The seven candlesticks are the seven churches that he was commanded to write. He called them candlesticks as they produce the enlightening of the glory of Christ. He did not call them candles, but candlesticks. The candlesticks cannot not be enlightened all by themselves, for it possess what it needs to be able to enlighten. Christ enlightens His churches spiritually. Just as the holy apostle counsels those who have received the faith, “shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life.(Phil. 2:15-15)” Indeed, the star does not have light on its own but is able to get light from something else, just like the evangelist saw the churches as candlesticks and not just candles. For it says about Christ, “For it is you who gives light marvelously from everlasting mountains. (Ps. 75:3)”
For concerning Christ it is said, “You shine gloriously from the everlasting mountains”—perhaps meaning angelic powers—and, again, addressing the Father, “Send out your light and your truth,” and again, “the light of your face, Lord.” So those who share in the divine light are described in one place as stars and in another as lampstands.
He calls the lampstands golden on account of the honor and transcendence of those thought worthy of receiving the beam of divine light.
And in the midst of the seven lampstands, he says, one like a son of man: for since the Lord himself promises to dwell in the souls of those who have received him and to walk in their midst, how could he not have been seen in the midst of the lampstands?
He calls Christ son of man as one who for us humbled himself as far as “taking the form of a slave,” who became “the fruit of the womb,” according to the divine hymn, the womb of Mary, unwed and ever-virgin. Since Mary was a human being and our sister, naturally he who is born from her without seed as a human being is called God the Word and the son of man. He has carefully called him not a son of man, but one like a son of man; but he who is Emmanuel is also God and Lord of the universe.
The vision shows his varied appearance by his operations and powers, as it depicts his form. First he clothes him with a priestly dress, for the long robe and girdle are a priestly dress. He was addressed by God and the Father, “You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedek,” but the apostle, too, calls Christ “the high priest and apostle of our confession,”49 as being in the priestly service and leading us to make our confession of faith in him and the Father and the Spirit.
He puts a golden girdle around him, whereas the priests according to the [Mosaic] Law had a girdle of embroidered cloth. The difference between slaves and a master had to be pointed out, that is, the difference between the shadow of the law and the truth shown by the new girdle.
His head, he says, and his hair were like white wool and like snow: for God’s secret purpose in Christ is new in its appearance, but it is before all ages in its intention. For the blessed apostle has written about it as “the secret purpose which has been kept hidden in all past ages and from generations, which has now been revealed to those of his holy people whom he wished.” Therefore, the age-old intention of the purpose revealed in God’s good pleasure is represented by the hoariness of the head and its comparison with wool and snow.
He says, and his eyes were like a flame of fire: this either means that the flame of fire has the form of light—since Christ both is light and calls himself light, saying “I am the light and the truth”—or it exposes the danger and the threat against the seven churches to whom the facts of the Revelation are passed on, in that they were not fully following his laws.
And his feet, he says, were like burnished bronze: he refers to the bronze mined on Mount Lebanon as being pure even in itself and as rendered even purer when it has been refined in a furnace and cleansed of its slight impurity. In this way the steadfastness and constancy, as well as the brightness and glory, of faith in Christ is signified when it has come to assurance. For the apostle calls Christ “a rock,” and Isaiah calls him “a precious stone” in the foundations “of Sion.”
Else he means that the burnished bronze is the copper-colored frankincense which medical men are accustomed to call male. This is fragrant when burnt; for the fiery furnace represents the symbol of the burn ing of incense, which is the foundation of the preaching of the gospel—for the feet are the foundation of the rest of the body, which is Christ. For he is fragrant, and with spiritual fragrance he gives charm to the things in heaven and the things on earth.
Paul, too, calls Christ “a foundation” in writing the first epistle to the Corinthians, saying, “Like a wise master-builder I have laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. Let each one take care how he builds on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
That Christ is spiritually sweet-smelling, the bride in the Song of Songs who has experienced his sweet scent bears witness. In one place she says, “and the fragrance of your oils is above all spices,” and in another, “your name is oil emptied out,” and the Lord himself also describes himself as sweet-smelling in the words to the bride, saying, “I am a flower of the field, a lily of the valleys.” What then? Did not Paul, too, after becoming sweet-smelling from his communion with Christ, say, “for we are the fragrance of Christ”; and again, to us “he reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of him”?
And his voice, he says, was like the sound of many waters, and reasonably so; for how could his voice have come to all the earth and his gospel to the ends of the world, unless it had been clearly heard, not as a perceived loud sound, but by the power of the preaching?
