Chapter 3 – The
Beginning
Read Chapter 1 The
Revelation of John
We begin this
introduction of John as he proclaims this the Revelation of Jesus Christ. Note
here that this is not the Revelation about Jesus or the Revelation concerning
Jesus but John clearly indicates that Jesus is revealing this to him. Jesus is
the true author of the Revelation of John and more than anything we will
discuss, this beginning sets the stage for all that will follow. What it is
Jesus is revealing to John? John tells us in this preamble. See in verse one
that John tells us that Jesus is revealing what must soon take place. Now
historians and dispensationalists all agree at this moment in time Jesus in prophesying
what must take place in the world. Where they disagree is when these events
actually take place. Historically some of the events in John’s Revelation
clearly took place in his day while some are lost in ambiguity to whether they
have occurred or are yet to come.
John reminds us
that we are blessed when we read prophecy aloud. God intends that we know what
God is up to including the final days of the world and when Jesus will come
again. Now to the Idealist, this is simply reminding us what the battle between
good and evil looks like across the millennium which for them is an undetermined
amount of time that only God knows. But we can clearly glean from this that God
intends us to read and proclaim the prophecy just as God sent Jonah to Nineveh
to change the course of history by having the citizens of Nineveh repent.
John’s Revelation is as much a warning that we must walk in the ways of God
whether this is the last day for earth or the last day of our lives. John
indicates the time is near. What does near mean? Clearly for those in each of
the tribulations of the world, the plague in Europe, the Civil War, WWI, and
WWII, the people involved in these events thought that the end must truly be near.
But we have only history to see that the end has not yet come. The when is what
divides us as we look to the events of the End of Time.
John writes to the
seven churches. What are the seven churches? Well in John’s day they were
actual churches that existed and they are written in the order by which a
courier would have encountered them leaving from the Island of Patmos. To Futurist
or Dispensationalist they are the church from beginning to end and each church
represents an age of Christianity. Truthfully the messages to the churches are
as relevant today as they were in John’s day. It is important to note that
seven is used often in John’s Revelation. Seven to John is a complete number, a
number representing fullness and wholeness. Whether in fact we should take this
as a literal number is open for discussion. Here John proclaims the majesty and
completeness of Jesus. This preamble is in part to remind us who Jesus is, His
authority to rule the world and how we should praise Him. In verse 7 John clearly
has a vision of Jesus returning in the clouds that every eye could see Him. I
think that it is interesting that John believes that the whole earth will see
His coming, even those who persecuted Him.. NRSV 1:8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord
God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
In verse 12 John
describes the risen Lord, Jesus Christ as he gazes upon Him. Note the language
and descriptiveness that he gives to Jesus. Standing among the seven lampstands
he saw one like the Son of Man. Now if this is truly John the Apostle, he would
recognize Jesus since he had spent time with Him. This is one of several
descriptions that John will see of Christ throughout the vision. His
description gives us hope in that Jesus tells him that He is God, the first and
the last, paralleling what God had previously said about being Alpha and Omega.
Jesus holds the keys to death and to Hell. We should note that He describes these as two
separate things. Jesus then tells us the meaning of the seven lampstands and
seven stars. We have a description from Barclay’s study of John and the early
church that the church is the lampstands of light. Jesus is the light and the
church is the holder of that light here on earth. We as the church are to be
the instruments of God to share the light of the world, Jesus, with the world.
The seven stars are somewhat of a mystery. Is Jesus saying that there is an
angel for each of the churches? Is Jesus saying that there is a human messenger
or head of the church that John is to write to? We may never know but I tend to
believe that the former has more acceptance among the scholars when we look
back at scripture and the Gospels we see references to angels watching over
people, the nation of Israel and the church (Matthew 18:10).
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