Revelation 1:17

‘When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man.
He laid His right hand on me, saying, “Don’t be afraid.”’
(Revelation 1:17)

‘John… was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and… heard… a loud voice, like a trumpet… that spoke’(Revelation 1:9-12) from behind him. On turning round he ‘saw’(Revelation 1:12ff.) a glorified heavenly figure, which caused him to prostrate himself ‘like a dead man’ on the ground. What John saw and heard might well have caused anyone to react in a similar way, but it’s also laden with symbolic meaning, which John would have understood, adding to the weight of his encounter.

One of the figure’s least unusual features is perhaps the most striking in that regard, i.e. hair like ‘white wool, like snow’(Revelation 1:14). However, that’s reminiscent of God on His throne, as described in Daniel’s Old Testament prophecy: The ‘“Ancient of Days… clothing… white as snow… hair… like pure wool”’(Daniel 7:9), the ‘“white”’(Isaiah 1:18) symbolising sinless Holy perfection. Moreover, the figure’s voice, aside from being like a trumpet, was also ‘like… many waters’(Revelation 1:15), reminiscent of ‘the glory of… God… His voice… like the sound of many waters’(Ezekiel 43:2) in another prophecy. Even so, John’s vision and its symbolism is most obviously of the risen glorified Jesus, the ‘son of man’(Revelation 1:13, John 1:51, 3:14ff., etc.) as He often described Himself, described here also as ‘“the first and the last… dead, and behold… alive forever”’(Revelation 1:17-18), i.e. ‘“the Alpha and the Omega… First and… Last… Jesus”’(Revelation 22:13&16), yet also ‘“the Alpha and… Omega,”… the Lord God, “… the Almighty”(Revelation 1:8). Interestingly, the voice is also that of ‘“the Spirit”’(Revelation 2:7ff., cf. 1:19ff.), elsewhere described as the Spirit of ‘Jesus’(Philippians 1:19) ‘Christ’(1 Peter 1:11) and ‘God’(Romans 8:9). So this voice and vision are a manifestation the Holy Trinity, God the three in One, although primarily seen as the Son in glorified form here, perhaps a little like John had glimpsed Jesus before, at the transfiguration, when His face ‘shone like the sun’(Matthew 17:2, cf. Revelation 1:16).

We need to see this for ourselves, Jesus as God, in all His glorious holiness, fixing our mind’s eye on Him, augmented by the symbolism: ‘one like a son of man… a robe reaching down to his feet… golden sash around his chest… hair… white as white wool, like snow… eyes… like a flame of fire… feet… like burnished brass… voice… like the voice of many waters… Out of his mouth… a sharp two-edged sword [cf. Hebrews 4:12 & John 1:1ff.]…  face… like the sun shining at its brightest’(Revelation 1:13-16).

John’s reaction was like that of others, such as Ezekiel, who fell ‘face’(Ezekiel 1:28, 43:3, etc.) down under similar circumstances, several times. Partly such responses are a form of worship, as with the ‘elders’(Revelation 4:10) around God’s throne described later here. However, they also reflect the spontaneous humbling that any of us should feel on properly perceiving these realities, partly conscious of our relative frailty, but also our sin, like Isaiah who felt ‘“undone”’(Isaiah 6:5) in God’s presence. Peter even had enough insight to experience this with the man Jesus in a fishing boat, falling down and saying ‘“I am a sinful man”’(Luke 5:8).

However, like here, Jesus could respond with ‘“Don’t be afraid”’(Luke 5:10). This awesome, glorious, even frightening ‘God’(Colossians 1:15ff., Hebrews 1:1ff.) is also gracious, especially through Jesus – ‘full of grace and truth’(John 1:14, cf. Ephesians 1:7). That’s possible because He’s the sacrificial ‘Lamb’(1 Peter 1:19) from ‘the middle of the throne’(Revelation 5:6), who was ‘“killed”’(Revelation 5:9) ‘for our transgressions’(Isaiah 53:5) as Isaiah had foreseen and as John the Baptist then announced: ‘“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”’(John 1:29). So we can encounter God, in all our unworthiness, yet be ‘washed’(Revelation 1:5&7:14) and ‘cleansed’(Ephesians 5:26, cf. 1 John 1:7), as Jesus reaches out and lays His reassuring ‘hand’ on us too.

And then He beckons us on, since although sacrificed ‘for our trespasses’(Romans 4:25) He’s also risen and lives forever, and holds ‘the keys’(Revelation 1:18) that can free us from sin and ‘“Death”’(1 Corinthians 15:54ff.), to present us ‘holy… without defect and blameless before’(Colossians 1:22) ‘the presence of God’(Hebrews 9:24, cf. 9:12), as ‘“a son of man… to the Ancient of Days”’(Daniel 7:13ff.) through our being ‘in Christ’(Romans 8:1ff.). He’s ‘“the way”’(John 14:6, cf. Romans 5:1-2) who has prepared ‘“a place”’(John 14:3) for us. So it’s no doubt of relevance that a mysterious figure with strikingly similar features, ‘eyes as flaming torches… feet… like burnished bronze’(Daniel 10:6) etc., completed Daniel’s prophesy, by announcing that God’s people ‘“will be delivered… to everlasting life”’(Daniel 12:1-2ff., cf. Revelation 21-22).

Please feel free to share this via social media etc.

(or anywhere else)

by copying/pasting its URL link: https://etheldreda.net/revelation_1_17/

&
if you’re on social media,
please do make
contact.

(This website currently does not have social media share buttons, to avoid using cookies – see Privacy Policy.)