Verse 15 says, “His feet were like shining brass, as having been fired in a furnace.” Feet signify the walk. In typology, brass signifies divine judgment (Exo. 27:1-6). When Christ was on earth, His earthly walk and daily walk were tried and tested. Because His walk was tested, He came out shining. Now the feet of Christ are as shining brass, as mentioned also in Ezekiel 1:7 and Daniel 10:6, signifying that His perfect and bright walk qualifies Him to exercise divine judgment. To be “fired in the furnace” is to be tried by being burned. Christ’s walk was tried by His sufferings, even by His death on the cross. Hence, His walk is bright as the shining brass, which qualifies Him to judge the unrighteous. As we have already pointed out, when He comes to possess the earth by judging it, His feet will be like pillars of fire (10:1).
Verse 15 also says that “His voice” is “as the sound of many waters.” “The sound of many waters,” a tumultuous sound, is the sound of the voice of the Almighty God (Ezek. 1:24; 43:2). It signifies the seriousness and solemnity of His speaking (cf. 10:3). Sometimes the Lord’s voice is gentle and tender, but at other times His voice shocks us like thunder. Whenever we are sloppy or sleepy, the voice of the Lord will wake us up. His voice, which is that of the Almighty God, warns us and wakes us up.
Verse 16 says, “He had in His right hand seven stars.” As verse 20 makes clear, “the seven stars are messengers of the seven churches.” The messengers are the spiritual ones in the churches bearing the responsibility of the testimony of Jesus. Like stars, they should be of the heavenly nature and in a heavenly position. In the Acts and the Epistles the elders were the leading ones in the operation of the local churches (Acts 14:23; 20:17; Titus 1:5). The eldership is somewhat official, and, as we have seen, at the time this book was written the offices in the churches had deteriorated in the degradation of the church. In this book the Lord calls our attention back to spiritual reality. Hence, it emphasizes the messengers of the churches rather than the elders. The office of the elders is easily perceived, but the believers need to see the importance of the spiritual and heavenly reality of the messengers for the proper church life to bear the testimony of Jesus in the darkness of the church’s degradation.
Both the lampstands and the stars are for shining in the night. A lampstand representing a local church is a collective unit, whereas a star representing a messenger of a local church is an individual entity. In the dark night of the church’s degradation, there is the need of the shining both of the collective churches and of the individual messengers. As Christ walks among the churches, He holds the leading ones in His right hand. How comforting this is! The leading ones must praise Him that they are in His hands and that He is holding them. Since the leading ones are in His hands, there is no need for them shrink back, to be weak, or to be mistaken. Christ truly takes the responsibility for His testimony.
In the book of Revelation there are no elders in the churches; rather, there are messengers. At the time this book was written, the church had become degraded. Hence, in Revelation, the Lord repudiates all formalities. Being an elder may be somewhat legal or formal. Do not aspire to be an elder; desire to be a shining star. Do not be one with a mere position—be a shining star. Both the lampstand and the stars shine at night. Both the church and the leading ones in the churches must shine. All the leading ones must be stars.