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We come now to the last four New Testament symbols of the believers: stars, the man-child, the firstfruit and the harvest, and jasper and other precious stones.
In the book of Revelation stars are the shining ones in the churches who are the serving ones (angels) of the churches, responsible for the testimony of Jesus (2, 9, Rev. 1:20). Revelation 1:20 says, “The seven stars are messengers of the seven churches.” These messengers are the spiritual ones in the churches. They may not be responsible for the affairs of the church, but they are responsible for bearing the testimony of Jesus. As 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 at the time the book of Revelation was written the offices in the churches had deteriorated in the degradation of the church. Therefore, in this book the Lord calls our attention back to spiritual reality. For this reason, Revelation emphasizes the stars, 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 stars for the proper church life to bear the testimony of Jesus in the darkness of the church’s degradation.
The stars may or may not be elders. It is certain that they are the faithful ones, the genuinely spiritual ones, the overcoming ones among the saints in the church. In the sight of God such ones are shining stars.
All believers should aspire to be stars. Do not aspire to have a position — desire to be a shining star. We all, not only the leading ones in the local churches, must be stars. What the Lord Jesus wrote to the messengers, the stars, in Revelation 2 and 3 was what He wrote to the whole church. This indicates that we all can be stars. This is not a matter of title or position; it is absolutely a matter of shining. We all need to be shining stars bearing the testimony of Jesus.
The stars are held in the hand of Christ the Head of the church. Revelation 1:16a says, “He had in His right hand seven stars,” and 2:1 tells us that the Lord “holds the seven stars in His right hand” as He walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands. The messengers of the churches, the spiritual ones, signified by the stars, are held in the right hand of the Lord, and the Lord is walking in the midst of the churches signified by the seven golden lampstands. What a wonderful scene! While the Lord is sitting at the right hand of God as our High Priest interceding for us (Heb. 7:25), He is holding the stars and walking in the midst of the churches to care for them. This is very comforting. The leading ones should praise the Lord that they are in His hand and that He is holding them. Christ truly takes the responsibility for His testimony.
In Revelation 3:1 the Lord Jesus refers to Himself as “He who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars.” This indicates that the stars participate in and enjoy the seven Spirits of God. The seven Spirits are one with the seven stars, and the seven stars are one with the seven Spirits. If we are one with the seven Spirits, we shall eventually become stars, for the seven Spirits make it possible for the believers to be shining stars. This means that the searching, infusing, enlightening sevenfold Spirit is for the shining stars. The Spirit’s searching and enlightening are for the stars’ shining. In other words, the stars’ shining comes from the searching and enlightening of the sevenfold Spirit. During the time of the degradation of the church, the faithful ones need to be filled with the sevenfold Spirit so that they may be shining stars bearing the living testimony of Jesus.
Another symbol of the believers is that of the man-child (Rev. 12:5) brought forth by the universal, bright woman. Revelation 12:1 describes this woman as being “clothed with the sun, and the moon underneath her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” In Genesis 37:9 Joseph in his dream saw the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars, signifying his father, his mother, and his eleven brothers. There the sun, the moon, and the eleven stars plus Joseph himself signify the total composition of God’s people on earth. Based upon the principle of that dream, the sun, the moon, and the twelve stars in Revelation 12 must signify the totality of God’s people, which is symbolized here by a woman. Most of her being is clothed with the sun. The sun signifies God’s people in the New Testament age. Before Christ came to the world, it was the dark night of the Old Testament age. When Christ came, it was the sun rising from on high (Luke 1:78), the beginning of the age of the sun. Before that, it was the age of the moon, which signifies God’s people in the Old Testament time. The moon is under the feet of the woman, for the age of the moon was the age of the law, which should not be exalted as the stars. The stars, which signify the patriarchs, God’s people before the law was given, are on her head as a crown. All God’s people in these three ages, who together constitute this woman, are light bearers. Hence, she is the bright woman shining throughout all generations.
The woman who brings forth the man-child is a composition of God’s people in three dispensations: the dispensation of the patriarchs, the dispensation of the law, and the dispensation of grace, which is the dispensation of the church. Therefore, she is a totality, an aggregate, a composition, of all of God’s people throughout all generations. Through the three dispensations of the patriarchs, the law, and grace, God has gained a people who compose the universal bright woman.
