Revelation 16

Revelation 16:1

Exhortations and Encouragements

Jude 1:17. Jude has extensively described the characteristics of the apostate ungodly men. With the words “but you” he again addresses the believers. Just like he did in Jude 1:3, he again addresses them with “beloved”. He tells them that they should not have to be surprised that there are such people he previously described, among them. They only have to remember what the apostles of “our Lord Jesus Christ” have said. If they only take that to heart they will be kept from getting involved with these people or allow themselves to be influenced by their mockeries and ungodly lusts.

You see that Jude refers to the inspired Scriptures, in which it is written what the apostles have said. Back to the Scripture and not to human writings, how fundamental biblical they may be. In Acts 20 you find warnings from the mouth of Paul concerning the performance of people for whom Jude warns here (Acts 20:29-30). Peter and John also write about such people (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-19).

Jude 1:18. Their warning words come down to that “in the last time there will be mockers”. That time began when the Lord Jesus came to earth and was rejected and it will last until His return. This whole time is characterized – not by a submission of the world to the gospel, but – by the performance of mockers who do whatever they like to and who do not take God into account at all. Their whole life is dominated by the fulfillment of “their own ungodly lusts”.

Jude 1:19. The people whom Jude is talking about are incorrigible. Because they have no part in what the believers have in common, they form their own group in the midst of the church. They separate themselves like the Pharisees and form a group in the church to carry out their evil works there. They feel themselves superior to others who in their eyes are narrow-minded and petty and therefore look down on them with disdain.

They are “worldly-minded”, which means that they are guided by their soul, their feelings and not like God meant them to be, by their mind in relation to Him. They have no new life, but they are and remain sensual people who live according to their lusts. Each trace of life from God is missing. They are not born again and therefore are people who are “devoid of the Spirit”. Whatever they may claim in view of their being a Christian, their condition cannot possibly be the work of God’s Spirit.

Here we find the end of the verses that deal with apostasy and apostates in which there is not one glimmer of hope of improvement. Judgment will break loose on them in full force at the return of the Lord Jesus with all His own.

Jude 1:20. From this verse Jude passes on a number of encouragements. In Jude 1:20-23 he does that in the form of exhortations and in Jude 1:24-25 in the form of a praise. The exhortations are seven in total of which four refer to you personally and three to your relation toward others.

The exhortations are again introduced with the words “but you, beloved”. It again marks the contrast to the category of the people of the previous verses. Then we have the exhortations:

1. Jude 1:20a. You should not only contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), but you also need building yourself up on your “most holy faith”. That’s something you need to take care of yourself. You do that by engaging with God’s Word to better know the truth of faith. The truth of faith is the foundation that you lean on with your heart and soul. The sound teaching that is being taken in by your heart is necessary for your spiritual well-being. It is a matter of your heart.

2. Jude 1:20b. Beside the necessity of the building up in the faith, there is also the necessity of “praying in – and not ‘to’! – the Holy Spirit”. This is not possible for those who do not have the Spirit. But it is also not always the way of praying of every believer. A believer may pray in a formal way, after a standard model, or by praying a prayer in which the ‘I’ is centered (James 4:3). There is no power in such prayers. A prayer “in the Holy Spirit” is a prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit, in which He together with the spirit of the believer asks God what matters to God’s work and is to the glory of the Lord Jesus.

3. Jude 1:21a. To the building up of yourself on your most holy faith and the prayer in the Holy Spirit, you should also add keeping yourself “in the love of God”. Herein lies the command to keep yourself aware of God’s love. The love of God is the atmosphere in which you are. It is your responsibility to be aware of it. It is living in the conscious assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

It is like the shining of the sun. The sun always shines, but something can come between you and the sun, which causes you not to be standing in the sun anymore and not to feel the warmth of it. If sin and unbelief are present in you, they will cause you to shut yourself off from the beams of God’s love for you. His love is surely there, but you are not able to enjoy it at that moment. You have shut yourself off from it. Not only sins cause that effect. You can also be focused on the difficulties in your life in such a way that you forget God’s love. The point is that you do not allow that something comes between you and God’s love for you.

4. Jude 1:21b. As the fourth and final exhortation in view of yourself, Jude says that you should be looking for “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life”. This is about the second coming of Christ. His first coming was also an expression of God’s mercy (Luke 1:72; 78). Now that He in the last of times is about to come for the second time, your attention is drawn to that. When He comes the apostates will no longer be able to do evil. He will then take you away from the circumstances of misery to be with Him and enjoy the eternal life with Him to its fullness.

Jude 1:22. Now three exhortations follow in view of others. If you take the four previous exhortations to heart you will be longing to help others who may have got caught up in the trap of the people who secretly have crept in or in one way or another have been influenced by them.

However, the translation of these verses are rather diverse. In my explanation I use the translation that seems most convincing to me.

1. The first category regards the doubters. They must be ‘corrected’ – which seems to be a better translation than ‘have mercy on’ – because they make their doubts turn into points of dispute. You should help them to step out of the doubts and disputes by convincing them of the firm foundation of God’s truth.

2. Jude 1:23a. “Others” have already been more influenced by the people who crept in unnoticed. You see that they go the wrong way, the way to the fire. Think about the evolution theory, a poison that is taken in by countless unsuspecting young people, due to nice sounding so-called scientific arguments. That also includes Bible critics. Not only correction is in its place here, but these ‘others’ must be snatched out of the power these people. The earnest prayer of a righteous man is necessary to save them from their erring way (James 5:16b-20).

3. Jude 1:23b. The third group has gone the furthest. In case you have a task toward them, you must do that “with fear”, which refers to yourself, that you may not be dragged by them. You need to watch out carefully not to be involved yourself with their uncleanness in some way, even not with that of its appearance, represented by “the garment polluted by the flesh”. In your efforts to help them you run the risk of getting into temptation by participating in their sinful way of living instead of keeping distance.

Every connection with sinful life must be removed, even if it is about things that are not sinful in themselves. You may think, for example, of things that another person has gained in a sinful way, through which he made his life pleasant. In this way I once received a device for my computer as a sign of gratitude for my help from a person who wanted to cleanse himself from sin. After a while it appeared that he had bought that device with borrowed money. He had piled up a huge debt with several instances to afford himself a luxury life style. He gave that device to me without ulterior motives, but it was a ‘garment defiled by the flesh’. He did not have that feeling when he gave it to me. I gave that device back to him and said that he had to sell it himself to reduce his debt.

Jude 1:24. If you become thoroughly aware of what Jude has said, a feeling of powerlessness may overwhelm you. How great is it that he concludes his letter with focusing your eyes on Him “who is able to keep you from stumbling”. He not only keeps you from stumbling on the way, but it is His purpose “to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless” and that also “with great joy”. That purpose will be accomplished and the joy will in no way be disturbed.

Jude 1:25. God keeps us and makes us perfect because He is “God our Savior”. That He is “through Jesus Christ”, as He does everything through His Son. Jesus Christ is also “our Lord”. He has all power. If you consider that and become thoroughly aware of that, you will glorify Him for that. In this dangerous time there is yet always a reason to glorify God, or maybe just because of the particular circumstances. You will wish Him everything that Jude mentions here: 1. “glory”, which is all excellence that is visible from Him, 2. “majesty”, which is His dignity and splendor beyond everything, 3. “dominion”, which is His omnipotence, all the resources He has, all that is available to Him to carry out His plans and 4. “authority”, which is His personal right and inner ability to do that.

This all is wished to Him “before all time” and also through the ages, both “now” and “forever”, by all His own.

With that you and I agree wholeheartedly and say together with Jude “amen”, so it is and not otherwise.

Now read Jude 1:17-25 again.

Reflection: Which exhortations and encouragements do you find in this section?

Revelation 16:2

Exhortations and Encouragements

Jude 1:17. Jude has extensively described the characteristics of the apostate ungodly men. With the words “but you” he again addresses the believers. Just like he did in Jude 1:3, he again addresses them with “beloved”. He tells them that they should not have to be surprised that there are such people he previously described, among them. They only have to remember what the apostles of “our Lord Jesus Christ” have said. If they only take that to heart they will be kept from getting involved with these people or allow themselves to be influenced by their mockeries and ungodly lusts.

You see that Jude refers to the inspired Scriptures, in which it is written what the apostles have said. Back to the Scripture and not to human writings, how fundamental biblical they may be. In Acts 20 you find warnings from the mouth of Paul concerning the performance of people for whom Jude warns here (Acts 20:29-30). Peter and John also write about such people (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-19).

Jude 1:18. Their warning words come down to that “in the last time there will be mockers”. That time began when the Lord Jesus came to earth and was rejected and it will last until His return. This whole time is characterized – not by a submission of the world to the gospel, but – by the performance of mockers who do whatever they like to and who do not take God into account at all. Their whole life is dominated by the fulfillment of “their own ungodly lusts”.

Jude 1:19. The people whom Jude is talking about are incorrigible. Because they have no part in what the believers have in common, they form their own group in the midst of the church. They separate themselves like the Pharisees and form a group in the church to carry out their evil works there. They feel themselves superior to others who in their eyes are narrow-minded and petty and therefore look down on them with disdain.

They are “worldly-minded”, which means that they are guided by their soul, their feelings and not like God meant them to be, by their mind in relation to Him. They have no new life, but they are and remain sensual people who live according to their lusts. Each trace of life from God is missing. They are not born again and therefore are people who are “devoid of the Spirit”. Whatever they may claim in view of their being a Christian, their condition cannot possibly be the work of God’s Spirit.

Here we find the end of the verses that deal with apostasy and apostates in which there is not one glimmer of hope of improvement. Judgment will break loose on them in full force at the return of the Lord Jesus with all His own.

Jude 1:20. From this verse Jude passes on a number of encouragements. In Jude 1:20-23 he does that in the form of exhortations and in Jude 1:24-25 in the form of a praise. The exhortations are seven in total of which four refer to you personally and three to your relation toward others.

The exhortations are again introduced with the words “but you, beloved”. It again marks the contrast to the category of the people of the previous verses. Then we have the exhortations:

1. Jude 1:20a. You should not only contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), but you also need building yourself up on your “most holy faith”. That’s something you need to take care of yourself. You do that by engaging with God’s Word to better know the truth of faith. The truth of faith is the foundation that you lean on with your heart and soul. The sound teaching that is being taken in by your heart is necessary for your spiritual well-being. It is a matter of your heart.

2. Jude 1:20b. Beside the necessity of the building up in the faith, there is also the necessity of “praying in – and not ‘to’! – the Holy Spirit”. This is not possible for those who do not have the Spirit. But it is also not always the way of praying of every believer. A believer may pray in a formal way, after a standard model, or by praying a prayer in which the ‘I’ is centered (James 4:3). There is no power in such prayers. A prayer “in the Holy Spirit” is a prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit, in which He together with the spirit of the believer asks God what matters to God’s work and is to the glory of the Lord Jesus.

3. Jude 1:21a. To the building up of yourself on your most holy faith and the prayer in the Holy Spirit, you should also add keeping yourself “in the love of God”. Herein lies the command to keep yourself aware of God’s love. The love of God is the atmosphere in which you are. It is your responsibility to be aware of it. It is living in the conscious assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

It is like the shining of the sun. The sun always shines, but something can come between you and the sun, which causes you not to be standing in the sun anymore and not to feel the warmth of it. If sin and unbelief are present in you, they will cause you to shut yourself off from the beams of God’s love for you. His love is surely there, but you are not able to enjoy it at that moment. You have shut yourself off from it. Not only sins cause that effect. You can also be focused on the difficulties in your life in such a way that you forget God’s love. The point is that you do not allow that something comes between you and God’s love for you.

4. Jude 1:21b. As the fourth and final exhortation in view of yourself, Jude says that you should be looking for “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life”. This is about the second coming of Christ. His first coming was also an expression of God’s mercy (Luke 1:72; 78). Now that He in the last of times is about to come for the second time, your attention is drawn to that. When He comes the apostates will no longer be able to do evil. He will then take you away from the circumstances of misery to be with Him and enjoy the eternal life with Him to its fullness.

Jude 1:22. Now three exhortations follow in view of others. If you take the four previous exhortations to heart you will be longing to help others who may have got caught up in the trap of the people who secretly have crept in or in one way or another have been influenced by them.

However, the translation of these verses are rather diverse. In my explanation I use the translation that seems most convincing to me.

1. The first category regards the doubters. They must be ‘corrected’ – which seems to be a better translation than ‘have mercy on’ – because they make their doubts turn into points of dispute. You should help them to step out of the doubts and disputes by convincing them of the firm foundation of God’s truth.

2. Jude 1:23a. “Others” have already been more influenced by the people who crept in unnoticed. You see that they go the wrong way, the way to the fire. Think about the evolution theory, a poison that is taken in by countless unsuspecting young people, due to nice sounding so-called scientific arguments. That also includes Bible critics. Not only correction is in its place here, but these ‘others’ must be snatched out of the power these people. The earnest prayer of a righteous man is necessary to save them from their erring way (James 5:16b-20).

3. Jude 1:23b. The third group has gone the furthest. In case you have a task toward them, you must do that “with fear”, which refers to yourself, that you may not be dragged by them. You need to watch out carefully not to be involved yourself with their uncleanness in some way, even not with that of its appearance, represented by “the garment polluted by the flesh”. In your efforts to help them you run the risk of getting into temptation by participating in their sinful way of living instead of keeping distance.

Every connection with sinful life must be removed, even if it is about things that are not sinful in themselves. You may think, for example, of things that another person has gained in a sinful way, through which he made his life pleasant. In this way I once received a device for my computer as a sign of gratitude for my help from a person who wanted to cleanse himself from sin. After a while it appeared that he had bought that device with borrowed money. He had piled up a huge debt with several instances to afford himself a luxury life style. He gave that device to me without ulterior motives, but it was a ‘garment defiled by the flesh’. He did not have that feeling when he gave it to me. I gave that device back to him and said that he had to sell it himself to reduce his debt.

Jude 1:24. If you become thoroughly aware of what Jude has said, a feeling of powerlessness may overwhelm you. How great is it that he concludes his letter with focusing your eyes on Him “who is able to keep you from stumbling”. He not only keeps you from stumbling on the way, but it is His purpose “to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless” and that also “with great joy”. That purpose will be accomplished and the joy will in no way be disturbed.

Jude 1:25. God keeps us and makes us perfect because He is “God our Savior”. That He is “through Jesus Christ”, as He does everything through His Son. Jesus Christ is also “our Lord”. He has all power. If you consider that and become thoroughly aware of that, you will glorify Him for that. In this dangerous time there is yet always a reason to glorify God, or maybe just because of the particular circumstances. You will wish Him everything that Jude mentions here: 1. “glory”, which is all excellence that is visible from Him, 2. “majesty”, which is His dignity and splendor beyond everything, 3. “dominion”, which is His omnipotence, all the resources He has, all that is available to Him to carry out His plans and 4. “authority”, which is His personal right and inner ability to do that.

This all is wished to Him “before all time” and also through the ages, both “now” and “forever”, by all His own.

With that you and I agree wholeheartedly and say together with Jude “amen”, so it is and not otherwise.

Now read Jude 1:17-25 again.

Reflection: Which exhortations and encouragements do you find in this section?

Revelation 16:3

Exhortations and Encouragements

Jude 1:17. Jude has extensively described the characteristics of the apostate ungodly men. With the words “but you” he again addresses the believers. Just like he did in Jude 1:3, he again addresses them with “beloved”. He tells them that they should not have to be surprised that there are such people he previously described, among them. They only have to remember what the apostles of “our Lord Jesus Christ” have said. If they only take that to heart they will be kept from getting involved with these people or allow themselves to be influenced by their mockeries and ungodly lusts.

You see that Jude refers to the inspired Scriptures, in which it is written what the apostles have said. Back to the Scripture and not to human writings, how fundamental biblical they may be. In Acts 20 you find warnings from the mouth of Paul concerning the performance of people for whom Jude warns here (Acts 20:29-30). Peter and John also write about such people (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-19).

Jude 1:18. Their warning words come down to that “in the last time there will be mockers”. That time began when the Lord Jesus came to earth and was rejected and it will last until His return. This whole time is characterized – not by a submission of the world to the gospel, but – by the performance of mockers who do whatever they like to and who do not take God into account at all. Their whole life is dominated by the fulfillment of “their own ungodly lusts”.

Jude 1:19. The people whom Jude is talking about are incorrigible. Because they have no part in what the believers have in common, they form their own group in the midst of the church. They separate themselves like the Pharisees and form a group in the church to carry out their evil works there. They feel themselves superior to others who in their eyes are narrow-minded and petty and therefore look down on them with disdain.

They are “worldly-minded”, which means that they are guided by their soul, their feelings and not like God meant them to be, by their mind in relation to Him. They have no new life, but they are and remain sensual people who live according to their lusts. Each trace of life from God is missing. They are not born again and therefore are people who are “devoid of the Spirit”. Whatever they may claim in view of their being a Christian, their condition cannot possibly be the work of God’s Spirit.

