Welcome to EBible Fellowship's Bible study in the Book of Revelation. This will be study #43 of Revelation, chapter 1, and we going to be reading from Revelation 1:16:

And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

As we have been continuing to go along, verse by verse, in Revelation, chapter 1, we have seen how this is a description of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not an actual description; Christ does not look like this. It is just a figure of speech and parabolic language that God is using to teach us various truths about the Gospel and about Christ Himself.

We saw that in His right hand were the "seven stars," and the "seven stars" are the "angels of the seven churches." Verse 20 of the same chapter tells us that, and the fact that they were in His right hand identifies with salvation, because the Lord Jesus is at the right hand of God.

There are several Scriptures---especially in the Psalms---where God speaks of His "right hand" in association with salvation. So that is a good place to be for any sinner, certainly, when God separates the sheep from the goats, as we read in Matthew 25; the sheep go to His "right hand," and that would mean the goats go to the left hand.

It is the ones that are saved---the true believers that are children of God elected to salvation before the foundation of the world---that are found at the "right hand" of God because that is where Christ is found; they are in Him, and He has paid for their sins and delivered them through his atoning work. So that is also where the "seven stars" are found, in the right hand of "one like unto the Son of man."

And it continues on to say in Revelation 1:16:

...and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword...

We almost get an image of the carnival sword swallower, but, again, this is not literal. We are not to suppose that Christ has a protruding sword coming out of His mouth with a sharp two edges. That is not what God wants us to think at all. He wants us to understand what these things mean, and what they represent, and the only way for us to do that is to follow this language in the Bible in order to discover what God means by a "sharp twoedged sword" coming out of the mouth of Christ.

We do not have to go that far to find another statement that says the same thing. In Revelation, chapter 2:12:

And to the angel of the church in Pergamos write; These things saith he which hath the sharp sword with two edges;

And also in Revelation 19, we read of the one riding a white horse whose name was called "Faithful and True," and that can be no one else but Jesus Himself, and it says in Revelation 19:15:

And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.

So this is a consistent picture that the Bible is using to paint the picture of Christ---that he has a "sharp sword" coming forth from His mouth. That image is also found in the Old Testament in the Book of Isaiah, in Isaiah 49:1-3:

Listen, O isles, unto me; and hearken, ye people, from far; JEHOVAH hath called me from the womb; from the bowels of my mother hath he made mention of my name. And he hath made my mouth like a sharp sword; in the shadow of his hand hath he hid me, and made me a polished shaft; in his quiver hath he hid me; And said unto me, Thou art my servant, O Israel, in whom I will be glorified.

In this case, *Israel* would be a name for Christ, the Messiah. He is the one whose mouth is made like a "sharp sword."

Let us try to identify this "twoeged sword" and, again, God has given us the way of coming to truth when He tells us, "Here a little, there a little," in Isaiah 28; that is how we discover right doctrine. We have a picture the Bible uses in a few places, but how do we define that *sword*? Well, we know it is coming out of Christ's mouth, and that is helpful, but we would like something a little more definitive, and God gives us that in Hebrews 4:12:

For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

Now, God does not always provide this kind of spiritual definition, but we do come across this on occasion, and it is very helpful when God Himself has defined His own terms. And that is how we search the Bible and study the Bible, and allow God to define His own terms, and allow the Bible to be its own dictionary.

Now we are not saying that the "twoedged sword" represents the word of God. That is not coming from me or anyone that might say that. That is coming from God because we looked up those words and we found the defining verse, so now when we see the "twoedged sword" protruding from the mouth of "one like unto the Son of man," well then, obviously, that is what God means---the word of God---and that is why it is coming out of Christ's mouth because it relates to the word of God, the Bible; and Christ is the Word. He is "the word made flesh."

Therefore, the *word* and the "twoedged sword" are synonymous; they identify with one another. That is the picture the Lord is giving us in our verse in Revelation 1:16 when He says that Christ "had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword." Those other verses we looked at in Revelation would also be pointing to the word of God.

Then it continues in the end of Revelation 1:16:

...and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.

