Revelation 1 - The Future is Unveiled!

Overview of Revelation - Insight for Living

Introduction to Revelation - TPT

Click Here to Read or Listen Revelation 1

Prologue

1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 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.

The word "revelation" is the same word for "apocalypse" or "unveiling". This author is the apostle John, the beloved disciple, who wrote the gospel of John and three epistles 1, 2, and 3 John. John was a lead pastor/elder at the church in Ephesus and oversaw many other churches in Asia Minor, which we will hear about in Revelation 2. 

Notice this letter is a direct revelation of Jesus to John, who was in exile on the island of Patmos after being persecuted for his witness to Christ. Jesus communicated his message to John through an angel. Note the angel both testified to the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus. What is the difference?

There is really no difference between them as John said in his gospel, "The Word (logos) became flesh and dwelt among us full of grace and truth." John 1:14

It shows that John knew there was a body of scriptures, which he referred to as the Word, but also the Word of God shares the good news and testimony of Jesus. There is nothing said in the Word contrary to what Jesus did and said and vice versa. 

As you will see the book of Revelation (not Revelations) is one of the hardest books to interpret. It is written with scenes that go back and forth from heaven to earth in non-linear fashion. So, if you have a linear brain like mine this book will drive you crazy. Throughout the many years since the bible was made available there have been main overarching interpretive schools, which all seek to provide a framework for intepreting this book.  Maybe it is possible there is a truth in all of them. 

Here is a high level view of the 4 main intepretive approaches:

From David Guzik's Commentary "Enduring Word", 

a. The Preterist View: This approach believes that Revelation dealt only with the church in John’s day. In the Preterist approach, Revelation doesn’t predict anything. John simply described events of his current day, but he put them in symbolic code so those outside the Christian family couldn’t understand his criticism of the Roman government. In the Preterist view, the Book of Revelation was for then.

b. The Historicist View: This approach believes that Revelation is a sweeping, disordered panorama of all church history. In the Historicist approach, Revelation predicts the future, but the future of the “church age” – not the future of end-time events. In the Historicist view, Revelation is full of symbols that describe now. For example, many of the Reformers called the Pope the beast of Revelation chapter 13, but they didn’t necessarily want to believe that the end was very near. So they believed that Revelation spoke of their time, without necessarily speaking to the end times.

c. The Poetic View: This approach believes that Revelation is a book full of pictures and symbols intended to encourage and comfort persecuted Christians in John’s day. In the Poetic or allegorical view, the Book of Revelation isn’t literal or historic. Revelation is a book of personal meaning.

d. The Futurist View: This approach believes that beginning with chapter four, Revelation deals with the end times, the period directly preceding Jesus’ return. In the Futurist view, Revelation is a book that mainly describes the end times.

Which approach is correct? Each one is true in some regard. The Book of Revelation did speak to John’s day. It speaks to church history. And it does have meaning for our personal life. So while elements of the first three approaches have their place, we can’t deny the place of the futurist view. We can know the Book of Revelation speaks with clarity about the end times because of two central principles drawn from Revelation 1:1-3. - David Guzik

Here is another good synopsis of the purpose for Revelation from the TPT (The Passion Translation)

Purpose

Why was the book of Revelation written? This is an important question given there have been multiple views on the book’s purpose over the ages. Some view it as a fascinating piece of first-century writing with little or no relevance for us today. Others see Revelation as a code book describing a specific outline of history written in advance. Many have tried to decode the book from a historical perspective to find the major world events of the past two thousand years, or to prove that most of the book has already been fulfilled. Others interpret it as a handbook that predicts the cataclysmic events that will bring the nations to Armageddon and the end of the world.

But perhaps there is yet another viewpoint to guide us through this incredible book of mysteries. We must stop and allow the Holy Spirit to unveil its treasures to us. Only the Holy Spirit can unveil Christ to the unbeliever, and only the Holy Spirit can unveil the glory of Christ to those who know him. The purpose of the Revelation is to unveil Christ to our hearts like no other book in the Bible.

This is the book of Revelation, not the book of revelations (plural). It emphasizes one revelation alone: Christ unveiled to his people. To read this book with any other focus is to miss the center of its meaning. There are other truths waiting for us to discover, but only after centering our gaze on this one—our Magnificent Obsession.

4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7 “Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen. 8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

We right away the author John is identified, as well as the audience, the seven churches of the province of Asia. Asia was a province of Rome and a part of what is know as modern day Turkey. John uses the ordinary salution used by Paul and others, "Grace and peace to you", but adds "From the one who is, who was, and is to come." Since he mentions "and from Jesus", we can deduce he is referring to God the Father. 

