Last week, I introduced our new series on the book of Revelation. Really, I didn't explain much about the book at all. My focus was more on how I think the book should be read. If you missed that, you're going to want a copy of my sermon. This week, I want to begin by simply reading the first two verses:
(1) The revelation from/of Jesus Christ, ["of" is a genitive of source="from"]
which God gave to him (him=Jesus) to show to his slaves what must take place soon [heightening of Daniel
2:28],
and he (=Jesus) communicated it through signs
(by) sending [it] through his angel to his slave John,
(2) who testified to the word from/of God
and the testimony from/of Jesus Christ-- all that he saw.
This book that we have open in front of us, begins by telling us that it contains a message from Jesus. There is a divine plan that's been set in motion, and God wants us to understand what He's doing. He wants to make it, so that you see the world, and world events, through his perspective. He wants you to see what He's doing, and what He's about to do. So God gives Jesus a message that serves as a "revelation" to us.
At a popular level, this book is often called "Revelations," plural, with the idea that Jesus has lots and lots of things that He reveals in this book. But the book is called "Revelation." This book, taken as a whole, is an unveiling of God's plan for the world.
Now, the first two verses tell us that this process by which we came to have this book in our hands, is a complicated one. This book has to come to us through a series of steps. First, God gave this revelation to Jesus. Then, Jesus gave this revelation to his own personal angel. Jesus has an angel who serves him, and we will actually get to see and hear this angel later in the book. Jesus then sent his personal angel to a man named John.
People spend a lot of time debating who John is, but that's not the kind of thing I enjoy studying, and I'm not sure I really see much point. All we can say for sure, I think, is two things: (1) This John is not a stranger to his readers. He's someone well-known to them. And (2), the book's authority doesn't rest on whether or not John is the Apostle John. John's message is authoritative not because of who he is, but because of who his message is from.
So revelation passed from God, to Jesus, to Jesus' angel, to John, to us. That seems like a lot of steps. It reminds us of the game of telephone, where kids try to pass a message from one person to another, but it usually ends up garbled and twisted. But everyone involved with this is utterly faithful, and truthful, and that makes all the difference. And even though there's four beings involved in this, two get special focus: God, and Jesus. This book is a revelation from Jesus, which Jesus received from God.
And how should is this "revelation" described? In just the first two verses, it's described three ways:
(1) as about "what must take place soon."
(2) as "God's word."
(3) as the "testimony of Jesus Christ."
(1) as about "what must take place soon."
As we get into the book of Revelation, we will see and hear pictures of things that span most of human history. Parts of it talk about things that happened thousands of years ago. Parts of it describe things happening now. And parts of it describe what will happen in the future, "soon."
There's a lot of debate among Christians (=scholars) about how much of the book is past, present, or future. They divide up differently, and I'm working really hard to hide that from you, to be honest. I think if we stick close enough to the book (and ignore the rest of the NT, using a narrative/literary approach), we will find many of the arguments have a simple answer.
But if we take Revelation 1:1 as our starting point, the focus of the book is on the near future. The events described in this book, which was written in the first century A.D./C.E., aren't happening now, for the first time. We shouldn't expect to see something happen in the news, that for the first time unlocks the meaning of Revelation.
John's first readers are being told that this book reveals what will happen in the near future. They will see connections between the book, and their newspaper.
(2) The second way Revelation is described, is as "the word from/of God."
When we read Revelation today, we do so, if we are old school, by opening up our paper Bibles, and turning to the very back of the book. This collection of books, that we together call the Bible, we also together call "God's word." There's not a lot of debate in the church anymore about which books should and shouldn't be considered "God's word."
But to John's first readers, this is a brand new book. Right? And so we should understand that John is making a really big claim here. John says that the book in your hand is a brand-new revelation from God. It is God's word. The things John writes, are him proclaiming ("testifying") God's word. So John is like the prophets of old-- like Isaiah, or Ezekiel, or Zechariah-- who have received a word from God, and faithfully communicate that word to God's people.
(3) The third way the book is described, is that it's the "testimony of Jesus Christ." Here again, we find ourselves having to deal with that tricky word "of." But I think John is probably saying again here that this testimony is "from" Jesus Christ.