Here we find the end of the verses that deal with apostasy and apostates in which there is not one glimmer of hope of improvement. Judgment will break loose on them in full force at the return of the Lord Jesus with all His own.

Jude 1:20. From this verse Jude passes on a number of encouragements. In Jude 1:20-23 he does that in the form of exhortations and in Jude 1:24-25 in the form of a praise. The exhortations are seven in total of which four refer to you personally and three to your relation toward others.

The exhortations are again introduced with the words “but you, beloved”. It again marks the contrast to the category of the people of the previous verses. Then we have the exhortations:

1. Jude 1:20a. You should not only contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), but you also need building yourself up on your “most holy faith”. That’s something you need to take care of yourself. You do that by engaging with God’s Word to better know the truth of faith. The truth of faith is the foundation that you lean on with your heart and soul. The sound teaching that is being taken in by your heart is necessary for your spiritual well-being. It is a matter of your heart.

2. Jude 1:20b. Beside the necessity of the building up in the faith, there is also the necessity of “praying in – and not ‘to’! – the Holy Spirit”. This is not possible for those who do not have the Spirit. But it is also not always the way of praying of every believer. A believer may pray in a formal way, after a standard model, or by praying a prayer in which the ‘I’ is centered (James 4:3). There is no power in such prayers. A prayer “in the Holy Spirit” is a prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit, in which He together with the spirit of the believer asks God what matters to God’s work and is to the glory of the Lord Jesus.

3. Jude 1:21a. To the building up of yourself on your most holy faith and the prayer in the Holy Spirit, you should also add keeping yourself “in the love of God”. Herein lies the command to keep yourself aware of God’s love. The love of God is the atmosphere in which you are. It is your responsibility to be aware of it. It is living in the conscious assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

It is like the shining of the sun. The sun always shines, but something can come between you and the sun, which causes you not to be standing in the sun anymore and not to feel the warmth of it. If sin and unbelief are present in you, they will cause you to shut yourself off from the beams of God’s love for you. His love is surely there, but you are not able to enjoy it at that moment. You have shut yourself off from it. Not only sins cause that effect. You can also be focused on the difficulties in your life in such a way that you forget God’s love. The point is that you do not allow that something comes between you and God’s love for you.

4. Jude 1:21b. As the fourth and final exhortation in view of yourself, Jude says that you should be looking for “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life”. This is about the second coming of Christ. His first coming was also an expression of God’s mercy (Luke 1:72; 78). Now that He in the last of times is about to come for the second time, your attention is drawn to that. When He comes the apostates will no longer be able to do evil. He will then take you away from the circumstances of misery to be with Him and enjoy the eternal life with Him to its fullness.

Jude 1:22. Now three exhortations follow in view of others. If you take the four previous exhortations to heart you will be longing to help others who may have got caught up in the trap of the people who secretly have crept in or in one way or another have been influenced by them.

However, the translation of these verses are rather diverse. In my explanation I use the translation that seems most convincing to me.

1. The first category regards the doubters. They must be ‘corrected’ – which seems to be a better translation than ‘have mercy on’ – because they make their doubts turn into points of dispute. You should help them to step out of the doubts and disputes by convincing them of the firm foundation of God’s truth.

2. Jude 1:23a. “Others” have already been more influenced by the people who crept in unnoticed. You see that they go the wrong way, the way to the fire. Think about the evolution theory, a poison that is taken in by countless unsuspecting young people, due to nice sounding so-called scientific arguments. That also includes Bible critics. Not only correction is in its place here, but these ‘others’ must be snatched out of the power these people. The earnest prayer of a righteous man is necessary to save them from their erring way (James 5:16b-20).

3. Jude 1:23b. The third group has gone the furthest. In case you have a task toward them, you must do that “with fear”, which refers to yourself, that you may not be dragged by them. You need to watch out carefully not to be involved yourself with their uncleanness in some way, even not with that of its appearance, represented by “the garment polluted by the flesh”. In your efforts to help them you run the risk of getting into temptation by participating in their sinful way of living instead of keeping distance.

Every connection with sinful life must be removed, even if it is about things that are not sinful in themselves. You may think, for example, of things that another person has gained in a sinful way, through which he made his life pleasant. In this way I once received a device for my computer as a sign of gratitude for my help from a person who wanted to cleanse himself from sin. After a while it appeared that he had bought that device with borrowed money. He had piled up a huge debt with several instances to afford himself a luxury life style. He gave that device to me without ulterior motives, but it was a ‘garment defiled by the flesh’. He did not have that feeling when he gave it to me. I gave that device back to him and said that he had to sell it himself to reduce his debt.

Jude 1:24. If you become thoroughly aware of what Jude has said, a feeling of powerlessness may overwhelm you. How great is it that he concludes his letter with focusing your eyes on Him “who is able to keep you from stumbling”. He not only keeps you from stumbling on the way, but it is His purpose “to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless” and that also “with great joy”. That purpose will be accomplished and the joy will in no way be disturbed.

Jude 1:25. God keeps us and makes us perfect because He is “God our Savior”. That He is “through Jesus Christ”, as He does everything through His Son. Jesus Christ is also “our Lord”. He has all power. If you consider that and become thoroughly aware of that, you will glorify Him for that. In this dangerous time there is yet always a reason to glorify God, or maybe just because of the particular circumstances. You will wish Him everything that Jude mentions here: 1. “glory”, which is all excellence that is visible from Him, 2. “majesty”, which is His dignity and splendor beyond everything, 3. “dominion”, which is His omnipotence, all the resources He has, all that is available to Him to carry out His plans and 4. “authority”, which is His personal right and inner ability to do that.

This all is wished to Him “before all time” and also through the ages, both “now” and “forever”, by all His own.

With that you and I agree wholeheartedly and say together with Jude “amen”, so it is and not otherwise.

Now read Jude 1:17-25 again.

Reflection: Which exhortations and encouragements do you find in this section?

Revelation 16:4

Exhortations and Encouragements

Jude 1:17. Jude has extensively described the characteristics of the apostate ungodly men. With the words “but you” he again addresses the believers. Just like he did in Jude 1:3, he again addresses them with “beloved”. He tells them that they should not have to be surprised that there are such people he previously described, among them. They only have to remember what the apostles of “our Lord Jesus Christ” have said. If they only take that to heart they will be kept from getting involved with these people or allow themselves to be influenced by their mockeries and ungodly lusts.

You see that Jude refers to the inspired Scriptures, in which it is written what the apostles have said. Back to the Scripture and not to human writings, how fundamental biblical they may be. In Acts 20 you find warnings from the mouth of Paul concerning the performance of people for whom Jude warns here (Acts 20:29-30). Peter and John also write about such people (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-19).

Jude 1:18. Their warning words come down to that “in the last time there will be mockers”. That time began when the Lord Jesus came to earth and was rejected and it will last until His return. This whole time is characterized – not by a submission of the world to the gospel, but – by the performance of mockers who do whatever they like to and who do not take God into account at all. Their whole life is dominated by the fulfillment of “their own ungodly lusts”.

Jude 1:19. The people whom Jude is talking about are incorrigible. Because they have no part in what the believers have in common, they form their own group in the midst of the church. They separate themselves like the Pharisees and form a group in the church to carry out their evil works there. They feel themselves superior to others who in their eyes are narrow-minded and petty and therefore look down on them with disdain.

They are “worldly-minded”, which means that they are guided by their soul, their feelings and not like God meant them to be, by their mind in relation to Him. They have no new life, but they are and remain sensual people who live according to their lusts. Each trace of life from God is missing. They are not born again and therefore are people who are “devoid of the Spirit”. Whatever they may claim in view of their being a Christian, their condition cannot possibly be the work of God’s Spirit.

Here we find the end of the verses that deal with apostasy and apostates in which there is not one glimmer of hope of improvement. Judgment will break loose on them in full force at the return of the Lord Jesus with all His own.

Jude 1:20. From this verse Jude passes on a number of encouragements. In Jude 1:20-23 he does that in the form of exhortations and in Jude 1:24-25 in the form of a praise. The exhortations are seven in total of which four refer to you personally and three to your relation toward others.

The exhortations are again introduced with the words “but you, beloved”. It again marks the contrast to the category of the people of the previous verses. Then we have the exhortations:

1. Jude 1:20a. You should not only contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), but you also need building yourself up on your “most holy faith”. That’s something you need to take care of yourself. You do that by engaging with God’s Word to better know the truth of faith. The truth of faith is the foundation that you lean on with your heart and soul. The sound teaching that is being taken in by your heart is necessary for your spiritual well-being. It is a matter of your heart.

2. Jude 1:20b. Beside the necessity of the building up in the faith, there is also the necessity of “praying in – and not ‘to’! – the Holy Spirit”. This is not possible for those who do not have the Spirit. But it is also not always the way of praying of every believer. A believer may pray in a formal way, after a standard model, or by praying a prayer in which the ‘I’ is centered (James 4:3). There is no power in such prayers. A prayer “in the Holy Spirit” is a prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit, in which He together with the spirit of the believer asks God what matters to God’s work and is to the glory of the Lord Jesus.

3. Jude 1:21a. To the building up of yourself on your most holy faith and the prayer in the Holy Spirit, you should also add keeping yourself “in the love of God”. Herein lies the command to keep yourself aware of God’s love. The love of God is the atmosphere in which you are. It is your responsibility to be aware of it. It is living in the conscious assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

It is like the shining of the sun. The sun always shines, but something can come between you and the sun, which causes you not to be standing in the sun anymore and not to feel the warmth of it. If sin and unbelief are present in you, they will cause you to shut yourself off from the beams of God’s love for you. His love is surely there, but you are not able to enjoy it at that moment. You have shut yourself off from it. Not only sins cause that effect. You can also be focused on the difficulties in your life in such a way that you forget God’s love. The point is that you do not allow that something comes between you and God’s love for you.

4. Jude 1:21b. As the fourth and final exhortation in view of yourself, Jude says that you should be looking for “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life”. This is about the second coming of Christ. His first coming was also an expression of God’s mercy (Luke 1:72; 78). Now that He in the last of times is about to come for the second time, your attention is drawn to that. When He comes the apostates will no longer be able to do evil. He will then take you away from the circumstances of misery to be with Him and enjoy the eternal life with Him to its fullness.

Jude 1:22. Now three exhortations follow in view of others. If you take the four previous exhortations to heart you will be longing to help others who may have got caught up in the trap of the people who secretly have crept in or in one way or another have been influenced by them.

However, the translation of these verses are rather diverse. In my explanation I use the translation that seems most convincing to me.

1. The first category regards the doubters. They must be ‘corrected’ – which seems to be a better translation than ‘have mercy on’ – because they make their doubts turn into points of dispute. You should help them to step out of the doubts and disputes by convincing them of the firm foundation of God’s truth.

2. Jude 1:23a. “Others” have already been more influenced by the people who crept in unnoticed. You see that they go the wrong way, the way to the fire. Think about the evolution theory, a poison that is taken in by countless unsuspecting young people, due to nice sounding so-called scientific arguments. That also includes Bible critics. Not only correction is in its place here, but these ‘others’ must be snatched out of the power these people. The earnest prayer of a righteous man is necessary to save them from their erring way (James 5:16b-20).

3. Jude 1:23b. The third group has gone the furthest. In case you have a task toward them, you must do that “with fear”, which refers to yourself, that you may not be dragged by them. You need to watch out carefully not to be involved yourself with their uncleanness in some way, even not with that of its appearance, represented by “the garment polluted by the flesh”. In your efforts to help them you run the risk of getting into temptation by participating in their sinful way of living instead of keeping distance.

Every connection with sinful life must be removed, even if it is about things that are not sinful in themselves. You may think, for example, of things that another person has gained in a sinful way, through which he made his life pleasant. In this way I once received a device for my computer as a sign of gratitude for my help from a person who wanted to cleanse himself from sin. After a while it appeared that he had bought that device with borrowed money. He had piled up a huge debt with several instances to afford himself a luxury life style. He gave that device to me without ulterior motives, but it was a ‘garment defiled by the flesh’. He did not have that feeling when he gave it to me. I gave that device back to him and said that he had to sell it himself to reduce his debt.

Jude 1:24. If you become thoroughly aware of what Jude has said, a feeling of powerlessness may overwhelm you. How great is it that he concludes his letter with focusing your eyes on Him “who is able to keep you from stumbling”. He not only keeps you from stumbling on the way, but it is His purpose “to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless” and that also “with great joy”. That purpose will be accomplished and the joy will in no way be disturbed.

Jude 1:25. God keeps us and makes us perfect because He is “God our Savior”. That He is “through Jesus Christ”, as He does everything through His Son. Jesus Christ is also “our Lord”. He has all power. If you consider that and become thoroughly aware of that, you will glorify Him for that. In this dangerous time there is yet always a reason to glorify God, or maybe just because of the particular circumstances. You will wish Him everything that Jude mentions here: 1. “glory”, which is all excellence that is visible from Him, 2. “majesty”, which is His dignity and splendor beyond everything, 3. “dominion”, which is His omnipotence, all the resources He has, all that is available to Him to carry out His plans and 4. “authority”, which is His personal right and inner ability to do that.

This all is wished to Him “before all time” and also through the ages, both “now” and “forever”, by all His own.

With that you and I agree wholeheartedly and say together with Jude “amen”, so it is and not otherwise.

Now read Jude 1:17-25 again.

Reflection: Which exhortations and encouragements do you find in this section?

Revelation 16:5

Exhortations and Encouragements

Jude 1:17. Jude has extensively described the characteristics of the apostate ungodly men. With the words “but you” he again addresses the believers. Just like he did in Jude 1:3, he again addresses them with “beloved”. He tells them that they should not have to be surprised that there are such people he previously described, among them. They only have to remember what the apostles of “our Lord Jesus Christ” have said. If they only take that to heart they will be kept from getting involved with these people or allow themselves to be influenced by their mockeries and ungodly lusts.

You see that Jude refers to the inspired Scriptures, in which it is written what the apostles have said. Back to the Scripture and not to human writings, how fundamental biblical they may be. In Acts 20 you find warnings from the mouth of Paul concerning the performance of people for whom Jude warns here (Acts 20:29-30). Peter and John also write about such people (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-19).

Jude 1:18. Their warning words come down to that “in the last time there will be mockers”. That time began when the Lord Jesus came to earth and was rejected and it will last until His return. This whole time is characterized – not by a submission of the world to the gospel, but – by the performance of mockers who do whatever they like to and who do not take God into account at all. Their whole life is dominated by the fulfillment of “their own ungodly lusts”.

Jude 1:19. The people whom Jude is talking about are incorrigible. Because they have no part in what the believers have in common, they form their own group in the midst of the church. They separate themselves like the Pharisees and form a group in the church to carry out their evil works there. They feel themselves superior to others who in their eyes are narrow-minded and petty and therefore look down on them with disdain.

They are “worldly-minded”, which means that they are guided by their soul, their feelings and not like God meant them to be, by their mind in relation to Him. They have no new life, but they are and remain sensual people who live according to their lusts. Each trace of life from God is missing. They are not born again and therefore are people who are “devoid of the Spirit”. Whatever they may claim in view of their being a Christian, their condition cannot possibly be the work of God’s Spirit.

Here we find the end of the verses that deal with apostasy and apostates in which there is not one glimmer of hope of improvement. Judgment will break loose on them in full force at the return of the Lord Jesus with all His own.

Jude 1:20. From this verse Jude passes on a number of encouragements. In Jude 1:20-23 he does that in the form of exhortations and in Jude 1:24-25 in the form of a praise. The exhortations are seven in total of which four refer to you personally and three to your relation toward others.

The exhortations are again introduced with the words “but you, beloved”. It again marks the contrast to the category of the people of the previous verses. Then we have the exhortations:

1. Jude 1:20a. You should not only contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), but you also need building yourself up on your “most holy faith”. That’s something you need to take care of yourself. You do that by engaging with God’s Word to better know the truth of faith. The truth of faith is the foundation that you lean on with your heart and soul. The sound teaching that is being taken in by your heart is necessary for your spiritual well-being. It is a matter of your heart.

2. Jude 1:20b. Beside the necessity of the building up in the faith, there is also the necessity of “praying in – and not ‘to’! – the Holy Spirit”. This is not possible for those who do not have the Spirit. But it is also not always the way of praying of every believer. A believer may pray in a formal way, after a standard model, or by praying a prayer in which the ‘I’ is centered (James 4:3). There is no power in such prayers. A prayer “in the Holy Spirit” is a prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit, in which He together with the spirit of the believer asks God what matters to God’s work and is to the glory of the Lord Jesus.

