The Patmos Vision

9 I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and eperseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

10 I was ain the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,

11 saying, “Write in a book what you see, 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.”

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands;

13 and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash.

14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire.

15 His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters.

16 In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.

17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last,

18 and the living One; and I bwas dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.

19 “Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things.

20 “As for the mystery of the seven stars which 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.

II. The Christ John Heard (1:9–11)

John was an exile on an island located about seventy miles from Ephesus, where he had pastored the Asian churches. In Mark 10:35–45, James and John asked for thrones; yet in later years, both were given tribulation. James was slain (Acts 12), and John suffered exile. He was exiled because of the Word of God which he had preached. It is interesting that John mentions the sea twenty-five times in this book. “On the isle … in the Spirit” (vv. 9–10): what a wonderful situation! Our geographical location ought never to rob us of spiritual blessings.

John heard the voice of Christ as a trumpet. Trumpets are important in Revelation; in 4:1, the trumpet calls John up to heaven, a picture of the rapture; and in 8:2ff, trumpets signal that the wrath of God will be poured out on the world. In the OT, the Jews used trumpets to gather the assembly, to announce war, or to proclaim special days (Num. 10). God’s trumpet will call the church home (1 Thes. 4:16), gather Israel (Matt. 24:31), and announce war on the world (Rev. 8:2ff). The voice told John to write this book and send it to the churches from which he had been separated. There were more than seven churches in this area, but Christ chose these churches to represent the spiritual needs of His people.

III. The Christ John Saw (1:12–20)

John could no longer “know Christ according to the flesh” (2 Cor. 5:16, NKJV); He is now the risen, exalted King-Priest. John saw the glorified Christ standing in the midst of the seven lampstands, which symbolized the seven churches (1:20). God’s people are the light of the world; the church does not create the light, but merely holds it and lets it shine. We do not see one gigantic lamp; rather, we have seven separate lampstands.

Use your cross references to study the symbols that here stand for the glorified Christ. His garments are those of a Priest-King. The white hair speaks of His eternalness (Dan. 7:9). His eyes see all, and they judge what they see (Dan. 10:6; Heb. 4:12; Rev. 19:12). In the midst of the churches, Christ sees what is going on, and He judges. The feet of brass speak of judgment; the brazen altar was the place where sin was judged. His voice—“as the sound of many waters”—suggests two things: (1) the power of His Word, like the sea; and (2) all the “streams” of divine revelation converging in Christ. See Ps. 29 and Ezek. 43:2.

He holds seven stars in His hand, and these stars are the messengers (or pastors) of the seven churches. It is possible that messengers came to John from these churches and received this Book of Revelation from him personally. The stars are the messengers (1:20); Christ holds His servants in His hands. See Dan. 12:3. The sword from His mouth is His Word that judges; see Isa. 11:4, 49:2 and also Rev. 2:12, 16, and 19:19–21. The shining of His face as the sun speaks of His glory; see Mal. 4:2. In 22:16, He is the bright and morning star, for He will appear for His church when the hour is the darkest, just before the wrath of God breaks on the horizon.

When Christ was on earth, John lay on His bosom (John 13:23); but now he falls at His feet (Dan. 8:17, and see Rev. 22:8). Saints today need to avoid becoming too “familiar” with Christ in their speech and attitudes, for He deserves all honor and praise. Christ assures John and calms his fears. Christ is first and last (1:8; 22:13), so we need not fear. He has the keys of Hades (not “hell”), the realm of the dead. Hades will one day empty out the souls of the lost (20:13–14).

Christ outlines the Book of Revelation for us in 1:19 (see the outline). To follow any other approach is to presume that we know more about this book than Christ does.

In chapters 2–3, Christ deals with the seven churches. As He stands in their midst, He examines their spiritual condition with His eyes of fire. He is doing this today. It matters not what men or denominations think of a church; what does Christ think of it? We should note that the different elements of the description of Christ in vv. 13–16 are repeated in the letters to the seven churches. That attribute of Christ that applied to the particular needs of the church is emphasized in the message. The danger to the churches is that Christ would remove their testimony (2:5). He would rather have a city in the darkness than to have a lampstand out of His divine will.

Much of the symbolism of this chapter will be repeated later in the book. It cannot be emphasized too much that you trace your cross references as you study.

JOHN’S VISION (1:9–20)

While in exile on the island of Patmos, John saw the risen Lord. It happened as he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. Suddenly he heard behind him a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet. The voice declared that John should write down what he would see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. John turned to see the source of the great voice. Interestingly enough, before mentioning Christ, he said he saw first of all “seven golden lampstands.” We read later on that the seven golden lampstands are “the seven churches.”

Thus the significance of John’s visions, a message to the seven churches, should not be overlooked. Indeed, not merely in chapters 2–3 do we find the seven letters in which the churches are addressed but in the entire Book of Revelation (1:3; 22:10, 16–19). There is certainly no textual evidence that the letters, either individually or as a collection, circulated apart from the rest of John’s literary work. It is a serious mistake to think that certain portions of Revelation were not important for, or relevant to, the original audiences. The whole of the Revelation is relevant to the churches (then and now), for they are fellow partakers with John in “suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus.” Each church must heed not only its own letter, but all of the letters, and indeed the entire Revelation (22:18–19), since it warns of coming judgment and pronounces a blessing on all those who persevere in the hour of affliction and die in faithfulness to the Lord (14:13). John’s authoritative book is not a literary mystery for those struggling to live in a difficult time of persecution and suffering. John’s book is an exhortation to the churches to remain faithful to Jesus Christ, to persevere in the hour of trouble knowing that Christ, who is the Lord of the churches, the One who walks among the seven golden lampstands (1:13; 2:1), will return to rescue and vindicate His people.

Having seen the seven golden lamp-stands, John then saw in the middle of the lampstands a glorious human figure. He saw none other than the heavenly Son of man Himself, clothed in a robe reaching to His feet, having a golden girdle worn high around His breast (in contrast to the workman who wore his belt in a lower position around the waist, so he could tuck his robe about it while at work). Like the Ancient of Days in Daniel 7:9–10, this glorious figure had hair “like white wool, as white as snow” (Rev. 1:14). His eyes, which were penetratingly powerful to judge and discern, were like a flame of fire. His feet, alluding probably to Daniel 10:6, were like burnished bronze. His voice, which John had already likened to the sound of a trumpet, was also like the sound of a mighty waterfall, similar to the description in Ezekiel 43:2 of the voice of God.

In His right hand He held seven stars, which are the angels of the seven churches. Proceeding from the mouth of the Glorious One was a sharp two-edged sword with which He would smite the nations (19:15), but which also stood as a reminder even to the churches that He is the Lord of judgment (2:12). Overwhelmed with this vision of the glorious Son of man, John fell down as a dead man. But the Glorious One laid His right hand upon John and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One.” This description is virtually synonymous with the title of Alpha and Omega given to the Lord God in 1:8. It combines the sacred name revealed at the burning bush of Exodus 3:14 with the description of the Lord, the King of Israel, beside whom there is no other God, given in Isaiah 44:6.

This Living One, this One who possesses the absolute life of God, was Himself once dead but now is alive forever more (Rev. 1:18). This is, of course, none other than the crucified and risen Lord Jesus Christ. Though “born of a woman, born under law” (Gal. 4:4) and Himself thus susceptible and vulnerable to death, this Jesus, having endured the pangs of death, has now been raised to absolute life and can never die again (Rom. 6:9; Heb. 7:16–25).

Every feature in John’s description of the Risen One suggests the presence of power and majesty. The Living One then instructed John to write an account of the things he both had seen and would see, that is, an account of “what will take place later.”