Useful Bible Studies > Revelation Commentary > chapter 1
In the countries near the Mediterranean Sea, people usually have black hair. Only older people usually have grey or white hair (Proverbs 16:31). God’s law says that old people should receive special honour because of their age (Leviticus 19:32).
Daniel’s description of God the Father (Daniel 7:9) matches this. Daniel calls him ‘the ancient of days’. His (God’s) hair was white, like wool. To him all honour is due, because he existed before all things.
Jesus taught that God’s Son is exactly like the Father (John 8:19; John 10:30; John 14:9). Like the Father, the Son existed before all things (John 1:1-2; Revelation 22:13). John emphasises the word ‘white’; his hair was as white as wool, as white as snow. To him, all honour is due (5:13).
This special description of Christ now seems to emphasise his qualities as a judge. His eyes are like fire. God sees all things, including those things that people cannot see (1 Samuel 16:7). Because he sees all things, his judgements are always right and proper (Genesis 6:5; Psalm 11:4). In the Bible, flames are also a frequent word-picture for judgement. That is because only the purest and best substances can pass through fire (1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
Christ will overcome all his enemies; he will destroy their power completely. The Bible compares this to someone who destroys something beneath his feet; he stamps down upon that thing. See Genesis 3:15; Psalm 8:6 and Isaiah 63:3. So, in this special description, Christ’s feet seem like bronze. Bronze is a very hard metal.
Therefore, Christ has both the authority to make the judgement, and the power to carry it out.
Next part: Christ’s perfect character (Revelation 1:16)
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© 2016, Keith Simons.