Saturday, January 8, 2022

Revelation 1 Bible Study by Steve Wilson

Some Introductory Remarks on Interpreting the Book of Revelation

The Book of Revelation is a vision, which means it is literal prophecy delivered in the form of imagery. For instance, the book describes the Antichrist as a beast coming out of the sea to rule the world. Does that mean we’re to look for a literal Godzilla-type monster to fulfill prophecy? No, but the imagery of the beast gives us an idea of what the Antichrist will be like. In another place, he is described as a rider on a white horse who goes out to conquer the earth. There will be a literal Antichrist, but he won’t be a literal beast and may or may not ride a white horse.

Scripture interprets Scripture. The Book of Revelation will often clarify what its imagery means. For example, in chapter one, it tells us Jesus was walking among seven lampstands. Confusing, right? What are the lampstands? But a paragraph or two later, it tells us the lampstands are churches. Other passages of Scripture will also point to and give supplementary details about what we read in Revelation. Each passage of the Bible reinforces and builds on the other passages. We do not need to (and should not) come up with our own ideas of what the imagery means.

History and current events foreshadow the future events spoken of in Revelation. You can look through history and see how some events have fulfilled the prophecies in Revelation. For instance, we might look at Pharaoh or Hitler and describe them as an AntiChrist. We could look at the Roman Empire or the Catholic Church or America and describe them, in some ways, as the Whore of Babylon. These are all types of what’s to come. The fulfillment of Revelation comes when all the prophesied events happen to an even greater degree, on a worldwide scale, within one seven-year period.

Israel is the focus. While the events in Revelation will affect the entire world, the epicenter is Israel. God’s focal point for interacting with humanity has always been the people of Israel. Christians have joined Israel in a spiritual sense, like branches being grafted onto a native tree, but we have not replaced the literal people or land of Israel. Scripture teaches us that the Lord is not finished bringing about the salvation of His chosen people Israel.

The Book of Revelation does not read like a completely linear story. It often shows you an overview of events, then zooms in to give you the details. Joel Richardson and Dalton Thomas describe the Book of Revelation as reading a sentence, but sometimes you take a break from the flow of the sentence to read what's in the parentheses. The vision also changes angles. So, for instance, from one point of view, the Antichrist looks like a rider on a white horse, while from another point of view he looks like a beast, etc. The book looks at the events its describing from different perspectives and talks about the same event in a couple of different places, so you have to track with the moving camera, so to speak.

 

Bring your thoughts, your questions, and let's have fun digesting (but also taking very seriously) "the revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place."


Revelation 1 [clarifications added]

The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him [Jesus] to show his [Jesus’] servants what must soon take place. He [Jesus] made it known by sending his [Jesus’] angel to his [Jesus’] servant John, who testifies to everything he [John] 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.



Why Study the Book of Revelation?

This passage twice says that the events in Revelation will “soon take place” and that “the time is near.” How should we understand soon-ness and nearness in light of the fact that the Apostle John wrote this book nearly 2,000 ago?

First, the Book of Revelation is relevant for all Christians to study, whether we live to see the events unfold or not. It shows us the final end we are all hoping for. It shows the fullness of Jesus’ glory. We can’t understand Jesus simply by reading the Gospels. We need Revelation to complete the picture.

Revelation is also a call for Christians to realize how serious Jesus is about our holiness and our resoluteness to follow Him. Whether we meet the AntiChrist at the end of the age or contend with the “spirit of Christ” in our own time, each of us is called to make a choice: Will we join the AntiChrist, or will we prove ourselves faithful to Jesus?

Revelation shows us that to remain faithful to Jesus will include suffering for Him. He suffered for us, and we are to share in His sufferings. We are His Body, and the Gospels tells us how much His physical body suffered.

Are you willing to suffer for Jesus? Are you willing to die for Him if need be? Jesus said that if you’re not ready to pick up your cross (like, a literal instrument of your death, not some problem you’re facing in life) and follow Him, you cannot be His disciple. He won’t allow you to follow Him if you’re not willing to go all the way to the death. Jesus’ body died. The Body of Christ dies. The good news is the Gospels also tell us His body was raised to life again, and so will we if we are faithful to Him.

