Revelation 1, Alpha and the Omega

This is the last book in the New Testament and most likely John's last letter.  

It is a fascinating book.  It is majestic, with a cosmological view of the role of Jesus, the Jewish Messiah.  It deserves regular reading within the churches; it deserves much more exposure than it gets!

Revelation 1: 1-3, Introduction

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

Blessed is the one who reads 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. 

The revelation is from God through Jesus to John ... to the church.

What is "near"?  Why is this revelation given, if Jesus was not going to return for at least 2000 years? (The Greek word translated "soon" may also be translated "quickly", "rapidly", as in quickly – once it starts.  But there are certainly places where "soon" seems to not have this meaning.)

Why are the readers to be blessed? (If readers are blessed, we should read this book more!)

Revelation 1: 4-8, Greeting

John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. 

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father--to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 

Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. 

"I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty." 

God is described as "is, was, is to come" -- current, past and future (in that order.) This is consistent with God's statement to Moses, that His name is "I Am."

In the Greek alphabet, alpha was the first letter and omega the last, so "Alpha and Omega" represents the beginning and the end -- and everything in between.  Jesus is the beginning and the end of the Cosmos, of Time, of all things.

John, looking forward into Time, says that Jesus will come again, visible to all humankind.

NIV footnotes: In verse 4 "seven spirits" could be translated "the sevenfold Spirit."

Revelation 1: 9-11, The setting for John's vision

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 

On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." 

John ministered at Ephesus, a port city on the Aegean Sea, on the coast of Asia Minor (now Turkey.) The seven churches in this list are scattered throughout Asia Minor, probably visited early on by Paul and other missionaries.  The island of Patmos is a small island in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Asia Minor, about 70 miles from Ephesus by air.

Notes:  Walvoord translates "Lord's Day" as "day of the Lord" – not a day of the week. Some put significance in the ordering "suffering, kingdom, patient endurance". The concepts of "suffering, kingdom, patient endurance" will be stressed in this book.

Revelation 1: 12-16, The speaker

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.  His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. 

What did the speaker look like?  Why would he look like this? What do gold, wool, snow, fire, bronze, waters signify (if any)?

Compare with Daniel 7:9-13. (The quote "like a son of man" is from the end of that passage.)

Revelation 1: 17-20, The holder of the keys

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.  

"Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

In verse 20, the Greek word translated "angels" is literally "messengers".  This term is used throughout the book and may not always mean a divine immortal being.

In the opening passage, the one that says he is the first and the last is identified as "the Lord God." Here the same claim is made by Jesus.  All of John's writings, from his gospel to his letters to this book, all unapologetically identify Jesus as God.

Who holds the keys to hell and death?  What does this mean? 

Why the use of the number seven?  (There are, in this chapter, seven churches/lampstands/angels. We will continue to see seven as a symbol throughout the book.)

Do churches have angels?  Does yours?  (What is a "church" here?)