The Book of Revelation & America
Expository Commentary
Revelation
Volume 2 Chapter 1
The Preamble in Deuteronomy 1:1-5) begins: "These are the words..." The text then identifies the speaker as Moses, who as the mediator of the Covenant has been "commanded" to give and expound God's "law" to Israel. "Yahweh is, therefore, the ruling Suzerain (meaning the sovereign King) who gives the covenant and Moses is His vice-regent and the covenant mediator. This section thus corresponds to the preamble of the extra-biblical treaties, which also identified the speaker, the one who by the covenant was declaring his lordship and claiming the vassal's obedience." The Preamble in Revelation begins with a similar expression: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His servants, the things that 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, even to all that he saw" (1:1-2).
The first-century fulfillment of most of the prophecy of The Apocalypse of Jesus has been fulfilled and it is written and shows King Jesus is ALREADY ruling and reigning on earth as He inhabits the "lively stones," temples of His Christians (1:5b). Many Christians live in "a reality-disconnect," believing Jesus will "perfectly reign" in a heretical version of the Millennium, but He is NOT ruling or wanting Christian nations today. There will be a perfect reign and submission to God and Jesus in the New Jerusalem on the New Earth in the next life.
Every Christian for centuries has had some Holy Spirit leading and a revelation that America should have been a Christian nation by U.S. Law. Because "To whom more is given, more is required" it is a great transgression against the King of Kings Jesus to oppose or do nothing about working to make America a Christian nation by U.S. Law (see ChristianAmendment.com for suggested freedom of conscience Christian Constitutional Amendment and the Bible Apologetics for having a Christian nation today).
It is written twice in Revelation that King Jesus is ruling the Kings and nations of this earth. King Jesus started His reign after the cross and resurrection (Rev. 1:5; 11:15).
Rev. 1:4 "John, To the SEVEN churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the SEVEN Spirits before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and THE RULER OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH. To Him who loves us and has released us from our sins by His blood, 6 who has made us to be a Kingdom, priests to His God and Father — to Him be the glory and power forever and ever, Amen."
Rev. 11:15 "Then the SEVENTH angel sounded his trumpet, and loud voices called out in heaven: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ, and He will reign forever and ever.” (Jesus does reign as The King of Kings today as the Apocalypse has written (Rev. 1:5).
Rev. 11:17 “...We give thanks to You, O Lord God Almighty, the One who is and who was because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign.” The Holy Scriptures clearly show ALL AUTHORITY and Great Power of God His Father have been given to Jesus Christ who is ruling and reigning both in Heaven and in the hearts of believers who cooperate with Him.
Matthew 28:18 "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to Me." The deceived or harlot American Dream Church insists Jesus is NOT Lord and King of kings and reigning here on earth today. Instead of believing the truth Jesus is ruling in full authority and sovereignty the deceived church insists the reign of Jesus will be delayed until a fairy tale utopian version of the Millennium comes to pass. In reality, men love the darkness of sin, and the sin of unbelief are the main reasons why King Jesus is lacking proper influence in government, in public schools, and in the workplace where His Name of Jesus is banned from being spoken by employees by U.S. Law.
John 3:19 "And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. 20 Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21 But whoever practices the truth comes into the Light, so that it may be seen clearly that what he has done has been accomplished in God.” Clearly, Congress does NOT practice telling the truth.
King Jesus has spoken and has led every Christian for centuries to believe America needs to be a Christian nation, but they failed to do anything about it. As a result of the stiff-necked opposition by Christian leaders and their followers, America is plunging to its doom, most children are being driven through the gates of hell into the Kingdom of Darkness by the public schools and media, and American corporations are being purchased by China and by other enemies of the people of the United States and are being taken over and operated with ungodly administrations. The American Dream corrupted church is truly deceived. There will be terrible consequences for disobeying King Jesus and opposing establishing the Kingdom of God and Christ here on earth as opportunities permit as commanded by Jesus.
King Jesus has stated His Command to become a Christian nation on this earth to every born-again Christian for centuries. In Luke 19:27 Jesus reveals the fact that either the United States become a Christian nation or face similar annihilation as the Jews had by the Roman Empire in 70 A.D.
"Rejoice, again I say rejoice." Before the cross Satan was the ruler of the kingdoms of the earth (John 12:31). After the cross and His resurrection, Jesus became the ruler of the kingdoms of the earth (Rev 1:5b).
1Cor. 15:24 "Then the end will come, when Jesus hands over the kingdom to God His Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. 25 For Jesus must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet." Jesus is reigning on earth for He MUST REIGN until the resurrection, then Jesus hands everything over to His Father for all eternity. Jesus is reigning today. Attention Christians, the time is Now to cooperate with Jesus in government, and public schools, or it will Never happen in America. We must cooperate and help Jesus rule in each Christian that invites Him to be LORD of Lords and King of kings in all areas of life in government, in the public schools, and in the workplace, Amen.
Christians, the same as Israel under Moses, refused to enter the "Promised Land" and take over America. As a consequence, they were punished and left to die for their sin of unbelief and disobedience in the desolation of the desert and America soon under the ruthless tyranny of the U.N. World Government and future desolation of the radioactive ashes of WW3.
Jesus is deadly serious about ruling and reigning the United States right now today! Luke 19:27 shows King Jesus' command, law, basic principle, and terrible judgment coming for those who know better in this life. "To whom more is given more is required," and they are punished more, including losing their lives by war in the presence of the watching King Jesus. America's harlot Christians have chosen this terrible coming and final end for America instead of choosing life for the nation and children, and His blessings by obeying King Jesus in government, obeying Jesus in the public schools, and obeying Him in the workplace. In fact, Christian leaders such as Moral Majority's Founder Jerry Falwell, CBN's "Pat" Robertson, Billy Graham, TBN's Paul Crouch, and most other Christian leaders have said publicly they OPPOSE CHRISTIAN U.S. LAW and OPPOSE having a Christian nation!... As a consequence of OPPOSING KING JESUS reigning in government, in public schools, and in the workplace where even the "Name of Jesus" is illegal to speak by employees, and banning evangelizing proselytizing, the American Dream church is racing to its ruin, desolation and to the future death of the nation in WW3.
Luke 19:26 "He replied, ‘I tell you that everyone who has will be given more; but the one who does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him. 27 And these enemies of mine who were unwilling for Me to rule over them, bring them here and slaughter [slay, kill] them in front of Me.’” 28 After Jesus had said this, He went on ahead, going up to Jerusalem."
As a consequence of the sin of the unbelief of Christians, King Jesus has no choice but to "slaughter" the harlot American Christians in the coming WW3... Unless America's Christians come to believe the TRUTH that King Jesus has already taken up His position on His throne (1Cor. 15:25) and is reigning today on earth in His people, Amen. Jesus is dwelling in His temple of the Body of Christ and on His Throne in Heavenly places making a place for each Christian in the New Jerusalem today (John 14:3).
Luke 20:16 "He will come and kill those tenants, and will give the vineyard to others." And when the people heard this, they said, "May such a thing never happen!" Nevertheless, the Jews were legally banned from the Promised Land of Israel by the Roman government, and the land was given to others in fulfillment of the prophecy of King Jesus. After the nuclear winter what remains of America will be likewise given to others.
Luke 21:22, 24 "For these be the Days of Vengeance, that all things which are written may be fulfilled…" King Jesus had His Vengeance (Rom. 12:19; Deut. 32:35; Heb. 10:35) against the Jews who rejected Him and murdered Him.
Romans 12:18 "If it is possible on your part, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not avenge yourselves, beloved, but leave room for God’s Wrath. For it is written: “Vengeance is Mine; I will repay, says the Lord.”
Christians MUST learn to OBEY King Jesus, or face the consequences for sacrificing the nations' children on the altars of the state religions taught in the public schools, including "Civil Government" and for other pagan religions of the evolution of life from the simple amino acids to human beings and all sexual perversion LGBTQI+ genders teachers brainwash the children with.
Christian education and biblical morality must be taught again or the nation is lost.
Thomas Jefferson warned Virginia's leaders Civil Government is a competing religion turning the government away from obeying Jesus Christ.
The purpose of Revelation's covenantal Preamble is thus to proclaim the lordship of the Great King, declaring his transcendence and immanence and making it clear from the outset that His will is to be obeyed by the vassals, His servants the Christians.
Biblical treaties set forth show God's transcendence and immanence by referring to one or more of three activities: creation, redemption, and revelation. It is the latter two that are especially emphasized in Revelation's Preamble. We have already noted the stress on divine revelation in the opening sentence, and this is underscored in the following verses. The churches are to "Hear the words of the prophecy, and Keep the things that are written in it," and the Lord pronounces a special blessing upon those who obey (1:3).
Apostle John again speaks of himself as one who has borne witness to "the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus" (1:9); furthermore, he tells of the revelation that came to him in terms of the standard and familiar patterns of covenantal revelation throughout Biblical history: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud Voice like the sound of a trumpet, saying: Write in a book what you see" (1:10-11)...
Redemption is also stressed in this passage: "Jesus Christ, the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth who Loves us and released us from our sins by His blood has made us to be a Kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and dominion forever and ever Amen" (1:5-6).
Christ is specifically stated to be the Redeemer, the Son of Man, who "comes with the clouds" in His glorious Ascension to the Father and coming judgment upon Israel to receive worldwide dominion, glory, and a Kingdom; who will be seen by "those who pierced him," and mourned over by "all the tribes of the Land" 1:7; cf. Dan. 7:13-14; Zech. 12:10-14; Matt. 24:30; John 19:37; Eph. 1:20-22).