So this message is from God, and from Jesus Christ. As we get into the book, we will find ourselves struggling to adequately describe the relationship between God and Jesus. Any one statement that we make about the nature of this relationship between God and Jesus can be criticized, and poked at. But what we see here is that this message is from God, and from Jesus Christ. There is a shared partnership, and mission, between God and Jesus.
The other thing we should see here, I think, is that Jesus is a faithful witness for God. This language about witnessing, or testifying, is a key theme in Revelation (Revelation 2:13; 6:9; 11:3; 13:9-10; 214:4-5; 20:4). We will see that much of God's calling on our lives revolves around testifying about God, and Jesus, and God's plan for the world. We'd perhaps prefer that this wasn't the case. Most people who identify as Christians, do so pretty quietly, without telling anyone really about God or Jesus. That has to be part of why the Western church is in decline. But I just want you to see here that the first person described as a witness in Revelation, is Jesus. God gave Jesus a message for the world, and Jesus faithfully spoke the word God gave him. Jesus is a model for faithful testimony.
Verse 3:
(3) Blessed [is] the one reading out loud,
and the ones hearing the words of the prophesy
and the ones keeping/obeying the things in it having been written.
For the time [is] near.
John's expectation for his book, is that it will be read out loud in church by someone. Probably, there's one copy, because the printing press hadn't yet been invented. So that someone will speak, and everyone else will stop thinking about their roasts in the oven, and Sunday football, and they will listen carefully, because of where this book came from. It's a word from God. It's testimony, from Jesus.
If you do this-- if you really listen to this book, and if you obey it, John says that you will be blessed. This book offers you a roadmap for how to live life in a fallen world, that's being actively judged by God. If you obey that roadmap, God will bless you.
Now, in the coming weeks, we will see how this blessing works, and what's included in that. But we know that all of God's blessings are worth pursuing. Our Father gives good gifts, and if He tells you that there is a way to receive God's blessings, then you chase that.
Lots of times when Christians read Revelation, they find themselves feeling more and more lost. The book becomes a tangle of symbols and images that they get stuck in. Before starting this series, I remember reading through the book a couple years ago, getting to chapter 11, and realizing I had no idea what was going on anymore. I was enjoying the book-- it was fascinating. But I realized it had been several chapters since I really understood any of it. It had become pointless, and so I stopped.
If you find this happening to you, one of the things you can do to re-center yourself, is remember that this is a book that's meant to be obeyed. It's practical. So we might have to work at understanding it. I'm hoping I will be able to help some there. But we shouldn't close the book, until we've read AND applied it. Because it's when you do both, that you are blessed.
The other thing I should say something about in verse 3, is that it describes the book a fourth way: this book is prophecy.
When we hear the word "prophecy," we maybe tend to think in terms of prediction. We think prophecy is basically about predicting the future, or about foretelling the future. Like Babe Ruth calling his homerun before swinging the bat. That's certainly part of it. Amos 3:7 says that God does nothing without revealing his plan to his servants the prophets.
But the more basic idea of prophecy is that it is a message from God. God often communicates to his people through prophets. He warns them, encourages them, challenges them, expresses sorrow over them. My OT professor at Bethel said that prophecy isn't so much foretelling, as "forth-telling." And who was this prophetic message originally for?
Verses 4-6 tell us:
(4) John, to the seven churches in Asia:
Grace to you, and peace, from The One Who Is and The One Who Was and The One Who is Coming,
and from the seven spirits which are before his throne (3:1; 4:5; 5:6; 8:2; Tobit 12:15; 1 Enoch 20:1-7;
90:21; 1 Enoch 37:2; 2 Maccabees 3:24),
(5) and from Jesus Christ-- the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the
earth.
To The One Loving us,
and The One Ransoming/Liberating/Forgiving us from our sins by his blood--
(6) and He made us a kingdom of priests to God and his Father --
to Him [be] glory and power forever and ever.
Amen!
John addresses this revelation from Jesus to seven churches in first century Asia. He announces grace and peace to them from three sources: (1) from God, (2) from the seven spirits, and (3) from Jesus Christ.
