Lesson Four

While the subject of the Book of Revelation is the coming of Jesus Christ, the general theme of the book is the imperative statement, "Worship God!" The word that is translated "worship" is used more in the Revelation than in any other book of the Bible. In the Revelation we find seven scenes of worship that progressively reveal and emphasize why and how God alone must be worshipped (4:8-11, 5:8-14, 7:9-12, 11:15-18, 14:1-5, 15:2-4, 19:1-7). As the climaxing events of the seventh trumpet begin to unfold, an angel announces in a loud voice, "Fear God, and give Him glory, because the hour of His judgment has come; and worship Him who made the heaven and the earth and sea and springs of waters" (14:7 cf. 19:10, 22:9).

The type of worship called for in the Revelation is worship in the broadest sense: the presentation of one's whole life to God in a way consistent with the nature of God. As the ideal Son of Man communicates with the seven churches (chaps. 1-3), He encourages and corrects the deeds of the saints' daily lives, calling for whole-life worship that conforms with the features of the revealed Son. As judgments follow, they fall upon the false gods and their worshippers; one-by-one earth, sea, waters, luminaries, the devices of mankind and mankind himself are judged because of false worship. As the worship in heaven is presented at the throne of God and the Lamb, we are reminded that God alone is to be worshipped because He is the Creator (chap. 4), Redeemer (chap. 5), Provider (chap. 7), King (chap. 11), One who sanctifies (chap. 14), Deliverer (chap. 15), and Righteous Judge (chap. 19).

The one who heeds (1:3) this book comes away with life-changing axioms about worship. God alone, the Creator, is worthy to be worshipped; the worship of any creature or created thing brings judgment (14:6-12). The worship of God is defined by who He is and what He says, and not by man's imagination. Worship is expressed in everything we do and say. Worship is life upon the altar, Lamb-life. Worship is at the throne where the Lamb is at the center. Worship results in blessing.

Seven important words

The message of the Revelation, "Worship God!" is communicated through word pictures. We dare not miss the fact that the repeated use of a word places emphasis upon that word and the picture that it paints. Thus, when we have poured the Book of Revelation through the filter of "frequently used words" we discover several significant words that are used more here than anywhere else in the entire Bible.

The word "Lamb," as a direct reference to the Son of God, is prolific throughout the book. Here we find the Lamb:

At the heart of God's rule, "in the center of the throne" (5:6, 7:17)

Providing (7:16-17)

Unsealing (6:1)

Bringing wrath (6:16)

Being worshipped (5:9, 7:9, etc.)

Overcoming Satan (12:11, 17:14, etc.)

Defining the Book of Life (13:8)

Marrying (19:7)

Becoming "the temple" (21:22)

Lighting the eternal kingdom (21:23)

Providing life from His rule (22:1 ff.)

Likewise "worship," "altar," "overcome," "throne," "deeds" and "testimony" stand out because of their frequent use, and add important dimensions to the picture of worship. As the Lord speaks to end-time churches that confess evangelical doctrine but follow the world system, we learn that He knows their deeds. As He addresses saints and a world in which men are setting their own moral standards, we find the throne of God set forth in graphic detail. To churches whose members have adopted the doctrine and practice of force, we are not surprised to find the repeated picture of the altar teaching sacrifice.

We are told at the outset that this is "the Revelation of Jesus Christ" (1:1). The subject of this book is the visible coming of the Lord that was promised in the Old and New Testaments. Following John's introductory remarks (1:1-6), this notice is re-emphasized and supported as John summarily presents the words of Daniel (Dan. 7:13), Zechariah (Zech. 12:10-14) and Isaiah (Is. 41:4):

Behold, He comes with the clouds, and every eye

will see Him, and they who pierced Him; and all

the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so.

Amen. "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord

God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty (1:7-8).

John understood that when Daniel spoke about the Son of Man coming with the clouds (Dan. 7:13), he was speaking about "the revelation of Jesus Christ." Thus, as the Revelation unfolds, we find information that exclusively focuses on the events leading to the coming of the Lord Jesus. From the messages to the churches, which warn of consequences associated with His coming (chs. 2-3), to the closing remarks, this book presents information concerning events immediately preceding, attending, and following the coming visible revelation of the Lord Jesus.