St. John's vision of Christ develops the idea of His redemptive work: He is clothed as the High Priest 1:13). Jesus is revealed as the incarnate Glory of God 1:14-15), the Creator and Sustainer of the world, whose powerful Word goes forth to conquer the nations 0:16); who died, and rose again from the dead, and who is alive forevermore (1:17-18).
King of Kings, His Title and Benediction (Rev. 1:1-3):
1:1 "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants the things that must shortly [near, last hour, quickly, soon] take place; and He sent and signified [symbolic signs in a vision] it by His angel to His servant John;
1:2 who bore witness to the Word of God and to the Witness of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
1:3 BLESSED is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it; for the time is near."
1:1 Apostle John makes it clear from the outset that his book is a revelation, an unveiling, or a disclosure of God's purposes. It is not intended to be mysterious or enigmatic; it is, emphatically, a revealing of its subject.
Specifically, it is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him, in other words, a revelation mediated by our Lord Himself (cf. Heb. 1:2), about the things that must shortly take place in the first-century.
The Revelation, therefore, is not concerned with either the scope of world history or the end of the world, but with events that were in the near future to St. John and his readers. As we shall see throughout the commentary, the Book of Revelation is a "covenant lawsuit," based upon the legal requirements of Dt. 28 commands. By the command of God's Law prophesying the outpouring of God's Wrath on Jerusalem. It is a prophecy of the period known in Scripture as "the Last Days," meaning the last days of the covenantal nation of Israel and the ceremonial law of the O.T.
It is a forty-year "generation" (Matthew 24:34) between the Ascension of Christ (A.D. 30) and the Fall of Jerusalem to the Romans (A.D. 70).' Jerusalem was destroyed forty years later after the cross. It foretells events that John expected his readers to see these prophecies fulfilled very soon in their lifetimes. This clearly militates against any "futurist" interpretation of the Book of Revelation. The futurists would have it that John was warning the Christians of his day mostly about things they would never see in their lifetimes - meaning that the Book of Revelation has been irrelevant for 1900 years? Because it is written these things would happen soon, near at hand, it would happen before their deaths (Mt 16:28) Jesus Himself makes multiple supporting statements in the Holy Scriptures of the first-century fulfillment of the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ.
To claim that the Book of Revelation has its relevance only for our twenty-first century generation is egocentric; and it is contrary to the testimony of the Bible itself. It must be stressed that the Greek expression for our English word shortly plainly means "soon," and those who first read the phrase would not have understood it to mean anything else (Luke 18:8; Acts 12:7; 22:18; 25:4; Rom. 16:20; Rev. 22:6). A futurist interpretation is refuted in the very first verse of Revelation in 1:1.
1:1 "This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw. This is the WORD of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ."
Before we go any further, we should also note that John's opening statement presupposes the Biblical philosophy of history: God is Lord of all, He has an all-embracing plan for His creation, and He rules every atom of the universe according to His plan. After all, how does God know the future? The Bible does not indicate that God has some sort of crystal ball with which He can perceive future events. Think about it. There is really no such thing as "the future," in the sense of something "out there" that can be divined with the proper equipment. To say that something is in the future is simply to say that it does not yet exist. How then does God know the future? The Bible gives only one answer: God knows the future because He planned it: "The LORD has established His throne in the Heavens, and His Kingdom rules over all" (Ps. 103:19).
"Our God is in the Heavens; He does whatever He pleases" (Ps. 115:3).
Daniel 4:35 "And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and no one can hold back His hand, or say to Him: What have You done?"
"We have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will" (Eph. 1:11). Thus, even though "the future" does not yet exist, it is absolutely certain and secure, because the all-powerful Lord of the universe has infallibly planned it. He "gives life to the dead and calls into being that which does not exist" (Rom. 4:17). God knows all things exhaustively because He has planned all things exhaustively from the beginning to the end of time.
Arthur Pink wrote: "The Lord God omnipotent reigneth." His government is exercised over inanimate matter, over the brute beasts, over the children of men, over angels good and evil, and over Satan himself. No revolving of a world, no shining of a star, no storm, no movement of a creature, no actions of men, no errands of angels, no deeds of the Devil, nothing in all the vast universe can come to pass otherwise than God has eternally purposed. Here is a foundation for faith. Here is a resting place for the intellect. Here is an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is not blind fate, unbridled evil, man or Devil, but the Lord Almighty who is ruling the world, ruling it according to His own good pleasure and for His own eternal glory." Now St. John says that these things regarding the future were signified; "signified," to him by the angel. The use of this word tells us that the prophecy is not simply to be taken as "history written in advance." It is a book of signs, symbolic representations of the approaching events. The symbols are NOT to be understood in a literal manner. We can see this in Apostle John's use of the same term in his Gospel (12:33; 18:32; 21:19). In each case, it is used of Christ "signifying" a future event by a more or less symbolic indication, rather than by a prosaic, literal description. And this is generally the form of the prophecies in Revelation. It is a book of symbols from beginning to end. As G. R. Beasley-Murray well said, "The prophet wishes to make clear that he does not provide photographs of Heaven." This does not mean the symbols are unintelligible; the interpretation is not what any individual chooses to make it. Nor, on the other hand, are the symbols written in some sort of code, so that all we need is a dictionary or grammar of symbolism to "translate" the symbols into English. The only way to understand St. John's system of symbolism is to become familiar with the Bible itself.
1:2-3 An important relationship is set up here. Verse 1 showed us Jesus Christ giving the Revelation to Apostle John; now Apostle John states that he himself bore witness to the WORD of God and to the Witness of Jesus Christ. Thus we see that Jesus is the preeminent Witness-Bearer, testifying to His servants; and we see also that Apostle John bears witness of Christ's Witness, and testifies of Christ's Testimony. He can do this because he is one of Christ's servants, and has become like his Master. In giving testimony, St. John is conformed to the image of Christ.
These two patterns - Christ and His servants bearing dual witness, and Christ's servants bearing His image-are carried on throughout the book and will inform our understanding of such passages as 11:4-12.
Because this dual testimony (the Book of Revelation) is the very WORD of God, a blessing - the first of the prophecy's SEVEN "beatitudes" (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7; 22:14) - is pronounced upon those who are faithful to its message. Let us note the specific form of the blessings, for it offers another important pointer to the book's content: "BLESSED is he who reads and those who hear." Apostle John has written this prophecy, is not merely (or primarily) for individual edification, but for the Church in its official gathering for worship.
The SEVEN "Beatitudes" of the Apocalypse:
1:3 "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."
14:13 "And I heard a voice from heaven telling me to write, “BLESSED are the dead— those who die in the Lord from this moment on.” “ Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labors, for their deeds will follow them.”
16:15 “Behold, I am coming like a thief. BLESSED is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
19:9 “Behold, I am coming like a thief. BLESSED is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”
20:6 "BLESSED and holy is the one having a part in the first resurrection! Over these, the Second Death has no authority, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and will reign with Him a thousand years."
[Note: the Byzantine Empire was a Christian Empire for a thousand years, a "Millennium," and Egypt also received God's grace to be a Christian nation for 917 years! It is a great tragedy America rejected the grace of God to become a Christian nation.]
22:7 "And behold, I am coming quickly. BLESSED is the one keeping the words of the prophecy of this book." 22:14 "BLESSED are those washing their robes, that their right will be to the Tree of Life, and they shall enter into the city by the gates."
From its beginning, the Book of Revelation is placed in a liturgical setting, in which a Reader reads out the prophecy to the congregation. The Greek word for "reads" is often used in the New Testament for this liturgical activity (Luke 4:16; Acts 13:27; 15:21; 2 Cor. 3:15; Eph. 3:4; Col. 4:16; 1Thess. 5:27; 1Tim. 4:13).
The Book of Revelation, as we shall see, is greatly concerned with liturgy; indeed, "worship" is a central theme of the prophecy. By showing us how God's will is done in heavenly worship, St. John reveals how the Church is to perform His will on earth.
From the liturgy of special worship, we go out into the world, to serve God in the liturgy of life. We respond to Truth ("Amen") in special worship and then respond further in general worship, throughout our whole life. Apostle John's benediction is thus not only for the one who "reads and those who hear," but for those who keep and obey its message. The goal of the Book of Revelation is not merely to inform us about "prophetic" events.
The goal of apostolic instruction is always ethical: It is written to produce "love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith."
Greeting and Doxology (1:4-8):
1:4 "John to the SEVEN churches 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, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful Witness, the First-born from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood, and has made us to be a Kingdom and priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever Amen. Behold, He is coming with the Clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the Land will mourn over Him. Even so, amen. I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."
1:4-6 (lTim. 1:5) The Revelation gives us Commandments to keep and obey; and, in particular, the first-century readers were to heed and obey its instruction, for the crisis was almost upon them. "The time is near," St. John warns, again emphasizing the contemporary relevance of his prophecy. He repeats this warning at the end of the book (22:6-7,10). The ancient world would soon be in an uproar as kingdoms shook and crumbled to their foundations, and the Christians needed Revelation as a stable guide during the period of dramatic change which was to come. The end of the world was approaching - not the destruction of the physical universe, but the passing away of the old world-order previously ruled by Satan and now being ruled by King Jesus Christ who is smashing nations with His "rod of iron" starting first with Israel itself. The governing of the world around the central sanctuary of the Temple in Jerusalem was ending. God had established a new nation, a new priesthood, a new humanity worshiping in a new sanctuary. God's House, the Body of Christ with Messianic Christians, was nearing completion, and the old, provisional dwelling, the physical temple, like scaffolding, was about to be torn away.
