Revelation - Chapter 1

One of the most important verses in the Book of Revelation is verse 1. Verse 1 “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:” Notice that here we are given the proper title for the book - The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Also notice that this Revelation was given to Jesus Christ by God the Father. This raise a lot of questions - i. Can Jesus learn - it tell us in Luke 2:52 “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature” ii. Did Jesus not know about all that was to happen in the future, all that we are told about in this book? Mark 13:32 tells us “But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father.” So we can take from this, that at that time Jesus, in the form of a human man, did not know the timing of the Second Coming. iii. Does Jesus know now? - Yes. The word “servant” used in this verse comes from the Greek word “doulos”. This is a special kind of servant - it is a bond slave. In ancient Israel, if you were paying a debt off by becoming a servant, which would usually be for 7 years, at the end of this time you had an option to either leave, or to stay on in the house. If you decided to stay on, then you became a Doulos - a bond slave. To mark this, you were taken to the doorpost of the house and an awl was used to pierce your ear to the doorpost - see Exodus 21:6. A ring was then placed in your ear. You had chosen freely to serve this household for the rest of your life. We are Doulos - we have chosen freely to serve Jesus, our Saviour, for the rest of our lives. The term “shortly” used in this verse means rapidly, once these things start to happen, they will all come about rapidly. “Signified” means to render into signs or codes. The Book of Revelation is full of codes, each one is explained somewhere else in the Bible. Verse 2 “Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.” This book was written by John while he was in exile on the Isle of Patmos, in about 95 AD. It is interesting to note as we look at the Books written by John, that in - The Gospel of John he wrote “Believe” Ch20 The Epistle - “That we might be sure” 1 John 5:13 Revelation - of the life rewarded. Gospel of John focuses on Salvation Epistles of John focus on Sanctification Revelation focuses on Redemption The Gospel presents Jesus in His role as Prophet The Epistles present Him in His role as Priest Revelation presents Him in His role as King

Verse 3 “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.” Here we have a blessing pronounced to all who read this book. BUT notice 3 things - Read, Hear, Keep. We have to not only read it, but also have to hear it and keep it. Before getting into the study of this Book, we should just sit down and read it from beginning to end, never mind the strange things happening within it - just read it. We also see hear the first of 7 beatitudes found in this book - “Blessed is he” Now we start into the book proper. Up until now we have had the introduction, now we are into the letters written. It starts with a cover letter by John in the first chapter, then there are 7 letters written by Jesus to the 7 churches. Verse 4,5 “John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,” Notice who it is from - Him which is, which was and which is to come; the seven spirits which are before the throne; Jesus Christ. So, there are 3 people mentioned - but who are they? Him which is and which was and which is to come - God the Father Jesus Christ - The Son Seven spirits before the throne - The Holy Spirit We may find this last name strange, but if we turn to Isaiah Ch 11 vs 1,2 we see 7 spirits listed. This gives us an example of why we have trouble with the Book of Revelation. We do not know the Old Testament well enough. The 7 spirits listed in Isaiah represent the Holy Spirit, you see if we wanted to study the Holy Spirit we would not start at the book of Acts, where many would assume, but we would have to start at Genesis Ch 1 vs 2. Verse 6 “And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.” Verse 5 and 6 see the beginning of 7 aspects of Jesus. 1. Faithful Witness 2. First begotten of the dead 3. Prince of the kings of the earth 4. Loved us 5. Washed us from our sins in His own blood 6. Made us kings and priests 7. Glory, dominion The end of verse 6 sees it saying “to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.”. Right throughout Revelation this verse is used and expanded upon each time - it happens 7 times.

Verse 7 “Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.” This is not the “rapture” that is being talked about here. It says “every eye”, in Zech 12;10 it tells us that “they shall look upon me whom they pierced” The piercing of Jesus Christ is described in detail in Psalm 22 Verse 8 “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.” The Alpha and Omega is well know as a name for Jesus Christ. An interesting point to notice here, is that in the original Greek the word Alpha is spelled out, but Omega is just a sign, not the full word. Ω It is as if the beginning is finished, but the end hasn’t. Verse 9 “I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.” The tribulation that John mentions here is not the great tribulation, but a tribulation occurring at that time that he and the Christians of that day were going through. Christians were being imprisoned and killed. John was in exile on the island of Patmos. It was about 10 miles long and 6 miles wide, situated just off the coast of Turkey.

Verse 10 “I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,” The term “in the Lord’s day” can either mean Sabbath, or that he was transported some 2000 years into the future and he is at the time of these things happening - the day, or time, that the Lord returns and reigns. Verse 11 “Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.” Here we have the list of the 7 churches that will receive letters. The question is, why these churches? There were a lot more churches, some estimate at over 100. These churches were not well known, where was Rome, Jerusalem, Antioch etc. Except for the church at Ephesus, we probably would never have heard of them, if they had not been mentioned here. And why are they listed in this order? - we will look at this later. Verse 12 “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks;” The seven golden candlesticks - or lampstand, makes us think of the Tabernacle. Everything in the Tabernacle, the furniture, all sizes and measurements, point towards Jesus Christ.

As you enter the Tabernacle you would see on your left the seven branched candlestick. It was known as the Menora.

This was the only source of light and was beaten out of a single piece of gold. It represented the seven churches. Verse 13 “And in the midst of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.” The person responsible for the Menora was the High Priest, only he could prepare it and look after it. So this verse represents the role of Jesus as the High Priest. He looks after the church today and inspects to see it burning brightly for Him. There follows down to verse 15, a description of Jesus Christ. Verse 14-16 “His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes were as a flame of fire; And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength” How many things are described? - 7 The mention of seven stars is explained in verse 20. Verse 17,18 “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.” The term “keys of hell and of death” refers to Hades, the temporary dwelling place of the dead while they await eternal punishment in outer darkness. Verse 19 “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;” This is possibly the most important verse in this chapter, for us, as we start our study in Revelation. It is an outline of the whole book. If we understand this, it will help us to make things easier later on. Thou hast seen - Chapter 1 The things which are - Chapters 2,3 The things which shall be hereafter - The rest of the book Verse 20 “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” This leaves no room or our own interpretation of the stars or candlesticks.