01.01. CHAPTER 1.
CHAPTER 1.
Revelation 1:1. “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto Him.” The Revelation of Jesus Christ, not which God gave concerning Him, but which God gave unto Him; thus removing the veil which hung over the future, both as to time and to eternity. In the Divine actings there is order, harmony, and unity. The three persons in the adorable Trinity ever act in unison, but each in their own order: everything originates with the Father, is accomplished through the Son, and by the Holy Ghost. When Jesus was on earth, He could say, “I have not spoken of [or from] Myself; but the Father which sent Me, He gave Me commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak” (John 12:49). After His resurrection it was through the Holy Ghost that He gave commandments unto the apostles whom He had chosen. Even so it is here. The Lord Jesus received the revelation from the Father, and by angelic ministry communicated it to His servant John, who wrote it under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.
“To show unto His servants [bond-servants] things which must shortly come to pass.”
It is as bond or bought servants, the entire property of Him who has redeemed us to God by His blood, that we are prepared to enter spiritually into these things—things beginning to have their accomplishment in the symbolic history of the Church—Revelation 2:1-29 and Revelation 3:1-22, and going on to the end. The text commented on throughout is that of the Authorised Version ; and the italics, pronouns in Old English, with the emendations in brackets, is according to “The Large Print Edition of ‘The Englishman’s Bible,”‘ also known as “The Newberry Bible.”
“And He sent and signified it by His angel unto His servant John.”
“Signified,” that is, made known by signs or symbols. Under the Mosaic economy instruction was given by means of types, the prophets largely employed figurative language, and the Lord Jesus taught by parable. The language of this book is a language of symbols, and the objects shown are symbolic; but when the symbols are interpreted, it is in plain literal language.
Revelation 1:2. “Who bare record of [testified] the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” The threefold testimony—from God, through Christ, and by the visions shown by the angel.
Revelation 1:3. “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy.”
There is blessing connected with the reading of the entire word of God, but there is an especial blessing pronounced on those who read this portion of it, the Spirit of God probably foreseeing how much it would be neglected—a blessing on the reader, whether in private or in public, and a blessing on the hearer; for all may not be able to read, but all may hear.
“And keep those things which are written therein.”
There is no greater mistake than to suppose that this portion of God’s word is not practical. On the contrary, it is God’s magnifying glass, showing principles and actions of daily experience in all their ultimate issues, and full development, of stupendous magnitude; teaching us practically what to avoid, and what to follow.
“For the time is at hand.” The history of the Church on earth, which commenced at Pentecost, and will continue till the return of the Lord Jesus to receive it to Himself, is given in symbol in the second and third chapters ; and as the present dispensation advances the coming of the Lord Jesus, the great tribulation, and the manifestation of the Son of Man, the kingdom and glory, draw nearer and nearer.
Revelation 1:4. “John to the seven churches which are in Asia.”
Seven is the number of completeness or perfection. Seven of the then existing churches of Asia are selected in Divine wisdom, and arranged in a certain order, that they might become symbolic representatives of the whole Church during the present dispensation.
“Grace be unto you, and peace, from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come.”
“Him which is,” in the Greek, the present participle with the article, signifying “He who always is;” “and which was,” imperfect tense, expressing continuance in the past— “He who always was;” “and which is to come,” the present participle with the article— “Ever the coming One.” This is the Greek translation of the Hebrew title “Jehovah”—a title combining the past, the present, and the future in one word, and occurring about 7000 times in the Hebrew Scriptures, but only so translated about seven times in the Authorised Version.
“And from the seven Spirits which are before His throne.” The usual form of benediction is as in 1 Corinthians 1:3, “Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ;” omitting the mention of the Holy Ghost. As the Holy Spirit is the inditer of the apostolic epistles, He omits His own name. Here the Lord Jesus gives the Revelation, and He mentions the Spirit before Himself; as also when on earth He gives the Holy Ghost especial honour (see Matthew 12:31-32). The Holy Ghost is not here spoken of as the Comforter, sent from the Father and the Son, to be the companion and instructor of the Church during the present dispensation, but as the seven Spirits which are before Jehovah’s throne— the Eternal Spirit in all His perfectness, sovereignty, and glory.
Revelation 1:5. “And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of [or from among] the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.” The faithful witness on earth and from heaven, as to the things on the earth; the first begotten in resurrection now; and to be manifested as prince of the kings of the earth hereafter.
Thus far the benediction; now comes the Spirit-taught response.
“Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and His Father; to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” This reminds us of Ephesians 5:25-26 : “Christ loved the Church and gave Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, that He might present it to Himself a glorious church :” Christ’s love in the past in laying down His life for us; His present action sanctifying and cleansing, not with water only, but with water and blood (1 John 5:6), and the prospect of the future when, Christ having presented to Himself the Church in glory, will also associate her with Himself in His Melchizedek kingdom and priesthood.
