The music for this hymn was written in 1988; in
the Bible verses that follow Jesus explains to the Apostle John
that the seven lamps represent seven churches (sited in what is
now Turkey) and the seven stars represent the angels, or bishops
of those churches.
In the middle of the seven lamps,
I saw one just like the Son of Man
Wearing a garment flowing down to His feet
And a golden girdle there He did stand.
His head and His hairs were white as snow,
His eyes were like a blazing fire,
His feet shone like brass as if they burned in a furnace,
And His voice was like the sound of many waters.
He had in His right hand seven stars,
And out of His mouth went a two-edged sword,
His face was like the sun shining in its strength,
(Such was the beauty of my Lord.)
And when I saw Him I fell at His feet
Like one who is given up for dead,
But He laid His right hand upon me,
And this is what He said:
"Fear not, I am the First and Last,
I am He that was dead but now lives;
Behold, I am alive for evermore
And I have the keys of Hell and Death."
