Studies in Revelation

__________________________________________________

Christ’s Victory Over the Forces of Darkness

by
J. Hampton Keathley III
hamptonk3@bible.org
Biblical Studies Press
www.bible.org
1997

J. Hampton Keathley III is a 1966 graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and a former pastor of 28 years. Hampton currently writes for the Biblical Studies Foundation and on occasion teaches New Testament Greek at Moody Northwest (an extension of Moody Bible Institute) in Spokane, Washington.

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Contents

Preface................................................................................................................................................................................................

Lesson 1: Foundations for the Study of Prophecy....................................................................................................................

Lesson 2: The Introduction Proper.............................................................................................................................................

Lesson 3: The Prologue (1:1-8)...................................................................................................................................................

Lesson 4: The Things Past (1:9-20)............................................................................................................................................

Lesson 5: The Message to Ephesus (2:1-7)..............................................................................................................................

Lesson 6: The Message to Smyrna (2:8-11)..............................................................................................................................

Lesson 7: The Message to Pergamum (2:12-17).......................................................................................................................

Lesson 8: The Message to Thyatira (2:18-29)..........................................................................................................................

Lesson 9: The Message to Sardis (3:1-6)..................................................................................................................................

Lesson 10: The Message to Philadelphia (3:7-13)...................................................................................................................

Lesson 11: The Message to Laodicea (3:14-22).......................................................................................................................

Lesson 12: Introduction to the Things Predictive (4:1-22:21)................................................................................................

Lesson 13: The Seven Sealed Book and the Lion Who was Also a Lamb (5:l-14)............................................................

Lesson 14: The Six Seals (6:1-17)..............................................................................................................................................

Lesson 15: The Redeemed of the Tribulation (7:1‑17)...........................................................................................................

Lesson 16: The First Four Trumpet Judgments (8:1-13).......................................................................................................

Lesson 17: The Fifth and Sixth Trumpets, and First Two Woes (9:1-20)..........................................................................

Lesson 18: The Angel and the Little Book (l0:1-11)..............................................................................................................

Lesson 19: The Temple, the Two Witnesses, and the Seventh Trumpet (11:1-19).........................................................

Lesson 20: The Angelic Conflict (12:1-17).............................................................................................................................

Lesson 21: The Beast and the False Prophet (13:1-18).........................................................................................................

Lesson 22: Special Announcements (14:1‑20)........................................................................................................................

Lesson 23: Prelude to the Seven Last Plagues (15:1‑8).........................................................................................................

Lesson 24: The Bowl Judgments (16:1‑21)..............................................................................................................................

Lesson 25: Babylon as Seen in Scripture: An Introduction to Chapters 17-18.................................................................

Lesson 26: The Judgment of Religious Babylon (17:1-18)....................................................................................................

Lesson 27: Destruction of Commercial Babylon (18:1-24)....................................................................................................

Lesson 28: The Second Coming of Christ (19:1‑21)...............................................................................................................

Lesson 29: The Reign of Christ and the Great White Throne (20:1‑15).............................................................................

Lesson 30: The Eternal State (21:1‑22:5)..................................................................................................................................

Lesson 31: The Epilogue (22:6‑21)...........................................................................................................................................

Appendix 1: Support for Imminency.........................................................................................................................................

Appendix 2: The Nature of the Divine Blessings of Grace and Peace................................................................................

Appendix 3: Who Are the Overcomers?..................................................................................................................................

Appendix 4: Seven Subtle Snares of Worldliness..................................................................................................................

Appendix 5: The Doctrine of the Tribulation..........................................................................................................................

Appendix 6: The Book of Life....................................................................................................................................................

Appendix 7: Glossary of Prophetical Terms............................................................................................................................

Lesson 1:
Foundations for the Study of Prophecy

In the study of any book of the Bible or any topic of Scripture, a certain amount of ground work is needed for understanding, orientation, and motivation. This is particularly so with the Book of Revelation or prophecy in general. Revelation is a book that has been called everything from a hodgepodge of nonsense to a masterpiece. Because it contains a large amount of symbolism and because of the faulty approaches or methods of interpretation applied to its study, many have a difficult time grasping its meaning. It has become a book which is the object of the widest possible divergence of interpretation.

Regardless, God promises blessing to the student of this book (Rev. 1:3). In fact, Revelation is a book in which all the great themes, seed plots, lines of doctrine and Bible prophecy find their fulfillment. It is in this book that the victory of God as the God of history is seen in the culmination of the ages and the establishment of the eternal state.

The Purposes of Prophecy

It Is Not Designed to Make Us Prophets

God did not give us prophecy so we could become a prophet or the son of a prophet and thereby predict the future. It is not given so we can predict who the Man of Sin or the Antichrist or the beast will be, nor is it given so we can predict the precise day and hour when the Lord will return.

History is full of those who thought they knew who the Antichrist would be or was. Men have said it was Napoleon, others Mussolini, others that it was Hitler, others John F. Kennedy because of the head wound by which he died. Some have said it would be Henry Kissinger because he was from one of the countries of the Old Roman Empire and because he was so involved in seeking peace between the Israelis and Arabs a few years ago.

From the Bible we can see the alignment of nations that will occur in the last days and we can see how our world is fitting into the pattern of those conditions morally, politically, religiously, and economically that will exist in the last days and in the days often referred to as the Tribulation or more accurately, Daniel’s Seventieth Week.

From this we may take warning and encouragement from the Scripture, but we need to be careful about making predictions. It is only logical that the ‘last day’ conditions will undoubtedly exist or begin to fall into place before the Tribulation begins in preparation for the terrible days that lie ahead. God will obviously be placing the props on the stage of human history and putting the actors in the wings ready to come on the stage of this great drama. We may see those who possess characteristics consistent with the key players we see revealed in Scripture, but we need to be careful about making predictions.

This means that when we see such conditions developing, we can know that those days could be near, that conditions appear to be rapidly marching toward the events of the last days which could mean suffering for the body of Christ, the church, in the form of greater persecution. Though I believe in the blessed hope, the pre-tribulation rapture, the unfolding of these events in preparation for the Tribulation period also means we should take the necessary precautions and prepare as well as we can for difficult times since we could see them before the Lord returns for the church.

But we should also know that these conditions can wax and wane like the moon to some degree so we can never be sure as to the time. All we can say is that this is like what will happen or that the present world affairs are growing and shaping up as we see them in the prophetic Word.

It Demonstrates the Accuracy of the Bible

In all the writings of the world, the accuracy of biblical prophecy is unique and stands as one of the great evidences of the God-breathed nature of the Bible. The cults are basically silent on the future and when they are not, they end up with egg on their face.

The test for any prophecy and the authenticity of its source is fulfillment, and hundreds of Bible prophecies have been fulfilled in minute detail. This is true of prophecies fulfilled in Old Testament times, in the life of Christ (birth, life, death, and resurrection), and in relation to even the shaping of world events of our day. Compare Deuteronomy 18:20-22; Jeremiah 28:9; but also Deuteronomy 13:1-5.

Note that a false prophet’s prediction might very well come to pass. The determination of whether he was a true or false prophet was not made on this basis but on whether or not he led the people away from God. The success of false prophets was permitted in order to test God’s people (vs. 3).[2]

The ultimate issue for all prophecy is its spiritual impact on the lives of God’s people. Does it cause men to follow the Lord or turn them away from Him?

Ezekiel’s Prophecy concerning the city of Tyre is an illustration (Ezek. 26:1-5). About 350 years before Christ, Philip of Macedonia dreamed that one day he would throw off the Persian yoke. His son, who had already shown an ability for military logistics and leadership, had a falling out with his father at about the age of 15 and became a playboy on the Mediterranean. Later Philip was murdered, some even accused Alexander, but he returned to Macedonia. At age 21 he formed a military force and began conquering one country after another. He never lost a battle and he stopped his conquest at India only because his men were homesick.

The inevitable happened and he met Darius the Persian at the headwaters of the Tigris/Euphrates in the Battle of Isis. Darius and his men were put to riot by this upstart Greek. Alexander’s men being flush with victory wanted to pursue Darius back to Babylon and fight the final campaign. Alexander said, “No.” He felt that the time was not right because they didn’t have the proper supply lines. The Phoenicians would come in and help Darius. Instead, Alexander said, “Let’s go down to Tyre. Let’s defeat it and then the Phoenicians will throw in with us.”

Well, how much do you know about Tyre? Though besieged many times, no one was ever able to capture the city. Years before Alexander decided to go down to Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar went after Tyre himself. He besieged the city for 13 years. As it happened, both Nebuchadnezzar and the people of Tyre decided to quit about the same time. The people of Tyre decided to make one last effort. They picked up all they could load in boats and at midnight, they went out and camped on a large rock-like island about 300 yards from the shore and reestablished themselves. Nebuchadnezzar made one last attack against the city, but when he found the city vacant, he left in disgust.

Because of the success of this move, Tyre built an impregnable fortress and city there on the rock some 900 feet from the mainland. Now, years later, Alexander said, “We will go up against the great fort on the rock and it will fall as other cities have.” So he did. He commandeered boats, and attacked the city, but he was repulsed time and again. He was upbraided by his men and their argument was, “You can’t fight across 900 feet of water.” So Alexander took the dust, the rubble and the ruin from the old city of Tyre and poured it into the sea. It took seven months, but he built a causeway out to the rock and the city fell in one day. After that the site of the old city became nothing more that a flat rock where fishermen spread their nets. And what had Ezekiel prophesied years before Alexander’s time?

Now it came about in the eleventh year, on the first of the month, that the word of the Lord came to me saying, 2 “Son of man, because Tyre has said concerning Jerusalem, ‘Aha, the gateway of the peoples is broken; it has opened to me. I shall be filled, now that she is laid waste,’ 3 therefore, thus says the Lord God, ‘Behold, I am against you, O Tyre, and I will bring up many nations against you, as the sea brings up its waves. 4 And they will destroy the walls of Tyre and break down her towers; and I will scrape her debris from her and make her a bare rock. 5 She will be a place for the spreading of nets in the midst of the sea, for I have spoken,’ declares the Lord God, ‘and she will become spoil for the nations…’” (Ezekiel 26:1-5)

Why begin our study of Revelation here? God said this about Tyre 2000 years ago, but the Hebrew prophet spoke these words 350 years before Alexander the Great.

It Reveals the Power and Wisdom of God

As just demonstrated, prophecy shows how God continues to control the affairs of this world in spite of the great and constant opposition of both Satan and man to the purposes of God (read Isa. 10:5-19). Though Assyria boastfully acted on her own initiative as an enemy of Israel (vs. 7), she was but an instrument of God’s wrath against a rebellious Israel. God was always in charge and through Isaiah the prophet, He prophesied that He would destroy Assyria so completely that a child could easily count the number of leaders that remained (vs. 19). Assyria fell between the fall of Nineveh in 612 B.C. and the battle of Charchemish in 605.

It Reveals the Plan and Purposes of God

In the process of this study we will see this plan unfold along with some of God’s purposes. We will see God’s purpose for Israel, why they were cut off from the place of blessing, what God is doing today with the nation of Israel and with the Gentiles, and we will see God’s purposes for the church, for the Tribulation, and for the millennial reign of Christ.

It Protects Believers from Satan’s Counterfeits

Understanding prophecy can also protect Christians from the counterfeit strategies of Satan and the world system that lies under his control. As an example, one of the ancient counterfeits and one that will be a key note of his last day strategies, a strategy already prominent today, is the belief in one world government which is portrayed as a utopia and the last final hope for mankind. Nationalism will be hated and internationalism praised as the answer. Another illustration is the postmillennial belief that the church will be able to bring in the kingdom by the efforts of God’s people in concert, of course, with God. But an understanding of prophecy which warns of Satan’s attempts to bring the world together under his last-time leader (an anti-God, anti-Christ figure) warns us not to fall for any kind of one world movement.

It is Designed to Give Comfort

When we hear of wars and rumors of wars or hear of the problems of the Middle East or Russia, or we see the condition our country is in and the way it is in the control of the ‘one worlders,’ the knowledge of prophecy can give comfort by reminding us of God’s plan and that He is still on the throne, in control, and carrying out His purposes and plans (note that the purpose of these verses is to bring comfort John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:18; 5:11; 2 Thess. 2:2).

It is Designed to Promote Holiness

The greatest purpose of the prophetic Word, as designed by God, is the pursuit of holiness by His people. This is everywhere evident in one prophetic passage after another. Check all the passages dealing with the return of the Lord and you will find that, almost without exception, our Lord’s return is used as a basis for an exhortation to godliness. This includes living as aliens in His service, living for heavenly treasure, and finding comfort in the midst of suffering and persecution through the assurance of Christ’s return.

Some illustrations:

Philippians 3:15-21 Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; 16 however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained. 17 Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us. 18 For many walk, of whom I often told you, and now tell you even weeping, that they are enemies of the cross of Christ, 19 whose end is destruction, whose god is their appetite, and whose glory is in their shame, who set their minds on earthly things. 20 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; 21 who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself.

Colossians 3:1-5 If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 3 For you have died and your life is hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is our life, is revealed, then you also will be revealed with Him in glory. 5 Therefore consider the members of your earthly body as dead to immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which amounts to idolatry.

1 John 2:28-3:3 And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness is born of Him. 1 See how great a love the Father has bestowed upon us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Titus 2:9-15 Urge bondslaves to be subject to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative, 10 not pilfering, but showing all good faith that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Savior in every respect. 11 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all men, 12 instructing us to deny ungodliness and worldly desires and to live sensibly, righteously and godly in the present age, 13 looking for the blessed hope and the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Christ Jesus; 14 who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself a people for His own possession, zealous for good deeds. 15 These things speak and exhort and reprove with all authority. Let no one disregard you.

1 Peter 1:13-17 Therefore, gird your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, 15 but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior; 16 because it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.” 17 And if you address as Father the One who impartially judges according to each man’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your stay upon earth;

As we see how prophecy has been fulfilled, as we see it being fulfilled, as we contemplate the fulfillment of future events and their ramifications, and as we remember and live in the light of the coming Judgment (be„ma) Seat of Christ, prophecy should have a special message and appeal for us to live now in the light of the sure and blessed hope of the future.

It is Designed to Unfold the Loveliness of Jesus

Revelation 19:10 And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

Prophecy is designed to reveal truth concerning the person and work of the Lord Jesus. This is nowhere more evident than in the book of Revelation.