As Jesus said, worship would NO LONGER be done in the Temple in Jerusalem nor other physical locations, but worship would be by Christians "in Spirit and in Truth," wherever two or three are gathered and touching spiritually in His Name.
1Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light. 10 Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy."
Apostle John addresses the prophecy of Jesus to the SEVEN churches in Asia in chapters 2 & 3.
1:4-6 It is obvious from the descriptions that follow (chapters 2-3) that he definitely has these actual churches in mind. The notion propagated by C. I. Scofield and others that these represent "SEVEN phases (SEVEN church ages) of the spiritual history of the Church" is a mere fiction, with no objective scriptural support; and it is quite arbitrarily and selectively applied. There are at least three fallacious presuppositions held by those who advocate this doctrine.
First, the "SEVEN church ages" doctrine presupposes that the Book of Revelation covers all of Church history, from beginning to end. In defending his view, Scofield says: "It is incredible that in a prophecy covering the church period, there should be no such foreview." Very true, perhaps; but who says the Book of Revelation does cover the thousands of years of Church history? Apostle John certainly doesn't. His only claim is that the prophecy covers "the things that must shortly take place" (1:1) and that the time of which it speaks is near (1:3). Thus, the most basic presupposition of the "SEVEN church ages" view of the SEVEN messages to the SEVEN churches is utterly false. The SEVEN churches existed in the first century and Jesus was giving the Light of God and giving messages of the need for repentance to each church.
The second presupposition holds that the earthly Church will end in its defeat and apostasy: The Laodicean, lukewarm, practically apostate church, about which Christ has nothing good to say (3:14-22), is supposed to symbolize the Church of Jesus Christ at the end of the age. (A corollary of this view is that the "Last Days" spoken of in Scripture, in which apostasy is rampant, are the actual last days of earth's history.) The fact that the Church ends in victory and triumph is, of course, what the preterist commentary is intended to demonstrate; thus no more need be said here. But it is important to note that the notion of end-time apostasy is a presupposition of the "SEVEN ages" view, and those who hold it are assuming what they purport to prove. There certainly was a huge apostasy in the first century under severe Roman and Jewish persecution, but the apostasy of the harlot American Churches did NOT have to happen. America's Churches could have taken the "high ground" in government and made America a Christian nation if they had NOT blocked every effort to have Christian U.S. Law so the children could have been taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the public schools as a result, the same that was done under Thomas Jefferson.
The third presupposition, of course, is that we are living in the Last Age of the Church (again, we should note that these people are too often unable to think of themselves as living at any time other than the climax of history). This presupposition is erroneous. The prophecies of the glorious condition of the Church, to be fulfilled before the return of Christ, are far from their accomplishment. We may have thousands of years to go before the RESURRECTION and "Second Coming." We are still in the early Church! And, while it is fashionable for modern Christian intellectuals to speak of our civilization as "post-Christian," we should turn that around and make it Biblically accurate: Our culture is not post-Christian - our culture is still largely pre-Christian!
Although therefore, we may not say that the SEVEN churches represent SEVEN ages in Church history, there is an important point to be observed here.
The fact that SEVEN churches are mentioned in the Revelation packed with numerical symbols should not be overlooked. SEVEN is the number in Scripture that indicates qualitative fullness, the essential nature of a thing (as TEN indicates "manyness," a fullness of quantity, the number of the COSMOS and WORLD); here it represents the fact that the Revelation is intended for the whole Church in every age. The messages to the churches of Asia are to be applied to all churches, just as St. Paul's letters to the Romans and the Philippians have significance and apply to many churches worldwide. But in our application of these New Testament letters, we must be careful not to rip them out of their historical context...
Apostle John uses the characteristic blessing of the apostles: grace (the favor of God bestowed upon those who, apart from Christ, deserve God's
Wrath) and peace (the state of permanent reconciliation with God through Christ's atonement).
These BLESSINGS, he says, are from the Father who is the Holy Spirit who overshadowed the Virgin Mary who conceived the Son Who became "A Life-Giving Spirit" (1Cor. 15:45) extending grace and peace to the elect. The Father chose us from before the foundation of the world, and sent His Son to redeem us; the Son, in our place, lived a perfect life in obedience to the Law and paid the full penalty for our sins (John 19:30); and the Spirit applies the work of Father and Son through regeneration and sanctification. The fitting summary of all God has done for us is contained in these words: "grace and peace."
John 19:30 "It is finished!" [the great victory of completed sacrifice.] "When He had received the vinegar, He said (τετέλεσται), It is finished! And He bowed His head and delivered up His spirit."
“It is finished.”
ΤετÎλεσται (Tetelestai)
Verb - Perfect Indicative Middle or Passive - 3rd Person Singular
Strong's 5055: (a) I end, finish, (b) I fulfill, accomplish, (c) I pay. From telos; to end, i.e. Complete, execute, conclude, discharge.
Jesus paid the full price of becoming sin on the cross so that we may become His righteousness if we are led by the Spirit and repent of our sins.
2Cor. 5:21 "He made the One not having known sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."
1Cor. 1:30 "It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God: our righteousness, holiness, and redemption."
Michael Wilcock's explanation is very helpful: "John's vision is going to take him into the heavenly sanctuary, of which the Jewish Tabernacle was a copy and shadow (Heb. 8:5). "The Holy of Holies" represents the throne of God, "the SEVEN-branched lampstand in the Holy Place" represents the Spirit, and in the courtyard before that stands "the altar," with its priest and sacrifice both representing, of course, the redeeming work of Christ."
Deuteronomy 4:35 "You were shown these things so that you would know that the LORD is God; there is NO other [God] besides Him."
Isaiah 43:10 “You are My witnesses,” declares the LORD, “And My servant whom I have chosen, So that you may know and believe Me And understand that I am He. Before Me, there was NO God formed, And there will be NONE after Me."
The Father is The Holy Spirit, the same Holy Spirit that overshadowed the Virgin Mary when she conceived the baby Jesus. God the Father's Holy Spirit is bigger than the entire universe (1Kings 8:27).
When God the Father spoke a WORD, His Son, Heaven, the entire universe, and earth were created (John 1). John 3:16 has written that Jesus is the only begotten/created Son of God and ALL things in Heaven and earth were created through Him.
1Cor. 15:45 "So also it is written: “The first MAN, Adam, BECAME A LIVING PERSON.” The last Adam was a life-giving Spirit."
1Timothy 3:16 "Without question, great is the mystery of godliness: God was revealed in the flesh, justified in the Spirit, seen by angels, preached to the Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up into glory."
Deuteronomy 32:39 "See now that I am He; there is NO God besides Me. I bring death and I give life; I wound and I heal, and there is no one who can deliver from My Hand."
The Son is "God manifest in the Flesh." Jesus told Thomas to see the Son is to see His Father. Yet there are not three Gods-only One GOD. The Son of God and the gift of the Holy Spirit derive their being from the Father. God the Father, Who is Spirit, is the "Father of spirits."
1Timothy 3:16 "Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: He was manifested in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations, believed on in the world, taken up in glory." By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, ...
... is the mystery of godliness: He was MANIFESTED in the flesh, vindicated by the Spirit ... which true godliness springs is great: He APPEARED in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit."
2Corinthians 4:7 "But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9 persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the Life of Jesus may also be MANIFESTED in our bodies. 11 For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the Life of Jesus also may be MANIFESTED in our mortal flesh. 12 So death is at work in us, but life in you."
... so the Life of Jesus may also be MANIFESTED in our bodies.
The Spirit of His Son as Jesus said was Himself when He said, "Father receive My Spirit" on the Cross. The Gift of the Holy Spirit cannot speak on his own initiative. When the Father speaks on His own initiative, His Son and the Gift of the Holy Spirit listen and do what they are told.
What this means is that God is "basically" One. God's oneness is basic. "God is One." There is only One God. To put it in more philosophical language, God's unity (oneness) with His Son Jesus is ultimate. God is basically One for all of the eternity of time.
First, St. John describes the Father: "Him who is, and Who was, and Who is to come." Philip Carrington has caught the spirit of this expression, which is atrocious Greek but excellent theology: the Being and the Was and the Coming God is eternal and unchangeable (Mal. 3:6).
The early Christians were facing what seemed to them an uncertain future, but they had to keep before them the absolute certainty of God's eternal rule. God is not at the mercy of an environment; He is not defined by any external conditions; all things exist in terms of His inerrant Word. Threatened, opposed, and persecuted by those in power, they were nevertheless to rejoice in the knowledge of their eternal God who "is to come," who is coming continually in judgment against His adversaries. God's coming refers not simply to the end of the world but to His unceasing rule over history. He comes again and again to deliver His people and to judge the wicked.
