John next explained a vision of the glorified Christ that God had given him (cf. Isa. 6; Ezek. 1). First, he related the circumstances of his first commission to write (vv. 9-11). Second, he provided a detailed description of the source of that commission (vv. 12-16). Third, he explained more about his commission and the one who gave it (vv. 17-20).
1:9 John now addressed the seven churches to which he sent this epistolary prophecy directly. He described himself to his readers as their brother in Christ and a partaker with them in three things. These were, first, the religious persecution they were presently experiencing as a result of their faith in Jesus Christ.36Second, they shared in the future kingdom of Jesus Christ (cf. ch. 20; Luke 12:32; 22:29; 1 Thess. 2:12; 2 Thess. 1:5; James 2:5). Third, they were exercising perseverance as they remained steadfast in the midst of affliction.
"This illustrates the broad spectrum of other areas, besides afflictions, that are shared by believers, but fellowship in suffering is one of the most frequent, if not the most frequent, among the stock of primitive Christian ideas. This is an indispensable element of Christian discipleship and following the example of Jesus (1 Thess. 1:6; 1 Pet. 2:21; 4:13; cf. also 2 Cor. 1:7; Phil. 3:10; 1 Pet. 5:1)."37
John was on Patmos as a result of his witness, not primarily to receive this revelation from God (cf. 6:9).38According to the writings of several early church fathers (i.e., Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Eusebius, and Victorinus), the Romans sent John as a prisoner from Ephesus, where he pastored, to the island of Patmos in A.D. 95.39There he worked in the mines (quarries). Patmos stood in the Aegean Sea just southwest of Ephesus. It was 10 miles long and six miles wide at its widest (northern) end, and it served as a penal colony for political prisoners of Rome. John remained there until shortly after the Emperor Domitian died in A.D. 96. Domitian's successor, Nerva, allowed John to return to Ephesus.40
1:10 The Holy Spirit appears to have caught John up and projected him in his spirit to a future time in a vision (cf. 4:2; 17:3; 21:10; Ezek. 3:12, 14; 8:3; 11:1, 24; 43:5).42
The "Lord's day"probably refers to Sunday,43but it could refer to the future day of the Lord spoken of frequently elsewhere in Scripture.44
"Referring kyriake hemerato Sunday agrees with the terminology of a number of Christian writings from the same general area of Asia Minor a short time after the writing of the Apocalypse there. The Lord's day' came to be the customary way of referring to Sunday by the end of the second century because it was the day of the week on which the Lord was raised from the dead . . ."45
The New Testament writers never called Sunday the Lord's day elsewhere in Scripture.
A loud trumpet-like voice instructed John to write down what he saw and send it to seven churches in Asia Minor. The trumpet reference probably implies that submission to its command was necessary. The voice belonged to Jesus Christ (vv. 12, 17-18).
1:11 This is the first of twelve times that John wrote that he received instruction to write what he saw (cf. v. 19; 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14; 14:13; 19:9; 21:5). The "book"in view was a roll of papyrus made from a plant that grew in Egypt. Normally papyrus scrolls were about 15 feet long.46
The cities where these churches met formed a wedge on the map pointing northwest. A messenger carrying John's revelation would have traveled north from Ephesus to Smyrna and on to Pergamum. He would then have turned southeast to reach Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Note that all the Book of Revelation was to go to these churches, not just the special letter to each one contained in chapters 2 and 3.
Why did God select these churches in these particular towns? Obviously He did not do so because of their superior spirituality. Their popularity was not the criterion either since we read about only Ephesus and Laodicea elsewhere in Scripture. Probably they were representative congregations from which this book could circulate easily.47
John turned to see the person who had given him his commission. These verses describe what he saw.