Dangers in the Study of Prophecy

The Danger of Sensationalism

Two passages are particularly pertinent here:

Acts 17:21 Now all the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there spent their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. (RSV)

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own likings,… (RSV)

The Athenian philosophers were always ready to hear or tell some ‘new thing,’ but Paul warns us that this idea did not die with the Athenian philosophers. It is still with us today among Christians and non-Christians alike who often run from one prophetic conference or prophetic teacher to another, but in the process, they often show no real interest in other areas of Bible study. Why? Because they are looking for something sensational, novel, exciting, and entertaining, or because they are simply curious.

Prophecy was not meant to be sensationalized. It was meant to instruct believers according to certain clear-cut purposes of the Word that we have studied. Prophecy is fascinating and can be exhilarating, but should we be any more interested in it than in any other major tenet of Scripture? I think not.

Of course we should look expectantly for the return of the Lord and the blessed hope, but we need all of Scripture to do that effectively. Furthermore, reality reminds us that 2000 years have passed since the promise of His coming. This does not minimize the certainty of His return, but it should provide us with balance so that we live and anticipate His coming as though He will return today, yet work and serve as though He will not come for another 1,000 years!

The Danger of Ignoring Prophecy

Of course the opposite of the above, ignoring Bible prophecy, is also a danger. Prophetic teaching was strong in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, but began to decline in its popularity in the ’80s. I think this was so partly because it was sensationalized, which, after a while, had a deadening affect.

I remember hearing comments by well-known prophetic speakers that we could expect the Lord’s return within twenty years, at least by the ’70s or ’80s. The idea was that in view of the shaping of world events, they didn’t see how it was possible for the return of the Lord to be delayed any longer than that. Many times this would be followed by disclaimers like, “Now, no one knows the day or the year of the Lord’s return, but…” Another common statement was something like this, “We have more reason to believe the return of the Lord for the church will be in our day than any other generation in history since the early church.”

Though world events were still moving toward the picture we see in Revelation and prominent passages like Daniel 9, still things on the surface seemed much the same. Israel became a state in 1948, thousands of Jews began to flock back to their land, and there was all the news and talk about peace in the Middle East. But the fact the Lord did not return within that twenty-year period, as many expected, seemed to lull the church into a kind of prophetic sleep. Add this to the fact that in the ’80s we moved into a time known as the ‘age of consumerism’ and we can see how the church surely began to forget about the return of the Lord and began to look more and more like the world.

Our need is to maintain the biblical balance. We should be looking for the Lord’s return as One who might come tomorrow with the impact that should have on us from the standpoint of heavenly treasure and living as aliens. At the same time, from the standpoint of ministry and involvement in our society, we should live as though He will not return for years to come.

The Danger of Pride

In 1 Corinthians the apostle reminds us that knowledge without love makes us arrogant (2 Cor. 8:1) and pride is, of course, a danger we all face in some area of our lives. But, for some reason, people tend to become more puffed up over their knowledge of prophetic truth than in other areas.

Prophecy is a complicated area of Scripture with many divergent viewpoints even within the same prophetic scheme of things. As a result, people often view the knowledge of prophecy as a sign of maturity, great intelligence, or spiritual insight. The tendency is to think that if someone knows a lot about prophecy, that person is something close to the incarnation of the apostle Paul. You often notice a tendency in this direction in some of the well-known speakers who specialize in prophecy. And though by-in-large they are godly and well-meaning in their purpose, pride nevertheless still comes out in some of the comments and attitudes displayed. There is a kind of arrogance, an attitude like, ‘you better come and hear what I have to say, or get my monthly newsletter and get the latest scoop, because I have it all figured out.’

The Danger of Imbalance

Imbalance is a problem in any area of life. One of the unique things about the Lord Jesus is the fact of His balance. The apostle John described Him as One who was “full of grace and truth” (John 1:14). He was and is perfectly balanced. But what happens to us? We tend to become overly occupied with one area of doctrine or truth to the exclusion of others. We find a ‘hobby horse’ and ride it to death. This is especially true with the study of prophecy, especially from the standpoint of coming events and world affairs.

Of course we need to be alert and aware of world events, and we need people who are on top of these things, but our tendency is to so focus on them that we neglect other important areas of truth—principally the heart of all prophecy—the person and work of the Lord Jesus which includes His second coming. This doesn’t mean one cannot have a specialty, an area of doctrine in which they specialize such as the family, or the church, or prophecy. We need those specialists who devote much of their time to such studies, but we all still need balance and to need to know the whole counsel of the Word.

The Lord Jesus and His coming form the heart of all Scripture and especially in the passages on prophecy. The great hope of the church and mankind is the personal and visible return of the Savior. The last book of Scripture is called “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” and much of its content deals with “the things which must soon take place.” The visible return of Christ in all His glory is the prominent note or theme of this book (Rev. 1:7, 8; 19:10; see also 1 Thess. 4:13f; 2 Thess. 2:8f; Tit. 2:13f; Phil. 3:19-20) so we would never deny the importance of prophecy, but the appeal here is for balance.

Until then there will be the rise of one false hope after another—utopias, world leaders, and false messiahs, but none will be able to deal with man’s problems. Only the Lord Himself can do that.

The Danger of Discouragement

If you are new at the study of prophecy, don’t become discouraged if at first the study of prophecy seems like a large puzzle. Keep in mind the purposes of prophecy. In time, it will begin to fit together as you pick up the pieces one by one, but never expect to have all the answers to all the questions.

Prophecy and the Terms
Used for King and Kingdom

In Bible prophecy or prophetic passages of Scripture, God often uses the same language to describe both the king and the kingdom. Why? Because the kingdom takes on the characteristics of the king. As a result, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish one from the other in a prophetic passage since they both represent each other. Point: Is the passage talking about the king (the ruler), or the kingdom of the ruler, or both? Let’s note a couple of illustrations.

(1) Daniel 7:17-19 calls the four beasts “kings,” but in verse 23 the fourth beast is called the fourth kingdom.

(2) In Revelation 13:1-3, the system of the beast, which many believe is the revived imperial form of the Roman empire of the future, is clearly in view because of the ten horns and the seven heads. It is a reference to a ten-nation confederation of ten kings that come together to form the revived Roman empire. But in verses 4-7, the king, the one who emerges as the ruler of this last day system, seems to be in view. Sometimes a clear distinction is made, other times it is not.

Kinds of Fulfillment in Prophecy

Double Reference Fulfillment (Near and Far)

Bible prophecy may have both a near and a far fulfillment. “Two events widely separated as to the time of their fulfillment, may be brought into the scope of one prophecy. This was done because the prophet had a message for his own day as well as for a future time.”[3] In addition, the fulfillment of the near often became the assurance of the fulfillment of the far. For instance:

(1) The Abrahamic promises had their ultimate goal in the coming of Messiah through whom all the families of the earth could be blessed, but the promise and birth of Isaac under the most adverse conditions would help Abraham to believe that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed.[4]

(2) Daniel 8:9-11 and 23-27 provides another example. The little horn of these two passages were prophecies of Antiochus Epiphanes of Greece who, in 175 B.C., plundered the temple in Jerusalem and desecrated it by offering a pig on the altar, but many believe that this passage ultimately anticipates the character and actions of the last day ruler of the Revived Roman Empire or the antichrist.

Dual or Partial Fulfillment

A prophetic passage may totally look to the remote future for its fulfillment, but at the same time there is often a dual fulfillment in the future with part of the prophecy to be fulfilled before the rest of the prophecy.

The prophet would be given a vision of future events which would appear together like great mountain peaks in the distance, but in actuality they were separated by a valley of time, a parenthetic period that would come between the fulfillment of the two parts of the prophecy.

Scriptural Illustrations:

(1) Isaiah 9:6a: The prophecy of the birth of Messiah, refers to the first advent though some often also see an immediate fulfillment in the birth of Isaiah’s son but the context favors the remote view. This was remote and looked to the future. But Isaiah 9:6b-7, the prophecy of the government that will rest on His shoulders, looks at the second advent. Like a valley that separates two mountain peaks, the two events are separated by hundreds of years and the church age.

(2) Isaiah 11:1-5: The shoot that will spring from the stem of Jesse, refers to the first advent, and 11:6-10f, the wolf that will dwell with the lamb, looks to the results of the second coming in the millennial reign of Christ.

(3) Compare Isaiah 61:1-3 with Luke 4:17-20: The Lord quoted Isaiah 61:1-2a, but He stopped abruptly in the middle of verse 2, put down the book, and then stated that “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Why did He leave out verses 2b and following? Because they must wait until the second advent for fulfillment.

(4) Another passage that adds insight to this issue is 1 Peter 1:10-12. In these verses Peter tells us that the salvation about which he has been writing is the subject of Old Testament prophecies. The content of these prophecies embraced both the sufferings and glories of Messiah (vs. 11). But he also shows that though the prophets spoke by the Spirit of Christ within them, they did not always understand their own utterances, especially as to the time (or times) of these things, so they diligently searched as did Daniel to find this out (Dan. 8:27; 12:8). The perplexity lay in the two mountain peaks—the sufferings and the glories.

· They knew they were speaking of the future and in that, they were serving not themselves, but those who would live in the days of Messiah in the far future. “Serving” is the Greek diakoneo„, to serve, minister. It reminds us that the writing and teaching of the Word is a service, a ministry to others, specifically today, the church.

· The prophets knew that God would bless the Gentiles, that grace would come to them (vs. 10).

· They saw the sufferings (Isa. 53 for example) and the glories (Isa. 11 for example), but they could not see the valley, the interim between the two. They could not fully understand the relationship of the sufferings of Messiah to His glory. They could not see that the sufferings related to His first advent and the glories to His second advent.

Single or Complete Fulfillment

Some prophecies look only to one historic fulfillment. This may be reasonably near or very remote, but once accomplished, it is done, fulfilled. Some illustrations are:

(1) The destruction of Tyre (Isa. 23; Ezek. 26) and Nineveh (Nah. 1:15f and Zeph. 2:13).

(2) The birth place of Messiah in Bethlehem (Mic. 5:2).

(3) Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Dan. 9:24-27), the unprecedented time of trouble coming upon all the inhabitants of the earth (Rev. 3:10).

Historical Fulfillment as Prophetic Foreshadows

A Bible prophecy may have its foundation in some event in biblical history, yet at the same time be a prophecy in the form of a type, a picture, or foreshadow of a future event.

As mentioned earlier, the prophecy regarding the antichrist of the abomination of desolation (Dan. 8) may be foreshadowed in the person and actions of Antiochus Epiphanes (Dan. 8:9, 21-25).

Psalm 22 undoubtedly had its origins in some event in the life of David, yet it goes far beyond anything David experienced, and the Psalm became a miraculous prophecy of the crucifixion, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Several of the fulfillment quotations in the gospel of Matthew fall into this category:

(1) Matthew 2:15, the life of Israel and their deliverance was used by Matthew as a type of deliverance of God’s Son from Egypt to protect Him from Herod.

(2) Matthew 2:17, the wailing of Israel at the time of the exile, is used as a prophetic shadow of the time of the slaughter of the young children after the birth of Christ.

(3) Matthew 12:39, the experience of Jonah in the belly of the great fish, also became a foreshadow of the resurrection.

Prophecy and the Time Element

Length of a Prophetic Year

In Bible prophecy, time consists of 30 days in a prophetic month, but it consist of 360 days to a prophetic year, not 365. God’s prophetic calendar year is calibrated on 360 days. Thus, promises like that of Daniel 9:25 are to be figured on a calendar year of 360 days.

When this is done, beginning in 445 B.C., the time of the decree to allow Israel to return to restore and rebuild Jerusalem to the time of Messiah, we are brought precisely to the birth or the triumphal procession of Christ.

Daniel 9:24 shows us that God would finish His dealings with Israel in 70 weeks of years, or 70 x 7, i.e., 490 years. That this prophecy is dealing with 70 weeks of years and not days is clear from two things: (a) Daniel was thinking of years and not days in verse 2 of this same chapter in relation to the 70 years of captivity, and (b) in 10:2-3, when days were in view, the Hebrew text makes this clear by adding “days” to the word “weeks.” Literally, the Hebrew text reads “weeks of days.”

At the beginning of the 70th week of years, or the last seven years (Dan. 9:27), a Roman ruler, i.e., ‘the prince of the people who would destroy Jerusalem,’ would come on the scene and make a covenant with the nation of Israel for one week or seven years, the 70th week. How do we know he will be a Roman? By his description in verse 27. It was the Romans who destroyed Jerusalem and he is their prince.

Midway through that 70th week, after 3 1/2 years, he would break his covenant, stop the sacrifices in the rebuilt temple (either just before or perhaps during the first 3 1/2 years), desecrate this temple, demand to be worshipped himself, and it would be a terrible time of desolation and anti-Semitism as never before in history.

Revelation 6-19 deals with this same period of time of seven years and defines half of this period, 3 1/2 years, in terms of specific numbers of days and months. This shows us that the length of God’s calendar is 360 days. How? The last half (3 1/2 years) is defined as 1260 days and as 42 months (Rev. 11:2-3 and 12:6, 14). When this is calculated (i.e., divide 1260 days by 3 1/2), you get a year of 360 days, not 365. Or multiply 3 1/2 times 360 days to get 1260 days.

Problem of the Order of Events in Prophecy

Prophecy does not always keep to a chronological order in the unfolding of events. This means as future events are described they are revealed in God’s own order for His own emphasis, but not necessarily in the order of their occurrence.

While Prophecy is for instruction and understanding, it is also for comfort and warning. The comfort or warning is usually more important than the chronological order. The comfort and warning challenges our way of life, the chronological order (which we can do nothing about anyway) often serves only to satisfy our curiosity.

Which comes first, the day of God’s wrath, the day of reckoning in judgment, or the millennial reign, the time of peace and Messianic prosperity? The answer is obvious. Before the Lord will reign, He must put down His enemies. But when we compare Isaiah 2:1-22 we find the order reversed. Verses 1-4 describe the blessings of the millennial kingdom as a means of comfort and motivation, but this is followed in verses 5-11 by a description of Israel who had failed to walk in the light of the Lord. As a result, verses 12-22 describe a day of reckoning, the judgment aspect of the Day of the Lord that must come upon the nation before she will turn from her rebellious ways.

When reading or studying Revelation, people often assume that each section is chronological so that the next chapter or series of events naturally follows the preceding, but that is not the case. Rather, a number of sections in Revelation are parenthetical and the chronological order is halted in order to develop in more detail some aspect of this end-time period like a key person(s), or event(s), or condition(s). Some examples are:

(1) Chapter 7 stops the chronological progress begun in chapter 6 and forms an interlude which gives us information about the 144,000 and about multitudes who will be saved during the Tribulation. The six seals are described in chapter 6, but the trumpet judgments don’t begin until chapter 8 which constitutes also the seventh seal. Six of these trumpet judgments occur chronologically and are described through chapter 9. The seventh trumpet is not sounded, however, until 11:15.

