Chapter BY Chapter

Revelation 1:4-20

Is Your Lampstand Giving Light to the World?

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“John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

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Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.

 

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.

 

‘I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’”

 

I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

 

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.  The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire,  his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.  In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.

 

When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.  Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this.  As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

 

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John writes specifically to the seven churches in the province of Asia, and we will see he has more specific things to say to them in chapters 2 and 3.

 

The first thing that John says is, “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come.”

 

Who is he talking about?  Who is “him who is, and who was, and who is to come?”

 

What is the significance of John saying this – “who is, and who was, and who is to come?”

1. Yahuweh means I was, I am, I will be.

2. Jesus referred to himself as Yahuweh.

3. What is the significance of Jesus referring to himself in this way?

4. What is the significance of John referring to Jesus in this way in the Revelation?

   • Showing that Jesus is God.

   • Showing the truth in the name Yahuweh.

   • The Revelation shows that Jesus will be.

   • Also that God will be and here since Jesus is also mentioned alongside of this, it is obvious that John is talking about God the Father here.

 

The next thing John says is “and from the seven spirits who are before his throne.”  There are all kinds of ideas about the seven spirits in the book of Revelation. 

1. The sevenfold ministry of the Spirit of God.

2. Seven distinct spiritual beings.

3. Seven Dispensations.

 

Here the meaning is plain according to the position of the reference.  It is in between the one who is, was, and will be and Jesus Christ.  It can only be referring to the Holy Spirit.  The reason that it uses “Seven Spirits” is twofold.

1. The number seven show completeness and ever presence.

2. Later on in the book of Revelation, the lamps in the heavenly temple represent the Holy Spirit.In Solomon’s temple, there were ten lampstands.By the time the 2nd temple was destroyed, it was a documented by Roman wall sculptures that seven branched lamps were taken from the temple.Also, Exodus describes a seven branched candle to be made for the temple, so this configuration is likely for the 1st temple built by Solomon (Exodus 25:31–40: cf. Exodus 37:17–24).This is separate from the Menorah candle which is a nine branched candle that commemorated Hanukah.

 

Next, he says, “and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” 

So, we get to the third person of the Trinity to give grace and peace to the churches, Jesus Christ.  John calls him 3 things here.

1. The faithful witness.

   • Why does John call Jesus the faithful witness?

     • John 1:18, “The God that no one has yet ever seen, the only begotten Son, the being in the bosom of the Father, the same HAS REVEALED HIMSELF.”

     • John 5:19, “So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”

     • John 7:16, “So Jesus answered them, “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.”

     • John 8:28, “So Jesus said to them, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he, and that I do nothing on my own authority, but speak just as the Father taught me.”

     • John 12:49, “For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the Father who sent me has himself given me a commandment—what to say and what to speak.”

   • Because Jesus came from the Father and witnessed what is true of the Father.

2. The firstborn of the dead.

   • Why is Jesus the firstborn of the dead?

   • Was Jesus the first person ever to be raised from the dead? – Not really.Elijah raised someone from the dead and Jesus rose people from the dead.

   • Paul gives us a little help in Acts 26:22-23, “To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great, saying nothing but what the prophets and Moses said would come to pass: that the Christ must suffer and that, by being the first to rise from the dead, he would proclaim light both to our people and to the Gentiles.”

   • So Jesus is the first to be risen from the dead on account of the promise of God that he gave through his prophets.Let’s look at a few of the general promises of resurrection first.

   • Daniel 12:2, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”

   • Isaiah 26:19, “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.”

   • Job 19:25-27, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God, whom I shall see for myself, and my eyes shall behold, and not another.My heart faints within me!”

   • Exodus 15:13, ““You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed; you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.”

     • If God has redeemed his people from sin, has he not redeemed them from the result of sin which is death?

     • If God has guided them to HIS holy abode, has he not taken them to heaven to be with himself?

   • Genesis 25:8, “Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people.”Abraham died in a land far away from where his people were.Remember, he traveled all the way from Ur to the land of Canaan.How could he be gathered to his people unless there was a promise of life after death?

   • Furthermore, there were promises that the Messiah would be resurrected.

   • When we studied the Gospel of John, we noted that the Messiah must specifically be resurrected.

   • Isaiah 53:10-11, "Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. Out of the anguish of his soul he shall see and be satisfied; by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant, make many to be accounted righteous, and he shall bear their iniquities."

   • Psalm 16:10, "For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol, or let your holy one see corruption."

   • Zechariah 12:10, “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

3. The ruler of kings of the earth.

   • How is Jesus the ruler of kings on earth?

