The first chapter of Revelation holds the key to the entire book. We find that key in verse 19 - and we’ll get there shortly - it is an outline that is crucial in revealing God’s plan for us and for planet earth.
But in order to understand the book we also need to understand its author. John was one of the 12 disciples. He wrote the gospel of John. In it he refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." He also wrote the three epistles of 1-3 John.
John was the only apostle thought to have died a natural death - all the others were murdered. But that didn’t mean John had it easy - and the circumstances for the vision he receives are certainly far from ideal.
In a way the book reminds me of Charles Dickens "A Christmas Carol" where an angel comes and escorts Ebenezer Scrooge to see events in the future. But unlike that story of fiction - this tale is all too true - and also unlike Dickens - there is no way to change these events - they will happen, just as the angel revealed them.
That ought to bring us comfort - God will bring about justice. It should also put fear into our hearts if we have not joined the kingdom of God offered through His Son Jesus.
We’re going to look at chapter 1 in three sections: The Purpose of the Book, The Vision of Jesus, and The Words of Jesus.
The Purpose of the Book
The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.
The first five words of the book are really what the entire epistle is about: it reveals Jesus Christ -
Who He is in His glory
Who He is in His churches
Who He is in judging a sinful earth
Who He is in rescuing those who are His,
Who He is in coming back, setting things right again, and bringing in an everlasting kingdom.
If you miss this, you miss the entire purpose of the book.
"…must soon take place" - a lot of people claim that the events in Revelation (or at least the first 19 chapters) took place within John’s lifetime. We’ll get into why I don’t hold that position as we move through the book. But the phrase actually comes from a Greek word where we get the term "tachometer." It means "speedily" - not as in "it will happen soon" but that "once it starts it will happen in a short time frame."
At the end of verse 3 it says "for the time is near." That uses the Greek word chyros - which means "appropriate time." The end will come when it is supposed to. So does that support the 1st century fulfillment? Not necessarily. Remember - 2 Peter 3:8 "with the Lord one day is as a thousand years and a thousand years as a day." So for God - it’s only been a couple of days since John wrote this. Our idea of "soon" and God’s are not the same thing.
This is the only book of the Bible that has a blessing associated with reading and hearing. They didn’t have books like we do so someone would literally read the letter aloud in church - they even had an official office for "reader." Why is there a benefit for you reading and studying Revelation? Verse 3 gives two provisos: if you "hear" and "keep."
"Hear" comes from the Greek word where we most likely get "acoustic." I think the author probably means more than just sound waves bouncing around the room - to "hear" means you take it in - you listen. Jesus will repeat this phrase over and over: "let him who has an ear to hear, let him hear." This uses the same Greek word as here. While on earth Jesus differentiated between those who wanted to hear what He had to say and those who would be within ear shot but all His words would just bounce off. Listen - what is the Lord telling us in this book? It’s about sin, salvation, and judgment. If you aren’t sufficiently warned to put your life into God’s hands by reading this book I don’t know what will!
John also says we should "keep" it. The Greek word means "to guard or detain." The idea is that you don’t just hear the message and just go your merry way - you hold on to it - it should inform your life, influence your actions, invade your thoughts.
Why should we hear and keep the words of this book? Because "the time is near." In Matthew 24 Jesus talked about a servant being ready for the return of the master because the master will come "on a day when he does not expect him (Matthew 24:50). You don’t want to be living on the earth during this time in world history - but the only way to escape is to give your heart and life to Jesus Christ now because He could come back for His church at any moment - and that is what I call a blessing!
Okay - so now John gets into the real meat of his greeting:
4 Greeting to the Seven Churches John to the seven churches that 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 of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.
This book was written to 7 real churches in present day Turkey. Why only seven? The number 7 refers to completeness - so it may be a way of saying that this represents all of the church. He refers to the Trinity: the Father who "is, was, and is to come," the Holy Spirit, and Jesus. The cities are arranged in a kind of rough half circle from Ephesus - which was closest to where John was when he wrote this - up and around until you get to Laodicea.