(2) So again the story of the progress of judgment on earth is halted and we have another parenthesis from 10:1-11:14. Here a vision is given concerning the little book, concerning the no delay once the seventh trumpet is sounded, and concerning the two witnesses.

(3) Revelation 11:15 picks up the chronological process again and the seventh trumpet is sounded. Other sections which are somewhat parenthetical regarding persons and systems are chapters 12, 13, and 17-18.

Prophecy and the Church

In Old Testament prophecy, the church is omitted because it was a mystery that was not revealed until New Testament times (Eph. 3:1-5, 9; Col. 1:25-26; Rom. 16:25-26). The Old Testament prophets saw the coming of the Savior, His birth, death, life, resurrection, etc. The Old Testament spoke of the salvation and blessing of the Gentiles, but not in terms of the church where Jew and Gentile become one in Christ and coequal. The Old Testament illustrates truth for us that is applicable to the body of Christ in many ways, but the church as an institution is simply not there.

Likewise, you will not find the church mentioned in Revelation 6-18 because this portion of the book is dealing with Daniel’s 70th week and the resumption of God’s program for Israel. The church and the term church is mentioned repeatedly in chapters 1, 2, and 3, but it is not mentioned again until Revelation 19 in the symbolism of the bride and in connection with the return of Christ to earth. There He is seen coming with His bride who has been prepared for the wedding supper of the millennium. If the church is to go into the period described by chapters 6-18, why isn’t it mentioned? Because it is not there. Instead, the church is even given a special promise that it will be kept out of this time of testing for those who dwell on the earth (Rev. 3:10).

Lesson 2:
The Introduction Proper

Having looked at some basic principles and definitions for prophecy as a whole, we now want to look at some points of introduction to the book of Revelation itself.

Title of the Book

Our Bibles carry the title of the book as “The Revelation of John,” or “The Revelation to John” which means it is a revelation given to the apostle John, but the proper name is found in the first words of 1:1, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Revelation is from the Greek word apokalupsis meaning “a disclosure, an unveiling.” The name “revelation” (note that it is singular) is derived from its use in 1:1, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”

“Of Jesus Christ” is a genitive construction which can mean “about Jesus Christ” or “from Jesus Christ.” This is what some grammarians call a “plenary genitive,” i.e., a genitive doing double duty since both aspects are true.

(1) It is the revelation that comes from Christ (cf. the second clause in 1:1, “which God gave Him to show to His bondservants,” and 22:16 make this point clear). Jesus Christ, being God Himself, gave this revelation to His servant.

(2) But Jesus Christ is also the center of the book. The book is supremely the revelation about the Savior who has overcome and will return to defeat all evil (1:7, 13 [Note that each message to the seven churches begins with some aspect of the vision of Christ in 1:13-16]; 5:5-14).

Let’s note one more thing about the title. While this book contains several visions and unveilings, it is one book and one total revelation centered around one person and His literal return to earth—the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is not the Book of Revelations (pl). The noun Revelation in verse one is singular and is so in the Greek text.

Theme of the Book

The prominent theme of the book certainly concerns the conflict with evil in the form of human personalities energized by Satan and his world-wide system, and the Lord’s triumphant victory to overthrow these enemies to establish His kingdom both in the millennium (the 1,000 years of Revelation 20) and in eternity.

This is accomplished by taking the reader and hearers (1:3) behind the scenes through the visions given to John to see the demonic nature and source of the awful evil in the world along with the conquering power which rests in the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, who is also the Lamb standing, as if slain, but very much alive, angry, and bringing the judgment of God’s awesome holiness against a sinful and rebellious world.

Importance and Purpose of the Book

I suppose there is no book in the New Testament which has been as neglected and as controversial as this book, at least in some quarters. Some assert that Revelation is impossible to interpret. Others claim it should not even be in the New Testament much less studied and read. An illustration of this can be found in Martin Luther’s attitude and remarks. For Luther, Revelation was “neither apostolic nor prophetic” and because of its overuse of visions and symbols, Christ was neither taught nor accepted in this book.[5] Luther was offended by this book. Some seminaries avoid it almost entirely or give it very little attention, and many people and schools dismiss it as a hopeless conglomeration of visions and dreams.

The point is man has attempted to do precisely what God has told him not to do. Revelation 22:10 says, “seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book, for the time is near.” God does not intend for the truth of this book to be sealed to man. He intended the church to study and understand the message of Revelation. Why is that?

First, because blessing, not confusion is promised to those who will read it (1:3). Though filled with horror, it ends in the triumph of righteousness and faith.

Second, the Bible says “all Scripture is profitable,” meaning every book of the Bible. But Revelation has a unique and very important place as it is the consummation and climax of God’s revelation and redemptive history. As the final book of the Bible, Revelation brings together a number of lines of prophetic truth which run parallel throughout the Old and New Testaments, but, apart from the book of Revelation, they find no complete prophetic fulfillment.

I remember reading about a young believer who, at the conclusion of reading Revelation for the first time, jumped up and shouted, “We Win! We Win!” The point is that without the book of Revelation, the Bible would be incomplete. Other Old and New Testament books add new dimensions and give added information and details of prophetic truth regarding the end times, but only Revelation draws them all together into a final conclusion.

This forms one of the arguments for the Bible as a completed canon. All the themes of Scripture are fulfilled and find their culmination in Revelation. There is no need for more revelation from this standpoint. With this book, we truly have “a faith once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3).

Third, this book is also important because it deals with “things which must shortly come to pass.” It is the only major prophetic book in the New Testament that deals in an in-depth way with the events of the Day of the Lord. Many other passages deal with this period of time like Matthew 24 and 1 Thessalonians 5, but not to the extent Revelation does.

Fourth, it is also important because of the way it reveals the Lord Jesus. It reveals Him as the Lamb of God and King of kings who, in the consummation of His program of salvation, restores to man what was lost by the fall and much more. All of Scripture ultimately speaks of the Lord, it points men to Him, but it is Revelation which thoroughly demonstrates the culmination of God’s complete salvation in Christ.

Fifth, Revelation is also important because of its unique warnings and challenges to the church in the section spoken of as “things present” (2-3). But even beyond this, the rest of the book also has a very pertinent message for us today for two reasons:

· On the one hand, it provides us with an extended commentary on the spiritual warfare described in Ephesians 6:12. What we see revealed in this book is but the culmination of the warfare with rulers, principalities, and powers of evil under the control of Satan. As such, it calls us to walk carefully and to understand that what is happening around us is not merely a struggle with flesh and blood, but with supernatural entities that are as real as we are.

· On the other hand, it gives us light concerning things to come, of things that have not as yet occurred in history, but will. It thereby comforts and encourages us to carry on in the light of the sure and final judgment on evil and consummation of God’s kingdom in time and eternity.

Sixth, it is important because it discloses conditions that will be present in the end-time system of the beast and the final world empire, politically, religiously, economically, and internationally. Such conditions, one would think, would naturally begin to come together to set the stage, as props are prepared for the world stage, before this end-time drama would actually unfold. Thus, while Christ’s return for the church is imminent, those members of the body of Christ who will be living in this moment of history can know that His return must be even more imminent, i.e., just around the corner.

Author and Date

According to the book itself, the author’s name was John (1:4, 9; 22:8). He was a prophet (22:9), and a leader who was known in the churches of Asia Minor to whom he writes the book of Revelation (1:4).

Traditionally, this John has been identified as John the apostle, one of the disciples of our Lord. That the style is different from the style of the Gospel of John stems only from the difference in the nature of this book as apocalyptic literature.

An early church father, Irenaeus, states that John first settled in Ephesus, that he was later arrested and banished to the Isle of Patmos in the Agean Sea to work in the mines, and that this occurred during the reign of the Roman emperor, Domitian. This supports the author’s own claim to have written from Patmos because of his witness for Christ (1:9).

Domitian reigned in Rome from A.D. 81-96. Since Irenaeus tells us that John wrote from Patmos during the reign of Domitian, and since this is confirmed by other early church writers, such as Clement of Alexander and Eusebius, most conservative scholars believe the book was written between A.D. 81-96. This would make it the last book of the New Testament, just shortly after John’s gospel and his epistles (1, 2, and 3 John). Others conservative scholars believe it was written much earlier, around 68, or before Jerusalem was destroyed.

Interpretation of the Book

(1) This book is a part of the canon—a part of that which God has spoken. It belongs in the Bible.

Early church history supports the apostle John as the author of the book. This is one of the requirements or tests for inclusion into the canon of Scripture. The book refers to the human author simply as John without further identification. This would imply the author was well known to the readers of Asia Minor, as would be the case with the apostle John who lived in Ephesus. This further supports the apostle John as the author.

This book was widely circulated and received as inspired Scripture by the beginning of the third century, the early 200s. There were a few small groups who did not accept it as Scripture, but this was primarily from opposition to the thousand year reign so clearly taught in chapter 20. Much of this came from heretical groups, but on the whole, the early church accepted it as inspired Scripture.

(2) As a part of the Bible, this book is what God has spoken through the apostle, the human author. The principle is that God is its author and Scripture emphatically declares that God is not the author of confusion (1 Cor. 14:33). If we accept it as Scripture, as did the early church and the majority of the church historically, we must approach the book as a book intended to be understood, not as a book to mystify and confuse. It is as Moses wrote: “The secret things belong to the Lord our God; but those things which are revealed belong unto us and our children forever” (Deut. 29:29).

(3) The uncertainty and confusion that this book has been accused of creating is not the fault of the book or the fault of God. Rather, the confusion is the product of the way men have tried to approach this book. A great deal of confusion has been caused because of a bias against such things as: (a) a literal 1,000 year reign, (b) the coming of the terrible judgments depicted, and (c) a desire to spiritualize prophecy in general. The confusion has come from those who have tried to spiritualize or allegorize prophecy and especially this book.

In allegory, words are not taken in their literal or normal meaning. They are spiritualized which means that the interpreter looks behind the literal, plain meaning of the text for a hidden and more profound meaning. This turns exegesis or Bible study into an artful play of human ingenuity and fanciful imagination.

The result of this approach is a potpourri, a mixed bag of interpretations. One man sees one thing and another sees something else because when the normal method of interpretation is abandoned (which includes the proper use of symbols) you have no objective controls to your interpretation and no control over human imagination.

Schools of Interpretation Used with Revelation

The Preterist School

Preterist is from a Latin word meaning “past.” This school of thought sees Revelation as already fulfilled in the early history of the church by A.D. 312. with the conversion of Constantine. Note the spiritualizing nature of their interpretations: Revelation 5-11 is a record of the church’s victory over Judaism; Revelation 12-19 is record of her victory over Rome; and Revelation 20-22 is record of the glory of the church. The persecutions of Revelation, it is claimed, are those of Nero and Domitian and all was fulfilled by the time of Constantine (A.D. 312).

Revelation for the Preterist is purely symbolic history rather than prophetic of coming events in history. This not only does total injustice to the nature of the book as prophecy, but to the normal meaning of words.

The Historical Approach

This approach sees Revelation as a symbolic presentation and a panorama of the total period of church history from John’s day to the end of the age or Christ’s second advent. In this view, Revelation does not just deal with a future time, but covers all of history from the time of John. The problems is most adherents of this view see the book culminating in their day and as many as 50 interpretations have evolved. Why? Because the literal, normal approach of interpretation has been abandoned. Further, such a view must ignore the imminent return of the Lord.

The Idealist Approach

This approach sees the book as portraying in symbolic terms the age-old conflict of the principles of good and evil with no historic elements whether past or future.

The Futuristic Approach

The term “futurist” comes from the fact this interpretation sees the book from chapter 4 on as yet to be fulfilled. This is the approach taken in this study, though I do believe it is also an extended commentary on Paul’s statement in Ephesians 6:12.[6] The futurist approach follows the principle of interpretation known as the literal, plain or normal method of interpretation. This method which will be defined below recognizes the use of symbols, but understands them in their plain, customary, and normal meaning just as we do in our language. The term star, for instance, can refer to a star in the heavens, or it can refer to a famous athlete, someone who excels in athletics. It depends of the context.

There are several reasons for the futuristic approach. The prophecies found in this book have simply not taken place. There is nothing in history that comes close to the events of the majority of the book. For instance: (a) No judgments in history have ever equaled those depicted in chapters 6, 8, 9, and 16, but in these chapters, these judgments are presented as things that will occur. (b) The resurrection and judgment of chapter 20 have never occurred, but are clearly presented as future facts. (c) Obviously, the great anticipation of the book, Christ’s visible return as portrayed in chapter 20, has also not taken place.

Only the futuristic approach which is based on a literal or plain method of interpretation has any objectivity about the contents of the book.

Structure of the Book

The contents of Revelation are given in terms of a series of sevens, some explicit and some implied: seven churches (chap. 2-3); seven seals (chap. 6-7); seven trumpets (chap. 8-11); seven signs (chap. 12-14); seven bowls (chap. 16-18); seven last things (chap. 19-22).

Some divide the contents of the book around four key visions: (a) The vision of the Son of man among the seven churches (chap. 1-3); (b) The vision of the seven-sealed scroll, the seven trumpets, the seven signs, and the seven bowls (4:1-19:10; (c) The vision of the return of Christ and the consummation of the age (19:11-20:15); and (d) The vision of the new heaven and new earth (chap. 21-22).

The contents may also be divided up based on the division of 1:19: (a) “the things which you have seen,” The Things Past (chap. 1:1-20); (b) “the things which are,” The Things Present (chap. 2-3); and (c) “the things which shall take place after these things,” The Things Future (chap. 4-22). Some look at 1:19 differently, but the most natural way to take this verse is as it is translated in the KJV, the NAS, and the NIV.

Method of Interpretation and Use of Symbolism

One’s method of interpretation is crucial to a correct interpretation of Scripture because without a correct method, the Bible becomes putty in the hands of the interpreter. You often hear the complaint that you can prove anything you want to with the Bible. And the implication is simply that everyone comes up with a different interpretation, especially with the Book of Revelation. A further implication is that we simply cannot have a sound and objective system of doctrine. But this is incorrect on several points:

(1) The commands of Scripture to know the Word and maintain a system of sound doctrine show us that God expects us to know and come to an objective understanding of the Bible and that this is to become the foundation for sound theology in all categories of truth or doctrine, prophecy included (1 Tim 1:3, 7, 10; 4:6; 6:3; 2 Tim 1:13; 4:3; Tit 1:9, 13).