Second, Apostle John speaks of the Holy Spirit as the SEVEN Spirits who are before His Throne. Although some have tried to see this as a reference to SEVEN angels, it is inconceivable that grace and peace can originate from anyone but God. The Person spoken of here is clearly on par with the Father and the Son. The picture of the Holy Spirit here (as also in 3:1; 4:5; 5:6) is based on Zechariah 4, in which the prophet sees the Church as a lampstand with SEVEN lamps, supplied without human agency by an unceasing flow of oil through “SEVEN spouts to the SEVEN lamps” (v. 2) – the interpretation of which is, as God tells Zechariah: “Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit” (v. 6). The Holy Spirit’s filling and empowering of God's work, before the foundation of the world, in the Church is thus described in terms of the number SEVEN, symbolizing fullness and completeness. So it is here in Revelation: “To the SEVEN churches... grace and peace be unto you . . . from the SEVEN Spirits.” And the Spirit’s work in the Church takes place in terms of God’s dominion and majesty, before His Throne. This is, in fact, a marked emphasis in the Book of Revelation: The word "Throne" occurs here forty-six times (the New Testament book that comes closest to matching that number is the Gospel of Matthew, where it is used only five times). The Revelation is a book, above all, about the rule of King Jesus: it reveals Jesus Christ is ruling and reigning as the Lord of history, restoring His people to dominion through the power of the Holy Spirit.
The word Throne is used particularly in Scripture to refer to God’s official court, where He receives official worship from His people on the Sabbath.
The entire vision of Revelation was seen on the Lord's Day (1:10) – the Christian day of corporate, official worship; and all the action in the book centers on the worship around the Throne of God. St. John wants us to see that the public, official worship of the Sovereign Lord is central to history – history both as a whole and in its constituent parts (i.e., your life and mine). The Spirit communicates grace and peace to the churches, in the special sense, through public worship. We can go so far as to say this: We cannot have continuing fellowship with God, and receive blessings from Him, apart from the public worship of the Church, the “place” of access to the Throne of Jesus in the midst of "two or three" believers in His Name. The Spirit works in individuals, yes – but He does not work apart from the Church. His corporate and individual workings may be distinguished, but they cannot be separated. The notion that we can have fellowship with God, yet separate ourselves from the Church and from the corporate worship of the Body of Christ, is an altogether pagan idea, utterly foreign to Holy Scripture. The Church, as the Church, receives grace and peace from the SEVEN-fold Spirit; and He is continually before the Throne, the special sphere of His ministry.
“Our lives are congested and noisy. It is easy to think of the Church and the sacraments as competing for our attention with the other world of daily life, leading us off into some other life – secret, rarified, and remote. We might do better to think of that practical daily world as something incomprehensible and unmanageable unless and until we can approach it sacramentally through Christ. Nature and the world are otherwise beyond our grasp; time also, time that carries all things away in a meaningless flux, causing men to despair unless they see in it the pattern of God’s action, reflected in the liturgical year, the necessary road to the New Jerusalem.
The third member of the Godhead (in this liturgical order) is Jesus Christ, spoken of by St. John under three designations: the faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. R. J. Rushdoony has forcefully pointed out how the term Witness (in Greek, martyr), has acquired connotations foreign to the word’s original meaning: “In the Bible, the witness is one who works to enforce the law and assist in its execution, even to the enforcement of the death penalty. ‘Martyr’ has now come to mean the exact reverse, i.e., one who is executed rather than an executioner, one who is persecuted rather than one who is central to prosecution. The result is a serious misreading of Scripture... The significance of Jesus Christ as ‘the faithful and true witness’ is that He not only witnesses against those who are at war against God, but He also executes them... Jesus Christ, therefore, witnesses against every man and nation that establishes its life on any other premise than the sovereign God and His infallible and absolute law-word.”
The theme of Christ as the preeminent Witness is important in Revelation, as we noted above on v. 2. By way of supplementing Rushdoony’s analysis, we may observe that a central aspect of Christ’s witness-bearing was His death at the hands of false witnesses.
Those in this book who bear witness in His image will also do so at the cost of their lives (6:9; 12:11). The modern connotation of the word martyr is thus not so far-fetched and unbiblical as it might appear at first glance; but it is necessary, as Rushdoony has shown, to recall the basic meaning of the term.
Jesus is also the Firstborn from the dead. By His resurrection from the dead, He has attained supremacy, having “first place in everything” (Col. 1:18). As Peter said on the Day of Pentecost: “This Jesus God raised up again, to which we are all witnesses. Therefore having been exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, He has poured forth this which you both see and hear. For it was not David who ascended into heaven, but he himself says: The Lord said to my Lord, Sit at My right hand, until I make Thine enemies a footstool for Thy feet. Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ – this Jesus whom you crucified” (Acts 2:32-36). God fulfilled the promise He had made long before: “I will make Him My Firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth” (Ps. 89:27).
Apostle John obviously had this passage from the Psalms in mind, for the next designation he gives to our Lord is the Ruler of the kings of the earth. Christ’s priority and sovereignty are above all. He is not “only” the Savior, waiting for a future cataclysmic event before He can become King; He is the universal King now, in this age – sitting at His Father’s right hand while all His enemies are being put under His feet. This process of taking dominion over all the earth in terms of His rightful title is going on at this moment and has been happening ever since He rose from the dead. Jesus is the Firstborn, and the only-begotten of God!
Christ possesses the sovereign crown rights of all creation: “All authority in heaven and earth has been given to Me,” He said in Matt. 28:18. All earth's nations have been granted to Him as His inheritance, and the kings of the earth are under God's Command and court order to submit to Him (Ps. 2:8-12). Commenting on Christ’s title as the Ruler of the kings of the earth, William Symington wrote: “The persons who are here supposed to be subject to Christ, are kings, civil rulers, supreme and subordinate, all in civil authority, whether in the legislative, judicial, or executive branches of government. Of such Jesus Christ is Prince; – ruler, lord, chief, the first in power, authority, and dominion” (Mt. 28:18).
Romans 13:1 "Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, FOR THERE IS NO AUTHORITY EXCEPT THAT WHICH IS FROM GOD. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God. 2 Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves."
This, in fact, is precisely the reason for the persecution of Christians by the State. Jesus Christ by the authority of God His Father and by the Gospel has asserted His absolute sovereignty and dominion over the rulers and nations of earth.
They have a choice: Either submit to His government and law, accepting His non-negotiable terms of surrender and peace, or be smashed to bits by the rod of His anger. Such an audacious, uncompromising position is an affront to the dignity of any self-respecting humanist — much more so to rulers who are accustomed to thinking of themselves as gods walking on earth. Perhaps this Christ can be allowed a place in the pantheon, along with the rest of us gods; but for His followers to proclaim Him as Lord of all, whose law is binding upon all men, whose statutes call into judgment the legislation and decrees of the nations – this is too much; it is inexcusable, and cannot be allowed.
It would have been much easier on the early Christians, of course, if they had preached the popular retreatist doctrine that Jesus is Lord of the “heart,” that He is concerned with only “spiritual” (meaning non-earthly) conquests, but isn’t the least bit interested in political questions; that He is content to be “Lord” in the realm of the spirit, while Caesar is Lord everywhere else (i.e., where we feel it really matters). Such a false doctrine would have been no threat whatsoever to the gods of Rome. In fact, Caesar couldn’t ask for a more cooperative religion!
Toothless, impotent Christianity is a gold mine for statism: It keeps men’s attention focused on the clouds while the State picks their pockets and steals their children, brainwashing them in the public schools so the children will be corrupted, their minds ruined and their souls damned and taken by the kingdom of darkness.
But the early Church was not aware of this pre-trib escapist teaching. Instead, it taught the Biblical doctrine of Christ’s Lordship – that He is Lord of all, “Ruler of the kings of the earth.” It was this that guaranteed their persecution, torture, and death at the hands of the State. And it was also this that guaranteed their ultimate victory. Because Jesus is the universal Lord, all opposition to His rule is doomed to failure and will be crushed. Because Christ is the King of kings, Christians are assured of two things: warfare to the death against all would-be-gods; and the complete triumph of the Christian faith over all its enemies.
For this reason, St. John breaks into a doxology of praise to Jesus Christ, who loves us and freed us from our sins by the ransom-price of His blood, and has made us be a Kingdom and priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Not only have we been redeemed from our slavery, but we have been constituted as a Kingdom of priests. The Kingdom has begun: Christians are now ruling with Christ (Eph. 1:20-22; 2:6; Col. 1:13), and our dominion will increase across the world (Rev. 5:9-10). We are a victorious, conquering priesthood, bringing all areas of life under His rule.
1:7-8 Verse 7 announces the theme of the book, which is not the Second Coming of Christ, but rather the Coming of Christ in judgment upon Israel, in order to establish the Church as the new Kingdom. He is coming with the Clouds, St. John proclaims, using one of the most familiar Biblical images for judgment (cf. Gen. 15:17; Ex. 13:21-22; 14:19-20, 24; 19:9, 16-19; Ps. 18:8-14; 104:3; Isa. 19:1; Ezek. 32:7-8; Matt. 24:30; Mark 14:62; Acts 2:19). This is the Glory-Cloud, God’s heavenly chariot by which He makes His glorious presence known.
The "Shekinah glory" is a symbol referring to that divine presence. God promised to "dwell among" His people fulfilled in Mt. 28:18. The Shekinah Glory Cloud is a revelation of His Throne, present in the worship of groups of believers, as He comes to protect His people and destroy the wicked.
One of the most striking descriptions of God’s “coming in the clouds” is in Nahum’s prophecy against Nineveh (Nahum 1:2-8):
"The LORD is a jealous and avenging God;
The LORD takes vengeance and is filled with wrath. The LORD takes vengeance on His foes
And maintains His wrath against His enemies.