Jesus' death on the cross has made us into "a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father." As he did in his gospel, John uses Trinitarian language. (I.e. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) As a result of Jesus' finished work on the cross, he has made us into "kings" and "priests". When Jesus ascended to heaven and sent the Holy Spirit to the apostles it continued the advancement of the kingdom movment Jesus started. Remember when Jesus said in John, "You will do even greater things that I did because I am going to the Father."  John 14:12 ff

We are also a "priesthood of all believers", a phrase which Martin Luther made famous during the Protestant Reformation in the 16th century. Martin Luther said we are all "little Christs" in the sense of being ambassadors for Him and leading people to the Father. 

John looks ahead to Jesus' second coming, when he comes on the clouds and everyone sees who he is. Note he is pointing the future, so this has not happened yet. Jesus was taken up in the clouds at his resurrection and will come back with the clouds. This time it won't be a secret coming, but everyone will see him and know exactly who he is. 

John’s Vision of Christ

9 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, 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.”

John reveals where he was at the time of the revelation from Jesus' angel. He was suffering in exile on the island of Patmos which is off of the coast of Greece in the Aegean sea. 

Here is a little history on the island of Patmos and John's influence in its history. 

Patmos is mentioned in the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Christian Bible. The book's introduction states that its author, John, was on Patmos when he was given (and recorded) a vision from Jesus. Early Christian tradition identified this writer John of Patmos as John the Apostle.[10] For this reason, Patmos is a destination for Christian pilgrimage. Visitors can see the cave where John is said to have received his Revelation (the Cave of the Apocalypse), and several monasteries on the island are dedicated to Saint John. After the death of John of Patmos, possibly around 100 AD, a number of Early Christian basilicas were erected on Patmos. Among these was a Grand Royal Basilica in honour of Saint John, built c. 300–350 AD at the location where the Monastery of Saint John the Theologian stands today.[citation needed] - wikipedia

One the Lord's Day (Sunday) he was "in the Spirit". This is not the same sense in which Paul tells us to "walk in the fruit of the Spirit". Galatians 5:22 This was a special revelation from God which was given to John through the Holy Spirit. It was revealed by God not by man. 

John heard a loud voice like a "trumpet". We will hear these loud voices many times in this letter. In the verses that follow it says the voice that was speaking to him was among lampstands was someone like the "son of man". We will get to that in a moment. Some commentators think the loud voice was the voice of Jesus. 

Then the voice told him to write down what he "saw" (not heard). It was a visual revelation directly from God. He was to write it on a scroll and send it to the seven churches, which are mentioned. They are the churches of Asia.

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

When John turned to see the voice speaking to him, he saw seven lampstands, which we will come to find out represents the seven churches. Among the lampstand he describes what most commentators see as Jesus. It is a remarkable vision both glorious and frightening at the same time. 

Check out this image though any image will fail to do justice to what it will be like. 

Jesus

What does the lampstand represent, 

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. - Guzik

“A lamp is not light in itself, it is only the instrument of dispensing light, and it must receive both oil and fire before it can dispense any; so no Church has in itself either grace or glory, it must receive all from Christ its head, else it can dispense neither light nor life.” (Clarke)

We also see Jesus holding 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.” - Guzik

And also a double edged sword coming out of this mouth. In Hebrews 4, the author says in verse 12, 

"For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

Here is another interpretation of what it might have meant for the sword to be coming out of Jesus' mouth. 

The idea of it coming out of His mouth is not that Jesus carries a sword in His teeth. The idea is that this sword is His word. His weapon – and ours also – is the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). - Guzik

Barnes notes that John didn’t necessarily see a sword coming out of Jesus’ mouth. “He heard him speak; he felt the penetrating power of his words; and they were as if a sharp sword proceeded from his mouth.”

Notice this interpreter is not taking the word "sword" literally but figuratively. Again there is always a literal intepretation and figurative or metaphorical one. This is why the book of Revelation is so tricky to interpret. 

17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his 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.

This was so an "awe-full" moment for John that he was overwhelemd and fell down. John went seeing from the unbelievably powerful and majestic son of man and being terrified to the moment Jesus showed his grace. Jesus said, "Do not be afraid". This is the same thing people in the bible do when they see angels, and the angel often says, "Do not be afraid."

This reminds us of how powerful Jesus is. He came humble lying a manger and led a very modest life as an itinernant teacher, but one day He will come back as the Kng of Kings and the Lord of Lords!

Jesus reminded John that He was raised from the dead as John had seen and that he would live forever. He also held the keys to judging the living and dead. 

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.

Then Jesus himself explains the seven lampstand are the seven churches and the seven stars are the angels or messengers of the seven churches. This fact will be important as we move forward to Revelation 2 tomorrow! Strap yourselves in it is going to be a wild ride!

When you see this image of Jesus what might be different the image you have had in your mind of him? Jesus is both majestic and powerful in Revelation both also kind and compassionate when he tells John to not be afraid!  He is both the Lion and the Lamb!