(2) Without a sound system of doctrine derived from the Bible as our authority, men are left to the shifting sands of their own experience and imaginations. We are invariably left with some form of mysticism and neo-orthodox theology in which the Bible only becomes the Word of God when it speaks to you and a passage of Scripture may do this not only in different ways with different people, but in ways that are completely contradictory.

(3) You cannot prove anything you want to with Scripture if you follow the rules of sound hermeneutics. Hermeneutics means the science and art of Biblical interpretation and it is this that provides controls over the imagination and ideas of man.

(4) Hermeneutics is called a science because it follows rules that guide and control the interpreter. It is called an art because it requires skill and practice to apply the rules correctly as in any skill. This is evident in Paul’s words to Timothy and the context for the words, “accurately handling the Word of truth” in 2 Timothy 2:15. Without an accurate handling of the Bible, we end up with error, not truth. We must, then, using the science of hermeneutics, seek to ground interpretation in fact or the objective data of Scripture—context, grammar, historical setting, meaning and use of words, literary style, etc.

Some passages of Scripture and areas of doctrine are more difficult and hard to be dogmatic on, but this does not mean that they are beyond our grasp or that we should ignore them. We should continue to study these areas being careful to apply ourselves to a careful study of the Word as the inspired Word of God always examining our position as objectively as we can (Acts 17:11; 2 Tim 2:15).

It is also true that no one comes to Scripture without certain preconceived ideas. No one is completely objective (though we must strive to be so) and this is why our method of interpretation is so important as a check (Acts 17:11). But even with that there is also the need to humbly ask God to help us deal with our preconceived notions and prejudices. We need the humble attitude and prayer of the Psalmist who prayed, “Open my eyes that I may behold wonderful things from your Law” (Ps. 119:19).

It is also obvious that men will vary in their skill and knowledge of exegesis (one’s personal examination of the text to determine its meaning in its historical and literary context) and this will affect their ability to accurately interpret the Bible. But again, the responsibility is not to give up, or ignore Scripture, or to treat it as a mystic would do. Instead, our responsibility is to be careful students, ever seeking to be as objective as possible, to be willing to say I am not sure, or I may be wrong, and to continue to grow in the art and science of the study of the Bible as our only objective guide for truth.

As Ramm so aptly put it, “That God has spoken in Holy Scripture is the very heart of our faith and without this certainty we should be left to the relativity and dubiousness of human knowledge. God has spoken! But what has He said?”[7] (italics his). “This is our primary and basic need in hermeneutics: to ascertain what God has said in Sacred Scripture; to determine the meaning of the Word of God.”[8] (italics his). The Bible is no profit to us at all if we do not know what God has said, what it means, or if we think we know, but are wrong.

We must know and have the correct method of interpretation, a correct hermeneutic, so that we do not confuse the voice of God with the voice of man. The false methods of men are what make the Bible a source of confusion rather than a source of light and truth, not the Bible itself.

We must have a method that provides: a check on the imaginations, feelings, background, prejudices of men, a protection against the delusions and misuse of Scripture by Satan, and one that enables us to bridge the gap between the minds of the biblical writers and our minds, the minds of interpreters who live many years later, even hundreds of years later, in a different time, usually in a different place, and with a different language. This is the tremendous gap created by differences of culture, history, geography, and language.

The only method of interpretation or hermeneutic that brings such controls and that moves us toward objectivity is the literal or normal and plain method of interpretation. This is the method that I will be employing in this study of Revelation. But what does this mean?

The Literal Method of Interpretation

To interpret means to explain the original sense of a speaker or writer versus imposing our ideas on the text. To interpret literally means to explain the original sense of the speaker or writer according to the normal, customary, and proper usage of words and language.[9] “The literal or normal interpretation of the Bible simply means to explain the original sense of the Bible according to the normal and customary usages of its language.”[10]

The Control: The literal or normal method operates by rules which help us to ground interpretation in fact. These are the rules of context, grammar, the analogy of Scripture, cultural and historical background, and the normal meaning of words according to their use in various contexts.

Spiritual or Allegorical Method Compared

“Allegorism is the method of interpreting a literary text that regards the literal sense as the vehicle for a secondary, more spiritual and more profound sense.”[11] The spiritual or allegorical method sees the literal sense as well figures of speech as a symbol to convey some secondary or mystical, metaphorical, or spiritual idea that is hidden, but the hidden meaning is developed and controlled by the interpreter’s own ideas or ingenuity rather than by the rules and guidelines of context, grammar, the analogy of Scripture, cultural and historical background, and the normal meaning of words. Clearly there are dangers to the allegorical method of interpretation.

(1) The allegorical method does not interpret Scripture. It ignores the common meaning of words and gives rise to all manner of speculation ignoring what the author really intended to say.

(2) In the allegorical method, the authority in interpretation is the imagination of the interpreter or his mind rather than the Scripture itself. In the final analysis, in the allegorical method one is left without any means by which the conclusions of the interpreter may be tested.[12]

(3) The allegorical method results in shear nonsense because “To understand a speaker or writer, one must assume that the speaker or writer is using words normally and without multiple meanings. This is what the literal method of interpretation assumes of God in Scriptural revelation. It believes the Bible to be revelation, not riddle.”[13] Again we remember Deuteronomy 29:29.

The word “literal” is sometimes taken to mean non-figurative. The literal approach, however, recognizes the fact and use of symbolism, or figures, but attempts to understand them, as with any other literary method, on the basis of their normal and plain meaning as dictated by the normal rules of interpretation. This provides a check on our imagination or prejudice. Let’s look at several illustrations:

PSALM 22: Verse 18 speaks of the casting of lots. This is a literal statement and is a prophecy of a literal happening, one that did happen when Christ was crucified, but verses 12-13 depict the fierce enemies of the Lord as strong bulls and ravenous lions. These are obviously figures or symbols, but with a very plain and literal meaning which is derived by the rules of the literal method—context, usage, culture and history. It’s important to realize a symbol only has meaning when we understand how or what it previously meant literally in the historical and cultural setting of the time.

· The Bulls of Bashan. By studying the historical background, the geography, the culture, and Scripture itself, we find that the area of Bashan lying northeast of the Sea of Galilee was a place where bulls became fat and strong. In the Bible, then, the phrase, “the rams or bulls of Bashan,” at times served as figures or symbols of Israel and especially as symbols of her leaders. It was used to portray those who had become luxurious, proud, and full of their own prosperity and importance. So this symbol pictures Christ’s enemies like the bulls of Bashan, with a full feeling of power and strength, ill natured, self satisfied and bullish in their attitude.

· The Lion symbolizes Christ’s enemies as those who stand and gap with open mouths like a lion roaring over its killed prey. They weren’t literally lions, but they acted like lions based on our knowledge of how lions behave when standing over their prey.

JOHN 1:29: “Behold the lamb of God” is obviously another symbol, but it too has a plain meaning based on historical and Scriptural facts. In the light of Old Testament teaching and Israel’s sacrificial history, it points to Christ as God’s sacrifice, the one who would die for our sin as God’s innocent substitute.

JOHN 6:25-59: In this passage John records Jesus’ feeding of the five thousand. This is an historical event, but it contains a number of spiritual truths and applications. For instance, Christ refers to Himself as “the bread of life.” The literal method understands this is symbolic but its meaning is derived from the significance of bread for our daily food for sustenance.

REVELATION 8:12: This passage speaks of judgment that will affect the sun, moon, and stars. Here there is no indication of symbolism other than one’s own bias against such catastrophes. The stars are literal because there is nothing in the context to indicate otherwise. We are imposing our imaginations on the text if we say, this is symbolical of world rulers or the loss of spiritual light in the world. Why? Because there is nothing in the passage or context to suggest this. We must let the passage speak for itself.

REVELATION 9:1-12: Here John records seeing a star fall from heaven. But in this passage, by context and the analogy of Scripture, this is plainly a symbol. How can we know this? The following are some important keys and helps:

· We should always read a passage literally and assume that the literal meaning is the prophet’s meaning unless there is adequate reason from context to read it otherwise.

· But we should always note carefully words like “as,” “like,” “as it were,” and similar expressions (cf. 6:1; 9:7) because words like “as” normally indicate a figure or symbol by way of a comparison or an analogy and not an identification. Compare Revelation 8:13. The text here does not say, “I heard one flying like an eagle in mid-heaven…” Some would make this refer to perhaps an angel, but I think we should take it literally. If God made a donkey speak to Balaam, why could He not, in this tremendous hour, use an eagle as a voice of woe to stress His sovereignty over creation?

· Always, where a figure of speech is suggested by the context, interpret by the analogy of Scripture. Allow Scripture to interpret Scripture while always bearing in mind the context and other rules of interpretation.

· Look for interpretive clues and identifications within the text itself which indicate a figure is being used. Note the following three examples:

REVELATION 9:1: All the English translations rightly view the star as a person rather than as a fragment of a star. This is indicated by the personal pronouns, “to him” in verse 1 and “he” in verse 2. Some would say the keys were given to the fifth angel, but word order would suggest the “him” looks back to the star who fell from heaven and not the fifth angel who sounded his trumpet. The star, who is further identified as a king in verse 11, is the subject of the passage, not the angel who simply announces this judgment by blowing his trumpet.

· The star is also connected with the Abyss which is a demonic abode according to the analogy of Scripture (cf. Luke 8:30-31; Jude 6; 2 Pet. 2:4).

· Further, he is identified as the angel of the Abyss, the king of demons. This identifies him as Satan which also perfectly fits with the analogy of Scripture which in other places refers to angels as stars (Matt. 9:34; 12:25-28; John 12:31; Eph. 2:2; 6:12: Rev. 12:7f).

ISAIAH 14:12-16: Though this is a taunt taken up against the king of Babylon, most believe, due to the strong language of the passage, that it looks beyond a human being. Ultimately it must refer to Satan whom Scripture portrays as the prince of this world and the power behind many of the world rulers (Eph. 2:2; 6:12). This speaks of Satan who controlled the king of Babylon and his system of the past and will control the system of the future. In Isaiah 14:12-14, Satan is called “star of the morning,” literally, “bright, or shining one” which refers to him as a bright morning star.

LUKE 10:18: In Luke 10:18 the Lord refers to Satan as falling from heaven, like a star, and this all fits with the context and emphasis of Revelation 9 and 12. This is totally in keeping the natural use of words in language and is even found in our own English idiom. We likewise use the term “star” in both a literal and symbolical sense. We speak of the stars in heaven, but we also speak symbolically of the star of the game, of the stars in Hollywood because, like a star, they stand out among others in some particular way. It has a symbolical meaning, but it depends on the context and its normal use for its true meaning.

The literal method of approach that will be used in this study will recognize the presence of symbols, but they will be interpreted by the normal and plain meaning of the symbol derived by historical background, context, grammar, the analogy of Scripture, and general usage.

Lesson 3:
The Prologue
(1:1-8)

The Superscription
(1:1-3)

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed 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.

Title and Theme of the Book (1:1a)

The title of the book is “The Apokalupsis of Jesus Christ.” “Revelation” is the translation of the Greek noun, apokalupsis, meaning “a disclosure, an unveiling.” The term “revelation” itself is derived from the Latin revelatio (from revelare, “to reveal or unveil that which has previously been hidden”).

This was the title assigned to the book in the Latin Vulgate. The Greek title is Apocalypse, taken directly from the first word in the Greek text, apokalupsi. In this noun form the word is not found anywhere else in Greek literature, but as a verb it is continually used in the Gospels and the Epistles, in many different ways, especially in reference to some form of divine revelation to man (as of the Son of Man, in Lk 17:30). It is used by Paul in referring to the same coming event (Rom 8:18; I Cor 1:7; II Thess 1:7), and frequently in I Peter (1:7, 13; 4:13; 5:1). In the Greek text of Daniel this word is often found referring to the uncovering of secrets, or the interpretation of dreams, or the revelation of God (see Dan 2:19, 22, 28, 29, 30, 47; 10:1; 11:35).^{^[14]}

Apokalupsis means “to expose to full view what was before unknown, hidden, and secret.” In its first appearance in the New Testament (Luke 2:32), it is used of Simeon who, taking the baby Jesus in his arms, blessed Him and spoke of Him as “a light to lighten the Gentiles” (KJV). It reminds us that God intends for this book to bring light and to be understood by its readers. This opening clause is a mark of distinction which gives us not only the title, but the theme. Notice that it is not the revelation of John, but of Jesus Christ which was given to John. The common title sometimes used for the book, “The Revelation to John,” merely identifies John as the human author. But how are we to understand the phrase, “of Jesus Christ”?

Grammatically, the words “of Jesus Christ” can be either a genitive of object meaning a revelation “about Jesus Christ,” or a genitive of subject meaning a revelation “from Jesus Christ.” “From Jesus Christ” would point to Christ as the author who gave this to John through His angel (cf. 22:16). Writers differ with some arguing for one or the other of these views. Some would argue that as 22:16 shows, it is from Christ and that the subject is about “things which must shortly come to pass” (vs. 1b). Others say, no, it is a revelation of and about the person of Christ. But grammatically it is likely that “of Jesus Christ” is what grammarians call a plenary genitive and includes both ideas.[15] It is a revelation about and from the Lord Jesus. It is a revelation, a disclosure about the Christ Himself. It reveals His present work in the church, and discloses future events, but the events concern the person of Christ Himself and His return and activities associated with His second coming. In support, note the following verses:

· 1:5 — “and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness.”

· 1:7 — “Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him,” so we have an unveiling.

· 1:13f — Reveals Christ’s ministry in the middle of the lampstands.

· 5:5-6 — Reveals Jesus Christ as the Lion and the Lamb.

· 6:14f — Reveals the unveiling of the Lamb on the throne and His wrath.

· 19:10 — Reveals the return of the Lord as King of kings.

The Communication of the Book (1:1b-2)

The Chain of Communication

In keeping with the teaching of the New Testament regarding the procession of the ministries of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we see the headship of the Father who initiates this revelation through the Son (cf. 1 Cor. 11:3). First, it proceeds from the Father to the Son—“which God gave to Him.” For other Scriptures supporting the doctrine of procession see John 3:34, 35; 5:20-24; 7:16; 14:10, 24; 16:15).

Second, the communication proceeds from the Son through an angel, “and He sent and communicated it by His angel.” The term angel, angelos, is found 175 times in 171 verses of the New Testament. Though some verses refer to men, the vast majority refer to angelic beings. This prominence shows the importance of angels in the worship of God, in the communication of revelation to man, and in the execution of God’s purposes and judgments.

Angels were often God’s instruments of communication or his messengers which is the basic meaning of the word, “angel” (Heb. 2:2; Acts 7:53). They will again be used as God’s special messengers in the time described in Revelation 6-19. Angelos is used seven times of the angel or messenger to the seven churches in chapters 2-3, though in these chapters, it refers most likely to a human messenger, someone responsible for communicating the Word in each of the seven churches. The prominent idea is a messenger, an instrument of communication used by God.

