Revelations 1

Some study, some speculation, some thoughts on the final book.

Written by John after being exiled to Patmos for his faith.  Traditionally, the writing would be taken to the churches he notes, and read aloud to them.  So does that mean all of the writings are just for the people of that time and place? Or would it transcend the times and cultures to be relevant to us today?  And if relevant, how?  Just in a good message of how to practice faith and to be steadfast? Have the events in this book already happened, or are to come? Are they 100% symbolic, 100% literal, or a combination - and how would one decide?

Time to have some fun :)  I will revisit each chapter as I go, adding more, cleaning up, and digging deeper, so these posts will be ongoing and dynamic, changing as I learn more.  This is not meant to be definitive - I am no scholar.  But I wanted to study this book and others, and this seemed a good place for me to keep my notes and links organized.

Prologue

1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. [I learned the original Greek phrase in this verse is "en tachei." Looking at the Strong's Concordance, "en" is mostly meaning "in" or "with," and "tachei" can mean "a brief space of time," "quickly," "speedily," OR "immediately."  So this phrase, unless an idiom, would mean closer to "with swiftness" as in - the events of this will all happen within a short time ONCE THEY START.  Not that they will necessarily start soon.  But, I could see translations either way; this just goes to show the ambiguity of the phrase.] He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ² who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ³ Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. 

Greetings and Doxology

<sup>[Several books of the Bible (most notably Genesis) follow the format of good ol' essays: tell them what you're going to say, say it, tell them what you said.  In this case, these versus seems likely a summary of the whole book to come: there are letters to the churches, all will acknowledge God, then all will SEE God in the clouds, then He will reign. There is much that happens between these steps, but this is the brief outline.]

 4</sup> John, [this is not a letter To John, as we often begin letters today.  Instead, John is writing his name at the top to indicate these are his words here.]

To the seven churches in the province of Asia: [most theories agree these were actual churches in the area of John's ministry.  Some think these letters are only for those churches; some think these churches represent styles of churches still present today.  I think these letters are literally to those actual churches, but Christians can all learn from the words, across all times.  They're fairly generic.]

Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits^[a] before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. [Why the sevenfold spirit, and not the holy spirit here?  Who or what is the sevenfold/seven spirits?]

To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ⁶ and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.

⁷ “Look, he is coming with the clouds,”^[b]
    and “every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him”;
    and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”^[c]
So shall it be! Amen.

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

[thus ends the intro summary, and now on to the meat!]

John’s Vision of Christ

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos [came under Roman rule around 200 BC; was used as a place to exile people, CITE] because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. [John was exiled for his teachings and ministry] ¹⁰ On the Lord’s Day [typically Sundays] I was in the Spirit [possessed by? Meditating?], and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, [typically through the rest of this book, the voice like a trumpet seems to be referring to God] ¹¹ which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” [John is exiled - how does he send it?  Who carries the scroll around and reads on his behalf?]

¹² I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, [the seven churches, per v20] ¹³ and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man,^[d]  [likely Jesus] dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest.[later, this same clothing description is seen on angels] ¹⁴ The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, [indicating purity, wisdom, or age? Purity usually symbolized as white robes, not hair though] and his eyes were like blazing fire. [Literal? Anger? Gloriousness?] ¹⁵ His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, [or all of these - bright white hair, eyes of light, glowing feet - may simply indicate radiance and glowing] and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. [Loud? Powerful?] ¹⁶ In his right hand he held seven stars, [the "angels" of the 7 churches, per v 20, more there] and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. [words of the four gospels often described as a double-edged sword because it cuts and divides] His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. [again matches the idea of the glowing feet, white hair, eyes of fiery light, like v14-15]

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. [fainted?] Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ¹⁸ I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys [keys also refer to power in the Greek - so, he holds not literal keys, but the power of or over] of death [often considered to mean the "second death" or final death of the soul, not the "first death" of the body] and Hades. [need to do more reading on Hades vs. Hell vs. Outer Darkness -- many different studies on these details]

¹⁹ “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. [when in human time is this happening? John seems to see into the past, to the battle in heaven before man was even made, and into the future when it all ends according to Christian belief] ²⁰ The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels^[e] [some think there many be literal angels watching over each church; others think since Angel means Messenger, this could refer to the one who speaks to the churches - the pastor or leader] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Footnotes:

[a] Revelation 1:4 That is, the sevenfold Spirit 

[b]Revelation 1:7 Daniel 7:13
[c]Revelation 1:7 Zech. 12:10
[d]Revelation 1:13 See Daniel 7:13.
[e]Revelation 1:20 Or messenger