1:12 When John turned to see the person who spoke to him he saw a majestic figure clothed in a long robe standing among seven lampstands (cf. Ezek. 25:31-40; Zech. 4:2; Matt. 18:20). This person would have been a priest in Israel ministering in the tabernacle or temple. The seven lampstands represent seven churches (v. 20).48
1:13 The man looked like "a son of man."This expression refers to the divine Messiah in Daniel 7:13-14 (cf. Acts 7:56). "Son of Man"was Jesus' favorite title for Himself according to the writers of the Gospels (cf. Mark 13:26). The person John saw looked like a human man. His clothing was that of a priest: a long robe with a golden sash around it.49Jesus Christ's present office is that of our high priest (Heb. 4:14). However this long robe (Gr. poderes) was also a sign of rank or dignity in those who wore them (cf. Ezek. 9:2; Dan. 10:5).50
"In Rev. 1:13, Christ is seen dressed in the type robe worn by both a priest and a judge; but the position of the girdle about the breasts rather than the waist indicates that Christ, in this passage, is exercising a judicial rather than a priestly role. A priest would be girded about the waist, signifying service; but the girdle placed about the shoulders or breasts indicates a magisterialfunction (cf. John 13:2-5; Rev. 15:6)."51
"The titles of Jesus Christ found in the introductions to six of the seven messages in chapters 2 and 3 are drawn largely from this vision of 1:12-20 and its descriptive phrases. Only the message to Laodicea (3:14-22) is devoid of one of these. One of the titles is used in two messages (cf. 2:1 and 3:1) . . . It is apparent that the appearance of Christ in this vision is designed to emphasize the aspects of His nature that are most relevant to the needs and circumstances of the seven churches who are the primary recipients of this book."52
1:14 His head, even His hair, was very white, as Daniel described the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:9 (i.e., God the Father).53White hair often represents wisdom and the dignity of age in Scripture.54John referred the images of God the Father in the Old Testament to Jesus Christ thus granting to Jesus the attributes and titles previously reserved for the Father (cf. v. 18; 2:8; 5:12; 22:13).55This is one way of stressing the equality of Jesus with the Father, here specifically His eternal pre-existence.
His eyes were similar to blazing fire, evidently an allusion to His piercing judgment and omniscient understanding (cf. 2:18, 19:12; Dan. 10:6; Mark 3:5, 34; 10:21, 23; 11:11; Luke 22:61).
1:15 His feet looked as though they were bronze glowing in the reflection of a fire. This is probably an allusion to His purity as He moves among the churches (cf. Luke 1:79; Acts 5:9; Rom. 3:15; 10:15; Heb. 12:13)56or perhaps as proved during His earthly walk that made Him a sympathetic high priest (Heb. 4:15; cf. 2:18).
His voice sounded like a rushing river such as the Niagara at its Falls, namely, authoritative, powerful, and irresistible (cf. 14:2; 19:6; Ps. 93:4; Isa. 17:13; Ezek. 43:2).
"Perhaps two ideas are suggested here: (1) Christ gathers together all the streams of revelation' and is the Father's last Word' to man (Heb. 1:1-3); (2) He speaks with power and authority and must be heard."57
John would have hardly ever been away from the sound of waves beating on the shore while he lived on Patmos.
1:16 In His right hand, the symbol of official honor and sovereign control, He held seven stars protectively (cf. 9:1; 12:3; Job 38:7; John 10:28), the angels or messengers of the seven churches (v. 20; cf. 2:1; 3:1).
A sharp double-edged sword (Gr. hromphaia), the type the Romans used to kill with (2:12, 16; 6:8; 19:15, 21), proceeded from His mouth. His word will judge His enemies (Isa. 11:4; Eph. 6:17; 2 Thess. 2:8; Heb. 4:12; Rev. 19:13-15). This sword was tongue-shaped.58
His face shone like the unclouded sun, a picture of pure holiness and righteousness (Judg. 5:31; Matt. 13:43). John saw Jesus at the Transfiguration with such a shining face (Matt. 17:2).