"The things which must necessarily happen in haste"

What did John mean by "necessarily happen in haste" (1:1)? Did he mean to inform his first century readers that the events of the Revelation would unfold quickly after he received the information about the events? Or was John speaking to saints in the end-times, who would be alive in the day of the Lord, and saying to them that the events revealed to him concerning them would happen in haste?

If John's message was to his first-century readers, then he was mistaken, for two thousand years have passed since the apostle penned these words. (While it is true that one thousand years may be like one day to the Lord (2 Pet. 3:8), remember that John was not writing to the Lord.)

But John was not mistaken. He did not say that only a short time would pass before the events of the Revelation would begin for his first-century readers. Instead we find that John, speaking to the seven churches in the day of the Lord, was saying that the events revealed to him concerning them would rapidly unfold.

A crucial point is that, as a writer, John was moved by the Holy Spirit to the time frame of the coming of Jesus, and spoke to churches located in that time frame (1:10). It is not unlikely that John believed his contemporary audience to be the churches of the end-times. But John, like the other prophets, did not always understand the chronology or time frame of his prophecy.

"He...signified...by His angel"

The revelation that John received was delivered by an angel sent by the Lord Jesus and designated "His angel." Later, at the closing of this book, we learn that "the Lord, the God of the spirits of the prophets, sent His angel to show to His bond-servants the things which must shortly take place" (22:6). Thus, the angel who delivered the information about the end-times is both the angel of the Lord Jesus and the angel of the Lord God. These notices lead us to at least two plausible conclusions: (1) the angel John encountered is likely the same "angel of the Lord" so often encountered by God's servants in the Old Testament, and (2) we are to receive this revelation with the gravity attached to the visits of this angel.

"Blessed is he who reads with understanding and those who hear"

A blessing is promised here, but the blessing is conditional. There is first reading with discernment, then hearing with appropriate heeding, followed by blessing. The reading speaks of accurate understanding and communication. John's reference to "he who reads" is speaking about those in the church who are charged with the responsibility of reading the Scriptures to others. Likewise, the hearing is a hearing with understanding, not the kind of hearing Isaiah would encounter (Is. 6:9) or that Jesus mentioned (Matt. 13:14). The heeding or keeping is an appropriate and timely life reaction to the contents of the prophecy.

"John to the seven churches"

Tradition, linguistic evidence, and the name simply given as "John," all indicate that the author is the apostle John. The apostle addresses the Revelation to the "seven churches that are in Asia." He addresses these specific churches as the best possible response to the instructions given him by the Lord. But it is apparent that all the churches were intended to hear and benefit from the information delivered. The book of Revelation is "for the churches" (1:4; 22:16).

The churches are also referred to in the Revelation under other terms and symbols. In this chapter, the seven churches are represented as "seven lampstands" (1:20). Later, the churches appear, as elsewhere in the New Testament, as "the temple" (11:1 cf. 1 Cor. 3:17, Eph. 2:21-22), "the bride" (19:7, 21:9 cf. 2 Cor. 11:2) and "the holy city" (11:2, 21:9-10 cf. Heb. 12:22-23).

The Church in the tribulation

Pretribulationist commentators on the Book of Revelation insist that the church does not appear in the text from chapters 4-18 and is therefore absent from the earth. This is an argument from silence. Because of their hypothesis, such commentators require that the church be absent from the earth during the time of the great tribulation. But the Revelation is addressed "to the churches" (1:4; 22:16); and churches are present in these tribulation chapters. Because the seven churches are present on earth in chapters 2 and 3, it is reasonable to assume that they are still on earth until we are notified of their removal in chapters 11 and 14.

