Revelation 1:1-20, “This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him concerning the events that will happen soon. An angel was sent to God’s servant John so that John could share the revelation with God’s other servants. John faithfully reported the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ--everything he saw. God blesses the one who reads this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to it and obey what it says. For the time is near when these things will happen. This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia. Grace and peace from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the commander of all the rulers of the world. All praise to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. He has made us his Kingdom and his priests who serve before God his Father. Give to him everlasting glory! He rules forever and ever! Amen! Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him--even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the earth will weep because of him. Yes! Amen!"I am the Alpha and the Omega--the beginning and the end," says the Lord God. "I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come, the Almighty One." I am John, your brother. In Jesus we are partners in suffering and in the Kingdom and in patient endurance. I was exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching the word of God and speaking about Jesus. It was the Lord’s Day, and I was worshiping in the Spirit. Suddenly, I heard a loud voice behind me, a voice that sounded like a trumpet blast. It said, "Write down what you see, and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea." When I turned to see who was speaking to me, I saw seven gold lampstands. And standing in the middle of the lampstands was the Son of Man. He was wearing a long robe with a gold sash across his chest. His head and his hair were white like wool, as white as snow. And his eyes were bright like flames of fire. His feet were as bright as bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice thundered like mighty ocean waves. He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp two-edged sword came from his mouth. And his face was as bright as the sun in all its brilliance. When I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. But he laid his right hand on me and said, "Don’t be afraid! I am the First and the Last. I am the living one who died. Look, I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and the grave. Write down what you have seen--both the things that are now happening and the things that will happen later. This is the meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”
John opens his letter with a preface to set the stage for what is to come in the later chapters. In a very real sense in the Apostle John’s writing; he begins first with an explanation with why he is writing this letter, but it not till the end that you understand why. He weaves and as an artist uses his phrases imagery to express to us what is to come. In vs.1-3 John outlines his intent in writing this letter vs. 2, “John faithfully reported the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ--everything he saw.” John’s job is to report all that he sees in his vision to us, so that we will know what God is going to do. One thing you will hear me say throughout this series is that we are to look forward as Christians to Christ return. As a result of being saved by faith in Christ; the result should spur us to live in closer communion with our Father in heaven. The very fact of the return of Christ should motivate us to live as we have never lived fully in the Spirit that has been given to us as a guarantee of our faith in Christ. This is the only book in the entire Bible that carries with it a blessing. Vs.3 is the first of seven beatitudes in the book of Revelation. The other six are in 13:13; 16:16; 19:9; 20:6;22:7,14) The phrase time is near refers to Christ’s return being the next great even in God’s redemptive history. This could be delayed so that people begin to question whether Jesus will really ever return for His People. (Matthew 24:36-39; 2 Peter 3:3,4)
In vs.4-8 John is giving a testimony to what Jesus has done in our lives. He is addressing the churches that we will look at in the coming days. Jesus was pierced for our transgressions, and by His Stripes we have been healed. In these few verses we see John as an evangelist trying to reach out to us and encourage us to draw nearer to God. We will see Christ when we stand before Him, and He will ask what we have done with our lives. This should spur us to live our lives in such a way that we not only live for God, but model the life of Jesus for others around us.
In vs.4 the seven church, which are in Asia refer, are the equivalent to modern Turkey, which was composed of seven postal districts. At the center of those districts were seven key cities which served as central points for the dissemination of information. It is to those churches in those cities that John writes to. “Who is and who was and who is to come” God’s eternal presence is not limited by time. He has always been present in everything we do and also in those things to come.
“The Seven Spirits” There are two possible meanings to this. One, it is a referent to Isaiah’s prophecy concerning the seven fold ministry of the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 11:2) or secondly more likely it is a reference to the lampstand with seven lamps (a menorah) in Zechariah, which is also a description of the Holy Spirit. (Zechariah 4:1-10) In either case seven is a number of completeness, which means John is identifying the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
Vs.5 refers to all those who have been or will be raised from the head. Jesus is the preeminent one, and the only one who is the rightful heir. (Psalm 89:27; Colossians 1:15)
Vs.6 refers to the fact that He has made us kings and priests according to His work of redemption on the Cross. All who believe live in the sphere of God’s rule, a kingdom entered by faith in Jesus Christ. As priests we have the right to enter into His Presence.