Now the Greek word translated as *countenance*, which is Strong's #3799, is only found three times in the New Testament. One time it is translated as *appearance* in John 7:24, and a second time it is translated as *face* in John 11:44, when Lazarus came forth and was bound with napkins around his face; that is the same word. And it is translated as *countenance* here in our verse. So we could understand this to be the *face*, or the appearance, of Christ when it says "his countenance *was* as the sun shineth in his strength." His *face* is acceptable, or His *appearance*.

The word *shineth* is often translated as *appear* in several verses, but, at the same time, it is translated several times as *shine* or *shineth*. For instance, in the Gospel of John 1:4:

In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.

This is speaking of Jesus, and we can see how that could also be *appeareth*---"the light appeareth in darkness;" and, of course, if the light *appeareth*, it is shining, so both are accurate. Christ is "the light of the world," who shineth in the darkness of this world when God sent forth the light of the Gospel to the inhabitants of the earth.

Well, we also find it translated as *shineth* in 1John 2:8:

Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

Once again, Jesus would be that "true light" that is in view, that *shineth* into the darkness of this world. So, that is helpful, as we look at this verse: "...his countenance *was* as the sun shineth in his strength."

The word *strength* is Strong's #1411. It is the Greek word *dunamis*, and that is a word that is often translated as *power* or *powers*. As a matter of fact, in Matthew 24, and in the parallel passages in Mark and Luke, when we read "the powers of the heavens will be shaken," that is this word *dunamis*.

Here, of the Lord Jesus it is said, "his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength," or His *power*. This is when the spiritual light of the Gospel was placed in the spiritual heavens, and so the power of the heavens were not shaken at that time---they were situated where God wanted them to be, but, of course, now we are living at a different time.

Now, that just leaves the word *sun*. We see that "his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength." Let us allow the Bible to help us define the word *sun*, and what does this word represent? We know it is speaking of Christ in this context. Every verse we have been reading has been describing the Lord Jesus, so we know already that the *sun* shining in his strength is a figure of speech God is using to describe Christ Himself.

Let us go to Psalm 19 and we will begin to look at the *sun* itself, and how God uses the *sun* to describe the Lord Jesus Christ, or eternal God Himself. In Psalm 19:1:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

Now, here, God is saying that when He established the celestial bodies (the sun, the moon and the stars), and He placed them in the night sky so that all mankind (no matter where they were in the world) could look up into the heavens, and the fact that they saw these glorious celestial bodies, and they saw the brilliantly shining sun during the day, and the moon shining with the reflective light of the sun at night, and the stars sparkling in the night time, that this was a testimony that gave evidence that there is a Creator.

This was a declaration from the Creator to His creatures---to mankind created in His image---that there is a God, and that they are creatures, and this is His creation. All of that is declared and witnessed by the heavens. They are "uttering speech" that is testifying to the heart of every individual because that which may be known of God is already written on their hearts, so all men are given deep-down awareness of the Being of God. They know there is a God, and this is God's testimony against mankind.

But then it says in Psalm 19:5:

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

Now that is helpful to us because the *sun* is said to be "as a bridegroom," and who does the Bible liken to the bridegroom? That is Christ Himself. The Bible identifies Jesus as the bridegroom. John the Baptist said that he greatly rejoiced because he had heard the bridegroom's voice, and he was referring to Christ. And, here, the Son is likened to the bridegroom, and that would, in turn, be pointing to Christ.

It also says in Psalm 84:11:

For JEHOVAH God is a sun and shield: JEHOVAH will give grace and glory: no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly.

JEHOVAH God is a "sun and shield," and that word *sun* is spelled s-u-n, the sun that is in the sky. This is a plain statement where God is saying that He is "a sun," and that means that the sun which enlightens the world is a picture that God has created and placed in the creation itself, a picture that cannot be missed or avoided---everyone is able to see the light of the sun, or feel its heat, if they happen to be blind. Everyone benefits from the sun which shines in its strength. We could not have life without the sun: it is the sun that brings in the crops and causes plants to grow, and so forth. It is the sun that gives life to the inhabitants of the earth. And God says He "is a sun and shield," and that sun that gives physical light is typifying the Son of God which gives spiritual life.

Let us stay in the Psalms and go to another verse in Psalm 104:19:

He appointed the moon for seasons: the sun knoweth his going down.

