of scriptural
presentation was geographic. A messenger would naturally
travel the route from the seaport Ephesus, 35 miles
north to another seaport, Smyrna, proceed still farther
north and to the east to Pergamos, and then would swing
further to the east and south to visit the other four
cities (1:11).”[i] These cities, of course,
were located in the Roman province of Asia Minor (modern
Turkey) and were undoubtedly selected because they were
the key cities of the seven postal districts of that
region. They were the cities one would choose if he
wanted to spread information.
The Lord Jesus makes
observations and counsels each one of them. Revelation
1:20 makes this clear: The mystery of the seven stars
which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden
candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the
seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou
sawest are the seven churches.
As this verse
declares, each church was viewed as a lampstand. The
Greek here for “lampstand” is luxnos, which refers to the hand-lamp that was fed by
oil. As we know, “oil” is used in Scripture as a symbol
of the Holy Spirit, so the thought here is that the
churches themselves do not create light; rather, each
church bears the light of Christ through the power of
the Holy Spirit.
We now notice the
word “angels.” The Greek here is angeloi, meaning
“messengers.” The identity of these “angels” has been a
matter of much discussion through the years. A clue to
this identity lies in the fact that Jesus holds them
in His right hand. As the right
hand is used in Scripture as a symbol of honor
and authority (Eph. 1:20; Heb. 8:1; 12:2; I Pet. 3:22;
etc.), the idea here is that Jesus is controlling His
church through the authority of these “messengers.”
While angels is the common translation of angeloi, and
while there are some valid arguments that these are
literal angels, we are
compelled to disagree for several reasons.
First, literal angels are
never spoken of in Scripture as being the “authorities”
in churches. In other words, they are never involved in
church leadership; God does not rule churches through
angels. Nowhere is this indicated in the
Epistles. Angels don’t lead churches; God’s men lead churches and
are responsible for how they
lead.
Second, all but two of
these churches, and obviously their leadership, have
been disobedient to God’s Word and are commanded to
repent of their sin (?2:4-5?, ?14?, ?20?;
?3:1-3?, ?15?, ?17?, ?19?). Angels, however,
do not sin and, therefore, have no need to
repent.
Third, and
perhaps most significantly, saying that these are
literal angels actually means that God is sending
messages to angels through John, but such an idea has no precedent in
Scripture. Not once do we read that God spoke to angels
through men.
Fourth, while
it is argued that angelloi always means
angels, that simply is not so; there are several
instances in Scripture where angelloi clearly
speaks of “messengers,” that is, human
messengers. Luke 7:24, for example, declares, “And when
the messengers [angelloi] of John were departed,
[Jesus] began to speak unto the people concerning John.”
A few verses before, in fact, we read that these same
messengers were John’s disciples, that is, men (v. 19).
Then in verse 27, our Lord Himself uses angellos
to refer to John as His “messenger.” Likewise, James
2:25 recounts, “Was not Rahab the harlot justified by
works, when she had received the messengers
[angelloi], and had sent them out another
way?” The spies sent in to reconnoiter the Promised Land
were men, not angels. As one Greek authority points out,
an argument could be made that even Hebrews 13:2—“Be not
forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have
entertained angels unawares”—might be referring to
hospitality “to itinerate preachers rather than
angels.”[ii]
Further, we see the same
idea in the Old Testament, both in the Hebrew and the
Greek (Septuagint), which provides a clear precedent for
the New Testament use. While most references in the Old
Testament are to literal angels, several are not.