Chapter 11 is the most obvious example of reference to the church on earth in the tribulation, followed by the rapture. There we see "the temple" (11:1), "the holy city" (11:2) and "the two lampstands that stand" (11:4). That these references to "the temple" (cf. 1 Cor 3:17, Eph. 2:21-22) and "the holy city" (cf. Heb. 12:22-23) are references to "the church," and not a building or metropolis, is obvious from the structure of the passage. In 11:1-2 we are introduced to two terms¡Xtemple and holy city¡Xwhich are further explained by the following verses as "my two witnesses" (11:3) and "the two lampstands that stand." , Early in the Revelation (1:20) the seven lampstands are identified as seven churches. Then, in chapters 2 and 3, five lampstands (churches) are in trouble with the Lord, while two lampstands (the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia) stand without criticism. Thus in chapter 11 we encounter direct reference to the church on earth during the tribulation. Also in chapter 11, following the execution of the members of the two churches, they are resurrected and called into heaven (11:12).

Also apparent from the words of the Lord Jesus to his disciples (Matt. 24:2) is the notion that there would not be a literal temple of stones standing during the tribulation: And He answered and said to them, "Do you not see all these things? Truly I say to you, not one stone here shall be left upon another, which will not be torn down. From this context, it is evident that: (1) the temple Jesus pointed to was torn down long before the great tribulation (AD 70), and ; (2) the non-existence of that temple formed the basis of the disciples' question, "when shall these things be?" (Matt. 24:3). The temple of Herod was destroyed in 70 AD, and no temple was standing at the time John received and wrote the Revelation. Therefore, the "temple" reference in chapter 11 is to the church. We are notified that the churches will be present during the great tribulation by Jesus' repeated reference to what He will do to them at His coming (2:5; 2:16; 2:25; 3:3; 3:11). Some pretribulationists try to escape the force of His words by stating that the coming to which He refers is "special," not the coming which is the subject of Revelation (Walvoord, p. 57).

Who is in the Church?

The notice that the Revelation is intended for the churches includes all believers, believing Jews, and believing gentiles. Both believing Jews and gentiles are embraced within the church (Eph. 2:11-22). But the believing Jews and gentiles that form the church are addressed as distinguishable communities, different churches, throughout the Book of Revelation. This is first apparent when we notice that the comments made to the churches of Smyrna and Philadelphia are particularly important to Jewish believers. Again, in chapter 7, the believing "bond-servants" of God from the twelve tribes of Israel are distinguished from believers of "every nation" (7:3 cf. 7:9). Indeed, the distinction between believing Jews and gentiles continues all the way through to the close of the Revelation. Then, in chapter 21, "the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel" (21:12) and "the twelve apostles of the Lamb" (21:14) are used to name distinct elements that construct the one holy city, "the wife of the Lamb."

"Grace to you and peace, from"

This greeting includes a lesson on the source of grace and peace. Grace and peace come from Him who both transcends and enters time. It comes from the spirits subject to His throne. It comes from Jesus who witnessed faithfully, overcame death, and is sovereign over all kings. In this brief greeting, John is calling attention to subjects that will be developed in the remainder of the book. The infinite and holy nature of the only true God, subjection to the throne of God alone, the meaning of faithful witness, the defeat of death and the ultimate subjection of earthly kings to the Lord Jesus all begin here and find illustration throughout the Revelation. Grace and peace are for those who heed these messages.

"To Him who loves us"

Before launching into the details of the Revelation, John pauses to worship. He magnifies and exalts Jesus' ongoing love of Jesus, His sacrifice that released us from our sins, and His final victory that makes believers a kingdom and priests to God.

John identifies with his readers as a member of the family of God, as a brother, and as one who shares with them all that comes with being a follower of Jesus: tribulation, as well as the kingdom of God and perseverance. Church tradition tells us that because of John's testimony as a Christian he was "condemned to dwell on the isle of Patmos."

"I was in the Spirit in the Lord's day"

John provides the time frame of the events that were revealed to him. "The Lord's day" is another form of "the day of the Lord." John's observation that he was "in the Spirit" distinguishes the experience in much the same way that the apostle Paul struggled to communicate being "caught up into Paradise" (2 Cor. 12:4). John wants his readers to realize that what happened to him was not a normal bodily experience, and involved events concerning the day of the Lord. In the Revelation, John uses "in the Spirit" (1:10, 4:2, 17:3, 21:10) to designate the means whereby he became exposed to the exceptional information that follows the expression.

