Revelation 1:8-11
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Important messages
8. “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is
and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
9. I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the
kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called
Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me
a loud voice like a trumpet
11. saying, “Write what you see in a book 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.”
The main purpose of
Scripture
The Scriptures are
about who God is; they are a revelation of His person. It is not primarily
about the human race, and He is the one that His true people want to know. They
have known Him personally from the beginning of their Christian experience, but
they are continually looking into His word with hungry hearts, seeking to learn
a little more of His personality.
In verse 8, God has
given us something, upon which we can meditate. There are so many things, which
can be used to describe Him and yet, we still must recognize the limitations of
human language and everything known to man, to fully unveil His infinite
essence and nature. The Greek alphabet becomes the tool in this text. Not only
words, but letters, will help to open our understanding, and the Lord God uses
the first and last Greek letters, Alpha and
Omega. God is in every minute detail
of written truth.
He is the beginning
and the end, that is for certain, but He existed endlessly before there was
anything else. He is the Creator of time, and fills its past, present and
future. He willed to give a beginning to everything, about which we know. The
basis of all spiritual knowledge is knowing God as the Creator of all things.
He created for His pleasure, and all of creation must answer to Him, concerning
the purpose, for which they were created. Colors and sounds must display
themselves to their fullest dimension. Animals and birds exist before His eyes
and ears, and all their characteristics are for his delight and glory. Flowers
and spices give off their aroma, only to please Him.
The human race is a
creation; that is the root of the doctrine of man. He is the highest form of
creation, made in the likeness and image of God. At this point, we are forced
to contemplate the infinite tragedy of his fall and the fact that he became
useless to God. Not only does he exist in vain, but he is a constant offense to
his Maker, that is, if he has not been recreated.
Having made the
point, we turn our thoughts back to Him, who is the Alpha and Omega. In the
first person, He reveals Himself in this way and in this place, to perfectly
fit into the context of this inspired chapter and the entire book. In
considering the Greek alphabet, we think of words and literature. Specifically,
God is the Author and soon, He will
command John to write. He is the beginning of all truth and expresses His truth
through His word.
He is the Almighty.
His might is beyond all the power that exists in heaven and earth. In this
book, it signifies His ability to do all that He said He will do. The forces on
display in the apocalypse are all under the authority of His mighty arm and
nothing will happen without His consent.
Apostle John’s condition and
situation
John humbly presents
himself as His servant, and to his reader as a brother and partner, not a
superior. The distance between the Almighty and the greatest of men dwarfs the
distance between the high and lowly on earth. He points to three elements that identify life
in Jesus: tribulation, kingdom, and patient endurance.
Tribulation is
characteristic of Christianity and Jesus promised His disciples tribulation: “In the world you will have tribulation.
But take heart; I have overcome the world” (Jn.16:33). John remained after
all the other eleven apostles laid down their lives in martyrdom. Soon
Polycarp, John’s disciple and friend, would read these words and later die a
martyr’s death along with many others. In these pages, John sees the greatest
time of tribulation ever know, as spoken by Christ in Matthew, “There will be great tribulation, such as
has never been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be”
(Mt.24:21), and over five hundred years earlier by the prophet, Daniel: “There shall be a time of trouble, such as
never has been since there was a nation till that time” (Dn.12:1).
In Jesus, we are part
of a great Kingdom, a Kingdom above all kingdoms, which will one day blossom
and rule the earth. It will topple the mightiest empires, which have dominated
the world over the centuries. If we are in Jesus, we are part of that Kingdom.
We do not have a president-elect or a prime minister, we have a King, who was
appointed before the earth was created, to rule over heaven and earth forever.
The Kingdom was founded by a suffering Monarch, who surveyed His Kingdom from a
cross. In the time of John, it was a persecuted Kingdom, and so it remains in a
great part of the earth. Even in the free western world, we feel the forces of
opposition in the minds and hearts of society. Never mind, this is the only
Kingdom, which will inherit the future world and reign throughout eternity.
Along with the
tribulation, Jesus stands triumphant in patient endurance… “I have overcome the world”. We have unchanging promises that will
see His people through all that the devil and man can throw against them: “They overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto
the death” (12:11). John knew and wrote this already in his epistle: “This is the victory that has overcome the
world… our faith” (1 Jn.5:4).
John was a partner,
with those in tribulation. He was in exile on the Isle of Patmos, off the coast
of ancient Asia Minor. Caesar Domitian could not allow him to circulate any
longer in free society. This humble fisherman from the little province of
Galilee was a threat to the mighty Roman Empire. There is an unseen authority
residing in the smallest disciple, who stands in Jesus. He cannot be effectually imprisoned or detained. As John,
he has no strength or qualifications in himself, but he testifies, through his
life, the presence of Jesus Christ and he proclaims the word of God. Therein
lies his power and the powers of this world will try, by any means, to silence
and paralyze him (v.9). He is an enemy to the world’s system.
Here is the dilemma
that confounds the world: John was in the Spirit. He was engulfed in the Holy
Spirit! Natural man knows nothing about this, but there is a state into which a
believer can arise, in which he is under divine control. Even those, who dapple
in the spirit world through satanic rites and incantations, falling into
trances and seeing visions, cannot arrive at this level. John is talking about
something beyond thinking spiritual thoughts and praying. His natural faculties
are taken over by the indwelling Spirit of God, who carries him into the
supernatural realm (v.10).
