Pastors Jim and Marie Watt
“REVELATION OF JOHN” – Revelation 1:4-20
II. 1:4-3:22 COMMENDATION, WARNINGS & PROMISES TO 7 CHURCHES
A. 1:4-7 TRIUNE BLESSING AND PROMISE OF JESUS’ COMING
a. 1:4-5a TRIUNE BLESSING
IoAnes tais hepTA ek-kleSIais [1577] tais en te A-SIa: CHAris huMIN kai eiREne [1515],
John to the seven churches :in :Asia: Grace to you and peace,
aPO ho on kai ho en kai ho erCHOme-nos [2064];
from him who is and who was and who is to come;
kai aPO ton hepTA pneuMAton [4151] ha eNOpi-on tou THROnou [2362] auTOU;
and from the seven Spirits :before his :throne;
kai aPO IeSOU ChrisTOU, ho MARtus [3144] ho pisTOS [4103],
5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful :witness,
ho proTOto-kos [4416] ton neKRON [3498],
the firstborn of the dead,
kai ho ARchon [758] ton ba-siLEon [935] tes ges.
and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
b. 1:5b-6a ASCRIPTION OF PRAISE TO CHRIST FOR HIS WORKS
to a-gaPONti [25] heMAS,
To him that loves us,
kai LUsan-ti [3068] heMAS ek ton ha-mar-tiON [266] heMON en to HAIma-ti [129] auTOU;-
and loosed us from our :sins in his :blood;-
kai e-POIe-sen heMAS ba-siLEIan, hi-eREIS [2409] to TheO kai paTRI auTOU;-
6 and he made us a kingdom, priests to :God and his Father;-
auTO he DOxa [1391] kai to KRAtos [2904] eis tous aiOnas [165].
to him the glory and the might unto the ages.
c. 1:6b aMEN. Amen.
d. 1:7a THE OPENESS OF CHRIST’S SECOND COMING
I-DOU, ERche-tai meTA ton ne-pheLON [3507];
Lo, he comes with the clouds;
kai Opse-tai [3700] auTON pas oph-thalMOS [3788], kai HOIti-nes auTON e-xeKENte-san [1574];
and every eye shall see him, and they that pierced him;
kai KOpson-tai [2875] ep’ auTON PAsai hai phuLAI [5443] tes ges.
and all the tribes of the earth shall mourn over him.
e. 1:7b nai, aMEN. Yes, Amen.
B. 1:8 THE EVERLASTINGNESS OF THE LORD GOD: THE ALMIGHTY
E-GO ei-mi to ALpha kai to O, LEgei KUri-os ho TheOS,
I am the Alpha and the O, says the Lord :God,
ho on kai ho en kai ho erCHOme-nos, ho pan-toKRAtor [3841].
who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.
C. 1:9-20 THE COMMANDS AND DESCRIPTION OF GLORIFIED JESUS
a. 1:9 PERSECUTION OF JOHN ON ACCOUNT OF HIS WITNESS
E-GO IoAnes, ho a-delPHOS huMON kai sun-koi-noNOS [4791]
I John, your :brother, and partaker with you
en te THLIpsei [2347] kai ba-siLEIa kai hu-po-moNE [5281] en IeSOU,
in the tribulation and kingdom and patience in Jesus,
e-geNO-men en te NEso te ka-louMEne PATmo,
was in the isle :called Patmos,
diA ton LOgon tou TheOU kai ten mar-tuRIan [3141] IeSOU.
for the word of :God and the witness of Jesus.
b. 1:10-11 COMMISSION TO JOHN ON BEHALF OF SEVEN CHURCHES
e-geNOmen en PNEUma-ti en te ku-ri-aKE [2960] heMEra,
I became in Spirit on the Lord’s day,
kai Ekou-sa oPIso mou phoNEN [5456] meGAlen, hos SALpig-gos [4536]
and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trump
leGOUses, HO BLEpeis,
11 saying, What you see,
GRApson eis bibLIon kai PEMpson tais hepTA ek-kleSIais [1577]:
write in a booklet and send to the seven churches:
eis Ephe-son, kai eis SMURnan, kai eis PERga-mon,
unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos,
kai eis ThuAtei-ra, kai eis SARdeis,
and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardeis,
kai eis Phi-la-delPHIan, kai eis La-oDIki-an.
and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
c. 1:12a JOHN SEEKS THE SOURCE OF THE VOICE
Kai ePEStre-psa BLEpein ten phoNEN HEtis eLAlei met’ eMOU.