". . . Christ was presenting Himself to John in a character that would prepare the apostle for various aspects of the vision to follow."59
"This first vision of John, then, included an indication of Jesus' Messianic office with its associated functions: judgment of the unrighteous and comfort of the suffering righteous, His high rank that fits Him as an agent of imposing divine wrath, His activity in imposing that wrath, His preexistence along with God the Father, His penetrating intelligence that enables Him to perform righteous judgment, His movement among the churches to enforce standards of moral purity, His identification with the Father in the power of His utterance, His authority over the seven messengers and the churches they represent, His power to overcome His enemies and pronounce judgment upon them, and His return to earth to implement judgment upon mankind."60
It is primarily as Judge that Jesus Christ appears in Revelation (cf. Matt. 3:11). He judges the churches (chs. 2-3), the whole earth (chs. 4-16), Babylonianism (chs. 17-18), world rulers at Armageddon (19:19-21), and Satan (20:1-3, 10). He also judges the earth during the Millennium (20:4-6), the rebellious earth at the end of the Millennium (20:7-9), and all the unsaved dead (20:11-15). The first 20 chapters of the book deal with judgment and the last two with the new creation.
John's response to this revelation was similar to Daniel's response to the vision God gave him (cf. Dan. 10:7-9). Jesus then proceeded to give John more information about what He wanted him to do.
1:17 This revelation of Jesus Christ in His unveiled glory took all the strength out of John. He could not stand in the presence of such an One. Paul had a similar experience on the Damascus road (Acts 9:4; cf. Job 42:5-6; Isa. 6:5; Ezek. 1:28; Dan. 8:17). However the glorified Christ laid His comforting, powerful hand on John and encouraged him to stop fearing (cf. Jesus' action following the Transfiguration, Matt. 17:7). He introduced Himself as the self-existent, eternal One. "I am"recalls Jesus' claims in the Gospels (cf. Matt. 14:27; Mark 6:50; John 6:20; 8:58) and connects Him with Yahweh (Exod. 3:14; Isa. 48:12). The title "the first and the last"is essentially the same as "the Alpha and the Omega"(v. 8) and "the beginning and the end"(22:13). All three titles stress the absolute sovereignty of God. The consoling words, "Do not be afraid,"came from a sovereign being.61
1:18 Jesus also presented Himself as the resurrected One and the One with authority over the state of death and the place of the dead (cf. Ps. 9:13; 107:13; Isa. 38:10; Matt. 16:18; John 5:28). He may have personified Death and Hades here (cf. 6:8). John saw his beloved teacher of Galilee, on whose chest he had laid his head, in an entirely different light than he had seen Him before, except in His transfiguration (Matt. 17:2; Mark 9:2; cf. Rev. 4:10; 10:6).
1:19 Jesus Christ repeated His instruction to John to write down the things God was revealing to him (v. 11). The repetition of write' from verse 11 indicates that the therefore' is resuming the earlier command where it left off.62Now Jesus gave John more specific instructions.
This verse provides an inspired outline of the Book of Revelation. Some of what John was to record he had already seen, namely, the Man standing among the seven golden lampstands with the seven stars in His hand (vv. 12-16). Some had to do with present conditions in the churches as exemplified by the seven churches (chs. 2-3). Some had to do with revelations about the times after conditions represented by the seven churches ended (chs. 4-22).63
1:20 Jesus Christ then interpreted the meaning of some of the symbolic things John had seen. They were mysteries, revelations previously unclear until the Lord interpreted them for John. The seven stars represented the messengers of the seven churches, perhaps their angelic guardians.64Some interpreters have taken these angels as expressions of the prevailing spirit that characterized each church.65Others view them as the pastors of these churches, but the plurality of leadership that was common in the early churches militates against singling out one leader among many. Probably these churches' human representatives are in view.66These would have been men such as Epaphroditus and Epaphras, representatives of the churches in Philippi and Colosse, who went to Rome to visit Paul. These representatives may have come to Patmos to visit John and carried Revelation back with them to their respective congregations. The Greek word angeloi("angels") frequently refers to human messengers (e.g., Matt. 11:10; Luke 7:24; 9:52; 2 Cor. 8:23; James 2:25).
The lampstands figuratively supported the corporate witness of the Christians in each church as they lived in a dark world (cf. 1 Tim. 3:15).
God interpreted many of the symbols He used in Revelation elsewhere in Scripture. Correct interpretation of this book, therefore, depends on a knowledge of the rest of God's previously given revelation. This is also true of every other book of the Bible.
