Revelation 1

Revelation 1:1

As you open the Book of Revelation, perhaps the title in your Bible reads: The Revelation of St. John the Divine. You must understand that the title, chapter, and verse delineation in the Bible were not in the original text, and are, therefore, not inspired. This is the revelation not of John, but of Jesus Christ. The pronoun “him” in this verse refers back to Jesus Christ. This whole Bookthe revelation of how the Lord is ruling and reigning, of how all things are going according to planwas given to Jesus. “I don’t know the time of the coming of the kingdom,” said Jesus. “Only My Father has the full plan” (see Mar_13:32)which raises a very intriguing question: Did Jesus know everything? In Luk_2:52, we read that Jesus grew in stature and wisdom. In other words, He went through life learning. That is why His baptism is so significant, for it was then that His Father’s voice thundered from heaven, “This is My beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” It was then, at thirty years of age, that Jesus fully realized He had come to die. The Father gave revelation to the Son. The Son gave revelation to John. And John gave revelation to us that we might understand the things that must shortly come to pass. “Shortly come to pass?” you say. “This book is over two thousand years old!” The Greek word translated “shortly” is en tachei, meaning “must come to pass with rapidity.” It’s the same Greek word from which we get the word “tachometer"the instrument used to determine the speed of an engine. Thus, the Lord is telling us in this verse that when end-time events begin to happen, they’ll increase their rpms and happen with greater rapidity. Heading south from Medford, Oregon on I-5 toward San Diego, I don’t see a single sign that says San Diego until I get past Chico, where I see only one. Then I don’t see another one until I get to San Jose. But as I go farther south, the signs start appearing a little more frequently, until I get to Ventura. Suddenly, the signs appear every fifty miles. When I get past LA, the signs appear with even greater rapidity until I finally see the sign reading, “Welcome to San Diego.” That’s the idea here, folks. Things begin slowly. One sign appears. Then, maybe one hundred years pass before another sign is seen. But one day, all of a sudden, the tachometer will show the engine revving up and sign upon sign will be seen. The word “signified” means “written with signs"which explains why people read the Book of Revelation and say, “It seems to be written in code.” Why was it written this way? I suggest three reasons: First, the Book of Revelation was written with signs to provide protection. At the time John wrote this letter, there was a tremendous wave of persecution afflicting the church. Consequently, this letter was written in such a way that, although it would make no sense to the enemies of the church, those who knew Scripture would find it relatively easy to understand. Second, the Book of Revelation was written with signs to convey information. Language changes with time. Read your King James Bible, written in 1611, and the changes in language that have taken place since it was written are obvious. Pictures and symbols, on the other hand, are timeless and thus convey more clearly the thoughts and intent of the writer. Finally, the Book of Revelation was written with signs in order to arouse emotions. It’s one thing to say, “There’s a world political leader coming.” It’s something else to say, “The Beast is coming.” It’s one thing to refer to a commercial system. It’s something else to call it Babylon the Whore. It’s one thing to say “Christians,” and another to say, “the bride of Christ.” It’s one thing to talk about authority and something else to talk about the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. These images are powerful, vivid, indelible. John, the “disciple whom Jesus loved,” was used by the Lord to author five books. The Gospel of John was written that we might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God (Joh_20:31). First, 2, and 3 John were written that we might know we have eternal life (1Jn_5:13). Thus, John wrote his Gospel that we might believe, his epistles that we might be sure, and the Book of Revelation that we might be ready.

Revelation 1:2

Revelation was entrusted to John because he bore record of the testimony of Jesus and of all the things he saw. People who say, “I don’t seem to be growing in the Lord,” must understand that when it comes to revelation, information, or inspiration, the Lord has a very definite prerequisite: Are we going to personally receive it in our heart and freely release it to others? After visiting with Abraham, the Lord said to His angels, “I’m going to tell Abraham what is going to come down in Sodom because I know he will not only receive but share it” (see Gen_18:17, Gen_18:19). Jesus put it this way: Take heed how you hearfor the one who has shall be given more (Mar_4:24-25). In other words, if you come to Bible study or your morning devotions saying, “Entertain me,” or, “I’m curious about prophecy,” you won’t receive. But if you are hearing, studying, learning, praying, and reading for the purpose of embracing what you receive and sharing it with others, the Lord will give you continual revelation.

Revelation 1:3

The Greek word translated “readeth” literally means “to read out loud.” I often encourage people to read their Bibles out loud. Why? Because I find if I don’t read my Bible aloud, I have a tendency to read only the passages I’ve highlightedwhich are usually promises like: “Delight yourself in the Lord, and He’ll give you the desires of your heart.” “My God shall supply all your needs according to His riches.” “All things work together for good to those who love God.” What I don’t have underlined are verses like, “All those who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” “Blessed are you when men shall revile you, persecute you, and speak all manner of evil against you.” Sometimes we need to study the passages not underlined in our Bibles. And the way this can be done practically is by reading aloud. I find that hearing the Word spoken audibly has a powerful impact on my heart. That is why I also encourage people to pray out loud. It’s not for God’s sakebut to keep us focused and engaged.