There is a great deal of interest today in angels. Numerous books have been written about angels and so-called angelic encounters. Little figures of what angels are supposed to look like are a very popular item in the stores and not just around Christmas time. But we need to be careful about this interest in angels since Satan, who disguises himself as an angel of light, surely has fallen angels under his command who do the same and pose as instruments of good, even claiming revelation from God (2 Cor. 11:14-15). One of the largest cults in the world today claims it was begun because of an encounter with an angel; and shortly after the time of Paul, a false system of religion arose called gnosticism in which there was an intricate belief system in angels. Paul seems to warn about this system in its incipient form in Colossians 2:18-19.

An extremely interesting statement and a very timely one for any generation, but especially for our society, is found in Galatians 1:8. “But even though we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed.” Since the fall of Satan, no true angel from heaven would ever preach a false gospel, but hypothetically speaking, should one do so, Paul says he is to be accursed, devoted to destruction as are all the fallen angels or demonic beings (Matt. 25:41). The good angels are servants who do many tasks for God, but above all, they are messengers, as the name implies, who are responsible to witness truthfully to the person of the Lord Jesus. Three characteristics of angels: (a) they will agree with and bear testimony to the message of the Bible regarding the person and work of Christ (Rev. 1:1-2; 19:10), (b) they will always honor God and never seek honor for themselves (Rev. 19:10), and (c) they act on God’s behalf to do His will and often for the sake of Israel and the church as is so evident in the book of Daniel (10:13f; 12:1) and Revelation (see also Heb. 1:7, 14; Ps. 103:20).

Third, the communication comes from the angel as the Lord’s messenger to John who is called His bond-servant (vs. 1) (cf. Rev. 17:1; 19:9f; 21:9; 22:6,8,16).

Finally, the communication of the book is from John to the body of Christ. This is seen in the words, “to show to his bond servants” (vs. 1), and in the words, “to the seven churches…” in verse 4. “Bondservants” is the Greek word, doulos, a significant term especially when applied to the people of God. The bondservant was one who was owned by his master lock, stock, and barrel. He was totally under the authority and power of his master and dependent on him for everything—his responsibilities, his daily food, housing, and supplies, and his purpose in life. Ironically, however, it is in this servitude to Christ that we experience true freedom—freedom from bondage to sin, self, Satan, and the religion of the world. But it is not just a freedom from something. It is also a freedom to be something, a freedom to know, serve, and walk with God in the peace and righteousness of Christ choosing to serve Him rather than sin.

Perhaps the use of the terms “angel” (messenger) and “bondservant” should remind us of two key areas of truth that are related as root to fruit. They remind us of what both angels and men should be, especially the body of Christ which has been left on earth to represent the Lord Jesus as His messengers. We are to be instruments of light as portrayed in the symbol of the lampstand. This means we are messengers of Christ and servants of God, but our willingness and ability to be effective as messengers of the message of the Savior as was John is greatly dependent on truly living as bondservants of the Savior. We see this truth in the first verse of Paul’s message to the Romans where he identifies himself as “a bondservant of Jesus Christ” and then as one “called to be an apostle” (Rom. 1:1). The secret of Paul’s ministry to the nations as a preacher and an apostle and a teacher (2 Tim. 1:11) is indicated in the order of these words of identification in Romans 1:1. He was first and foremost a bondslave, one utterly surrendered to the ascended Christ, and then he was an apostle, one sent with the message as a preacher and a teacher.

One of the vital principles of the Christian life is that the way up is down, and the way to life is death—death to self and its control. The Lord Jesus is the perfect example of this, who, though being God of very God, took on the form of a bondslave in the form of true humanity and humbled Himself to die in our place that we might have life (Phil. 2:6-8). He, as a servant, came not to be ministered to, but to minister and give His life for our redemption (Mark 10:45). He taught us that becoming a productive servant begins with dying to ourselves as a grain of wheat. He said:

John 12:24-26 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains by itself alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. 25 He who loves his life loses it; and he who hates his life in this world shall keep it to life eternal. 26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there shall My servant also be; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.

General Eisenhower once rebuked one of his generals for referring to a soldier as “just a private.” He reminded him that the army could function better without its generals than it could without its foot soldiers. “If this war is won,” he said, “it will be won by privates.” In the same way, it is the common, servant-like believer who becomes the very backbone of the body of Christ. We are often overly impressed by our great evangelists and superstar Bible teachers and leaders who stand before large crowds, but if the glorious message of the person and work of Christ is to reach the world, it will be done by a church that functions as bondslaves of the Savior (cf. Luke 12:15; 12:32; 2 Pet. 2:19; 1 John 3:17).

One man tells this story of his experience with hummingbirds:

Recently we put up a hummingbird feeder with four feeding stations. Almost immediately it became popular with the hummingbirds that live in our area. Two, three, or even four birds would feed at one time. We refilled the feeder at least once a day. Suddenly the usage decreased to almost nothing. The feeder needed filling only about once a week. The reason for the decreased usage soon became apparent. A male bird had taken over the feeder as his property. He is now the only hummingbird who uses our feeder. He feeds and then sits in a nearby tree, rising to attack any bird that approaches his feeder. Guard duty occupies his every waking hour. He is an effective guard. The only time another bird gets to use the feeder is when the self-appointed owner is momentarily gone to chase away an intruder.

We soon realized that the hummingbird was teaching us a valuable lesson. By choosing to assume ownership of the feeder, he is forfeiting his freedom. He is no longer free to come and go as he wishes. He is tied to the work of guarding his feeder. He is possessed by his possession. His freedom of action is as circumscribed as if he were in a cage. He is caged by a situation he has created.[16]

Someone has said, “The true test of a servant’s heart is whether or not I am willing to act like one when I am treated like one.”

The Aim and Purpose of the Communication

“Show” is deiknumi, “to exhibit, disclose, point out.” Again we see an emphasis on disclosing the message of Revelation. God intends for this book to be communicated to His people.

“Shortly” is the Greek en tachei which can mean either of two things. It can mean soon as in the immediate future or in prophetic terms, it can mean imminent, i.e., they could occur at any time or in our day. One must remember the truth of 2 Peter 3:8, that one day is as a thousand years and vice versa from God’s viewpoint. It may also mean “rapidly, quickly, speedily.”

The point is, by comparison to the rest of history, once these things begin to unfold they will occur rapidly (cf. Luke 18:8; Acts 12:7; 22:18; 25:4; Rom. 16:20). There will be no more delays in the plan of God and in His long suffering (cf. Matt. 24:22). A similar word, tachus, is translated six times in Revelation meaning “quickly” which may illustrate the concept (cf. 2:16; 3:11; 11:14; 22:7,12,20). In view of the words “the time is near” in verse 3 (cf. 22:10), it may be best to take en tachei as “soon” and understand it to refer to the imminent return of the Lord. Imminent means “ready to take place, impending.” “The church in every age has always lived with the expectancy of the consummation of all things in its day. Imminency describes an event possible any day, impossible no day.”[17] (See Appendix 1 for reasons in support of imminency.)

The Manner of the Communication

“Communicated” is se„maino„, meaning “to show, signify, reveal by signs or symbols” as is often the case in this book. But it can also mean to reveal by words without the use of signs or symbols. John was communicated to by both the spoken word and by visions in which he saw things that were full of symbolic meaning as in 1:10-12, but these symbols are designed to be understood according to the normal meaning of the symbols.

The Things Communicated

That which is communicated is first of all defined as the “witness” of John. This is martureo„, “to be a witness, act as a witness, testify or bear witness.” It carries the idea of “attestation, verification, validation” and stresses that John was bearing testimony as a witness of what he received. That witness is defined and described in a three-fold way which shows it importance and why we need to pay attention to it message:

(1) “The Word of God”—This book with its visions is called the Word of God and is part of the whole canon of Scripture. It stands in harmony with the rest of Scripture and provides us with the culmination and conclusion. This description stresses its authority and importance to the church. It brings out the concepts of inspiration, canonicity, preservation, and illumination (cf. 1:9; 3:8, 10; 6:9; 12:11; 17:17; 19:9; 20:4).

(2) “The testimony of Jesus Christ”—The word “testimony,” marturia, a noun form of the above martureo„, also carries the idea of “attestation, verification, validation.” This could mean “the testimony about Jesus Christ,” an objective genitive, or “the testimony from Jesus Christ,” a subjective genitive. The latter is preferable because of the phrase, “the Word of (from) God,” and the context. The point is John testifies to both the Word of God and to the validation of his message from Jesus himself.”[18]

(3) “And of all the things which he saw”—The first two defined and described his testimony from the standpoint of its nature or character and source. This calls attention to the many details and areas that he saw and that will be found in the book—the great events and personages which precede and surround Christ’s coming, His kingdom, and His eternal glory.

The Promise, Plan, and Value of the Book (1:3)

The Promise—Blessing

“Blessed” is makairos, “happy, blessed” (cf. Matt. 5:3). This is a promise of the happiness, spiritual blessing, and joy that will come from knowing and responding to the truth of the book. There are seven beatitudes, the word “blessed” appearing 7 times in the book of Revelation.

Lehman Strauss defines them as: The Blessed Challenge (1:3), The Blessed Comfort (14:13), The Blessed Cautiousness (16:15), The Blessed Calling (19:9), The Blessed Conquest (20:6), The Blessed Cherishing (22:7), The Blessed Conformity (22:14).[19]

The Plan—Exposition and Application

“He who reads.” Note that this is singular while the next clause, “those who hear,” is plural. This reflects the early form of worship and one of God’s primary plans for taking in the Word. The Scripture was publicly read to the congregation. The early church didn’t have a large number of copies of the Scripture nor any books of the New Testament when they were received, so they would be read and undoubtedly also, expounded on by the pastor and teachers given to the body.

“And those who hear.” In this we see the responsibility of the flock to hear and respond. It is these who are blessed. “Hear” is akouo„, “to hear, listen, attend, perceive by hearing, comprehend by hearing.” It includes concentration and learning, and of course, to hear, one must be present when the Word is taught (Heb. 10:25).

“And heed the things…” “Heed” is te„reo„, “to guard, watch over, preserve” or “observe, apply, obey.” In this context, the main idea is that of personal application with obedience.

“The words of this prophecy” and “the things which are written.” Note that “words” and “things” are plural. They point us to the content of the book, but include the various categories and truths that make up the content of Revelation—the person of Christ, the church, the saints, the Tribulation, witnessing, faithfulness, overcoming, the angelic warfare, Israel, Satan, demons, judgments, the millennium, the resurrection, the eternal state, etc.

“Of this prophecy.” In addition to being called the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, it is called “prophecy.” Prophecy involves not only future events, but also moral and spiritual things that train, exhort, and comfort. It particularly refers to truth received by direct revelation from God (1 Cor. 14:30).

“Which are written in it.” “Written” is in the perfect tense and means “stands written.” The perfect tense stresses the permanence of the record and perhaps its availability. God has made His Word available to us and preserved it in the Canon of Scripture. In the New Testament, the concept of the Word which stands written is found over sixty times.

The Value—Its Timeliness

“For the time is as hand.” “Time” is kairos and refers to a definite season or period of time, but one that is marked out by its contents or characteristics. The time in mind is the time of Christ’s return marked out by all that will happen just before, during, and after (1:19).

“Is near” is engus which includes: (1) near as to place, close by, like the car near the garage, and (2), near as to time, soon. The idea is “near from the standpoint of prophetic revelation, i.e., next.” Again we see God’s reckoning of time (2 Pet. 3:8-9). The next phase of God’s program for the earth will be the events of this Revelation. The world is ever coming closer to this awesome time. The value of this book is that it provides orientation to the times, motivation to ministry and godliness, comfort, and instruction.

The Salutation
(1:4-8)

4 John 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; 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born 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, 6 and 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. 7 Behold, 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. Even so. 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.”

The Writer (1:4a)

“John.” The human author is John the apostle (1:4a). “The Hebrew idioms in the book, the authority of the author in relation to the churches, the use of distinctively Johannine terms like logos and “Lamb of God,” and the corroboration of Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian and Clement all affirm that the apostle John was the author of this book.”[20] Every New Testament book was written by an apostle or by one who was closely associated with an apostle, i.e., like Luke who was a companion of the apostle Paul. This was one of the marks of inspiration and necessary for recognition of a book into the canon of Scripture.

The Recipients (1:4a)

“To the seven churches in Asia” (1:4b). The whole book is addressed to seven historical churches in the province of Asia Minor. This fact should prevent anyone from saying that Revelation is nothing more than a piece of poetic idealism.[21] As will be discussed later, these seven in their historical situation are representative of the church at any particular point in history. Chapters two and three contain specific letters to these seven churches with special warnings, exhortations, commendations, and instructions.

The Greeting (1:4b)

“Grace to you and peace.” First, we should note the order of God’s blessings: Grace, then peace. Peace is always the product of knowing and appropriating the grace of God in Christ. This order can never be changed. Ignore the grace of God and you forfeit the peace of God (cf. Heb. 12:14 with vs. 15). Peace is the product of grace (2 Pet. 1:2‑4; 1 Pet. 3:18). Peter exhorts us, “but grow in the grace and knowledge of…” The more we experience the grace of God, the more capacity we have to experience the variegated aspects of God’s peace. Though the message of Revelation is primarily one of judgment, this benediction of grace and peace is notable. God here seeks to comfort and strengthen His people. Knowing this book brings a greater capacity to understand God’s grace in his patience during this age and even in the events of the future for God does not wish for any to perish, but to come to repentance (2 Pet. 3:9). Having a grasp of God’s program for the future also gives peace.

For an overview of the nature of grace and peace, see Appendix 2.

The Source of the Divine Blessings (1:4d-8)

Note that the preposition, “from,” is used three times in verses 4 and 5. This points us to three distinct and separate ministries found in the distinct ministries of the trinity.

From the Timeless and Eternal One

We should note in passing that this designation of God corresponds to the division of the book given in Revelation 1:19, the things past, the things present, and the things to come. It reminds us that He is the God of history. This should comfort and strengthen as we study about all that has, is, and will happen in the future. Behind it all is the eternal and sovereign God of the Bible.

“Who is” is literally “the one who is.” It ascribes the fact and quality of continual existence as a distinctive and emphatic quality of God’s being and essence. He is the “I Am” of the Old Testament.

“And who was.” “Was” is the imperfect of the verb “to be” and refers to God’s continual existence in past time. It stresses the Father has always been.