And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me.
d. 12b-13 A VISION OF CHRIST IN THE MIDST OF THE SEVEN CHURCHES
kai e-pisTREpsas [1994] EIdon hepTA luchNIas [3087] chruSAS [5552];
And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands;
kai en MEso ton luch-niON HOmoi-on hui0 anTHROpou,
13 and amidst the lampstands one like a son of man,
en-de-duMEnon [1746] poDEre,
clothed down to the foot,
kai pe-ri-e-zosMEnon [4024] pros tois masTOIS ZOnen [2223] chruSAN.
and girt about at the breasts with a golden girdle.
e. 1:14-16 A SEVEN-FOLD DESCRIPTION OF CHRIST
he de ke-phaLE [2776] auTOU kai hai TRIches leuCHAI [3022] hos Eri-on [2053] leuKON,
And his :head and his :hair white as white wool,
hos chiON; kai hoi oph-thalMOI auTOU hos phlox [5395] puROS [4442];
as snow; and his :eyes as a flame of fire;
kai hoi POdes auTOU HOmoi-oi chal-ko-liBAno [5474], hos en kaMIno [2575] pe-pu-roMEnes;
15 and his :feet like burnished brass, as refined in a furnace;
kai he phoNE auTOU hos phoNE huDAton [5204] polLON;
and his :voice as the voice of many waters;
kai Echon en te de-xiA cheiRI auTOU asTEras [792] hepTA:
16 and having in his :right hand seven stars:
kai ek tou STOma-tos [4750] auTOU hromPHAIa [4501] DISto-mos oXEIa ek-po-reu-oMEne:
and proceeding out of his :mouth a sharp two-edged sword:
kai he Opsis [3799] auTOU hos ho HEli-os [2246] PHAInei [5316] en te duNAmei auTOU.
and his :countenance as the sun shines in his :strength.
f. 1:17a JOHN’S REACTION: FELL DEAD AT JESUS’ FEET
Kai HOte EIdon auTON, Epe-sa pros tous POdas auTOU hos neKROS [3498].
And when I saw him, I fell at his :feet as one dead.
1:17b-18 RE-ASSURING STATEMENT OF JESUS
kai Etheken ten de-xiAN auTOU ep’ eME, LEgon,
And he laid his :right hand upon me, saying,
Me phoBOU; eGO ei-mi ho PROtos kai ho EScha-tos [2078],
Fear not; I am the first and the last,
kai ho zon; kai e-geNOmen neKROS,
18 and the Living one; and I became dead,
kai iDOU, zon ei-mi eis tous aiOnas ton aiOnon [165],
and lo, I am alive unto the ages of the ages,
kai Echo tas kleis [2192] tou thaNAtou kai tou HAdou.
and have the keys of :death and of :Hades.
h. 1:19-20a JESUS COMMISSIONS JOHN TO WRITE THE VISION OF MYSTERY
GRApson oun ha EIdes, kai ha ei-sin,
Write therefore what things you saw, and those which are,
kai ha MELlei GInes-thai meTA TAUta;
and those which shall come to pass hereafter;
to musTEri-on [3466] ton hepTA asTEron hous EIdes ePI tes de-xiAS mou,
20 the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my :right,
kai tas hepTA luchNIas tas chruSAS.
and the seven :golden lampstands.
i. 1:20b INTERPRETATION OF THE SEVEN STARS AND LAMPSTANDS
hoi hepTA asTEras AGge-loi [32] ton hepTA ek-kle-siON ei-sin:
The seven stars are angels of the seven churches:
kai hai luchNIai hai hepTA hepTA ek-kleSIai eiSIN.
and the seven :lampstands are seven churches.
NOTE: Revelation 1:5b has a significant change in Panin’s Numeric New Testament. Most versions read “To him who loves us, and washed us from our sins in his blood;” – NOT so our text, which reads, “To him who loves us and LOOSED us from our :sins in his :blood;” The Textus Receptus (Stephanus) and other Greek texts add one letter to this word. Instead of “LOUsan-ti,” it reads “LUsan-ti,” one letter less.