The LORD is slow to anger and great in power;
He will not leave the guilty unpunished.
His way is in the whirlwind and the storm,
And clouds are the dust of His feet.
He rebukes the sea and dries it up;
He makes all the rivers run dry.
Bashan and Carmel wither
And the blossoms of Lebanon fade.
The mountains quake before Him
And the hills melt away.
The earth trembles at His presence,
The world and all who live in it.
Who can withstand His indignation?
Who can endure His fierce anger?
His wrath is poured out like fire;
The rocks are shattered before Him.
The LORD is good,
A refuge in times of trouble.
He cares for those who trust in Him,
But with an overwhelming flood
He will make an end of Nineveh;
He will pursue His foes into darkness."
His coming "in the clouds" thus brings judgment and deliverance in history; there is no reason, in either the overall Biblical usage of this term or its immediate context here, to suppose that the literal end of the physical world is meant (although the sense can certainly be applied to the Last Day as well). St. John is speaking of the fact, stressed throughout the “last days” period by the apostles, that a crisis was quickly approaching: As He had promised, Christ would come against the present generation “in the clouds,” in wrathful judgment against apostate Israel (Matt. 23-25). And every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him (the Gentiles, John 19:34, 37): The crucifiers would see Him coming in judgment – that is, they would experience and understand that His Coming would mean wrath on the Land (cf. the use of the word see in Mark 1:44; Luke 17:22; John 3:36; Rom. 15:21). The Lord had used the same terminology of His Coming against Jerusalem at the end of that generation (Matt. 24:30), and He even warned the high priest: “You shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matt. 26:64). In other words, the apostates of that evil generation would understand the meaning of Christ’s Ascension, the definitive Coming of the Son of Man, the Second Adam (Dan. 7:13). In the destruction of their city, their civilization, their Temple, their entire world-order, they would understand that Christ had ascended to His Throne as Lord of heaven and earth. They would see that the Son of Man had come to the Father.
Jesus had said also “all the tribes of the Land will mourn” on the day of His Coming (Matt. 24:30), that “weeping shall be there and the gnashing of teeth” (Matt. 24:51). St. John repeats this as part of the theme of his prophecy: all the tribes of the Land [the Jews] will mourn over Him. Both Jesus and St. John thus reinterpreted this expression, borrowed from Zechariah 12:10-14, where it occurs in an original context of Israel’s mourning in repentance. But Israel had gone beyond the point of no return; their mourning and sorrow would not be that of repentance, but sheer agony and terror.
Yet this does not negate the promises in Zechariah. Indeed, through Christ’s judgment on Israel, by means of her ex-communication, the world will be saved; and, through the salvation of the world, Israel herself will turn again to the Lord and be saved (Rom. 11:11-12, 15, 23-24). Because Christ comes in the clouds, in history, judging men and nations, the earth is redeemed. He comes not simply for judgment, but for judgment unto salvation. “When Your judgments come upon the earth, the people of the world learn righteousness” (Isa. 26:9). From the beginning, the ultimate purpose of the coming of Christ has been redemptive: "For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him" (John 3:17). Christ "comes in the Clouds" in historical judgments so that the world may know the Lord God as the eternal and unchangeable Source and Goal of all history (Rom. 11:36), the Alpha and the Omega, the A and Z (cf. Isa. 44:6), who is and who was and who is to come, the eternal Origin and Consummation of all things.
"Almighty" is the usual translation of the Greek word Pantokrator, which means the One who has all power and rules over everything, the New Testament equivalent of the Old Testament expression Lord of hosts, the "Captain of the Armies" (meaning the armies of Israel, or the star/angel armies of heaven, or the armies of the heathen nations, whom God used to pour out His Wrath upon His disobedient people). Christ was about to demonstrate to Israel and to the world that He had ascended to the Throne as Supreme Ruler.
Jesus Christ is Transcendent and He is Immanent faithfully executing His Father's Will as The Word and as The Son of God 1:9-16.
Jesus is the KING OF KINGS:
1:9 "I, John, your brother and companion in the Tribulation and Kingdom and perseverance which are in Christ Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus.
1:10 I came to be in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud Voice like a trumpet,
1:11 saying: Write in a book what you see and send it to the SEVEN churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
1:12 And I turned to see the Voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw SEVEN golden lampstands;
1:13 and in the middle of the SEVEN lampstands one like a Son of Man, clothed in a robe reaching to His feet and with a golden sash around His chest.
1:14 And His head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like blazing fire.
1:15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and His Voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
1:16 In His right hand He held SEVEN stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength."
1:9 In this remarkable verse we have a concise summary of St. John's worldview, his fundamental outlook on what life is all about. It stands in stark contrast to the views of modern American evangelical and dispensational theology, which holds that (1) there is no tribulation for the Christian, (2) Christ does not have a Kingdom in this age, and (3) the Christian is not required or expected to persevere! But for St. John and his readers, the Christian life did involve these things. Of course, tribulation is not the whole story of the Christian life; nor does the Church suffer identically in all times and places. As the Gospel takes hold of the world, as Christians take dominion, tribulation is lessened. But it is absolute folly (and wickedness) for Christians to suppose that they are somehow immune from all suffering. Jesus had warned His disciples that tribulation, suffering, and persecution would come (John 15:18-20; 16:33; 17:14-15).
More particularly, however, St. John is thinking about a special period of hardship; not just tribulation in general, but the Tribulation, the subject of much apostolic writing as the age of the Last Days progressed to its climax (l Thess. 1:6; 3:4; 2 Thess. 1:4-10; 1 Tim. 4:1-3; 2 Tim. 3:1-12). During this period of political upheaval and social disruption, apostasy and persecution broke out with a vengeance, as Jesus had foretold (Matt. 24:4-13). Christians suffered greatly, yet they had the certain knowledge that the Tribulation was but the prelude to the firm establishment of Christ's rule over the earth. Apostle Paul and Apostle Barnabas had encouraged other Asian Christians to continue in the faith, reminding them that "through many tribulations, we must enter the Kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22). What gave their suffering meaning was that it was in Christ Jesus, in union with His suffering; as St. Paul wrote, "I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and fill up what is lacking from the tribulations of Christ in my flesh, on behalf of His Body, the Church" (Col. 1:24).
Thus St. John's worldview does not involve only tribulation. He is also in the Kingdom... in Christ Jesus.
As we saw above in (1:5-6), the New Testament doctrine, based on such Old Testament passages as Daniel 2:31-45; 7:13-14, is that the Kingdom has arrived in the First Coming of Jesus Christ immediately after the Ascension. Since His Ascension to His Throne, He has been reigning "far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
And He put all things in subjection under His feet" (Eph. 1:21-22; cf. Mark 1:14-15; Matt. 16:28; 28:18; Acts 2:29-36; Col. 1:13). If all things are now in subjection under His feet, what more could be added to His dominion? Of course, the "rulers and authorities" still have got to be put down; that is what much of John's prophecy is about. But in principle, and definitively, the Kingdom has arrived. This means that we do not have to wait for some future redemptive or eschatological event before we can effectively take dominion over the earth. The dominion of God's people throughout the world will simply be the result of a progressive outworking of what Christ Himself has already accomplished. St. John wanted his readers to understand that they were in both the Great Tribulation and the Kingdom - that, in fact, they were in the Tribulation precisely because the Kingdom had come (Dan. 7:13-14). They were in a war, fighting for the Kingdom's victory (Dan. 7:21-22), and thus they needed the third element in John's worldview: perseverance in Christ Jesus. Perseverance is an important word in the message of Revelation, and St. John uses it SEVEN times 1:9; 2:2, 3, 19; 3:10; 13:10; 14:12).
Here, too, there is a radical contrast with much of modern dispensationalism. Because the diluted version of Christianity currently fashionable in contemporary America rejects the concepts of the Kingship and Lordship of Christ, 1:21 it also rejects the Biblical teaching on perseverance - and the predictable result is that comparatively few converts of modern evangelicalism are able to stick with even minimally-demanding faith!
1:22 The popular doctrine of "eternal security" is only a half-truth, at best: it gives people an unbiblical basis for assurance (e.g., the fact that they walked down the aisle during a revival meeting, etc.), rather than the kind of assurance given in Scripture - assurance that is related to perseverance (cf. 1 John 2:3-4). The Bible teaches not simply that we are preserved, but that we also persevere to the end (see John 10:28-29; Rom. 8:35-39; 2Cor. 13:5; Phil. 1:6; 2:12-13; Col. 1:21-23; 2Pet. 1:10).
St. John tells the suffering but reigning and persevering Christians of Asia that he is their brother and companion in all these things, even now in exile on the island of Patmos. This was a punishment for his apostolic activity, but the language in which he expresses it is interesting: Because of the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus Christ. St. John does not say that he is imprisoned on a rock in the sea on account of his own testimony about Christ but on account of God's Word and Jesus' Testimony. He suffers because God has spoken because Jesus has testified. Christ the faithful Witness has borne the Testimony against the would-be gods of this age, and they have fought back by imprisoning the apostle. This is why the Tribulation and Kingdom demand perseverance in which these believers share are all in Christ Jesus: His Testimony has determined the course of history.
