Note: These are study notes for a Bible Study I am having with a local study group on the letters to the seven churches in Revelation 1-3.
Introduction
The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Revelation 1:1-3
Revelation follows very closely the typical format of a first century Hellenistic letter, as so many other New Testament letters do. Accordingly, it begins with a prologue that covers 1:1-20; and is introduced in verses1-3 above. Verse 1 is critical because it gives us our first insight into the subject of the book, and in doing so; it also brings our first controversy.
A literal translation of the first three words would be: “Revelation Jesus Christ”. Obviously, that doesn’t really work in English which requires an article and preposition. Most every English translation uses the definite article “The” to begin the sentence, but the choice of preposition is more of a challenge. Normally, context would determine which to use, but in the first three words of the document, there hasn’t been an obvious context established, in fact this sentence is the beginning of establishing that very context, with the result being that we must determine context backwards; a touchy business. The “new” NIV and some other more recent translations, uses the word “from”. The KJV, NASB and “old” NIV, along with most older translations, used the word “of”. Can you see why this might have some ramifications down the line?
What exactly is it that is being revealed here: Jesus Christ or what will soon come to pass… or both?
As we continue through our study, I think you will come to agree with me that revealing Jesus Christ also reveals what will come to pass because in so many respects, they cannot be separated. Next, we see the methodology in play; God gave a message to Jesus, who gave it to an angel to deliver to John, and John in turn is writing it down for us. John testifies to the accuracy of the message he has received, which is the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. This is an interesting little twist, because on the one hand there is an angel bearing a message, and on the other, when we get into the actual vision, Jesus speaks directly to John. As you will also see, this happens more than once in the book.
As for “what must soon take place” I would remind you once again that the time perspective is 90 something AD, not necessarily the 21st century; please keep that in mind as we go, it will save you a great deal of confusion.
This brings us to verse 3: Blessed is the one who reads this prophecy (Revelation) aloud to the church; remember that it was sent to the seven churches in Asia, and blessed are those who hear it and take it to heart. Here is an example that shows us why keeping the time reference is so important to our understanding. If this book was written for our time, as many suggest that it was, then what would be the blessing for people for almost 2,000 years, who have nothing to do with what is being written? Maybe they would be blessed by the few verses about their own church, and maybe it would be a blessing to know that thousands of years later Jesus would finally come back…
Doesn’t it sound like quite a bit more is involved for the original readers and hearers than that? I think this is particularly the case when you drop in the remainder of the sentence: because the time is near. This is not the place to chime in and say that time is irrelevant to God… because God was not the one hearing the words of the prophecy.
OK, there is the introduction to think about.
Extra Topic: The Hellenistic Letter Format of the First Century
When we write a letter, we normally follow a certain culturally accepted format; we first write the name and address of the sender and recipient, then there is a greeting such as “Dear John”, followed by the body of the letter, and then a closing greeting like “Sincerely yours”. In the Hellenized culture of the first century Roman world, there was a different format: I’ll list the typical letter format along with examples of it from 1 Corinthians and Philemon:
Name of sender(s): 1 Cor. 1:1; Phlm. 1a
Name of recipients: 1 Cor. 1:2; Phlm. 1b-2
Prescript (which is a form of greeting): 1 Cor. 1:3; Phlm. 3
Proem (which is a prayer, thanks or petition to a god): 1 Cor. 1:4-9; Phlm. 4-7
Introduction (which usually transitions into the main subject): 1 Cor. 1:10; Phlm. 8-9
Main Body: 1 Cor. 1:11-16:18; Phlm. 10-22
Final Greetings: 1 Cor. 16:19-20; Phlm.
Final words (often in writer’s own hand): 1 Cor. 16:21-24; Phlm. 25
It is not uncommon for New Testament letters to omit one or two of these, but they normally have most of these elements, and Revelation is no exception. These are useful to identify because they help us to recognize context in our reading, and thus to recognize the priority of any given section, should that become an issue in properly understanding it. For example, if we see a definite topic set out in the introduction, and then come across something that is way off-topic, we will not be tempted to let it change our understanding of the context of the rest of the letter; we will see it as an aside.
Revelation falls into the letter format this way:
Name of sender(s): Rev. 1:4 a
Name of recipients: Rev.1:4b
Prescript: Rev. 1:4c-5a
Proem: Rev. 1:5b-8
Introduction: Rev. 1:9
Main Body: Rev. 1:10-22:20
Final Greetings: not found in Revelation
Final words: Rev. 22:21
Revelation: The Prelude
John,
To the seven churches in the province of Asia:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.