Revelation 1:4

Why are there seven churches? Because seven is the biblical number of completion. Asia does not refer to Korea, Japan, or Viet Nam. It refers to present-day Turkey. Why was this letter written to the church in Turkey rather than to the church at Jerusalem, or Rome, Colosse, or Antioch? After all, it seems those would have been much more appropriate choices. Why was this letter written to seven churches in Turkey? Because no other churches could have so perfectly painted the picture they portray. “Grace and peace be unto you,” is not the equivalent of “Yo, dude.” It has a depth of meaning. You see, “grace,” or charis, was a Greek greeting. Shalom, or “peace,” was a Hebrew greeting. The combination of the two is powerful because man can’t have peace until he understands the favor God has given to him in and through the grace of Christ Jesus. Here we see the Trinity… “Him which is, and was, and is to come” is God the Father. “What’s Your name?” asked Moses of God in Exodus 3. “I Am that I Am,” God answeredthe Tetragrammaton that became so sacred to the Jews that they would only write the consonants: YHWH. The seven Spirits refer to the seven-fold ministry of the Holy Spirit as seen in Isa_11:2. Jesus Christ is indeed the faithful Witness. “Show us the Father,” Philip said, “and it will suffice us.” “Don’t you know that he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father?” answered Jesus (Joh_14:9). “Aha!” the cultist says. “Jesus is begotten. Therefore, He didn’t always exist.” Wrong. We refer to Laura Bush as the First Lady. Does this mean she’s the first lady who ever lived? No. “First Lady” refers to her position. So, too, in Jer_31:9 God calls Ephraim His firstborn. Was Ephraim the firstborn? No. Although he was the younger brother, however, Ephraim had prominence. Thus, “first begotten” in Scripture speaks not of precedencebut of preeminence. I’m so thankful the Lord doesn’t just whitewash our sins, but rather, through the shedding of His own blood, washes us white.

Revelation 1:6

In the Millennium, we’ll rule and reign on the earth as kings and priests (Rev_5:10). When the final battle in the Valley of Megiddo is being fought, when the nations of the world come against the Jews to annihilate Israel, suddenly when it looks so bleak, the Lord will come back. And the Jews will say, “Where did You get those wounds?” “In the house of My friends,” He’ll answer (Zec_13:6). And all the people shall wail, “We fought against Him. We didn’t believe in Him. And now He’s here.”

Revelation 1:8

In the original text, it is plainly seen that, under the inspiration of the Spirit, John writes out the word “Alpha"the first letter of the Greek alphabet. But when it comes to Omega, he uses only the letter. Why? I suggest it is because the Lord is the beginning and the end without end. In other words, Omega is never written out fully because the Lord never ends. We’ll spend eternity exploring His nature. Ask a Jehovah’s Witness or Mormon the identity of the speaker in this verse, and he’ll say it’s Jehovah, or God the Father. Turn him to Isa_41:4, which reads: “Who hath wrought and done it, calling the generations from the beginning? I the Lord, the first, and with the last: I am he,” and ask of whom it speaks. “Jehovah,” he’ll say. Then turn him to Isa_44:6, which reads: “Thus saith the Lord the King of Israel, and his redeemer the Lord of hosts; I am the first, and I am the last; and beside me there is no God,” and ask of whom it speaks. “Jehovah,” he’ll say. Then turn him to Isa_48:12, which reads: “Hearken unto me, O Jacob and Israel, my called; I am he; I am the first, I also am the last,” and ask of whom it speaks. “Jehovah,” he’ll say. Then turn him to Rev_21:6-7, which reads: “And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things: and I will be his God, and he shall be my son,” and ask him who it is who cries out “It Is Finished,” and who says He will give the water of the fountain of life freely?” “Jehovah,” he’ll sayeven though it was Jesus who cried out on the Cross, “It is Finished,” and who said, “If any man thirst, let him come to Me” (Joh_7:37). Then turn him to Rev_22:12-13, which reads: “And behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last,” and ask of whom it speaks “Jehovah,” he’ll sayeven though verse Rev_22:16 identifies the Speaker of verses Rev_22:12-13 as Jesus. And now he has a problem, for the reference in Revelation clearly being to Jesus, either there are two firsts and two lasts, two alphas and two omegas, two beginnings and two endingsor else Jesus and the Father are one.