“And is to come” is literally “the one coming” or “the coming one.” The Greek construction again describes a fact and quality that characterizes God. It speaks of the future coming of God to take control of all things in a world that has been in open rebellion. He is coming to put down His enemies and establish His reign through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ (see 1 Cor. 15:20-28).

From the Seven Spirits

Ryrie comments,

The number seven, occurring 54 times in the book, appears more frequently than any other number. In the Bible it is associated with completion, fulfillment, and perfection (cf. Gen. 2:2; Ex. 20:10; Lev. 14:7; Acts 6:3). In Revelation there are seven churches and seven spirits (1:4), seven lampstands (1:12), seven stars (1:16), seven seals on the scroll (5:1), seven horns and seven eyes of the Lamb (5:6), seven angels and seven trumpets (8:2), seven thunders (10:3), seven heads of the dragon (12:3), seven heads of the beast (13:1), seven golden bowls (15:7), and seven kings (17:10).[22]

“The seven Spirits.” Some take this to refer to the seven angels who are before the throne, but it seems best to understand this as a reference to the Holy Spirit and the perfection or fullness of His actions and the manifold nature of His ministry. This fits both the context and the analogy of Scripture.

The book is presented as coming from three sources who seem to be presented as equal with one another. The last of these is clearly defined as Jesus Christ, the third member of the trinity. If the first is the Father, and the third is the Son, the second would in all probability be the Holy Spirit rather than seven angels. First, because only the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son, and second, though angels are involved in the visions of the revelation, only one angel was really involved in specific communication of the book to John (cf. 1:1).

There is an obvious parallel to the seven-fold ministries portrayed in Isaiah 11:2. Why is the Holy Spirit referred to as seven spirits? There is only one Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:4), but in the Bible, seven is consistently associated with perfection, fulfillment, and completeness. Evidently, because Revelation is the final book of the Bible, the culmination, the fulfillment, and climax of the ages. The number seven becomes prominent to demonstrate this.

From Jesus Christ, the God-man Savior

In verses 5a-7 there is a three-fold emphasis on Christ’s person and work to draw attention to who He is, what He has done, and will do.

Appellatives (titles) of Jesus Christ (1:5a)

(1) Our Prophet—the faithful witness. The Greek text is very emphatic. Literally it reads, “the witness, the faithful One.” This stresses the character of His witness as faithful. The Lord Jesus is the logos, the very revelation of God to man (cf. John 1:1, 14, 18). He answers man’s need of the ideal prophet or spokesman and revelation from and for God (Deut. 18:15-22).

(2) Our Priest—the firstborn of the dead. First, since He could not be the firstborn from among the dead without dying, this statement must first look back to Christ’s substitutionary death for the sin of the world (Heb. 5:1-10; 9:11-14; 10:14). Second, the firstborn from the dead is also an obvious reference to the fact of the resurrection. By the resurrection God the Father verified His acceptance of Christ’s offering of Himself by raising Him to prove our justification (Acts 2:23-24, 31-32; 4:25), prove to the world that He is God’s Son (Rom. 1:4), and prove that this Jesus will judge the world (Rom. 17:31). Third, the mention of the firstborn points to Him as our forerunner in resurrection. The first one brought forth from the dead in a glorified body is a promise that more will follow. The Lord Jesus is God’s guarantee of our resurrection and glorification (John 11:24-26).

(3) Our King—the ruler of the kings of the earth. “The ruler” is literally “the one who rules…” or “the ruling one…” It ascribes the quality of rule to Him and characterizes Him as the one who rules, the ruler (cf. 19:16). It is a rule that is going on now and it is a rule over all governments even though the world lies in rebellion and unbelief. Nations, kings, and governments rise and fall by His sovereign authority and power (cf. Matt. 28:18). Compare Daniel 2:20,21; 4:17; 5:18.

So Christ is now seated at God’s right hand, having spoiled Satan and Satan’s demonic hosts by His death and resurrection. But one day He will rise from His seat and begin to take the reigns of control through the events of the Tribulation (cf. Dan. 2:44; Rev. 4; 5; 11:15-17).

Accolades (praise) to Jesus Christ (1:5b-7)

(1) For His present ministry—“who loves us.” The Greek text uses one article with two adjectival participles which descriptively portray the person, work, and ministry of the Lord. Literally—“the one who loves,…and who released us,…” The construction of the Greek text ascribes Christ’s love for us as a constant quality and characteristic. It speaks of His constant care and ministry on our behalf.

(2) For His past ministry—“who released us…and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father.” “Released” looks at a past historic fact. It looks at this as an accomplished fact, as something that does not need repeating and Scripture strongly stresses this in the truth of the finished work of Christ. Again, it is a descriptive participle only now in the aorist tense. It is descriptive, classifying Christ as the Releaser, the one and only one who has accomplished what is necessary to release men from the penalty and power of sin.

The object of the releasing is “us,” a reference to believers in Christ, but it is available to any who will put their trust in the Savior (John 3:16).

The verb is luo„, “to untie, set free, release.” It stresses that man, apart from Jesus Christ and His work on the cross is in bondage, chained to his sin problem: both its penalty (physical, spiritual, and eternal death) and its power (weakness and domination by a sinful nature). Some MSS have “washed us” from louo„, “to wash.”

“From” is the Greek word ek, a preposition meaning “from, out of, away from.” It is a preposition of separation.

“Our sins” stresses two things: First, that the problem facing man is sin, imputed sin, inherent sin, and individual. Man’s problem is not the lack of a great society. Man is a fallen creature and this has caused both man’s separation from a holy God and the corruption of society. In himself, mankind does not have what it needs to rectify its problems. Only Christ, the sin releaser can do that. Second, it stresses that the sin problem is personal. Every person is up against the eight ball of sin and needs the saving grace of God (Rom. 3:23).

“By His blood” is a metonymy for the work of the Christ on the cross, His substitutionary death by which He dealt with the sin problem. Compare for instance, “the pen (a symbol of literary power) is mightier than the sword” (a symbol of military power).

As we think about this, we should be reminded of the total effects of what we have been separated from by His death in our place. The separation includes: (a) the PLACE from which separation takes place—Satan’s Kingdom (Col. 1:13), (b) the COMPANY from which separation takes place—Satan’s World System (John 17:15-17), (c) the CIRCUMSTANCES out of which one is brought—the Penalty and Power of sin and death—(Rom. 6:1f; Eph. 2:1f; Heb. 2:14, 15), and (d) the PERSONS with whom a connection is severed—the Son’s of disobedience (Eph. 2:2f; 5:6f).

“And He has made us a kingdom…” “Kingdom” is singular. Not kings, but a kingdom. It is collective and stresses our relationship to each other as believers and to Christ as our king. A kingdom is a place of rule. We are a kingdom, a people in whom God is to rule and who will one day reign with Christ, but because of the word “priests,” that’s not the focus here.

“Priests” is plural. Here we see our individual position, responsibility, and the purpose of this kingdom. We are a kingdom of priests to God who are to represent Him to the world. We have a collective priesthood, but every believer is a ministering priest before God. This is a far cry from what we so often see in churches today where the pastor is viewed as the minister and the people see themselves only as laymen or lay people.

“To Him be glory and dominion…” Before John turns to His future ministry and the keynote of the book—Christ’s coming again—there is a doxology of praise which both concludes what has been said and introduces what is about to be said regarding Christ’s return.

“To Him” is what we can call a dative of possession. It points us to that which rightly belongs to Christ. In this we see the great purpose of our lives.

“Be the glory.” This is the Greek doxa and refers to that which should accrue to Christ, the praise, the adoration, the rule, the respect and worship because of who He is and what He has done.

“And the dominion.” This is the Greek kratos. It means (a) power, might, and (b) rule, sovereignty.

“For ever and ever.” Man’s rule as given to him by God was lost in the garden of Eden, but never again once the Lord, the God-Man Savior, assumes His reign on earth at His second coming.

(3) For His future ministry—“Behold, He is coming with the clouds…”

“Behold” is designed to arrest our attention and get us to focus on this as the great theme of Revelation. He is coming for us (1 Thess. 4:13-18) and then with us to earth (Rev. 19:11-16), but in between, He is coming to judge the world for its rebellion (Rev. 6-19:10).

“Is coming” is the present tense of the verb, erchomai, “to come, go.” This is a future present used to denote an event which has not yet occurred, but which is regarded as so certain that in thought it is viewed as already occurring or accomplished.

“With the clouds” reminds us of Acts 1:9f and the promise of the angels at the ascension of the Lord Jesus. This may have been the Shekinah glory of God and it could be so here. There will be clouds, but clouds of the glory of God manifesting the coming glory of the Lord to rule and take up the reigns of government over the earth in a visible way (cf. Matt. 24:30).

“Every eye” simply points out that all mankind will see this in contrast to the ascension which was seen only by the disciples.

“Those who pierced Him.” In the light of Zechariah 12:10, this refers primarily to the Jews who asked for His death, but it could also refer to the Romans who carried out the sentence. In essence we all caused His death because of our sin.

“And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him.” Literally “and they shall wail over Him” (Matt. 24:30). The Greek word is kopto„ and means literally “to beat the breast in wailing and mourning.” For some it will be the mourning of repentance. For others it will be the mourning over the judgments that He will pour out on the earth and sinners.

The Benediction to the Greeting (1:7c-8)

The benediction begins with the words of verse 7, “even so, amen.” This confirms what has been said and introduces what is to follow.

“Even so” is the Greek nai, a particle of affirmation. It confirms the sure return of the Lord and the statements made about Him.

“Amen” means “to be firm, sure, true.” It is a further affirmation of the promise of the verse.

There is some disagreement about who is here speaking. Ryrie thinks this verse refers to the Father and is His affirmation of the Son. Others as Walvoord, believe it speaks of the Son.

Reasons in favor of this as a reference to the Son are: (a) He is the central person of the first chapter, and (b) in verse 17 Christ uses a similar expression of Himself when he says, “I am the first and the last.” (c) Finally, toward the close of the book two expressions are united and applied by Christ to Himself which seems to identify Him as the one speaking here (cf. 22:6, 22:13, and Isa. 44:6). This authenticates who He is—God Almighty.

However, since this follows the salutation which comes from the trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, perhaps it could be from the Godhead itself.

“I Am the Alpha and Omega.” Alpha and omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. It is equivalent to our A and Z. This does not relate so much to time but to truth. It expressed the extent of God’s knowledge and wisdom (Col. 2:3). It stresses Christ’s or the Godhead’s omniscience or infinite knowledge and wisdom. This stands then as a strong authentication of the book of Revelation because it comes from the Alpha (a) and Omega (w).

“The Almighty” is the Greek pantokrato„r from pas, “all” and kratos, “might, power.” It stresses God’s omnipotence, but also God’s sovereign supremacy over all things. It declares God’s supremacy over all the universe. The word was used in secular literature to describe the attributes of the gods and John is probably using it here in contrast to the Roman emperor’s self-designation as the autokrator.[23]

Walvoord has an excellent summary of these opening verses.

Jesus Christ is the central figure of the opening eight verses of Revelation. As the Source of revelation He is presented in verse 1. As the Channel of the word and testimony of God He is cited in verse 2. His blessings through His revealed word are promised in verse 3. In verse 5 He is the faithful Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. He is revealed to be the source of all grace who loves us and cleanses us from our sins through His shed blood. He is the source of our royal priesthood who has the right to gather in Himself all glory and dominion forever. He is promised to come with clouds, attended with great display of power and glory, and every eye shall see the One who died for men. He is the Almighty One of eternity past and eternity future. If no more had been written than that contained in this introductory portion of chapter 1, it would have constituted a tremendous restatement of the person and work of Christ such as found in no comparable section of Scripture.[24]

Application Questions:

(1) How well does my life exhibit the character of a bondslave?

(2) Am I a careful messenger who accurately bears testimony to the person and work of Jesus Christ?

(3) Am I involved in ministry as a believer priest or am I more of a spectator?

(4) Am I living as a sojourner who looks with great anticipation for the Lord’s return, or have I become more of an earth dweller whose primary goals are in this world?

Lesson 4:
The Things Past
(1:9-20)

Revelation can obviously be outlined or divided in a number of ways, but most commentators see 1:19 as a divinely-given outline. Walvoord writes:

The advantage of this outline is that it deals in a natural way with the material rather than seizing on incidentals as some expositors have done or avoiding any outline at all, as it true of other expositors. It is not too much to claim that this outline is the only one which allows the book to speak for itself without artificial manipulation…[25]

The point is that this God-given outline supports and demonstrates the futuristic approach of the book. Revelation 1:19 becomes a key to how we should interpret the book. Verse nineteen gives a three-part division: Following the prologue or introduction, we have what John calls “the things which you have seen,” i.e., the things past. This is followed by “the things which are,” the things present, and then “the things which will take place after these things,” the things future. Based on this breakdown, Revelation falls into the following three divisions:

(1) The things past are the things which John had seen from verse 9-19 including verse 20 which is an explanation of part of this vision, the vision of the glorified Christ (1:9-20).

(2) The things present are “the things which are.” This deals with the messages to the seven churches and the state of the church or the church age (2:1-3:22).

(3) The things future refer to “the things which shall take place after these things.” This takes us the reader into the future or things to come, and deals with the things that will occur after the church: the tribulation, the millennium, and the eternal state (4:1-22:21).

Remember that,

If one follows the plain, literal or normal principle of interpretation he concludes that most of the book is yet in the future. No judgments in history have ever equaled those described in chapters 6, 8, 9, and 16. The resurrections and judgment described in chapter 20 have not yet occurred. There has been no visible return of Christ as portrayed in chapter 19.[26]

Circumstances of the Vision
(1:9-11)

9 I, 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. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11 saying, “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.”

In verses 9-11 John provides us with those facts which are pertinent to the nature of the book and how John came to write it.

The Receiver of the Vision (1:9a)

“I John, your brother and fellow partaker in the…” John, of course, was well known among the churches of Asia Minor. He refers to himself as simply John in 1:1 and 1:4, but twice he says, “I John” (1:9; 22:8) which seems to add emphasis for the purpose of authenticating his witness.

In his epistles John described himself as an elder (2 John 1; 3 John 1), but here he simply calls himself “a brother and fellow partaker…”

“Brother” is the Greek adelphos, a word often used as a technical term for believers in Christ because we are all born again into God’s family. It stresses the close relationship we all have regardless of our position or gifts in the church or in society. We are still brothers under the authority and care of the Father and our older Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ.

“Fellow partaker” is the Greek sunkoino„nos, “to share jointly, to have in common with others.” It reminds us of the doctrine of koino„nia or fellowship and how we, as believers in Christ, share many things in common—a common hope, common blessings, common sufferings, and common responsibilities.

