Revelation Chapter 1

"John of Patmos" by George Richmond

Ch. 1 text and commentary (esv)

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

The book begins by calling itself the "revelation of Jesus Christ." The word "revelation" here means "unveiling, disclosure." As previous posts note, this word in Greek (apocalypsis) is loaded with meaning. An unveiling of Christ should bring to mind the moments in the Gospels that Christ's nature, power and divinity are unveiled, often with shocking results. Think of the Transfiguration (Mark 9) or the calming of the storm (Mark 4).  This unveiling of Christ in this book was given in order that the servants (lit. "slaves") of Christ will see what must "soon" happen. There is always this urgency in apocalyptic and end-time teachings; the emphasis is on the here and now, the present, because now is the time to proclaim the victory of Jesus, before it's too late. John concludes this opening by saying the "time is near," thus emphasizing once again the urgency of reading, hearing, and keeping this prophecy. 

4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

Ancient Christian symbols. Note the A-shaped "Alpha" and the horse-shoe shaped "Omega."
These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. The one who was "pierced" speaks in verse 8.
This means that Jesus is truly God - the Almighty One - Alpha and Omega. The Son of God has no beginning
and no end. He "is to come" because He will appear as judge at the end of all things.

The "Apocalypse" of Jesus Christ, given to John by an angel ("messenger"), which is, indeed, a prophecy (vs. 3), is also a letter "to the seven churches that are in Asia." Asia during John's time was the Roman province of Asia: 

Now the question arises: "Why seven churches?" Ancient writers surmised that "seven" is the perfect number because it combines three with four; three is the Tri-unity of the Godhead and four is the number of the corners of the world and also the Gospels. There are also seven days of creation.  So, the seven churches signify and summarize the universal Church.

Then what does the "seven spirits before his throne?"  The "seven spirits" have been interpreted in numerous ways. They act in Revelation like God's eyes, looking around the earth like a reconnaissance team (Koester, 227).  They hearken back to the "seven lamps" and the "seven eyes" 

There is also Zechariah 3:8, 9 to consider, where the angel of God is speaking to Joshua the high priest while Satan is nearby.  "'Listen, High Priest Joshua, you and your associates seated before you, who are men symbolic of things to come: I am going to bring my servant, the Branch.  See, the stone I have set in front of Joshua! There are seven eyes on that one stone, and I will engrave an inscription on it,’ says the Lord Almighty, ‘and I will remove the sin of this land in a single day.'"  

This seven-eyed stone, linked as it is to the "Branch" (Messiah), is also connected to the removal of sin in a single day (the crucifixion).  Elsewhere in the New Testament, Christ is called the "stone" (1 Cor. 10:4; Matt. 21:42), and is shown to be both the stone that gave Israel water in the wilderness and the stone of Psalm 118 which is a stumbling block and an offence which, nevertheless, becomes the corner stone.

Isaiah 11:1-2 is also an Old Testament passage we should look at here: "A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him - the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord."

Notice here the seven-fold presence of the Spirit: He is of the Lord, of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge, of fear. This is another OT text that lies behind Revelation and the importance of the number "7" in relation to God and the Church. One scholar says, "Throughout Revelation the number seven represents God's presence by his Spirit" (Brighton, 42). 

9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

An ancient manuscript of the New Testament. Virtually all of the oldest copies of
NT books are found on decaying papyrus like this.

Map of Eastern Mediterranean (notice Patmos)

John was "in the Spirit" on the "Lord's Day," meaning he received the revelation of Jesus on Sunday, presumably when he had been worshiping his Lord and partaking of the body and blood of Jesus in the Eucharist. Then he hears a loud voice like a trumpet. 

Christians have generally accepted that the seven churches sum up all of the Christian congregations. Again, seven is the number of completeness (3 + 4) and is also the number of God's design for the world (7 days of creation).  These seven churches are all located in what is today Western Turkey. 

The "one like a son of man" should make us recall Daniel's vision of the son of man (recorded in Daniel 7), and Jesus's self-identifying as the son of man throughout the Gospels. The son of man is the apocalyptic figure of God's authority and judgment. Daniel 7:13, 14 reads, "“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority,glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."

Since Jesus identifies as this son of man (e.g. Matt. 20:28 and elsewhere), we can confidently say that the son of man in this vision is Jesus. Yet, this is Jesus in His glory and power. The fierce description is like God has lifted the veil over John's eyes and showed him the Son's radiant being. This one, who is both Lord and God, has defeated death and risen from the grave. He is exalted, and approaches John.  We can only imagine how frightening, shocking, and powerful this vision was! 

The seven lampstands hearken back to the menorah of Moses, a seven-fold lampstand (Exodus 25), and represent the seven churches. The seven stars are the seven angels of the churches

Introduction to the Book of Revelation

Michelangelo's Last Judgment (1536-1541)

Author: John (1:1, 4; 9; 22:8). Writing on Patmos, he takes for granted his hearers know who he is: the Apostle of Jesus Christ who also wrote the fourth Gospel and three letters which are all collected in our New Testament.

Date: 90's A.D.  Irenaeus of Lyons, an important Church Father (c. 130 - 202 A.D.) stated that the Apostle John “saw the revelation... at the close of Domitian’s reign” (AD 81-96). Irenaeus received this information from Polycarp (60 - 155 A.D.) who was bishop of Smyrna and had sat at the feet of the Apostle John in the city of Ephesus.

