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Study inRevelation

Christ Among The Lamp Stands Part 1

Chap 1v1-2v11Presentation 02

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Superscription 1v1-3

Note that this Revelation belongs to Christ. The Father gave it to him. He in turn has revealed it to John. It reveals what is ‘soon’ to happen. When the NT distinguishes between the presence of Christ here and now and his second coming, it does not think so much in terms of the passage of time but in terms of the difference between veiled and unveiled. This is why the NT constantly thinks of the Day of his coming as imminent. The revelation given to John was not a private transcendent experience [ cf. 2 Cor 12:4 ]. It was to be shared and those who study it with a correct heart attitude are pronounced ‘blessed’ [the first of seven ‘blessed’s found in the book]. It is not enough to read and hear. The words are to be ‘kept’. If God’s word does not shape our daily living then it has not been received in all its transforming power.

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Salutation And Doxology 1v4-8

The seven churches mentioned were located in the Roman province of Asia Minor. If you begin in Ephesus [see map] the places mentioned form an irregular circle. Since there were other churches in this area e.g. at Colossae and Hierapolis, has the choice of only seven some symbolic significance? All three persons of the Godhead are mentioned in the salutation the One who ‘is and was and is to come’ is a description of the unchangeable God of the covenant [Ex 3:14 ff. God’s self-disclosure to Moses]. The ‘seven spirits’ are generally taken to be a reference to the Holy Spirit - the perfect number seven reflects the perfection and fullness of the Spirit’s person and operation.

Ephesus

Smyrna

Pergamum

Thyatira

Patmos

Sardis

Philadelphia

Laodicea

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Salutation And Doxology 1v4-8

Jesus Christ is described as ‘the faithful witness’, a significant description because of the persecution the church of the day faced. Jesus laid down his life, he was faithful unto death as he carried out the Father’s will. The description ‘firstborn from the dead’ reminds us that he is the first of a new order of indestructible manhood; he was the first man to pass through mortal life and death and emerge into Immortal Manhood.

He is also ‘ruler of kings on earth’ and this by virtue of his victory over all created powers, human and angelic. His enthronement took place after his victory on the cross and his resurrection.

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Salutation And Doxology 1v4-8The fruit of his death-resurrection-triumph is stated as [1] ‘loosing us from our sins’ [the ‘washing away of our sins’ is supported in some mss.] resulting in a change of our state before God, and [2] in making us ‘a kingdom of priests’, indicating a change in our status before God. The term ‘kingdom of priests’ was formerly applied to Israel but now the church is the Israel of God.

The magnitude of Christ’s work causes the writer to break out into praise. Christ’s second coming will not be a secret appearing. Those who have rejected him will ‘mourn’ but not in repentance but as they see the hopelessness of their situation. [ Zech 12:10-13:2 Rev 6:16]. The Lord describes himself in v8 as ‘Alpha and Omega’. This use of first and last letters of the Greek alphabet declares him to be the complete, perfect and eternal revelation of God.

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Inaugural Vision And Commission 1v9-20

John puts himself on the same level with his readers, ‘a fellow sufferer’. Patmos was not a holiday island but black stone quarry island prison 4x8 miles in size. Was John there because he refused to drop incense on the altar of a pagan priest as a token of worshipping the Emperor? Certainly loyalty to the person of Christ and obedience to his Word was responsible for John’s exile.

The revelation was given on the ‘Lord’s day’; the day in which Christians commemorated the resurrection. John may well have been praying for the churches in Asia minor when suddenly the earth seemed to sink away from his feet.

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Inaugural Vision And Commission 1v9-20

John lost consciousness of the world around him - an experience described here as ‘being in the Spirit’. In this trance-like state, he saw but not with his physical eyes and heard but not with physical ears. He had direct contact with ....God! He heard a ‘voice like a trumpet’. In the OT. the trumpet was a sound that commanded attention [ Ex. 19:16,19; Lev. 25:9; Josh. 6:5; Isa. 58:1]. Christ ordered him to write down the visions that he saw and send them to the seven churches. John seems to have written down these visions while he received them [10v4] or shortly afterwards [1v19].

