9 ¶ I John, who also am your brother, and
companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was
in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony
of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit
on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, 11 Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and
the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven
churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos,
and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
12 And I turned to see the voice that
spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks; 13 And in the midst of the seven candlesticks
one like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt
about the paps with a golden girdle. 14
His head and his hairs were white like wool, as white as snow; and his
eyes were as a flame of fire; 15 And his
feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the
sound of many waters. 16 And he had in
his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword:
and his countenance was as the sun shineth in his strength. 17 And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as
dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the
first and the last: 18 I am he that
liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the
keys of hell and of death. 19 Write the
things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which
shall be hereafter; 20 The mystery of
the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden
candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the
seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
John was on the island of Patmos. The Bible does not say
that he was a prisoner but that he was there for the word of God and for the
testimony of Jesus Christ. It is certain Christian traditions that say he was
there as a prisoner. The Harper’s Bible dictionary says the following, which is
misquoted in Wikipedia as of this writing;
Early Christian tradition says that
John was banished to Patmos by the Roman authorities. This tradition is
credible because banishment was a common punishment used during the Imperial
period for a variety of offenses. Among such offenses were the practices of
magic and astrology. Prophecy was viewed by the Romans as belonging to the same
category, whether pagan, Jewish, or Christian. Prophecy with political
implications, like that expressed by John in the book of Revelation, would have
been perceived as a threat to Roman political power and order. [The writer goes
on to refer to Pliny’s Natural History and Tacitus’ Annals as references to the
series of islands where Patmos was located as being used for used for such
purposes.](1)
(1) Adela Y. Collins, “Patmos,” Harper Bible Dictionary, Paul J.
Achtemeier, gen. ed., (San Francisco:
Harper & Row Publishers, 1985), 755.
This sets the writing and events
in a specific period of time in history, probably, according to many historians
in the AD90’s, fully decades after the temple of Herod at Jerusalem had been
destroyed by the Romans.
I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day…, is an interesting phrase.
First, it reinforces that Christians worshipped on a special day called the Lord’s day. Other evidence of a special day that
particular worship was held can be found at;
Acts 20:7 And upon the first day
of the week, when the disciples came together to break bread, Paul preached
unto them, ready to depart on the morrow; and continued his speech until
midnight.
1Corinthians 16:2 Upon the first
day of the week let every one of you lay by him in store, as God hath prospered
him, that there be no gatherings when I come.
What does it mean to be in the Spirit? Note the uppercase S.
The believer is indwelt by the
Spirit of Christ, who is God.
Romans 8:9 But ye are not in the
flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if
any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.
The context of the following shows
that as the believer is indwelt by the Spirit of God his sanctification is not
accomplished by carnal, fleshy things such as ordinances and commandments but
by the change brought about by the Spirit on his or her life.
Galatians 3:3 Are ye so foolish?
having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?
The believer who walks in the
Spirit does not seek to fulfill the lust of the flesh. If we live in the Spirit
it must be evidenced by our walk.
… 5:16 This I say then, Walk in
the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh…25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in
the Spirit.
Being in the Spirit has to do with
being detached from the world and focused on and controlled by God.
Ephesians 6:18 Praying always
with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all
perseverance and supplication for all saints;
Colossians 1:8 Who also declared
unto us your love in the Spirit.
1Timothy 3:16 And without
controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the Spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed
on in the world, received up into glory.
John was so deeply given to prayer
and so focused on God that the Spirit of God controlled him and was able to
show him things we cannot see because even when we pray we are still firmly
planted in this world. Few have prayed hard enough or for a long enough time or
in a focused manner that would allow their complete surrender to God. Usually we want something or we don’t want
something but our prayers are not focused on our position in God; our
submission to Him or His authority over us. We either mumble a hurried prayer,
recite a formula, or preach a sermon to others. What John experienced here was
much, much more. Of course, I am assuming John was praying although this could
have been similar to Peter’s trance in Acts 10.
John heard a voice behind him and
before he turned around the voice, which sounded powerful and loud like a
trumpet and identified Christ as the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and ending,
again, named the specific seven churches in the Roman province of Asia. They do
not still exist and the Roman province of Asia is now an predominantly Muslim
country named Turkey after the Turks who conquered the Eastern Roman Empire in
1453, whose capital was at Constantinople, which the Turks renamed Istanbul.
Each of these cities has an
intriguing background and the archaeology surrounding them is very interesting.
But, it is what God says about them in the Bible that matters the most to us
here, not the suppositions and theories of historians and archaeologists,
although I am not discounting them or rejecting what they say. One book I
recommend is Merrill F. Unger’s landmark work entitled Archaeology and the New Testament.
As they do not exist now, their
presence in the Bible must mean something else to us, if we believe that the
Holy Spirit gave the Bible to the writers of it by inspiration and that He was
an active agent throughout the history of its preservation. We assume that all
of the obscure names given in the Old Testament, for instance, have some type
of significance and importance to us even though we do not know yet what it is.
There are many theories about what
the seven churches mean. Some have said they are seven ages of church history.
Some that they are simply seven types of churches throughout history. John
turned then to see who was speaking to him and here we get an important point
about translating. The translators use the word candlesticks, something which
modernists despise. This does not mean that John is referring to candles of wax
although candles were used at that time and there is plenty of evidence that
candles were used from the middle of the millennium before Christ.
The word, lampstand, is not found in English lexicons and dictionaries before
1800. If you find it let me know. As the
British use the word torch for what
we call a flashlight hearkening back to earlier technology the King James Bible translators used candlestick for the apparatus on which a
lamp was set.