Revelation 1:7. “Behold, He cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see Him and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him. Even so [or Yea], Amen.” This is not His coming for, but with, His Church; not as the Bright and Morning Star, but as the Sun of Righteousness. At the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together unto Him, there is no intimation in Scripture that any eye will see Him but those who meet Him to be for ever with Him; but when He comes as Son of Man, to establish His earthly kingdom, “every eye shall see Him.”
Then will be accomplished both Zechariah 12:10-14 and Revelation 6:12-17. Israel will then discover, in the Son of man manifested in glory, their once despised and rejected Messiah, whom they had crucified, but looking on Him in true and genuine repentance, a fountain will be opened for them for sin and uncleanness, through His atoning blood and sanctifying Spirit. The apostate nations of Christendom and the unbelieving portions of the world will see in the tokens of His appearing the commencement of the day of Divine wrath and of eternal ruin.
“Even so, Amen,” is the language of acquiescence; not so much the language of fervent desire as in Revelation 22:20, “Even so [or Yea], come, Lord Jesus.”
Revelation 1:8. “Iam the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord [or Jehovah], which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” The Jehovah titles.
Revelation 1:9. “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience [or endurance] of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
Thus God overrules the malice of the enemies of the truth, as in the case of Daniel in Babylon, Bunyan in Bedford Jail, and Luther in the Wartburg, for the accomplishment of deeper purposes of wisdom and of love.
Revelation 1:10. “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day.”
We must distinguish between the Lord’s Day as here, and the day of Jehovah, which is so frequently the subject of prophetic testimony. The first day of the week on which the Lord Jesus arose from the dead bears the impress of His name as the Lord’s Day. And the supper which commemorates His atoning death is also stamped with His name as the Lord’s Supper (1 Corinthians 11:20), both which are peculiar to the present dispensation. After the Lord has come, and received His Church to Himself, the seventh day Sabbath will again be observed, see Matthew 24:20 : “Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day,” and also throughout the Millennial period (Isaiah 66:23). In the seventieth prophetic week of Daniel, the week of Antichrist, the daily sacrifice will take the place of the Lord’s Supper (Daniel 9:27; Revelation 11:1).
During the Millennial period the sacrificial offerings according to the arrangements given in the prophecy of Ezekiel will be observed. As the seventh day, the Sabbath, is typical of Millennial rest, so the Lord’s day, the eighth, is typical of heavenly, resurrection, and eternal rest. By the Holy Spirit John is lifted up above surrounding things, and carried forward into the eternal rest of resurrection.
“And heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet.”
“As of a trumpet.” Giving notes, intelligible only to the initiated and instructed ear.
“Behind me.” In spirit John is in the eternal rest, but his attention is called back to the things of time.
Revelation 1:11. “Saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” These seven churches are selected from all the assemblies of believers which were on earth at that time, arranged in a certain order, and certain things noticed in each, so as to form what is styled in verse 20 “the mystery “—the deep and hidden truth—conveyed by these symbols.
Revelation 1:12. “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned”
John, in spirit, is in resurrection rest, and is there shown a retrospective view of the seven churches in Asia, and, through them, the history of the whole Church of God during the present dispensation; but he sees all this in spirit as things of the past, not as things to come. It is a sight of the Church’s history, as we shall see it from the glory, when we in reality take the standpoint which John in spirit took.
“I saw seven golden lampstands.” This is the Divine emblem for the Church of God on earth during the present night-time of the world’s history. In general, the term given by the Spirit is “the Church of God.” It is a Divine institution, hence represented by golden lampstands. They are never called candlesticks in the original Scriptures. The burning of a candle points rather to the thought of self-consumption, as by fasting and mental toil, which consumes the body, and is by some counted meritorious. The lampstand is a receptacle for the lamp, which can only burn as supplied with oil: an emblem of the Church of God, giving light from God, by the Spirit.
Xote the threefold expression— “heard a voice behind me,” “turned,” “and being turned, I saw;” thus, in symbol, looking back from eternity into time, upon the night scene on earth. A night scene—lampstands and stars. It is “man’s day” now (1 Corinthians 4:3, margin), but God’s night; yet “the night is far spent, the day is at hand.”
What makes it night? Jesus says, “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world;” but when He expired upon the cross, the light of His presence set behind Calvary. His absence makes it night. The watchers for the morning are waiting for the “Bright and Morning Star,” the harbinger of the coming Millennial day.