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Inaugural Vision And Commission 1v9-20

John turned to see who was speaking and was confronted with someone he recognised yet his appearance was different. It is easy to lose ourselves in the detail of the symbolism and miss the glorious unity of the symbol. The Son of man is pictured as one clothed with majesty and power. At one and the same time he strikes awe and terror into the heart. His long dignified robe, the golden girdle around his breast, hair glistening white as snow so that it hurts the eye.

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Inaugural Vision And Commission 1v9-20

We see his flashing eyes that penetrate ever hidden corner, his glowing feet that trample down the wicked, a loud reverberating voice that sounds like large waves dashing against the rocks of Patmos. From his mouth a sharp long sword with two biting edges, a face that shone like the bright noonday sun too intense for human eyes to fix on. Taken together this is a picture of Christ, the holy one of God coming to purge his church and to punish those persecuting his elect.

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Inaugural Vision And Commission 1v9-20Although the purpose of the vision was not to terrify but to comfort, John fell at Christ’s feet as though dead [cf. Ex. 3:6; Josh 5:14; Isa. 6:5; Dan. 7:15].

Christ’s hand is laid on John, to express love and impart strength and the words ‘fear not’ are spoken to comfort. The One who speaks to him is the One who has overcome death and as a result he has the keys of death, i.e. authority and power over death.

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Inaugural Vision And Commission 1v9-20

John is commanded to write :

[1] ‘what is now’ i.e. the current situation of the Lord of Glory viewed from his perceptive and

[2] ‘what is to take place later’ i.e. not so much a historical record of what will take place between the first and second coming of Christ, but a summing up of the events of that age, including various aspects of God’s judgements both in the rescue of his own from this present evil world and the punishment of his enemies.

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Inaugural Vision And Commission 1v9-20

John had seen Christ in the midst of seven candlesticks and holding seven stars in his hands. These mysteries are now revealed.

The seven lamp stands represent the seven churches. The encouragement of this symbolism is that Christ is in the midst of his people even when their lamps are burning dimly- as indeed some were!

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Inaugural Vision And Commission 1v9-20

The seven stars in his hands are the angels of the churches. The Greek word ‘angelos’ can also mean ‘messenger’ and this complicates the interpretation. Suggestions for the ‘angelos’ range from, guardian angels [cf. Dan. 10:13; Rev. 12:7] to human leaders or overseers. The last view seems to fit best.

What of the lamp stand [2:5] that is in danger of being taken away? This must suggest the light of God, and therefore the withdrawal of his glory and of the blessing of his presence in the local church.

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Letters To The Seven ChurchesThe 7 letters are addressed real church situations and have an application for the church today. Each of the letters follow an interesting pattern:

A salutation- ‘To the angel of the church in...’A description of Christ- ‘He that holds the seven stars...’Christ’s commendation- ‘I know your works...’Christ’s condemnation- ‘But I have this against you...’Christ’s warning and threat- ‘Remember therefore... or else..’Christ’s exhortation- ‘He that has an ear, let him hear...’Christ’s promise- ‘To him that overcomes... I will...’

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Letters To The Seven ChurchesChurches one and seven, Ephesus and Laodicea are in real danger. Churches two and six, Smyrna and Philadelphia are in excellent shape. Churches three four and five, Pergamum, Thyatira and Sardis are middling, neither very good nor very bad.

The value of these descriptions of church life is that they provide an environmental canvas of response to persecution. Onto that canvas this apocalyptic vision is poured.

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Letters To The Seven ChurchesEphesus: 2v1-7Ephesus was the commercial centre of Asia and a centre for the worship of Diana. Many silversmiths found employment making miniature shrines of Diana. The church, which had been troubled by false apostles, is assured that the exalted Christ rules over his ministers and knows what is happening in the church - he holds the stars and walks in the midst of the lamp stands.

The church is praised for her work and for her ‘intolerance’ of false teachers. [They’d clearly heeded Paul’s warning Acts 20:28-29].