Let's wrestle just a little bit with this language about the seven spirits. There's a lot of debate about whether the seven spirits are seven angels (so Aune, Giesen, Murphy, Roloff, Koester), or if it's a way to talk about the fullness of the Holy Spirit (so Beale, Osborne, Smalley, Brighton, etc.). Seven is a number that will symbolize completeness, and perfection, through Revelation. It's symbolic. And so it's tempting to say that this is a way to talk about how the fullness of the Holy Spirit is before God's throne.
I think if you read the references I put in the translation, you'll find yourself leaning toward the idea that the seven spirits are seven angels. The seven spirits all have different jobs, and do different things. Now, I'm not emotionally attached to this idea. If you decide that it's the Holy Spirit, I truthfully don't care. I could be wrong.
And what we will find, as we get into this book, is that we will keep finding ourselves in situations like this. We will be less than certain about lots of things. We will put a question mark by the text. And we will not be in total agreement. This isn't a big deal.
I say all of this because this is the first real place in Revelation where scholars are pretty evenly divided about what to do with some detail. Most of the time, I will gloss over these details, and not get into it. My focus is going to be on the bigger picture, and if you want to really wrestle with the text at this level, again, I'd encourage you to buy Craig Koester's Revelation commentary.
So what I think is that John, in his opening, announces grace and peace to the seven churches from God, from the seven spirits, and from Jesus. Picture the entirety of God's throne room, his whole heavenly court, his divine council. That's who greets you, and announces grace and peace.
As we start reading the letters, we are going to look back on this warm greeting, and be surprised. But all I want to say, for the moment, is that this greeting is something we need to remember.
At this point, let's back up a little, and reread verses 5-6. As I read, try to answer two questions: Who is Jesus? What has Jesus accomplished?
(5) and from Jesus Christ-- the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the
earth.
To The One Loving us,
and The One Ransoming/Liberating/Forgiving us from our sins by his blood--
(6) and He made us a kingdom of priests to his God and Father--
to Him [be] glory and power forever and ever.
Amen!
Jesus is the faithful witness, who testified to the truth about God, and sin, and salvation, and judgment.
Jesus is the firstborn from the dead. He has defeated death. He's won a victory over the grave. Now, because of Jesus, death has lost its sting. We will quite possibly all die, to be sure. But if we die, we will follow in Jesus' footsteps. We will be reborn, and have a new life.
Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth. Now, this is a very political statement. Jesus is the ruler over every Caesar, and president, and prime minister, and king. Jesus isn't just the ruler in the spiritual realm. He's ruler in the earthly realm. So in Revelation, there is no clean separation between church and state. Jesus is Lord over all of it.
John then continues talking about Jesus in verse 5, but his description turns into praise. When you're doing theology right, you can only talk about Jesus for so long, without it turning into praise.
Jesus is the One Loving us (present tense, imperfective, ongoing). He loves the first century churches. He loves
you. He loves me. This love is real. This love can be felt. This love changes everything.
Jesus is also the One who liberated us from our sins. We were in slavery, bondage, because of our sins. And Jesus rescued us out of that.
And then, what Jesus did, is he took this great big group of us, collectively loved, collectively rescued, and turned us into a kingdom of priests to serve God the Father.
Now, when we hear this, it should ring some bells from our Exodus study. Let's turn to Exodus 19 (NRSV updated no reason):
19 On the third new moon after the Israelites had gone out of the land of Egypt, on that very day, they came into the wilderness of Sinai. 2 They journeyed from Rephidim, entered the wilderness of Sinai, and camped in the wilderness; Israel camped there in front of the mountain. 3 Then Moses went up to God; the LORD called to him from the mountain, “Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the Israelites: 4 ‘You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself. 5 Now, therefore, if you obey my voice and keep my covenant, you shall be my treasured possession out of all the peoples. Indeed, the whole earth is mine, 6 but you shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the Israelites.”
In the OT, they understood that there is a priesthood of all believers. It's not like just the Levites were priests. Even though the whole world belongs to God, the nation of Israel was God's special treasure, and designed to be a kingdom of priests, dedicated (="holy") to God.
