1. Rev. 1:1-6
• Greetings to the Seven Churches
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him
to show His servants?things which must shortly take
place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His
servant John,
2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony
of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words
of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written
in it; for the time is near.
4 John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace
to you and peace from Him who is and who was and
who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are
before His throne,
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn
from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the
earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our
sins in His own blood,
6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and
Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and
ever. Amen.
Notice the process this revelation takes in verse 1: The
Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to
show His servants—things which must shortly take
place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to
His servant John. God the Father gave it to Yeshua the
Messiah, who gave it to His angel, who gave it to John,
who gave it to His servants, that is, all believers, which
includes you and me. This is so precious to see!
16 The Revelation of Jesus – Yeshua the Messiah
Often we think that angels don’t have a very important
role. But what does Scripture say? It says in
Hebrews 1:14: Are they not all ministering spirits
sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?
The law was given to Moses through angels,
we read in Acts 7:53: who have received the law by
the direction of angels and have not kept it. There are
many other examples of their intervention in the affairs
of man. Primarily angels have a responsibility to minister
to the people of God.
What does the expression “shortly take place” mean?
Already 2,000 years have passed! In Daniel 12:9 he is
told: Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed
up and sealed till the time of the end. However, here
in Revelation 22:10 John is told: Do not seal the words
of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.
The events prophesied in Revelation deal mostly with
the seven years Tribulation Period judgments that are
coming on this world and the subsequent restoration of
the nation of Israel. I believe the expression “shortly take
place” refers to the fact that when the time is ripe, the
events of the Tribulation will happen very rapidly.
In verse 2 John bears record of the testimony of Jesus
the Messiah: Who bore record of the word of God,
and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things
that he saw. John, the author of the book of Revelation,
testifies here of witnessing and recording all that he saw
and received from the glorified Messiah.
Verse 3 begins with a blessing: Blessed is he who
reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy,
and keep those things which are written in it;
Rev. 1:1-6: Greetings to the Seven Churches 17
for the time is near. You know, Revelation is the only
book in the Bible that begins and ends with a promise of
blessing. The one who reads and listens and keeps the
words of this prophecy will be blessed. Then in the last
chapter (Revelation 22:14) the Messiah Jesus Himself
promises: Blessed are those who do His commandments,
that they may have the right to the tree of
life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
So just reading is not enough; it must be accompanied
by obedience.
Now I ask you a personal question: when was the
last time you opened your Bible and read the book of
Revelation? You might answer: “It is too hard to understand;
it is confusing with all those difficult symbols!”
Yes, that is true. However, God is able by His Holy Spirit
to help you understand, not necessarily all at once, but if
you are persistent it will eventually make good sense to
you. Israel’s Prophets spoke to their nation about future
events in the Old Testament: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Daniel and the Minor Prophets. The book of Revelation
helps us to understand what they wrote about and puts all
these events in the proper order.
Now as you know, the Hebrew disciples in the book
of Acts preached the gospel, beginning at Jerusalem and
eventually to the ends of the earth. Many people were
saved and added to the Church. They did not just return
home and remain in isolation. They began meeting with
other believers and soon local congregations—churches—
were formed. In verses 4 through 8 the apostle John
addresses seven of these churches located in Asia Minor,
or present-day Turkey.
18 The Revelation of Jesus – Yeshua the Messiah
Before we go on I want to be sure you understand
what is meant by the word “Church” (Ecclesia in
Greek) or “assembly.” The Church is not the building
itself; the Church is a combination of all true believers
in our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, the Body of Christ or
the “called-out ones.” So when we say “Church” we
mean forgiven people who believe in the Lord Jesus
the Messiah, not buildings made with men’s hands.
John greeted the seven local churches in verse 4-5a:
John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace
to you and peace from Him who is and who was and
who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are
before His throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful
witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler
over the kings of the earth. God the Father who is eternal,
the Holy Spirit and Jesus the Messiah are mentioned
in these two verses. This is an obvious reference to the
Tri-unity which many people seem to have a problem
with, especially my very own Jewish people. God is One
(Echad in Hebrew); however, He exists in three Persons
who act in perfect unity: Father, Son and Holy Spirit
(Abba, Ben, Ruach Hakodesh in Hebrew).