The man-child signifies the stronger part of God’s people. Throughout all generations there have been some stronger ones among God’s people. In the Bible these are considered a collective unit — the man-child — fighting the battle for God and bringing God’s kingdom down to earth. In the Bible the woman signifies the weaker one and the man the stronger one (1 Pet. 3:7). Hence, the man-child in Revelation 12:5 signifies the stronger part of God’s people.
As the stronger part of the universal woman, the man-child consists of the overcomers among the believers. The fact that the man-child will shepherd the nations with an iron rod indicates that the man-child consists of the overcomers, as mentioned in Revelation 2:26-27. In particular, the man-child consists of the resurrected overcomers. Revelation 12:11 indicates that a number of those who compose the man-child have been martyred for the Lord’s testimony. This proves that the man-child brought forth by the woman will be the dead and resurrected overcoming saints.
Furthermore, the words “brought forth” in 12:5 signify resurrection, as in Acts 13:33-34. The man-child, therefore, is composed of overcoming saints who have died and who have been resurrected. The Lord Jesus was brought forth in resurrection to be the firstborn Son of God. Hence, to Him resurrection was a birth. In like manner, the man-child will be brought forth in birth through resurrection. By resurrection the man-child will come into full existence. This means that the resurrection of the dead overcomers will be the delivery of the man-child. From this we see that the man-child does not represent the overcomers who live until the Lord comes back; rather, the man-child represents all the dead overcomers, who will be resurrected shortly before the Lord’s coming back.
Revelation 12:5 says that the man-child “was about to shepherd all the nations with an iron rod.” This is the authority of Christ (Psa. 2:9) which He gives to the overcomers (Rev. 2:26-27). The man-child, the resurrected overcomers, will exercise the authority of Christ over the nations and rule them with Christ in the millennial kingdom (Rev. 20:4, 6).
Revelation 12:5 also says that the man-child “was caught up to God and to His throne.” To be “caught up” is to be raptured. The rapture of the man-child differs from that of the majority of the believers, as mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4:17. There, the rapture of the majority of the believers will be to the air and at the last trumpet (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thes. 4:16), which will be the seventh trumpet (Rev. 11:15). But in 12:5 the rapture of the man-child will be to the throne of God and before the “thousand two hundred and sixty days,” which will be the time of the great tribulation of three and a half years (forty-two months, 12:14; 13:5; 11:2), beginning from the fifth trumpet (9:1). Therefore, whereas the majority of the believers will be raptured to the air near the end of the tribulation, the man-child will be caught up directly to the throne of God in the third heaven before the great tribulation.
In Revelation 14 the believers are symbolized by the firstfruit and the harvest. First we shall consider the symbol of the firstfruit and then the symbol of the harvest.
Revelation 14:4b speaks of those who “were purchased from among men as firstfruit to God and to the Lamb.” These are early overcomers who will be the first ripe ones in God’s field. Hence, they will be reaped before the harvest as firstfruit to God and to the Lamb. According to verses 14 through 16, the harvest will be reaped later. This means that the firstfruit will be raptured to the heavens before the harvest, just as the firstfruit of the good land was reaped and brought into the temple of God before the harvest (Lev. 23:10-11; Exo. 23:19). The events recorded in Revelation 14:6-13, all of which will take place during the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), indicate clearly and prove strongly that the first overcomers as the firstfruit in Revelation 14:1-5 will be raptured before the great tribulation and that the harvest in 14:14-16, which should be the majority of believers, will be raptured towards the end of the great tribulation.
Whereas the man-child refers to the dead overcomers throughout all the dispensations, the firstfruit refers to the living overcomers at the end of this age. Just as the man-child will be caught up to the throne of God, so the firstfruit will be caught up to the heavenly mount Zion, to the place of God’s dwelling in the third heaven. This means that the firstfruit will be raptured not to the air but to the third heaven in order to be in the presence of God and Christ.
Speaking of the firstfruit, Revelation 14:4 says: “These are they who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are they who follow the Lamb wherever He may go.” Verse 5 goes on to say, “In their mouth no lie was found, for they are without blemish.” The virginity in verse 4 should be that mentioned by the Lord in Matthew 19:11-12. However, the same principle can be applied to the sisters (1 Cor. 7:7, 37). The principle of virginity is that we should not be defiled by anything earthly. In order to be a living overcomer we must be kept by the Lord’s grace from every defilement and pollution and live on earth like virgins. We need to follow the principle in verse 4. This principle is that we, sisters and brothers alike, must keep our virginity, looking to the Lord that, by His grace, He would preserve us for Himself.