1:10 When St. John says he came to be in the Spirit, he does not mean that he felt good. The expression has nothing to do with his personal, subjective attitude or frame of mind; but it does refer to a definite experience. This is technical prophetic language (Matt. 22:43; cf. Num. 11:25; 2 Sam. 23:2; Ezek. 2:2; 3:24; 2 Pet. 1:21), and refers to the fact that the author is an inspired apostle, receiving revelation, as he is admitted to the Heavenly council-chamber.
Apostle John tells us that this vision was seen on the Lord's Day. The origin of this important term goes all the way back to the first Sabbath when God rested from creation (Gen. 2:2-3). The term rest in Scripture often refers to God being seated on His throne as Judge, receiving worship from His creatures (lChron. 28:2; Ps. 132:7-8, 13-14; Isa. 11:10; 66:1). This original Sabbath was the prototype of the "Day of the Lord" in Scripture, the Day of Judgment. The weekly Sabbath in Israel was a re-enactment (and pre-enactment) of the first and final Day of the Lord, in which the people gathered together for judgment, execution, the judicial declaration of forgiveness, and the proclamation of the King's Word. For us too, this is the meaning of the Lord's Day, when we come before God's throne to be forgiven and restored, to hear His Word, and to commune with Him (thus, in a general sense- and not exactly the special sense in which St. John uses it here - all Christians are "in the Spirit" on the Lord's Day: In worship, we are all caught up to the Throneroom of God.) The Lord's Day is the Day of the Lord in action.
One of the most basic Biblical images for the Judgment is the Shekinah Glory Cloud, and this theophany is generally associated with three other images: the Spirit, the Day (or light, since the light of day, was originally "cloned" from the light of the Cloud), and the Voice (often sounding like a trumpet; Ex. 19:16-19). In fact, these three are mentioned right at the beginning of the Garden of Eden, when Adam and Eve "heard the Voice of the LORD God traversing the Garden as the Spirit of the Day," as the text literally reads (Gen. 3:8).
1:27 What Adam and Eve heard on that awful day of judgment was not a gentle, cool breeze wafting through the eucalyptus leaves - they heard the explosive thunderclaps from God of Heaven and earth blasting through the Garden. It was terrifying, and that is why they attempted to hide. Repeating this theme, St. John tells us: "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud Voice like a trumpet." St. John was going to be caught up in the Shekinah Glory-Cloud to receive revelation, and his readers were expected to understand this imagery.
"Shekinah glory" is a symbol referring to that divine presence. God promised to "dwell among" His people: "And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony" (Exodus 25:22). Jesus exists in Christians, the Temple of God. He exists in the midst of two or three believers meeting in His Name. And Jesus exists in the warm spiritual presence of worship in a group of believers who worship God the Father through Jesus. The Ark of the Covenant is missing from Ezekiel's Temple because Jesus is the Ark and through Him, God the Father speaks to Christians. "My Sheep Hear My Voice" (John 10:27). Through Jesus, who is represented by the Ark of the Covenant, God His Father speaks to His people from above the Ark and the covering angels.
1:11-15 The Voice of God instructs St. John to write in a book the Revelation and send it to the SEVEN churches of Asia. He turns to see the Voice and sees the Lord Jesus Christ. This minor detail establishes a pattern that is repeated throughout the book - John hears first, and then he sees. At the end of the prophecy (22:8) he tells us: "I, John, am the one who heard and saw these things. And when 1 heard and saw. . . . " This pattern is not always followed in the book, but it happens often enough that we should be aware of St. John's use of it - for it is occasionally important in understanding how to interpret the symbols (cf. 5:5-6): The verbal revelation is necessary in order to understand the visual revelation.
Apostle John suddenly finds himself in the Holy Place, for he sees SEVEN golden lampstands; and in the middle of the SEVEN lampstands one like a Son of Man. The imagery here is clearly taken from the Tabernacle, but with a significant difference: in the earthly Holy Place, there was one lampstand, with SEVEN lamps; here, Apostle John sees SEVEN lampstands, connected to each other in the Person who stands in their midst. The symbolism involved here will be discussed under verse 20; the important thing to note at present is simply the picture conveyed by this imagery: Jesus Christ is the one Lampstand, uniting the SEVEN lamps - each of which turns out to be itself a lampstand; Christ is surrounded by light. As St. Germanus, the eighth-century Archbishop of Constantinople put it at the outset of his work on the Liturgy: "The Church is an earthly heaven in which the super-celestial God dwells and walks about."
The description of Christ in verses 13-16 involves a blend of Old Testament images: the Glory-Cloud, the Angel of the Lord, the Ancient of Days, and the Son of Man. Our understanding will be heightened if we read this description in conjunction with the following passages from Daniel:
"I kept looking
Until thrones were set up,
And the Ancient of Days took His seat;
His vesture was like white snow,
And the hair of His head like pure wool.
His throne was ablaze with flames,
Its wheels were a burning fire.
A river of fire was flowing
And coming out from before Him;
Thousands upon thousands were attending Him,"
And myriads upon myriads were standing before Him; The court sat,
And the books were opened (Dan. 7:9-10)
I kept looking in the night visions,
And behold, with the Clouds of heaven
One like a Son of Man was coming,
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
And to Him was given dominion,
Glory and a Kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His Kingdom is one
Which will not be destroyed" (Dan. 7:13-14).
I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, whose waist was girded with a belt of pure gold of Uphaz. His body also was like beryl, His face like lightning, His eyes were like flaming torches, His arms and feet like the gleam of polished bronze, and the sound of His words like the sound of a multitude. Now, I, Daniel, alone saw the vision, while the men who were with me did not see the vision; nevertheless, a great dread fell on them, and they ran away to hide themselves. So I was left alone and saw this great vision; yet no strength was left in me, for my natural color turned to a deathly pallor, and I retained no strength. But I heard the sound of His words; and as soon as I heard the sound of His words, I fell into a deep sleep on my face, with my face to the ground. Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees. And He said to me, "0 Daniel, man of high esteem, understand the words that I am about to tell you and stand upright, for I have now been sent to you." And when He had spoken this word to me, I stood up trembling (Dan. 10:5-11).
These and other passages are combined to form the picture of Christ in John's introductory vision. The robe reaching to His feet and the golden sash around His chest (Ex. 28:4; 29:5; 39:27-29; Lev. 16:4) are reminders of the official dress of the High Priest, whose clothing was a representation of the Glory-Spirit, a symbol of the radiant image of God.
"Contributing to the impression of radiance was the flame-colored linen material prescribed for the ephod, with its band and breast piece, and for the bottom of the robe of the ephod - a shimmering blend of bright reds and blues with the metallic glint of threads of gold. Highlighting the fiery effect were the rings and the braided chains of gold, the radiant golden crown of the mitre, and the gleam of precious stones set in gold on the shoulder straps of the ephod and the breast piece. An artist could scarcely do more with an earthly palette in a cold medium to produce the effect of fiery light."
Fiery light: that is exactly the impression given by the vision of Christ here. The whiteness of His head and hair (like the Ancient of Days in Dan. 7), the flaming fire from His eyes (like the throne of Dan. 7 and the eyes of the Son of Man in Dan. 10), and His feet like bronze glowing in a furnace (the term for bronze may refer to an alloy of gold and silver; cf. Mal. 3:2-3)
- all these combine to make the point of Christ's appearance in a flashing, brilliant blaze of glory: And His face was like the sun shining in its strength (v. 16).
Compare with this Jesus Ben Sirach's striking description of the glory of the High Priest:
"How splendid he was with the people thronging around him, when he emerged from the curtained shrine,
like the 'morning star' among the clouds, like the moon at its full,
like the sun shining on the Temple of the Most High, like the rainbow gleaming against brilliant clouds,
like roses in the days of spring, like lilies by a freshet of water,
like a sprig of frankincense in the summertime, like fire and incense in the censer
like a vessel of beaten gold
encrusted with every kind of precious stone,
like an olive tree loaded with fruit,
like a cypress soaring to the clouds;
when he put on his splendid vestments,
and clothed Himself in glorious perfection,
when He went up to the holy altar,
and filled the sanctuary precincts with His grandeur;
when he received the portions from the hands of the priests, Himself standing by the altar hearth,
surrounded by a crowd of his brothers, like a youthful cedar of Lebanon
as though surrounded by the trunks of palm trees" (Ecclesiasticus 50:5-12, Jerusalem Bible).
Completing the glorious picture of Christ is the statement that His Voice was like the sound of rushing waters. Apostle John is identifying the voice of Christ with the sound of the Cloud - a sound which, throughout Scripture, resembles numerous earthly phenomena: wind, thunder, trumpets, armies, chariots, and waterfalls; or perhaps we should say that all these earthly phenomena were created to resemble various facets of the Cloud. The conclusion should be obvious: The resurrected, transfigured Jesus is the incarnate Glory of God.
1:16 In His right hand He held SEVEN stars; St. John goes on more fully to interpret this in verse 20, but we should consider first the immediate impression this sight would give to St. John and his readers. The SEVEN stars make up the open cluster of stars known as the Pleiades, poetically thought of in the ancient world as being bound together on a chain, like a necklace. The Pleiades, forming part of the constellation Taurus, are mentioned in Job 9:5-9; 38:31-33; and Amos 5:8. The sun is with Taurus in Spring (Easter, e.g. Sun is a type of God the Father who is Light, with the sacrificial Ox, type of Jesus the Son of God), and the Pleiades are thus a fitting symbol in connection with the coming of Christ: He holds the stars that announce the rebirth and flowering of the world. The other Biblical references make it clear that the One who holds the SEVEN stars is the almighty Creator and Sustainer of the universe.