3. Jude 1:21a. To the building up of yourself on your most holy faith and the prayer in the Holy Spirit, you should also add keeping yourself “in the love of God”. Herein lies the command to keep yourself aware of God’s love. The love of God is the atmosphere in which you are. It is your responsibility to be aware of it. It is living in the conscious assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

It is like the shining of the sun. The sun always shines, but something can come between you and the sun, which causes you not to be standing in the sun anymore and not to feel the warmth of it. If sin and unbelief are present in you, they will cause you to shut yourself off from the beams of God’s love for you. His love is surely there, but you are not able to enjoy it at that moment. You have shut yourself off from it. Not only sins cause that effect. You can also be focused on the difficulties in your life in such a way that you forget God’s love. The point is that you do not allow that something comes between you and God’s love for you.

4. Jude 1:21b. As the fourth and final exhortation in view of yourself, Jude says that you should be looking for “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life”. This is about the second coming of Christ. His first coming was also an expression of God’s mercy (Luke 1:72; 78). Now that He in the last of times is about to come for the second time, your attention is drawn to that. When He comes the apostates will no longer be able to do evil. He will then take you away from the circumstances of misery to be with Him and enjoy the eternal life with Him to its fullness.

Jude 1:22. Now three exhortations follow in view of others. If you take the four previous exhortations to heart you will be longing to help others who may have got caught up in the trap of the people who secretly have crept in or in one way or another have been influenced by them.

However, the translation of these verses are rather diverse. In my explanation I use the translation that seems most convincing to me.

1. The first category regards the doubters. They must be ‘corrected’ – which seems to be a better translation than ‘have mercy on’ – because they make their doubts turn into points of dispute. You should help them to step out of the doubts and disputes by convincing them of the firm foundation of God’s truth.

2. Jude 1:23a. “Others” have already been more influenced by the people who crept in unnoticed. You see that they go the wrong way, the way to the fire. Think about the evolution theory, a poison that is taken in by countless unsuspecting young people, due to nice sounding so-called scientific arguments. That also includes Bible critics. Not only correction is in its place here, but these ‘others’ must be snatched out of the power these people. The earnest prayer of a righteous man is necessary to save them from their erring way (James 5:16b-20).

3. Jude 1:23b. The third group has gone the furthest. In case you have a task toward them, you must do that “with fear”, which refers to yourself, that you may not be dragged by them. You need to watch out carefully not to be involved yourself with their uncleanness in some way, even not with that of its appearance, represented by “the garment polluted by the flesh”. In your efforts to help them you run the risk of getting into temptation by participating in their sinful way of living instead of keeping distance.

Every connection with sinful life must be removed, even if it is about things that are not sinful in themselves. You may think, for example, of things that another person has gained in a sinful way, through which he made his life pleasant. In this way I once received a device for my computer as a sign of gratitude for my help from a person who wanted to cleanse himself from sin. After a while it appeared that he had bought that device with borrowed money. He had piled up a huge debt with several instances to afford himself a luxury life style. He gave that device to me without ulterior motives, but it was a ‘garment defiled by the flesh’. He did not have that feeling when he gave it to me. I gave that device back to him and said that he had to sell it himself to reduce his debt.

Jude 1:24. If you become thoroughly aware of what Jude has said, a feeling of powerlessness may overwhelm you. How great is it that he concludes his letter with focusing your eyes on Him “who is able to keep you from stumbling”. He not only keeps you from stumbling on the way, but it is His purpose “to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless” and that also “with great joy”. That purpose will be accomplished and the joy will in no way be disturbed.

Jude 1:25. God keeps us and makes us perfect because He is “God our Savior”. That He is “through Jesus Christ”, as He does everything through His Son. Jesus Christ is also “our Lord”. He has all power. If you consider that and become thoroughly aware of that, you will glorify Him for that. In this dangerous time there is yet always a reason to glorify God, or maybe just because of the particular circumstances. You will wish Him everything that Jude mentions here: 1. “glory”, which is all excellence that is visible from Him, 2. “majesty”, which is His dignity and splendor beyond everything, 3. “dominion”, which is His omnipotence, all the resources He has, all that is available to Him to carry out His plans and 4. “authority”, which is His personal right and inner ability to do that.

This all is wished to Him “before all time” and also through the ages, both “now” and “forever”, by all His own.

With that you and I agree wholeheartedly and say together with Jude “amen”, so it is and not otherwise.

Now read Jude 1:17-25 again.

Reflection: Which exhortations and encouragements do you find in this section?

Revelation 16:6

Exhortations and Encouragements

Jude 1:17. Jude has extensively described the characteristics of the apostate ungodly men. With the words “but you” he again addresses the believers. Just like he did in Jude 1:3, he again addresses them with “beloved”. He tells them that they should not have to be surprised that there are such people he previously described, among them. They only have to remember what the apostles of “our Lord Jesus Christ” have said. If they only take that to heart they will be kept from getting involved with these people or allow themselves to be influenced by their mockeries and ungodly lusts.

You see that Jude refers to the inspired Scriptures, in which it is written what the apostles have said. Back to the Scripture and not to human writings, how fundamental biblical they may be. In Acts 20 you find warnings from the mouth of Paul concerning the performance of people for whom Jude warns here (Acts 20:29-30). Peter and John also write about such people (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-19).

Jude 1:18. Their warning words come down to that “in the last time there will be mockers”. That time began when the Lord Jesus came to earth and was rejected and it will last until His return. This whole time is characterized – not by a submission of the world to the gospel, but – by the performance of mockers who do whatever they like to and who do not take God into account at all. Their whole life is dominated by the fulfillment of “their own ungodly lusts”.

Jude 1:19. The people whom Jude is talking about are incorrigible. Because they have no part in what the believers have in common, they form their own group in the midst of the church. They separate themselves like the Pharisees and form a group in the church to carry out their evil works there. They feel themselves superior to others who in their eyes are narrow-minded and petty and therefore look down on them with disdain.

They are “worldly-minded”, which means that they are guided by their soul, their feelings and not like God meant them to be, by their mind in relation to Him. They have no new life, but they are and remain sensual people who live according to their lusts. Each trace of life from God is missing. They are not born again and therefore are people who are “devoid of the Spirit”. Whatever they may claim in view of their being a Christian, their condition cannot possibly be the work of God’s Spirit.

Here we find the end of the verses that deal with apostasy and apostates in which there is not one glimmer of hope of improvement. Judgment will break loose on them in full force at the return of the Lord Jesus with all His own.

Jude 1:20. From this verse Jude passes on a number of encouragements. In Jude 1:20-23 he does that in the form of exhortations and in Jude 1:24-25 in the form of a praise. The exhortations are seven in total of which four refer to you personally and three to your relation toward others.

The exhortations are again introduced with the words “but you, beloved”. It again marks the contrast to the category of the people of the previous verses. Then we have the exhortations:

1. Jude 1:20a. You should not only contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), but you also need building yourself up on your “most holy faith”. That’s something you need to take care of yourself. You do that by engaging with God’s Word to better know the truth of faith. The truth of faith is the foundation that you lean on with your heart and soul. The sound teaching that is being taken in by your heart is necessary for your spiritual well-being. It is a matter of your heart.

2. Jude 1:20b. Beside the necessity of the building up in the faith, there is also the necessity of “praying in – and not ‘to’! – the Holy Spirit”. This is not possible for those who do not have the Spirit. But it is also not always the way of praying of every believer. A believer may pray in a formal way, after a standard model, or by praying a prayer in which the ‘I’ is centered (James 4:3). There is no power in such prayers. A prayer “in the Holy Spirit” is a prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit, in which He together with the spirit of the believer asks God what matters to God’s work and is to the glory of the Lord Jesus.

3. Jude 1:21a. To the building up of yourself on your most holy faith and the prayer in the Holy Spirit, you should also add keeping yourself “in the love of God”. Herein lies the command to keep yourself aware of God’s love. The love of God is the atmosphere in which you are. It is your responsibility to be aware of it. It is living in the conscious assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

It is like the shining of the sun. The sun always shines, but something can come between you and the sun, which causes you not to be standing in the sun anymore and not to feel the warmth of it. If sin and unbelief are present in you, they will cause you to shut yourself off from the beams of God’s love for you. His love is surely there, but you are not able to enjoy it at that moment. You have shut yourself off from it. Not only sins cause that effect. You can also be focused on the difficulties in your life in such a way that you forget God’s love. The point is that you do not allow that something comes between you and God’s love for you.

4. Jude 1:21b. As the fourth and final exhortation in view of yourself, Jude says that you should be looking for “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life”. This is about the second coming of Christ. His first coming was also an expression of God’s mercy (Luke 1:72; 78). Now that He in the last of times is about to come for the second time, your attention is drawn to that. When He comes the apostates will no longer be able to do evil. He will then take you away from the circumstances of misery to be with Him and enjoy the eternal life with Him to its fullness.

Jude 1:22. Now three exhortations follow in view of others. If you take the four previous exhortations to heart you will be longing to help others who may have got caught up in the trap of the people who secretly have crept in or in one way or another have been influenced by them.

However, the translation of these verses are rather diverse. In my explanation I use the translation that seems most convincing to me.

1. The first category regards the doubters. They must be ‘corrected’ – which seems to be a better translation than ‘have mercy on’ – because they make their doubts turn into points of dispute. You should help them to step out of the doubts and disputes by convincing them of the firm foundation of God’s truth.

2. Jude 1:23a. “Others” have already been more influenced by the people who crept in unnoticed. You see that they go the wrong way, the way to the fire. Think about the evolution theory, a poison that is taken in by countless unsuspecting young people, due to nice sounding so-called scientific arguments. That also includes Bible critics. Not only correction is in its place here, but these ‘others’ must be snatched out of the power these people. The earnest prayer of a righteous man is necessary to save them from their erring way (James 5:16b-20).

3. Jude 1:23b. The third group has gone the furthest. In case you have a task toward them, you must do that “with fear”, which refers to yourself, that you may not be dragged by them. You need to watch out carefully not to be involved yourself with their uncleanness in some way, even not with that of its appearance, represented by “the garment polluted by the flesh”. In your efforts to help them you run the risk of getting into temptation by participating in their sinful way of living instead of keeping distance.

Every connection with sinful life must be removed, even if it is about things that are not sinful in themselves. You may think, for example, of things that another person has gained in a sinful way, through which he made his life pleasant. In this way I once received a device for my computer as a sign of gratitude for my help from a person who wanted to cleanse himself from sin. After a while it appeared that he had bought that device with borrowed money. He had piled up a huge debt with several instances to afford himself a luxury life style. He gave that device to me without ulterior motives, but it was a ‘garment defiled by the flesh’. He did not have that feeling when he gave it to me. I gave that device back to him and said that he had to sell it himself to reduce his debt.

Jude 1:24. If you become thoroughly aware of what Jude has said, a feeling of powerlessness may overwhelm you. How great is it that he concludes his letter with focusing your eyes on Him “who is able to keep you from stumbling”. He not only keeps you from stumbling on the way, but it is His purpose “to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless” and that also “with great joy”. That purpose will be accomplished and the joy will in no way be disturbed.

Jude 1:25. God keeps us and makes us perfect because He is “God our Savior”. That He is “through Jesus Christ”, as He does everything through His Son. Jesus Christ is also “our Lord”. He has all power. If you consider that and become thoroughly aware of that, you will glorify Him for that. In this dangerous time there is yet always a reason to glorify God, or maybe just because of the particular circumstances. You will wish Him everything that Jude mentions here: 1. “glory”, which is all excellence that is visible from Him, 2. “majesty”, which is His dignity and splendor beyond everything, 3. “dominion”, which is His omnipotence, all the resources He has, all that is available to Him to carry out His plans and 4. “authority”, which is His personal right and inner ability to do that.

This all is wished to Him “before all time” and also through the ages, both “now” and “forever”, by all His own.

With that you and I agree wholeheartedly and say together with Jude “amen”, so it is and not otherwise.

Now read Jude 1:17-25 again.

Reflection: Which exhortations and encouragements do you find in this section?

Revelation 16:7

Exhortations and Encouragements

Jude 1:17. Jude has extensively described the characteristics of the apostate ungodly men. With the words “but you” he again addresses the believers. Just like he did in Jude 1:3, he again addresses them with “beloved”. He tells them that they should not have to be surprised that there are such people he previously described, among them. They only have to remember what the apostles of “our Lord Jesus Christ” have said. If they only take that to heart they will be kept from getting involved with these people or allow themselves to be influenced by their mockeries and ungodly lusts.

You see that Jude refers to the inspired Scriptures, in which it is written what the apostles have said. Back to the Scripture and not to human writings, how fundamental biblical they may be. In Acts 20 you find warnings from the mouth of Paul concerning the performance of people for whom Jude warns here (Acts 20:29-30). Peter and John also write about such people (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-19).

Jude 1:18. Their warning words come down to that “in the last time there will be mockers”. That time began when the Lord Jesus came to earth and was rejected and it will last until His return. This whole time is characterized – not by a submission of the world to the gospel, but – by the performance of mockers who do whatever they like to and who do not take God into account at all. Their whole life is dominated by the fulfillment of “their own ungodly lusts”.

Jude 1:19. The people whom Jude is talking about are incorrigible. Because they have no part in what the believers have in common, they form their own group in the midst of the church. They separate themselves like the Pharisees and form a group in the church to carry out their evil works there. They feel themselves superior to others who in their eyes are narrow-minded and petty and therefore look down on them with disdain.

They are “worldly-minded”, which means that they are guided by their soul, their feelings and not like God meant them to be, by their mind in relation to Him. They have no new life, but they are and remain sensual people who live according to their lusts. Each trace of life from God is missing. They are not born again and therefore are people who are “devoid of the Spirit”. Whatever they may claim in view of their being a Christian, their condition cannot possibly be the work of God’s Spirit.

Here we find the end of the verses that deal with apostasy and apostates in which there is not one glimmer of hope of improvement. Judgment will break loose on them in full force at the return of the Lord Jesus with all His own.

Jude 1:20. From this verse Jude passes on a number of encouragements. In Jude 1:20-23 he does that in the form of exhortations and in Jude 1:24-25 in the form of a praise. The exhortations are seven in total of which four refer to you personally and three to your relation toward others.

The exhortations are again introduced with the words “but you, beloved”. It again marks the contrast to the category of the people of the previous verses. Then we have the exhortations:

1. Jude 1:20a. You should not only contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), but you also need building yourself up on your “most holy faith”. That’s something you need to take care of yourself. You do that by engaging with God’s Word to better know the truth of faith. The truth of faith is the foundation that you lean on with your heart and soul. The sound teaching that is being taken in by your heart is necessary for your spiritual well-being. It is a matter of your heart.

2. Jude 1:20b. Beside the necessity of the building up in the faith, there is also the necessity of “praying in – and not ‘to’! – the Holy Spirit”. This is not possible for those who do not have the Spirit. But it is also not always the way of praying of every believer. A believer may pray in a formal way, after a standard model, or by praying a prayer in which the ‘I’ is centered (James 4:3). There is no power in such prayers. A prayer “in the Holy Spirit” is a prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit, in which He together with the spirit of the believer asks God what matters to God’s work and is to the glory of the Lord Jesus.

3. Jude 1:21a. To the building up of yourself on your most holy faith and the prayer in the Holy Spirit, you should also add keeping yourself “in the love of God”. Herein lies the command to keep yourself aware of God’s love. The love of God is the atmosphere in which you are. It is your responsibility to be aware of it. It is living in the conscious assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

It is like the shining of the sun. The sun always shines, but something can come between you and the sun, which causes you not to be standing in the sun anymore and not to feel the warmth of it. If sin and unbelief are present in you, they will cause you to shut yourself off from the beams of God’s love for you. His love is surely there, but you are not able to enjoy it at that moment. You have shut yourself off from it. Not only sins cause that effect. You can also be focused on the difficulties in your life in such a way that you forget God’s love. The point is that you do not allow that something comes between you and God’s love for you.

4. Jude 1:21b. As the fourth and final exhortation in view of yourself, Jude says that you should be looking for “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life”. This is about the second coming of Christ. His first coming was also an expression of God’s mercy (Luke 1:72; 78). Now that He in the last of times is about to come for the second time, your attention is drawn to that. When He comes the apostates will no longer be able to do evil. He will then take you away from the circumstances of misery to be with Him and enjoy the eternal life with Him to its fullness.

Jude 1:22. Now three exhortations follow in view of others. If you take the four previous exhortations to heart you will be longing to help others who may have got caught up in the trap of the people who secretly have crept in or in one way or another have been influenced by them.

However, the translation of these verses are rather diverse. In my explanation I use the translation that seems most convincing to me.

1. The first category regards the doubters. They must be ‘corrected’ – which seems to be a better translation than ‘have mercy on’ – because they make their doubts turn into points of dispute. You should help them to step out of the doubts and disputes by convincing them of the firm foundation of God’s truth.

2. Jude 1:23a. “Others” have already been more influenced by the people who crept in unnoticed. You see that they go the wrong way, the way to the fire. Think about the evolution theory, a poison that is taken in by countless unsuspecting young people, due to nice sounding so-called scientific arguments. That also includes Bible critics. Not only correction is in its place here, but these ‘others’ must be snatched out of the power these people. The earnest prayer of a righteous man is necessary to save them from their erring way (James 5:16b-20).

