He had in His right hand seven stars....

He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. (Rev 1:16)

And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying *to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last. (Rev 1:17)

I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. (Rev 1:18)

*Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. (Rev 1:19)

The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lamp stands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lamp stands *which you saw are the seven churches. (Rev 1:20)

Just a note: Throughout Revelations John reveals things which he saw happening here on earth and also in heaven. By the wording Christ uses in verse 19 we see that what he is about to say is for the present and for what was about to happen. I feel this wording means it is specifically for the next chapters where he speaks directly to the churches in Asia.

However we shouldn’t forget verse 11;

saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."

The entire book of revelations is for the seven churches and what they represent for the church now and always (and I will explain this further down), not just chapters 2 & 3.
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As we look at our next verses (16-20)we find Jesus is revealing himself in his authority as the risen Lord. He is no longer the human from Nazereth, he is The One who holds the seven stars (or messengers as we will see later) in his right hand, and from out of his mouth comes the word which pierces even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hbr 4:12). John said His countenance shown as the sun the shines in it’s strength, revealing that Christ is most definitely in his glorified state now as we will to be someday.

This state is so powerful we find that John’s human body, as it was then, couldn’t stand and he fell at Jesus’s feet as if dead (Rev 1: 17). There is a limit to what our human flesh can endure under such brightness radiating from something or someone. Yet Jesus reassures him and gives him relief from his fear, and soothes his agitated emotions with words of great comfort. (Rev. 18). Truly John doesn’t have to fear, for Christ once was dead, but now lives, and not only that he has absolute power over death and hell!

Continuing on, we find that in verse 19 He instructs John to “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;” revealing to us that what was to come next was a message concerning things which are (at the time of John) and things which shall be hereafer. The phrase “which shall be hereafter” is probably more accurately translated to mean “which are about to be after these things”. Here we find that some of the things John sees will be for now, and some will be for the future, but he is commanded to write down both.

In verse 20 Jesus reveals to us what the “seven stars” and the “seven candlesticks” represent; they are the seven churches and the angels of the seven churches.

What we must determine is what he actually means by seven churches and seven angels.

We know that John’s mission was to deliver a message to the seven churches in Asia. (Verse 11). Keep in mind that the number seven often represents divine completeness as a whole in the Bible. There were more than 7 churches in Asia at that time, (apparently Colossi was one which was left out), and the ones he chose to address were not even the best known churches in Asia at that time. Therefore we can assume that Christ’s message is not just to seven specific churches but also for those they symbolically represent to the universal church in time. (We can also assume this by the wording He used in verse 19: “Things that are and which shall be hereafter”.)
There are those that also believe that the seven churches prophetically represent 7 different time periods. (I will look at this issue later when I address what Jesus said to each of these churches.)

As I’ve noted before it is significant that Jesus is in the midst of the seven candlesticks or “churches”. He is still Lord of his church despite all her flaws and he is still among us constantly walking in the midst of us. A comforting thought indeed.

The seven stars Jesus tells us are the seven angels of the seven churches (verse 20). Commonly it is understood in this passage that the use of word “angels” do not necessarily represent the heavenly messengers (‘messengers’ being the direct translation of the word angel) but earthly ones. Because the command was for an earthly man (John) to give Christ’s message to earthly churches, it assumed the messengers were earthly too. Since we know much of revelations must be interpreted not just taken literally, many believe that these “angels” were symbolizing something also.

However there are those that feel these angels are actual heavenly beings who are the guardians over particular churches. When we look at Jesus’s words which he uses in verse 20 we see he does not use “like” or “as unto” in fact he seems quite literal when saying these stars ARE the angels of the churches. In addition every time the word "angel" appears in the book of Revelations outside these seven letters (and it occurs many times), in every case it refers to a heavenly being.

Personally I have no reason not to believe they are indeed actual heavenly messengers for just these reasons, in addition to the fact that early churches were not governed or lead by one individual, they were lead by a plurality of pastors and elders.

Either way it is not really necessary to get thrown off course by this. What’s most important is what he says to the churches.

Before we move on, I want to note that these angels in his right hand (be they earthly or heavenly) have been given a place of honor and authority. (The right hand in the bible often symbolizes this.) Not only that, there is no other safer place to be. So we can surmise the message he has given them to send in the next coming chapters is true and just, for He has complete authority over the deliverers of the messengers and he has given them his authority to deliver it.