How do you know if you’re ready to go all the way for Jesus? You practice by being obedient to Him now. Let me ask you: If AntiChrist comes, or you find yourself facing the persecution of the “spirit of AntiChrist” to a lesser degree, are you spiritually fit to face it? I fear many Christians are not. Think carefully here and examine yourself.

How will you have the self-control to stop yourself from reaching out your hand to take the mark of the beast when you’re not strong enough to stop yourself from reaching out for that next drink, or that next piece of cake? Men, how will you keep from bowing your knee to the AntiChrist when you can’t keep yourself from bowing down to Pornhub.com? Christians, how will you remain faithful to Jesus during the hardest time the world has ever seen if you can’t even be faithful to open your Bible once a day? Women, how will you control your anxiety and trust Jesus in the face of persecution when you can’t control your anxiety and trust Him for the normal things of life?

Am I hurting you a little bit? The Book of Revelation shows us that the call to be a follower of Jesus is serious.

 

Greetings and Doxology

John,

To the seven churches in the province of Asia [Asia Minor]:

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come [God the Father], and from the seven spirits[a] [the manifold Holy Spirit] 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.

Why is the Holy Spirit called the seven spirits? Why is the Holy Spirit spoken of as plural when God the Father and Jesus are spoken of as singular? In one sense, God is everywhere at every time. He is not limited by space or time. In another sense, however, God the Father and God the Son usually self-locate themselves to specific times and places. God the Father reveals Himself in one instance to one person or group. God the Son takes on one physical body. God the Spirit, however, locates Himself in multiple places at the same time. He indwells each believer at the same time. He is physically present in multiple locations in a way that God the Father and God the Son do not choose to do.

To him [Jesus] who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his [Jesus’] blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his [Jesus’] God and Father—to him [Jesus] be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

“Look, he [Jesus] is coming with the clouds,”[b]
    and “every eye will see him [Jesus],
even those who pierced him [Jesus]”;
    and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him [Jesus].”[c]
So shall it be! Amen.

Daniel 7:13-14 - “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

How do we know Jesus is the one coming on the clouds? Because Daniel says the one coming on the clouds is like a son of man and is distinct from the Ancient of Days, God the Father.

Why is it significant that Jesus comes on the clouds? God often appears in Scripture as appearing in the clouds or being clothed in a cloud or fog or even smoke.

Exodus 13:21-22 - By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. 22 Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.

Sidebar: When the Holy Spirit came on the disciples at Pentecost, why did He appear as flames of fire? Because during the Exodus, God appeared as a pillar of cloud and as a pillar of fire. Just as Jesus will come on the clouds to prove His equality with God the Father, the Holy Spirit came as fire to show His Divinity.

Zechariah 12:10 - “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son.”

Why will people mourn for Jesus when they see Him? Jesus will pour out on them the spirit of grace and supplication. They will mourn because they see who Jesus really is and realize their error in rejecting Him, but will also be given the grace to believe in Him and ask for forgiveness.

“I [God the Father] am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John’s Vision of Christ

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet [Jesus’ voice], 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

Why does Jesus tell John to write to these seven churches in particular? The cities where these churches were located were all in the Roman province of Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. The Apostle John lived in Ephesus and was probably the founder of or very influential in the churches of the region. Jesus gives John messages to these churches because John had ties to these churches. John has been exiled to the island of Patmos for preaching about Jesus, and now Jesus is giving him a letter to write home.


12 I turned around to see the voice [Jesus] that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands [the seven churches], 13 and among the lampstands [churches] was someone like a son of man [Jesus], dressed in a robe reaching down to his [Jesus’] feet and with a golden sash around his [Jesus’] chest. 14 The hair on his [Jesus’] head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his [Jesus’] eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His [Jesus’] feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his [Jesus’] voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his [Jesus’] right hand he [Jesus] held seven stars [the angels of the seven churches], and coming out of his [Jesus’] mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His [Jesus’] face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.


