v.1-6
1. Structure
v.1-2 the content of the revelation: what must happen very soon, everything that John saw concerning the word of God and the testimony about Jesus Christ
v.3 the promise to those who read, hear and obey
v. 4-6 the formal greeting, not only from John, but from the Triune God
v.6 Christ redeemed us so that we can be a kingdom, as priests serving His God and Father
To God: to be the Glory, and power
2. Word study:
v.1
Revelation BDAG making fully known, revelation, disclosure...of revelations of a particular kind, through visions, etc.: w. gen. of the author
Revelation of Jesus Christ NET: the revelation from and about JC
What must happen very soon lit=what is necessary to become in quickness BDAG pert. to a relatively brief time subsequent to another point of time, ἐν τάχει as adverbial unit soon, in a short time
v.3 Blessed=same word as in the Beatitudes
obey=BDAG to persist in obedience, keep, observe, fulfill, pay attention to... Rev 22:7
The one who read the book is blessed because they not read, hear, but keep obeying and keep watching for the disclosure of and about Jesus Christ whose goal was to make people the priests serving God who then bring glory and power to God. Since the time of the realization of this goal is soon to come and those who obey about this goal will of course get the full benefit.
he who is,” and who was, and who is still to come=NET It may be an interpretation of the name Yahweh already current, or an attempt to show reverence for the divine name by preserving it unchanged, or simply one more of the grammatical peculiarities so frequent in Rv
the faithful witness=BDAG one who witnesses at cost of life, martyr
3. Reflection: Do I keep the things in the future as my goal? Is my faith growing so that things that I hope for is as certain as evidence to me? If serving as priests and being part of the future kingdom are my goals then how shall I live today to show that? How shall I bring glory and power to God? From a sinful vessel to someone who can serve God and a citizen of the kingdom? What will be like who does not bring glory and power to God? One who show only the g & p to ourselves? Or one who show the wrong kind of g & p to God?
The ultimate goal of God is accomplished through the redemption of us by the blood of Jesus Christ. Not only the beginning of the world is for mankind (in Genesis), but the ultimate goal of God is through mankind by the Son of Man! He loves us. What a cost of love that He paid for us! Praise God!
v.7-11
1. The ministry of John
In v.9, John said that he was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony about Jesus.
In v.2, John was described as "who testified to everything that he saw concerning the word of God and the testimony about Jesus Christ."
In other words, he was always doing this testifying ministry. He was caught and exiled because of this. And now, the angel was sent to Him to show him what must happen very soon soon. In v.11, he heard a voice saying, "Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches." John needed to continue to testify what he saw.
Reflection: Who a person is, what one always do will be a good indicator for whether God will use us. If I've never shared the Gospel with others in a regular basis, then there is little hope that God will use me in VBC.
2. The relationship between the main character and John/readers
A. There are 3 descriptions of Jesus in v. 5: (1) the faithful witness, (2) the firstborn from among the dead, (3) the ruler over the kings of the earth.
In v.1-6, we see how the first and second descriptions related to the goal of God which will be fully revealed in the eschaton. In v.7, 8, we see the further description of the 3rd title: the ruler over the kings of the earth.
v.7 Look! He is returning with the clouds (the One who ruled the eternal kingdom in Dan 7:13-14)
v.8 who is still to come—the All-Powerful!
B. In v.9, the description of John is more than a witness.
9 I, John, your brother and the one who shares with you in the persecution, kingdom, and endurance that are in Jesus
the persecution-because of the Roman government, not only John was persecuted, but other brothers and sisters as well
the kingdom-John wanted to remind his readers that not only they shared in the suffering, but they also has another citizen which is in the kingdom of God in the future
the endurance-even though the kingdom has not yet come, we are still under persecution, but Jesus' endurance is with us.
Reflection: In our suffering, who will be with us is not just each others (co-sharer), but also Jesus Christ who endure with us (co-bearer). Plus, Jesus brought us the hope that is in the future. He is the ruler of the eternal kingdom and the All Powerful the One Who is to come! God takes care of us from all the dimensions, our horizontal, vertical and the eternal relationship. Who and what else shall I fear except Him?! Do I give Him the proper fear? Do I focus on Him or on my own suffering? If the Christians in the first century can endure the Roman Empire what else I cannot endure today?
v.12-20
1. What John saw was more than the person, but the lampstands. v.19 they and the 7 stars were described as mystery, but Jesus told the the mystery right the way v.20.
mystery=BDAG allegorical significance
In other words, in this book, other than Jesus Christ is the main character, the church and her messengers are also very important character.
a. The 7 stars is in his right hand v.16, and they are the 7 angels of the 7 churches.
angels=BDAG Subordinate to Christ
but the same word is also used in 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14 and John was told to write to them, and therefore, they are not the angelic beings.
Jesus has hold them in His hands. As pastor wife of a local church I find this as privilege and a sense of burden. If Jesus thinks that we are so important, do we do what He wants us to do?
b. The 7 golden lampstands are the 7 churches, Jesus was in the midst of the lampstands
lampstands=BDAG is where the lamps are placed or hung... 2:1... I will remove your lampstand from its place, i.e. remove you fr. the circle of the churches 2:5. Rv also likens the two witnesses of Christ to two lampstands 11:4
In other words, the churches form a circle around Jesus, removing a lampstand/church from this circle of lampstand/church is possible if we have un repented sins which made a believers unusable by God. Jesus was there in the church and that made us usable.
We are in a privilege position and circling Jesus. With this position and we still cannot produce fruit, then what else can Jesus helps us to do? Pray that both myself and our church will be useful by God.
2. Jesus Christ's description
a. like a son of ma-v.7 both refer to Dan 7:13 Who is the Messiah who comes to rules the world.
b. Only His dress, belt, His hair and head are described without the word, "like/as/as though." Other parts of His bodies are qualified by "like", including, His eye, His feet and His voice. However, what characteristic of the fiery flame was used to compare with the eyes? What characteristic of the polished bronze refined in a furnace was used to compare with the feet? Or John just wanted to relate the fire and water to His appearance to emphasize His Sovereignty.
What kind of image is this? A king, a noble man, a warrior, or a holy God??
c. Having stars in His hand, a sharp sword indicate that He has authority and power.
d. His face shone like the sun shining at full strength corresponding to His head and hair as white as wool. This is the last description before John fell before Him. Perhaps these are the description of His holiness.
3. What Jesus said
the first and the last-the 3rd time repetition of the title for God, He is God
the one who lives (from death)-He over death and therefore He hold the keys of death and Hades. From this authority He commanded John to write this book. What can go wrong if Someone like this ask you to write down a book like this.
Reflection: Why did God use an image or a vision to command John to write? The strong feeling of authority, power, and holiness complied him to fall down. In other words, the image makes John to worship God. What image of God do I have?
A book was written down with the command of Jesus, the One who holds the keys of death and Hades. What kind of respect shall I have when I read this book?
Church is related to the eternal plan of Jesus. How much importance do I put to church?
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