If we misunderstand this key phrase, we find ourselves unable to appreciate any of the time-sensitive statements in the remainder of the book. Indeed, Jesus' statement that he is "coming quickly" (22:12) seems empty and meaningless. But understanding the phrase as a statement made to the churches of the end-time renders Jesus' words a sincere comfort and promise of relief.

The Lord's Day

John's unique use in the New Testament (1:10) of the dative expression, "in the Lord's day", appears to be influenced by the Old Testament prophet's repeated use of the similar expression, "in that day", (found in like dative construction) in the Septuagint (LXX) when they were referring to the eschatological day of the Lord. This observation seems to have been overlooked by those who insist that John's use of this phrase refers to Sunday (Thomas, Osborne). This expression is never used in the Bible to designate Sunday, the Sabbath, or a day of the week meant for worship (unless, as Mounce, p. 76, and others argue, this is the meaning here). Thomas (vol. 1, p. 91) suggests that this is possibly "the first use of this name for Sunday." But all the writers of the New Testament who made any reference to Sunday, including Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, and Paul, designated Sunday exclusively with the phrase "first day of the week" (cf. Mt. 28:1, Mk. 16:2, 9; Lk. 24:1, John 20:1, 19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor 16:2).

Thomas (ibid.) says the Lord's Day is used "a short time after the writing of the Apocalypse" to designate Sunday. But, a check of his sources raises questions about this conclusion. The Didache (14:1) has the word for Lord, but does not have the word "day," the expression under discussion, "Lord's day," does not appear. Ignatius' Epistle to the Magnesians, in a similar style, simply has the word Lord, but not "day." The Gospel of Peter (Evangelia Petri) likewise makes no mention of "day." Melito of Sardis (165-175 AD) is claimed by Eusebius to have written a paper entitled, The Lord's Day, but again the word for day does not actually appear in the title, and the contents of the book have not survived for our examination. And the time when Melito wrote, sometime between 165-175 AD, is certainly not "a short time" after John wrote the Book of Revelation.

Later in church history (as in our day) Christians would refer to Sunday, or the day set aside for worship, as "the Lord's day." However, "the day of the Lord," "that day," and "the day" are used throughout the Bible to designate the eschatological day of the Lord, the event when the Lord Jesus comes again. John is saying that the Revelation he received pertained to the time concerning the events surrounding the coming of the Lord Jesus. The observation (Thomas, op. cit.) that John uses the dative of Lord (adjectival, "Lord's day") contributes nothing to his argument that the meaning is Sunday. The genitive is the customary case for adjectives; the dative for adverbs (Wallace, p.76). Peter, using the genitive as John uses the dative, writes (2 Peter 3:12), "God's Day," [literal word order] an adjectival use of God in the genitive with the noun day. This is especially noteworthy in that Peter uses this construction as a synonymous way of stating "the day of the Lord," which he had referenced in the same passage (2 Peter 3:10). Walvoord says, "The adjectival form can be explained on the ground that in the Old Testament there was no adjectival form for "Lord," and therefore the noun had to be used" (p.42). Nothing from history, or from the way John uses the Greek language, compels us to conclude that by "Lord's day," he meant anything different than "day of the Lord." Kittel observes, "A genitive might have been used instead of the adjective." The attempts to import the future meaning of this phrase, "Sunday," into the present context is an example of the exegetical fallacy (Carson, p. 32) described as "semantic anachronism." The reader should refer to Carson's discussion of "martus" (Rev. 2:13).

"I saw seven golden lampstands and...one like a son of man"

As John turns to see the source of the authoritative, trumpet-like voice, he sees a man-like figure in the midst of seven golden lampstands. But this is no ordinary man. And it is not the glorified, resurrected Lord Jesus that had ascended into heaven. John sees an ideal figure whose every feature is meant to communicate specific truth. This figure projected to John by the angel of Jesus (1:1) has something to say about the relationship of the Son of Man to the churches, and the responsibility of sons of men in the churches.