Daniel 7:9-10 - “As I looked,

“thrones were set in place,
    and the Ancient of Days [God the Father] took his seat.
His clothing was as white as snow;
    the hair of his head was white like wool.
His throne was flaming with fire,
    and its wheels were all ablaze.
10 A river of fire was flowing,
    coming out from before him.
Thousands upon thousands attended him;
    ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him.
The court was seated,
    and the books were opened.

How does the description of God the Father in Daniel compare to the description of Jesus in Revelation? We see that both God the Father and God the Son are glorified beyond human comprehension. They are equally God.

What would John the Apostle be thinking and feeling at seeing Jesus again after so many years?

What will you feel when you see Jesus?

17 When I saw him [Jesus], I fell at his [Jesus’] feet as though dead. Then he [Jesus] placed his [Jesus’] right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 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.

19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 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[e] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Why does Jesus use the imagery of a lampstand to represent the churches? The gatherings of Christians in each city were to be points of light in their region. They were to shine brightly for others to see their good deeds and glorify their Father in Heaven (Matthew 5:14-16).

How is your church doing at being a lampstand?

Why is Jesus standing among only seven lampstands/churches in this vision? Weren’t there other churches He could have addressed? Shouldn’t there have been a multitude of churches (and thus lampstands) surrounding Him? Jesus shows seven lampstands in the vision because He is addressing seven specific churches in the region of Asia Minor (Turkey). But as we’ll see, the conditions of these seven churches represent all possible church conditions, so in addressing these seven, He’s addressing all. In other words, every church will match one of these churches, so Jesus needs speak to only seven. The seven represent all.

How would the seven stars, the angels of these churches, feel knowing that Jesus is holding them in His right hand? I would feel safe and secure, knowing that nothing can happen to me that Jesus doesn’t will to happen and that if He does allow anything hurtful to happen to me, He also has the power to make it all right in the end. I would also be aware of my situation, knowing that Jesus could crush me in His hand if I displeased Him.

Footnotes

  1. Revelation 1:4 That is, the sevenfold Spirit
  2. Revelation 1:7 Daniel 7:13
  3. Revelation 1:7 Zech. 12:10
  4. Revelation 1:13 See Daniel 7:13.
  5. Revelation 1:20 Or messengers

Revelation 1 Cheat Sheet

Seven spirits – represents the perfect, complete Holy Spirit acting in many places at the same time

Jesus comes on the clouds – shows He is Divine because God the Father appeared in a cloud as He led the Israelites out of Egypt and after

People will mourn when they see Jesus coming back – they will mourn in repentance for rejecting Him and will now believe in Him

Voice like a trumpet and of rushing water – Jesus’ words have weight, are authoritative

Seven churches – all located in Asia Minor (Turkey), probably founded by John the Apostle, writer of Revelation. The conditions of these churches represent all churches

Lampstand – church, supposed to be a light in the dark world

Star – angel (literally “messenger”), possibly a heavenly being entrusted with guarding a church, possibly a human leader of the church. In Scripture, angels are most often heavenly beings, though humans are also sometimes called angels

 

What is revealed about Christ in Revelation 1?

1:5    The faithful witness
    The first born of the dead
    The ruler of kings on the earth
    Loves us
    Freed us from our sins by His blood

1:6    Made us a kingdom
    Priests to His God and Father
    Deserving of glory and dominion forever

1:7    Coming with the clouds
    Will be seen by everyone
    Will cause every tribe on earth to wail

1:10    Had a loud voice like a trumpet

1:13    Clothed in a long robe, with a sash, white hair-like wool and snow, eyes like fire

1:14    White hair like wool and snow, eyes like fire

1:15    Feet like burnished bronze, voice like the roar of many waters

1:16    A sharp double edge sword from His mouth, a face like the shining sun in full strength

1:17    The first and the last

1:18    The living one, dead but alive forevermore, the holder of keys of death and hades

 

 

 

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