THE MYSTERY OF THE SEVEN STARS

John saw the vision of the Lord Jesus (vs 13 to vs 16). In His right hand He held seven stars. What John received was the revelation of Jesus to His churches, and we see Him in the midst of the churches here. John was asked to write his vision in a book and send it to the seven churches, which were actual local churches at the time. And because it became a part of the Bible, the message would be read by churches of future years, even us in South City. ||||||| The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the churches. The Lord Himself interprets for us what the stars and the lampstands are. The Lord continues to be in the midst of the churches. He is with us today.  ||||||| WHO ARE THESE ANGELS? They are the angels of the seven churches. Are they angelic beings or are they people? The Greek word for angel is άγγελος (ángelos) often translated as Messenger as we see in Mat11:10 and James 2:25. John had to write the vision and send it to the seven churches. And more specifically he was asked to send it to the "angels" of the various churches. "To the angel of the church of <local church> write . . . " we read in 20:1, 8, 12, 18; 3: 1, 7,14. So these "angels" were part of the various churches. In Phil 1:1 we see the leadership mentioned Paul’s address. Acts 20:28 tells us how Paul wanted elders to be appointed for the churches. They watch over men’s souls as people who will one day have to give account.  ||||||| WHERE ARE THE ANGELS IN JOHN’S VISION?
These messengers need to always be connected to the Head of the church, to Jesus. In Acts 14:23 we read that Barnabas and Paul appointed elders in every church.  ||||||| WHAT ARE THESE ANGELS INSTRUCTED TO DO? The angels of the various churches had to preach the message of Jesus to the churches. They had to take the message from the Lord and pass it on to the churches. The message needed to permeate to their own souls before they could teach it to the flock. They cannot interpret the word to suit the culture. They cannot add to it or take away from it. In 2 Tim 4:2, Paul instructed the young preacher Timothy to "Preach the word . . . ," warning him that there would be men who will not put up with sound doctrine," who will instead want to listen to preaching that would suit their itching ears.  ||||||| The central figure of the Revelation is Jesus, from the very start in Rev 1:1 to the end in Rev 22:21. 
The whole purpose of this world’s existence is for Christ and His church. Just before He went up to heaven He said that the end will come when the gospel of Jesus has been proclaimed to all the world and the last of His redeemed ones are gathered in. The stars are the angels of the churches who will preach the word to the churches even as the gospel continues to spread.