The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
-- Revelation 1:20 NIV
The seven churches have been identified as those in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Certainly those churches are addressed here, but the number seven suggests that they represent all churches of all times because seven is the number of completeness. Here, the Son of Man is pictured as walking among the churches and communicating with them. What is his relationship to the churches and the saints in them?
As mentioned earlier, the vision of the Son of Man is drawn from Daniel 7, which forms the basis of a significant portion of Revelation. In Daniel 7:14, the Son of Man is given an eternal kingdom and rules over all peoples, nations, and languages. There is opposition to his rule for a time (Daniel 7:21), but in the end he will give the kingdom to "the saints of the Most High," and they will possess it forever (Daniel 7:18, 27). The saints in the churches and the saints of the Most High are one and the same. At the beginning of his reign when opposition to his rule has just begun, the Son of Man speaks to the saints who will possess the kingdom. He speaks to them to encourage them and admonish them that they might be patient when suffering and faithful when tempted to compromise so that they will be found worthy to possess the kingdom when victory is achieved. The king is speaking to his army and rallying his troops for the battle ahead. The Son of Man is king and commander. The saints are his soldiers, and the churches are military outposts in enemy territory.
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