But there is another dimension to this imagery. The symbolic use of the "SEVEN stars" was quite well known in the first century, for the SEVEN stars appeared regularly on the Emperor's coins as symbols of his supreme political sovereignty. At least some early readers of the Revelation must have gasped in amazement at Apostle John's audacity in stating that the SEVEN stars were in Christ's hand. The Roman emperors had appropriated to themselves a symbol of dominion that the Bible reserves for God alone- and, Apostle John is saying, Jesus Christ has come to take it back. The SEVEN stars, and with them all things in creation, belong to Him. Dominion resides in the right hand of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Naturally, there will be opposition to all this. But St. John makes it clear that Christ is on the offensive, coming forth to do battle in the cause of His crown rights: out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, His Word that works to save and to destroy. The image here is taken from the prophecy of Isaiah: "He will strike the Land with the Rod of His Mouth, and with the breath of His lips He will slay the wicked" (Isa. 11:4). It is used again in Revelation to show Christ's attitude toward heretics: "I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth" (2:16); and yet again to show the Word of God conquering the nations (19:11-16). Not only is Christ in conflict with the nations, but He declares that He will be completely victorious over them, subduing them by His bare Word, the sharp and powerful two-edged sword that comes from His mouth (Heb. 4:12).
Apostle John's Commission 1:17-20:
1:17 "And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last,
1:18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, amen; and I have the keys of Death and of Hades.
1:19 Write therefore the things you have seen, and what they are, and what things shall take place after these things.
1:20 As for the mystery of the SEVEN stars that you saw in My right hand, and the SEVEN golden lampstands: the SEVEN stars are the angels of the SEVEN churches, and the SEVEN lampstands are the SEVEN churches."
1:17-18 When he saw the Angel of the Lord, Daniel says, "I fell into a deep sleep with my face to the ground. Then behold, a hand touched me and set me trembling on my hands and knees... And when He had spoken this word to me, stood up trembling" (Dan. 10:9-11).
Apostle John's reaction to the sight of the glorified Lord is much the same; yet Christ tells him not to fear. While fear is a proper first reaction, it must be replaced. Ultimately, the awesome majesty of God is not a reason for terror in the Christian; rather, it is the ground of our confidence and stability. The presence of Christ is, very properly, the occasion for unbelievers to faint away and hide, out of sheer fright (cf. 6:15-17); but our Lord comes to St. John (as to us) in love, and sets him on his feet. The presence and activity of God in the Cloud was to the Egyptians a terrifying omen of their destruction; but, for the covenant people, He was their Comforter and Savior.
The same contrast is set out in Habakkuk 3:10-13:
"The mountains saw You and quaked. Torrents of water swept by;
The deep uttered its voice,
And lifted high its hands.
Sun and moon stood still in the heavens; They went away at the light of Your arrows, At the radiance of Your gleaming spear.
In wrath, You strode through the earth
And in anger, You threshed the nations.
You went forth to deliver Your people,
For the salvation of Your anointed one.
You crushed the head of the house of evil, You laid him open from thigh to neck."
Jesus is God, the First and the Last, as the LORD says of Himself in Isa. 44:6: "I am the First and I am the Last, and there is no God besides Me" (cf. Isa. 48:12).
Appropriating another Old Testament title for God, Jesus declares that He is the Living One (cf. Deut. 5:26; Josh. 3:10; Ps. 42:2; Jer. 10:10): He is self-existent, independent, the All-Controller-and He, "having been raised from the dead, is never to die again; death is no longer master over Him" (Rom. 6:9).
Apostle John can be resurrected in verse 1:17 because of the truth of verse 1:18, that Christ is alive forevermore. As the Risen Lord, Christ has the keys of
Death and of Hades. The Empire claimed to have all authority, to possess the power over life and death, and over the grave; Jesus declares instead that He-and not the State, nor the emperor, nor Satan, nor the ruler of the synagogue - has command over all reality. He is the Lord of life and death, of all history, and of eternity; and it is in terms of this complete dominion that He commissions St. John to write this book which so clearly and unequivocally sets forth the truth of His eternal and comprehensive government.
1:19 Apostle John's commission was interrupted by his falling into a dead faint; now that he has been ''resurrected,'' he is again commanded: Write therefore the things you have seen, and what they are, and what things are about to take place after these things. Some interpreters read this as a threefold outline of the whole book: Apostle John writes about what he has seen (the vision of Christ), then about the present (the churches, in chapters 2-3), and finally about the future (chapters 4-22).
Such a division is quite arbitrary, however; Because Revelation, like all other Biblical prophecies, weaves past, present, and future together throughout the entire book.
A more likely meaning of this statement is that St. John is to write what he has seen - the vision of Christ among the lampstands holding the stars-and what they are, i.e., what they signify or correspond to. The word are (Greek eisin) is most often used in Revelation in this sense 1:20; 4:5; 5:6, 8; 7:13-14; 11:4; 14:4; 16:14; 17:9, 10, 12, 15). Thus verse 20 goes on to do just that, explaining the symbolism of "the things you have seen" (the stars and lampstands). Apostle John is then commissioned to write the things that are about to happen, or (as he told us in verse 1) "the things that must shortly take place." It appears that the phrasing is intended to provide a parallel to the description of the One "who was and who is and who is coming": Thus "the process of temporal history reflects the eternal nature of God."
We might pause at this point to consider an error that is common among those who adopt a preterist interpretation of Revelation. The two facts of St. John's symbolic style and his clearly anti-statist content have led some to believe that the politically sensitive message determined the use of symbolism- that St. John wrote the Revelation in a secret code in order to hide his message from the imperial bureaucrats. This is the view of James Kallas (who, incidentally, also holds that John wrote in the time of the emperor Domitian, rather than Nero):
He writes in deliberately disguised language. He resorts to imagery the Romans will not understand. He cannot write in a literal and obvious way. He cannot say in clear and unambiguous terms what lies closest to his heart. What would happen if he wrote what he believed, that Caesar Domitian was a blasphemous son of the devil himself? What would happen if he cried out that the Roman empire, in its demand that men bow down and worship Caesar, was a diabolical scheme of Satan himself designed to win men away from Jesus? The letter to the churches would never have been delivered. It would never clear the Roman government censors.
And thus he must camouflage and conceal his true meaning. He must resort to non-literal symbolism, to obscure and apparently meaningless references which his Roman censors would see merely as the senile musings of a mad old man.
There may be some truth to this, as a tangential slant on the use of the number 666 in 13:18 in reference to Nero (not Domitian)- a "code" that the Romans would be unable to decipher correctly. But even without that reference, the Book of Revelation is a clearly treasonous document, and any State bureaucrat would have been able to figure that out. Consider what we have seen already in St. John's description of Jesus Christ: In Rev. 1:5 the mere assertion that He is Ruler of the kings and nations of the earth is an assault on the emperor's autonomy. The very first chapter of Revelation is actionable, and the symbolism does not obscure that fact in the slightest. The reason for the use of symbolism is that Revelation is a prophecy, and symbolism is prophetic language. We must remember too that the Roman government knew very well who Apostle John was. He was not "a mad old man" who had been exiled for mere "senile musings." He was an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, under the imperial ban on account of the Word of God and the Testimony of Jesus (1:9).
1:20 Jesus explains to Apostle John the mystery of the SEVEN stars and of the SEVEN golden lampstands. Here, too, it is important to stress that these are not code names. Biblical symbolism doesn't work that way. Instead, Biblical symbolism sets things in relationship to each other; it builds associations in our minds and asks us to see objects from this perspective.
These statements about the stars and lampstands are not "definitions," but state different ways of looking at the angels and the churches. Michael Wilcock's comments help us understand this use of symbolism: "A very cursory study of the New Testament use of the word 'mystery' shows that it does not there carry its usual modern sense of 'puzzle.'
It is indeed something hidden, but not in such a way that you can follow a series of clues and eventually find it out; rather, it is a truth that you either know or do not know, depending on whether or not it has been revealed to you.
Thus, when Christ identifies these things with each other, He is not saying, "that one is a symbol while the other is what the symbol 'really' means. He is saying that there are two things which correspond to each other, being equally real from different points of view." In other words, "we have, not an explanation of a symbolic term by a real one, but a statement that these two terms, which are equally real, are simply interchangeable... John is not giving explanations, but equivalents. He is not concerned to tell us that 'lampstands,' which we do not understand, means 'church,' which we do. He is rather concerned to tell us things about the lampstands and the bride and the city and the church, the twenty-four elders and the 144,000 and the numberless multitude; their meaning we should know already from the rest of Scripture, and he merely reminds us in passing that all of these correspond to one another and are different descriptions of the same thing."
The "SEVEN stars" thus "correspond" to the angels of the "SEVEN churches." Angels and stars are often linked up in the Bible (cf. Jud. 5:20; Job 38:7; lsa. 14:13; Jude 13; Rev. 8:10-12; 9:1; 12:4), and here the "angels" of the churches are associated with the constellation of the Pleiades (see comments on v. 16). In addition
- and this is one of those things that, as Wilcock pointed out above, "we should know already from the rest of Scripture"- both angels and stars are associated with government dominion and rule (cf. Gen. 37:9; Jud. 5:20; Dan. 8:9-11; 10:13, 20-21). Now, when the Lord speaks to the SEVEN churches in Chapters 2-3, He addresses the angel/Pastor of each church; clearly, Christ holds the angels of the churches responsible for the life and conduct of their respective churches. Then, in the later portions of the prophecy, we see SEVEN angels pouring out judgments upon the rebellious earth (cf. Rev. 8-9, 16). These all are correspondences: The "SEVEN stars," the constellation that represents the resurrection and dominion, are the angels, which correspond to the government of the Church.