Who or what are the seven spirits? We’re really not sure - a likely explanation is that in light of the Trinity - it may refer to the Holy Spirit’s fullness. It could also refer to the 7 fold ministry of the Spirit (Isaiah 11:2) and the 7 lampstands of Zechariah 4:1-10.
Jesus is referred to as "the faithful witness." Jesus faithfully witnessed to us the reality of sin, judgment, and salvation. Notice that here the two-fold manifestation of Jesus: "firstborn" - His 1st coming, "ruler" - His 2nd. How those "comings" effect us is the latter half of verse 5:
5b To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
First we are "freed" by his death, then we rule with Him as "priests" when He returns.
Verse 7 is the purpose of telling what is to come - a little outline:
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
When Jesus comes back - it won’t be in secret, Israel will turn (Zechariah 12:10 "they will look on him whom they pierced"), and there will be great judgment on earth for those who reject him. Despite that - John says "amen" - let it be so. As much pain and mourning that there will be in the return of Jesus - it is worth it to finally bring in justice.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
God started it all - and He will end it all. He has always been and always will be - and God is described here in military terms: "the Almighty." There is a stark contrast that we will see over and over in this book between the first and second coming of Christ. God here is seen as a warrior waging war against sin and those who rebel against Him. We like to think of gentle Jesus meek and mild. But in fact, when He returns it is with a sword.
The Vision of Jesus Christ
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, "Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea."
"Brother/Partner" - first of all John identifies with the people he was writing to - and to us, as a brother. He’s not on high making sweeping statements and judgments and adopting a "holier than thou" attitude. And none of this book should be used as a way of putting ourselves over anyone else. Then he says he is their partner - recognizing that we all have tribulation (not The Great Tribulation) - Jesus promised it in John 16:33. But he and we are part of a kingdom - one that cannot be shaken by anything - so we should patiently endure - no matter what comes our way.
John was on Patmos - a small rocky island in the Aegean sea about 10 miles long and six miles wide and about 50 miles off the coast of Ephesus. The Emperor Domician put him there because he wouldn’t shut up about Jesus. This happened about A.D. 95. John was released about 18 months later.
He was "in the Spirit on the Lord’s day." God put him in a place where he could receive a vision. It could have been Easter Sunday - early Christians referred to that day as "the Lord’s Day."
He hears a voice - but it is so clear and distinct that he describes it like a "trumpet." The thing about trumpets is that you can always hear them - they cut through everything else. That’s why I liked playing trumpet in school. The bad thing is - if you sound bad you really sound bad very clearly. But imagine someone speaking like a trumpet - impossible to ignore.
So this voice says - he still can’t see the person - "write what you see" to the seven churches of Asia. That’s what John is doing for the rest of the book. He is simply the Lord’s scribe - writing down indescribable sights and sounds and visions.
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white like wool, as white as snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
There is no doubt that this is Jesus Christ. Jesus is standing in a circle of lampstands - most likely just like the menorah candlesticks of the Tabernacle. These, we will see, represent the church. Jesus, standing in the midst of the church - which John was to write to. We’re also going to see that without the witness for Jesus being central, the church has no real purpose or meaning.
But notice how John describes Jesus - "son of man" was the same way Jesus described Himself - He is wearing a long robe with a gold sash - this was royal garb. White hair - flaming eyes, shining feet, and a voice that you as much felt as heard. What an awesome image - so different from the simple humble carpenter from Nazareth dressed in plain clothes with no weapons or possessions. There are a lot of parallels to Daniel here - as there are throughout this book. The eyes of fire echo Daniel 10:6 and represent judgment that sees all evil. The white hair is from Daniel 7:9 and represents divine nature and all wisdom.
The 7 stars: verse 20 tells us that these are the seven angels of the 7 churches. Did you know that the church has angels assigned to it? Some say they represent the pastors or leaders - but in Revelation, angels are angels (most likely). They do Jesus’ bidding in the church - not the churches bidding in Jesus.
