The Revelation 1b:

Reading #426  The commission

After having told us of a Saviour who only works with living people (“God is not the God of the dead, but of the living”, Matthew 22:32); after showing us an ever-present Saviour, John immediately passes on to a future Redeemer and the second advent.

***************(Begin Quote)

Revelation 1:

7 Behold, He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him, and they also which pierced Him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of Him.    Even so, Amen.    

***************(End Quote)

It was well understood amongst the followers of Christ that He would return “with clouds”.  It is written, “And when He had spoken these things [their commission to warn the world], while they beheld, He was taken up; and a cloud [of angels] received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men [angels in the form of men] stood by them in white apparel; which also said, ‘You men of Galilee, why stand you gazing up into heaven?  This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into heaven’.” Acts 1:9-11.  (There were about 500 people present on that occasion and they had repeated those words often since then. 1 Corinthians 15:6.)

Therefore, when John wrote to them (and us) that the Son of God would return that way, they were not surprised.  What may have caught their attention was the fact that some of His greatest enemies would also be there.  Of course, they hoped for His return in their lifetime (as do most of us) and it is possible that some of the persecutors could still have been alive when John was writing.  We know now that they are all long dead, so the words have another meaning for us.  Under Inspiration, John was expanding the prophecy made to Daniel by his angel teacher, that there would be a special resurrection just BEFORE the general resurrection at the second coming.

Gabriel had said, “And many [but not all] of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”.  Daniel 12:2.   As we have seen in a past reading (May 20, 2007), the Son of God intends to reward His faithful followers of the “time of the end” with a confirmation of their belief through the voice of God the Father speaking the Ten Commandments from heaven, and after that with a view of the approach of the second advent.  (The Christians of earlier times will only be resurrected when Christ is close to the earth.) 

Christ had also promised at one of His trials that they who were deciding His fate would one day see His real position as the rightful Ruler of the world.  “Again the high priest asked Him, and said to Him, ‘Are You the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?’  And Jesus said, ‘I am: and you shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of Power, and coming in the clouds of heaven’. Then the high priest rent his clothes, and said, ‘What need we [of] any further witnesses? You have heard the blasphemy: what think you?’ And they all condemned Him to be guilty of death”. Mark 14:61-64.

Not only those poor wretches, but all the living rejecters at the time of the second advent will feel the same condemnation and want to die rather than face He whom they have been persecuting in the person of His saints. “And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every free man, hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains; and said to the mountains and rocks, ‘Fall on us, and hide us from the face of Him that sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of His wrath is come; and who shall be able to stand?’”  Revelation 6:15-17.

Then John wrote:

***************(Begin Quote)

Revelation 1:

8  “I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending”, says the LORD, “which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty”.

***************(End Quote)

John here tells us what the Son of God will say to those unfortunates on that day.  Not in a spirit of boastfulness, but in great sadness, He will proclaim that He is one with God, possessing all the power of God, and He wanted desperately to have saved them, but they would not accept His offer. 

“O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you that kills the prophets, and stones them which are sent to you, how often would I have gathered your children together, even as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, and you would not! Behold, your house is left to you desolate. For I say to you, You shall not see Me henceforth, till you shall say, ‘Blessed is He that comes in the name of the LORD’.”  Matthew 23:37-39.  Although they will admit His position (they can hardly do otherwise now they can see it) they still will not accept it, and still choose to die.  Why?  That’s a question which can never be fully answered.  But it is written, “For whoso finds Me finds life, and shall obtain favour of the LORD. But he that sins against Me wrongs his own soul [hurts himself]: all they that hate Me love death”. Proverbs 8:35-36.

Now we come to the body of the letter:

***************(Begin Quote)

Revelation 1:

9 I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

10 I was in the Spirit on the LORD's day, and heard behind me a great Voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last [letters in the Greek alphabet]”: and, “What you see, write in a book, and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia; to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamos, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea”.

***************(End Quote)

John refers to the fact that he was in exile, a political prisoner on the island of Patmos off the coast of Turkey, because he had been a witness for His LORD and had refused to worship the emperor.  He was probably thinking that his Christian work was now over and that he would soon die and have to wait for the resurrection.  (This was about 90AD.)  While praying one Sabbath (Matthew 12:8) regarding the condition of the church of God and pleading that he might be able to help, he received a personal visit from the Son of God, and a commission.  Christ assured him that He was the beginning and the ending of all life, meaning that he would not die until he had finished his work in God’s sight, and asked him to publish his visions for the benefit of those for whom he was praying! 

