John was witness to more than just a man with white-gray locks; he witnessed an impressive figure who caused him to collapse on the ground before instructing him to write down everything they saw, heard and experienced both now and later on.
This person resembled the Ancient of Days from Daniel 7, as their clothing and hair were white to represent purity and holiness.
Purity
The book of Revelation records Jesus’ teachings while He was on Earth to John. It presents several divine mysteries such as the Seven-Headed Beast and persecutions associated with Christ’s return, among others. However, this article’s focus lies within Revelation 1:14-16 regarding God’s appearance.
John describes a vision in which a white-haired man stands amidst lampstands wearing a long robe with golden sash around His chest and carrying a double-edged sword in His right hand; His eyes shone like flames while He stood upon bronze feet to signify purity and holiness. John fell to the floor upon witnessing this figure – something common when encountering God’s glory; both Ezekiel and Daniel experienced similar responses after witnessing His mightiness firsthand.
Deliberations has ensued as to whether the Ancient of Days mentioned in Revelation refers to God the Father or Jesus. Since they share an eternal being and his clothing and hair are white in colour, it seems appropriate for Jesus to be identified here as being the Ancient of Days. His clothing and hair represent His purity and holiness in Revelation 21.
Wool and snow represent His appearance of purity and perfection, with His hair being described as white like theirs, representing His merciful and forgiving character; contrary to other depictions of Him in Scripture which show Him with anger or judgment.
Holiness
When the Bible describes God as having hair like wool, it indicates His holiness. He is free of sin and an embodiment of the purity and holiness of His Creator – evident by every strand of hair to His soles of feet, as well as through white clothing and hair that represent His purity and holiness.
John uses similes frequently in Scripture, such as when describing Yahusha HaMashiach in Revelation 1:14. John writes “His hairs were white like wool and as white as snow.” It’s important to keep in mind that Scripture is spiritual in nature and should never be taken literally; when reading through its pages.
John’s description of Jesus recalls Daniel 7:9’s vision of the Ancient of Days – an eschatological vision depicting a figure known as the Ancient of Days who will rule forever as Messiah, wearing white clothing and having wool-like hair like His Father has done. John’s Jesus fits this description closely.
Alongside His holiness, Jesus also exudes ancient dignity. His long, thick locks often signify royalty. The white robe he wears is perfect; his eyes flash with fire, suggesting He will punish those who break God’s rules; while His feet were burnished bronze which often symbolized wealth and power.
These descriptions of the Messiah are intended to convey that He is an all-holy, righteous and mighty Lord – an illustration of Jesus as Lord who deserves our worship and worthy to be worshiped. Aside from being holy, Jesus also demonstrated wisdom, experience, dignity and power – qualities John witnessed during his vision of Him that caused him to fall on his face in awe as did Ezekiel and Daniel when witnessing God’s glory! This scene caused John’s immediate reaction which isn’t uncommon among people when seeing Him for themselves – in both cases Prophets Ezekiel and Daniel saw something extraordinary when faced with seeing God for themselves!
Eternity
Eternity is one of the central concepts in Western theism’s theology, yet one of its most challenging and complicated. This complex term involves many aspects of God and may have different interpretations – traditionally it refers to an existence without beginning or end and was seen this way by both Aquinas and Moses Maimonides who both employed divine simplicity as part of their philosophy (see SEP entry on it for more info).
John described Jesus Christ in Revelation 1:12-16 as having hair like wool or snow – an image symbolic of purity and eternity – with eyes like flames burning brightly while feet like bronze glowing from an iron furnace, all symbols of eternal glory which would come upon humanity in due course.
This vision was similar to Daniel 7:9 of the Old Testament. It is apparent that Jesus, or Christ as He is sometimes known, is more than an ordinary human; He embodies divinity itself and radiates it with all his holy presence and eternal existence – something the Bible repeatedly declares about him.
However, some have claimed that “head and hair white like wool” does not indicate Jesus was white; this interpretation is incorrect as the phrase means his skin color or texture resembled wool in this context. The misconception that this text implies Yahusha HaMashiach was black is based on an incorrect interpretation of “image”, as being something physical rather than spiritual. The context of Revelation makes clear that this image was designed as a metaphorical, poetic image to represent some aspect of Jesus’ personality and nature. Furthermore, its presence within Revelation suggests it should be taken metaphorically rather than literally; hence the term “like wool”, which refers to colors or textures similar to cotton or wool.
Authority
The Bible contains many figures of speech that allow readers to discern meaning not explicitly revealed by any given passage in isolation. This is particularly relevant when interpreting the Book of Revelation; herein lies many divine mysteries such as 666’s beast with seven heads, persecution associated with Christ’s return, persecutions associated with it all, etc. One fascinating aspect of Revelation that stands out is its description of Jesus’ appearance – particularly his head and hair which were white like wool.
Some have speculated that Jesus was black; however, this is incorrect. According to Revelation 1:14 we see that His head and hairs were white but that doesn’t indicate anything about his complexion or complexion; the Greek word translated as “white” here tehns can refer both literally or figuratively resembling and is used by the Bible both to refer to colors but also shapes or textures.
As most readers know, Revelation is an eschatological vision depicting some of the events leading up to Jesus’ return. The text features detailed depictions of Him including His hair, eyes, and voice; each detail intended to elicit certain feelings or remind readers of His purity and holiness.
John describes Someone standing among seven golden lampstands, wearing a long robe with golden trimming and an ornamented golden sash around their chest, with white hairs like wool. This image corresponds with Daniel 7’s description of God as the Ancient of Days whose kingdom will never end – his white clothing and hair symbolize His perfection, eternity and holiness while its presence can also be found in Revelation 1:7’s description of Christ the Son of Man as pure and holy.