“The morning cometh, and also the night.” After the Morning Star has risen, and before the Sun of Righteousness ariseth with healing in His beams, there will be darkness such as never has been—a darkness of which that in Egypt was the type. “Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people.”
Revelation 1:13. “And in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the Son of Man.”
Christ, the centre of the universal Church, not only of the separate assemblies gathered unto His name.
“Like unto the Son of Man” (without the article). It characterises Him as one who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities—able to sympathise. When used as His title “the Son of Man,” there are in the Greek two articles distinguishing Him as the Word made flesh and tabernacling among us, in His sinless humanity: a title which when used in connection with His second Advent makes a distinction between His coming as Son of God from heaven to receive His own, and His manifestation as Messiah in glory to receive His kingdom.
“Clothed with a garment down to the foot.”
Probably the long blue robe of the ephod (Exodus 28:31-32); that which sets forth the perfection of His heavenly priesthood. “High Priest of our confession.”
“And girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” Not about the loins, for activity and strength in service, but about the paps or breasts: the girdle of faithfulness and truth in the activities of His heart, the divine faithfulness of His affections.
Revelation 1:14. “And His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow.” A similar figure to that in Dan. vii 9, characterising Him as the Ancient of Days, whose goings forth have been of old, from everlasting.
“And His eyes were as a flame of fire.”
Piercing, penetrating, and discovering the true character of all things.
Revelation 1:15. “And His feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace.”
“Feet,” emblematic of procedure, “brass,” of strength, and the “furnace,” of purification, showing the stability and refined purity of all His ways.
“And His voice as the sound of many waters.”
As, when standing by a mighty cataract, a united volume of sound is at first heard, but as the ear listens a vast concourse of sounds are distinguished, uniting, blending, or distinct in endless variety.
Revelation 1:16. “And He had in His right hand seven stars.”
Another figure suited to the night-time. These stars are probably planets, shining by reflected light. So the messengers of Christ to the churches, rising in spirit above the earth, and seeing Him that is invisible, reflect His light; and as the lark in early morn ascends—
“Till the unrisen sun Shines on his speckled breast.”
Such ministry is sustained by the right hand of Immanuel.
“And out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword.”
See Hebrews 4:12-13. His words are penetrating and all-discovering.
“And His countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength.” For He is the brightness of the Divine glory (Hebrews 1:3).
Revelation 1:17. “And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead.” The manifestation of Divine glory in the person of Immanuel is withering and killing to the flesh.
“And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; am the first and the last; and I am He that liveth, and was dead: and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hades and of death.” When we take our place at the feet of Jesus, the flesh withered as in death, we learn the lesson, “My strength is made perfect in weakness.” This is the last of those precious “Fear nots” which occur so frequently on the inspired page, and this time it comes from the lips of Jesus in resurrection glory. There is no need for fear if we are down there, in the place of death to all that is in ourselves. It is when we are on the pinnacle of prosperity, and when the flesh is flourishing, we have need to fear.
“Fear not; E am the first and the last.” The reason for not fearing is not simply where we are, or what we are, but what He is.
“He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore.” The Jehovah character and title of the Lord Jesus, in resurrection, redemption, and new creation glory.
“And have the keys of hades and of death.” Hades signifies unseen, or the invisible abode of the dead. Fear not premature death. The door can only be opened by the warder (John 11:25-26).
Revelation 1:19. “Write the things which thou hast seen.” That is, the vision of the seven golden lampstands, and the Lord Jesus in the midst. This is the frontispiece of the book, like as the burning bush was of Exodus. We have here the first and divinely given division of the book of Revelation.
“And the things which are.” The second division: the things noticed in the second and third chapters—the mystery of the seven golden lampstands, and the seven stars. The history of the Church in this present dispensation, and in its sevenfold aspect, from Pentecost throughout its seven stages of development, until the Lord’s return.
“And the things which shall be hereafter” [are about to be after these things]. The third division of the book. And this threefold division is the clue to the clear and unmistakable understanding of the whole. There are things which cannot take place during the present dispensation, because not in harmony with its character; but which must be fulfilled after its close. In the Church there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, for all are one in Christ Jesus. But in the scenes which follow, the broad line of demarcation between them is distinctly marked — at the very commencement 144,000 being sealed expressly as belonging to the twelve tribes.
Revelation 1:20. “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands. The seven stars are the angels [messengers] of the seven churches: and the seven lampstands which thou sawest are the seven churches.”
Symbols are not to be taken literally, but to be interpreted as symbols. But the interpretation is given in plain ordinary language. It is of the utmost importance to understand this, and not to take the symbol as literal, nor the interpretation as symbolic. “The seven lampstands,” these are symbolic; “are the seven churches,” this is the literal interpretation.