What a great answer to a prayer!

A new emperor released John soon after he had written the book, and he returned to Ephesus where he lived out his last few years amongst the increasing apostasy which we will read about later!

***************(Begin Quote)

Revelation 1:

12 And I turned to see the Voice that spoke with me.   

And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 and in the midst of the seven candlesticks One like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps [his chest] with a golden girdle. 

14 His head and His hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 and His feet like to fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and His voice as the sound of many waters.

16 And He had in His right hand seven stars:

and out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword:

and His countenance was as the sun shines in his strength.

***************(End Quote)

What John saw was Christ in human form standing beside the Holy Spirit.  He who is normally invisible chose to manifest Himself as the Light of the church in seven separate lamps, to show that He was caring for each branch of it as if there was no other around. 

John comments on the sash that Christ wore over His heart.  There are two of these mentioned in connection with the priests of old.  The main one was a coloured one made of white linen and embroidered with gold wire, blue, purple and scarlet threads, called the “curious [unusual] girdle of the ephod”.  This was an intricately designed one for the sleeveless waistcoat worn by the high priest (Exodus 28:8; 39:3).  There were also plain white ones (Exodus 28:40).  Both were worn by the high priest (Leviticus 8:7), but only the plain one by the ordinary priests (v13).  In this quiet way the Son of God conveyed to John (and us) that He was now working as a Priest, the High Priest, on our behalf, while retaining His close connection with us in His heart.  “Now of the things which we have spoken this is the sum: We have such a High Priest, who is set on the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in the heavens; a minister of the sanctuary, and of the true tabernacle, which the LORD pitched, and not man”.  Hebrews 8:1.

His hair and beard were blonde, His eyes piercing, His feet (the only part of His body that John saw clearly because he had his face to the ground) were the colour of Adam (suntanned for want of a better word), and His voice very melodious.  John calls His skin colour “brass” because that was the metal used in the courtyard of the sanctuary, an area which represented the church in this world.  (The “Ancient of days”, God the Father is also described as being blonde. “The hair of His head like the pure wool”,  Daniel 7:9.)

In a symbolic gesture, Christ held seven “stars” in His right hand, a two-edged sword protruded from His mouth, and overall He was a bright as the noon-day sun.  He was clearly in charge of everything, and the two-edged sword showed that He lived by the truth.  He explained the “stars” and the “candles” later.

***************(Begin Quote)

Revelation 1:

17 And when I saw Him, I fell [in awe] at His feet as dead.   

And He laid His right hand upon me, saying to me, “Fear not; I am the First and the Last: 18 I am He that lives, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen;

and [I] have the keys [both] of hell [the grave] and of death. 

***************(End Quote)

The Son of God was repeating to John the thought He had revealed while on earth as the Son of man.  Just before the resurrection of His good friend Lazarus, “Jesus said to her [Martha, Lazarus’ sister], ‘I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live [in the resurrection]. And whosoever lives [endures to the end] and believes in Me shall never die [he’ll be translated].  Believe you this?’”  John 11:25-26.  Now He wants us to hear those words and believe them.  In another place He promised, “Verily, verily, I say to you, If a man keep My saying, he shall never see death”.  John 8:51.

He has the “keys” (the ability) to deal with the grave (past death) and death itself (future death), so that we do not HAVE to die.

Lateral thought:

Many have the idea that to be translated without dying will require a great deal of work – that we’ll have to strive hard to get to perfection.  This is not correct.  We will come across the criteria for translation later in The Revelation, but it should be sufficient to say now that, like all things, it is God’s gift to us. 

Jesus continued:

***************(Begin Quote)

Revelation 1:  

19 “Write the things which you have [already] seen [which are in the past], and the things which are [happening right now], and the things which shall be hereafter [in the future].

20 [and write about] the mystery [the symbolic meaning] of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks [which are round about Me]. 

[Then He explained] The seven stars are the angels [leaders] of the seven churches:

and the seven candlesticks which you saw are [symbols of] the seven churches”, [as well as a picture of the Holy Spirit.]

***************(End Quote)

The first part of Jesus’ statement is quite clear.  John was to write a series of complete pictures from the birth of Christ to the end of time.