We are also told that the firstfruit “follow the Lamb wherever He may go.” It is not that the Lamb follows us but that we follow Him wherever He goes. We all need to learn the lesson of following the Lamb wherever He goes.
Verse 5 says of the firstfruit that in “their mouth no lie was found.” Lies are the expression and representation of Satan. The Devil is the father of all liars, and lies come out of him (John 8:44). That no lie was found in the mouth of the living overcomers indicates that there is nothing of Satan in their expression.
Verse 5 also says that the firstfruit are without blemish. This indicates that they are without spot or wrinkle but are perfect in the holiness of God (Eph. 5:27), absolutely sanctified to God and fully saturated with Him (1 Thes. 5:23).
Luke 21:36 and Revelation 3:10 prove that the living overcomers will be raptured before the great tribulation. In Luke 21:36 the Lord Jesus says, “Be watchful, at every time beseeching, that you may prevail to escape all these things which are about to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Here to escape is to be taken, raptured, before the great tribulation (Matt. 24:21), which will be a severe trial upon the whole inhabited earth (Rev. 3:10; Luke 17:34-36). To be thus raptured is to be kept “out of the hour of trial which is about to come on the whole inhabited earth, to try them who dwell on the earth” (Rev. 3:10). The fact that the ones raptured before the great tribulation will “stand before the Son of Man” indicates that the raptured overcomers will stand before the Savior on mount Zion in the heavens. This corresponds to the standing in Revelation 14:1.
In Revelation 3:10 the Lord says, “I also will keep you out of the hour of trial.” Here the Lord promises to keep the overcoming ones not only out of the trial but out of the hour of trial. This promise of the Lord, like His promise in Luke 21:36, indicates that the saints who have kept the word of the Lord’s endurance will be raptured before the great trial. These overcoming ones, the first ones to ripen among the believers in God’s field on earth, will be raptured to the third heaven.
The firstfruit are purchased from among men (Rev. 14:4) to be raptured to mount Zion in the heavens, where the Lamb is, with His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads (v. 1). For the firstfruit to be purchased from among men indicates that they are no longer among men but are in the heavens.
Revelation 14:1 says, “I saw, and behold, the Lamb standing on mount Zion, and with Him a hundred and forty-four thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.” Here we see that the firstfruit stand with the Lamb on mount Zion. The Zion mentioned here is not the earthly one but the Zion in the heavens (Heb. 12:22). Those who stand with the Lamb on mount Zion are raptured to the heavens before Antichrist’s persecution of religion. After this rapture, Antichrist will persecute people and compel them to worship him. By this fact we know that the living overcomers are raptured before the great tribulation. According to the Lord’s word in Luke 21:36, they escape the things which are about to come to pass, that is, all the things of the great tribulation, and stand before the Son of Man.
The firstfruit have the name of the Lamb and the name of His Father written on their foreheads. This is the designation of their being one with the Lamb and with the Father and of their belonging to Them. The name of the Lamb and the name of the Father written on the foreheads of these early overcomers is in contrast to the name of the beast written on the foreheads of his worshippers (Rev. 13:16-17). The fact that the firstfruit have the name of the Son and the Father indicate that they are wholly constituted of the Son and the Father.
Revelation 14:15 speaks of the harvest: “Another angel came out of the temple, crying with a loud voice to Him who sat on the cloud, Send forth Your sickle and reap, for the hour to reap has come, because the harvest of the earth is ripe.” The harvest of the earth is God’s people on earth, the believers in Christ (1 Cor. 3:9). At His first coming to the earth, the Lord Jesus sowed Himself into His believers (Matt. 13:3-8, 24). All the believers since that time who have received Him as the seed of life have become the crop of God on earth. The first ripe ones will be raptured as the firstfruit to God before the great tribulation. The majority will ripen with the help of the sufferings in the great tribulation and will be reaped near the end of the great tribulation.
