(5) The Son of man in the midst. 1. “ In the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man"--1:12-13. When John turned to see the voice, he saw one who had the appearance of Jesus. From his own memory John knew Jesus. He could recognize the countenance of the Lord and his personal appearance by his constant association with him in the days of his flesh. And he had seen him in majesty, glory and power in his ascension. Now he beheld in the vision One who was like him--he had known his incarnate person; he saw him in ascended glory; he knew his coronated majesty; he knew his kingly power--and he recognized the Son of man! 2. “ He was clothed with a garment."--1:13. The royal garment was in keeping with appropriate royalty, a royal garment which was indicative of monarchial dignity. 3. “ And girt with a golden girdle” --1:13. It represented the source and sway of the truth, as the girdle of truth suggests in Ephesians 6:14. 4. “ His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow"--1:14. These figures symbolized his sinless purity and his sublime majesty, as employed in Isaiah 1:18 : “ Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.” 5. “ And his eyes were as a flame of fire"--1:14. The same symbols are used in the prophetic apocalypses to designate divine omniscience, that He is the penetrator and the discerner of all things. 6. “ And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned it in a furnace"--1:15. The reference here is to the method of refining metals and minerals in a crucible, and it is the emblem of untarnished and unmingled truth of which Jesus Christ is the source and the administrator. 7. “ And his voice as the sound of many waters” --1:15. In this metaphor John saw Jesus as the combination of unison and rhythm in its perfect flow, signifying the accord and harmony of divine utterance, set to the melody of divine love and grace and blessing. 8. “ And out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword"--1:16. The same theophany is presented in the flaming sword of Eden. It stood for divine justice, and here it means that Jesus Christ was, and is now, the executor of righteous judgment and justice. 9. “ And his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” --1: 16. The sun of the solar system is the light of the world. As the monarch of the universe it rules the solar system as the earth and all planets revolve around it. So was the Son of man in this high point in the vision. In all his grandeur, as in the last prophetic glimpse of Malachi, he was the sun of righteousness, with all the spiritual benefits to mankind that the sun can bestow in its rays upon the earth.