Revelation 1:9

Keep in mind that John is writing as pastor of the seven churches under his care, as a pastor of people who are being tortured, persecuted, and slaughtered. That is why he identifies himself as their brother and companion in difficulty. Still today, the effective pastor, parent, or mentor is one who realizes we’re all in this togetherthat we’re all brothers and sisters, companions and fellow-pilgrims. John was not only a pastor but also a theologian. Banished to Patmos, the Word put him where he was. But the Word also made him who he was. John is a giant of Christendom because he was a man of the Word.

Revelation 1:10

Not only a pastor and a theologian, John was a poet. Under the inspiration of the Spirit, John painted pictures to impact the emotions of a people going through tough times and tremendous difficulties. John wanted his people to have more than dead doctrine. He wanted them to feel the reality of the Lord’s coming burning in their hearts and illuminating their imaginations. I say this because if you don’t read this book as poetryif you read it only intellectually or academicallyyou’ll miss a key component. You’ve got to keep reminding yourself that the people to whom John was writing were watching their kids die, their wives being dragged off, their husbands disappear. The people to whom John was writing weren’t saying, “What can we learn about the latest rap on the mark of the beast?” No, they were saying, “What’s going on? Why aren’t things working out? Is there hope?” “Yes!” answers John, the poet. “I want you to feel the drama, see the picture, taste the realityfor then your heart will be stirred, your faith strengthened.” Why is this repeated? After all, John said the same thing just two verses earlier. I suggest it is because most people don’t struggle with the Alpha or the Omega. They know God looked at creation and declared it good. And they know in the end, in heaven, things will be good. But where people have a hard time is in the middle. They question and struggle with the things going on presently. “Why is this happening? Why didn’t God do this? Where was God when that happened?” they cry. So what does a pastor, a theologian, a poet do? He whispers in people’s ears over and over again that God is in control, that God is on the throne, that the same God who did the good work in the beginning is here in the middle and will come through in the end. And that’s what we must do. We must whisper over and over in the ears of our teenagers, our friends, our neighbors, “God is here, and He’s going to see you through.” As we will see in chapters 2 and 3, these seven churches speak of the seven epochs of the church age. Each church speaks of a period in church history chronologically and consecutively.

Revelation 1:12

When John heard a voice behind him, he turned to see what it meant. And in this, I am reminded of other who “turned to see the voice that spake with them.” When an angel appeared to them, telling them to go to Bethlehem, the shepherds could have said, “Forget it. It’s the middle of the night. Why go to Bethlehem now?” But they didn’t. They went. And they ended up rejoicing (see Luke 2). When they saw a star they’d never seen before, the wise men could have been reticent to embark on the nearly two-year journey. But they got on their camels, set out across the desertand ended up worshiping the King of kings (see Matthew 2). When an angel appeared to him, saying, “Your betrothed has conceived miraculously, the young carpenter from Nazareth could have said, “The engagement’s off.” But, like the shepherds and the wise men, Joseph responded to the revelation given to him, thereby becoming and integral part of the earthly life of the Son of God (see Mat_1:24). After the Spirit told an old prophet that he would see the Messiah, no doubt Simeon was waiting to hear the rumble of chariot wheels and the footsteps of soldiers escorting the King of the Jews to the temple. Instead, he heard the cry of a baby in the arms of a sixteen-year-old girl. And he beheld the Savior (Luk_2:26-28). There was one group, however, who did not “turn to see” and thus missed the Incarnation… When the wise men arrived in Jerusalem and asked, “Where is Messiah to be born?” the Bible scholars were quick to answer, “Bethlehem.” You see, they knew Bible prophecy like the backs of their hands. They knew the obscure verses in Micah 5 that foretold the place of His birth; the portions of Daniel 9 that foretold the time of His birth; the passages in Isaiah that prophesied He would be born of a virgin and sojourn in Egypt. They were the Bible students, the Wednesday niters, the pastors, the elders, the note-takers. These were people who, if we’re not careful, we could be. They knew the Wordand yet they never made the five-mile walk from Jerusalem to Bethlehem in pursuit of a personal, real encounter with God. And, gang, we are vulnerable to the same mentality. We can read the Book of Revelation academically. We can search for clues of typology. We can draw parallels to current events internationallyall the while missing the revelation of Jesus personally. Not so John. When he heard a voice, he didn’t say, “I know the Bible. After all, I wrote a good part of it.” No, he turned to seeand saw Jesus in the process. Finally, I am reminded of One who lived His life “turning to see.” “What I see the Father do, that I do,” declared Jesus in Joh_5:19nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Wouldn’t it be radical for us to base all of our analyses, judgments, and evaluations solely on what we see of the Father? “The judgment I make is right because I judge on the basis of what I hear from the Father,” Jesus said (see Joh_5:30). What if we did the same? What if, before I gave my two cents’ worth about a person, I chose instead to withhold evaluation or judgment until I talked to the Father? May we be a people who love the Lord and are led by the Spirit in a fuller, fresher measure"turning to see” and obeying what He tells us to do. The seven golden candlesticks refer to the golden lamp stand of Exodus 25, which, with three lamps on each side of a main stem, speak both of John 15, where Jesus said, “I am the Vine and you are the branches,” and of John 8 where He declared Himself to be the Light of the world. As seen in Matthew 5, we are to let our light shine as wellwhich can only happen as we stay connected to the Stem of the candlestick, the true Vine, Jesus Christ. Notice also the candlestick is made of gold, which speaks of divinity. But it was not molten gold, it was one piece of beaten gold because Jesus was beaten that we might be included with Him in the lamp stand.