The “mystery” of the “stars” and “candles” is explained as the fact that He wants us to know that the leaders and the congregations of the branches of the church are both surrounded, guarded, and protected by His agent the Holy Spirit.  The righteous had been described by those terms before.  “And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament [like the sun]; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars [distant suns] for ever and ever”.  And again, “You are the light of the world”, so He knew His people would know what He was talking about.  Daniel 12:3; Matthew 5:14.

Bye for now,

Ron

Some of the comments in these readings are adapted from books in my library.  No recognition is given because they are not intended as authorities, but are used because they express my understanding clearly. All the ideas expressed in these readings, right or wrong, are my own.

Some of these readings are available at http://www.oocities.org/weprotest.geo/BibleReadings/books_index.html

P. S. 

Why do we have such a problem with the conflicting views of the Bible presented by some?  Why are there so many interpretations of the same text? 

First: because there can be varying APPLICATIONS of a text as we have seen in Matthew chapter twenty-four where there were THREE applications of the same words; one generation, many generations, and the last generation.  But the MEANING of the verses did not change.

Second: because we often do not READ the verses in context, but SELECT texts which meet our opinion.  We are then saying, “I think . . .” (which is presumption), instead of “Thus saith the LORD”.

Third: we often do not consider the principle behind the words, but try to stick directly to the letter of the law.  For example, we might hear someone say, “It is written in the Bible, ‘We are not to stay idle while a person or persons are in need’.”  We won’t find those exact words in the Bible but we will find, “You shall not see your brother's ass or his ox fall down by the way, and hide yourself from them: you shall surely help him to lift them up again”, which is the same thing in other words. Deuteronomy 22:4.

The best way is to read verse by verse, chapter by chapter, book by book, rather than by subject.  If we study by subject we tend to retain those verses which agree with our opinion, and ignore those which disagree with it, thus interpreting the Bible privately.  We are warned against this.  “No prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Ghost”. 2 Peter 1:20-21.

We must believe that the Bible is its own interpreter, and resist the urge to use commentaries and the like in an effort to understand its mysteries, the more so right now as we move further into The Revelation.  A good concordance, or a marginal reference, is all we need, for they simply show us the same words used in another position in the Bible.  If we have a problem in a reading all we need to do is allow the Holy Spirit to show us other scriptures to compare with the one we are reading, and we’ll see the explanation.  In addition, while reading we should be prepared to come across other verses that will modify (expand, not contradict) the understanding of the truth we already have. 

For example: 

The last promise in the Old Testament is, “Behold, I will send My messenger, and he shall prepare the way before Me: and the LORD, whom you seek, shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, whom you delight in: behold, He shall come, says the LORD of hosts . . .  Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse”.  Malachi 3:1; 4:5-6.

Jesus expanded that promise one day. He said, “For this is he, of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, which shall prepare Your way before You’. Verily I say to you, Among them that are born of women there has not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he . . .  For all the prophets and the law prophesied until John. And if you will receive it, this is Elijah, which was for to come.  He that has ears to hear, let him hear”.   Matthew 11:10-15.

Especially should we keep away from the writings of “the fathers” (the pioneers), for they often had very confused ideas of the truth.  Only AFTER we have seen the truth for ourselves should we look at their understanding.

It is true that even proceeding in this manner there is no guarantee that our minds will always rightly interpret each passage of scripture for we have much in the way of pre-conceived opinions.  (But the Holy Spirit will keep working on that problem!)  Nevertheless, this much is certain; that only by proceeding on the conclusion that the Bible is its own best interpreter is there any hope of finding our way safely through the deeper or more obscure passages of the scriptures.  As we have just seen, some passages mix both the literal and the symbolic together! 

We should always understand the words of the Bible in their normal grammatical sense, even as we would do with secular writings, except where the writer is obviously using figurative language.  To do otherwise will be to err greatly in rightly dividing the word of God.  Today we can read of “Uncle Sam” (the U.S. Government) and/or “the Beehive” (the NZ House of Parliament) without problems, so we should be able to do the same in the Bible once we know what its symbolism means.

This does not alter the fact that where the Spirit is in charge of the world, geographical terms should be taken to have a worldwide meaning.  

P. P. S.

A knowledge of history also helps!

On to next reading                             Back to previous reading