3. Jude 1:23b. The third group has gone the furthest. In case you have a task toward them, you must do that “with fear”, which refers to yourself, that you may not be dragged by them. You need to watch out carefully not to be involved yourself with their uncleanness in some way, even not with that of its appearance, represented by “the garment polluted by the flesh”. In your efforts to help them you run the risk of getting into temptation by participating in their sinful way of living instead of keeping distance.

Every connection with sinful life must be removed, even if it is about things that are not sinful in themselves. You may think, for example, of things that another person has gained in a sinful way, through which he made his life pleasant. In this way I once received a device for my computer as a sign of gratitude for my help from a person who wanted to cleanse himself from sin. After a while it appeared that he had bought that device with borrowed money. He had piled up a huge debt with several instances to afford himself a luxury life style. He gave that device to me without ulterior motives, but it was a ‘garment defiled by the flesh’. He did not have that feeling when he gave it to me. I gave that device back to him and said that he had to sell it himself to reduce his debt.

Jude 1:24. If you become thoroughly aware of what Jude has said, a feeling of powerlessness may overwhelm you. How great is it that he concludes his letter with focusing your eyes on Him “who is able to keep you from stumbling”. He not only keeps you from stumbling on the way, but it is His purpose “to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless” and that also “with great joy”. That purpose will be accomplished and the joy will in no way be disturbed.

Jude 1:25. God keeps us and makes us perfect because He is “God our Savior”. That He is “through Jesus Christ”, as He does everything through His Son. Jesus Christ is also “our Lord”. He has all power. If you consider that and become thoroughly aware of that, you will glorify Him for that. In this dangerous time there is yet always a reason to glorify God, or maybe just because of the particular circumstances. You will wish Him everything that Jude mentions here: 1. “glory”, which is all excellence that is visible from Him, 2. “majesty”, which is His dignity and splendor beyond everything, 3. “dominion”, which is His omnipotence, all the resources He has, all that is available to Him to carry out His plans and 4. “authority”, which is His personal right and inner ability to do that.

This all is wished to Him “before all time” and also through the ages, both “now” and “forever”, by all His own.

With that you and I agree wholeheartedly and say together with Jude “amen”, so it is and not otherwise.

Now read Jude 1:17-25 again.

Reflection: Which exhortations and encouragements do you find in this section?

Revelation 16:8

Exhortations and Encouragements

Jude 1:17. Jude has extensively described the characteristics of the apostate ungodly men. With the words “but you” he again addresses the believers. Just like he did in Jude 1:3, he again addresses them with “beloved”. He tells them that they should not have to be surprised that there are such people he previously described, among them. They only have to remember what the apostles of “our Lord Jesus Christ” have said. If they only take that to heart they will be kept from getting involved with these people or allow themselves to be influenced by their mockeries and ungodly lusts.

You see that Jude refers to the inspired Scriptures, in which it is written what the apostles have said. Back to the Scripture and not to human writings, how fundamental biblical they may be. In Acts 20 you find warnings from the mouth of Paul concerning the performance of people for whom Jude warns here (Acts 20:29-30). Peter and John also write about such people (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-19).

Jude 1:18. Their warning words come down to that “in the last time there will be mockers”. That time began when the Lord Jesus came to earth and was rejected and it will last until His return. This whole time is characterized – not by a submission of the world to the gospel, but – by the performance of mockers who do whatever they like to and who do not take God into account at all. Their whole life is dominated by the fulfillment of “their own ungodly lusts”.

Jude 1:19. The people whom Jude is talking about are incorrigible. Because they have no part in what the believers have in common, they form their own group in the midst of the church. They separate themselves like the Pharisees and form a group in the church to carry out their evil works there. They feel themselves superior to others who in their eyes are narrow-minded and petty and therefore look down on them with disdain.

They are “worldly-minded”, which means that they are guided by their soul, their feelings and not like God meant them to be, by their mind in relation to Him. They have no new life, but they are and remain sensual people who live according to their lusts. Each trace of life from God is missing. They are not born again and therefore are people who are “devoid of the Spirit”. Whatever they may claim in view of their being a Christian, their condition cannot possibly be the work of God’s Spirit.

Here we find the end of the verses that deal with apostasy and apostates in which there is not one glimmer of hope of improvement. Judgment will break loose on them in full force at the return of the Lord Jesus with all His own.

Jude 1:20. From this verse Jude passes on a number of encouragements. In Jude 1:20-23 he does that in the form of exhortations and in Jude 1:24-25 in the form of a praise. The exhortations are seven in total of which four refer to you personally and three to your relation toward others.

The exhortations are again introduced with the words “but you, beloved”. It again marks the contrast to the category of the people of the previous verses. Then we have the exhortations:

1. Jude 1:20a. You should not only contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), but you also need building yourself up on your “most holy faith”. That’s something you need to take care of yourself. You do that by engaging with God’s Word to better know the truth of faith. The truth of faith is the foundation that you lean on with your heart and soul. The sound teaching that is being taken in by your heart is necessary for your spiritual well-being. It is a matter of your heart.

2. Jude 1:20b. Beside the necessity of the building up in the faith, there is also the necessity of “praying in – and not ‘to’! – the Holy Spirit”. This is not possible for those who do not have the Spirit. But it is also not always the way of praying of every believer. A believer may pray in a formal way, after a standard model, or by praying a prayer in which the ‘I’ is centered (James 4:3). There is no power in such prayers. A prayer “in the Holy Spirit” is a prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit, in which He together with the spirit of the believer asks God what matters to God’s work and is to the glory of the Lord Jesus.

3. Jude 1:21a. To the building up of yourself on your most holy faith and the prayer in the Holy Spirit, you should also add keeping yourself “in the love of God”. Herein lies the command to keep yourself aware of God’s love. The love of God is the atmosphere in which you are. It is your responsibility to be aware of it. It is living in the conscious assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

It is like the shining of the sun. The sun always shines, but something can come between you and the sun, which causes you not to be standing in the sun anymore and not to feel the warmth of it. If sin and unbelief are present in you, they will cause you to shut yourself off from the beams of God’s love for you. His love is surely there, but you are not able to enjoy it at that moment. You have shut yourself off from it. Not only sins cause that effect. You can also be focused on the difficulties in your life in such a way that you forget God’s love. The point is that you do not allow that something comes between you and God’s love for you.

4. Jude 1:21b. As the fourth and final exhortation in view of yourself, Jude says that you should be looking for “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life”. This is about the second coming of Christ. His first coming was also an expression of God’s mercy (Luke 1:72; 78). Now that He in the last of times is about to come for the second time, your attention is drawn to that. When He comes the apostates will no longer be able to do evil. He will then take you away from the circumstances of misery to be with Him and enjoy the eternal life with Him to its fullness.

Jude 1:22. Now three exhortations follow in view of others. If you take the four previous exhortations to heart you will be longing to help others who may have got caught up in the trap of the people who secretly have crept in or in one way or another have been influenced by them.

However, the translation of these verses are rather diverse. In my explanation I use the translation that seems most convincing to me.

1. The first category regards the doubters. They must be ‘corrected’ – which seems to be a better translation than ‘have mercy on’ – because they make their doubts turn into points of dispute. You should help them to step out of the doubts and disputes by convincing them of the firm foundation of God’s truth.

2. Jude 1:23a. “Others” have already been more influenced by the people who crept in unnoticed. You see that they go the wrong way, the way to the fire. Think about the evolution theory, a poison that is taken in by countless unsuspecting young people, due to nice sounding so-called scientific arguments. That also includes Bible critics. Not only correction is in its place here, but these ‘others’ must be snatched out of the power these people. The earnest prayer of a righteous man is necessary to save them from their erring way (James 5:16b-20).

3. Jude 1:23b. The third group has gone the furthest. In case you have a task toward them, you must do that “with fear”, which refers to yourself, that you may not be dragged by them. You need to watch out carefully not to be involved yourself with their uncleanness in some way, even not with that of its appearance, represented by “the garment polluted by the flesh”. In your efforts to help them you run the risk of getting into temptation by participating in their sinful way of living instead of keeping distance.

Every connection with sinful life must be removed, even if it is about things that are not sinful in themselves. You may think, for example, of things that another person has gained in a sinful way, through which he made his life pleasant. In this way I once received a device for my computer as a sign of gratitude for my help from a person who wanted to cleanse himself from sin. After a while it appeared that he had bought that device with borrowed money. He had piled up a huge debt with several instances to afford himself a luxury life style. He gave that device to me without ulterior motives, but it was a ‘garment defiled by the flesh’. He did not have that feeling when he gave it to me. I gave that device back to him and said that he had to sell it himself to reduce his debt.

Jude 1:24. If you become thoroughly aware of what Jude has said, a feeling of powerlessness may overwhelm you. How great is it that he concludes his letter with focusing your eyes on Him “who is able to keep you from stumbling”. He not only keeps you from stumbling on the way, but it is His purpose “to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless” and that also “with great joy”. That purpose will be accomplished and the joy will in no way be disturbed.

Jude 1:25. God keeps us and makes us perfect because He is “God our Savior”. That He is “through Jesus Christ”, as He does everything through His Son. Jesus Christ is also “our Lord”. He has all power. If you consider that and become thoroughly aware of that, you will glorify Him for that. In this dangerous time there is yet always a reason to glorify God, or maybe just because of the particular circumstances. You will wish Him everything that Jude mentions here: 1. “glory”, which is all excellence that is visible from Him, 2. “majesty”, which is His dignity and splendor beyond everything, 3. “dominion”, which is His omnipotence, all the resources He has, all that is available to Him to carry out His plans and 4. “authority”, which is His personal right and inner ability to do that.

This all is wished to Him “before all time” and also through the ages, both “now” and “forever”, by all His own.

With that you and I agree wholeheartedly and say together with Jude “amen”, so it is and not otherwise.

Now read Jude 1:17-25 again.

Reflection: Which exhortations and encouragements do you find in this section?

Revelation 16:9

Exhortations and Encouragements

Jude 1:17. Jude has extensively described the characteristics of the apostate ungodly men. With the words “but you” he again addresses the believers. Just like he did in Jude 1:3, he again addresses them with “beloved”. He tells them that they should not have to be surprised that there are such people he previously described, among them. They only have to remember what the apostles of “our Lord Jesus Christ” have said. If they only take that to heart they will be kept from getting involved with these people or allow themselves to be influenced by their mockeries and ungodly lusts.

You see that Jude refers to the inspired Scriptures, in which it is written what the apostles have said. Back to the Scripture and not to human writings, how fundamental biblical they may be. In Acts 20 you find warnings from the mouth of Paul concerning the performance of people for whom Jude warns here (Acts 20:29-30). Peter and John also write about such people (2 Peter 2:1; 2 Peter 3:3; 1 John 2:18-19).

Jude 1:18. Their warning words come down to that “in the last time there will be mockers”. That time began when the Lord Jesus came to earth and was rejected and it will last until His return. This whole time is characterized – not by a submission of the world to the gospel, but – by the performance of mockers who do whatever they like to and who do not take God into account at all. Their whole life is dominated by the fulfillment of “their own ungodly lusts”.

Jude 1:19. The people whom Jude is talking about are incorrigible. Because they have no part in what the believers have in common, they form their own group in the midst of the church. They separate themselves like the Pharisees and form a group in the church to carry out their evil works there. They feel themselves superior to others who in their eyes are narrow-minded and petty and therefore look down on them with disdain.

They are “worldly-minded”, which means that they are guided by their soul, their feelings and not like God meant them to be, by their mind in relation to Him. They have no new life, but they are and remain sensual people who live according to their lusts. Each trace of life from God is missing. They are not born again and therefore are people who are “devoid of the Spirit”. Whatever they may claim in view of their being a Christian, their condition cannot possibly be the work of God’s Spirit.

Here we find the end of the verses that deal with apostasy and apostates in which there is not one glimmer of hope of improvement. Judgment will break loose on them in full force at the return of the Lord Jesus with all His own.

Jude 1:20. From this verse Jude passes on a number of encouragements. In Jude 1:20-23 he does that in the form of exhortations and in Jude 1:24-25 in the form of a praise. The exhortations are seven in total of which four refer to you personally and three to your relation toward others.

The exhortations are again introduced with the words “but you, beloved”. It again marks the contrast to the category of the people of the previous verses. Then we have the exhortations:

1. Jude 1:20a. You should not only contend for the faith (Jude 1:3), but you also need building yourself up on your “most holy faith”. That’s something you need to take care of yourself. You do that by engaging with God’s Word to better know the truth of faith. The truth of faith is the foundation that you lean on with your heart and soul. The sound teaching that is being taken in by your heart is necessary for your spiritual well-being. It is a matter of your heart.

2. Jude 1:20b. Beside the necessity of the building up in the faith, there is also the necessity of “praying in – and not ‘to’! – the Holy Spirit”. This is not possible for those who do not have the Spirit. But it is also not always the way of praying of every believer. A believer may pray in a formal way, after a standard model, or by praying a prayer in which the ‘I’ is centered (James 4:3). There is no power in such prayers. A prayer “in the Holy Spirit” is a prayer in the power of the Holy Spirit, in which He together with the spirit of the believer asks God what matters to God’s work and is to the glory of the Lord Jesus.

3. Jude 1:21a. To the building up of yourself on your most holy faith and the prayer in the Holy Spirit, you should also add keeping yourself “in the love of God”. Herein lies the command to keep yourself aware of God’s love. The love of God is the atmosphere in which you are. It is your responsibility to be aware of it. It is living in the conscious assurance that nothing can separate you from the love of God (Romans 8:39).

It is like the shining of the sun. The sun always shines, but something can come between you and the sun, which causes you not to be standing in the sun anymore and not to feel the warmth of it. If sin and unbelief are present in you, they will cause you to shut yourself off from the beams of God’s love for you. His love is surely there, but you are not able to enjoy it at that moment. You have shut yourself off from it. Not only sins cause that effect. You can also be focused on the difficulties in your life in such a way that you forget God’s love. The point is that you do not allow that something comes between you and God’s love for you.

4. Jude 1:21b. As the fourth and final exhortation in view of yourself, Jude says that you should be looking for “the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life”. This is about the second coming of Christ. His first coming was also an expression of God’s mercy (Luke 1:72; 78). Now that He in the last of times is about to come for the second time, your attention is drawn to that. When He comes the apostates will no longer be able to do evil. He will then take you away from the circumstances of misery to be with Him and enjoy the eternal life with Him to its fullness.

Jude 1:22. Now three exhortations follow in view of others. If you take the four previous exhortations to heart you will be longing to help others who may have got caught up in the trap of the people who secretly have crept in or in one way or another have been influenced by them.

However, the translation of these verses are rather diverse. In my explanation I use the translation that seems most convincing to me.

1. The first category regards the doubters. They must be ‘corrected’ – which seems to be a better translation than ‘have mercy on’ – because they make their doubts turn into points of dispute. You should help them to step out of the doubts and disputes by convincing them of the firm foundation of God’s truth.

2. Jude 1:23a. “Others” have already been more influenced by the people who crept in unnoticed. You see that they go the wrong way, the way to the fire. Think about the evolution theory, a poison that is taken in by countless unsuspecting young people, due to nice sounding so-called scientific arguments. That also includes Bible critics. Not only correction is in its place here, but these ‘others’ must be snatched out of the power these people. The earnest prayer of a righteous man is necessary to save them from their erring way (James 5:16b-20).

3. Jude 1:23b. The third group has gone the furthest. In case you have a task toward them, you must do that “with fear”, which refers to yourself, that you may not be dragged by them. You need to watch out carefully not to be involved yourself with their uncleanness in some way, even not with that of its appearance, represented by “the garment polluted by the flesh”. In your efforts to help them you run the risk of getting into temptation by participating in their sinful way of living instead of keeping distance.

Every connection with sinful life must be removed, even if it is about things that are not sinful in themselves. You may think, for example, of things that another person has gained in a sinful way, through which he made his life pleasant. In this way I once received a device for my computer as a sign of gratitude for my help from a person who wanted to cleanse himself from sin. After a while it appeared that he had bought that device with borrowed money. He had piled up a huge debt with several instances to afford himself a luxury life style. He gave that device to me without ulterior motives, but it was a ‘garment defiled by the flesh’. He did not have that feeling when he gave it to me. I gave that device back to him and said that he had to sell it himself to reduce his debt.

Jude 1:24. If you become thoroughly aware of what Jude has said, a feeling of powerlessness may overwhelm you. How great is it that he concludes his letter with focusing your eyes on Him “who is able to keep you from stumbling”. He not only keeps you from stumbling on the way, but it is His purpose “to make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless” and that also “with great joy”. That purpose will be accomplished and the joy will in no way be disturbed.

