Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Revelation 1:20

"the mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks are seven churches." — Revelation 1:20 (ASV)

The first vision is called a “mystery” (GK 3696). In the NT a “mystery” is something formerly secret but now revealed or identified (cf. John’s identification of the “mystery” of the harlot in ch. 17 as the “great city” that rules over the kings of the earth).

The seven stars represent the “angels of the seven churches.” Who are these angels? There is no totally satisfactory answer to this question. “Angels” (GK 34) occurs sixty-seven times in Revelation, and in every other instance it refers to heavenly messengers, though occasionally in the NT it can mean a human messenger (9:52; James 2:25). A strong objection to the human messenger sense here is the fact that the word is not used that way anywhere else in apocalyptic literature. John’s reference should thus be understood as the heavenly messengers who have been entrusted by Christ with responsibility over the churches and yet who are so closely identified with them that the letters are addressed at the same time to these “messengers” and to the congregation (cf. the plural form in 2:10, 13, 23–24).

Whatever may be the correct identification of the angels, the emphasis rests on Christ’s immediate presence and communication through the Spirit to the churches (cf. the link of “stars” in 3:1 with the seven spirits of God). In some sense, the reference to angels in the churches shows that the churches are more than a gathering of mere individuals or a social institution; they have a corporate and heavenly character (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:10; Ephesians 3:10; Hebrews 1:14). That the “seven lampstands are the seven churches” not only shows that the churches are the earthly counterpart of the stars but links the vision of Christ with his authority to rule and judge his churches.