Chapter # 1 Paragraph # 5 Study # 1
July 9, 2023
Broadlands, Louisiana
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Thesis: John was told of the true identity of The One to whom God had given this revelation and what to do with it.
Introduction: In our last study we saw that John was given a vision of the Jesus that we ought to have as our focus in these last days. He is presented as The One Who is in the midst of the Church. He is clothed in a garment that reaches from neck to feet (the over-all representation). This garment is gathered together around His breasts by a belt/sash (denoting His gentle tenderness toward His own), and above the garment is a head and hair of purest white (denoting His absolute righteousness) containing eyes that see to the core of what needs to be seen. Below the garment are feet of shining bronze (denoting the coming judgment of the ungodly), and He holds the seven stars of the seven churches. Out of His mouth proceeds a sharp, two-edged sword (to use against His enemies), and His overall countenance is as the sun shining in its strength.
This evening we are going to look into the message of this Person.
- I. John's Immediate Reaction.
- A. The repeated "turn ... see" now has a response.
- B. "I fell at his feet as one dead." This is, apparently, a "dead faint": the shock of what John saw simply overwhelmed his physical body.
- II. The One Seen Responds To John's Condition.
- A. "He laid his right hand upon me."
- 1. The "right hand" is the hand of dominion (He had the seven stars in this hand: and mentions this fact both in 1:20 and 2:1 in the near context).
- 2. Clearly, it is this hand that communicates strength (John was revived from his "faint" at the touch of this hand).
- 3. In other contexts, this is the hand that holds the seven-sealed scroll (5:1), which is, itself, the revelation of the future events which, if it is written, will come to pass, and what is not written will be restrained (10:4). There are 31 uses of "seven" in this Revelation.
- a. As a number, "seven" appears to address the idea of a completed unit.
- b. The use of "seven" appears to present an entire unit of certain "limited to seven" sections.
- B. "Saying, 'Fear not; I am The First and The Last.'"
- 1. The initial words indicate the nature of John's severe shock: fear.
- 2. In the remainder of this record, "fear" is found in six texts, and what is at issue is what men possess as their attitude toward God (11:18). This is reinforced with 14:7 wherein is found a command for the sake of those given it, and in 15:4 there is a reference to the question, "Who will not fear the Lord?" This is in the context of part of the attitude that believers are supposed to maintain (19:5).
- 3. The claim, "I am the first and the last" is like unto "the Alpha and Omega" in 1:8 and is related in that place to "Who is and who was and who is to come, The Almighty."
- a. In 1:18 we have the same basic thesis of "the Living One, and I was dead, and behold I am alive forever more." The identification shifts from "The Almighty" to "The Living One" for Whom death was not permanent.
- b. The messenger goes on to say that "I have the keys of Death and of Hades." In Matthew 16:18 we have the invincible Church against which the gates of Hades have no power. Hades is, according to 6:8; 20:13; and 20:14, the place wherein unbelievers are held until the day of judgment, after which they are cast into the Lake of Fire. In Isaiah 5:14 there is mention of Sheol that "enlarges" itself to accept the multitudes who go there.
- C. Indeed, "the Living One."
- D. "And I became dead and, behold, I am living unto the ages of the ages."
- E. "And I have the keys of the Death and of the Hades."
- III. The Command.
- A. "Write, therefore, the things you saw (1:2, 12, 17, 19, and 20) and the things which are and the things about to become after these things."
- 1. This is the divine outline of this "Revelation".
- 2. This leads to only one legitimate method of "interpretation".
- B. "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw upon My right hand and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are seven churches".