Jude 1:25. God keeps us and makes us perfect because He is “God our Savior”. That He is “through Jesus Christ”, as He does everything through His Son. Jesus Christ is also “our Lord”. He has all power. If you consider that and become thoroughly aware of that, you will glorify Him for that. In this dangerous time there is yet always a reason to glorify God, or maybe just because of the particular circumstances. You will wish Him everything that Jude mentions here: 1. “glory”, which is all excellence that is visible from Him, 2. “majesty”, which is His dignity and splendor beyond everything, 3. “dominion”, which is His omnipotence, all the resources He has, all that is available to Him to carry out His plans and 4. “authority”, which is His personal right and inner ability to do that.

This all is wished to Him “before all time” and also through the ages, both “now” and “forever”, by all His own.

With that you and I agree wholeheartedly and say together with Jude “amen”, so it is and not otherwise.

Now read Jude 1:17-25 again.

Reflection: Which exhortations and encouragements do you find in this section?

Revelation 16:12

Introduction

The book of Revelation is probably written around the year 90 by the evangelist and apostle John. This book is addressed to seven churches in Asia (Revelation 1:11) in the first place, but is also meant for the whole Christian church through the ages.

Revelation has its own, unique place among the twenty seven books and letters the New Testament contains. After the five historical books and the twenty one letters in which also prophetic portions appear, the book of Revelation is in its whole a strictly prophetic book (Revelation 1:3). This last book of the Bible reveals our future and is in that way a nice counterpart of the first book of the Bible that declares our origin.

In the book of Revelation it is about the future of the Lord Jesus. And His future determines the future of the world, of Israel, of the church and of the devil and his henchmen. In this Bible book the Lord Jesus is in the center. It is about His Person, about His redemption work, His resurrection, His glorification and His return.

This book is the great terminus where all trains that have started to run in the Old Testament, reach their final destination. I haven’t checked, but someone has found, in the four hundred and four verses that make up this book, at least two hundred and seventy-eight verses that you can somehow connect to a verse or section in the Old Testament. That, of course, is not strange if you consider that Christ is also the subject of the prophecy of the Old Testament. In the Old Testament we are pointed ahead to Him as the One Who is coming. In the book of Revelation He has come and as the revealed Christ He is the Center of all events.

It is the book of contrasts. You will discover how the spiritual powers light and darkness and good and evil oppose each another. In the same way God and Christ and satan are opposites. Other opposites are people who are saved and people who are not saved, and also holy and unholy angels. All these persons are actors who are performing on the world stage. You will see how the stage changes and transforms from time to eternity and vice versa. The backdrop of the show is formed by heaven and earth and the abyss and the lake of fire.

Everything is supported by music and songs and other expressions of feelings. The song of the victory and the ‘woe’ cry of the defeated cause happiness and also sadness. But the outcome is that God triumphs and that the glories of the Lord Jesus in both the millennial kingdom of peace and in eternity shine in undimmed and immortal beauty and splendor.

There are various possibilities to subdivide this book. The simplest and clearest one is supplied in the book itself, in Revelation 1 (Revelation 1:19). It is a subdivision in three parts: 1. the things which you have seen (Revelation 1:1-20), 2. the things which are (Revelation 2:1-3:22) and 3. the things which will take place after these things (Revelation 4:1-22:21).

Purpose of the Book

Revelation 1:1. The first word of the book, “revelation”, indicates that something is about to be unveiled. There is something to be made known which formerly was hidden. It is therefore remarkable that to many Christians this book is incomprehensible and mysterious. I do not claim that everything is easy to explain, but I do say that the events in this book are not obscure, but are made clear. The veil over the future is taken away.

You shall indeed have to make efforts to figure out in which way the future is clarified here. Many symbols, for example, are used. But your attempts to also understand this part of God’s Word will be doubly rewarded if you continually remind yourself that God finds this the best way to communicate to you His thoughts about the future.

If you only read this first verse carefully and allow that to sink in, you will see that it is full of instructions for understanding the contents of this book. It says that it is the revelation “of Jesus Christ”. That means that Jesus Christ is the One, Who reveals or makes known (cf. Galatians 1:12). He acts. At the same time it is of course also true that the revelation refers to Him, which means that He is the One Who is revealed. He is both the Center and the Executor of God’s counsels.

Then you read that “God gave Him” that revelation. That means that the Lord Jesus is seen here as Man, Who has taken a place of dependence. He receives everything out of the hands of God. He is so truly Man, that it is written of Him that He as Man does not know when the fulfillments of the things will take place (Mark 13:32). Here you stand before the inconceivable mystery of God and Man in one Person.

Then John writes about the purpose of the revelation and that is “to show His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place”. The bond-servants here are in the first place the prophets (Revelation 10:7; Revelation 11:18), but they also represent the believers in a general sense (Revelation 7:3; Revelation 19:5; Revelation 22:3; Romans 6:19-22). To be able to see the future things and to take them in, you need the mind of a bond-servant. Conversely, knowing the things to come will make you a better slave. You will be serving with insight in accordance to the great plans of God, with a view to the church, professing Christianity, Israel and the world.

The word “show” plays an important role in the book of Revelation. God continually ‘shows’ things to John, and John in his turn passes on what has been ‘shown’ to him. The aim of this book is to show that the judgment is coming. It must “soon” take place or ‘in a hurry’, which is rapidly, quickly.

You may say that it is not that soon, for it is nearly two thousand years ago that this has been written down and it still has not happened. But don’t be mistaken. This word remains in force, for time doesn’t count for God and for faith (Psalms 90:4; 2 Peter 3:8). And it “must” happen. You may say that there is mention here of a Divine must. God is not only the omniscient God Who tells what is going to happen, He is also the omnipotent God Who makes things happen the way He wants.

To make known His plans with the world and most of all to reveal His Son, He has used angels. Angels have been used more often by God as mediators (Acts 7:38; Galatians 3:19). The fact that God uses angels indicates that there is a distance between Him and John to whom He gives His messages. This goes even more for those to whom John in his turn has to pass on those messages.

Formerly John received messages from the Lord while he was reclining on His bosom (John 13:23-26). That indicates confidentiality. However, John is not apostle here, but prophet. Prophets speak to God’s people when decay takes place. They warn for of the judgment that is imminent. John is the last one in the chain of five links through which the revelation of God reaches His bond-servants: 1. the revelation is from God; 2. comes of Jesus Christ; 3. by His angel; 4. to John; 5. to His bond-servants.

The revelation was “communicated” or “signified” (NKJV) to John. This expression “signified” is typical for this book. It is derived from the word ‘sign’. John often receives the messages on the things to come by the means of signs or symbols, through which he gets to see what must take place. Something like that we see in Matthew 13 where the Lord makes use of parables. He uses them to teach. He tells His disciples why He does that and says that through His explanation they will be able to understand the deeper meaning of these parables, while it will remain hidden for the mass of people (Matthew 13:10-17; 34-35).

In this book you will see that the symbols which are used especially are borrowed from nature: celestial bodies – the sun, the moon, the stars; the natural phenomena, such as wind, lightning; the world of plants, such as trees, grass; the world of animals, such as lamb, the grasshopper; the world of men, such as mother and child, harlot and bride; the world of culture, such as musical instruments; agricultural tools. Also the many numbers used in this book are often symbolic: two, three, three and a half, four, five, six, seven, eight, ten, twelve, twenty-four, forty-two, one hundred and forty four, six hundred and sixty six, one thousand, twelve hundred and sixty, sixteen hundred.

Its explanation is not left to your imagination. The symbols are explained 1. by the book itself, 2. by the context of the book and 3. by the use of it in the Old Testament.

That does not mean that there is always one unambiguous explanation for each symbol. It also happens that certain matters or events are no symbols, but that they must be taken literally.

All in all, by opening this book to read it we stand at the beginning of an exciting discovery journey. Let us do that with the humble mind of people who are aware that the omnipotent God wants to share His plans with us. Let us at the same time pray that what He reveals to us will have the effect that we put our life at His disposal.

Now read Revelation 1:1 again.

Reflection: Thank the Lord that He wants to involve you in His future plans and ask Him to help you to live in accordance with them.

Revelation 16:13

Recipients, Blessing and Praise

Revelation 1:2. The revelation of which John is a witness and in which he involves you, is no fabrication of himself. It comes to you with all the authority of the Word spoken by God. What John testified about the coming events, comes from the mouth of God. As an extra emphasis it is added that what God has said is completely covered by “the testimony of Jesus Christ”. The Lord Jesus testifies to what God has spoken.

“All that he saw” is the contents of this whole book. Everything that John has seen and what he has written in this book is therefore the Word of God, while the testimony of Jesus Christ indicates the prophetic nature of it. After all, it is about the revelation, the becoming visible in the world, of Him.

Revelation 1:3. There is a special blessing associated with reading or the reading aloud this book and the listening to its contents: you are “blessed”. No one can ‘read’ it and ‘hear’ it without being blessed. What you read and hear are messages about future events that are inspired word for word.

Beside reading and hearing it is also important to “heed the things which are written in it”. “To heed” means that you treasure these things in your heart, so that they may have an influence in the practice of your life too. After all, from your heart your life is governed (Proverbs 4:23). The call to heed returns one more time at the end of the book (Revelation 22:7). What is written in this book is therefore sandwiched between these two calls.

As a matter of fact, that it is “written”, means that it is of lasting value. It is always possible to be read in order to see what must yet take place and it can also be read to check on what is happening around you. You therefore have a perfect manual of the future in your hands. I would like to advise you to often consult it because “the time” when everything is brought to a decision “is near”. The Lord Jesus is about to appear and to judge.

Revelation 1:4. John is the right person to write this book. The Lord Jesus said of him that he, concerning his ministry, would remain until He comes (John 21:22). That means that John also has a ministry regarding the future. He already achieves that ministry in a sense when he speaks in his first letter about the antichrist and the return of Christ and the decay that was already showing up. But the full achievement of it we find in this book of Revelation.

He writes the book “to the seven churches that are in Asia”. The mention of the number “seven” is not insignificant. The number seven represents perfection. The seven churches represent the whole church. It indeed are seven different churches. You will see it better when we will study chapters 2 and 3. That means that the whole church has been manifested on earth in different ways.

You must have noticed in the letters which Paul has written to various churches that local churches are different from each other. That variety is not only seen in the different local churches, but also in the various periods of the existence of the church on earth. You recognize that directly if you only think of how the church was at the beginning and how the church is today. In that way there are more differences in the development of the church.

All those different churches may learn a lot from one another and we also can learn a lot from it. That’s why it is so wonderful that in God’s Word we have this writing of John to them.

It is also beautiful to see that the blessing of “grace” and “peace”, which you can remember from the letters of Paul, is also wished by John here to the seven churches. “Grace” is the source of all blessing, it is the unmerited favor of God, which you receive just on the basis of Who He is. If you realize that God deals with you in grace, the result will be that you will go your way with “peace” in your heart, whatever the circumstances.

But there is a difference with the letters of Paul when it comes the question from Whom you get the blessing. In those letters the blessing comes from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here it is “from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne”. That is fitting with this Bible book.

Here you see God as He is presented in the Old Testament: as Yahweh, the God of the covenant, the God of faithfulness to His covenant. Then what is said next is not first ‘Who was’, but “Who is”. That means that He is seen as the “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). But He is also the One “Who was”. That is the God of the past, Who has always taken care of His people and the whole earth. He is also the One “Who is to come”, for He is also the God of the future.

Then in the blessing “the seven Spirits” are mentioned. This is the Holy Spirit, but as the Spirit of power through Whom God will execute the judgments from His throne. The number seven refers to the variety and the perfection with which the Lord Jesus will execute the judgments in the power of this Spirit at His return (cf. Isaiah 11:2). Therefore the attention is drawn to the “throne” of God, which emphasizes that it is about reigning and the exercise of power.

Revelation 1:5. Finally grace and peace are wished “from Jesus Christ”. Just like with the seven Spirits, to Whom is added “Who are before His throne”, also something is added to the name of Jesus Christ. You can actually say that three titles of Him are mentioned which all are in relation with the earth.

He was “the faithful witness” to God in the past on earth (1 Timothy 6:13), from the manger to the cross (John 18:37). He has always been faithful. The church was also meant to be like that, but it failed and still fails to do so.

He is also “the firstborn of the dead”. This He is in the present time, since His death and resurrection (Acts 26:23; Colossians 1:18). ‘Firstborn’ means that He is the highest in the realm of the resurrection.

Third He is “the ruler of the kings of the earth”. This He is also now, but this He will be openly in the future, so He will be revealed (Psalms 89:27).

When He is thus presented, the church spontaneously responds. That will be your response too. The heart of each who loves Him agrees to it that He “loves us”. He has loved us and still loves us. Isn’t it great that He, Who is emphatically presented in this book as Judge, is the One Who loves you? His love has been especially expressed in the way that He “released us from our sins by His blood”. This meant to Him that He had to go into death, for only His blood could redeem you from your sins. To you it means that all future judgments will pass you by completely, for He has redeemed you once and for all. Isn’t that a reason to praise Him?

Revelation 1:6. But He has done much more than He did regarding the past, which was necessary to deliver you from judgment. He has taken away your sins to make you to something together with all believers, namely, “[to be] a kingdom, priests to His God and Father”. What you have become is what He has made you to be. There is absolutely no achievement from your side. You owe everything to Him. It is nothing more than great grace that you may partake of His government. As a redeemed person you receive, together with all believers, royal dignity together with Christ, “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5), so that you also are exalted above the kings of the earth (1 Peter 2:9; cf. Exodus 19:6).

In addition to this, you are also made a priest before His God and Father. Everything that the Lord Jesus did He did with a view to the honor of His God and Father. You are made someone who may praise and worship in God’s presence (Revelation 4:10; Revelation 5:9; Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 2:5). You can do that now already. When the Lord Jesus will take His royal majesty upon Himself, you may be a means of blessing to those who are enduring hardships on earth and who go to God with their suffering. You then may bring “the prayers of saints” before God (Revelation 5:8).

To Him be the glory for everything He has done for you. Everything you have become reflects His glory. While man always did all things to his own glory and in his own strength, the Lord Jesus did everything to the glory of God from Whom He drew all power as a Man. As a Man He lived from all the words that came from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). What characterized Him as Man and what He has achieved, will be seen and rejoiced in forever. There is nothing more left for you to do than to wholeheartedly agree with the “amen” with which this praise ends.

Now read Revelation 1:2-6 again.

Reflection: What do you learn here about the Word of God and about the Lord Jesus?

Revelation 16:14

Recipients, Blessing and Praise

Revelation 1:2. The revelation of which John is a witness and in which he involves you, is no fabrication of himself. It comes to you with all the authority of the Word spoken by God. What John testified about the coming events, comes from the mouth of God. As an extra emphasis it is added that what God has said is completely covered by “the testimony of Jesus Christ”. The Lord Jesus testifies to what God has spoken.

“All that he saw” is the contents of this whole book. Everything that John has seen and what he has written in this book is therefore the Word of God, while the testimony of Jesus Christ indicates the prophetic nature of it. After all, it is about the revelation, the becoming visible in the world, of Him.

Revelation 1:3. There is a special blessing associated with reading or the reading aloud this book and the listening to its contents: you are “blessed”. No one can ‘read’ it and ‘hear’ it without being blessed. What you read and hear are messages about future events that are inspired word for word.

Beside reading and hearing it is also important to “heed the things which are written in it”. “To heed” means that you treasure these things in your heart, so that they may have an influence in the practice of your life too. After all, from your heart your life is governed (Proverbs 4:23). The call to heed returns one more time at the end of the book (Revelation 22:7). What is written in this book is therefore sandwiched between these two calls.

As a matter of fact, that it is “written”, means that it is of lasting value. It is always possible to be read in order to see what must yet take place and it can also be read to check on what is happening around you. You therefore have a perfect manual of the future in your hands. I would like to advise you to often consult it because “the time” when everything is brought to a decision “is near”. The Lord Jesus is about to appear and to judge.

Revelation 1:4. John is the right person to write this book. The Lord Jesus said of him that he, concerning his ministry, would remain until He comes (John 21:22). That means that John also has a ministry regarding the future. He already achieves that ministry in a sense when he speaks in his first letter about the antichrist and the return of Christ and the decay that was already showing up. But the full achievement of it we find in this book of Revelation.

He writes the book “to the seven churches that are in Asia”. The mention of the number “seven” is not insignificant. The number seven represents perfection. The seven churches represent the whole church. It indeed are seven different churches. You will see it better when we will study chapters 2 and 3. That means that the whole church has been manifested on earth in different ways.

You must have noticed in the letters which Paul has written to various churches that local churches are different from each other. That variety is not only seen in the different local churches, but also in the various periods of the existence of the church on earth. You recognize that directly if you only think of how the church was at the beginning and how the church is today. In that way there are more differences in the development of the church.

All those different churches may learn a lot from one another and we also can learn a lot from it. That’s why it is so wonderful that in God’s Word we have this writing of John to them.

