Revelation Bible Study

December 20, 2006

Focus: Revelation 1:9-20

Much of the following material comes from Joseph L. Trafton’s book, Reading Revelation: A Literary and Theological Commentary (Macon, GA: Smyth & Helwys, 2005). I have found this to be an excellent resource on Revelation.

Revelation 1:1-8 is considered by many to be the “prologue.” What’s a prologue? Well, it tells you what is to come.

• The first 8 verses have introduced the writer (John).
• …identified the immediate recipients (seven churches in Asia…see 1:4).
• …given us the first of the “seven” sayings (1:4) and given us a clue as to how to look at other “seven” sayings we’ll encounter.
• …talked about the supremacy of Christ (i.e., “is,” “was,” and “is to come” in 1:4).
• …talked about our status as “freed” people (1:6) and “priests” (1:6).

All of these themes will be important throughout the rest of Revelation.

Revelation 1:7

• Next we have an oracle or forewarning of an event in John’s vision. This oracle is made up of clauses with Old Testament roots.
• He is coming with the clouds > this wording is reminiscent of Daniel 7:13.
• Every eye will see him even those who pierced him; and on his account all the tribes of the earth will wail. > see Zechariah 12:10. All will see Jesus and his coming will bring both redemption and judgment.
• What about this coming? Is John speaking of the 2^nd coming of Christ (see Matthew 25:31-36; Acts 1:11; 1^st Thessalonians 4:15-17)?
• John uses both present tense verbs and future tense verbs here. Note John says, “He is coming…” and “…every eye will see…all the tribes of the earth will wail.” There’s both present and future here!
• Is there a sense in which Jesus is already – or even always – coming?

Revelation 1:8

• We have a self-revelatory statement from God in 1:8.
• The Alpha and Omega expression point to God’s eternal nature – alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and omega is the last letter. See also 21:6 and 22:13.
• The expression from 1:4 “who is and who was and who is to come” affirms God’s eternal nature and activity in the world. Here it is again in verse 8.
• God as the Almighty is an Old Testament expression stressing God’s rule (see 2^nd Samuel 7:8; 1^st Chronicles 1:9; John 11:7; Ezekiel 1:24; Amos 3:13; Micah 4:4; Haggai 1:2; Zechariah 1:3; Malachi 1:4). God as Almighty will be John’s favorite title for God in Revelation (see 4:8; 11:17; 15:3; 16:7, 14; 19:6, 15; 21:22).

What does John seek to do in this opening section?

1. John places this vision within a context of Churches.
2. John introduces some key repetitions (seven, who is was and is to come).
3. John places Jesus in firm standing with God.
4. John gives us clues as to what some key points of the rest of Revelation are about (Lordship of Christ, coming, etc.).

Revelation 1:9-20

The greater part of Revelation can be organized around four references John makes to being “in the Spirit” (1:10; 4:2; 17:3; 21:10). These experiences help to organize Revelation into four sections:

1. Revelation 1:9-3:22. Here John details his call and we have the 7 letters to the churches in Asia.
2. Revelation 4:1-11:19. John is taken up to heaven where he witnesses some powerful things: (a) the sealed scroll is given to the Lamb (4:3-5:14); (b) the seven seals are broken (6:1-8:6); and (c) the seven trumpets are blown (8:7-11:19).
3. Revelation 17:1-20:25. John is taken to a wilderness (4:3) where he witnesses judgment of the great harlot Babylon (17:1-19:4), followed by the announcement of the marriage of the Lamb (19:5-10) and more judgment (19:11-21).
4. Revelation 21:1-22:6. John is taken to a high mountain (21:1-10) where he sees Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God (21:9-22:6a).

Revelation 1:9-20 can be organized around 4 subsections:

1. The setting of John’s experience (1:9).
2. The beginning of the experience when John heard a voice speaking to him (1:10-11).
3. What John saw when he turned to look at the speaker (1:12-16).
4. John’s response (1:17-20).

Notes on verses:

Revelation 1:9

• John calls himself a “brother” to the people so he identifies with them. They share: the difficulty, the kingdom, and patient endurance. Note that this is all shared “in Jesus.”
• The distress or troubling times are viewed in the present.
• The “was” in verse 9 regarding where John was (Patmos) makes us wonder if John is now off that island. He could be off…and could be still there.

Revelation 1:10-11

• Note that John says he was “in the Spirit.” John uses language here reminiscent of Ezekiel (Ezekiel 2:2; 3:12, 14, 24; 11:1; 43:5). Since John has visions while he is “in the Spirit” could indicate some kind of trance (Acts 10:10; 11:3; 22:17; 2^nd Corinthians 12:2-4).
• All of what happens in 1:10-11 underscores the authority of John’s work that it really came from God.
• John’s reference to the “Lord’s Day” is the only reference of this in the New Testament. Probably this is a reference to Sunday…the day of Jesus’ resurrection.

Revelation 1:12

• John turns to the voice speaking to him. He sees seven lampstands. Once again, John is probably drawing from Zechariah 4:2 where Zechariah has a vision of a single lampstand.
• God earlier commanded the people to make a seven-branched lampstand as part of the furniture for the tabernacle (Exodus 25:31-37).
• What does this mean? Later (1:20) the seven lampstands are identified with the seven churches.

Revelation 1:13-16

• We need to keep in mind visions of bizarre figures are not that uncommon in the Old Testament (Isaiah 6:2; Ezekiel 1:8-12; Daniel 10:5-6). The 1^st century reader would not have found the description here that shocking.
• If we try to understand this image literally, we end up making a mockery of the image. What John is doing is putting into words that which is indescribable. He’s making his best attempt at describing what he sees…and he’s using Old Testament language in that process.
• The expression, “…one like the Son of Man…” comes from Daniel 7:13. This one is given eternal kingship in Daniel.
• The “long robe” is something worn by priests.
• The head and hair being white connects to Daniel 7:9.
• The eye description and feet description come from Daniel 7:9, 10:6.
• The sword coming out of the mouth description (Isaiah 49:2).
• John is using language that the Old Testament uses to describe God to describe Jesus. Again, we have an emphasis on Jesus being God here.
• We must be careful not to get bogged down in individual details here. The emphasis for John seems to be one who has ultimate power and authority and John describes Jesus in Old Testament language.

Revelation 1:17-20

• John’s response is similar to one described in Daniel (10:8-9, 15; 8:17-18).
• In 1:18 the reference to Death and Hades is not a synonym for Hell, but for the Hebrew Sheol…the place of the grave or the dead. Death and Hades are frequently combined in the Old Testament (Job 33:22; Psalm 6:5; Proverbs 2:18; Isaiah 28:15; Ezekiel 31:14-15; Hosea 13:14; Habakkuk 2:5). They are always combined in Revelation too (6:8; 20:13-14). That Jesus holds the keys probably means that he has power to unlock death and its consequences. Jesus has conquered death and can do that for other people too.