SDMB weekly Bible Study (SDMBWBS) - The Book of Revelation: Chapter 1
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Chapter 1
[NASB: New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved.]
Superscription
1The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.
A few scholars think that the above three verses were a later addition by an editor. But, because of the similarities in language and structure, most think the author added this beginning himself, after he had written the rest.
The word translated “bond-servant” here is “doulos”. The standard meaning of this term is “slave”. However, since slavery is no longer practiced in the English speaking world (for the most part), most translators use a term such as servant, bond-servant or bondman instead, so as not to impart an emotional reaction to the word which would not have been there to the original audience. The significance is of one who has entered into a state of voluntary servitude.
“Which must soon take place” and “for the time is near” are not ambiguous terms. It takes quite a bit of work for interpreters to make either of these apply to a time hundreds or thousands of years later. The intent is clearly, “quickly, at once, without delay”. It is language such as this that, when read by the average person, produces a feeling of intimate immediacy: “This is a big divine secret, it’s about to happen, and you’re in on it.” Such a tone helped in giving hope to a beginning Christian society that was feeling active imperial persecution.
“Blessed” (Greek makarios) means happy. Things are bad now? Cheer up! It’s going to get better, and fast.
Epistolary Introduction
4John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne, 5and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood— 6and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. So it is to 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.
Form criticism note: this work isn’t merely an apocalypse, it’s also a letter. After the prefatory aside of the first three verses, we have a standard greeting as found in 1st Century Roman and Christian writings: the addresser, to the addressee, introductory greetings and benediction, statements regarding the authorities behind the letter (from Him who is…. And from Jesus Christ…), elaboration regarding the authorities, a brief statement of purpose (Behold, he is coming…), and a closing. (Amen.)
The letter is for seven churches. If this was from earlier in the Christian era (as with Paul’s writings for instance), one copy of the letter would have been written, it taken to the church in the city indicated (usually in somebody’s household, and probably with under a hundred people), and additional copies of the letter would have been made there, to be dispersed to other surrounding churches who might be interested. From there, the more important letters would continue to be copied and disseminated further and further from the city of origin. The original author may have kept a copy for himself, as well.
The greeting of “Grace” is a religious variation on the standard Hellenistic greeting (“Charis” rather than “chaire”) and “peace” is the standard Hebrew greeting, Shalom.
Jesus is referred to as “Jesus Christ” five times in this chapter, but as “Jesus” throughout the rest of the book.
In Daniel 7.13, Daniel prophesies that he saw one like the son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. Exodus 13.21 and 16.21 both also use the cloud as a significator of divine presence. Zechariah 12.10 says that the inhabitants of Jerusalem “would look on him whom they have pierced” and “mourn for him”. That is, those who rejected him will rue the day.
I am the Alpha and the Omega. God speaks only two places: here and in 21.5. Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, giving the idea that the same God that existed at the start of the world will be there at the end, and has been there throughout all time. The Hebrew equivalent, Aleph Tav, shares this idea of containing all the letters in between. This timeful ubiquity is echoed in “who is and who was and who is to come”, which itself includes a paraphrase of God’s name (YHWH: “I am who I am”). As a literary analogue, Pausanias (circa 110-180 A.D.) in the Song of the Doves at Dodona has the phrase: “Zeus who was, Zeus who is, and Zeus who will be.”
Though you can’t tell from the English translation, the above four verses are some of the worst Greek (grammatically) to appear in the Bible.
9I, John, your brother and fellow partaker in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11saying, “Write in a book what you see, 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 reference to hard times due to religious persecution is one of the main supports of dating the work to 90-95, during the reign of Dometian.
More than one interpreter has pointed out how loud the Book of Revelation is: there is a good deal of shouting and trumpets throughout.
“On the Lord’s day”: not certain, but probably the day AFTER the Sabbath (equivalent to our Sunday). A significant number of scholars think “the Lord’s day” may refer to the Sabbath itself, though.
Acts 2.17 says “young men shall see visions and old men shall dream dreams”. Visions in the Spirit are also accorded to Peter at Joppa (Acts 10.10, 11.5) and Paul at Jerusalem (Acts 22.17). We’ll discuss the seven churches more next lesson, with the individual letters to them; however, it’s worth noting here that the churches were located roughly 30-50 miles apart along a circular road that went north to Pergamum, turned southeast to Laodicea, and then returned full circle to Ephesus, and that the scroll would have been read in full (and probably copied) at each of these major centers of the early church, and disseminated from them quickly to all the other major Christian centers of the late 1st/early 2nd centuries.
Church historian Martin E. Marty once said:
“Notice that the Book of Revelation is at the end of the Bible. It barely made it into the scriptures. It’s one of the two or three biblical books that calls itself a vision, a dream, yet it’s a book that many people seem to take more literally than the do the non-dream books. Try interpreting your dreams and you’ll see why people expound weird ideas based on this book”
12Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13and in the middle of the lampstands I saw one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His chest with a golden sash. 14His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire. 15His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been made to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16In His right hand He held seven stars, and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword; and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.
It is rare for this book to interpret its symbolism, but here we are. The lampstands are the seven churches to be addressed, and the stars represent the guardian angels of those churches. 1 Enoch states there are seven archangels: Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqael, Gabriel and Remiel, and some of these are also mentioned the the apocryphal books of Tobias and 2 Esdras, as well as Daniel. It isn’t known if these are the angels John of Patmos has in mind. The seven stars also might be representative of the seven planets and lights in the sky known to antiquity: sun, moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn. Jesus holding the stars in his hand signifies he has authority over the churches, and protects them.
The phrase “son of man” was used by Daniel to indicate someone Christian scholars usually indicate as meaning the Messiah. Jesus refers to himself as the “son of man” more than any other title in the gospels.
Scholars working at interpreting the above-stated appearance of Jesus often go overboard and try to “unweave the rainbow”. The phrase “his head and his hair” means “his head, that is to say, his hair”. In Daniel 7.9 the Ancient of Days is described as having hair “like pure wool” and clothing “white as snow”. Eyes “like a flame of fire” is descriptive of having a penetrating insight. The Greek for “burnished brass” uses words found nowhere else in the New Testament, but probably suggest strength and stability. The voice of Jesus as like “the sound of many waters” is suggestive of the sound of a waterfall. It is used of God in Ezekiel 43.2, and later in Revelation of the great multitude in 19.6.
The sword coming out of his mouth symbolizes Jesus’s speaking as one with authority, and his power. Chapter 19 pictures the return of Christ, from whose mouth issues a sharp sword, indicating his divine judgments on people. His face shining like the sun probably refers to the Mount of Transfiguration, where “his face shone like the sun, and his garment became white as light”. (Matthew 17.2; also compare Exodus 34.29, Judges 5.31 and Matthew 13.43).
17When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19“Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. 20“As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
It is a standard motif in the Bible that to meet God (or the divine) is to die. It’s why the angels tell people “fear not” in the story of the birth of Christ: you usually only see an angel when he’s come to take you into the next life. Jesus saying “I am the first and the last” equates him with God being the Alpha and the Omega. His having the keys of death and of Hades indicates he has the power of life and death, and of judgment in the afterworld (Hebrew Sheol).