It is also beautiful to see that the blessing of “grace” and “peace”, which you can remember from the letters of Paul, is also wished by John here to the seven churches. “Grace” is the source of all blessing, it is the unmerited favor of God, which you receive just on the basis of Who He is. If you realize that God deals with you in grace, the result will be that you will go your way with “peace” in your heart, whatever the circumstances.

But there is a difference with the letters of Paul when it comes the question from Whom you get the blessing. In those letters the blessing comes from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here it is “from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne”. That is fitting with this Bible book.

Here you see God as He is presented in the Old Testament: as Yahweh, the God of the covenant, the God of faithfulness to His covenant. Then what is said next is not first ‘Who was’, but “Who is”. That means that He is seen as the “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). But He is also the One “Who was”. That is the God of the past, Who has always taken care of His people and the whole earth. He is also the One “Who is to come”, for He is also the God of the future.

Then in the blessing “the seven Spirits” are mentioned. This is the Holy Spirit, but as the Spirit of power through Whom God will execute the judgments from His throne. The number seven refers to the variety and the perfection with which the Lord Jesus will execute the judgments in the power of this Spirit at His return (cf. Isaiah 11:2). Therefore the attention is drawn to the “throne” of God, which emphasizes that it is about reigning and the exercise of power.

Revelation 1:5. Finally grace and peace are wished “from Jesus Christ”. Just like with the seven Spirits, to Whom is added “Who are before His throne”, also something is added to the name of Jesus Christ. You can actually say that three titles of Him are mentioned which all are in relation with the earth.

He was “the faithful witness” to God in the past on earth (1 Timothy 6:13), from the manger to the cross (John 18:37). He has always been faithful. The church was also meant to be like that, but it failed and still fails to do so.

He is also “the firstborn of the dead”. This He is in the present time, since His death and resurrection (Acts 26:23; Colossians 1:18). ‘Firstborn’ means that He is the highest in the realm of the resurrection.

Third He is “the ruler of the kings of the earth”. This He is also now, but this He will be openly in the future, so He will be revealed (Psalms 89:27).

When He is thus presented, the church spontaneously responds. That will be your response too. The heart of each who loves Him agrees to it that He “loves us”. He has loved us and still loves us. Isn’t it great that He, Who is emphatically presented in this book as Judge, is the One Who loves you? His love has been especially expressed in the way that He “released us from our sins by His blood”. This meant to Him that He had to go into death, for only His blood could redeem you from your sins. To you it means that all future judgments will pass you by completely, for He has redeemed you once and for all. Isn’t that a reason to praise Him?

Revelation 1:6. But He has done much more than He did regarding the past, which was necessary to deliver you from judgment. He has taken away your sins to make you to something together with all believers, namely, “[to be] a kingdom, priests to His God and Father”. What you have become is what He has made you to be. There is absolutely no achievement from your side. You owe everything to Him. It is nothing more than great grace that you may partake of His government. As a redeemed person you receive, together with all believers, royal dignity together with Christ, “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5), so that you also are exalted above the kings of the earth (1 Peter 2:9; cf. Exodus 19:6).

In addition to this, you are also made a priest before His God and Father. Everything that the Lord Jesus did He did with a view to the honor of His God and Father. You are made someone who may praise and worship in God’s presence (Revelation 4:10; Revelation 5:9; Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 2:5). You can do that now already. When the Lord Jesus will take His royal majesty upon Himself, you may be a means of blessing to those who are enduring hardships on earth and who go to God with their suffering. You then may bring “the prayers of saints” before God (Revelation 5:8).

To Him be the glory for everything He has done for you. Everything you have become reflects His glory. While man always did all things to his own glory and in his own strength, the Lord Jesus did everything to the glory of God from Whom He drew all power as a Man. As a Man He lived from all the words that came from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). What characterized Him as Man and what He has achieved, will be seen and rejoiced in forever. There is nothing more left for you to do than to wholeheartedly agree with the “amen” with which this praise ends.

Now read Revelation 1:2-6 again.

Reflection: What do you learn here about the Word of God and about the Lord Jesus?

Revelation 16:15

Recipients, Blessing and Praise

Revelation 1:2. The revelation of which John is a witness and in which he involves you, is no fabrication of himself. It comes to you with all the authority of the Word spoken by God. What John testified about the coming events, comes from the mouth of God. As an extra emphasis it is added that what God has said is completely covered by “the testimony of Jesus Christ”. The Lord Jesus testifies to what God has spoken.

“All that he saw” is the contents of this whole book. Everything that John has seen and what he has written in this book is therefore the Word of God, while the testimony of Jesus Christ indicates the prophetic nature of it. After all, it is about the revelation, the becoming visible in the world, of Him.

Revelation 1:3. There is a special blessing associated with reading or the reading aloud this book and the listening to its contents: you are “blessed”. No one can ‘read’ it and ‘hear’ it without being blessed. What you read and hear are messages about future events that are inspired word for word.

Beside reading and hearing it is also important to “heed the things which are written in it”. “To heed” means that you treasure these things in your heart, so that they may have an influence in the practice of your life too. After all, from your heart your life is governed (Proverbs 4:23). The call to heed returns one more time at the end of the book (Revelation 22:7). What is written in this book is therefore sandwiched between these two calls.

As a matter of fact, that it is “written”, means that it is of lasting value. It is always possible to be read in order to see what must yet take place and it can also be read to check on what is happening around you. You therefore have a perfect manual of the future in your hands. I would like to advise you to often consult it because “the time” when everything is brought to a decision “is near”. The Lord Jesus is about to appear and to judge.

Revelation 1:4. John is the right person to write this book. The Lord Jesus said of him that he, concerning his ministry, would remain until He comes (John 21:22). That means that John also has a ministry regarding the future. He already achieves that ministry in a sense when he speaks in his first letter about the antichrist and the return of Christ and the decay that was already showing up. But the full achievement of it we find in this book of Revelation.

He writes the book “to the seven churches that are in Asia”. The mention of the number “seven” is not insignificant. The number seven represents perfection. The seven churches represent the whole church. It indeed are seven different churches. You will see it better when we will study chapters 2 and 3. That means that the whole church has been manifested on earth in different ways.

You must have noticed in the letters which Paul has written to various churches that local churches are different from each other. That variety is not only seen in the different local churches, but also in the various periods of the existence of the church on earth. You recognize that directly if you only think of how the church was at the beginning and how the church is today. In that way there are more differences in the development of the church.

All those different churches may learn a lot from one another and we also can learn a lot from it. That’s why it is so wonderful that in God’s Word we have this writing of John to them.

It is also beautiful to see that the blessing of “grace” and “peace”, which you can remember from the letters of Paul, is also wished by John here to the seven churches. “Grace” is the source of all blessing, it is the unmerited favor of God, which you receive just on the basis of Who He is. If you realize that God deals with you in grace, the result will be that you will go your way with “peace” in your heart, whatever the circumstances.

But there is a difference with the letters of Paul when it comes the question from Whom you get the blessing. In those letters the blessing comes from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here it is “from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne”. That is fitting with this Bible book.

Here you see God as He is presented in the Old Testament: as Yahweh, the God of the covenant, the God of faithfulness to His covenant. Then what is said next is not first ‘Who was’, but “Who is”. That means that He is seen as the “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). But He is also the One “Who was”. That is the God of the past, Who has always taken care of His people and the whole earth. He is also the One “Who is to come”, for He is also the God of the future.

Then in the blessing “the seven Spirits” are mentioned. This is the Holy Spirit, but as the Spirit of power through Whom God will execute the judgments from His throne. The number seven refers to the variety and the perfection with which the Lord Jesus will execute the judgments in the power of this Spirit at His return (cf. Isaiah 11:2). Therefore the attention is drawn to the “throne” of God, which emphasizes that it is about reigning and the exercise of power.

Revelation 1:5. Finally grace and peace are wished “from Jesus Christ”. Just like with the seven Spirits, to Whom is added “Who are before His throne”, also something is added to the name of Jesus Christ. You can actually say that three titles of Him are mentioned which all are in relation with the earth.

He was “the faithful witness” to God in the past on earth (1 Timothy 6:13), from the manger to the cross (John 18:37). He has always been faithful. The church was also meant to be like that, but it failed and still fails to do so.

He is also “the firstborn of the dead”. This He is in the present time, since His death and resurrection (Acts 26:23; Colossians 1:18). ‘Firstborn’ means that He is the highest in the realm of the resurrection.

Third He is “the ruler of the kings of the earth”. This He is also now, but this He will be openly in the future, so He will be revealed (Psalms 89:27).

When He is thus presented, the church spontaneously responds. That will be your response too. The heart of each who loves Him agrees to it that He “loves us”. He has loved us and still loves us. Isn’t it great that He, Who is emphatically presented in this book as Judge, is the One Who loves you? His love has been especially expressed in the way that He “released us from our sins by His blood”. This meant to Him that He had to go into death, for only His blood could redeem you from your sins. To you it means that all future judgments will pass you by completely, for He has redeemed you once and for all. Isn’t that a reason to praise Him?

Revelation 1:6. But He has done much more than He did regarding the past, which was necessary to deliver you from judgment. He has taken away your sins to make you to something together with all believers, namely, “[to be] a kingdom, priests to His God and Father”. What you have become is what He has made you to be. There is absolutely no achievement from your side. You owe everything to Him. It is nothing more than great grace that you may partake of His government. As a redeemed person you receive, together with all believers, royal dignity together with Christ, “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5), so that you also are exalted above the kings of the earth (1 Peter 2:9; cf. Exodus 19:6).

In addition to this, you are also made a priest before His God and Father. Everything that the Lord Jesus did He did with a view to the honor of His God and Father. You are made someone who may praise and worship in God’s presence (Revelation 4:10; Revelation 5:9; Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 2:5). You can do that now already. When the Lord Jesus will take His royal majesty upon Himself, you may be a means of blessing to those who are enduring hardships on earth and who go to God with their suffering. You then may bring “the prayers of saints” before God (Revelation 5:8).

To Him be the glory for everything He has done for you. Everything you have become reflects His glory. While man always did all things to his own glory and in his own strength, the Lord Jesus did everything to the glory of God from Whom He drew all power as a Man. As a Man He lived from all the words that came from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). What characterized Him as Man and what He has achieved, will be seen and rejoiced in forever. There is nothing more left for you to do than to wholeheartedly agree with the “amen” with which this praise ends.

Now read Revelation 1:2-6 again.

Reflection: What do you learn here about the Word of God and about the Lord Jesus?

Revelation 16:16

Recipients, Blessing and Praise

Revelation 1:2. The revelation of which John is a witness and in which he involves you, is no fabrication of himself. It comes to you with all the authority of the Word spoken by God. What John testified about the coming events, comes from the mouth of God. As an extra emphasis it is added that what God has said is completely covered by “the testimony of Jesus Christ”. The Lord Jesus testifies to what God has spoken.

“All that he saw” is the contents of this whole book. Everything that John has seen and what he has written in this book is therefore the Word of God, while the testimony of Jesus Christ indicates the prophetic nature of it. After all, it is about the revelation, the becoming visible in the world, of Him.

Revelation 1:3. There is a special blessing associated with reading or the reading aloud this book and the listening to its contents: you are “blessed”. No one can ‘read’ it and ‘hear’ it without being blessed. What you read and hear are messages about future events that are inspired word for word.

Beside reading and hearing it is also important to “heed the things which are written in it”. “To heed” means that you treasure these things in your heart, so that they may have an influence in the practice of your life too. After all, from your heart your life is governed (Proverbs 4:23). The call to heed returns one more time at the end of the book (Revelation 22:7). What is written in this book is therefore sandwiched between these two calls.

As a matter of fact, that it is “written”, means that it is of lasting value. It is always possible to be read in order to see what must yet take place and it can also be read to check on what is happening around you. You therefore have a perfect manual of the future in your hands. I would like to advise you to often consult it because “the time” when everything is brought to a decision “is near”. The Lord Jesus is about to appear and to judge.

Revelation 1:4. John is the right person to write this book. The Lord Jesus said of him that he, concerning his ministry, would remain until He comes (John 21:22). That means that John also has a ministry regarding the future. He already achieves that ministry in a sense when he speaks in his first letter about the antichrist and the return of Christ and the decay that was already showing up. But the full achievement of it we find in this book of Revelation.

He writes the book “to the seven churches that are in Asia”. The mention of the number “seven” is not insignificant. The number seven represents perfection. The seven churches represent the whole church. It indeed are seven different churches. You will see it better when we will study chapters 2 and 3. That means that the whole church has been manifested on earth in different ways.

You must have noticed in the letters which Paul has written to various churches that local churches are different from each other. That variety is not only seen in the different local churches, but also in the various periods of the existence of the church on earth. You recognize that directly if you only think of how the church was at the beginning and how the church is today. In that way there are more differences in the development of the church.

All those different churches may learn a lot from one another and we also can learn a lot from it. That’s why it is so wonderful that in God’s Word we have this writing of John to them.

It is also beautiful to see that the blessing of “grace” and “peace”, which you can remember from the letters of Paul, is also wished by John here to the seven churches. “Grace” is the source of all blessing, it is the unmerited favor of God, which you receive just on the basis of Who He is. If you realize that God deals with you in grace, the result will be that you will go your way with “peace” in your heart, whatever the circumstances.

But there is a difference with the letters of Paul when it comes the question from Whom you get the blessing. In those letters the blessing comes from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here it is “from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne”. That is fitting with this Bible book.

Here you see God as He is presented in the Old Testament: as Yahweh, the God of the covenant, the God of faithfulness to His covenant. Then what is said next is not first ‘Who was’, but “Who is”. That means that He is seen as the “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). But He is also the One “Who was”. That is the God of the past, Who has always taken care of His people and the whole earth. He is also the One “Who is to come”, for He is also the God of the future.

Then in the blessing “the seven Spirits” are mentioned. This is the Holy Spirit, but as the Spirit of power through Whom God will execute the judgments from His throne. The number seven refers to the variety and the perfection with which the Lord Jesus will execute the judgments in the power of this Spirit at His return (cf. Isaiah 11:2). Therefore the attention is drawn to the “throne” of God, which emphasizes that it is about reigning and the exercise of power.

Revelation 1:5. Finally grace and peace are wished “from Jesus Christ”. Just like with the seven Spirits, to Whom is added “Who are before His throne”, also something is added to the name of Jesus Christ. You can actually say that three titles of Him are mentioned which all are in relation with the earth.

He was “the faithful witness” to God in the past on earth (1 Timothy 6:13), from the manger to the cross (John 18:37). He has always been faithful. The church was also meant to be like that, but it failed and still fails to do so.

He is also “the firstborn of the dead”. This He is in the present time, since His death and resurrection (Acts 26:23; Colossians 1:18). ‘Firstborn’ means that He is the highest in the realm of the resurrection.

Third He is “the ruler of the kings of the earth”. This He is also now, but this He will be openly in the future, so He will be revealed (Psalms 89:27).

When He is thus presented, the church spontaneously responds. That will be your response too. The heart of each who loves Him agrees to it that He “loves us”. He has loved us and still loves us. Isn’t it great that He, Who is emphatically presented in this book as Judge, is the One Who loves you? His love has been especially expressed in the way that He “released us from our sins by His blood”. This meant to Him that He had to go into death, for only His blood could redeem you from your sins. To you it means that all future judgments will pass you by completely, for He has redeemed you once and for all. Isn’t that a reason to praise Him?

Revelation 1:6. But He has done much more than He did regarding the past, which was necessary to deliver you from judgment. He has taken away your sins to make you to something together with all believers, namely, “[to be] a kingdom, priests to His God and Father”. What you have become is what He has made you to be. There is absolutely no achievement from your side. You owe everything to Him. It is nothing more than great grace that you may partake of His government. As a redeemed person you receive, together with all believers, royal dignity together with Christ, “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5), so that you also are exalted above the kings of the earth (1 Peter 2:9; cf. Exodus 19:6).

In addition to this, you are also made a priest before His God and Father. Everything that the Lord Jesus did He did with a view to the honor of His God and Father. You are made someone who may praise and worship in God’s presence (Revelation 4:10; Revelation 5:9; Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 2:5). You can do that now already. When the Lord Jesus will take His royal majesty upon Himself, you may be a means of blessing to those who are enduring hardships on earth and who go to God with their suffering. You then may bring “the prayers of saints” before God (Revelation 5:8).

To Him be the glory for everything He has done for you. Everything you have become reflects His glory. While man always did all things to his own glory and in his own strength, the Lord Jesus did everything to the glory of God from Whom He drew all power as a Man. As a Man He lived from all the words that came from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). What characterized Him as Man and what He has achieved, will be seen and rejoiced in forever. There is nothing more left for you to do than to wholeheartedly agree with the “amen” with which this praise ends.

Now read Revelation 1:2-6 again.

Reflection: What do you learn here about the Word of God and about the Lord Jesus?