Literally the Greek word translated “ripe” in verse 15 means dried. To be ripe is to be dried of all earthly water. The suffering of the great tribulation will be like the parching sun, drying the earthly waters from the believers who will be left on earth in the great tribulation so that they may ripen.
The harvest will be reaped by Christ as the Reaper toward the end of the great tribulation, which will take place in Revelation 14:6-13, at His coming back sitting on a white cloud. Revelation 14:14 says, “I saw, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud One sitting like the Son of Man, having a golden crown on His head and a sharp sickle in His hand.” The harvest will be reaped by Christ as the Son of Man. He came as the Son of Man to sow the seed, and He will come again as the Son of Man to reap what He has sown. The golden crown on the Lord’s head indicates that He is the One crowned with glory (Heb. 2:9). The sharp sickle in His hand indicates that He is the One who reaps God’s field.
Revelation 14:16 says of Christ’s reaping of the harvest: “He who sat on the cloud thrust His sickle over the earth, and the earth was reaped.” The reaping here will be the rapture of the majority of the believers who will be left on the earth to pass through the greater part of the great tribulation.
Revelation 14 covers two kinds of raptures: the rapture of the firstfruit and the rapture of the harvest. The picture in typology portrays this vividly. According to the type in the Old Testament, the early wheat, the firstfruit, was reaped first, and the harvest, the majority of the crop, was reaped later. Moreover, the firstfruit was brought into the temple of God for God’s enjoyment (Exo. 23:19), but the harvest was taken into the barn, between the field and the farmhouse. From this we see that the firstfruit will be taken to God’s house — to mount Zion in the heavens — and the harvest will be taken to the air. A period of time after the firstfruit is taken to the Lord Jesus in the third heaven, He will leave the heavens and descend to the air, where He will remain for a shorter period of time. According to the prophecy in 1 Thessalonians 4, the harvest will be raptured to the air.
Now we come to the last, consummating, and most striking symbol of the believers in the New Testament — jasper and other precious stones. The believers may be living stones (1 Pet. 2:5) without being precious stones. Eventually all believers will be transformed into precious stones. By nature we are clay. But from the time we were regenerated we began to be transformed. Gradually we are being transformed into precious stones.
Jasper signifies the appearance of God shining with the glory of God as the light of the New Jerusalem for the expression of God. In Revelation 4:3 we are clearly told that God sitting on the throne has the appearance of jasper which, according to 21:11, is “a most precious stone…clear as crystal.” Its color must be dark green, which signifies life in its richness. Jasper here, as 21:11 indicates, signifies God’s communicable glory in His rich life (2, John 17:22). It is the appearance of God, which will also be the appearance of the New Jerusalem. The city’s wall and first foundation are built with it (Rev. 21:18-19).
Since jasper is God’s appearance, His expression, and since we shall be transformed into jasper, this means that we shall be the corporate expression of the Triune God. The jasper wall of the New Jerusalem signifies that the whole city, as the corporate expression of the Triune God in eternity, bears the appearance of God. God, the One sitting on the throne in the center of the New Jerusalem, has the appearance of jasper; the wall, the circumference, of the city is made of jasper; and the light of the city is like a jasper stone, clear as crystal. Therefore, the entire city will bear God’s appearance, God’s expression. This corresponds to the word in 1 John 3:2: “We know that if He is manifested, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him even as He is.” God and the believers will have the same appearance — the appearance of jasper. This will be the ultimate fulfillment of Genesis 1:26, for this will be the splendid, corporate expression of the Triune God.
In Revelation 21:19 and 20 the believers are symbolized by eleven other precious stones in addition to jasper. The other precious stones signify the riches of the beauty of Christ in different aspects for the foundation of God’s eternal dwelling. Christ is the foundation stone of God’s building in eternity, and all the precious stones are different aspects of the riches of Christ as the foundation.
The colors of the precious stones in 21:19 and 20 give the appearance of a rainbow. This signifies that the city of New Jerusalem is built upon and secured by God’s faithfulness in keeping His covenant (Gen. 9:8-17). Because the foundation is built upon the faithfulness with which God keeps His covenant, it is trustworthy and reliable. Therefore, the foundation of the New Jerusalem will be an eternal rainbow guaranteeing the faithfulness of God. Nothing can destroy or shake God’s faithfulness. The faithfulness of God is the sure foundation upon which the New Jerusalem is built.