And we know that God gave the sun, moon and stars, and one of the tasks that they perform is that they are timekeepers: the moon establishes the seasons and the months of the year. God has had the nation of Israel form its various feasts and seasons around the moon; and so "He appointed the moon for seasons," but, as the sun represents God, the moon represents the word of God, the Law of God, the Bible, and the moon shines forth the reflective light of the sun; and the word of God, the Bible, shines forth the reflective light of God Himself, as He has inspired His word, and He causes His word to shine in the darkness, just as Christ shines. So the moon, as it says here, "is appointed for seasons," and, spiritually (if we carry that to another level), that would mean that the Bible, the word of God, is "appointed for seasons."

And is that not true? As we have studied the word of God, and dived into the Scriptures to discover certain truths, God has opened up a Biblical calendar of history; that is, a calendar that has to do with times and seasons that comes right out of the Bible itself---a calendar in which we can see the time and season for the church age; and the end of the church age, in which we discovered a time and season for the great tribulation, and the end of the great tribulation; and a calendar that now reveals a time and season for judgment day, and so on.

These things we have learned have come from the Bible, and, spiritually, that is fulfilling the statement, "He appointed the moon for seasons." And it goes on to say in the last half of that verse, in Psalm 104:19:

...the sun knoweth his going down.

That is, the Lord God is a *sun*. Christ is the bridegroom, as the *sun* is likened to the bridegroom. So this is telling us that God knows the time in which He will bring judgment day because the sun, spiritually, goes down at the beginning of the day of judgment: "immediately after the tribulation of those days," Matthew 24:29 tells us, "the sun is darkened."

The *sun* goes down and no longer shines its light. The *sun* knows His going down, and see how the sun is personalized? It does not say, "the sun knoweth its going down," but it says, "the sun knoweth his going down," because the translators correctly understood that this is a reference to God Himself, who is likened to the *sun*, and He knows the time of judgment.

Now this verse, along with many others, should really put to rest that idea that Christ does not know "the day or hour." This verse says He does: "The sun knoweth his going down." Christ knows when it was His plan to end the day of salvation, to spiritually darken the *sun* in this world, and for the *sun* to go down, never to shine again upon the inhabitants of the earth. Yes, He knows all that.

Let us just turn to one more verse in the Old Testament, in Malachi 4:2:

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.

And, again, Jesus is in view. He is the "Sun of righteousness." Well, that is the Old Testament, and those verses are sufficient to prove that God, the Lord Jesus Christ, likens Himself to the *sun* in the sky.

But the New Testament carries that idea over in several places, and we will just look at a couple of them. In the mount of transfiguration, it says in Matthew 17:1-2:

And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart, And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

And, again, Christ's face is likened to the *sun*. Now let us turn to one other place in the Book of Acts, as the Apostle Paul is recounting what happened when He had that vision when the Lord appeared to him, and it says in Acts 26:13:

At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining round about me and them which journeyed with me. And when we were all fallen to the earth, I heard a voice speaking unto me, and saying in the Hebrew tongue, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks. And I said, Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest.

Well, once again, the Apostle Paul (at that time called Saul) saw this vision "above the brightness of the sun," and when he spoke to the one who was shining brightly to him, it is said, "I am Jesus whom thou persecutest."

Again, the *sun* and Christ are synonymous in the Bible, as God uses that image of the greatest light in this physical world to typify the greatest of spiritual lights, the Lord Jesus Christ and the Person of God.

So, you can see, and think about this and why it is so important that we keep this in mind when we read this verse (and I referred to it earlier, but let me read it again) in Matthew 24:29:

Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened, and the moon shall not give her light, and the stars shall fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens shall be shaken.

Now when we look at the Bible, and allow the Bible to define its own terms, the *sun* can only be a reference to the light of the Lord Jesus Christ as He shines into the world. But this verse, and other like verses, are telling us that "after the tribulation" the *sun* will no longer shine.

You see, the troubling thing is that the great tribulation (we know from that Biblical calendar of history in the word of God, which God has appointed for seasons) lasted for twenty three full years---8,400 exact days---and the great tribulation ended on May 21, 2011, the very day that relates to the seventeenth day of the second month, and 7,000 years from the flood when God shut the door to the ark. Do you see how God is tying in two major indicators to teach us that the day of salvation has ended? The door is shut and the *sun* is dark on the very same day.