Revelation 16:17

Recipients, Blessing and Praise

Revelation 1:2. The revelation of which John is a witness and in which he involves you, is no fabrication of himself. It comes to you with all the authority of the Word spoken by God. What John testified about the coming events, comes from the mouth of God. As an extra emphasis it is added that what God has said is completely covered by “the testimony of Jesus Christ”. The Lord Jesus testifies to what God has spoken.

“All that he saw” is the contents of this whole book. Everything that John has seen and what he has written in this book is therefore the Word of God, while the testimony of Jesus Christ indicates the prophetic nature of it. After all, it is about the revelation, the becoming visible in the world, of Him.

Revelation 1:3. There is a special blessing associated with reading or the reading aloud this book and the listening to its contents: you are “blessed”. No one can ‘read’ it and ‘hear’ it without being blessed. What you read and hear are messages about future events that are inspired word for word.

Beside reading and hearing it is also important to “heed the things which are written in it”. “To heed” means that you treasure these things in your heart, so that they may have an influence in the practice of your life too. After all, from your heart your life is governed (Proverbs 4:23). The call to heed returns one more time at the end of the book (Revelation 22:7). What is written in this book is therefore sandwiched between these two calls.

As a matter of fact, that it is “written”, means that it is of lasting value. It is always possible to be read in order to see what must yet take place and it can also be read to check on what is happening around you. You therefore have a perfect manual of the future in your hands. I would like to advise you to often consult it because “the time” when everything is brought to a decision “is near”. The Lord Jesus is about to appear and to judge.

Revelation 1:4. John is the right person to write this book. The Lord Jesus said of him that he, concerning his ministry, would remain until He comes (John 21:22). That means that John also has a ministry regarding the future. He already achieves that ministry in a sense when he speaks in his first letter about the antichrist and the return of Christ and the decay that was already showing up. But the full achievement of it we find in this book of Revelation.

He writes the book “to the seven churches that are in Asia”. The mention of the number “seven” is not insignificant. The number seven represents perfection. The seven churches represent the whole church. It indeed are seven different churches. You will see it better when we will study chapters 2 and 3. That means that the whole church has been manifested on earth in different ways.

You must have noticed in the letters which Paul has written to various churches that local churches are different from each other. That variety is not only seen in the different local churches, but also in the various periods of the existence of the church on earth. You recognize that directly if you only think of how the church was at the beginning and how the church is today. In that way there are more differences in the development of the church.

All those different churches may learn a lot from one another and we also can learn a lot from it. That’s why it is so wonderful that in God’s Word we have this writing of John to them.

It is also beautiful to see that the blessing of “grace” and “peace”, which you can remember from the letters of Paul, is also wished by John here to the seven churches. “Grace” is the source of all blessing, it is the unmerited favor of God, which you receive just on the basis of Who He is. If you realize that God deals with you in grace, the result will be that you will go your way with “peace” in your heart, whatever the circumstances.

But there is a difference with the letters of Paul when it comes the question from Whom you get the blessing. In those letters the blessing comes from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Here it is “from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne”. That is fitting with this Bible book.

Here you see God as He is presented in the Old Testament: as Yahweh, the God of the covenant, the God of faithfulness to His covenant. Then what is said next is not first ‘Who was’, but “Who is”. That means that He is seen as the “I AM WHO I AM” (Exodus 3:14). But He is also the One “Who was”. That is the God of the past, Who has always taken care of His people and the whole earth. He is also the One “Who is to come”, for He is also the God of the future.

Then in the blessing “the seven Spirits” are mentioned. This is the Holy Spirit, but as the Spirit of power through Whom God will execute the judgments from His throne. The number seven refers to the variety and the perfection with which the Lord Jesus will execute the judgments in the power of this Spirit at His return (cf. Isaiah 11:2). Therefore the attention is drawn to the “throne” of God, which emphasizes that it is about reigning and the exercise of power.

Revelation 1:5. Finally grace and peace are wished “from Jesus Christ”. Just like with the seven Spirits, to Whom is added “Who are before His throne”, also something is added to the name of Jesus Christ. You can actually say that three titles of Him are mentioned which all are in relation with the earth.

He was “the faithful witness” to God in the past on earth (1 Timothy 6:13), from the manger to the cross (John 18:37). He has always been faithful. The church was also meant to be like that, but it failed and still fails to do so.

He is also “the firstborn of the dead”. This He is in the present time, since His death and resurrection (Acts 26:23; Colossians 1:18). ‘Firstborn’ means that He is the highest in the realm of the resurrection.

Third He is “the ruler of the kings of the earth”. This He is also now, but this He will be openly in the future, so He will be revealed (Psalms 89:27).

When He is thus presented, the church spontaneously responds. That will be your response too. The heart of each who loves Him agrees to it that He “loves us”. He has loved us and still loves us. Isn’t it great that He, Who is emphatically presented in this book as Judge, is the One Who loves you? His love has been especially expressed in the way that He “released us from our sins by His blood”. This meant to Him that He had to go into death, for only His blood could redeem you from your sins. To you it means that all future judgments will pass you by completely, for He has redeemed you once and for all. Isn’t that a reason to praise Him?

Revelation 1:6. But He has done much more than He did regarding the past, which was necessary to deliver you from judgment. He has taken away your sins to make you to something together with all believers, namely, “[to be] a kingdom, priests to His God and Father”. What you have become is what He has made you to be. There is absolutely no achievement from your side. You owe everything to Him. It is nothing more than great grace that you may partake of His government. As a redeemed person you receive, together with all believers, royal dignity together with Christ, “the ruler of the kings of the earth” (Revelation 1:5), so that you also are exalted above the kings of the earth (1 Peter 2:9; cf. Exodus 19:6).

In addition to this, you are also made a priest before His God and Father. Everything that the Lord Jesus did He did with a view to the honor of His God and Father. You are made someone who may praise and worship in God’s presence (Revelation 4:10; Revelation 5:9; Hebrews 13:15; 1 Peter 2:5). You can do that now already. When the Lord Jesus will take His royal majesty upon Himself, you may be a means of blessing to those who are enduring hardships on earth and who go to God with their suffering. You then may bring “the prayers of saints” before God (Revelation 5:8).

To Him be the glory for everything He has done for you. Everything you have become reflects His glory. While man always did all things to his own glory and in his own strength, the Lord Jesus did everything to the glory of God from Whom He drew all power as a Man. As a Man He lived from all the words that came from the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4). What characterized Him as Man and what He has achieved, will be seen and rejoiced in forever. There is nothing more left for you to do than to wholeheartedly agree with the “amen” with which this praise ends.

Now read Revelation 1:2-6 again.

Reflection: What do you learn here about the Word of God and about the Lord Jesus?

Revelation 16:18

John on Patmos

Revelation 1:7. With a “behold” John draws the attention to Him Who will appear in person. This is the great event toward which the whole book is working. It is said in a way that it should not be looked forward to only later, but already now. You may call it the ‘prophetic present tense’. It indicates how real and close the events are, not only for John in those days, but also for you today.

The Lord Jesus will appear “with the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7:13) and also “on the clouds of the sky” (Matthew 24:30) which, as it were, form His throne. So it is not about His coming to take up the church, which you may call His first coming, for that will take place “in the clouds”, and will not be visible for everyone (1 Thessalonians 4:17; cf. Acts 1:9; Luke 21:27). That will surely be the case at His second coming. Everyone will come face to face with Him, no man excepted.

Of all those people John mentions a certain category, namely, “those who pierced Him”. This primarily refers to the Jews (Zechariah 12:10), but it also refers to the Gentiles, for a Roman soldier pierced Him (John 19:34). They who committed this deed of contempt will be full of fear when they behold Him. It will cause an enormous mourning among the Jews (Zechariah 12:10-14), which will be the beginning of their conversion. This is the way it will happen, “so it is to be. Amen”. ‘So it is to be’ or ‘yes’ is the Greek confirmation and ‘amen’ the Hebrew version of it, indicating for Gentiles and Jews that God’s Word is established.

Revelation 1:8. Then He, Who is coming, makes Himself heard. He says Who He is: “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” The alpha and the omega are the first and the last letter of the Greek alphabet. In these two letters all the other letters are embedded. In this name you also see that He is ‘the Word of God’. What He has started as the Alpha He will accomplish as the Omega. He Who shall come and is speaking here is the Lord Jesus. He is ‘the first and the last’ (Revelation 1:17; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 22:13). That is also what Yahweh, LORD, the name of God in the Old Testament, says of Himself (Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12), which is again another proof that the Lord Jesus is Yahweh.

He Who is speaking is ‘Yahweh Elohim’ or “the Lord God”, which is the Lord Jesus. He is the One “who is”, the Eternal One. He “was” and will always be. He is also the One “who is to come”. He is the Almighty Who will realize all His promises and plans. He Who was pierced, when He as the weakness of God was hanging on the cross, is Yahweh Himself, “the Almighty”, Who has all power in the universe and Who is about to reveal that power. This is a comfort for His people, because He carries and supports them with His omnipotence. At the same time it is a threat for His enemies, because He will judge them and render to every man according to his works.

Revelation 1:9. No one else than John addresses his readers. He doesn’t present himself as an apostle, but as a “brother” among the brethren. In his Gospel he calls himself “the disciple” (John 21:24), and in his letters “the elder” (2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1). He also calls himself “fellow partaker in the tribulation” from which we derive that he shares the same fate as his fellow believers who also had to endure suffering under the emperor of Rome. Tribulation goes together with faith. It is the path along which you must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

The time to reign has not come yet. You still have to persevere, right through all kinds of tribulations and tests, till the moment comes to reign. When the Lord Jesus returns, that is when it will be. You may remember that the Lord Jesus is also still waiting for the establishment of the kingdom.

John speaks about “Jesus” here, which is the Name of His humiliation and a reminder of His sojourn on earth. When He was on earth He also showed that perseverance. When Pilate asks Him if He is the King of the Jews, He testifies that He is, but adds : “But as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36). Pay attention to the words ‘but as it is’. It shows that during His presence on earth He did not established His kingdom. That establishment is future even now.

John testified from God’s Word of that kingdom. This was not to the liking of the Roman ruler who saw in it a threat to his own kingdom and position (cf. Acts 17:7) and therefore expelled him to “the island called Patmos”. John did not speak what men loved to hear, otherwise he would not have been a captive now. He was ‘uneducated’ (Acts 4:13), but he spoke the Word of God with power and authority. In his preaching he testified to Jesus, Who is the center of all God’s thoughts and plans.

Revelation 1:10. There John was sitting, isolated and lonesome on an island. He is not voluntarily there, to have a break, but as a captive. He was exiled to that place, without any prospect of release. It doesn’t look like that he could expect a visit from time to time. But it doesn’t mean that the Lord was not with him and that the Spirit could not use him. On the day of the Lord, literally: the day pertaining to the Lord, the first day of the week (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:20) he felt into a trance through the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 10:10; Acts 22:17). The day of the Lord, the first day of the week, is the day of His resurrection (John 20:1; 19, Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). On this day John receives all information and visions that are written in this book.

But before he sees something, he hears something behind him. It is as if he is standing with his back to the churches, while he is looking at the kingdom in the expectation that it will come. But the Lord has not finished yet with His church on earth. He has to deal with it first. He calls John to look, so that he has to turn and must pay attention to what the Lord is paying attention to.

What he hears is “a loud voice like [the sound] of a trumpet”. It is not the voice of the good Shepherd, Who calls His sheep by name. He heard that voice when he walked with the Lord Jesus through Israel (John 10:11; 14). But now he hears the voice of an ominous Judge, of Someone Who pronounces and executes judgment.

Revelation 1:11. The voice of the Judge commands John to write in a book what he sees. That implies that he must sharply observe and take in. All his observations must then be documented in writings so that they will be preserved for later generations. However, the book is not only meaningful for later generations, but also for the seven named churches in Asia Minor, in the western part of present-day Turkey.

There were more churches in Asia Minor. But the Holy Spirit of God has chosen these seven because they are, as a matter of fact, a reflection of the church in its whole through the ages. That’s why it says “the” seven churches. It is these seven particular churches to which this book should be sent. That there are seven, shows that it is about something complete. It is about the complete history of the church on earth.

Also the order is not random, but of certain importance. You will see that when we will take a closer look at these seven churches in the next two chapters. At the same time, each church is also mentioned separately, which you can derive from the word “to” that is before the name of each church.

Revelation 1:12. When John heard the voice and what it has said, he turns. He wants to see the voice that was speaking with him. Of course you cannot see a voice, but the voice is of a person. That Person is the Lord Jesus. He is the Word. When John turns he first sees “seven golden lampstands” and then only he sees the Son of Man. Isn’t it like how it happens today, that we first see the believers and then only, as it were through them, the Lord Jesus?

John notices that the lampstands are of gold. Gold represents the glory of God. A lampstand is meant to spread light. Therefore, the fact that the churches are compared with golden lampstands means that the purpose of local churches is to spread Divine light.

Each local church ought to display in its environment Who God is. It can only do that by taking His Word into consideration. By listening to the truth of God’s Word and obeying it, the light will be spread in the darkness. Darkness rules everywhere in the world and it covers more and more places in professing Christianity. You will see how it happened that the light of the lampstand is getting weaker and weaker and that even a situation can arise that a lampstand is taken away.

Now read Revelation 1:7-12 again.

Reflection: What is the reason for John being on Patmos?

Revelation 16:19

John on Patmos

Revelation 1:7. With a “behold” John draws the attention to Him Who will appear in person. This is the great event toward which the whole book is working. It is said in a way that it should not be looked forward to only later, but already now. You may call it the ‘prophetic present tense’. It indicates how real and close the events are, not only for John in those days, but also for you today.

The Lord Jesus will appear “with the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7:13) and also “on the clouds of the sky” (Matthew 24:30) which, as it were, form His throne. So it is not about His coming to take up the church, which you may call His first coming, for that will take place “in the clouds”, and will not be visible for everyone (1 Thessalonians 4:17; cf. Acts 1:9; Luke 21:27). That will surely be the case at His second coming. Everyone will come face to face with Him, no man excepted.

Of all those people John mentions a certain category, namely, “those who pierced Him”. This primarily refers to the Jews (Zechariah 12:10), but it also refers to the Gentiles, for a Roman soldier pierced Him (John 19:34). They who committed this deed of contempt will be full of fear when they behold Him. It will cause an enormous mourning among the Jews (Zechariah 12:10-14), which will be the beginning of their conversion. This is the way it will happen, “so it is to be. Amen”. ‘So it is to be’ or ‘yes’ is the Greek confirmation and ‘amen’ the Hebrew version of it, indicating for Gentiles and Jews that God’s Word is established.

Revelation 1:8. Then He, Who is coming, makes Himself heard. He says Who He is: “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” The alpha and the omega are the first and the last letter of the Greek alphabet. In these two letters all the other letters are embedded. In this name you also see that He is ‘the Word of God’. What He has started as the Alpha He will accomplish as the Omega. He Who shall come and is speaking here is the Lord Jesus. He is ‘the first and the last’ (Revelation 1:17; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 22:13). That is also what Yahweh, LORD, the name of God in the Old Testament, says of Himself (Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12), which is again another proof that the Lord Jesus is Yahweh.

He Who is speaking is ‘Yahweh Elohim’ or “the Lord God”, which is the Lord Jesus. He is the One “who is”, the Eternal One. He “was” and will always be. He is also the One “who is to come”. He is the Almighty Who will realize all His promises and plans. He Who was pierced, when He as the weakness of God was hanging on the cross, is Yahweh Himself, “the Almighty”, Who has all power in the universe and Who is about to reveal that power. This is a comfort for His people, because He carries and supports them with His omnipotence. At the same time it is a threat for His enemies, because He will judge them and render to every man according to his works.

Revelation 1:9. No one else than John addresses his readers. He doesn’t present himself as an apostle, but as a “brother” among the brethren. In his Gospel he calls himself “the disciple” (John 21:24), and in his letters “the elder” (2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1). He also calls himself “fellow partaker in the tribulation” from which we derive that he shares the same fate as his fellow believers who also had to endure suffering under the emperor of Rome. Tribulation goes together with faith. It is the path along which you must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

The time to reign has not come yet. You still have to persevere, right through all kinds of tribulations and tests, till the moment comes to reign. When the Lord Jesus returns, that is when it will be. You may remember that the Lord Jesus is also still waiting for the establishment of the kingdom.

John speaks about “Jesus” here, which is the Name of His humiliation and a reminder of His sojourn on earth. When He was on earth He also showed that perseverance. When Pilate asks Him if He is the King of the Jews, He testifies that He is, but adds : “But as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36). Pay attention to the words ‘but as it is’. It shows that during His presence on earth He did not established His kingdom. That establishment is future even now.

John testified from God’s Word of that kingdom. This was not to the liking of the Roman ruler who saw in it a threat to his own kingdom and position (cf. Acts 17:7) and therefore expelled him to “the island called Patmos”. John did not speak what men loved to hear, otherwise he would not have been a captive now. He was ‘uneducated’ (Acts 4:13), but he spoke the Word of God with power and authority. In his preaching he testified to Jesus, Who is the center of all God’s thoughts and plans.

