Greeting the Seven Churches
Notes
Transcript
4 John, to the seven churches which 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,
John is writing this letter specifically to the seven churches which existed in Asia at that time. That is the land of Turkey today. All seven of these churches existed in very close proximity to one another in the grand scheme of things. This letter was to circulate throughout all of them and to be learned by all of them.
The greeting to the churches starts by explaining this letter is from God the Father “from Him who is and who was and who is to come”. John wants it to be very clear that this letter is not from him, but from God. It was God Himself who sent this letter and they are to heed the words written therein.
It is also addressed by “the seven Spirits who are before His throne”.
The Holy Spirit - seven in Biblical Numerology represents the completeness, or fullness, of the Spirit. Used around 50 times in Revelation.
The Virtues of the Spirit - Isaiah 11:2
2 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.
Seven Angels - Revelation 8:2
2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,
Jesus is referenced here by several different titles:
The Faithful Witness
14 Jesus answered and said to them, “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.
5 A faithful witness does not lie, But a false witness will utter lies.
The Firstborn from the Dead
27 Also I will make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
18 And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.
The Ruler Over the Kings of the Earth
14 These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will overcome them, for He is Lord of lords and King of kings; and those who are with Him are called, chosen, and faithful.”
Him Who Loved Us & Washed Us from Our Sins in His Own Blood
34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
14 how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?
6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
Here Jesus continues to explain the purpose of His first coming. He says that He
Has made us kings and priests to His God and Father
5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;
This word priest does not mean that we are to walk around absolving people of their sins. It simply means, as priests served as the spokesperson, we too are to serve as the spokesperson. We are to make God known to man, and we are to make man known to God.
7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.
Behold
Look, watch, see....Jesus is coming.
The second coming will take place in two phases. There is the time when Jesus will come to rapture the Church, and then there is the time when Jesus will come to establish His earthly Kingdom. I believe that this here is speaking of His second coming to establish His Kingdom of earth.
27 For as the lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west, so also will the coming of the Son of Man be.
28 For wherever the carcass is, there the eagles will be gathered together.
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
31 And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other.
He is coming with clouds
I believe this is both literal and figurative of Jesus’ second coming.
We can see the literal rendering of this in Matthew 26:64 as well as in Acts 1
64 Jesus said to him, “It is as you said. Nevertheless, I say to you, hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel,
11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
This can also be seen in a figurative sense. Notice the preposition here is “with” not “in”. This could be read in light of Hebrews 12:1.
1 Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
As you can see in this verse, the word cloud does not always refer to clouds in the sky. It is referring here to the saints of Chapter 11.
So here in Revelation 1:7, it seems to me as if John is giving us a glimpse of the second coming, when Jesus will bring the saints with Him to establish His Kingdom. The saints are the clouds that come with Him.
12 And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you,
13 so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints.
It is said that there are over 300 references from the OT books in the Book of Revelation, but they are not always footnoted. In other words, they do not always let you know that they are quoting something from the OT as the Gospels do. This particular verse that John writes seems to be quoting, or paraphrasing Daniel 7:13-14.
13 “I was watching in the night visions, And behold, One like the Son of Man, Coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, Which shall not pass away, And His kingdom the one Which shall not be destroyed.
So I believe it is a literal coming and figurative at the same time.
“And every eye will see Him.”
His second coming is not going to be a mystery. No one is going to have to worry if they have missed Christ’s return. It is going to be such an event, that everyone will know when Christ comes.
Some think that technology will play a part in this. Regardless of that, we know that every eye will see Him.
“Even they who pierced Him”
We all are guilty of this piercing. We are all guilty of sin and Jesus died for sin. But I think this is a special reference to the Jews.
This is a quote from Zechariah 12.10-11
10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn.
11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
When Jesus comes, I believe He will bear the marks of His crucifixion. Israel will see the marks they laid to His body. They will even ask Him where these marks come from, and He will say that that He received them while He was in the house of His friends.
6 And one shall say unto him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then he shall answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends.
Think about all of those who have denied Jesus all these years. All of a sudden, Jesus stands before you bearing the marks that are so explicitly revealed in Scripture. In that moment, all of those people will realize what they have done. They will be completely broken. Mourning will break forth from all nations and all tribes and will span the entire globe.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
This word Almighty is used to describe Jesus. It is only used 10 times in the NT. 9 out of those 10 times, it is used right here in the Book of Revelation. Revelation is revealing unto us the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.
This description of Jesus also shows us His eternal nature. He is the “Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is and who was and who is to come.” He always has been and He always will be.