Revelation 1:13

Perhaps it was because it spoke of His ability to relate to people that the term “Son of man” was the term Jesus used most often to speak of Himself. The term also has prophetic implication, for in Dan_7:13, we read of the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. The Son of Man is clothed to His feetwhich speaks of the priesthood (Exo_28:42). His entire body is covered. Who is the body of Christ? We are. We’re covered with the robe of His righteousness (Isa_61:10). In Old Testament times, priests would normally wear girdles, or beltlike sashes, around their waists. But in this case we see the girdle around the chestwhich would speak of the One who’s in the midst of His church. You see, when Jesus was on earth, He wept for Lazarus, and for a lost world. But now there’s a sash binding His heart. There’s no weeping because He is in control. He’s on the throne. Everything is going according to plan.

Revelation 1:14

I’ve seen frightening pictures based on this chapter, depicting a white-haired Jesus with eyes blazing and a sword protruding from His mouth. But that’s not the picture John was painting. John’s poetry must be seen in conjunction with scriptures given previously. What does “white as snow” bring to mind? Isa_1:18, where we read, “…though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow…” Thus, white hair represents the forgiveness and mercy that permeate Jesus’ mind. “I know where you’ve been,” He says. “But you are cleansed. You are forgiven. You are white. That’s the way I see you.” Fire can be frightening, but in a fireplace, there’s nothing more inviting or comforting. I suggest we see both aspects in the eyes of Jesus… When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, He’s going to look at all of our works. The wood, hay, and stubbleall of our fleshly, futile effortswill ignite under His gaze of fire, leaving only the gold, silver, and precious stonesthat which He did through and in spite of us. Then, with eyes of warmth and love, He will look at us and say, “Well done!” To me, this is a tremendous relief because I know I have a whole lot of wood, a huge pile of hay, and all sorts of stubble. But in that day, it will all disappear under His gaze.

Revelation 1:15

The mention of furnace would bring to the minds of the persecuted believers to whom John was writing the story of three others who endured the fire of persecution. But guess who was in the fire with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. Jesus was (Dan_3:25). His feet are burned because He’s been through the same furnaces we have. “I don’t hear the Lord,” we sometimes say. Yet if we listen carefully, we’ll hear a little creek on the radio, or a small stream in our devotions. We’ll hear a river through a conversation with a friend. We’ll hear a brook as we observe nature. And suddenly these little creeks and rivers and brooks and streams flow together until finally, at the end of the day, we say, “Hey, I have heard You, Lord.”

Revelation 1:16

Again, don’t miss the poetry here. It’s not as though Jesus opens His mouth to smile and a big sword emerges. Rather, the sword symbolizes the Word He speaksfull of grace and truth (Joh_1:14). Reminiscent of the blessing in Numbers 6, the allusion here is to graciousness and peace.

Revelation 1:17

Some use this Scripture as biblical justification for being slain in the Spirit. But I want you to notice John did not fall backward. He fell at Jesus’ feet. There’s only one place in the Bible where people fell backward: the Garden of Gethsemane, when two wordsI AMknocked the feet out from under the soldiers sent to arrest Jesus (Joh_18:6). Notice the order: John heard. He saw. He fell. Then he was touched, revived, and commissioned into ministry to write “the things which he had seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter.” John turned to see what he heard and found it led to a deeper understanding and renewed appreciation of Jesus Christ. And that, gang, is what this book before us is all about. Revelation is not given primarily to give us information about Bible prophecy, but to bring to us a revelation of Jesus Christ personally. The keys of hell and death are not to lock people up but to set people free. “I can get you out of your damnable, hellish situation if you’ll let Me,” Jesus says. “I can save you from hell eternally if you’ll receive Me. My desire is to set you free” (see Luk_4:18). The Lord holds the keys to that which is imprisoning you, gang. Let this One with the eyes of a warm fire set you free.

Revelation 1:19

Angelos, the word translated “angel,” also means “messenger” and is referring to the pastors, the leaders of the seven churches. Why are they likened to stars? Because according to Daniel 12, those who turn many to righteousness will shine as stars forever. Truly, once you start sharing your faith, once you start reflecting the goodness and grace of God, there will be a radiance about you that will draw others to your Savior. Try it and see!