“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 1:4-8
John is beginning to get down to business in these four verses, at least in the sense of the letter writing of his day. He gives his name in 4a, the recipients in 4b, then his prescript in 4c-5a, and finally his proem in 5b-8. I am taking pains to point this out here in Revelation, because I want us to keep in mind what we are reading; we have NOT gotten to the visions yet!
That is not to say that there is nothing to learn here; far from it. Take a look at 4c-5a:
Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Grace and peace for he who is, was and is to come is a reference to the God the Father. The “seven spirits” (or sevenfold spirit as the footnote says) is a reference to the Holy Spirit, and of course Jesus is the Son, thus his greeting is from the fullness of the Godhead. Look how Jesus is described: Faithful witness, firstborn and ruler of the kings of the world. We will see these things over and over through the book… and let’s be sure to take notice of who is in charge.
The proem is also quite wonderful in Revelation. In 5b-6, we have John as the speaker. Verse 7 is made up of 2 prophetic quotations, first in 7a John quotes Daniel 7:13, and in 7b he quotes Zechariah 12:10.Finally, in verse 8, Jesus introduces Himself. From all of this, we get a good sense of where the letter is heading.
In 4c-5a, we have “who” is now sending greetings. In 5b-7 we see what will ultimately come to pass, and in verse 8 we have Jesus as He is and will continue to be as He presides over what transpires from now on into the future.
Jesus in the Midst of His Church
Revelation 1:9-16
John begins his story by setting his location on the island of Patmos where he had been exiled for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was the Lord’s Day, the first day of the week. He was “in the Spirit” when suddenly… (1:9-10a)
He hears from behind him a voice “like a trumpet”. It wasn’t a trumpet literally, but it was “like” a trumpet; it was a really loud voice that said, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” (1:10b-11). He turns, and what unfolds before him is a vision of wonder!
He was no longer seeing his physical surroundings, he wasn’t seeing anything literal, he was seeing a very meaningful and communicative vision provided to him for instructive purposes, and he had been ordered to write it down so we too could “see” it too.
He sees seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of those lampstands John sees his beloved Savior on whom he had reclined, yes, he John, the one whom His Savior had loved, was seeing his Savior again after all these years and all that had happened in the interim. Can you imagine what John must have felt at that moment? (1:12-13a) How different Jesus looked now in His glory…
and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
Revelation 1:13-16
As you read these amazing verses, don’t get hung up on the details; take it all in as one glorious vision of Jesus Christ. For example, a guy with a sword coming out of his mouth is a bit disturbing, but remember this is not a literal description, that sword is the Word of God proceeding from the mouth of Jesus, the Word who was made flesh. Each of these descriptive elements tells us something about our Lord. Actually, they have all come from the Old Testament; see the chart below…
| Revelation Description | Old Testament Parallel |
| Robe reaching down to His feet 13 | Priestly dignity EX 28:31, 39ff Majesty of God IS 6:1 |
| Golden sash around His chest 13 | Of the priests EX 39:29 Of the angels Dan 10:5 |
| Head and hair white like wool 14 | Description of God Dan 7:9 |
| Eyes like blazing fire 14 | Characteristics of the angel in Dan 10:6 |
| Feet like bronze glowing in a furnace 15 | Like the cherubim of EZ 1:7 Like the angel of Dan 10:6 |
| Voice like the sound of rushing waters 15 | Described along with the glory of God EZ 43:2 |
| Seven stars in His right hand 16 | “Those who lead many to righteousness [will shine] like the stars for ever and ever” Dan 12:3 |
| Sharp double edged sword out of His mouth 16 | Prophecy about the messianic servant of the Lord IS 49:2 (Note also Heb. 4:12) |
| Face like the sun shining in its brilliance 16 | The brilliant light surrounding the glory of God EZ 1:28 (Note also the brilliant appearance of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration MT 17:21) |
Here our Lord is reigning in His glory, pictured as being clothed in majesty and power; awesome to behold. The brightness of the scene shows Him surrounded by the awesome glory of the truth of God, His eyes of fire, that pierce into every heart, and every dark place, seeing all, those mighty glowing feet ready to trample His Enemy under foot, His loud voice booming like the rushing waters as the very Word of God proceeds from His lips, for God in His full glory is too much for us to see! There He stands in the very midst of His Church.