Revelation 1:10. There John was sitting, isolated and lonesome on an island. He is not voluntarily there, to have a break, but as a captive. He was exiled to that place, without any prospect of release. It doesn’t look like that he could expect a visit from time to time. But it doesn’t mean that the Lord was not with him and that the Spirit could not use him. On the day of the Lord, literally: the day pertaining to the Lord, the first day of the week (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:20) he felt into a trance through the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 10:10; Acts 22:17). The day of the Lord, the first day of the week, is the day of His resurrection (John 20:1; 19, Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). On this day John receives all information and visions that are written in this book.

But before he sees something, he hears something behind him. It is as if he is standing with his back to the churches, while he is looking at the kingdom in the expectation that it will come. But the Lord has not finished yet with His church on earth. He has to deal with it first. He calls John to look, so that he has to turn and must pay attention to what the Lord is paying attention to.

What he hears is “a loud voice like [the sound] of a trumpet”. It is not the voice of the good Shepherd, Who calls His sheep by name. He heard that voice when he walked with the Lord Jesus through Israel (John 10:11; 14). But now he hears the voice of an ominous Judge, of Someone Who pronounces and executes judgment.

Revelation 1:11. The voice of the Judge commands John to write in a book what he sees. That implies that he must sharply observe and take in. All his observations must then be documented in writings so that they will be preserved for later generations. However, the book is not only meaningful for later generations, but also for the seven named churches in Asia Minor, in the western part of present-day Turkey.

There were more churches in Asia Minor. But the Holy Spirit of God has chosen these seven because they are, as a matter of fact, a reflection of the church in its whole through the ages. That’s why it says “the” seven churches. It is these seven particular churches to which this book should be sent. That there are seven, shows that it is about something complete. It is about the complete history of the church on earth.

Also the order is not random, but of certain importance. You will see that when we will take a closer look at these seven churches in the next two chapters. At the same time, each church is also mentioned separately, which you can derive from the word “to” that is before the name of each church.

Revelation 1:12. When John heard the voice and what it has said, he turns. He wants to see the voice that was speaking with him. Of course you cannot see a voice, but the voice is of a person. That Person is the Lord Jesus. He is the Word. When John turns he first sees “seven golden lampstands” and then only he sees the Son of Man. Isn’t it like how it happens today, that we first see the believers and then only, as it were through them, the Lord Jesus?

John notices that the lampstands are of gold. Gold represents the glory of God. A lampstand is meant to spread light. Therefore, the fact that the churches are compared with golden lampstands means that the purpose of local churches is to spread Divine light.

Each local church ought to display in its environment Who God is. It can only do that by taking His Word into consideration. By listening to the truth of God’s Word and obeying it, the light will be spread in the darkness. Darkness rules everywhere in the world and it covers more and more places in professing Christianity. You will see how it happened that the light of the lampstand is getting weaker and weaker and that even a situation can arise that a lampstand is taken away.

Now read Revelation 1:7-12 again.

Reflection: What is the reason for John being on Patmos?

Revelation 16:20

John on Patmos

Revelation 1:7. With a “behold” John draws the attention to Him Who will appear in person. This is the great event toward which the whole book is working. It is said in a way that it should not be looked forward to only later, but already now. You may call it the ‘prophetic present tense’. It indicates how real and close the events are, not only for John in those days, but also for you today.

The Lord Jesus will appear “with the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7:13) and also “on the clouds of the sky” (Matthew 24:30) which, as it were, form His throne. So it is not about His coming to take up the church, which you may call His first coming, for that will take place “in the clouds”, and will not be visible for everyone (1 Thessalonians 4:17; cf. Acts 1:9; Luke 21:27). That will surely be the case at His second coming. Everyone will come face to face with Him, no man excepted.

Of all those people John mentions a certain category, namely, “those who pierced Him”. This primarily refers to the Jews (Zechariah 12:10), but it also refers to the Gentiles, for a Roman soldier pierced Him (John 19:34). They who committed this deed of contempt will be full of fear when they behold Him. It will cause an enormous mourning among the Jews (Zechariah 12:10-14), which will be the beginning of their conversion. This is the way it will happen, “so it is to be. Amen”. ‘So it is to be’ or ‘yes’ is the Greek confirmation and ‘amen’ the Hebrew version of it, indicating for Gentiles and Jews that God’s Word is established.

Revelation 1:8. Then He, Who is coming, makes Himself heard. He says Who He is: “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” The alpha and the omega are the first and the last letter of the Greek alphabet. In these two letters all the other letters are embedded. In this name you also see that He is ‘the Word of God’. What He has started as the Alpha He will accomplish as the Omega. He Who shall come and is speaking here is the Lord Jesus. He is ‘the first and the last’ (Revelation 1:17; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 22:13). That is also what Yahweh, LORD, the name of God in the Old Testament, says of Himself (Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12), which is again another proof that the Lord Jesus is Yahweh.

He Who is speaking is ‘Yahweh Elohim’ or “the Lord God”, which is the Lord Jesus. He is the One “who is”, the Eternal One. He “was” and will always be. He is also the One “who is to come”. He is the Almighty Who will realize all His promises and plans. He Who was pierced, when He as the weakness of God was hanging on the cross, is Yahweh Himself, “the Almighty”, Who has all power in the universe and Who is about to reveal that power. This is a comfort for His people, because He carries and supports them with His omnipotence. At the same time it is a threat for His enemies, because He will judge them and render to every man according to his works.

Revelation 1:9. No one else than John addresses his readers. He doesn’t present himself as an apostle, but as a “brother” among the brethren. In his Gospel he calls himself “the disciple” (John 21:24), and in his letters “the elder” (2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1). He also calls himself “fellow partaker in the tribulation” from which we derive that he shares the same fate as his fellow believers who also had to endure suffering under the emperor of Rome. Tribulation goes together with faith. It is the path along which you must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

The time to reign has not come yet. You still have to persevere, right through all kinds of tribulations and tests, till the moment comes to reign. When the Lord Jesus returns, that is when it will be. You may remember that the Lord Jesus is also still waiting for the establishment of the kingdom.

John speaks about “Jesus” here, which is the Name of His humiliation and a reminder of His sojourn on earth. When He was on earth He also showed that perseverance. When Pilate asks Him if He is the King of the Jews, He testifies that He is, but adds : “But as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36). Pay attention to the words ‘but as it is’. It shows that during His presence on earth He did not established His kingdom. That establishment is future even now.

John testified from God’s Word of that kingdom. This was not to the liking of the Roman ruler who saw in it a threat to his own kingdom and position (cf. Acts 17:7) and therefore expelled him to “the island called Patmos”. John did not speak what men loved to hear, otherwise he would not have been a captive now. He was ‘uneducated’ (Acts 4:13), but he spoke the Word of God with power and authority. In his preaching he testified to Jesus, Who is the center of all God’s thoughts and plans.

Revelation 1:10. There John was sitting, isolated and lonesome on an island. He is not voluntarily there, to have a break, but as a captive. He was exiled to that place, without any prospect of release. It doesn’t look like that he could expect a visit from time to time. But it doesn’t mean that the Lord was not with him and that the Spirit could not use him. On the day of the Lord, literally: the day pertaining to the Lord, the first day of the week (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:20) he felt into a trance through the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 10:10; Acts 22:17). The day of the Lord, the first day of the week, is the day of His resurrection (John 20:1; 19, Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). On this day John receives all information and visions that are written in this book.

But before he sees something, he hears something behind him. It is as if he is standing with his back to the churches, while he is looking at the kingdom in the expectation that it will come. But the Lord has not finished yet with His church on earth. He has to deal with it first. He calls John to look, so that he has to turn and must pay attention to what the Lord is paying attention to.

What he hears is “a loud voice like [the sound] of a trumpet”. It is not the voice of the good Shepherd, Who calls His sheep by name. He heard that voice when he walked with the Lord Jesus through Israel (John 10:11; 14). But now he hears the voice of an ominous Judge, of Someone Who pronounces and executes judgment.

Revelation 1:11. The voice of the Judge commands John to write in a book what he sees. That implies that he must sharply observe and take in. All his observations must then be documented in writings so that they will be preserved for later generations. However, the book is not only meaningful for later generations, but also for the seven named churches in Asia Minor, in the western part of present-day Turkey.

There were more churches in Asia Minor. But the Holy Spirit of God has chosen these seven because they are, as a matter of fact, a reflection of the church in its whole through the ages. That’s why it says “the” seven churches. It is these seven particular churches to which this book should be sent. That there are seven, shows that it is about something complete. It is about the complete history of the church on earth.

Also the order is not random, but of certain importance. You will see that when we will take a closer look at these seven churches in the next two chapters. At the same time, each church is also mentioned separately, which you can derive from the word “to” that is before the name of each church.

Revelation 1:12. When John heard the voice and what it has said, he turns. He wants to see the voice that was speaking with him. Of course you cannot see a voice, but the voice is of a person. That Person is the Lord Jesus. He is the Word. When John turns he first sees “seven golden lampstands” and then only he sees the Son of Man. Isn’t it like how it happens today, that we first see the believers and then only, as it were through them, the Lord Jesus?

John notices that the lampstands are of gold. Gold represents the glory of God. A lampstand is meant to spread light. Therefore, the fact that the churches are compared with golden lampstands means that the purpose of local churches is to spread Divine light.

Each local church ought to display in its environment Who God is. It can only do that by taking His Word into consideration. By listening to the truth of God’s Word and obeying it, the light will be spread in the darkness. Darkness rules everywhere in the world and it covers more and more places in professing Christianity. You will see how it happened that the light of the lampstand is getting weaker and weaker and that even a situation can arise that a lampstand is taken away.

Now read Revelation 1:7-12 again.

Reflection: What is the reason for John being on Patmos?

Revelation 16:21

John on Patmos

Revelation 1:7. With a “behold” John draws the attention to Him Who will appear in person. This is the great event toward which the whole book is working. It is said in a way that it should not be looked forward to only later, but already now. You may call it the ‘prophetic present tense’. It indicates how real and close the events are, not only for John in those days, but also for you today.

The Lord Jesus will appear “with the clouds of heaven” (Daniel 7:13) and also “on the clouds of the sky” (Matthew 24:30) which, as it were, form His throne. So it is not about His coming to take up the church, which you may call His first coming, for that will take place “in the clouds”, and will not be visible for everyone (1 Thessalonians 4:17; cf. Acts 1:9; Luke 21:27). That will surely be the case at His second coming. Everyone will come face to face with Him, no man excepted.

Of all those people John mentions a certain category, namely, “those who pierced Him”. This primarily refers to the Jews (Zechariah 12:10), but it also refers to the Gentiles, for a Roman soldier pierced Him (John 19:34). They who committed this deed of contempt will be full of fear when they behold Him. It will cause an enormous mourning among the Jews (Zechariah 12:10-14), which will be the beginning of their conversion. This is the way it will happen, “so it is to be. Amen”. ‘So it is to be’ or ‘yes’ is the Greek confirmation and ‘amen’ the Hebrew version of it, indicating for Gentiles and Jews that God’s Word is established.

Revelation 1:8. Then He, Who is coming, makes Himself heard. He says Who He is: “I am the Alpha and the Omega.” The alpha and the omega are the first and the last letter of the Greek alphabet. In these two letters all the other letters are embedded. In this name you also see that He is ‘the Word of God’. What He has started as the Alpha He will accomplish as the Omega. He Who shall come and is speaking here is the Lord Jesus. He is ‘the first and the last’ (Revelation 1:17; Revelation 2:8; Revelation 22:13). That is also what Yahweh, LORD, the name of God in the Old Testament, says of Himself (Isaiah 41:4; Isaiah 44:6; Isaiah 48:12), which is again another proof that the Lord Jesus is Yahweh.

He Who is speaking is ‘Yahweh Elohim’ or “the Lord God”, which is the Lord Jesus. He is the One “who is”, the Eternal One. He “was” and will always be. He is also the One “who is to come”. He is the Almighty Who will realize all His promises and plans. He Who was pierced, when He as the weakness of God was hanging on the cross, is Yahweh Himself, “the Almighty”, Who has all power in the universe and Who is about to reveal that power. This is a comfort for His people, because He carries and supports them with His omnipotence. At the same time it is a threat for His enemies, because He will judge them and render to every man according to his works.

Revelation 1:9. No one else than John addresses his readers. He doesn’t present himself as an apostle, but as a “brother” among the brethren. In his Gospel he calls himself “the disciple” (John 21:24), and in his letters “the elder” (2 John 1:1; 3 John 1:1). He also calls himself “fellow partaker in the tribulation” from which we derive that he shares the same fate as his fellow believers who also had to endure suffering under the emperor of Rome. Tribulation goes together with faith. It is the path along which you must enter the kingdom of God (Acts 14:22).

The time to reign has not come yet. You still have to persevere, right through all kinds of tribulations and tests, till the moment comes to reign. When the Lord Jesus returns, that is when it will be. You may remember that the Lord Jesus is also still waiting for the establishment of the kingdom.

John speaks about “Jesus” here, which is the Name of His humiliation and a reminder of His sojourn on earth. When He was on earth He also showed that perseverance. When Pilate asks Him if He is the King of the Jews, He testifies that He is, but adds : “But as it is, My kingdom is not of this realm” (John 18:36). Pay attention to the words ‘but as it is’. It shows that during His presence on earth He did not established His kingdom. That establishment is future even now.

John testified from God’s Word of that kingdom. This was not to the liking of the Roman ruler who saw in it a threat to his own kingdom and position (cf. Acts 17:7) and therefore expelled him to “the island called Patmos”. John did not speak what men loved to hear, otherwise he would not have been a captive now. He was ‘uneducated’ (Acts 4:13), but he spoke the Word of God with power and authority. In his preaching he testified to Jesus, Who is the center of all God’s thoughts and plans.

Revelation 1:10. There John was sitting, isolated and lonesome on an island. He is not voluntarily there, to have a break, but as a captive. He was exiled to that place, without any prospect of release. It doesn’t look like that he could expect a visit from time to time. But it doesn’t mean that the Lord was not with him and that the Spirit could not use him. On the day of the Lord, literally: the day pertaining to the Lord, the first day of the week (cf. 1 Corinthians 11:20) he felt into a trance through the power of the Holy Spirit (cf. Acts 10:10; Acts 22:17). The day of the Lord, the first day of the week, is the day of His resurrection (John 20:1; 19, Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). On this day John receives all information and visions that are written in this book.

But before he sees something, he hears something behind him. It is as if he is standing with his back to the churches, while he is looking at the kingdom in the expectation that it will come. But the Lord has not finished yet with His church on earth. He has to deal with it first. He calls John to look, so that he has to turn and must pay attention to what the Lord is paying attention to.

What he hears is “a loud voice like [the sound] of a trumpet”. It is not the voice of the good Shepherd, Who calls His sheep by name. He heard that voice when he walked with the Lord Jesus through Israel (John 10:11; 14). But now he hears the voice of an ominous Judge, of Someone Who pronounces and executes judgment.

Revelation 1:11. The voice of the Judge commands John to write in a book what he sees. That implies that he must sharply observe and take in. All his observations must then be documented in writings so that they will be preserved for later generations. However, the book is not only meaningful for later generations, but also for the seven named churches in Asia Minor, in the western part of present-day Turkey.

There were more churches in Asia Minor. But the Holy Spirit of God has chosen these seven because they are, as a matter of fact, a reflection of the church in its whole through the ages. That’s why it says “the” seven churches. It is these seven particular churches to which this book should be sent. That there are seven, shows that it is about something complete. It is about the complete history of the church on earth.

Also the order is not random, but of certain importance. You will see that when we will take a closer look at these seven churches in the next two chapters. At the same time, each church is also mentioned separately, which you can derive from the word “to” that is before the name of each church.

Revelation 1:12. When John heard the voice and what it has said, he turns. He wants to see the voice that was speaking with him. Of course you cannot see a voice, but the voice is of a person. That Person is the Lord Jesus. He is the Word. When John turns he first sees “seven golden lampstands” and then only he sees the Son of Man. Isn’t it like how it happens today, that we first see the believers and then only, as it were through them, the Lord Jesus?

John notices that the lampstands are of gold. Gold represents the glory of God. A lampstand is meant to spread light. Therefore, the fact that the churches are compared with golden lampstands means that the purpose of local churches is to spread Divine light.

Each local church ought to display in its environment Who God is. It can only do that by taking His Word into consideration. By listening to the truth of God’s Word and obeying it, the light will be spread in the darkness. Darkness rules everywhere in the world and it covers more and more places in professing Christianity. You will see how it happened that the light of the lampstand is getting weaker and weaker and that even a situation can arise that a lampstand is taken away.

Now read Revelation 1:7-12 again.

Reflection: What is the reason for John being on Patmos?