   • Is he really doing that now?

   • Did it seem like Jesus was ruler of kings on earth when Domitian ran his widespread persecution of Christians and Jews, and even had John thrown into a vat of hot oil?

   • Matthew 28:18-20, “And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

   • Daniel 2:21, “He changes times and seasons; he removes kings and sets up kings.”

   • The question now becomes why does Jesus allow evil people to come to power?

   • 2 Kings 20:16-19, “Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord:Behold, the days are coming, when all that is in your house, and that which your fathers have stored up till this day, shall be carried to Babylon. Nothing shall be left, says the Lord.And some of your own sons, who will come from you, whom you will father, shall be taken away, and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the Lord that you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “Why not, if there will be peace and security in my days?”In the previous verses, Hezekiah had befriended envoys from the king of Babylon.Sometimes God allows an evil ruler as a judgment for his people for not obeying him.God may also allow an evil ruler so that believers are not complacent as Hezekiah was.

 

Next, John gives a praise to Jesus:

 

“To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.  Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.”

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1. Jesus has freed us from our sins by his blood.

   • This is the glory of the Messiah as we learned from the gospel according to John. We will hear more about this throughout the Book of Revelation.This is central.

2. Jesus has made us a kingdom and priests to God.

   • Remember in Acts 1:6, the disciples asked Jesus if this was when He will restore the kingdom to Israel?Think about the wording of this question, “restore the kingdom to Israel.”The emphasis there is on Israel.Wrong question.Jesus has now made a new kingdom, a worldwide kingdom of which believers are priests.In the book of Revelation we will see what is to be restored to whom.

3. May Glory and dominion be to Jesus forever.

   • In the gospel of John we learned what the Glory of Jesus was. And that was what again??? (His atonement for sins).

   • In the book of Revelation, we will see that he is the only one worthy to have dominion forever.

4. Jesus is coming with the clouds.

   • This is from Daniel 7:13-14,

 

“I saw in the night visions,

and behold, with the clouds of heaven

    there came one like a son of man,

and he came to the Ancient of Days

    and was presented before him.

And to him was given dominion

    and glory and a kingdom,

that all peoples, nations, and languages

    should serve him;

his dominion is an everlasting dominion,

    which shall not pass away,

and his kingdom one

    that shall not be destroyed.”

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• Now, you can’t quote Daniel 7:13-14 without referring to Isaiah 9:6-7,

 

“For to us a child is born,

    to us a son is given;

and the government shall be upon his shoulder,

    and his name shall be called[e]

Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,

    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and of peace

    there will be no end,

on the throne of David and over his kingdom,

    to establish it and to uphold it

with justice and with righteousness

    from this time forth and forevermore.

 

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.”

1. So, the Messiah will be God himself.

2. Everyone will see him, even those who pierced him.

   • This is from Zechariah 12:10

3. Everyone will wail on account of him.

   • This also is from Zechariah 12:10,

   • “And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and pleas for mercy, so that, when they look on me, on him whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn.”

 

I can’t imagine what it will be like for those that won’t believe in Jesus and then they suddenly see him in the clouds with the pieced side and the holes in his hand.  Here they rejected Jesus and now they see him coming in judgment.  The word wail here is the same word used when Jesus was being led to be crucified and all the people and women were mourning for him.  This time they won’t be mourning because Jesus will be crucified.  They will be mourning because they failed to believe in him.

 

Then we hear Jesus say something.

 

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

Jesus is the first and the last. 

 

Jesus is, Jesus was, and Jesus is to come.  What is the significance of that?

1. The name of God is Yahuweh, which means, “I was, I am, I will be.”

2. Jesus is risen from the dead even though he was crucified.

 

Jesus is the Almighty.

1. This is a name reserved only for God in the Bible.

2. How do we know that this is Jesus speaking here?

3. We know that this is Jesus speaking because of what it says in verses 17-18:

   • “When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”

 

Next, John gives us the context in which he received the Revelation of Jesus Christ.

 

“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.  I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

 

Let’s not forget the tribulation that John was undergoing.  He had been thrown into a vat of hot oil and now he was exiled on the island of Patmos.  Many other Christians in the area had been also persecuted.  John calls his fellow Christians partners in the tribulation AND partners in the patient endurance.  John mentions that he is specifically on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 

 

John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day and behind him, he hears a loud voice like a trumpet that says,

“Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”

 

Now tradition holds that John was in authority over these churches, and that he had primarily resided in Ephesus.  It was in Ephesus where he was thrown into the vat of hot oil.  We can presume that there was much persecution in that city in addition to what John suffered.