Commentator William Newell well points out some of
those. While Genesis 32:1, for example, says that Jacob
encountered literal angels, verse 3 says he sent
his own “messengers” to Edom. In both verses, the Hebrew
word is the same, malak,
which in-turn is translated as the Greek
angelloi. Likewise, in Numbers 20:14, Moses sent
his own “messengers from Kadesh unto the king of Edom,”
while God sent an “angel” to Moses. The Hebrew is again
malak
in both verses and is translated as the Greek
angelloi (and angellos). Again, in Judges
6:10-23, the literal “Angel of the Lord” is referred to
seven times by the Hebrew malak
(vs. 11, 12, 20, 21 [twice], 22 [twice]), while the
messengers Gideon sent are also called
malak
(v. 35); in all cases the Greek is again
angellos. And still again, Sennacherib’s
representative are called “messangers” in Isaiah 37:9
and 14, while in verse 36 the Angel of the Lord is in
view, and the same Hebrew and Greek words are
used.[iii]
Most significant in
all those examples is the fact that the Hebrew and Greek
words refer to both angels and men in the same
context. Some argue, “Since the
word ‘angel’ occurs 67 other times in Revelation, and
since every one of those refers to heavenly angels, then
it must also be true here in 1:20.” But that obviously
is not so.
Fifth, the
context clearly seems to argue against literal
angels. Christ is speaking about earthly
matters to an earthly messenger, who will in-turn
pass on those matters to other earthly
messengers. Why would He bring heavenly beings into
a discussion of earthly issues? Further, the
responsible parties in these
letters are earthly beings, not heavenly
beings.
Sixth, one
final problem with the literal angel idea is that there
is no way to explain how the angels then conveyed
Christ’s message to the churches. It seems more than
obvious that men would carry these messages to the
churches.
We must conclude,
therefore, that the messengers of Revelation 2-3 were,
indeed, the pastors of the seven churches. These men
were those who were responsible for the leadership of
those churches and those to whom the challenges and
encouragements of the letters were given. It is through
such men that the Lord (Who holds these in His right
hand) leads and rules His
Church.
If we may submit,
therefore, this is precisely why the qualifications and
requirements for leadership in the Church are
extremely high, according to
I Timothy 3:1-7 and Titus 1:5-9. God could not be
clearer on this issue of qualified leadership. In spite
of that, however, we increasingly see people today
leading who, frankly, should not be doing so. The common
attitude is that anyone can lead, but this is worse than
dangerous. In fact, the precedent in Scripture for
training to be a leader seems to be three years. The
disciples spent three years with the Lord, Paul spent
three years in training before being sent out to preach
and plant churches (Gal. 1:11-18), and Timothy was with
Paul three years during the second missionary journey
(Acts 15:36-18:22). We would also add, as Paul wrote to
Timothy—“And the things that thou hast heard of me among
many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men,
who shall be able to teach others also” (II Tim.
2:2)—can there be any doubt that he was saying, “As I
trained you for leadership, you train others for
leadership?”
Dr. J. D.
Watson
Pastor-Teacher
Grace Bible
Church
*
* *
A
Word for the Day: Key Words from the New
Testament
Two
excerpts from Pastor Watson’s Book
June
15
Light
(1)
phos
n Classical Greek
usage, the basic meaning of phos (5457; English
phosphorus,
etc.) is light and brightness and conveys the
ideas of sunlight, daylight, torchlight, firelight, and
so forth. In other words, it refers to light itself, not
the source of light, such as
the sun, a torch, fire, or a lamp. Even early in secular
usage, it was also used figuratively “to mean the sphere
of ethical good, whereas misdeeds are said to take place
in darkness.” All that was carried over into NT usage
but intensified all the more by its identification with
Christ.
The Christian,
therefore, is to walk in
light. Since we were once “darkness, but now are . . .
light in the Lord,” we are to “walk as children of
light” (Eph. 5:8). In other words, we conduct ourselves
according to light, the light of Christ and His Word. As
He is the Light (John 1:4; 8:12) and is the Word Who
became flesh (1:14), then it is His Word in which we are
to walk.
What seems obvious about darkness
and light is that they cannot coexist. If you turn on a
light in a dark room, darkness flees. But it’s not as
obvious in practical application. People talk much about
“gray areas” of conduct, avoiding the terms right
or wrong
and truth
or error.
But the Scripture contains no such “gray areas.” Conduct
is either moral or immoral, good or bad, true or
false.
What, then, are the
“attributes” of light? Generally speaking,
light pictures two basic
thoughts.