And he had, he says, in his right hand seven stars: he himself goes on to interpret these stars, saying they were the angels of the seven churches, about whom blessed Gregory spoke at the coming of the bishops: “with reference to the presiding angels, I believe that each is a guardian of each church, as John teaches in the Revelation.” I think that he calls the holy angels stars on account of the abundant light of Christ, which is in them.
They are in his right hand. They have been thought worthy of the most honorable position by God’s side, and, as it were, they rest in the hand of God.
And from his mouth, he says, there was issuing a sharp twoedged sword: blessed David says to the Lord, “Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one.” For he had not then commanded us to keep the laws of the gospel, to transgress which was destruction. Therefore the actual position of the thigh indicated the postponement of punishment; for it was not the most suitable position for killing.
But now the sword issues from his mouth, the metaphor symbolizing that those who disobey the injunctions of the gospel will be in mortal danger of being cut in two by the sword. This is made clear by what the Lord says in the gospels. The apostle, too, said, “For the word of God is living and active and keener than a two-edged sword,” that is to say, holding out a threat against the disobedient. So this is described by John as sharp, which is the same as what Paul calls “very keen.”
His face, he says, was like the sun shining in full strength. Deservedly like the sun, for the Lord is the sun of righteousness according to the prophet Malachi. But lest you should think that the light of the countenance of Christ, which “gives light to everyone, coming into the world,” was a manifest body giving perceptible light, he added by his power, just as if he were saying: “The light of Christ is to be spiritually perceived, ‘operating in power,’ not a physical appearance, but giving light to the eyes of the soul.”
Thus, in a variety of ways, he adjusted the human race to an agreement with salvation. On this account also does John declare in the Apocalypse that his voice is “as the sound of many waters.” For the Spirit [of God] is truly [like] many waters, since the Father is both rich and great. And the Word, passing through all those [men], did liberally confer benefits upon his subjects, by drawing up in writing a law adapted and applicable to every class [among them].
"His feet were like unto yellow brass, as if burned in a furnace." He calls the apostles His feet, who, being wrought by suffering, preached His word in the whole world; for He rightly named those by whose means the preaching went forth, feet. Whence also the prophet anticipated this, and said: "We will worship in the place where His feet have stood." Because where they first of all stood and confirmed the Church, that is, in Judea, all the saints shall assemble together, and will worship their Lord...
"And His voice as it were the voice of many waters." The many waters are understood to be many peoples, or the gift of baptism that He sent forth by the apostles, saying: "Go ye, teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
The feet are the human nature which he possessed in himself which he assumed out of mercy for our salvation. For just as when copper ore is refined in a furnace there is no accretion or rusty buildup on the outside, so the most pure and perfect flesh of the assumed man, taken up by deity and remaining in deity, continues without any defect of human nature, without any guilt of the parent.
And the feet are also the foundations of the church. And they are “like bronze incense,” which, the medical people say, possesses a good smell when burned, and which is called by them masculine incense. There is another interpretation: since the bronze refers to the human nature and the incense refers to the divine nature, through these is indicated the sweet odor of the faith and the unconfusedness of the unity. Or another interpretation: the bronze shows the euphony of the proclamation, while the incense shows the conversion of the nations, from which the Bride is commanded to come.
And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace. The fiery feet represent the Church of the last time, which is to be examined and tested by severe tribulations. Fine brass is brass brought to a golden color by much fire and medicine. Another translation, which says like the brass of Lebanon, signifies the Church in Judea, whose mountain is Lebanon, to be persecuted especially at the end. For the temple often received the name of Lebanon, to which it is said: "Open, O Lebanon, your gates, and let fire devour your cedars" (Zach. XI).
[AD 990] Oecumenius on Revelation 1:12-16
For concerning Christ it is said, “You shine gloriously from the everlasting mountains”—perhaps meaning angelic powers—and, again, addressing the Father, “Send out your light and your truth,” and again, “the light of your face, Lord.” So those who share in the divine light are described in one place as stars and in another as lampstands.
He calls the lampstands golden on account of the honor and transcendence of those thought worthy of receiving the beam of divine light.
And in the midst of the seven lampstands, he says, one like a son of man: for since the Lord himself promises to dwell in the souls of those who have received him and to walk in their midst, how could he not have been seen in the midst of the lampstands?
He calls Christ son of man as one who for us humbled himself as far as “taking the form of a slave,” who became “the fruit of the womb,” according to the divine hymn, the womb of Mary, unwed and ever-virgin. Since Mary was a human being and our sister, naturally he who is born from her without seed as a human being is called God the Word and the son of man. He has carefully called him not a son of man, but one like a son of man; but he who is Emmanuel is also God and Lord of the universe.