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Letters To The Seven ChurchesEphesus: 2v1-7The Nicolaitans, whom they are praised for hating, seem to be a group who advocated compromise with paganism claiming that Christians should, without embarrassment, be able to take part in the social and religious activities on their doorstep- including pagan sexual laxity.

Hence the reference to Balaam [2:14] the OT corrupter of Israel [ Num. 22 ] and to Jezebel [2:20] whose aim was to see Israel transfer her allegiance from God to idolatry [1Kings 16:31 ff. ]. These figures are therefore compared to those who were currently introducing corruption into the churches.

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Letters To The Seven ChurchesEphesus: 2v1-7It easy to focus exclusively on the faults of those around us! But where commendation is due to the church, the Lord is quick to give it [a practice pursued in the Pauline epistles]. However, Ephesus is accused of leaving her first love. This is not to be confused with losing the first emotional experience of conversion, that is almost inevitable for such loss weans us away from feelings and makes us more dependable on God himself. What is in view here is a decay of internal heart commitment that can leave the external religious duties and doctrinal belief in place. The situation in Ephesus warns of the danger of being doctrinally correct but spiritually unhealthy.

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Letters To The Seven ChurchesEphesus: 2v1-7The church is exhorted to repent of its formalism lest her lampstand be removed, i.e. a threat is made against her continued existence as a place of worship, where the blessing of God and the presence of God could be found. [There is no church in Ephesus today!] It is possible for a group of backslidden Christians to meet regularly together but for the ‘glory’ to have departed. And that departure can often take place unnoticed! The church is encouraged to reform with the promise to those who conquer that they would ‘eat of the tree of life’. [Gen. 3:22; Rev. 22:2,14 ]. A superior satisfaction to that promised by the licentious heathen festivals. To those who remain faithful to Christ there is the promise of eternal life in the paradise of heaven.

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Letters To The Seven ChurchesSmyrna: 2v8-11The city of Smyrna was a rival to Ephesus and claimed to be ‘the first city of Asia in beauty and size’. Smyrna was known for her faithfulness to Rome. Polycarp may have been bishop of Smyrna at this time. He was martyred in AD155 for refusing to acknowledge that the Lordship of Caesar took precedence over that of Christ. At trial Polycarp said: “These 68 years I have served him and he never did me any hurt. How then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour.”He was burned at the stake. Such were the conditions facing the church in the 2ndC, making the words of Jesus all the more significant; ‘Be faithful to the point of death and I will give you the crown of life’ v10.

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Letters To The Seven ChurchesSmyrna: 2v8-11The affliction and poverty mentioned in v9 is a reference to the hardship involved in sustaining a Christian witness 13:17. Christians were quite literally thrown out of employment as some Christians are today. But these believers in Smyrna are not allowed to wallow in self-pity for they are in fact spiritual millionaires! They are rich in grace and in its fruit.

There was a large Jewish community in Smyrna and as elsewhere [ cf. Acts 13:50; 14:2,5,19; 17:5; 24:1] who seem to have been responsible for the hardship some of the Christians faced. They might have liked to describe themselves as ‘a synagogue of God’, but their opposition to the gospel and their persecution of its adherents meant that they were doing devil’s work and hence the description, ‘synagogue of Satan.’

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Letters To The Seven ChurchesSmyrna: 2v8-11John traces persecution to its source. The Jews were the instruments of Satan, ‘the devil will have some of you in prison.’ The imprisonment of Christians was designed by Satan to put them to the test and cause them to renounce their faith. But God would use their experience to prove, test, and strengthen them. They are given courage to endure with a reminder that the ‘trial’ is for a limited period of time. [Isa. 26:20; 54:8; Matt.24:22; 2 Cor. 4:17; 1 Pet 1:6 ]

Even though believers may be put to death, the first death, they are not going to be hurt by the second death, which is the fate of those who have rejected Christ [ Rev. 20:14 ]. The believer is given ‘a crown of life’ - lit. ‘a victory wreath’. They have entered into Christ’s victory over death.