The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John; who bare witness of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, even of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written therein: for the time is at hand. John to the seven church 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 that are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loveth us, and loosed us from our sins by his blood; and he made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father; to him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen. Behold, he cometh with the clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him; and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him. Even so, Amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty. I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet saying, What thou seest, write in a book and send it to the seven churches: unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamum, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea. Revelation 1:1–11
Read More Than Conquerors, pp. 65–70.
A. INTRODUCTION, verses 1-3
There have been many Apocalypses or Unveilings (Revelations, Disclosures); such as Books of Enoch, Apocalypse of Baruch, Apocalypse of Peter, Apocalypse of Paul, Apocalypse of Bartholomew, Apocalypse of Mary, Apocalypse of Thomas, Apocalypse of Stephen, etc. The Bible, however, contains only two authentic, that is, divinely inspired, Apocalypses, one in the Old Testament and one in the New. The New Testament Apocalypse is the Book of Revelation. This is truly the Revelation of Jesus Christ, given by him and revealing him in the glory of his conquering power and love.
The steps by which this wonderful book came down to the first hearers were as follows: God—Jesus Christ—an angel—the apostle John—the lector—the entire congregation. The lector was the official who read the book to the assembled congregation during the worship-service.
Those who not only hear but also keep the prophecy (that is, accept it and act accordingly) are here pronounced blessed, in this the first of seven beatitudes found in the Book of Revelation.
B. SALUTATION AND ADORATION, verses 4–6
Ancient letters used to begin somewhat as follows, “John to his father: Greetings.” What we have here in verse 4 is much better: “Grace to you and peace,” etc. This is called an apostolic salutation. It is not just a pious wish; it is an act of God Triune whereby he bestows his grace (unmerited favor) and peace (assurance of reconciliation with God) upon those in the congregation (assembled for worship) who are ready to receive these gifts by faith. When the apostle John reflects on the many and great blessings which the church has received from its Triune God (Father, Spirit, Son; note the order here, and see More Than Conquerors for explanation), such blessings as love, deliverance froIp sin, and elevation to royal priesthood, he must needs utter a spontaneous doxology. The true believer breathes doxologies (“To him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever”). Religion to him is a matter not merely of studying a catechism-lesson of listening to a sermon but of responding with the entire heart to the grace of God. Paul utters doxologies again and again, and so do Peter and John.
C. ANNOUNCEMENT OF CHRIST’S SECOND COMING verse 7
Again and again the Apocalypse refers to Christ’s glorious second coming. Every eye will see him then. Among the lost there will be universal mourning then. For details read Revelation 6:15–17. It will be a mourning as for a firstborn son who cannot be recalled from the realm of the dead, a hopeless mourning therefore. The day of salvation is NOW, not by and by. This holds also for the Jews. For them, too, there will be no opportunity to repent when they see Christ visibly returning.
Not only the people still living upon the earth when Jesus returns but literally everybody will see Christ at his glorious return.
D. CHRIST’S SELF-DESIGNATION, verse 8
What a comfort for the believers, who when this was revealed were being so bitterly persecuted, to realize that their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was and is and evermore will be the Indestructible One, the Beginning and the End, the “A” and the “Z” (in terms of our English alphabet) or the “Alpha” and the “Omega” (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet). He is the FIRST, so that “my life in all its perfect plan was ordered ere my days began”; but he is also the LAST, still fully alive after all my enemies have been disposed of (cf. verses 17, 18). The enemies may be mighty; he is the Almighty.
E. JOHN’S COMMISSION TO WRITE THE APOCALYPSE, verses 9–11
Who was this man John who calls himself so affectionately, “I John, your brother and partaker with you in the tribulation and kingdom and patience which are in Jesus”? He was a son of Zebedee and Salome. When Jesus died John may have been about twenty-five years of age. Salome seems to have been a sister of the Virgin Mary. If this be correct, Jesus and John were cousins. Before John became a disciple of Jesus he had been a disciple of John the Baptist. John had been a man with pent-up emotions, flashing forth on occasion (Mark 3:17; Luke 9:54). His heart, however, was filled with love for Christ, the Christ who loved him in a very special way. After working for a long time in Judea the apostle John migrated to Ephesus at the outbreak of the Jewish War. At that time he was at least sixty years of age. For many years he lived in Ephesus. He may have written his Gospel and Epistles at this time. But sometime during the latter part of the reign of Domitian, who ruled from A.D. 81–96, John was banished to the island of Patmos. With the accession of Nerva he was allowed to return to Ephesus, where he died at the beginning of Trajan’s reign; i.e., about the year 98. It is held by many that this “disciple whom Jesus loved” wrote down the visions while he received them on the island of Patmos, and that he formed them into a book after his return to Ephesus. At any rate we know from verses 9–11 that the Lord himself commissioned John to write down what he saw and to send it on to the seven churches of “Asia” which had been established as a result of Paul’s missionary work at Ephesus.
Questions
1. What is the name of the Old Testament Apocalypse?
2. What does it mean that the things recorded in the book of Revelation will “shortly come to pass”? See verse 1.
3. Will Christ’s second coming, to which verse 7 refers, be one of terror or of joy?
4. For what reason had John been banished to Patmos? See verse 9.
5. Are Christians being persecuted today?
6. Why are only seven churches mentioned here? Why not also such Asia Minor churches as the one at Colossae (see Col. 1:2) and the one at Heirapolis (see Col. 4:13)?
7. Explain, “I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,” verse 10. Does that verse imply any practical lesson for our own day?