We’re starting a new series of posts on the first half of the book of Revelation. I’m really looking forward to it!
Revelation has an unnecessarily alarming reputation. There are many commentators whose discussions make it sound very daunting. The back covers of their works are full of ominous comments about ‘abstruse symbolism’, ‘bizarre imagery’, and the like. The result is to leave many of us feeling that Revelation will be a hard book to tackle.
Yet we cannot believe that our Father meant it to be incomprehensible! That is effective satanic propaganda, when in fact Revelation can be a huge source of fascination, joy, worship, and deeper discipleship! Certainly, if God designed the Bible to give us sustenance for seventy years, some sections have to operate on ‘time-release’; they release their nourishment only in response to an acquaintance deepened over the years. Nevertheless, 2 Timothy 3:16 remains true: ‘All Scripture’ (emphasis mine), Revelation included!, ‘is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness!’ So as we feed on Revelation we’re living out faith in the revealing power of God the Spirit – particularly as this is the only book in the Bible that comes specifically with a promise of blessing for those who read it (1:3, NIV as usual): ` Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it`!
So if we neglect Revelation, this demonstrates a lack of faith in God the revealing Holy Spirit who is with us as we dig! We cannot neglect Revelation, because what we’ll receive here we will not receive anywhere else. Lord, I trust You. Please help me understand this book, at least a little . . .
So why should we make the effort? For at least twelve reasons, as we’ll see in future posts! Here’s the first… Because of what it teaches us about Jesus!
Revelation is not a puzzle or a horoscope. Above all, Revelation, throughout, is the ‘revelation of Jesus Christ’ (see 1:1). (Not, primarily, of the `antichrist’!) We learn so much about Jesus from the gospels, as we watch His wonderful human life, His actions and teaching, and above all His death and resurrection on earth. But we also need to absorb the supernatural vision that Revelation 1:12ff gives us, that makes John fall at His feet as dead (v17).
Read it slowly; it’s wonderful. The first thing (v12) that John sees – or that Christ draws his attention to – is the lampstands that embody the seven Asian churches. Evidently so prone to fail, yet how radiant (`lampstands`)! Had John grown weary caring for these churches and needed to have his vision renewed? This is what local churches are in God’s sight, even though flawed: golden lampstands! – hugely important to Him! We (I) need to see the fellowships we know through this vision. But then it becomes an astonishing vision of Jesus. We don’t need to understand every detail here, but we do need to let the dazzling holy purity of what follows soak deep into our imaginations. Those eyes like blazing fire, that we encounter either in surrender or in judgment (cf 1 Cor 3:13 and 4:5); His head and hair white as wool, because He is eternal, is just like the ageless Ancient of Days Himself in Daniel 7:9; the robe and sash of the ultimate High Priest (see the Hebrews intro on this site for the wonderful realities that embodies); and those feet burning as He walks the earth, amid (let’s notice, v13) His very ordinary churches (what difference will it make if we really grasp that Jesus, those feet, is walking in our church? Revelation is sent to help us grasp this!) . And then that voice, `like the sound of rushing waters` (what a great picture of God’s Word!); that sword from His mouth that is the piercing Word of God (simply pulverising evil, for example by its revelation of the glory of God: it’s worth pausing here to look at Rev 1915,21, Isaiah 11:4, 2 Thess 2:8, Rev 2:15-16, John 18:5-6 – and indeed Eph 6:17). And lastly, climactically, His face like the sun, shining in all its overpowering brilliance . . . Here we are confronted with an overwhelming force of life, that leaves the apostle (who lent back so easily against this same Christ’s shoulder at the Last Supper) devastated on the ground. Oh yes; conversion can be like the sunshine coming out in our life – a whole new, joyous perspective – but if as mortals we were to encounter anything like the full glory of Christ… the blast furnace, Isaiah 3314! – v17 will be what happens! (Again it’s worth looking at Daniel 10:8-9,15, Matthew 17:2,6, Acts 2614; and Ex 3320). Our Christianity is very seriously incomplete if we’ve never realized why!
