![]() Which effect of divine fire we experience depends wholly on our response to God. “Fire” is an important symbol in Scripture and frequently represents purification and judgment. Yet that wasn’t all John saw, for Jesus’ eyes also burned with a searching gaze, looking intently into the seven churches in the book of Revelation to see and address their specific needs and problems. John must have been drawn by the warmth and love pouring forth from Jesus’ eyes. Like the flickering flames of a fire, those eyes drew John closer and captivated him completely. In the vision, Jesus’ eyes were compelling, irresistible, riveting, and gripping. ![]() ![]() Although he had looked into those eyes thousands of times nearly 60 years earlier, something was different about these eyes. These seem to be the qualities of fire that John thought of when he peered into Jesus’ eyes and became transfixed by what he saw. The fire has its own character, both captivating and sedating, drawing people near to watch the dance of its flames as it gives out its warmth. Soon the person gazing into the fire gets lost in the swirling, turning, twisting flames that flicker back and forth as the wood crackles and pops and the flames reach upward and disappear out of sight. The longer a person looks into a fire, the more the flickering flames have a magnetic, mesmerizing effect on his eyes, mind, and senses. To understand what John was trying to communicate here, it is necessary to stop and think about the effect that a campfire or a fire in a fireplace has upon a person who stares at it for any length of time. That word “as” means like, similar to, or with the same effect as fire. He said that Jesus’ eyes were “as” a flame of fire. Many readers misread this phrase and conclude that Jesus had real fire in His eyes. This, then, is not a depiction of heat but of the character of fire. Thus, the phrase “flame of fire” depicts a brightly burning fire with flames swirling, whirling, flickering, twisting, turning, and arching upward toward the sky. The word translated “fire” is puros, the Greek word for a burning fire. John says that when he looked into those eyes, they were “as a flame of fire.” The Greek word for “flame” is phloz, which describes swirling, whirling, flickering flames that bend, twist, turn, and arch upward. The Greek structure should literally be translated “the eyes of him” - emphasizing the fact that Jesus’ eyes were unequaled, unsurpassed, unmatched, and unlike anyone else’s eyes. When the two words are used together as one phrase, they carry a sense of wonder, as if to mean there was something about J esus’ eyes that was unique and different from the eyes of all others. The word ophthalmoi is the plural Greek word for eyes, and it is where we get the word ophthalmology. The words “his eyes” are a translation of the Greek phrase ophthalmoi autou. In Revelation 1:14, the apostle described the powerful moment when he finally gazed into the eyes of the risen Lord, declaring, “…His eyes were as a flame of fire.” As John tried to focus his eyes on the brilliant image before him, one can only imagine how he might have strained to see through the bright light to the Person behind it. Today I want us to focus on another important part of this supernatural vision. In several previous S parkling Gems, we studied the revelation of Jesus that John wrote while imprisoned on the island of Patmos ( see January 27,28 March 15 August 22,31 September 6,8,21 November 10,11).
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