What we see in Revelation, is that this kingdom has been expanded, and redefined. The whole earth belongs to God-- every tribe-- and now God's kingdom of priests is made up of people like us, as well. We are now in this position of honor. And we now have this responsibility. And how did this happen?
Through Jesus. This is what Jesus accomplished through his life, death, resurrection, and ascension.
If this grabs you, you will find yourself echoing John's language, and praising Jesus. To Jesus belongs glory, and power, forever.
Jesus is here praised like God. God is the one who deserves glory and power. God is the one who is praised. And here, Jesus receives that.
So we can feel free to wrestle with how to capture all of this language about God, and Jesus. How can Jesus make us a kingdom of priests for "his God," while at the same time receive praise like God? But any theological wrestling we get into, needs to end with praise. We praise God, for sending Jesus. We praise Jesus, for what He's made us for God.
Verse 7:
(7) LOOK! He is coming with the clouds, [combo of Daniel 7:13 with Zechariah 12:10-14]
and every eye will see him-- even all who pierced him ["pierced" is focused through delay],
and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.
Yes, Amen!
There are two very different ways of understanding verse 7. The first way, which is probably the majority, thinks that the tribes of the earth mourn Jesus' coming, as a sign of their repentance. They look at Jesus coming back, and then they look at their idolatry, and immorality, and violence, and they regret their lives, and they repent.
I honestly don't understand how this is the majority view. But it's a strong majority, so I feel like I owe you that.
I think that when Jesus comes in the clouds, that it will be far too late for anyone to repent. I think when Jesus comes, that's it. When people see Jesus-- including the ones who killed him-- they will mourn "because of" him ("because of" I think is a better translation than "over"), because he is coming back to judge them. Jesus was their enemy, and they thought they took care of him. They thought they pierced him, and killed him, and buried him, and that was the end of that. But when it turns out that your enemy isn't dead, and is in fact coming with the clouds, in all of his glory, you know you're doomed. The last thing you will do, is mourn.
But either way, the day is coming when all people will "see" the truth about Jesus. In the end, everyone will acknowledge that Jesus is Lord and King (h/t Roloff).
And this is something John celebrates. This gets a "Yes!" and an "Amen!"
In verse 8, without any warning, the speaker changes. Here, for one of only two places in the entire book, God speaks:
(8) "I am the Alpha and the Omega (the "A" and the "Z"), says the Lord God, [Isaiah 44:6]
and The One Who Is, [Exodus 3:14 LXX]
and The One Who Was,
and The Who is Coming-- The Almighty.
If you've ever had to hire a contractor to work on your house, one of the things you've thought about is that contractor's experience. You want someone who can step inside your house, and understand what he's seeing. You want someone who has seen it all, and isn't going to be surprised, or uncertain, halfway through tearing apart your house. There's a competence, and wisdom, and skill, that comes with being around for decades.
God is the Alpha. He is the First. He is the Most Important. He is the One who began it all, who created everything.
God is also the Omega. He is the Last.
A number of TV shows over the years start with a number of contestants, and those contestants are slowly whittled down through one thing or another, until you have one last survivor.
Right now, we live in a world where there are many things and beings that are treated like, and called, "God." People bow down and serve all kinds of things. There are many religions. But the day is coming, when that will change. In the end, one God will reign supreme. He will get the last word. He will prove that His throne is greatest.
Knowing that God is the Alpha and Omega, the A and the Z, should be a comfort to you. We don't serve a God who is part of some pantheon of Roman gods, whose squabbles, and fights, carry over into our world. We don't have to worry that the God we serve will lose some decisive battle along the way. Our God won't be overpowered. He won't be tricked. Our God reigns supreme, and that's not something that will change.
So God is the One who is. He is the One who was. And He is "the One who is coming." When we read verse 8, we expect it to end by saying that God is the "The One who will be." But instead, we hear that God is the One who is coming.
Right now, we live in a world that God's true character and power aren't fully revealed. On earth, God's will isn't always done. There are forces lined up against God, that resist his will, and fight against him. There are people who look at the world, and wonder if it's true that God "is."
But when God comes, in all of his glory, that will change. And God, like Jesus, is coming.
