Revelation Chapter One
Notes
Transcript
The word “revelation” (apokalypsis in Greek) suggests that something once hidden is now being unveiled or openly displayed.
Original context: false religion is forming a partnership with pagan political and economic power to pressure those who claim to follow Christ. Will they compromise with the world to avoid persecution or openly confess Christ and experience trouble?
Revelation is a prophetic-apocalyptic letter that uses strange images to bring heavenly perspective and hope to a struggling people. The main message of Revelation is God will win!
Guidelines for reading Revelation
Read Revelation with humility
Try to discover the message to the original readers
Don’t try to discover a strict chronological map of future events
Take Revelation seriously, but don’t always take it literally
Pay close attention when John identifies an image
Look to the Old Testament and the historical context of the book when interpreting images and symbols
Historical Context
Historical Context
Who wrote Revelation?
The book of Revelation is written by the Apostle John. There has been some dispute of that throughout history but not really enough worth questioning or spending any real time on. The largest cause for question is the discrepancy between the theology of the Gospel of John and 1 John compared to Revelation. What contradiction might scholars use to question the authority of this document? They say that the Jesus of John’s gospel and 1 John is depicted as a loving person while the Jesus of Revelation seems wrathful. God’s justice and His love are not contradictory characteristics. In fact the wrath of God is very present in the Gospel of John it just so happens that Jesus is the one who has to bear it. Likewise God’s love is very present in Revelation and it is those who have put their faith in Jesus and remained faithful who experience the wedding feast of the Lamb. To say Jesus’ character is inconsistent between these books is nonsense.
John is writing this book while exiled on the island Patmos. According to tradition John was almost martyred. He was boiled alive in oil but when that didn’t work he was sent to Patmos to live out his days in exile.
Who was it written to?
The book of Revelation was written to seven churches in Asia minor. These seven churches existed along a popular mailing route and go in order of how it would have been delivered.
Ephesus to Smyrna to Pergamos to Thyatira to Sardis to Philadelphia to Laodicea
These churches were experiencing extreme persecutions at the hands of the Roman empire. There was pressure to conform to culture, to worship Caesar and the pagan gods, pressure to reject Jesus. With each passing day it grew harder and harder to stand firm. When would Jesus return and make all things new? This letter is an encouragement to the churches to stand firm and hold fast to the faith.
When was it written?
There are a few ideas of when this book could have been written. We know for sure that it was written during a time of severe persecution against the church. The two most likely suspects are during the reign of Nero in 68-69 AD or the reign of Domitian in 95-96 AD. History better supports the Nero date since we know for certain the severity of the Neronian persecutions. However, early church fathers date the book towards the end of Domitian’s reign. The argument for the Domitian date is strengthened by Domitian’s claim of deity and demand of worship in the Imperial Cult along with the apparent age of the churches being written to in early chapters. There was a myth of Nero’s resurrection that circulated during this time that could have possibly been alluded to in Revelation along with a description of a new temple and new Jerusalem since the temple in Jerusalem and Jerusalem itself were destroyed in 70 AD. All in all, this puts the writing of Revelation most likely between 95-96 AD during the reign of Domitian.
Literary Context
Literary Context
Revelation is a letter
It is written at a specific time to a specific audience to deal with a specific situation. In order to understand the letter we have to read it in its original context and seek to understand how the original audience would have understood it along with what the original author intended for it to mean.
Revelation also claims to be a prophetic letter
This isn’t just a regular letter. This letter is a prophetic word about the future. It is a proclamation of God’s truth for the present with an eye on future events. It’s contents are sure to be fulfilled because of the reliability of the revealer. These aren’t the imaginations of John while stranded on an island. These are the words of Jesus to the churches to encourage them about the future.
Revelation is a prophetic-apocalyptic letter
The future events being prophesied aren’t just any event. This book predicts how the world will end. This brings the temptation of forming charts and timelines to predict the end. It can lead to people acting out of fear, doomsday prepping, and looking at every news headline as “evidence” to support a theory. As we approach this book we pray the Holy Spirit would illuminate His Word. That we would grow in our faith to Christ and that we would look for Christ’s return with anticipation, hastening the day of His return. For Christians the end is not something to fear but something we long to see.