Seven contemporary churches

The figure of a son of man is in "the midst of seven golden lampstands." The picture is of the Son relating to seven contemporary churches, with seven different names, not one church at seven different times in history, as some have suggested. The picture of Jesus in "the midst" of the churches (plural) does not suggest this; and John understood seven distinct contemporary churches that all existed in his day (1:4) in the seven locations. The admonition at the end of each message, "He who has an ear let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches" (plural) would be nonsensical if only one church is in view. The number of the churches, seven, is the number of totality, fullness, or completion. Thus, Jesus is in the midst of all of His churches, seven contemporary churches.

The features of the man-like figure

Ten features of the man-like figure are reported by John: (1) his clothing, (2) his head and hair, (3) his eyes, (4) his feet, (5) his voice, (6) his right hand, (7) his mouth, (8) his face, (9) alive from the dead and (10) holding the keys of death and Hades. Each of these features carries particular meaning because certain of them are used in the messages to the churches (chs. 2-3). The right hand holding seven stars is applied to the church in Ephesus; alive from the dead is important to Smyrna; mouth with a two-edged sword is displayed to Pergamum; eyes like a flame of fire and feet like burnished bronze is meant to teach Thyatira. Thus, the figure in the midst of the churches displays truth about the incarnate Son that should be true also of the redeemed sons. The loving right hand of the Son is a model for the love missing in Ephesus (2:1 cf. 2:4). The death-conquering life of the Son will become the death-conquering life to be expected by the suffering Smyrnans. The Word, the two-edged sword of the Son, is meant to be the offensive weapon of Pergamum instead of the world's weapons of compromise ("teaching of Balaam," 2:14) or military warfare ("the teaching of the Nicolaitans," 2:15). The eyes and feet of the Son that discern and stand for truth are meant to be the same experience of the Thyatirans, rather than the teaching and lifestyle of the immoral world ("Jezebel," 2:18-20).

"Write therefore the things"

Everything that John sees is in the time frame of the Lord's Day, and is therefore futuristic (1:10). This command is no exception. The command to "write therefore the things which you have seen," is explained by the next two phrases: "the things which are" and "the things which shall take place." John will be writing about the unfolding of events surrounding the Lord's Day. John is not here instructed to write about things that are primarily true of the first century. The Lord Jesus wants John to document the conditions of the church that will be true before the coming of Christ, "the things that are," and the events to follow, "the things which shall take place after these things," because He wants us to understand how the condition of the end-time churches results in the end-time events that follow. Notice that after John describes the condition of the churches, he writes in Rev 4:1, "Come up here and I will show you what must take place after these things."

Many commentaries obscure the time frame by misinterpreting the meaning and context of this command. By viewing it outside the context and time frame established as the Lord's Day, the reader is left to conclude that "the things that are" is a reference to conditions of the church in John's day. However, such an interpretation is thwarted by Jesus' own remark about how His coming will affect the churches actually addressed. The churches of Laodicea, Pergamum, Thyatira, and Sardis that existed in the time of John did not, and cannot, experience the things threatened and promised by Jesus. Some who misinterpret this command to John also assert that the coming of Jesus (referred to by Him in His messages to the churches) was a spiritual, invisible coming, and not the second coming that is the subject of the Revelation. Furthermore, such commentators purport that the things threatened or promised actually happened to those churches. But history does not support the plausibility of Jesus' coming to Thyatira and the Thyatirans who held fast being given authority to rule the nations (2:26-27).

"The seven stars...and the seven lampstands"

Because modern literature contains so much fanciful speculation about the meaning of language or symbols in the Book of Revelation, we dare not miss language that simply informs us that "this equals that." Here is such a place. John is informed that "the seven stars are the seven angels (lit. "messengers") of the seven churches" and "the seven lampstands are the seven churches." His attention is drawn to seven messengers (not one messenger) and to seven churches (not one church). Just as seven contemporary churches existed and could be addressed in Asia Minor at John's time in history, so seven contemporary churches and their messengers are being addressed in the day of the Lord.

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