The vision shows his varied appearance by his operations and powers, as it depicts his form. First he clothes him with a priestly dress, for the long robe and girdle are a priestly dress. He was addressed by God and the Father, “You are a priest for ever according to the order of Melchisedek,” but the apostle, too, calls Christ “the high priest and apostle of our confession,”49 as being in the priestly service and leading us to make our confession of faith in him and the Father and the Spirit.
He puts a golden girdle around him, whereas the priests according to the [Mosaic] Law had a girdle of embroidered cloth. The difference between slaves and a master had to be pointed out, that is, the difference between the shadow of the law and the truth shown by the new girdle.
His head, he says, and his hair were like white wool and like snow: for God’s secret purpose in Christ is new in its appearance, but it is before all ages in its intention. For the blessed apostle has written about it as “the secret purpose which has been kept hidden in all past ages and from generations, which has now been revealed to those of his holy people whom he wished.” Therefore, the age-old intention of the purpose revealed in God’s good pleasure is represented by the hoariness of the head and its comparison with wool and snow.
He says, and his eyes were like a flame of fire: this either means that the flame of fire has the form of light—since Christ both is light and calls himself light, saying “I am the light and the truth”—or it exposes the danger and the threat against the seven churches to whom the facts of the Revelation are passed on, in that they were not fully following his laws.
And his feet, he says, were like burnished bronze: he refers to the bronze mined on Mount Lebanon as being pure even in itself and as rendered even purer when it has been refined in a furnace and cleansed of its slight impurity. In this way the steadfastness and constancy, as well as the brightness and glory, of faith in Christ is signified when it has come to assurance. For the apostle calls Christ “a rock,” and Isaiah calls him “a precious stone” in the foundations “of Sion.”
Else he means that the burnished bronze is the copper-colored frankincense which medical men are accustomed to call male. This is fragrant when burnt; for the fiery furnace represents the symbol of the burn ing of incense, which is the foundation of the preaching of the gospel—for the feet are the foundation of the rest of the body, which is Christ. For he is fragrant, and with spiritual fragrance he gives charm to the things in heaven and the things on earth.
Paul, too, calls Christ “a foundation” in writing the first epistle to the Corinthians, saying, “Like a wise master-builder I have laid a foundation, and another builds upon it. Let each one take care how he builds on it. For no one can lay any other foundation than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
That Christ is spiritually sweet-smelling, the bride in the Song of Songs who has experienced his sweet scent bears witness. In one place she says, “and the fragrance of your oils is above all spices,” and in another, “your name is oil emptied out,” and the Lord himself also describes himself as sweet-smelling in the words to the bride, saying, “I am a flower of the field, a lily of the valleys.” What then? Did not Paul, too, after becoming sweet-smelling from his communion with Christ, say, “for we are the fragrance of Christ”; and again, to us “he reveals the fragrance of the knowledge of him”?
And his voice, he says, was like the sound of many waters, and reasonably so; for how could his voice have come to all the earth and his gospel to the ends of the world, unless it had been clearly heard, not as a perceived loud sound, but by the power of the preaching?
And he had, he says, in his right hand seven stars: he himself goes on to interpret these stars, saying they were the angels of the seven churches, about whom blessed Gregory spoke at the coming of the bishops: “with reference to the presiding angels, I believe that each is a guardian of each church, as John teaches in the Revelation.” I think that he calls the holy angels stars on account of the abundant light of Christ, which is in them.
They are in his right hand. They have been thought worthy of the most honorable position by God’s side, and, as it were, they rest in the hand of God.
And from his mouth, he says, there was issuing a sharp twoedged sword: blessed David says to the Lord, “Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one.” For he had not then commanded us to keep the laws of the gospel, to transgress which was destruction. Therefore the actual position of the thigh indicated the postponement of punishment; for it was not the most suitable position for killing.
But now the sword issues from his mouth, the metaphor symbolizing that those who disobey the injunctions of the gospel will be in mortal danger of being cut in two by the sword. This is made clear by what the Lord says in the gospels. The apostle, too, said, “For the word of God is living and active and keener than a two-edged sword,” that is to say, holding out a threat against the disobedient. So this is described by John as sharp, which is the same as what Paul calls “very keen.”
His face, he says, was like the sun shining in full strength. Deservedly like the sun, for the Lord is the sun of righteousness according to the prophet Malachi. But lest you should think that the light of the countenance of Christ, which “gives light to everyone, coming into the world,” was a manifest body giving perceptible light, he added by his power, just as if he were saying: “The light of Christ is to be spiritually perceived, ‘operating in power,’ not a physical appearance, but giving light to the eyes of the soul.”