“In Jesus” is the uniting factor and the basis of our brotherhood or fellowship (1 Cor. 1:9). It calls to mind our union or position in Christ or the co-identification that we share together in Him. Note, three things are mentioned that he had in common with the seven churches.

First, John speaks of himself as “a fellow partaker in tribulation.” “Tribulation” is the Greek thlipsis from thlibo„, “to crush, press hard.” Thlipsis means “trouble, affliction, distress.” The Greek has the article with the word “tribulation,” but it goes with all three nouns linking them together as three related things that often come simultaneously to believers in Christ. Literally, “the affliction, kingdom, and endurance in Jesus.” It does not refer to “the tribulation” to come as though it had already begun. Specifically, “tribulation” in this verse refers to the persecutions and distress that John was facing on the isle of Patmos and that much of the church was experiencing for their faith in Jesus Christ because of the persecutions of the Roman emperor, Domitian.

Second, John then spoke of a “kingdom”: Though we may experience tribulation, we also share in a kingdom that enables us to become overcomers in affliction. This refers to Christ’s kingdom and rule. There are three aspects of this in which all believers in Christ share:

(1) There is the present mystery form, the kingdom of God within you which includes God’s sovereign provision, control, and deliverance: Compare Col. 1:12-13 with the mystery parables of the kingdom in Matthew 13 which describes the present mystery form between Christ’s first and second comings.

(2) There is the predicted millennial reign on earth in which all believers will take part with varying degrees of responsibility and rewards depending on their faithfulness to walk with the Lord (cf. Rom. 8:17; 1 Cor. 3:12f; Rev. 2:26; 3:12, 21; 20:4).

(3) There is the eternal form of the kingdom, the eternal state (Rev. 22:1-22:5).

However, not only do we share in tribulation, but as sharers in Christ’s kingdom and rule, we can also share in the endurance that comes to us in Christ. So…

Third, John referred to “perseverance” as further common thing we share in Jesus. This is hupomone„ from hupo, “under” and mone„, “to abide.” It means endurance, the ability to abide under pressure regardless of the intensity or length of time. This is a joint ability that all believers have in Christ if they will walk in faith and keep their eyes on the Savior (cf. Col. 1:9; Heb. 12:1-2). This is especially true when we fix our gaze on the future glory and the blessings to come (cf. the close of each message to the seven churches).

The Place of the Vision (1:9b)

John was on an island called “Patmos.” Patmos was a small, bleak, and rocky island about ten miles long and six miles wide. It was a place where prisoners and undesirables were banished and forced to work in the mines. According to early church fathers like Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Eusebius, John was sent here and forced to work in the mines though way up in years. This points to the source of his affliction and endurance as a partaker of Christ’s rule and reign in his life.

“Because of the Word of God” points us to the cause or reason for John’s banishment as an undesirable—his unswerving faithfulness to proclaim the Word and share Jesus Christ with men. Please note, though men could circumscribe his human activities, they could not bind the Spirit of God nor the testimony of Jesus Christ nor the power of the Word of God (2 Tim. 2:9).

Moses wrote the Pentateuch in the wilderness. David wrote many psalms while being pursued by Saul. Isaiah lived in difficult days and died a martyr’s death. Ezekiel wrote in exile. Jeremiah’s life was one of trial and persecution. Peter wrote his two letters shortly before martyrdom. Thus in the will of God the final written revelation was given to John while suffering for Christ and the gospel.[27]

The Spiritual Circumstances (1:10-11)

“And I was in the Spirit.” The tense, the verb used, and the fact of this statement pointing us to the reason for the visions of this book all suggests this refers to something unusual instead of the normal experience of the Spirit controlled walk.

Such visions as depicted in this book are never stated to be one of the products or promises of the Spirit filled walk (Gal. 5:22f). Rather, it refers to a state where God could supernaturally reveal the special contents of this book. The verb here can be classified as an ingressive aorist describing an entrance into a condition. The verb is ginomai, “to come to be, become.” Literally, “I came to be in the Spirit.” It refers to an entrance into an unusual state. “Such was the experience of Ezekiel (Ezek. 2:2; 3:12, 14; etc.), Peter (Acts 10:10-11; 11:5), and Paul (Acts 22:17-18).”[28]

The Time of the Vision

“On the Lord’s day” is taken by interpreters in two different ways: (a) the Lord’s day as the first day of the week or Sunday, or (b) as a reference to the Day of the Lord, the Tribulation.

“Lord” is the Greek kuriakos, an adjective meaning “belonging to the Lord, lordian, imperial.” And though the Day of the Lord in other places is always written differently (he„mera kuriou), due to the unique emphasis of this book, a number of writers as Walvoord, Ryrie, and Pentecost and others believe this word does not refer to Sunday, but rather to the Day of the Lord of the Old Testament, an extended period of time when God will deal in judgment and sovereign rule over the earth.[29]

John, through this spiritual state, was projected into the Day of the Lord, that imperial day and time when the Lord would return in His kingly glory and take the reins of earthly government via the events and conditions of chapters 4-22. Support for this is as follows:

(1) Unless this is the exception, the expression, “the Lord’s day,” as a reference to Sunday is nowhere else used in the Bible. This word, kuriakos is used only here and in 1 Cor. 11:20 where it is used of the Lord’s supper, but not a day. Outside the New Testament it meant “imperial.”

(2) The day that the early church regularly met, the day of Christ’s resurrection, was consistently called “the first day of the week,” and never “the Lord’s day” (cf. Matt. 28:1; Mark 16:2,9; Luke 24:1; John 20:1,19; Acts 20:7; 1 Cor. 16:2).

(3) Walvoord adds, “it is questionable in any case whether the amazing revelation given in the entire book could have been conveyed to John in one twenty-four-hour day, and it is more probable that it consisted of a series of revelations.”[30]

(4) “And I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet” calls attention to the awesome nature of what John was about to see, a vision of the glorified Christ. Trumpets are used in the Bible to announce important occasions and to assemble God’s people for some kind of preparation. The important occasion here is the vision of Christ which is preparatory to all that follows.

The Command to Record the Vision

“Write in a book what you see” is one of twelve times John was told to write in the book what he saw. This indicates John was to write after seeing each vision. In 10:4, John was told not to write, but seal up what was spoken.

“And send it to the seven churches” shows us again that God’s intends for the church to have and know the contents of the book of Revelation. The entire book along with the individual messages were to be written for and sent to the seven churches.

Content of the Vision
(1:12-16)

12 And I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands; 13 and in the middle of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle. 14 And His head and His hair were white like white wool, like snow; and His eyes were like a flame of fire; 15 and His feet were like burnished bronze, when it has been caused to glow in a furnace, and His voice was like the sound of many waters. 16 And in 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.

The Position of the Lord (1:12-13a)

Having turned to see the voice, a figure for the one who was speaking to John, he was then given and recorded the vision of the seven golden lampstands and the glorified Christ seen in the very center of the vision. The Position of the Lord in the middle of the seven golden lampstands (1:12-13a), is of course, the most striking feature of this vision. It draws our attention not only to His glorious appearance, but to the central place He has and deserves in the life of the church.

The meaning of the seven golden lampstands with Christ in the center:

(1) The vision is for the seven churches of Asia Minor (vs. 20) who represent the church at large throughout the ages. Its truth is for our comfort, encouragement, challenge, and instruction.

(2) In the Old Testament, the lampstands of the tabernacle and the temple consisted of a seven-branched lampstand, a single stand with one center lamp and three on each side. Here, however, we have seven separate lampstands arranged in a circle with Christ standing in the center.

(3) The lampstands are made of gold, a symbol of the deity of Christ who gives beauty to the church when it exhibits His character. He is the reason for our value. In ourselves, we are only clay vessels.

(4) The lampstands are filled with olive oil, a symbol of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, and they are responsible to give out light, their principle function, in the power of the indwelling Spirit.

(5) But the key note is the circle of lamps with Christ in the center pointing emphatically to the centrality and priority of Christ. He is the center, the hub, and the heart of the church at large and of each individual local church. Note that the Lord has a direct relationship with each church. He is in our midst to minister to us, to search us, and to enable us and we are in the world to give off light to point men to Christ.

The Description of the Lord (1:13b-16)

The description which follows symbolically represents the attributes and traits of Christ which demonstrate His relationship to the events of the book of Revelation and His qualifications to carry out and accomplish all that will follow. But before the description of His glory or deity begins, note how He is defined: as “one like a son of man.” This title points to his true humanity and Messianic character. Though portrayed in all the glory of His deity in the similes that follow, He is still the Son of Man, one made like His brethren that He might be a faithful high priest and reclaim what Adam lost in the fall (cf. Heb. 2:9f). Note also, as the Son of Man, He is seen “clothed in a robe reaching to the feet, and girded across His breast with a golden girdle.”

This vision is introductory to chapters 2 and 3, the letters to the churches, and the events that follow dealing with the judgments of the Tribulation. This portrays Him in His role as the Son of Man who is also a priest and judge. His role as priest and judge is a somber and significant note as He stands in the midst of the seven churches because it calls our attention to just exactly who He is.

(1) His head and hair (14a)— “were white like wool, like snow.” This corresponds and is designed to remind us of the vision in Daniel of “the Ancient of Days” (Dan. 7:9). This represents (a) His eternal wisdom, the wisdom of age as the one whose “goings forth are from old, from everlasting” (Mic. 5:2), and (b) His complete purity or holiness symbolized in the white wool and snow.

(2) His eyes (14b)— “were like a flame of fire.” This speaks of His penetrating vision, searching righteousness, and judgment into the affairs of the church and mankind as a whole. Perhaps there is in this a connection with the Bema, the judgment seat of Christ for believers, and the Great White Throne Judgment (GWTJ) for unbelievers. The fire which will try men’s works at the Bema and prove the condition of their heart at the GWTJ will be the penetrating and holy gaze of Christ (1 Cor. 3:12f; 2 Cor. 5:10,11; Rev. 20:11-12 and Rom. 3:23; 4:2).

(3) His feet (15a)— “were like burnished bronze.” Literally, the Greek says, “his feet like fine brass (or refined bronze) as when it has been burned (refined—the perfect tense of completed action) in the furnace or oven.” “The idea may be ‘glowing’ and it would indicate that the metal is not only the finest and brightest, but it is aglow as if still in the crucible.”[31]

In Scripture both brass and fire stand for divine judgment as seen in the Old Testament types of the brazen altar and other items of brass used in connection with sacrifice for sin (Ex. 38:30).[32]

Christ is able to stand in the midst of the church as priest and judge and will be able to execute the world wide judgments that follow on the basis of the divine judgments He Himself endured through His life and sufferings on earth as the Lamb of God without spot or blemish.

(4) His voice (15c)— “was like the sound of many waters.” His voice as John heard it was like a mighty waterfall. As the water of Niagara Falls is so loud that it silences all voices around, so this portrays Jesus Christ as the absolute voice of authority to which all human authority must bow.

(5) His right hand (16a)— “And in His right hand He held seven stars.” Verse 20 will explain the mystery of the seven stars in the right hand of the Savior. For now, it is enough to recognize that the right hand is a symbol of strength, power, and honor. The stars, the angels or messengers, are in a place of honor, but they are also under His authority, strength and protection.

(6) His sword (1:16b)— “and out of His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword.” Sword is mentioned a total of nine times in Revelation. Here, it is the Greek rhomphaia, mentioned five times in Revelation. Another Greek word for sword, makaira, the short Roman two-edged sword, is mentioned four times.

The rhomphaia was the long and heavy broad sword of the Thracians and other barbarous nations who often marched as God’s instruments of judgment over one country after another. It symbolizes the irresistible authority and devastating force of our Lord’s judgment (cf. 19:15). Hebrews 4:12 speaks of the Word of God as “quick and powerful, sharper than a two-edged sword.” In Hebrews 4:12, however, the Greek word is machaira which speaks of the penetrating power of God’s Word to uncover our inner lives and to get to the root of our needs.

However, it is this same word which, proceeding out of His mouth, will be the basis of Christ’s judgment of men (cf. John 12:48). So, this may also be in view since this sword comes out of the mouth of Christ. It is thus, an instrument of judgment, of war, of death and destruction.

(7) His countenance or face (16c)— “and His face was like the sun shining in its strength.” This is undoubtedly a reference or symbol of the brilliance of the divine glory of Christ portraying His holiness and deity. It was this that blinded Paul on the Damascus road and which here caused John to fall at Christ’s feet as a dead man (vs. 17). Here is the Sun shining in the midst of the church. He and He alone is our source of light and righteousness. Paul describes us as heavenly luminaries in Philippians 2:15. The Greek word there is pho„ste„r which can refer to the sun, but also to the moon or planets that get their light from their sun. He is to us what our sun is to the moon. He is our light, our holiness, and our means of becoming light to the world. Do we take His holiness for granted or do we fall prostrate before Him in humble submission and adoration? This naturally brings us to our next point:

Consequences of the Vision
(1:17-20)

17 And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, “Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18 and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19 Write therefore the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall 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.”

The Word of Comfort (1:17-18)

On several occasions when men have had a glimpse of the glory of God, they rightly fell on their face in humble submission and reverence or responded in some way that showed the effect on man the creature when faced with the awesomeness of the Creator’s glory. But when they did this, God spoke or touched them or both (cf. Dan. 10:8-10, 15-16; Matt. 17:6-7). And so here, the Lord Jesus placed His right hand upon John and spoke words of comfort.

Why did the Lord do this? Because the sovereignty and holiness of God that becomes terror and judgment to the unbelieving world becomes a source of comfort and protection to the believer in Christ because He stands cleansed and purified in the merit and love of Christ (Isa. 6:1-8).

The basis for having no fear— “I am the first and the last.” This is similar to 1:8 and both of these statements are applied to Christ later in the book (21:6; 22:13; 2:8). But we need to ask why does the Lord describe Himself as the first and the last? A couple of Old Testament passages point us to the meaning and significance of this.

Isaiah 41:4, 48:12-13 “Who has performed and accomplished it, Calling forth the generations from the beginning? ‘I, the Lord, am the first, and with the last. I am He.’”… 12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob, even Israel whom I called; I am He, I am the first, I am also the last. 13 Surely My hand founded the earth, And My right hand spread out the heavens; When I call to them, they stand together.”

By the context we can see that this description stands for God’s independent, self-existence, and self-sufficiency as the transcendent and sovereign God of the universe. He stands outside and independent of all creation. This same designation is used in Revelation 2:8 to comfort a church in affliction because it stands for Christ’s deity and sovereignty over all our affairs. Christ, our Savior and Lord, is God, the origin and goal, the self-existent one who sees the beginning from the end, in whom all the treasure of wisdom and knowledge abide, and who is in total control.