Much of our Theology and our hymns are based on this variation. “But is it that important a variation,” you might ask? Well, let’s look at it from the first Torah reading following “Simcha Torah,” the “Joy of Torah,” which took place last Thursday, October 4, or Tishri 22, the last day and great celebration of the 3 Fall Feasts of the Bible (Blowing of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles). Genesis 1:1-6:8 was the first Torah reading of the New Year last week.
Now consider Cain and Abel in Genesis 4. Abel obeyed God’s desire and offered a blood sacrifice, looking forward to the day when Jesus would fulfill all Old Testament sacrifices by the shedding of His own blood on Calvary, and effectively reversing all the damage Adam did when he transgressed God’s first command and ate the forbidden fruit from the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil. His sin gave entrée to the spirit of satan to enter the human race. This immediately brought death to the spirit of all mankind, and subsequently death to the body too. Mankind immediately moved into a fleshly rather than a spiritual mode, and became self pleasers rather than GOD-pleasers. Cain clearly demonstrated this drastic shift.
Jesus: Son of Man and Son of God – showed the exact opposite example. Every word He spoke – every miracle He performed – were at the FATHER’S behest. He sought to please the Father supremely, NOT His own will. He PERFECTLY fulfilled Revelation 4:11 – “YOU are worthy, our :Lord and :God, to receive the glory and the honor and the power: because you did create :all things, and because of your :will they were, and were created.”
So – though GOD is worthy to be put first in all things, why then do we put ourselves as individuals of the human race ahead of Him in preference? Because of the tragedy that the first Adam allowed to happen to us by siding with satan and letting HIS nature to permeate the race.
Does God hold us as his progeny responsible for this? No – ten thousand times no! THAT is why God so loved us that He sent His Son – the LAST Adam, to restore fellowship between us and Him through His blood sacrifice on the Cross of Calvary. Jesus said to the Father in His pre-incarnate state as quoted in Hebrews – “Sacrifice and offering you would not, But a body did you prepare me, 6 In whole burnt offerings and sacrifices for sins you had no pleasure: 7 Then said I, Lo, I am come (In the roll of the book it is written of me) :To do your :will, O :God” (Hebrews 10:5-7). Mel Gibson grasps this in his “The Passion of the Christ!”
There it is! The Father and the Son are agreed in pre-incarnate times! Old Testament sacrifices are but types and shadows. Abel with all others looked forward to Jesus the Son of God as the Lamb of God slain from the foundation of the world. And what Jesus our Messiah, the Son of God did, was to LOOSE us from the bondage of satan at the time of the first Adam’s sin. Legally satan has NO RIGHT now over the human race since Calvary. It wasn’t a “washing” but a LOOSING that took place. 50 days after Calvary came Pentecost and the Holy Spirit, the very HEREDITY of Jesus – entered first the 120, then the 3000 – and then to us through their children, and children’s children. And when we receive the Holy Spirit, Jesus fulfills the Father’s desire to bring MANY SONS (and daughters) into glory! We become like Jesus through the gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus through the Spirit now lives His victorious life through us in the Sermon on the Mount – and ALL His commandments. Remember the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20 – MAKE DISCIPLES from all nations, BAPTIZING them, and TEACHING them to keep ALL My commandments! And think NOT that Jesus’ commandments are but the “red” words of Jesus in the Gospels! For Paul by the Spirit said in 1 Corinthians 14:37 – “If any think himself to be a prophet or spiritual, let him take knowledge of what things I write you, that it IS the LORD’S COMMANDMENT. And that applies also to all other New Testament writers!
Assuredly the above is NOT milk of the Word, but meat. Neither is the book of Revelation milk of the Word! BE LOOSED then from the bondage of sin through the First Adam’s failure, and seize hold of the Blood Sacrifice of the LAST ADAM, and the New Covenant in His blood! THEN the Holy Spirit within will work to appropriate to us ALL the heredity, nature, victory and beauty of Jesus to live through us HIS overcoming life. THEN Galatians 2:20 will have reality. THEN will LOOSING over washing have GREAT significance.