REVELATION
Introduction
1
1 Jesus Christ's revelation, which God gave Him to show to His slaves*—things that must occur shortly.† And He communicated it, sending it by His angel to His slave John, 2 who gave witness to the word of God, even the testimony of Jesus Christ‡—the things that He saw,§ both things that are and those that must happen after these. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and keep the things that are written in it;* because the time is near.
4 John, to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace and peace to you from† Him who is and who was and who is coming, and from the sevenfold‡ Spirit who is before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness,§ the firstborn from among the dead,* and the ruler of the kings of the earth.†
To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins with His own blood 6 —indeed, He made us a kingdom, priests‡ to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
7 Take note, He comes with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him.§ And all the tribes of the earth will beat their breasts [in dismay] because of Him. Yea, verily!*
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”† says the Lord God, “He who is and who was and who is coming, The Almighty.”‡
John is commissioned
9 I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance§ in Christ Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the Word of God and on account of the testimony of Jesus Christ.* 10 I was in spirit† on the Lord's day and I heard a voice behind me, loud as a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” 12 And there I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me.‡ And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the seven lampstands one similar to a son of man,§ clothed down to the feet and girded at the nipples* with a golden belt. 14 Now His head, that is His hair, was white, like wool, as white as snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; 15 and His feet were like fine brass, as when refined in a furnace; and His voice was like the sound of many waters;† 16 and He had seven stars on His right hand and a sharp two-edged sword coming out of His mouth; and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.‡
17 And when I saw Him I fell at His feet as if dead. And He placed His right hand§ upon me saying: “Do not fear. I am the First and the Last, 18 even the Living One—I became dead, to be sure, and now I am living for ever and ever! Oh yes!! And I have the keys of Death and of Hades!* 19 Therefore† write the things that you have seen, and the things that are, and the things that are going to occur after these.‡ 20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw upon my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the messengers§ of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands that you saw are seven churches.
* 1:1 Whose, the Father's or the Son's? Probably the Son's, but in practice it makes little or no difference. Yes, the Text says “slaves”, so this book is not intended for the merely curious. † 1:1 The Text actually says, “with speed”. Since to God 1000 years = one day, it has only been two days! ‡ 1:2 Any testimony of Jesus Christ is a word of God. § 1:2 Most, if not all, versions have ‘he saw’ (referring to John, not Jesus) and omit the rest of the verse. The manuscript evidence is seriously divided at this point. My translation reflects two of the three main independent lines of transmission, including the best one (as I see it). See 22:20, “He who testifies to these things says, ‘Yes, I am coming swiftly!’ Oh yes!! Come Lord Jesus!” The whole book is what Jesus Christ is testifying, is revealing; as an eyewitness. So the whole book is inspired. * 1:3 John is evidently claiming divine inspiration for what he is writing. You will not be blessed for reading or hearing a newspaper or a magazine. Notice that one person is reading (aloud) and a number of people are hearing, which was the norm in the congregations, since very few could afford to have a private copy of Scripture. Notice further that it is necessary to “keep” what is written. † 1:4 The sequence “from…, and from…, and from…” suggests three persons. The third, “Jesus Christ”, has to be the Son. “The sevenfold Spirit” would be the Holy Spirit. So “Him who is, was and is coming” must be the Father. Just over half of the Greek MSS add ‘God’ after the first “from” to make the connection overt (but the best line of transmission does not). ‡ 1:4 Although the evidence is badly divided, I take it that the original reading is “the seven spirits which is”. A plural subject with a singular verb is anomalous, unless we understand “sevenfold Spirit which is”. If the Deity is three in one, why might not the Holy Spirit be seven in one? See Isaiah 11:2. § 1:5 When and how was He “the faithful witness”? Throughout His life on earth He was the faithful witness to the Father's character, what the Father was doing (John 5:19), what the Father was saying (John 12:50). Here He is the faithful witness to what is going to happen. * 1:5 We have two readings here: one is clearly “from among the dead” while the other is ambiguous, meaning either “from among the dead” or ‘of the dead’. With the latter option, “firstborn” could have the derived meaning of ‘lord’ or ‘boss’. I take it that the better option is to follow the best line of transmission and read “from among”, in which case “firstborn” has its primary meaning. Death is pictured as a huge womb, pregnant with all the dead, and Jesus Christ was the first one out, literally the “firstborn”—but only the first! Because Jesus conquered death, we too may emerge from that ‘womb’. Thank you Lord! † 1:5 Satan has been demoted—see John 12:31. ‡ 1:6 What was the function of a priest? A priest was a go-between, representing the people to God. I would say that intercessory prayer is a priestly function. § 1:7 The soldier who actually pierced His side on the cross, and the religious leaders who brought the situation about, are presumably in Hades. I take it that we are being told that the dead will also see Him when He returns to reign. The human spirit is indestructible, so those in Hades are very much ‘aware’ (Luke 16:22-31). * 1:7 That is how people used to talk—you may prefer ‘Yes, indeed!’ or ‘Even so, amen!’ The certainty that all tribes will beat their breasts is being emphasized. † 1:8 To be the first and the last you have to be the biggest, all the time. ‡ 1:8 In verse 8 the Father speaks, putting His weight behind what is being written. § 1:9 “The tribulation and kingdom and endurance”—that there is only one definite article for the three nouns presumably indicates that the three are regarded as a single package. To participate in the Kingdom in this life involves tribulation and requires endurance. * 1:9 Presumably the witness that John gave about Jesus Christ. As in this verse, the human authors frequently alternated ‘Jesus Christ’ and ‘Christ Jesus’—so far as I can see, it was merely a stylistic device to reduce repetition. † 1:10 There is no definite article with “spirit”, so to capitalize the word is arbitrary. It could refer to the Holy Spirit, but I think it more likely that it refers to John's spiritual condition (see 4:2 below). ‡ 1:12 It was at that point that he turned. § 1:13 The Lord Jesus referred to Himself as “the Son of the Man”, always with the two definite articles, but here there are no articles (in the Greek). John saw a human like form, very different from the Jesus he had known. * 1:13 Since the figure was clothed, the nipples would not be visible, so the point is presumably to give the position of the belt—across the middle of the chest. Since no further mention is made of the belt, in the letters, it is hard to know what purpose it served. But see 15:6 below. † 1:15 A low (or loud) roar that pervades the atmosphere—it is awesome, and you cannot get away from it. ‡ 1:16 Comparing this with verse 14 it is evident that only the part of the head covered by the hair was white, the face (probably no beard) was like the sun. § 1:17 But He had seven stars on that hand! Presumably the stars were on His open hand, so He rested the back of His hand on John. Since the seven stars represented the messengers of the seven churches, what might the symbolism be? Since the seven churches, taken together, represent the total Church (presumably), perhaps the glorified Christ is blessing John on behalf of the Church, so that he will be a blessing to that Church, in his turn. * 1:18 Oh praise God! Satan used to have the keys, Hebrews 2:14, but now Jesus has them, because He did indeed vanquish the devil. † 1:19 In verse 8 the Father guarantees the veracity of the prophecy; here the Son, who conquered death and lives forevermore, does the guaranteeing. ‡ 1:19 I take it that the precise form of the original Text here has the effect of affirming the certainty of the coming events. This verse is often taken as giving the outline of the book: “what you saw” = chapter 1; “things that are” = chapters 2-3; “things to come” = chapters 4-22. § 1:20 The Greek word αγγελος may mean messenger or angel (they are often messengers). Since 2:20 below says “your wife”, referring to the messenger, we should presumably understand ‘messenger’ here as referring to a man. It is possible that messengers from these churches were visiting John, on Patmos, or had visited him earlier.