Clothing, Face, Feet

Clothing, Face, Feet June 12, 2014

John sees a strong angel descending from heaven (Revelation 10:1). It’s not just an angelophany; it’s a theophany, a Christophany. That’s evident from the fact that, like the throne of God itself, his head is surrounded by the rainbow (cf. 4:3). His head is in the place where the Enthroned One is, and that can only mean that this “strong angel” is in fact the Throne in Person, who is the Lamb.

Besides, He is clothed in a cloud, like Yahweh when He appears to Israel. Besides His face shines like the sun (cf. 1:16).

Besides, John describes Him in the same order as He describes Jesus in chapter 1. When John first sees Jesus, He first sees lamps and lampstands, then clothing, then a Person. So in chapter 10: First John sees the clothing (cloud, rainbow crown or visor), then the Person (face, feet).

The Person is reduced to two features: a face that shines like the sun and feet that burn like pillars of fire. John’s description follows the blazon pattern of the Song of Songs, a “head to toe” description of the Lover, though in this case nothing in between is mentioned.

To describe a theophany by reference only to “face” and “feet” is consistent with the Bible’s focus on those features of Yahweh. His shining face is the source of blessing and life; with His feet He touches the circle of heaven and the footstool of His throne. Here in Revelation 10, both face and feet burn, as the God who is a consuming fire shines from the firmament and stands on land and sea with feet of fire.

The theophany of Revelation 10 is also a cosmophany. The strong angel stretches from heaven to earth, with cloud and rainbow for clothing. Plus, He is described in four terms – clothing, headgear, face, feet – described in four dimensions like the four corners of the earth. He is Christ, but Christ revealed as the cosmic Christ, as the world embodied in a Person, as the only one who stretches from sky to earth, who stands akimbo on land and sea.


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