And then – that Christ places His ‘right hand on me’ (v17; imagine how that would feel); and He says: ‘Do not be afraid.’ Love mingles with the glory – but He does not waste these words on those who do not need them! And what He adds (v18), we can turn straight into acts of adoration: Lord, I worship You that You are the First, and the Last (by the way this is a title of God, Yahweh, in Isa 44:6, where His unique right to it is emphasized – and Christ shares it here; . something relevant for anyone who denies Christ’s deity!) And Lord, I worship You that You, pre-eminently, are the Living One! And I thank You that You, the Living One, astonishingly, chose to become dead, for me (cf Phil 2:7-9)! And I worship You that You are alive for ever and ever, and that You hold securely all the keys of death, and of Hades . . .
Oh yes: Revelation shall be wonderful fuel for our worship! And likewise we can reflect on each of the terms in 1:5, and then turn them into praise: Thank You, Lord Christ, that You are the Faithful Witness (the One who, before His death, revealed all the Truth to us that the Father gave Him, John 12:50). . .You are the Firstborn from the dead . . . You are the Ruler of the kings of the earth! (Cf Rev 1717, Matt 4:8-10…) And further from that same verse, Thankyou that — You love us… and, You have freed us from our sins by Your blood… and, You have made us a kingdom and priests to serve Your Father… To You be glory and power for ever and ever, amen!
It’s not surprising that as John responds like this in deliberate worship in 1:4-6, gripped by the love that brought Christ to die to pay for our sins and so enable us to share his kingdom (cf 5:9-10) – it’s not surprising that, as he does so, he is swept up into joy in 1:7; doesn’t that happen sometimes to us also? But anyway it’s after this vital vision that he’s ready to carry Christ’s message. What do we learn from this? John needs to see Christ before, and more than, anything else; and this vision of His glory is the essential equipment for John to hear God’s Word for his culture. (Like Moses after the burning bush, and Isaiah after Isaiah 6; what do we learn from this?)
And this is only the beginning. Right through the book, Revelation will keep on showing us more of the glory of Jesus. We see Him revealed in seven different and remarkable ways in the letters of chapters 2 and 3; as Lion, and yet Lamb, in chapter 5; as the one opening the sealed book of history in chapter 6; as the wrathful Lamb at the end of chapter 6; as our Redeemer and our Shepherd in chapter 7; possibly as the mighty angel majestically dominating sea and land (and providing the vital ‘little book’ that explains everything) in chapter 10, and yet as the vulnerable male child in chapter 12; as the Lamb indeed slain from the creation of the world in chapter 13; as the crowned Son of Man controlling the earth’s destiny in chapter 14; as the triumphant Lord of Lords and King of Kings in chapter 17; as the Bridegroom in chapter 19; as the victorious Word of God, Faithful and True, later in chapter 19; and finally, simply, as Jesus, in chapter 22…
Yes, this astonishing book is indeed and above all the ‘revelation of Jesus Christ’ (1:1). And amid all the puzzling and fascinating symbols we’ll see in the rest of the book, we need the Lord to help us keep anchored – and worshipfully responsive! – to that . . . Pausing, probably, after each chapter, to worship…?
PS If you’re a church leader, this chapter’s end can be a real encouragement: the `stars` that v16 says Christ holds in his right hand are (v21) the `angels` of the local churches (v21). And when we wonder what `angels of the churches` means, it seems most likely, from their apparent ability in the following letters to get things wrong, that they are human: either the churches` messengers (this is what `angelos`means), coming to John for advice to pass on, or perhaps the leaders and teachers of the churches (cf Dan 12:3). So if you’re a church leader, be encouraged; like the leaders of the churches in the next chapters, we make mistakes, and we need to rectify them; but the bottom line is that Christ holds us, holds each and every `star` in any of his beloved churches, securely in his right hand…!
PPS There’s a great series of twelve talks on Revelation by John Lennox on https://www.st-helens.org.uk/resources/series/934/ . They’re an hour each, so I’ve been absorbing each one in two sittings! But the second in particular is a superb survey, offering a structure that I find helpful in grasping the logically sequential way this amazing book develops…