So that's verses 1-8, covered very lightly in places. If you were John's first readers, how would you find yourself responding to this introduction? I think in three main ways:
(1) The first way, is that you'd be encouraged. You live as first century Christians under the powerful Roman empire. This empire is no friend to Jesus' disciples. It promotes idolatry, and sexual immorality. It exports violence, and oppression. It views you as a threat to its kingdom. And if you were a first century Christian, this Roman empire would probably look invincible. It would look like it's been around forever, and will be around forever. How could Rome, or any other superpower, possibly fall? What could topple it?
But if we look at the world through the perspective of these verses, we will draw a very different conclusion.
Who has been around forever, since time began? Not Rome. God. God is the One Who was. You can look back, and see when the Roman empire grew in power, and started to dominate the world. History books can trace the fall of the Medes and Persians, and the rise of Rome. History books can look back to when Rome was nothing.
But God predates every human superpower.
Right now, God, and human empires, co-exist. Rome "is." God "is." Each of us looks at both of these-- at God, and Rome-- and has to make a decision about who is greater. Who deserves more glory, and power, and honor? Who should you bow down to, and pledge your allegiance to? When you look at Rome's armies spanning the globe, and the way it dominates every tongue, and tribe, and nation, you might wonder.
But when God comes, and when Jesus comes, your wondering will be put to rest. Every tribe, when they see Jesus, will mourn. They will realize they saw the world wrongly, and followed the wrong king. They won't realize, until too late, that Jesus is the ruler of the kings of the earth.
All of this should drop us to our knees, in thankfulness. Or, it should make us rise up, and worship God and Jesus.
(2) This brings us to the second thing this passage should do to us. Jesus has made us into a kingdom of priests to God, who have been freed from sin, and who are loved. Jesus has made us into a kingdom that can fulfill Israel's calling to serve and worship God.
How then should we live?
Faithfully, as a people who bask in the glow of Jesus' love. We are cherished, and beloved. We are full citizens in God's empire. We are grateful for what Jesus has done, and we live out of that gratitude. The God we worship is the One who was, and is, and is coming. We live faithfully, as we look to the clouds for God, and Jesus, to come.
(3) There's one last thing that this passage should do to us-- and this is probably more of a problem for 21st century Christians, than it was for John's readers. There are a lot of Christians today who don't find themselves longing for God, and Jesus, to return. If you admit that you pray, "Come Lord Jesus," they will gently, piously try to steer you in the "right" direction. They'll tell you, "we have a lot of work to do still. We need to stay focused on our earthly mission. There's a lot of people who still need Jesus. Don't look to the clouds. Focus on earth."
When you run into Christians like that, you should gently tell them, "The NT everywhere commands us to look forward to the day when God and Jesus come to earth, and make all things right. This our hope, and goal. It's okay to say 'Come Lord Jesus.' It's okay to echo John's words, and say "Yes!" and "Amen!" to every mention of this coming."
Translation:
(1) The revelation from Jesus Christ,
which God gave to him (him=Jesus) to show to his slaves what must take place soon,
and he revealed (different root) it
(by) sending [it] through his angel to his slave John,
(2) who testified to the word of God
and testimony of Jesus Christ-- all that he saw.
(3) Blessed [is] the one reading out loud,
and the ones hearing the words of the prophesy
and the ones keeping/obeying the things in it having been written.
For the time [is] near.
(4) John, to the seven churches in Asia:
Grace to you, and peace, from The One Who Is and The One Who Was and The One Who is Coming,
and from the seven spirits which are before his throne,
(5) and from Jesus Christ-- the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the
earth.
To The One Loving us,
and The One Ransoming/Liberating/Forgiving us from our sins by his blood--
(6) and He made us a kingdom of priests to his God and Father--
to Him [be] glory and power forever and ever.
Amen!
(7) LOOK! He is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see him-- even all who pierced him ["pierced" is focused through delay],
and all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of him.
Yes, Amen!
(8) "I am the Alpha and the Omega (the "A" and the "Z"), says the Lord God,
and The One Who Is,
and The One Who Was,
and The Who is Coming-- The Almighty.