This vision of Christ must have been a shock for John; it might make us a bit uncomfortable too. Yet this is still our Jesus, the one who loved John, the one against whom John reclined… the one we love, and who loves us, the one we spend so many precious and intimate moments with.
Extra Topic: The Significance of Numbers in Revelation
We’ve already seen that the number seven is especially significant in Revelation. You may be assured that it is not the only significant number we will come across. Thus I thought it might be helpful to run through some of the others for your review…
Two is the number of valid witness. It has its roots in Deuteronomy 19:15 where at least two witnesses are required to establish factual testimony in a court of law.
Three is frequently used to refer to God. Its roots are to be found in such passages as Isaiah 6:3 where God accepts the threefold worship of the seraphim, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty….” Christian writers often see Trinitarian connotations in the number, since it reflects the number of Persons in the Godhead: Father, Son and Spirit.
Four is often connected with creation or the world, and it goes back to things like “the four corners of the earth” (Ez. 7:2 cf. Rev. 7:1), or “four quarters of the earth” (Is. 11:12), or the “four winds” (Jer. 49:36; Ez. 7:9; Zech. 6:5; Dan. 7:2; cf. Matt. 24:31; Mark 13:27; Rev. 7:1) i.e. north, south, east and west comprising the whole of creation.
Five the number of fingers on the human hand describes a “handful” or a “few”.
Ten likewise represents two handfuls; a few. Neither 5 nor 10 should be understood literally in apocalyptic writing.
Seven is the number of completeness, wholeness or perfection. It can also bring with it a connotation of “goodness” or “moral completion” as something might be thought to be perfect or righteous in God’s sight. However, the dominant understanding of the number is not moral perfection, but whole or complete. The origins of this are found in Old Testament texts such as Genesis 1-2 where seven represents a “whole” or “complete” week.
Six doesn’t quite measure up to seven, for it is not quite complete; it represents something less that perfection, something that isn’t whole. Thus, it reflects “imperfection” and sometimes may refer to something evil.
Twelve often represents the number of God’s faithful people. In Jewish apocalypses,it represents faithful Jews, in Christian apocalypses, it refers to faithful Christians. In certain contexts, it represents all of God’s faithful ones from both Testaments. Its origin is found in the 12 tribes of Israel and in the 12 disciples/Apostles of Christ.
Multiples of these numbers are sometimes used to describe the full number of whatever is being symbolized. For example the number 1,000 (10 X 10 X 10) represents a large but definite number of something. 144,000 (12 X 12 X 1,000) represents the full number of God’s people.
As we continue through the text, we will discuss numbers more as we encounter them.
Jesus and John
John’s vision of Jesus in the midst of His church is a striking one, for such power, majesty and glory is almost beyond human comprehension, and John reacted to it in a way that is probably much like any one of us might have reacted; he fell on his face as though dead. But this was Jesus, and John was the disciple He loved…
When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Revelation 1:17-18
The most notable thing about these 2 verses for me is Jesus putting His hand on John and saying “do not be afraid.” Jesus could have just barked the command, “do not be afraid” but He didn’t; He reached out and touched him first; it wasn’t a command not be afraid, it was an act of love and compassion… right in the middle of His glory and power and majesty.
That was the Jesus John had known; that is the Jesus we know.
Jesus went on to identify Himself as God, and yet right in the middle of His glory, identifying Himself as God, we see an element of the familiar, of relationship: I was dead, and now look; I am alive for ever and ever! Can you hear the familiar tone of excitement in the voice? Then He makes this point really jump out: And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
Jesus had already used the keys of death and Hades (land of the dead) for His own benefit; why is He bringing them along now? For John’s benefit, for your benefit and for mine as well.
Yep, that’s the Jesus John knew, and the Jesus we know too.
“Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Revelation 1:19-20
Verse 19 is significant because it gives the time reference for the rest of Revelation. John is to write what he has seen; we’ve just read it. John is to write what is now, which comes next in the text― the letters to the seven churches. John is to write what will take place later, and “later” begins in 4:1, just as soon as the letter writing is complete. Then Jesus tells John what the seven stars and the seven lampstands represent; the angels (messengers) to the churches, and the churches of Asia, respectively.
With that combination, we know what is coming in chapters 2 and 3 and that begins next time!
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