Genre:  Revelation fits in the category of apocalyptic literature, yet it is technically also a letter (1:4) and a prophecy (1:3).  The first word in the book is apokalypsis in Greek, which means "unveiling, revelation." 

John of Patmos by Jan Toorop

Structure: the structure of Revelation is widely debated by scholars. But here is a helpful, general outline:

1. Introduction (1:1 - 3:22) - This contains the prologue, a description of John’s commissioning to write the book, and the seven letters to the seven churches.
2. Prophetic Message (4:1 - 22:5)
3. Epilogue (22:6-21)

A helpful summary of the book looks like this (taken from W. Harrington):

Overture (1)
Messages to the Churches (2 -3)
The Scroll Vision (4 - 5)
The Seven Seals (6:1 - 8:5)
The Seven Trumpets (8:6 - 11:19) 
The Woman and the Dragon (12)
The Two Beasts (13)
Salvation and Judgment (14)
The Last Plagues (15 - 16)
The End of Babylon (17:1 - 19:10)
The End of Evil (19:11 - 20:15)
The New Jerusalem (21:1 - 22:5)
Epilogue and Conclusion (22:6-21)

It is important to note the visionary events in Revelation see the entire age of the church from a heavenly perspective. Time folds in upon itself, and both past and future are experienced in the present. Each new vision is a different perspective and adds a little more to what was presented in the earlier visions. 

An ancient papyrus manuscript of Revelation.

Symbolism: The book of Revelation is saturated with symbols.

Numbers:

3 The Divine Number - the Tri-unity of the Godhead.

3 1/2 Half of seven. The number of the interruption of the divine order of things by Satan, wickedness, and chaos. An incomplete number, it signifies the age of persecution and imperfection.  This is also known as “a time, times, and half a time”; 42 months or 1260 days (three and one-half years)

4 The natural creation. Symbolizes the four corners of the earth; the habitation of man, the four winds.  Also the four Evangelists (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

6 The six days of creation, one short of seven, the mystical number.  For the Jew, the number six had in it the very sound of doom. Three sixes, the very enunciation of the words carries the hiss of the serpent, is a symbol for the beast. 

7 Perfection; three (the divine number) and four (the cosmic number) added together equals seven. The four-square world plus the divine completeness of God. Earth crowned with heaven. Seven was also the number of days to complete His creation. Also in the OT, there were seven high festivals in the Jewish year, four of them falling in the seventh month, and two of them lasting seven days. 

10 Totality or completeness. There are 10 commandments; the man who has five fingers on each hand and five toes on each foot was a full-rounded man. Thus five, doubled to ten symbolizes human completeness. 

12 The people of God (the 12 tribes in the OT and the 12 disciples in the NT). Four multiplied by three. 

24 The whole People of God in both the OT and the NT (12 + 12).

1000   The highest completeness (10 x 10 x 10)

The Four Horsemen by Viktor Vasnetsov

Colors:

White = Purity
Gold = Heaven
Red = Sin, Corruption, blood
Purple = Luxury, Royalty 
Black = Darkness, Wickedness, Sin, Apostasy, Evil
Pale / Green = Death, Sickness

Symbols:

Angels = Messengers 

Bowls = Judgment

Crowns = Power, Majesty

Eyes = Power of Sight

Fire = Judgement

Heads = Major Powers, Rulers, Government

Horns = Power, Strength

Israel = True Followers of Christ

Keys = Control, Jurisdiction

Lamb = Jesus, Atoning Sacrifice

Lampstands = Churches as bearers of the light

Palms = Triumph

Rainbow = Covenant Promise

Stars = Angels

Thunder = Proclamation of Judgment

Trumpets = Announcement of Warning

Wind = Strife, Commotion

Purpose: Revelation is the culmination of the Bible canonically, and the culmination of God's message of salvation theologically.  It reveals and confirms that Christ was prophetically promised and that his incarnation, death, and resurrection restore God’s creation to its original glory and righteousness.  Revelation thus points to the final meaning and final answer to all that is revealed in the Bible. In addition, as the last book, Revelation puts an endorsement on all of God’s revelation, a final confirmation of the divine truth and origin of God’s spoken and written Word. This finality points to the urgency of the last times in which all things will be brought to an end – an urgency which reminds the Christian to hold fast to the faith - “Be faithful until death and I will give you a crown of life" (2:10).

Christ's Place in Revelation: All of Scripture testifies to Christ.  The saving work of Christ is implicit throughout Revelation as it focuses on the exalted reign of Christ, which exaltation resulted from his death and resurrection. Because of his death and resurrection and since his ascension, the Lord Christ, in his state of exaltation, is Lord over all.  Revelation assumes in the entire book that the work of Christ in our place (humiliation and vicarious atonement) has already taken place, and it assumes that the reader knows and trusts that work.  The four Gospels narrate the incarnation, humiliation and resurrection of Jesus. Revelation pictures the exaltation of Christ and what this exalted reign of Christ means for the church.  Revelation tells the story of the Gospels in an apocalyptic way, and it continues the story from the ascension to the second coming of the Lord – and into eternity. Revelation also demonstrates how the church carries on the mission of Christ in the world for it was the ascended and exalted Christ who worked by the Spirit for and through the apostles.

Christ is pictured in Revelation as: the exalted Son of Man (1), the Lamb of God (5), the mighty angel of the church (10), the Lord of the church (2-3; 22), the Word of God (19:13) and the Source of the creation of God: the new heaven and earth.  He is the Lord of history, the Lord of the living and the dead, the Lord of the angels and the Lord of the world and of all creation.