Was there a literal sword hanging from Jesus’ mouth? I don’t know - but that’s what John thought of when he wrote - and it is so true that the Word of God, Jesus (John 1) when He speaks is like a sharp two-edged sword (Hebrews 4:12) that cuts right to the heart - no hiding or negotiating with this guy. He doesn’t just have an impressive presentation - what Jesus says accomplishes things.
His face was like the sun - but it wasn’t blinding.
The Words of Jesus Christ
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, "Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
If you were to face the risen Jesus Christ in His glory you would be so afraid you’d fall down like you were dead too. I’m sure John was frightened out of his wits - that’s why Jesus says "Fear not." I notice that whenever Jesus does something really out of the ordinary He has to say "fear not." He said it when He walked on water, for instance, in Matthew 14. We are afraid because we really have concept of what God’s dimension is like or what the Lord Himself is really like in that dimension.
Jesus says "don’t be afraid" because Jesus died and is alive forevermore - conquering the thing we fear the most - death. Jesus, not Satan, holds the keys to death and Hades. Hades here is the abode of the dead - not Hell - the Lake of Fire. This is the place where people go when they close their eyes for the last time - Jesus owns the place.
19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
ESV
This, in a nutshell, is an outline for the book of the Revelation.
The things you have seen - this vision in chapter 1
The things which are - the situation with the churches in chapters 2-3
The things that are to take place after this - the Tribulation
I believe this is also another proof that the church will not be in the Tribulation period. The church (eklesia) is not mentioned on earth again after chapter 3. What takes place in chapters 4 - 18 is "after" the things of the church.
In verse 20 Jesus explains about the stars and the lampstands. The stars are the angels assigned to the churches, which are the lampstands.
This is symbolism - but symbolic of an important reality. The churches, like a lamp, were bringers of light to their communities. Oil would be used - and when lit would provide light. The lamp is not the oil nor the light - but the holder of both.
We as the church were given the Holy Spirit on Pentecost (John 16, Acts 2). The Holy Spirit is often spoken of as oil - it is placed in the church, then when ignited it brings light to Jesus Christ (John 16:14).
So the work of the church is to be a witness to Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. This is very important to understand when we read the letters to the churches. Jesus will threaten to remove the lampstand of those churches who do not heed his correction. It doesn’t mean they are kicked out of the church - but it means they will no longer have a witness for Christ in their community. We’ll get more into detail on that in the coming weeks.
Conclusions
1. "The things that must soon take place" (verse 1)
Does it seem like the Lord is taking His own sweet time in answering your prayers? Realize that God will answer when it is time - and a lack of answer doesn’t mean a lack of concern on God’s part.
2. Are your ears open? (verse 3 - "blessed is the one … who hear.")
You may have avoided Revelation due to preconceptions, bad experiences with "prophecy updates" or have never bothered because it’s too difficult to understand. I would encourage you to have an open mind and an open heart as we make our way through the book - you might be surprised at what blessings await you.
3. God’s purpose in our lives is always grace and peace (verse 4)
We will read about some pretty terrible things in this book - and sometimes it can lead people to think that God is mean, vindictive, arbitrary, and unfair. He is none of these things. God is love - remember? But God is also just - and as such He cannot let sin go unpunished. But even the severe judgments in this book are designed to get men to turn from evil. That is always God’s heart.
1 Timothy 2:2-4 This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth .ESV
4. You are a kingdom and a priest - how often do you wear your robes? (verse 6)
We are ambassadors for our Lord’s kingdom - and priests, serving with Him and ushering people into His presence by sharing the gospel. We may be dressed in street clothes on the outside - but in reality we are dressed in the garments of a priest. It is an important office, one we should not take lightly. It should affect what we say, where we go, and what we do.
5. Your Patmos may also hold a vision of the risen Lord (verse 9)
Do you feel exiled - isolated - even when you are around people? Instead of moping around flinging rocks in the air - John was "in the Spirit." Focus your energies on drawing closer to the Lord - you may be surprised at how He reveals Himself to you - bringing comfort, and challenge.
For more Bible studies, plus an audio version of this study please visit out website: www.CalvaryChapelNewberg.org