John is given a vision of the end of the world and is given a spiritual perspective of suffering and persecution.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
This verse captures the craziness of Revelation and comes with a caveat. The depictions of the world seem confusing and fantastical. John is using human language to describe and depict supernatural events. The Holy Spirit guides His hand as He seeks to explain what He sees. It is important to seriously consider all John writes while understanding the poetic language he is using to communicate the central truth of Revelation: Jesus is coming soon and He will be victorious.
“Come and see” Threefold Division
(chapters divided by each time John is invited to “come and see”)
Prologue: 1:1-20
“Come and see” part 1: 4:1-16:21
“Come and see” part 2: 17:1-21:8
“Come and see” part 3: 21:9-22:5
Epilogue 22:6-21
2 Act Approach
(Act II being a retelling of Act I from a different perspective)
Act I: 1-11
Act II: 12-22
7 Act Play
Prologue (1: 1-20). The book opens with a brief introduction (1:1- 3), address and salutation (1:4-8), and vision of the glorified Christ (1:9-20). (Some take this vision, with chaps. 2-3, as an introduction to the letters to the seven churches.)
Messages to seven churches(2:1-3:22). John is commanded by the risen Christ to address messages to seven churches in seven cities within the Roman province of Asia: Ephesus (2:1-7), Smyrna (2:8-11), Pergamum (2:12-17), Thyatira (2:18-29), Sardis (3:1-6), Philadelphia (3:7-13), and Laodicea (3:14-22). Each letter contains (1) a greeting to the ἄγγελος, (angelos, "angel" or "messenger") of the church; (2) a description of the risen Christ, drawn from the vision in 1:9-20; (3) praise for the church (except in the letter to Laodicea); (4) criticism of the church (except in the letters to Smyrna and Philadelphia); (5) a warning; (6) an exhortation, beginning, "He who has an ear ... “; and (7) a promise.
1. A vision of heaven (4:1-5:14). John is taken up to heaven "in the Spirit," where he sees the sovereign God seated on the throne and receiving worship. The transcendence of God depicted in this vision sets the stage for the drama that unfolds: John sees a sealed scroll in God's hand, and only a "Lamb, looking as if it had been slain," is accounted worthy to break the seven seals and open the scroll (5:1-14).
2. The seven seals (6:1-8:5). John describes what he sees as each seal is opened by the Lamb: conquest (6: 1-2), slaughter (6:3-4), famine (6:5-6), death (6:7-8), martyrs crying out for justice (6:9-11), and natural disasters, signifying the "wrath of the Lamb" (6:12-17). Then, before the seventh seal is described, John sees two visions, each of them depicting a great mass of people: 144,000 from the tribes of Israel who had been sealed by God (7:1-8), and an innumerable multitude who had "come out of the great tribulation" (7:9-17). The opening of the seventh seal brings silence in heaven and the introduction of the seven trumpets (8:1-5).
3. The seven trumpets (8:6-11:19). In his vision, John now observes the disasters that come upon the earth as angels blow each of the trumpets: hail and fire from heaven (8:7), a mountain thrown into the sea (8:8-9), a great star falling from the sky (8:10-11), astronomical changes (8:12-13), destructive locusts (9:1- 2), and a huge conquering army (9:13-21). As was the case with the seals, John interjects two visions before he narrates the events connected with the seventh trumpet. John sees an angel with a little scroll that he is instructed to eat (10:1- 11) and two witnesses, who prophesy, are killed, and are raised again (11:1-14). The seventh trumpet contains no specific event but inaugurates hymns that praise God for his triumph and judgments (11:15-19).
4. Seven significant signs (12:1-14:20). John interrupts his numbered septets to give a series of visions. But the number seven, so obviously basic to Revelation, is not abandoned, since the events narrated in these visions are seven in number: a woman who gives birth to a son (12:1-6); a war in heaven between Michael and his angels and a dragon, identified with Satan, who is cast out of heaven (12:7- 12); a war on earth between Satan and the woman and her child (12:13-13:1a); the worldwide worship of a beast who comes out of the sea (13:1b- 10); the worldwide domination of a beast who comes out of the earth (13:11-18); the praise of the Lamb from the 144,000 (14:1-5); and the harvesting of the earth, done by "one like a son of man'" and angels (14:14-20). As with the first two septets (seals and trumpets), there is a vision inserted between the sixth and the seventh in this series (see 14:6-13).