He is there on the
Lord’s Day. There was a time in my memory, when there was an emphasis on the
Lord’s Day. The doctrine of the church, a generation ago, included and taught a
reverence for the first day of the week. It is almost totally lost in these
days of lightness and irreverence. The church fathers, from earliest times,
taught that this day belonged to the Lord and His people came together, to
honor the day of His victory over death and hell (Mk.16:1-9). They remembered
that it was on this day that He customarily appeared to His disciples after His
resurrection (Jn.20:19, 26). This was the day, when Pentecost (the Feast of
Weeks) occurred, 50 days after the Resurrection, which took place on the Feast
of First fruits (see Lv.23:10, 15-16, also Dt.16:9-11). There is a common misunderstanding
concerning the teaching of Paul in Romans 14. He was not including this day,
when he said, “One person esteems one day as better than another while another esteems all days
alike” (Ro.14:5). He was speaking of the Jewish Christians who continued to
keep the Jewish Sabbath and the annual feasts.
All Christians, Jew
and Gentile, honored the first day of the week and met together on that day (Ac.20:7;
1 Co.16:2), the first day of the week. John, alone on Patmos, partnered with
the churches in Asia Minor, as they met on the Lord’s Day. Now again, the
resurrected Christ appears to John on Sunday and, John Wesley, at least,
believed that all that followed in this book, happened on that day.
Jamieson-Faussett-Brown comment: “Though forcibly detained from church communion with the brethren in the sanctuary on the Lord’s Day, the weekly commemoration of the resurrection, John was holding spiritual communion with them.” My commentators agree on this.
Jamieson-Faussett-Brown comment: “Though forcibly detained from church communion with the brethren in the sanctuary on the Lord’s Day, the weekly commemoration of the resurrection, John was holding spiritual communion with them.” My commentators agree on this.
The Spirit reveals Christ
In the first verses
of this chapter, John presented Jesus Christ, as we saw Him in his Gospel, as
well as in the other Gospels. Now, John is going to take us beyond the Gospels
to view the glorified Christ in His heavenly state. Christians need to see Him
here, in order to have a complete concept of the Bible revelation of the Lord. How
often have we heard a sermon or read material with a stinging depiction of
Christ from the book of Revelation?
Paul warned the Galatians
concerning a perversion of the gospel of Christ. He warned them of angels and
apostles, including himself, as possible tools of deception. To the
Corinthians, he wrote of someone coming to them and preaching “another Jesus” (2 Co.11:4). Jesus said,
“Many will come in my name, saying, ‘I
am the Christ’, and will mislead many” (Mt.24:5). Demons may come in
dreams, visions and other revelations, claiming to be Christ, therefore John
counselled, “Test the spirits to see
whether they are from God” (1 Jn.4:1).
It is entirely
possible that with only a Gospel comprehension of Christ, an individual or
Christendom, in general, could suffer. The most complete revelation of the
biblical Christ is not reached, until we come to the last book. Our
understanding of Him is inadequate, if we haven’t studied Him through the last
verse of this last book. To ignore this revelation is to create an imbalance in
our mind, as to the personality of the Lord. The canon did not end until John
added this inspired, unerring depiction of the Lord Jesus Christ. The believer
must judge by it, if he has come to the true Jesus, the one, who is truly
revealed through the Bible.
Under the control of
the Holy Spirit, John is in the position, in which he must be taught. The
Spirit of God is the Spirit of Truth (Jn.14:17; 15:26; 16:13), and He is the
believer’s Teacher. John could not have seen and heard these things, had he not
been in the Spirit: “He will teach you
all things” (Jn.14:26). “He will
bear witness about me… He will not speak on his own authority… He will glorify
me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” He will not speak of
Himself” (15:26; 16:13, 14). The
Spirit’s teaching will not be centered on Himself, but on Christ. He will
glorify Christ, He will testify concerning Christ to the church, taking that
which has to do with Him and showing it to the disciples. See how He does this
for John and through John to the whole realm of believers of all ages.
In this way, John
hears a voice like a trumpet and a trumpet is used to summon the people together and herald the entrance of a
distinguished personality. It demands our complete attention, and never in all
the world, could there ever be an entrance of a king, a president or a prime
minister, with more of an air of dignity and authority as this One. To be able
to witness this scene today, is to be considered a high privilege. May God grant to us the full influence of the
Holy Spirit upon our lives, our hearts and minds, as we observe!
He commands, “Write what you see in a book!” (v.11) John
is to literally send it to seven churches in Asia Minor, but remember the
significance of the number seven, as signifying perfect fullness. We have
already said that there were more churches in that territory, so it is not just
sent as a message to be read in every place. These seven churches represent the
complete church from every place and every period of history. Remember also
verse 3, in which a blessing is pronounced upon the reader, the listener, and
the obedient disciples, who preserve and do, what is written in this book.
To me, these words from the Lord are very exciting. When He says, “Write”, He is showing His interest and concern for future
generations and for believers in distant places. Write so that they can also be partakers in heavenly blessing and
eternal joy. Write so that they may
know the events of the end times. Write because
the Word of God is spirit and it is life. Write
because it is undying and never loses its power. Write because it is sharp and penetrates to the depths of the inner
man, discerns his thoughts and reaches his heart, now and throughout the
future.
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