A further aspect of the Bible's angel imagery that supports this interpretation concerns the relationship between angels and prophets. The chief mark of the Biblical prophet was that he had stood in the presence of God and the angels during the sessions of the heavenly Council (cf. Isa. 6:1-8; Ezek. 1-3, 10), thereby becoming its authoritative spokesman to God's people (cf. Jer. 15:19).
The essential difference between the true prophet (Jesus Christ) and the false prophet was that the true prophet (Jesus Christ) had been taken up by the Spirit into the Cloud to take part in this assembly:
"Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying
to you.
They are leading you into futility;
They speak a vision of their own imagination,
Not from the mouth of the LORD • • • •
But who has stood in the Council of the LORD,
That he should see and hear His Word?
Who has given heed to His Word and listened? ...
I did not send these prophets,
But they ran.
I did not speak to them,
But they prophesied.
But if they had stood in My Council,
Then they would have announced My words to My people, And would have turned them back from their evil way And from the evil of their deeds" (Jer. 23:16-22).
The prophets not only observed the deliberations of the heavenly Council (cf. 1Kings 22:19-22); they actually participated in them. Indeed, the LORD did nothing without consulting His prophets (Amos 3:7). This is why the characteristic activity of the Biblical prophet is intercession and mediation (cf. Gen. 18:16-33; 20:7, the first occurrence of the word prophet in Scripture). As members of the Council, the prophets have freedom of speech with God and are able to argue with Him, often persuading Him to change His mind (cf. Ex. 32:7-14; Amos 7:1-6). They are His friends, and so He speaks openly with them (Gen. 18:17; Ex. 33:11; 2 Chron. 20:7; Isa. 41:8; John 15:15). As images of fully redeemed Man, the prophets shared in God's glory, exercising dominion over the nations (cf. Jer. 1:10; 28:8), having been transfigured ethically (cf. Isa. 6:5-8) and physically (cf. Ex. 34:29). They thus resembled the angels of heaven, and so it is not surprising that the term angel (Heb. mal'lils, Greek angelos) is used to describe the Biblical prophet (cf. 2 Chron. 36:15-16; Hag. 1:13; Mal. 3:1; Matt. 11:10; 24:31; Luke 7:24; 9:52). In fact, the archetypical Prophet in Scripture is the Angel of the LORD.
There is therefore abundant Biblical precedent for the prophetic rulers of the churches to be referred to as the angels of the churches. It is likely that each angel represents a single pastor or bishop, but St. John could be referring to the stars/angels simply as personifications of the government of each church as a whole. And the Lord of heaven and earth is holding them in His right hand. (This is the same hand that Christ used to resurrect St. John in v. 17; St. John is thus an "angel.")
In a more general sense, what is true of the angels is true of the Church as a whole: St. Paul urged the Philippians to prove themselves to be "blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights [luminaries, stars] in the world" (Phil. 2:15).
The SEVEN lampstands are (correspond to) the "SEVEN churches;" and the "SEVEN churches" are, as we have noted already, both the particular churches referred to and the fullness of the whole Church in every age. In terms of the symbolism of the number SEVEN, as it relates to the Church, the comment of Victorinus (a bishop martyred in A.D. 304) regarding the Apostle Paul is interesting: "In the whole world, Paul taught that all the churches are arranged by SEVENs, that they are called SEVEN, and that the Catholic Church is one. And first of all, indeed, that he himself also might maintain the type of SEVEN churches, he did not exceed that number. But he wrote to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Thessalonians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians; afterward he wrote to individual persons, so as to not to exceed the symbolic number of "SEVEN churches," perhaps.
The one lampstand (a stylized tree) of the old Tabernacle is now Christ (the Tree of Life) with His SEVEN lampstands. Before, in the Old Testament, the Church had a centralized, national character; and the unity of the particular congregations of Israel was focused geographically, in Jerusalem. But that is no longer the case. The Church, the New Israel, has been geographically and nationally decentralized- or, better, multi-centralized: The Church is still a SEVEN- a complete unity, but what holds it together is not a special, holy piece of real estate; the unity of the Church is centered on Jesus Christ. The Church is no longer tied to one place in the Temple in Jerusalem, for it has been sent into all the world to take dominion in the Name of the universal King.
Jesus Christ has redeemed the world. And in recapturing the world, He has recreated the Church in His image. For just as Christ is seen here in a blaze of glorious light, so the Church which He carries and upholds is characterized by light (cf. the description of the Church in 21:9-22:5). The light-bearing churches, symbolized by "Lampstands," whose very governments glisten with starlike brilliance, shine as cities of light upon the hill. Shining upon the world with the light of Jesus Christ, with the result that men will see their good works and glorify their Father who is in heaven.
Instead of believing in the New Covenant which is the over-arching of all Biblical Covenants, Bible teachers want to change God's Word. For example many want to believe in Eight Major Dispensations or Ages in the Bible:
1.) Dispensation of Innocence
"Innocent as Doves"
2.) Dispensation of Conscience
Conscience given in Old Testament and New Testament. Those without a conscience are "seared as a hot branding iron Rom. 1
3.) Dispensation of Human Government
Jesus said Satan was the ruler before all authority transferred to Jesus Mt. 28:18
4.) Dispensation of Promise
The Promises of God are "Yes and Amen."
5.) Dispensation of the Law
In the N.T. those that practice lawlessness are told to leave the presence of Jesus forever.
6.) Dispensation of Grace
Grace was present when God pronounced Judgment upon Adam and Eve in her "seed."
7.) Dispensation of Divine Government
Jesus is has been reigning as written in 1Cor. 15:25; Rev. 1:5.
God also had His Divine Government in the Old Testament. An example is the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah by His Judgment.
8.) Dispensation of Perfection
Jesus commanded His disciples "Be Perfect as your Heavenly Father is Perfect."
Sanctification is progressive as Christians sin and repent and have to be sanctified again in order to be holy.
Others make-believe or imagine there are seven church ages based upon the seven churches addressed in ch 2-3. These are seven first-century churches with similar problems the churches experience today.
These seven church periods are:
1. The Apostolic Church ≈ 30 - 300 A.D.
2. The Martyr Church ≈ 100 - 313 A.D.
3. The Compromising Church ≈ 314 - 590 A.D.
4. The Roman Catholic Church ≈ 590 - 1517 A.D.
5. The Reformation Church ≈ 1517-1700
6. The Revival Church ≈ 1700-1900
7. The Worldly Church ≈ 1900- Rapture
These definitions of Eight Dispensations or Seven Church Ages are unbiblical and merely conceptual ideas to help express various teachers' ideas. It is truly tragic primarily because they want fantasy escapism, and do not desire to follow the Holy Spirit and Jesus establishing the Kingdom of God and Jesus on earth as it is in Heaven.
There was no Rapture escape for the first century Christians and there will be an eventual Resurrection, although there will be no Rapture for twenty-first-century Christians. In psychology, this escapism doctrine of a future perfect Millennium with a "Prince Charming" being Jesus is called "the Cinderella Syndrome." Most children's minds and souls have been lost and the nation is being betrayed by its enemies because Christian leaders teach their followers in escapism, the unbiblical doctrine of demons, instead of teaching the truth to them. The Christians have betrayed King Jesus, betrayed their nation, and betrayed their families by opposing the truth of King Jesus.
King Jesus expects Christians to do what the "hand finds to do" and work to "fight the good fight of faith." Being found faithful as godly stewards of America, the land, the government, the public schools, and the workplace to establish a Christian morality and nation everywhere possible. Amen
Some like to suggest the seven churches foreshadow seven different periods or "ages," in the history of the Church. The problem with this view is that each of the seven churches describes issues that could fit the Church at any time in its history!!! So, although there may be some topical truth to the seven churches representing seven historic eras, there is far too much speculation in this regard. Our focus should be on what message God is giving us through the seven churches.
The seven churches may be described as follows:
(1) Ephesus (Revelation 2:1-7) - the church that had forsaken its first love (2:4).
(2) Smyrna (Revelation 2:8-11) - the church that would suffer persecution (2:10).
(3) Pergamum (Revelation 2:12-17) - the church that needed to repent (2:16).
(4) Thyatira (Revelation 2:18-29) - the church that had a false prophetess (2:20).
(5) Sardis (Revelation 3:1-6) - the church that had fallen asleep (3:2).
(6) Philadelphia (Revelation 3:7-13) - the church that had endured patiently (3:10).
(7) Laodicea (Revelation 3:14-22) - the church with the lukewarm faith (3:16).
Bibliography:
"THE DAYS OF VENGEANCE
An Exposition of the Book of Revelation"
By Dr. DAVID CHILTON Ph.D
Attended: Whitefield Theological Seminary
The Master of Divinity in the field of Pastoral Theology
Doctor of Philosophy in the field of Christian Thought
(Dr. David Chilton was originally ordained for Christian ministry by Christian Movie Star Pat Boone)