Revelation 1:1-8
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1 This is a revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants the events that must soon take place. He sent an angel to present this revelation to his servant John, 2 who faithfully reported everything he saw. This is his report of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3 God blesses the one who reads the words of this prophecy to the church, and he blesses all who listen to its message and obey what it says, for the time is near.
4 This letter is from John to the seven churches in the province of Asia.
Grace and peace to you from the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come; from the sevenfold Spirit before his throne; 5 and from Jesus Christ. He is the faithful witness to these things, the first to rise from the dead, and the ruler of all the kings of the world.
All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. 6 He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
7 Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven.
And everyone will see him—
even those who pierced him.
And all the nations of the world
will mourn for him.
Yes! Amen!
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”
I do NOT read revelation as a linear, speculative calendar, of end times events
I do NOT agree with Tim LaHeye and Jerry B. Jenkins who wrote the Left Behind series. Nor do I agree with Hal Lindsay, and MANY others who read Revelation as if it holds some sort of CODE for the church today in unlocking end times speculations.
I do, however, read Revelation as many scholars do, as a message to the church almost 2,000 years ago that still holds true today.
I believe, as with ANY book of the Bible, we must FIRST understand Revelation in its own context, time, situation, and place in history to THEN be able to grasp at its understanding for us.
For those who want me to give predictions about a One world Government, or the collapse of Western Civilization YOU WILL BE GREATLY DISAPPOINTED because I WILL NOT!
However, I will be true to the text. I will lead us through understanding the images in a 1st century context, and from that guide us to an understanding of the text that is appropriate for us today.
What is Revelation?
Letter
One letter written to 7 specific churches, for a specific purpose, with a specific intention, with specific instructions
Importance of 7
Completeness
Churches also create a circle
11 It said, “Write in a book everything you see, and send it to the seven churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
(if you connect the “dots” of the cities) signifying complete unity and wholeness
Therefore, it is not only to these 7 specific churches, but to the WHOLE COMPLETE CHURCH THAT FACES SIMILAR STRUGGLES!
This creates 7 different “entry points” for the churches, and individuals therein, to know what it means to be faithful.
Specific Time?
Too often we assume our own context and understanding of things and we fail to see them in light of their current situation; not ours.
Written, most likely, around 95AD during the latter part of the reign of Domitian
Nero has come and gone. (Some say he took his life and came back from the dead, this became a great fable about him around the time that the letter was written). Nero persecuted the faithful followers of Christ. Although some were killed, the church remained!
The Emperor Cult where the emperor desired to be worshiped as a god was growing in intensity during the time of Domitian.
John seems to be writing with the persecution of the faithful followers of Jesus Christ in mind.
Wisdom
Because of the heightened, or the sense of the heightened, persecution of the faithful John also writes this letter as a piece of wisdom literature. How can the church continue to be the faithful witness in the midst of an uncertain world and in the midst of the oncoming persecution? How can the churches message continue to be heard in the midst of these times?
Prophecy
Too many times we view prophecy as a “Crystal Ball” experience and that by gazing into these words we can see things that will take place at a later time.
Too often we view the words of prophecy only pertaining to future events and therefore prophecy is divorced from it’s current context and placed into a context that can only be understood by later generations.
This just isn’t the case with biblical prophecy!
Prophecy, simply put, is speaking God’s word into a current situation. In other words, John is writing a letter, to a specific church (es) with God’s specific message for their SPECIFIC CIRCUMSTANCES!
To understand prophecy, we must not jump ahead to our specific context. We must first look back to the contemporary context of the prophet. Once we understand the prophecy in the context it was written we can begin to understand what those words mean for us today.
We must understand this letter in the context of these specific churches before we can understand this letter in the context of OUR specific church.
Apocalyptic
From the Greek “apcalupsys” meaning “to reveal”
Apocalyptic literature is, simply put, literature that reveals something, and specifically something about God.
Yes, most apocalyptic literature reveals things about God by giving glimpses of the end. But, that revealing is a snapshot of God’s activity in the world.
In looking and glimpsing at the end we see God’s justice being played out and what faithful living means in view of God’s justice.
But, what is really being revealed is that God has not forgotten us!
What is also being revealed is that no matter what happens God is not surprised, nor is God removed from His throne. And, God is driving/guiding history and creation to its intended purpose and destination. It might not always feel or seem that way. But, throughout this letter what is apocalyptic, what is revealing, is that God is STILL IN CONTROL!
Apocalyptic genres are NEVER to be taken LITERALLY. They are symbolic and full of metaphor and imagery.
There is a great theme that we often overlook when we read Revelation…
GRACE AND PEACE.
4 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, 5 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,
We often forget or overlook that this letter, Revelation, is FIRST AND FOREMOST a letter that is intended to instill grace and peace to the faithful church!
(Yes, the church that is not faithful might need to find peace and grace).
We often overlook this element and use this letter to instill fear and uncertainty. We prepare for the Great Tribulation - but fail to prepare for the ultimate coming of Jesus Christ who brings the greatest amount of Grace and Peace with Him.
We do this simply because we strip the letter of its 1st Century context and we fail to ignore its literary genres that I have already discussed. We read it as if WE are the only ones who can unlock its secret message (that really isn’t secret if we pause to read it with 1st century eyes and ears).
The First words spoken to the churches are the words GRACE AND PEACE!
In the midst of the crazy images and crazy scenes there are images dispersed throughout of worship (which is another theme of this letter). These images should give us grace and peace and encouragement and strength as we see that God is still on the throne and because God is coming again!
The faithful church has reason to know Grace and Peace in the midst of all the chaos the world throws at it why?
6 He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen. 7 Look! He comes with the clouds of heaven. And everyone will see him— even those who pierced him. And all the nations of the world will mourn for him. Yes! Amen! 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”
There is Grace and Peace because Christ promises to not only be the one who was, and who is - but also the ONE WHO IS TO COME (Zeus was the one who was and the one who is… Christ’s message adds “and the One who is to come.” He has it ALL UNDER CONTROL!!
But, also, Grace and peace because of the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ. We are saved by Christ alone and we are called to be faithful to Christ alone. There is grace and peace in the midst of all the crazy turmoil of life as we remain FAITHFUL to Christ ALONE!
And, there is Grace and Peace in the turmoil that YOU are facing!
May Christ build his Kingdom in us and through us and may HE bring Grace and Peace to us as HE does it!