Revolation

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d. He who reads : This is in the singular. It speaks of one person who reads. “ Those who hear ” is in the plural. It speaks of many people hearing. The idea is probably from custom of the early church, where attention was given to the public reading of Scripture, which was often then explained. In our modern way of speaking John might say, “Blessed is the pastor who teaches Revelation, and blessed is the congregation who hears it.” Most of all, pastor or congregation, blessed are those who keep those things which are written in it . iv. We should consider the fact that this is the only physical description of Jesus given to us in the Bible. The only other description that comes close is in Isaiah 53:2: He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him.

I saw a scroll in the right hand of the One seated on the throne. It had writing on both sides and was sealed with seven seals. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants — things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. I heard what sounded like a voice from among the four living creatures, saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius, a and three quarts of barley for a denarius, and do not harm the oil and wine.” Scholars conclude that John was a Jew from Palestine. His use of the Greek language indicates that he was not a native speaker but of a Semitic mother tongue, and he is very familiar with the Hebrew Bible. e. He had in His right hand seven stars : The seven stars speak of the leaders or representatives of the seven churches mentioned in Revelation 1:11 (Revelation 1:20). The stars are securely in the hand of Jesus. Since seven is the number of completion, we can say that “He’s got the whole church in His hands.”e. In this greeting, with its systematic mention of each Person of the Trinity, we see how the New Testament presents the doctrine of the Trinity. It doesn’t present it in a carefully defined, “systematic theology” kind of way. It simply weaves the truth of the Trinity – that there is One God in Three Persons – throughout the fabric of the New Testament. 2. (5b-6) A statement of praise to Jesus. counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. I watched as the Lamb opened one of the seven seals, and I heard one of the four living creatures say in a thunderous voice, “Come!” whenever the living creatures give glory, honor, and thanks to the One seated on the throne who lives forever and ever, g. His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength : The glory of Jesus is so great, so shining, that it is hard to even look upon Him. Jesus has the same glory as in His transfiguration, when His face shone like the sun (Matthew 17:2).

b. Which God gave Him to show His servants : This is an important reason why God gave this Revelation of Jesus Christ . He gave it to show His servants . God gave this revelation that it might be shown, not hidden. This is an apocalypse– a revelation, not apocrypha (something hidden). ii. The signs are also necessary because there is tremendous power in symbolic language. It is one thing to call someone or something evil or bad, but it is far more vivid to describe the image of a woman drunk with the blood of the saints (Revelation 17:6).you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white. i. First, we believe that the Book of Revelation must mean something. This is a book that Jesus gave to show His servants something. It isn’t a book of meaningless nonsense. It has a promise of blessing, not a promise of confusion. write down the things you have seen, and the things that are, and the things that will happen after this. So it seems that the Book of Revelation is not prophesising the end of the world but is a polemic against the Roman Empire. iii. Interestingly, the Apostle Paul also wrote to seven churches : Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colosse, Philippi, and Thessalonika. D. John’s vision of Jesus. 1. (12-13) Jesus in the midst of the lampstands.

The Revelation of John is the one book in the New Testament that claims John as its author. By the time the writings that are now included in the New Testament were assembled in their present form, three letters and one gospel were also attributed to John. But in the case of these writings, the name of the supposed author was added at a later date, and their respective contents indicate that they were not written by the same John who wrote Revelation. a. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day : To be in the Spirit seems to have more meaning than simply saying John walked “in the Spirit” as opposed to being “in the flesh” in the sense Paul meant in Galatians 5:16. The idea isn’t simply that John was walking in the Spirit, but that he received unique revelation from the Holy Spirit. This was a unique spiritual experience for John, what some might call an out of body experience– though of course, without the occult or spiritism such experiences are associated with today. know your deeds—your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance—and your latter deeds are greater than your first. c. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches : Jesus kindly interprets His own images. The stars in His hand represent the angels of the seven churches . The lampstands represent the seven churches themselves. ii. The light doesn’t come from the lampstands . The light comes from the oil lamps themselves. The stands merely make the light more visible. Therefore, the lampstands are a good picture of the church. We don’t produce the light, we simply display it.

c. His feet were like fine brass : Since fire is connected with judgment, these feet like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace speak of someone who has been through the fires of judgment and has come forth with a refined purity. Jesus has been through the “Refiner’s Fire.” i. The construction of who is, who was and who is to come is intentionally awkward in the ancient Greek. It seems that John searched for a phrase to communicate the Old Testament idea of Yahweh. I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last, v. Some scholars believe that John wrote and loosed us from our sins. There is only one letter different between the words washed and loosed in the ancient Greek language. Both words show up in ancient manuscripts, so it’s hard to say which one John wrote. Nevertheless, both are true – we are both washed and loosed from our sins .

These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze. iii. The things which will take place after this : This means that Jesus wanted John to write about the things that would happen after the things regarding the seven churches, the things of the last days. The author of the text tells us that his name is John. Christian tradition has taken him to be the apostle John, author of the Fourth Gospel. However, the John of Revelation does not claim to be one of the disciples or to have known Jesus.

e. Send it to the seven churches which are in Asia : John was commanded to write to seven churches in seven cities. Each of these churches is in the region of the Roman province of Asia . But these were not the only cities with churches in this region. For example, there was a church in the city of Colosse (to which the Apostle Paul wrote the letter of Colossians), but the city of Colosse isn’t included in this list of seven churches . Why were these specific seven churches chosen? I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands, is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon a come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name. b. His eyes like a flame of fire : Fire is often associated with judgment in the Scriptures (Matthew 5:22, 2 Peter 3:7). Jesus’ eyes displayed the fire of searching, penetrating judgment.