What do the seven Spirits refer to? It is the Person
of God the Holy Spirit revealed in His fullness. The
Hebrew prophet Isaiah (11:1-2) gives us a description of
the Spirit’s fullness which resided in Israel’s promised
Messiah: There shall come forth a Rod from the stem
of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots. The
Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, the Spirit of
wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and
might, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the
Lord. Notice this sevenfold description: (1) the Spirit
Rev. 1:1-6: Greetings to the Seven Churches 19
of the Lord, (2) the Spirit of wisdom, (3) the Spirit of
understanding, (4) the Spirit of counsel, (5) the Spirit of
might, (6) the Spirit of knowledge, (7) the Spirit of the
fear of the Lord.
How precious to see this greeting to the seven churches
from the three Persons of the Godhead. It is important
for everyone in the local assembly to understand this,
especially as we meet together. The Lord Yeshua promises
to be in the midst of His people, and the Holy Spirit
dwells in each believer. He leads the worship and ministry
of the assembly, and God the Father assures us of His
blessing on His people.
In verse 5 John presents the humanity of Yeshua the
Messiah. He is not only the eternal Son of God, but He
was a real Man; and as Man He was that faithful witness.
From the time He was born in Bethlehem until
the time He died outside of the city of Jerusalem on a
Roman cross, He was that faithful witness who revealed
the heart of God the Father. Jesus (Yeshua) in His own
words stated in John 14:9: He who has seen Me has
seen the Father.
He is also the firstborn from the dead. Some people
stumble over this expression. It is true that others were
raised from the dead before Jesus’ (Yeshua’s) resurrection,
such as Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha in John
11. There was twelve-year-old girl (Talitha in Hebrew)
in Mark 5:41-42: Then He took the child by the hand,
and said to her, “Talitha, cumi,” which is translated,
“Little girl, I say to you, arise.” Immediately the girl
arose and walked, for she was twelve years of age.
And they were overcome with great amazement. The
20 The Revelation of Jesus – Yeshua the Messiah
difference between Jesus and them is, they died again
whereas death no longer has dominion over Him, as
Romans 6:9 tells us: knowing that Christ, having been
raised from the dead, dies no more. Death no longer
has dominion over Him. Also the word “firstborn” does
not refer to the order of events but to Yeshua’s position
and rank. As the next part of verse 5 tells us, He is the
ruler over the kings of the earth. There is no higher position
than this in relationship to His creatures. Our Lord
Jesus is the ruler over all the kings of the earth.
Remember what the wise men from the East called
Yeshua when they enquired about where He was? They
called Him the king of the Jews. The title over Him at the
cross in Matthew 27:37 was: … THIS IS JESUS THE
KING OF THE JEWS. He is also Judge according to
Psalm 2:7-9: I will declare the decree: The Lord has
said to Me, “You are My Son, today I have begotten
You. Ask of Me, and I will give You the nations for
Your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for Your
possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron;
You shall dash them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.”
This list of attributes of Yeshua the Messiah caused
John (Yohanan) to break out in worship in verse 5b-6:
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in
His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to
His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion
forever and ever. Amen. John gave us three reasons for
giving Jesus the Messiah glory and dominion forever:
His love for us, His cleansing blood and making us kings
and priests to God. His love for us caused Him to come
into this world 2,000 years ago, go to that cruel cross
and shed His precious blood to cleanse us from our sins
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and give us a standing before God as kings and priests.
Yeshua was judged so that we might never be judged for
our sins. He was forsaken that we might never be forsaken.
He didn’t only love us then but He still loves us now.
We may not look like kings and priests, and we don’t
have crowns on our heads; but nevertheless in God’s
sight we are now His kings and priests and we represent
Him in this world!
