Taking a break from Acts, I want to spend some time on the first part of Revelation this Summer and look at the Letters to the Seven Churches. The goal will be for our church to mine from these Scriptures the call of God for the kind of Church we are to be. We'll begin this week with the introduction in Revelation 1.
Revelation 1:1-8
The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
4 Message to the Seven Churches
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 the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood — 6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father — to Him be the glory and the 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 the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. 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."
NASU
Rev 1:1-8 Exposition
The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
Do not treat the book of Revelation as any kind of cryptic book of predictions. It does prophesy future events in its content as the past present and future are in the hand of the sovereign God. Yet it is not some book of shadowy secrets to be opened by adepts to gain knowledge kept from ordinary men. It is first and foremost “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” and since it says “which God gave Him to show his bond-servants,” we can assume that it is Jesus' revelation, that is the Revelation made by Jesus Christ. This is a contrast to a revelation of the person of Jesus. Again by necessity, just as prophetic warnings and predictions occur by necessity, the book also includes some revelations of the person of Christ, but none which are new and in any differ from the rest of Scripture. We are not meeting a Jesus any different than the one pictured for us in the Gospels.
which God gave Him
The message is God's own given through Jesus Christ.
to show to His bond-servants,
The book is shown by Jesus to the church, “his bond-servants” those who serve him and are bound to him. This accurately pictures the church which is called to serve the cause and Word and good news of Christ and is bound to Him by gracious election and by personal response and baptism. Our obligation to Him is one of gratitude for all he has done for us.
the things which must soon take place
The book is a gift to the church, not for hiding but for revealing “the things which must soon take place.” It's purpose is to strengthen the church to endure in faith in times of tribulation which came upon the church and will always face her until the end. It is a word of hope for us that we can and shall persevere.
and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,
As the “Revelation of Jesus Christ” the book has Jesus as its Author, “His angel” as the author's messenger, true to the name “angel”, and John as its faithful transcriber as John too is Christ's “bond servant”. This is not John's own creative writing, the bond servants of Christ are not called to creativity or originality concerning our message but to faithful transmission of God's own Word.
2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ,
John writes in the third person of himself as this kind of faithful witness, testifying truly to the Word of God as well as the testimonial account of Jesus. John's goal is to be faithful to the revealed Word of God as well as the accounts of Jesus' words and deeds.
even to all that he saw.
John is also testifying to the vision which he was given to see. The words “all that he saw” is from the Greek hosa meaning “all of the things” rather than giving us the sense of him telling these things to all the people which he saw. This tells us that we are about to read an account of a vision.
3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
We are blessed by this account. It is a gift to the church and one too precious to be neglected as it often is for its difficulty. Taking into account its purpose as a revelation from God to the church and a gift with a blessing, unlocks much of what seems hidden and makes study of it worthwhile, encouraging the reader to bear with and trust in God with those things which are hard to understand. We are told the blessing is for those who “read” and “heed”. One does not receive any magical “blessing” for reading alone, but the gift or blessing is for those who read and pay attention to and obey what is writted and faithfully apply what is there. We are additionally warned that the time is near. Certainly the early church would need these words to endure the early tribulations of persecution which were coming. Likewise the church in every age needs these words to be assured of God's sovereign control of their situation and struggles and of Christ's ultimate victory. The church in the days of the final tribulation described herein will need these words to survive to the end. We do not know the day or hour of Christ's return, but these passages give us hope and reason to endure.
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia:
John now begins to address his immediate audience, not the general “bond-servants” of Christ, but the specific seven churches of Asia Minor (called Asia in John's day). These as we will see are messages of encouragement, warning, rebuke, correction, and praise, to the specific gathered bodies of believers in those seven places, which have application to any and all churches at all times when they find in these letters something which describes them.
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,
First a greeting from the letter's true author, not John, but God, who is described as eternal, “who was and is and is to come. Also from the seven spirits or “sevenfold spirit” depending on the translation, before His throne. This I believe points to none other than the Holy Spirit, but should you wish to believe it is some angelic creatures who add greeting, I would not quarrel since the point is the same, that the message and greeting comes from none other than the throne of God and no lesser place.
5 and from Jesus Christ,
Encouraging me to believe that the seven spirits are the Holy Spirit made manifest with the perfect number seven and perhaps alluding to the nature of the Spirit, the same Spirit who rested on Jesus as in Isaiah 11:2
2 And the spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD;
KJV
Even as I underline these attributes, one might debate whether these are six or seven. Yet the point is that it is possible that the Spirit, of whom additional attributes could be Holiness (as He is the “Holy” Spirit) or eternity (as He is the Spirit of the LORD, which is the Hebrew name of God, “I am”, the eternal” etc.) my point is that to see the Sevenfold Spirit as the Trinity completing Holy Spirit would be appropriate as the greeting already includes the Father, as well as the Son Jesus Christ.
the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Jesus is here described by His attributes, “the faithful witness” who reveals the Father, the resurrected “firstborn from the dead”, and the “ruler of the kings of the earth” demonstrating His Lordship and echoing the proclamation of the Church, “Jesus is Lord”.
To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood —
Jesus' name is not said without praise as John breaks mid-sentence to Praise His works. Jesus; “ loves us and released us from our sins by His blood”. The choice of Christ to love his bond-servants the church, and to forgive our own unloving disobedience is displayed here as part of a list of reasons for praise. The cross and His Blood were His means of accomplishing what He willed for us and demonstrating his love and gracious forgiveness while remaining perfect in justice and holiness.
6 and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father —
Not only have we received His love and forgiveness but also we have been elevated, no longer just servants owing Him a debt of gratitude but also his kingdom citizens and priests who are now able to serve His God and Father in worship.
to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.
The result of these things is unlimited praise equal to that of The Father Himself and due only to God, therefore unreservedly declaring Jesus to be God as well. This praise ascribes to Him glory, and “dominion” lordship, and rulership, not only now but also for eternity, Not for a mere season but always.
7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to be. Amen.
Here we are reminded of what was revealed by the angels at the mount of Ascension; Acts 1:11
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.
KJV
and by Jesus Himself , Matt 24:30
30 And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
KJV
Jesus own Word of promise are repeated here to assure the church of the truth of His promise even as His return seems delayed and the church prepares to endure suffering and tribulation.
8 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, " who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
Our final assurance is in the eternity of God. There is no changing or defeating God or what he has purposed. This is good news for if our future and even our end is secure in God's hand then whatever we may face, mistreatment, imprisonment, suffering, or even death, we may know that our end is secure. God is, and exists without end existing also in our present. God was, and therefore was present in the past bringing all things about to fulfill His purpose. God is to come, and will not disappear leaving us to our own ends. God is Almighty, no to be defeated, thwarted, disappointed, frustrated, or out maneuvered. Therfore what have we to fear. As Romans 8:31 tells us.
What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us ?
KJV
Mark
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