Zechariah 4:2 And said unto me,
What seest thou? And I said, I have looked, and behold a candlestick all of
gold, with a bowl upon the top of it, and his seven lamps thereon, and seven
pipes to the seven lamps, which are upon the top thereof:
Referencing;
Exodus 25:31 ¶ And thou shalt
make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made:
his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of
the same. 32 And six branches shall come
out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side,
and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: 33 Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a
knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other
branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the
candlestick. 34 And in the candlestick
shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.
35 And there shall be a knop under two
branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop
under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out
of the candlestick. 36 Their knops and
their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure
gold. 37 And thou shalt make the seven
lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light
over against it. 38 And the tongs
thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. 39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it,
with all these vessels. 40 And look that
thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
Think of other places where the
translators used words that the reader would understand rather than
transliterating a Greek word. Think of furlong
for the Greek stadion in Luke 24:13.
Think of penny in place of denarion in Matthew 20:2.
In verse 13 paps are nipples, so this garment is cinched at breast height.
Luke 11:27 And it came to pass,
as he spake these things, a certain woman of the company lifted up her voice,
and said unto him, Blessed is the womb that bare thee, and the paps which thou
hast sucked.
(Oh my! Why isn’t He wearing a
suit and tie!?? I’m so offended. Just joking, fundamentalists.)
The appearance of Christ here, the
image, the likeness we see in this passage is different from what the disciples
saw when He was walking the earth. He is glorified and in the world of spirit.
His head and his hair are white like wool. His eyes glowed like fire. His feet
were like brass in a furnace and His voice sounded like many waters. What’s
that sound like? Imagine the waves of a storm pounding on the beach or
assaulting a ship at sea.
Psalm 93:4 The LORD on high is
mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea.
We can picture in our head the
sound of a waterfall or the rapids on a great river but the Bible definition is
the mighty waves of the sea.
He is holding seven stars in His
right hand and a sharp two-edge sword is coming out of His mouth. The stars are
defined as the appearance or angels of the seven churches, and that would be
before God as they existed on earth at the time while the seven candlesticks
were the actual churches. Churches should be a light, shouldn’t they?
The two-edged sword is the Bible,
the word of God.
Hebrews 4:12 For the word of God
is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to
the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a
discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.
In this verse in Hebrews word of God is the same word as Word
used for Jesus in creation, logos. Then,
would the Bible be Christ in written form?
Christ’s face glowed like the sun
shining in its power. Notice the verses regarding Moses;
Exodus 34:29 And it came to
pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in
Moses’ hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the
skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 30 And when Aaron and all the children of Israel
saw Moses, behold, the skin of his face shone; and they were afraid to come
nigh him. …33 And till Moses had done
speaking with them, he put a vail on his face…35 And the children of Israel saw the face of
Moses, that the skin of Moses’ face shone: and Moses put the vail upon his face
again, until he went in to speak with him.
2Corinthians 3:7 But if the
ministration of death, written and engraven in stones, was glorious, so that
the children of Israel could not stedfastly behold the face of Moses for the
glory of his countenance; which glory was to be done away:
Now, Christ at His
transfiguration;
Matthew 17:1 ¶ And after six
days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into
an high mountain apart, 2 And was
transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment
was white as the light.
Verse 17 says; And when I saw him, I fell at
his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not;
I am the first and the last:
(Peter, James, and John were taken
with Christ to see His transfiguration clearly because they will write
significant portions of the end-times letters; 1st and 2nd
Peter, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, James, and
Revelation.)
Note from Ezekiel…
Ezekiel 1:26 ¶ And above the
firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the
appearance of a sapphire stone: and upon the likeness of the throne was the
likeness as the appearance of a man above upon it. 27 And I saw as the colour of amber, as the
appearance of fire round about within it, from the appearance of his loins even
upward, and from the appearance of his loins even downward, I saw as it were
the appearance of fire, and it had brightness round about. 28 As the appearance of the bow that is in the
cloud in the day of rain, so was the appearance of the brightness round about.
This was the appearance of the likeness of the glory of the LORD. And when I
saw it, I fell upon my face, and I heard a voice of one that spake.
In verse 18 Christ said that He
had the keys of Hell and of death. Death and Hell have a close relationship in
the Bible.
Proverbs 5:5 Her feet go down to
death; her steps take hold on hell.
Proverbs 7:27 Her house is the
way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.
Isaiah 28:15 Because ye have
said, We have made a covenant with death, and with hell are we at agreement;
when the overflowing scourge shall pass through, it shall not come unto us: for
we have made lies our refuge, and under falsehood have we hid ourselves…18 And your covenant with death shall be
disannulled, and your agreement with hell shall not stand; when the overflowing
scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it.
Habakkuk 2:5 Yea also, because
he transgresseth by wine, he is a proud man, neither keepeth at home, who
enlargeth his desire as hell, and is as death, and cannot be satisfied, but
gathereth unto him all nations, and heapeth unto him all people:
Revelation 6:8 And I looked, and
behold a pale horse: and his name that sat on him was Death, and Hell followed
with him. And power was given unto them over the fourth part of the earth, to
kill with sword, and with hunger, and with death, and with the beasts of the
earth.
Revelation 20:13 And the sea
gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead
which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
14 And death and hell were cast into the
lake of fire. This is the second death.
John is then instructed to write
about the past, the present, and the future; what he has seen, what he sees,
and what he will see. Then, Christ explains that the seven stars are the angels
or appearances of the seven churches while the seven candlesticks are the seven
churches. The difference between an angel or appearance, a presence, from the
physical thing in our space-time should be clear by now.
Notice that the vision John is
having is literal but that images in the vision are representational of things.
I think this makes it clear that things existing in the spiritual world for
things in the physical world do not necessarily copy those things in appearance
but represent them.
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