5. The seven bowls (15:1-16:21). John now sees "in heaven another great and marvelous sign: seven angels with the seven last plagues" (15:1). Those who had triumphed over the beast sing praises to God (15:2-4) as the angels come out of the temple with the plagues (15:5-8). These plagues are then described with the imagery of bowls that the angels pour out on the earth (16:1). The pouring out of the bowls brings, successively, painful sores "on the people who had the mark of the beast and worshiped his image" (16:2), a turning of the sea into blood (16:3), a turning of the rivers and springs of water into blood (16:3-7), scorching heat from the sun (16:8-9), destruction of the beast's dominion (16:10-11), the drying up of the Euphrates River and the coming of evil spirits in preparation for "the battle on the great day of God Almighty" at "Armageddon" (16:12-16), and, climatically, the "it is done" of utter earthly destruction (16:17-21).
6. The triumph of Almighty God (17:1-20:15). These visions describe and celebrate the triumph of God in the world, as his sovereignty, seen by John in heaven in chapter 4, is now manifested in the world. John depicts both the judgment of the wicked and the reward of the righteous. His first vision reveals the evil and destiny of “the great prostitute,” “the great city that rules over the kings of the earth” (17:1-18). This great city, named Babylon to suggest an ungodly suppressor of God's people, is now condemned and destroyed, as those who profited from her mourn her (18:1-19:5). In the midst of judgment, however, is salvation, as John hears the praise of a great multitude who had been invited to share in the wedding supper of the Lamb (19:6-10). John next portrays the victory over the beasts and the assembled nations won by the rider on a white horse (19:11-21). There follows John's famous description of the "thousand years" (hence the "millennium"), during which Satan is bound, and which separates the "first" resurrection from the second (20:1-6). John then depicts the final rebellion and destruction of Satan (20:7-10) and God's judgment of all the dead before the great white throne (20:11-15).
7. A new heaven and a new earth (21:1-22:5). The passing of the first earth leads to John's vision of "a new heaven and a new earth." Here God resides with his people (21:2-5), and the righteous are separated from the wicked (21:6-8). In his vision, John sees the "bride, the wife of the Lamb," in the image of a new Jerusalem, whose features and dimensions are described in considerable detail (21:9-21). There will be no need for temple or sun or moon in this city, for God and the Lamb are there, and there will be no wickedness (21:22-22:5).
Epilogue (22:6-21). John is promised that the message contained in the visions he has seen is "trustworthy and reliable" and that there will be reward for those who are faithful and true. This reward is brought by Jesus himself, who is "coming quickly”.
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, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 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.
From the very beginning we are told what the outcome of our study should be. This revelation is a revelation of Jesus Christ. He is the subject. There is nothing in all of human history more worthy of study, more worthy of attention. The goal of Revelation isn’t to have a road map to apocalypse. Instead, the goal is a deeper knowledge and love for our Savior who overcomes every enemy in our life.
The word for revelation is ἀποκάλυψις (apokalypsis). It is the only letter of its kind in the New Testament. We have examples of apocalyptic literature in the Old Testament (The strongest example being Daniel). We see this type of literature pop up in times of crisis, the destruction of the Temple, diaspora, intertestamental period, and now a great persecution in the church. Apocalyptic literature is a comfort to people in turmoil because it reminds us of the big picture. The weight of sin is heavy. The brokenness of the world cuts us like glass, but Jesus is coming to make all things new.
It is God who reveals what is to come. These visions don’t come from an oracle like in the city of Delphi. There are no rituals used to achieve enlightenment. God chose to reveal these things through Jesus to His people.
“However, there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and He has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will take place in the latter days. This was your dream and the visions in your mind while on your bed. “As for you, O king, while on your bed your thoughts turned to what would take place in the future; and He who reveals mysteries has made known to you what will take place.
