" I saw... in the midst of the lampstands one like the son of man" Rev 1: 12, 13.
The average Christian fights shy of the " Book of Revelation." It seems to him well nigh incomprehensible. He is perhaps skeptical of some fanciful interpretations he has heard, and he cannot easily accustom himself to the book's bizarre imagery. to start reading the revelation is to step into a strange, un-familiar world of angels and demons, of lambs, lions, horses, and dragons. seal are broken, trumpets blown and the contents of seven bowls poured over the earth. Two particularly malicious bests appear, one emerging out of the sea with ten horns and seven heads, and the other rising from the earth with a lamb's horns and a dragons voice. Their is thunder, lighting, hail fire smoke and blood. the whole book appears at first sight to contain a chaotic profusion of weird and mysterious visions.
But we can't leave the matter there. The book claims to be a divine revelation given by god to His servants (1:10). It promises at its beginning a special blessing to him who read it aloud in church and to those who listen (1:3), and it adds at the end a solemn warning to anyone who dares to tamper with its message, either by addition or by subtraction (22:18-19. Besides, this last book of the Bible has been cherished by Christ's church in every generation and has brought challenge and its comfort to thousands of Christian believers. We should therefore be foolish to neglect it. I am concerned here with the book's first three chapters and in particular with the second and third chapters which contain seven letters addressed by the ascended Christ to seven Asian churches. Chapter one is the introductory to the whole book, Indeed, some important clues to a right interpretation of the book are given us in the very first verse: The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave them to show to His servants what soon must take place; and he made it known by sending His angel to His servant John. The first word in the Greek sentence is " apocalupsis," which (like its Latin equivalent, revelation) means an "unveiling". The whole book is a revelation, an unveiling by God's hand of truth's which otherwise would have remained hidden.
It would be helpful to begin with the simple observation that the revelation was made to the church. The "apocalypse" or "revelation" was given by God to his servants. They were its recipients. It was granted for their benefit. this being so, it is absurd to give up trying to understand it. We must persevere. Ostensibly the revelation which John was given and instructed to write in a book was intended for the seven churches that are in Asia (v. 4). A little later he names them . He is to send the book to Ephesus and to Smyrna, Pergamum and to Thyatira, Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea ( v.11). By " Asia" then is not the whole continent, nor even what we sometimes call "Asia" Minor, but the Roman Province of Asia which was located on the western seaboard of what we now know as turkey. The seven cities mentioned form an irregular circle, and are listed in the order in which a messenger might visit them if they were a mailman to deliver a letters.
Sailing from the Island of Patmos, to which John had been banished, he would arrive at Ephesus. He would then travel north to Smyrna and Pergamum, south-east to Thyatira Sardis and Philadelphia, and finish his journey at Laodicea. He would need only to keep to what professor William Ramsay called 'the great circular road that bound together the most populous, wealthy and influential part of the province, the west-central region. The historical context for the "Book of Revelation, however, cannot possibly be thought to exhaust its significance. Just as the letters of Paul to the Corinthians and the Thessalonians convey the word of God to us as well to them in London and New York and Cairo as well as Corinth and Thessalonica, so Christ's letters through John to the first century Christians communities of Asia have permanent value and a universal message. Get on board, before you die. Commentators have not failed to notice that the Asian churches numbered seven, a number indicating perfection and completeness in a book whose numerals are nearly always symbolical. The seven churches of Asia, though historical, represent the local churches of all ages and of all lands. The Christian society in the Roman province of Asia at that time was hard pressed. It is probable that the Revelation reflects the situation during the reign of the Emperor Domitian, who carried to its second stage the persecution of Christians begun twenty-five years previously by Nero. Nero's persecutions had been sporadic; Domitian's seem to have been more systematic, the effects of Nero's antagonism were felt in Rome only, while under Domitian, who was hungry for divine honors. Christians who worshipped the Lord Christ were being invited to worship Caesar. The hearts of Christians were filled with alarm. Could the Church survive the storm which seemed to be on the point of breaking. His empire is wider than the sway of Rome. Christ dominion is universal. The description of the lord's achievements past and future. He not only loves us; He not only freed us from our sins by His blood; and made His people a kingdom Just as God entered into a covenant with the Israelites at Mount Sinai and made them His people over whom He ruled. So Christ by his death has ratified a new covenant and inaugurated a new kingdom. The Christian Church is the new theocracy. Christ reigns over us. We are His Kingdom. Moreover, as in Old Israel, so in the new, the members of God's kingdom are "priests" offering him spiritual sacrifice of our worship. Let Christians lift up their heads! The day of redemption is drawing near. Such is the opening revelation of Jesus Christ in his titles and His deeds. It is the foretaste of the richer disclosures which follows.
John goes on to on to write how on a certain Sunday during his exile he was granted an ecstatic vision of Jesus. He describes the details of what he saw, and each part is meaningful. At the same time, it is important to remember that the imagery he uses is intended to be symbolical rather than pictorial. The various elements in the vision are significant symbols to be interpreted, rather then actual features to be imagined. For example, if John saw Jesus with a sharp two-edged sword issuing from His mouth, we are not so much to visualize this literally as to remember that the words speak are as a sharp and piercing as a sword. John's attention was drawn to the presence of Jesus by a loud voice behind him. Turning around, he saw seven golden lampstands and in the middle of them one like the son of man (vv. 12,13). that is to say, he saw a human figure, and yet the person he saw was more then a mere man. He was glorious and sublime. He was like the son of man in Daniels vision. he was in fact he glorified "man Christ Jesus". John at once notice his clothes, for He was invested with a long robe and a golden girdle of a priest or king or judge. His appearance was not only distinguished but venerable and holy for His hair was as white as wool or snow. His scrutiny was intense as His eyes flashed with the fire of judgement, and His feet were as strong as burnished
brass. His voice thundered like the breakers which dashed themselves against the rocky coast of Patmos., and His face was as radiant as the sun (vv. 13-15). The purpose of this vision was for the
enlightenment of John. The seer was to be allowed no personal monopoly of its riches. The vision was for the whole Church. John was given it to transmit it to others. Write what you see in a book, he was told, and send it to the seven churches (v.11). This visionary manifestation of Christ was too much for John to endure It had been deafening to his ears and dazzling to his eyes. He fell at His feet as though dead (v.17). But Jesus laid His hand on John's shoulder and said to him reassuringly " fear not." Rising to his feet, John could now absorb the immediate message which Christ had to convey. The Lord affirmed His victory over death. Jesus commanded John to write in a book what he had seen and would yet see. (vv. 18,19). When John first turned around and saw the vision and saw the lampstands among which Christ stood, it was that his eyes fell on the lampstands (v. 12). He did not see a candelabrum consisting of one lampstand with seven branches, no doubt with a lighted lamp, and Christ among them in the midst. Jesus explained the seven lampstands stood for the seven churches, and the seven stars for the angels of the seven churches. So Christ's churches are meant to be light- bearers in the darkness of the world, you are the light of the world, He graciously gave His own title. " You are the light of the world," He said in the sermon on the mount, "... let your light... shine... " Jn. 8:12; Mt. 5:14, 16). If the stars are to shine and the lamps are to burn, they are to remain in Christ's hand and in Christ presence.
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