Revelation 1:9-20

Revelation 1:9-20

It is important to note where this passage and this whole book begin. John begins with suffering, having been exiled to Patmos and sharing in the tribulations, but still persevering. There is one article, “the,” which is applied to three nouns. In doing so, John links the three into a single unit or reality. They are three expressions of the same thing. These three nouns are suffering, kingdom, and perseverance. Faithfulness or perseverance in the midst of the certainty of suffering is part and parcel of being part of the Kingdom. It is not that suffering is an unexpected aberration and perseverance or endurance is something we have to do. Rather, suffering is to the kingdom life what labor is to pregnancy or muscle strain is to a workout. It is an absolute and necessary part of and the fulfillment of the experience. Throughout most of history, being a part of the Kingdom of God meant suffering, through which the disciple persevered. 

Why didn’t John simply “name and claim” his way out of the suffering? One possibility is that John was ignorant of his authority to name and claim personal peace and prosperity into his life. Another possibility is that John lacked adequate faith. A third possibility is that suffering, perseverance, and the kingdom are so linked together that God works in and through these rather than extracting us out of them. 

John hears a loud voice, and when he turns to see the voice, he is so terrified that he falls like a dead man. Maybe he fainted, and maybe he simply lost all strength because of being overwhelmed. The power and glory and symbolism cause John to collapse. John was no young novice; he had seen and experienced plenty. John has seen the worst you could find on earth but is terrified by the best of Heaven. Completely overcome by what he saw, he falls into a heap. What revives him is the touch of the right hand of what terrified him. We mustn’t miss this point: what devastates us by its grandeur and glory will lift us up with its gentleness.

Perhaps the reason we are lacking in the personal touch of the Savior is that we have lost or have never known the fear of the Almighty. Having reduced Jesus to a personal domestic or wingman and having tried to turn God into a vending machine that dispenses goodies, we have lost the fear and awe of God. Having lost any fear of God, we are incapable of His comfort. We do not have His comfort because all we want are trinkets. As suffering and endurance are part of the Kingdom, so fear is a critical part of comfort. 

“Lord, grant me a holy fear of You. AMEN”

Revelation 1:1-8

Revelation 1:1-8

The greatest problem we face when studying or reading Revelation is the apriori assumption of the purpose of the book. Most of the teachers and writers who deal with Revelation act as if the book is about future history. It is treated as a cheat sheet for a timeline, allowing Christians to know events before they happen. If we begin with this presumption, we fall into a morass of confusion trying to match the descriptions in Revelation to events in history and link them to current or near events. This has been a repeated failure of the church and of sects for years.

In this passage there are two references to time in verses 1 and 4, totaling about 10 words. There are in this passage depictions and descriptions of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, of angels, and of the church in every verse. This book is just barely about time at all. It is almost entirely about the forces of righteousness and their ultimate victory over the powers of evil. This is a panoramic vision of the defeat of the world, the flesh, and the devil at a cosmic level. It is especially important because in life it often feels like evil is winning. 

Verses 4 through 8 are almost a summary of the whole book and all of history in every age. It is also a beautiful hymn of praise. This expression of praise begins with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit (vv. 4 and 5) and ends with the Alpha and Omega, the Eternal One, the Almighty God (v. 8). In the middle is the story of our redemption and our sharing in His victory (v. 5–7). The grandeur of God and the salvation He provides and our sharing in that salvation make the obsessions with dates and charts pale into insignificance. Our fixation on charts, timelines, and graphs about dates, chronology, currency, and marks ends up seeming just a little shallow and silly.

This book was written in a world of incredible suffering and persecution for God's people. They lived in a world where it seemed that evil was the stronger and would ultimately prevail. Into this dark world there comes this message: The whole universe, time, history, and everything else is under God's control, and He with His people shall prevail. To understand this book, don't look at history or time, but rather, look to God and His victory and glory.

"Lord, help me keep my focus on You at all times. AMEN"