We are told John is writing these things, this same John who wrote concerning the Word of God made flesh and the testimony of Jesus. In that first document we see the immortal God put on flesh and live a sinless life. We see Him perform 7 miracles with 7 “I Am” statements before He is crucified and rises again on the third day. This letter is a conclusion to the story John began. John’s Gospel is the only Gospel to begin before time began.
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
And now John continues the testimony of Jesus all the way to the end. The creator God by whom all things came into being is now creating a new heaven and a new earth where His people can live again with new bodies born of the Spirit.
“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.”
Christ is coming soon. There is an attitude of anticipation that hangs on every word written. Jesus is coming back quickly. Verse 3 says that this book is a blessing to those who hear the words and heed them. Another word for heed that can be used is keep or guard. Once again we are reminded that hearing God’s word is not enough. His word moves us to action. Whoever has ears to hear let him hear.
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,
We know our author and now we know our audience. John offers a familiar greeting: grace and peace. This gives us an idea of who makes up the congregations. It is most likely a blend of both Jewish and Gentile believers.
John says it is from the seven Spirits who are before His throne. This is the Holy Spirit. Seven is symbolic of perfection. The word for Spirits is the same word we would typically use to refer to the Holy Spirit. The reason he makes the distinction could be to identify with the seven churches. The temple of the Holy Spirit are those who have put their faith in Jesus. For this church under persecution it would have been encouraging to know that the Holy Spirit in their church working in their lives stands before the throne of God as well. There is no distinction between the holy place and the hearts of the believer. The use of the number seven does not indicate that there are seven Holy Spirits. there is one Spirit, one Father, one Savior, one triune God.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
Next we see our first description of Jesus in this book. This is what we are here for.
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— 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.
Faithful witness
Faithful witness
For a people struggling in their faith and struggling to be a witness for Jesus in a hostile world Jesus reminds them that He did it first. He is the one true faithful witness who testifies to the Father. He has done the work. he has accomplished salvation for us all. He did not stumble. He did not fall short. He was faithful to all that His Father commanded. This is encouraging to us because the faithful witness will never leave us nor forsake us.
As the nation of Israel wandered in the wilderness longing to enter the promised land God gave them this same encouragement.
“Be strong and courageous, do not be afraid or tremble at them, for the Lord your God is the one who goes with you. He will not fail you or forsake you.” Then Moses called to Joshua and said to him in the sight of all Israel, “Be strong and courageous, for you shall go with this people into the land which the Lord has sworn to their fathers to give them, and you shall give it to them as an inheritance. “The Lord is the one who goes ahead of you; He will be with you. He will not fail you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed.”
We are in the same context. We wander here in this wilderness looking to Christ’s return, longing for the day we too might enter into our promised land. But as we wait we need to remember to not be afraid or discouraged. God is with us. The inheritance is ours. God has guaranteed it. Whatever opposition we face as Christians we have hope that Christ has delivered us from slavery to sin and He will lead us to the promised land.
Firstborn from the dead
Firstborn from the dead
Jesus is to us a new Adam. He rose again and has become the firstborn from the dead so that we might also be raised with Him.
Therefore we have been buried with Him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life.
For people who have watched their loved ones lose everything this world has to offer, even their own lives, this is a reminder of the hope that awaits us in eternity. As Jesus rose so shall I. Come what may. Persecution, slander, danger, famine, nakedness, every affliction this world can throw at me, nothing compares to the hope of eternity and resurrection we have in Christ.
Ruler of the kings of the earth
Ruler of the kings of the earth
Jesus is ruler over every authority.
For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him.
These rulers that persecute the church will one day bend the knee to King Jesus. There is no power that can measure up to our King.
Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood
Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood
Jesus has paid it all. This is how we overcome. Christ Jesus has set us free and there is now no one who can bring a charge against God’s elect.
Who will bring a charge against God’s elect? God is the one who justifies; who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We overcome and conquer by the blood of our Lamb. Even in persecution we have victory because of Jesus
He who has made us to be a kingdom of priests to His God and Father
He who has made us to be a kingdom of priests to His God and Father
He not only forgives our sins but He makes us new creatures. He calls us to serve in His Kingdom.