 

Now, let’s find out more about that voice that John heard.  John says,

 

“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.  The hair on his head was 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 coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.”

 

This is someone like the son of man.  Jesus called himself the “son of man” 81 times.  One memorial time that he did this in the book of John was when he healed the man born blind and sent him to the pool of Siloam to wash the mud off his eyes.  Later, he approached the man and asked him if he believed in the “son of man.”  This is one of the humorous things that Jesus did.  You can’t say that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. 

 

Robe with a golden sash around his chest.  The high priest wore a sash around his chest.  People in authority in the 1st century would also wear a sash.  Wearing a robe down to his feet denotes authority.  Common laborers would not be dresses in a long robe.

 

White hair like wool.  This speaks to the Ancient of Days, to the glory Jesus had before the creation of the world.

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Eyes like blazing fire.  This tells us that he can see through everything.

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Feet like bronze.  His feet are solid and sturdy because he will put all his enemies under his feet. (1 Corinthians 15:24-26.)  Also the feet of those who carry the good news are beautiful (Isaiah 52:7).          

 

Voice like the sound of rushing waters.  Have you ever heard the sound the water makes at Niagara Falls?  This is what this phrase makes me think of.  The sound drowns out the voices of people that are near it.  Psalm 29:3-4, “The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord, over many waters.  The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty.” 

 

Coming out of his mouth a sharp double-edged sword.  This is because Jesus is the Word, the logos, and coming out of his mouth is the Word of God which has absolute power.  By this word, the world was made (Hebrews 11:3).  By his word, the crowd that came to arrest him fell back (John 18:6).  By his word, he will slay all his enemies. 

 

Face like the sun shining.  When Jesus was transfigured before John, James, and Peter, his face shined like the sun (Matthew 17:2).  He lives in unapproachable light (1 Timothy 6:16).

 

Watch what happens when John sees him.

 

“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 now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.”

John falls at his feet as though dead.  We can take from this that he was prostrating himself in worship.  And Jesus accepts the worship!  He tells John not to be afraid.  One of the major proofs in the Bible that Jesus is God is that people worship him and he accepts the worship.  Angels will not accept worship.  Jesus has, does, and will. 

 

He is the first and the last.  This ties Jesus in with the first time he heard the voice when it said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega.”  And who said that (verse 8)?  The Lord God, the Almighty. 

 

He is the Living One.  He was dead, and now look, He is alive forever and ever!

 

This can only be Jesus Christ.  It is unmistakable who this is. 

 

And he holds the keys to death and Hades.  There is now no reason to be afraid of anything.  I think if there is anything you want to do in this world, it is get in good with this guy, the guy that has the keys to death and Hades. 

 

Ready to learn the first thing that is to be revealed by Jesus?

 

“Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”

 

So, John is going to write about 3 main things:

1. What he has seen.

2. What is.

3. What will take place after this.

 

Jesus tells him the mystery of the seven stars in his right hand and the seven lampstands is this:

The seven stars are the seven angels of the seven churches.  Angels here is used in the sense of “messengers.”  They are the pastors or leaders of these churches as we will see in the next 2 chapters.  The seven lampstands are the seven churches. 

We need to think about this for a minute and take it to heart.  Our church is a lampstand to the world around us.  Are we going to keep it to ourselves, or are we going to share the light with the world around us? 

 

Did you know this:

 

Golden Lampstand Church was a Christian church located in Shanxi Province, China. It was one of the country's largest Protestant evangelical churches until Chinese police officers demolished it on January 9, 2018, using heavy machinery and dynamite. The church was built in 2009 and was the religious home to more than 50,000 Christians. A state newspaper quoted an unidentified official as saying that the church had been secretly constructed without proper permits. Several members of the congregation were imprisoned. The government had been planning to destroy the church since 2010.  Now you can find picture of the church online.  It is pretty big and would have been difficult to build secretly.  It also had electricity and plumbing which would have been hard to accomplish without permits.  Members of the megachurch, had previously clashed with the authorities, including in 2009 when the police confiscated Bibles and imprisoned several of the congregation’s leaders. (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/world/asia/china-church-dynamite.html)

“The repeated persecution of Golden Lampstand Church demonstrates that the Chinese government has no respect for religious freedom or human rights,” said Bob Fu, the group’s founder.”

 

I'll bet the Golden Lampstand Church is still there.

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I have a song:

​Go Light Your World - Kathy Troccoli