Hello All:
I’m looking for some help with some of the symbolism used in Revelation.
Rev Chap 1 Verses 13 - 16
Specifically - can I get some clarification on Jesus’ feet being like polished brass.
Also, the sword from his mouth - I assume it represents the power of the word of God - but want to be certain.
Thanks in advance.
The sword-imagery looks ahead to Rev.19. Specifically, it represents the power of the Word (= Christ (+ Scripture ?)) to judge. Judgement is a major theme in the book, because an apocalypse is a book in which God is vindicated against “the opposition”. Which ties it to the Gospels, which speak of the Kingdom/Kingship/Reign of God. Even the scene of adoration in chapter 4 relates to judgement, because the Throne above the four living creatures is a NT adaptation of the Chariot-Throne of Ezekiel 1 & 10, which appears to that prophet in a vision of judgement.
**As for the brass - brass is also used in the making of the Ark of the Covenant: **
http://www.blueletterbible.org/tmp_dir/words/b/1164766367-1832.html
**- which may be significant. Revelation is fond of contrasting a holy or good thing with a blasphemous parody of it (the “women” of 12 & 17 are an example of this); so the feet of the One who appears to John are probably to be remembered when we read: **
Rev 9:20** And the rest of the men which were not killed by these plagues yet repented not of the works of their hands, that they should not worship devils, and idols of gold, and silver, and brass, and stone, and of wood: which neither can see, nor hear, nor walk: **
IMO, the feet of brass, taken with the description of this figure (Who is never actually called Jesus
) & the references to brass in Exodus in connection with the Ark, altar, & much of their furniture (& see also the refs. to the bronze sea in the Temple built by Solomon) suggest that His feet are described so as to refer to His priestly office (for which, see Hebrews 7).
The bronze sea is interesting because it is supported on the backs of 12 bronze oxen, facing to the four cardinal points of the compass (1 Kings 7.23-25; & compare the two pairs of twelves in Rev. 4); so it is easy to connect with the four living creatures of Rev. 4, who support the Throne of God (as do the cherubim in Ezekiel 1 & 10; who are part of the Temple **furniture in 1 Kings 6.23-32; as well as part of the design of the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus) **
See too:
Dan 10:6** His body also [was] like the beryl, and his face as the appearance of lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire, and his arms and his feet like in colour to polished brass, and the voice of his words like the voice of a multitude. **
See also Dan 2.33 & following
**The reference to the quality of the brass in Rev. 1
may also hint at a comparison with refinement through persecution: imagery from refining is applied to that, & to the Word of God, especially in the OT. Rev. 2 & 3 does refer to persecution for churches. As for the image in Daniel 2, perhaps it is used in Rev. to refer to Caesar-worship, over against worship of the bronze footed Christ. **
Rev 1 is a vision of a Divine Being; so is Rev 4; so there may be a connection with 1 Kings 8.11 (& John 1), which are also about the Presence of God, as encountered in Jesus. John 1, 1 Kings 8.11, Acts 9, & Luke 5, are all texts about the inability of the people involved to stand up before the Presence of God. John’s inability at the end of Rev.1 may look forward to his misplaced prostrations to angels near the end of the book. Just about every detail in one passage, seems to be related to another somewhere else.
Hope that helps. ##