But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
There is purpose in persecution. The enemy wanted to crush the church but Christ calls them to continue in the work. Continue to be a light in the darkness.
Him who deserves all glory and dominion forever and ever
Him who deserves all glory and dominion forever and ever
Glory and dominion belong to Christ alone forever. In those days Domitian demanded people worship him and give him glory. In those days Caesar demanded you to declare Kurios Kaisaros or Caesar is Lord. For the church there was only one Lord Christos Kurios. Christ is Lord. To refuse meant certain death. While Domitian demanded glory and dominion in a passing moment it really belongs to Jesus for all eternity. It was better to face Domitian and be put to death than reject Christ and suffer for eternity.
Jesus is going to continue to expand on His attributes throughout the book.
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.
Jesus encourages the churches that He is coming back in the same way He left.
And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven.”
Every eye will see Him. There will be no excuse. All will be confronted with final judgement. Only the mourners whose assurance is in Christ will be comforted.
“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
We learn more about Jesus
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
He is the Alpha and Omega. The first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. Jesus is the beginning of all things and the end of all things. He is the first and the last. He was. He is. He is to come. This is a clever reminder of the name of God given to Moses. YHWH The I Am. Here the verb “to be” or “I am” is put into its different tenses. He was. He is. He is to come. It reminds us that our almighty Lord has always been what He is and will always be God of the universe.
I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of 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 loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
John is a fellow partaker in tribulations. He had been boiled alive and exiled. He understands the plight of his audience and so does the God they are representing.
He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.
John was on the island of Patmos. He was in the Spirit on a Sunday and all of a sudden he heard a voice telling him to write this letter. He turned to see who it was that was talking to him only to find his dear friend Jesus.
Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
This depiction of Jesus isn’t all that unfamiliar to John. He had seen Jesus this way almost 60 years earlier.
And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.
Jesus appeared to John glorified. It says He saw one like a son of man. This description takes us all the way back to the book of Daniel.
“I kept looking Until thrones were set up, And the Ancient of Days took His seat; His vesture was like white snow And the hair of His head like pure wool. His throne was ablaze with flames, Its wheels were a burning fire. “A river of fire was flowing And coming out from before Him; Thousands upon thousands were attending Him, And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat, And the books were opened. “Then I kept looking because of the sound of the boastful words which the horn was speaking; I kept looking until the beast was slain, and its body was destroyed and given to the burning fire. “As for the rest of the beasts, their dominion was taken away, but an extension of life was granted to them for an appointed period of time. “I kept looking in the night visions, And behold, with the clouds of heaven One like a Son of Man was coming, And He came up to the Ancient of Days And was presented before Him. “And to Him was given dominion, Glory and a kingdom, That all the peoples, nations and men of every language Might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion Which will not pass away; And His kingdom is one Which will not be destroyed.
Based on what we have already read this is a very familiar depiction of Jesus. The son of man worthy of all glory and dominion. Ruler of every tribe, tongue, and nation. His dominion is an everlasting dominion.
His sash and robes give echos of His role as High priest and the regalia of a king in all His splendor. His hair is pure white like wool or like snow. He is holy and pure. Set apart from all creation. His eyes are like fire and his skin like precious metals refined and pure. He is precious, valuable, radiant. We saw moses look like this after the presence of God passed before Him on Sinai. Now here is the real deal. The radiant glory of God. His voice is like the sound of many waters. Powerful. Almost chaotic and destructive yet controlled. His face is like the sun. In His mouth is a two edged sword and in his right hand are seven stars. This Jesus looks a little different from the last time we saw Him.
John has probably the only appropriate reaction to seeing this.
When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.
Jesus is the first and the last. Take every god that exists. Every deity from every culture. Every god that has every effected human history. Put them all in a line. Jesus is the first and the last because He is the only one. He is risen in victory over death. He holds the keys to hell itself.
But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, “Death is swallowed up in victory. “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.
“Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. “As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Jesus sets us up for our study. We will jump into the letters to the churches and all the things to come. The mystery of what is to come will be revealed. Will He be victorious? What will He do with those keys? Find out on the next episode of Dragon Ball Z!
