Revelation 1:14 says, “His head and hair were as white as white wool, as snow.” White hair signifies great age (Job 15:10). The black hair with which the Lord is depicted in Song of Songs 5:11 signifies His unfading and everlasting strength, but the white hair with which He is depicted in Revelation 1:14 signifies His ancientness.
Although Christ is exceedingly ancient, He is not old. His head and His hair were white as wool and as snow. White wool issues from the nature of life, and white snow comes down from the sky, from heaven. Wool is not made white; it is born white, and its whiteness comes out of its nature. White wool is the color of Christ’s nature. His ancientness is of His nature. Snow is white because it comes from heaven and contains no earthly dirt or stain. Hence, white wool, both in Revelation 1:14 and in Daniel 7:9, signifies that the ancientness of Christ is of His nature, not of His becoming old, while white snow signifies that His ancientness is heavenly, not earthly.
The Son of Man is ancient, but He is not old. He is eternally ancient. He is the One in the beginning without a beginning. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God...And the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us” (John 1:1, 14). Christ was in the beginning that did not have a beginning. Jesus, the man of Nazareth, is ancient because He is God Himself. He is the God-man, the mingling of divinity with humanity. In the Bible God is called the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7:9, 13, 22). Christ is the Son of Man, yet He is unveiled as the eternal God.
Although Christ is ancient, He is “living” (Rev. 1:18). Christ is the most ancient One, yet He is the most living One. He is living forever and ever. The church, the Body of Christ, must be the same as Christ, the Head of the Body. The more mature we are, the more living we must be. As a local church matures, it should become increasingly living.
In Revelation 1:14 we see that Christ’s eyes are like a flame of fire. In Song of Songs 5:12 the eyes of Christ are like doves. That is for the expression of His love. In Revelation 1:14 His eyes are “like a flame of fire.” This is for Him to observe and search that He may exercise judgment by enlightening. His eyes are like a flame of fire to look into us in order to test us and refine us. In Revelation His eyes are not two but seven (5:6). Seven is the number of completion in God’s move. Hence, His eyes in this book are for God’s operation. These seven eyes of His are the seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God (4:5; cf. Dan. 10:6). The “fire burning” equals the “flame of fire” and is for observing and searching. The seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth are also for God’s move on the earth. Thus, the eyes of Christ in this book are the seven Spirits of God for God’s move and operation on earth today.
Christ’s eyes are for watching, observing, searching, judging by enlightening, and infusing. We should experience all these different aspects of His eyes, especially the aspect of infusing. His eyes infuse us with all that He is. His infusing eyes are a flame of fire which is continually burning. This can be proved by our experience. Since the day we were saved, Christ’s eyes have been like a burning fire enlightening and infusing us. His eyes also stir us up to be hot. After Christ has looked at us, we can never be cold as we once were. By looking at us, the Lord burns us and stirs us up. Many times the Lord comes to us with His piercing eyes. Perhaps when we are trying to hide something from others, the Lord comes with seven shining eyes piercing into our being and exposing our true condition. When we are arguing with others, especially with our intimate ones, the shining eyes of Christ are upon us, and we cannot go on speaking. His shining stops our mouth. As the Lord watches us with His seven eyes, we sense under His gaze how poor and unworthy we are. As a result, we feel humbled, judged, and repentant, and we confess our failures. Through His tender care and judging fire that purifies us, day after day we may have the sense that we are poor, unclean, and desperately in need of His mercy.
The book of Revelation is a book with a judging nature. Fire is for divine judgment (1 Cor. 3:13; Heb. 6:8; 10:27). “Our God is also a consuming fire” (12:29). His throne is like the fiery flame and its wheels are burning fire, and a fiery stream issues and comes forth from before Him (Dan. 7:9-10). All this is for judgment. The main significance of the Lord’s eyes being as a flame of fire is for His judgment (Rev. 2:18-23; 19:11-12). When He comes to take possession of the earth by exercising judgment over it, even His feet will be like pillars of fire (10:1).
Christ is the lamp, and the church is the lampstand. The church is the expression of Christ, but this expression must be completely purified. It must be entirely of pure gold without any mixture or alloy. Gold is purified by fire. Therefore, Revelation is a book of purging and purifying fire. The first vision in this book is a revelation of Christ as the One whose eyes are like a flame of fire and whose feet are like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace (1:14-15). When He looks at people, He burns them in order to purge away everything that does not correspond to the nature of God. This purging and burning is His judgment, and His judgment begins with the church (1 Pet. 4:17; 1 Tim. 3:15).
In the first of the three sections of Revelation (chs. 1—3), there is the judgment of the divine burning in the church, and in the second section (chs. 4—20) there is the judgment of the divine burning in the world. The last section (chs. 21—22) reveals the issue, the result, of the judgment by burning. Anything that does not match the nature of God is purged away by this burning fire and is cast into the lake of fire. After all of the judgments by burning, everything in the new heaven and the new earth with the New Jerusalem is purified.
We should not think that the Lord’s shining today is only to give us grace. Even in the present age of grace, He is observing us and judging us. Even in the church, the manifestation of the Lord Jesus is for the carrying out of His judgment. His eyes are like a flame of fire. In Revelation He is not the dear and lovely Lord; rather, He is the awesome and dreadful Lord. He is here shining, examining, and judging to execute God’s will. This is His administration.
Nothing of the flesh, of the world, or of sin can stand the shining of the seven Spirits as the seven lamps before the throne and as the seven eyes of the Lamb. This shining is a burning. Whatever He shines on, whatever He searches, is judged and burned by Him. Even today the indwelling Spirit in us is sometimes this kind of shining, searching, judging Spirit. On the one hand, this indwelling Spirit is the Spirit of life, the Spirit of sonship, the building Spirit, the transforming Spirit, the Spirit for our living, and the Spirit of the Body, all of which are aspects on the sweet side. On the other hand, He is the judging Spirit, the administrating Spirit, who is in us and among us, shining over us, searching us, judging us, and burning us. We need the grace-giving Spirit, and we also need the judging Spirit. We need the Spirit as the living water flowing in us, but we also need the Spirit as fire shining, searching, judging, and burning in us.
Christ’s eyes, which are like a flame of fire, indicate that He is burning. In the local churches there should be no coldness or lukewarmness, for Christ is the burning One. Since He is burning, we all must be burning. All the believers in the churches must be burning. If we allow the Lord’s seven eyes to look upon us as we read the Word prayerfully, we will not remain cold but instead will be burned and even burning.