Vs.7 echoes the promise of Daniel: ‘The Son of Man will come with the clouds of heaven.’ (Daniel 7:13)-not ordinary clouds but the clouds of glory. In the Old Testament, God often manifested Himself in an energized, blazing light called the Shekinah or glory cloud. No one could see it fully and live(Exodus 33:20), so it had to be completely visible *Matthew 23:29,39; 225:31)
“They who pierced.” This is not a reference to the four Roman soldier’s usually involved in crucifixion but to the Jews who were actually responsible for Christ’s death. (Acts 2:22,23; 3:14, 15). Zechariah identifies the one’s who pierced Him as “the house of David” and the inhabitants of Jerusalem” and prophecies that they will weep tears of genuine repentance (Zechariah 9:11). This is the result of guilt for sin and dear of punishment. (Genesis 3:8-10)
Vs.8 uses the references Alpha and Omega, which are the first and the last letters in the Greek alphabet. John here is using a reference to Christ as being the supreme, sovereign alphabet; there is nothing outside His knowledge, so there are no unknown factors that can sabotage His Second Coming (Colossians 2:3) “The Almighty” occurs eight times in the book of Revelation, underscoring that God’s power is supreme over all cataclysmic events it records (4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7,14; 19:15; 21:22)
In vs.9-17 the only passage where Christ is pictured in equal grandeur only by the vision of His final return as King of kings and Lord of Lord’s. (19:11-16)
Vs.9, “tribulation and kingdom and patience.” There were four characteristics that John, and his fellow believers share. 1) Persecution for their faith, 2) Membership in the redeemed community over which Christ is the head. 3) Eager anticipation of the glory of His coming millennial reign on earth; and 4) Endurance and perseverance in spite of difficult times.
Vs.10, “In the Spirit.” First of all this was not a dream, John was supernaturally transported out of the material world not sleeping to an experience that was far outside the normal senses. The Holy Spirit is the one from whom John received this revelation from God. (Acts 10:11)
Vs.12 “Lampstands” were portable gold lampstands that held small oil lamps. Each lampstand is a representative of a church (vs.20) from which the light of life shone. The number seven in Scripture is a reference to completeness, so these seven lampstands are representative of all the churches.
Vs.13 During the ministry of Jesus the title Christ appears 81 times. This verse is taking from Daniel 7:13, which is an implied claim to deity. “Garment” is a picture of Christ serving in His Priestly role. (Leviticus 16:1-4; Hebrews 2:17)
Vs.14, “White as wool.” White is not a reference to a flat white color but a blazing, glowing white light. (Daniel 7:9). Like the glory cloud it, is a picture of His holiness. “eyes flame of fire” The eyes of the exalted Lord Jesus look with a penetrating gaze right into the depths of His Church. (2:18; 19:12; Hebrews 4:13) Vs.15, “Feet fine brass” The altar of burnt offering was covered with brass and its utensils were made of the same material (Exodus 38:1-7) Glowing hot, brass feet are a clear reference in Scripture to divine judgement. Jesus Christ moves with feet of Judgement is moving throughout His Church to cleanse it of its sin and exercising His power over sin, so that we would be presented blameless on the day of His Return. “Voice of many waters” No longer is His voice like crystal clear note of a trumpet (Vs.10), but John likened it to the crashing of the surf itself against the rocks of the island Ezek 43:2). This voice of many waters is the voice of authority.
Vs.16, “Seven Stars” These are the messengers who represent the seven churches. Christ is the Head of the Church and holds each of these messengers in His hand, which as a result means that He controls the church and its leaders. “A sharp two-edged sword” This is signifies judgement (2:16; 19:15) on all those who attack the people of God, or try to destroy the church of Christ.
Vs.17, “Fell at His Feet” This is a common response to seeing the awesome glory of the Lord (Genesis 17:3;Numbers 16:22; Ezek 1:28; Isaiah 6:1-8; Acts 9:4) “First and the Last” Jesus here is applying His OT name for Yahweh (22:13;Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; 48:12) to Himself, clearly claiming to be God. Other God’s will come and go, but the name of the Lord will remain strong forever, because He is the only one who was, and is the living God.
In Vs.18-20 we see a great picture of Jesus and John interacting together both mentor and learner. John falls prostrate in awe that he is standing before Jesus. Jesus in turn encourages him to not be afraid and further explains the purpose in John writing Revelation. The purpose of the book of Revelation is to show us God’s ultimate plan for salvation as revealed throughout the rest of Scripture. We can rest assured that both the past, present and future is indeed in God’s hands.
Vs.18, “The keys of Hades and of Death” Death and Hades are essentially synonyms, but death is the condition and Hades, equivalent to the OT Sheol, the place of the dead. Christ is the One who decides who dies, when and where.
Vs.19, “This verse serves as a simple outline for the rest of the book. “The things which you have seen” refers to the vision John has just seen. (Chapter 1) while “the things which are” denotes that the letters to the churches (chapters 2., 3) and the “the things which will take place after this” refers to the revelation of future history. (Chapters 4-22)
Vs.20, “The Angels” This word literally means messenger. While it can mean angel, and does through the rest of this book it cannot refer to angels here because angels are never leaders in the church. They are most likely the seven elders representing each church.
The purpose of the opening chapter of Revelation is to lay the groundwork for the rest of the book. The book of Revelation points us towards Christ; to look ahead towards His return. We live our Christian lives not in the past, but in the now looking ahead towards the future return of our Savior returning in glory. It is on this premise that the book of Revelation was written for us. We are to live in the now, but look ahead towards to future Kingdom of God. Let us remember that as we tread our way through this very difficult book. May our Lord be praised Amen.
God bless,
Pastor David