First, in regard to the intellect, light
pictures truth. So, to walk according to light
means that we walk according to truth. No longer are we ignorant, for the truth of
Jesus Christ is in us. Moreover, walking according to
light means that we are growing in the knowledge of
Christ day by day.
Second, in regard
to morality, light pictures holiness. To
walk according to light means that we live a pure, holy
life; we walk as holy people. All that we say and do
shines forth the light of Christ that is in us (cf. Eph.
4:17–32).
Scriptures for Study: Read the
following verses, noting other ways in which we are to
walk in the Christian life: Romans 4:12; 6:4; Galatians
5:16, 25; Ephesians 5:2; Colossians 4:5.
June
16
Light
(2)
phos
Taking one more look at the word
phos (light), this is one of the most
glorious NT metaphors concerning the Lord Jesus Christ.
Without question, the most vivid example of Christ being
Light appears in John 8:12, where He declares, “I am the
light of the world.” But it’s
only when we realize where our Lord was standing when He
uttered those words that we see the full significance of
His statement.
The setting was the
Illumination of the Temple ceremony that took place
during the Feast of the Tabernacles (or Booths). That
feast, which began five days after Yom Kippur (the Day
of Atonement), involved the Israelites presenting
offerings for seven days while they lived in huts
(booths) made of palm fronds and leafy tree branches to
remember their journey in Canaan (Lev. 23:43).
At the end of the
feast, the illumination ceremony took place, which is
described in the Mishna. The Torah was the Jews’ title for the “Law”
(Genesis through Deuteronomy). Questions arose, however,
concerning the meanings of these laws, so over the years
an oral law called “the tradition of the elders”
developed, which was then put into written form around
AD 200. This was called the Mishna, which means “repetition,” as much of Jewish
education was based on repetition; this became a
principle part of what was called the “Talmud,” the
commentaries that were written on the Law.
The
Mishna tells of
four tall, massive golden candleholders that stood in
the temple treasury. On top of each was a large torch
and bowl containing 120 logs (about 20 gallons)
of oil. There was also a ladder for each candleholder,
which a priest climbed; then he poured oil into the
bowl, placed a wick in it made of old garments, and lit
it. The Mishna records that
“there was not a courtyard in Jerusalem which was not
lit up from the light.”
So, it was on that
very spot that Jesus stood when he declared, “I am the
light of the world.” What a scene! In essence, He said,
“While these great torches light all Jerusalem, I
light the entire world. Only
if you know Me, will you be delivered from darkness and
have light to see.”
Dear Christian
Friend, this challenges us that since we are part
of that light, we are to walk
in that light (Eph.
5:8).
Scriptures for
Study: Read the following verses and rejoice in the
light: John 9:5; 12:46; Romans 13:12; 2 Corinthians 4:6;
1 Thessalonians 5:5; James 1:17.
& Also read 2 Corinthians
6:14—7:1, which concerns our separation from the
world.
The first step astray is a want
of adequate faith in the divine inspiration of the
sacred Scriptures. All the while a man bows to the
authority of God’s Word, he will not entertain any
sentiment contrary it its teaching. “To the law and to
the testimony,” is his appeal concerning every doctrine.
He esteems that old Book, concerning all things, to be
right, and therefore he hates every false way. But let a
man question, or entertain low views of the inspiration
and authority of the Bible, and he is without chart to
guide him, and without anchor to hold him.
In looking carefully over the
history of the times, and the movement of the times, of
which we have written briefly, this fact is apparent:
that where ministers and Christian churches have held
fast to the truth that the Holy Scriptures have been
given by God as an authoritative and infallible rule of
faith and practice, they have never wandered very
seriously out of the right way. But when, on the other
hand, reason has been exalted above revelation, and made
the exponent of revelation, all kinds of error and
mischief’s have been the
result.
Robert
Shindler in Spurgeon’s The
Sword and the Trowel (1887)
NOTES
[i]
The Bible Knowledge
Commentary.
[ii] Spiros Zodhiates, Word Study Dictionary: New
Testament, p.
68.
[iii] William Newell, The Book of Revelation (Chicago: Moody
Press, 1935), pp.
33-34.