“And the living One; and I became dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore.” In these words we see His assurance of eternal life and resurrection. He is the one who, as the eternal God, became man and died, but who conquered death by His death for sin and by His resurrection.

“And I have the keys of death and of Hades.” As the one who conquered death, He has the keys of death and Hades. “Keys” means authority and power. In Scripture a key is a sign of authority and power. While going through seminary in Dallas, Texas, I worked in the Dallas Juvenile Detention Home and carried a large key that was attached to my belt with a chain that was used to unlock and lock juvenile inmates. It was a sign of authority. So, the Lord Jesus has control over both death and hades. What does this mean?

(1) He is the Lord over physical death which terminates life in this world. By His death for sin and His resurrection, Christ has wrenched from Satan’s hands any authority the devil had over death (cf. Heb. 2:14-15). This means “no man can die apart from divine permission even though afflicted by Satan and in trial or trouble”[33] (cf. Ps. 68:19-20).

(2) He is the sovereign over hell or life after death. “Hell” (KJV) and “Hades” (NASB) is the Greek hades. The Greek word hades, commonly translated “hell,” refers to the intermediate state and is to be distinguished from the lake of fire or Gehenna, which refers to the eternal state. To avoid confusion it is better to transliterate the word hades (as does the NASB) and to use the word “hell” as referring to the eternal state only.[34]

As the one who has the keys over death and hades, Christ is sovereign over death in this life and over the life to come.

Please refer to the Glossary in Appendix 7 for definitions of hell and related terms.

The Word of Command (1:19-20)

Now the apostle is commanded to write the things which he had seen and would see in the visions to follow. As pointed out previously, this gives us God’s outline for the book and shows us we should have a futuristic approach to the great majority of the book of Revelation.

Verse 20 explains the mystery of the seven golden lampstands and seven stars. In Scripture, “mystery” refers to what was before unknown but is then revealed by revelation from God. It is not something mysterious, but previously unknown. The lampstands are the churches portraying their function and purpose in the world and the stars are the angels or messengers of the seven churches.

But, how do we take the word “angels”? “Angels” is the Greek angelos which means “messenger.” In scripture, it is used of both men (Luke 7:27; 9:52; Jam. 2:25) and angelic beings. So, is this a reference to angelic beings who function somewhat like guardian angels? Or do we take this as a reference to human messengers who either carry the message of these letters or who are leaders of the seven churches? Much more will be said on this in the next chapter, but Walvoord has a good summary:

It is possible that these messengers had come actually to the Isle of Patmos, but it is more probable that they refer to the leaders in these churches to whom the messages primarily are addressed. The spiritual significance is that these angels are messengers who are responsible for the spiritual welfare of these seven churches and are in the right hand of the Son of Man, indicating possession, protection, and sovereign control. As the churches were to emit light as a lampstand, the leaders of the churches were to project light as stars.[35]

Lesson 5:
The Message to Ephesus
(2:1-7)

“Forsaken First Love”

Distinctive Features of the Seven Churches

Before actually beginning the exposition of the message to Ephesus, it would be helpful to consider a few of the distinctive and common features that can be observed in each of the messages to the churches of Asia Minor as we find them in Revelation 2 and 3.

The Selection of These Particular Churches

Why seven and why these? These were letters to seven historical churches at the time of John’s writing. The letters each dealt with actual conditions of church life in John’s day. But as God’s Word is written to the whole body of Christ for all history, they are also representative of all churches both in John’s day and at any time in the history of the church. Just as the letters to the Corinthians concern not only the church at Corinth, but all churches past, present, and future, so do these letters. Reasons:

(1) The fact there are seven, but only seven listed. Though many other churches existed and many were larger and better known, only these seven were selected. Seven is the number of completion and it is suggested that these seven perfectly represent conditions that would be characteristic of various churches throughout history.

(2) Though each letter is written to a specific church, all the letters close with the words “let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches (pl.).” Each message is pertinent to all the churches, not only of John’s day, but of ours as well.

The Sufficiency of Christ

It should be noted that each message with its warning or counsel or comfort begins by calling attention to some aspect of the majesty and glory of Christ as to His person and work as it is revealed in the vision of chapter one. But, significantly, this is always in some way related to the needs, problems, and conditions within the local assembly. This serves to stress how Jesus Christ perfectly meets our need, and is the source of our strength. All the problems and needs of the church are met in Jesus Christ. He and He alone is the ANSWER to our needs and the SOLUTION to our problems. Please note:

(1) Christ is the Author of each message: it is a special word from Him.

(2) Christ is the Answer for our every problem: He is our need and solution.

(3) Christ is the Authority for our lives: we are all answerable to Him.

The Omniscience of Christ

Each letter begins with a statement of the Lord’s omniscience like “I know your works or deeds” (cf. 2:2, 9, 13, 19; 3:1, 8, and 15). How awesome this is and how careful this should make us. This should make us careful to walk by the Spirit for it is Christ Himself, whose searching eyes, like a flame of fire, tries our works. Yet, how comforting for there is no problem and no condition that we face that He does not know or care about.

Our Susceptibility to Local Conditions

In each letter to the churches, there is a unique relationship between the problems they faced and the particular nature and character of the environment in which they lived. It is these conditions that presented particular temptations, testings, and problems.

Chapters 2 and 3 contain seven messages that are extremely practical for us today both on a personal and a corporate level. For the most part, each letter contains six divisions:

1. A reference to the City or Assembly, the destination of the letter

2. A description of Christ, the Author and Answer

3. A Commendation or Approval

4. A Condemnation or the Ailment

5. A Counsel or Admonition

6. A Challenge and an Assurance

Now let’s look at the church at Ephesus and the problem of forsaken first love in verses 1-7.

The City and the Assembly
(2:1a)

2a “To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:”

Ephesus was located near the mouth of the Cayster River only three miles from the coast. It became the capitol of Asia Minor, was connected by highways with the interior of Asia and all her chief cities, and became a great commercial center. The emperor had made Ephesus a free city and it was given the title “Supreme Metropolis of Asia.” It also contained one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the temple of Diana, and was a center of mystical cult worship. “The temple was 425 feet long, 220 feet wide, and 60 feet high, with great folding doors and 127 marble pillars, some of them covered with gold. The worship of Diana was ‘religious immorality’ at its worst.”[36]

The church of Ephesus was established by Paul on his third missionary journey (read Acts 19-20), and it was from this church that Paul called the elders of Ephesus to meet him at Miletus when he was on his way to Jerusalem (Acts 20:16f). After that, Ephesus became the residence of the apostle John before and after his exile, but no church stands there today. Many believe this church may well represent the apostolic age in its moral and doctrinal purity.

The Author and the Answer
(2:1b)

“The One who holds the seven stars.” This is a note of warning and comfort. It stresses Christ’s authority, control, possession, and provision for the messengers of the local churches who have the responsibility to lead and teach God’s Word. They are in the hand of the risen Savior to whom all authority in heaven and earth has been given (Matt. 28:18). As the one who holds them, He will provide for, protect and enable them for their ministry. But this also stresses the messenger’s need to be both submissive to and dependent upon his Lord for all that is needed for his ministry.

“The One who walks among the seven lampstands.” “Who walks.” In the vision of chapter one, He is evidently standing, but here we see not only Christ’s constant presence in our midst, but His active ministry. In that ministry, He examines us for the quality of our production, He provides for our needs, and He is always available to us seeking to minister and to have fellowship. Our need is to be available to Him! This is also a note of warning and comfort.

The Commendation or Approval
(2:2-3)

2 ‘I know your deeds and your toil and perseverance, and that you cannot endure evil men, and you put to the test those who call themselves apostles, and they are not, and you found them to be false; 3 and you have perseverance and have endured for My name’s sake, and have not grown weary.

The Lord’s Knowledge

The opening words of verse 2, “I know,” serve to stress Christ’s omniscience, interest, and evaluation of the works, life, and activity of the church. Nothing escapes Him, nothing! Compare 1 Corinthians 3:12f; 2 Corinthians 5:9-10; Psalm 139:1-12.

Their Works

“Deeds” is the noun, erga, the plural of ergon, and refers to “a deed or action or task (this was an active church), to occupational or official activity or service (shows Christ was aware of their official ministries and service, i.e., elder, deacon, teacher, helps, etc.), and of achievements, accomplishments (Christ knew what they had done on His behalf). Compare 1 Corinthians 15:51.

“Toil” is kopos, and referred to a toil or labor to the point of weariness. It stresses the depth and degree of their labor for the Lord. Compare Colossians 1:29-2:1.

“Perseverance” is hupomeno„, from hupo meaning “under” and meno„ meaning “to abide.” It refers to the capacity or ability to endure, to remain under pressure or pain over the long haul. It looks at staying power. Compare James 1:2-4. This word stressed the extent of their labor whereas “toil,” kopos, stressed the degree. Verse 3 will expand on this.

Their Moral and Doctrinal Purity

“That you cannot endure evil men.” “Endure” is the Greek bastazo„, “to bear, carry as a burden,” and then, “to endure,” “tolerate.” Now compare Galatians 6:1-5. However, when men refuse to respond to the Word and personal rebuke, there comes a time when believers should no longer tolerate their actions and must take the necessary steps as outlined in the Word. Point: The Ephesian church had refused to allow apostasy and immorality to go on in the church. They exercised church discipline when men refused to respond to God’s Word (Matt. 18:15-18; 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1; 2 Thess. 3:6-15; 1 Tim. 5:19-20; Titus 3:10-11).

Their Spiritual Discernment

“And have put to test…” peirazo„, “to make proof of, to test, try, prove.” They remembered the word of the apostles regarding false teachers (Acts 20:20-31; Jude 17-18). There are three major areas to test: (1) the message and doctrinal belief (1 John 4:1-2); (2) the manner of life (1 John 3:10; 4:8; Jude; Matt. 7:15f); (3) the audience, to whom do they appeal? (1 John 4:5-6).

Verse 3 summarizes their perseverance. They endured. They had not grown weary but things were not as they should be. Ephesus was orthodox in theology, practice, and service, yet something was missing which, if not corrected, would ruin their light-bearing capacity. This is followed, then, by condemnation. A key to their problem can be observed by comparing the deeds, labor and perseverance here with that of the church at Thessalonica (1 Thess. 1:3) where the same Greek words are used, only we should note the accompanying phrases—work of faith, labor of love, and endurance of hope. Faith, love and hope were the sources of the work, the labor, and the endurance. This stressed production from a vital spiritual life.

The Condemnation or Ailment
(2:4)

4 ‘But I have this against you, that you have left your first love.’

“Forsaken first love.” The word “left” is the Greek word aphie„mi, “to leave, forsake, depart.” It stresses an act for which one is personally responsible. This is not LOST LOVE, but LEFT LOVE and suggest three particular problems: (a) they had moved away from their original position of devotion and fervor for the Savior by a gradual departure (Heb. 3:7f); (b) they came to put service for the Lord ahead of love, devotion, and fellowship with Him (remember 1 Thessalonians 1:3 and compare Proverbs 4:23); (c) their labor gradually came to be merely mechanical, the thing they were responsible to do, but the Savior wants it to be the result of the abiding life, the result of an intimate walk with Him through the Spirit of God (John 15:1-7; Gal. 5:1-5, 16-26; Eph. 5:18).

But the Man in the midst of the churches saw what was missing: they had left (not “lost”) their first love (Jer. 2:2). The local church is espoused to Christ (2 Cor. 11:2), but there is always the danger of that love growing cold. Like Martha, we can be so busy working for Christ that we have no time to love Him (Luke 10:38–42). Christ is more concerned about what we do with Him than for Him. Labor is no substitute for love. To the public, the Ephesian church was successful; to Christ, it had fallen.[37]

When the Lord first appointed the twelve disciples, it is significant that Mark tells us that Jesus appointed them for two main purposes marked off by two hina purpose clauses in the Greek text: (a) to be with Him and (b) to send them forth to preach and to cast out demons, and the order here is very significant. The first order of His appointment was their fellowship, being with the Lord Jesus, with their ministry in the world being the product of that fellowship as root to fruit or enablement to activity.

With this in mind, we come to the Lord’s loving counsel and admonition.

The Counsel or Admonition
(2:5a, b)

5 ‘Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first;…’

The church as Ephesus from all outward appearances was a very spiritual church for it was certainly a church that was very active in the work of God. They toiled for the Lord, endured much, were doctrinally sound, and took a strong stand against the deeds of the Nicolaitans (vss. 2-3, 6). Nevertheless, something was wrong. They were guilty of a sin that is sometimes hard to detect. But the Lord, who knows our hearts as well as our outward deeds, counsels Ephesus to do three things that were desperately needed to reestablish their closeness and walk with the Savior, or they would lose their witness. There is a very important lesson in this message for God’s people in any period of history, but the message here is particularly important for our performance oriented society. It is the warning that, if we are not ever so careful, we can lose our spiritual vitality, the abiding life principle where we live and serve out of our awareness of Him, and slip into mere orthodox routine. Someone has rightly said that a routine can become like a rut which can be nothing more that a grave with the ends knocked out.

The three things they needed:

(1) Remember. This is a call to reflect, to go back and recall the past. The Savior is saying, “remember the way it used to be in your relationship with Me.” Undoubtedly, the process of looking back is also a call to recognize one’s true condition. We can’t very well confess sin if we don’t clearly see it for what it is. Has our Christian life lost some of its excitement and joy? Are we finding our Christian work rather boring and dull, even to the point of drudgery? Have we lost the joy of the Lord, if so, it is because we have left the position of devotion and occupation with Christ.

“Are fallen” is the perfect tense in the Greek. It looks at a completed act with existing results, a state, and not a process. We are in a fallen condition (are out of fellowship) and working in the energy of the flesh whenever we move away or cease to operate out of condition of love and devotion that stems from personal fellowship or a walk of faith with the Lord Jesus.

(2) Repent. Repent is the Greek word, metanoeo„. This word means to change the mind or purpose, to change one’s decision. It means to recognize one’s previous decision, opinion, or condition as wrong, and to accept and move toward a new and right path in its place. The verb is in the aorist tense in the Greek which may look at a single, decisive act. Repentance includes confession of sin with a view to stopping the bad behavior so it can be replaced with what was right.

(3) Repeat. “Do the deeds you did at first.” This is not a call to more Christian service or to renewed Christian activity. They had plenty of that. Then what does the Lord mean and how does this apply to us?

“First” is pro„tos which means “first in time, place, or rank.” It clearly looks back to the beginning of a Christian’s life, but could it not include those deeds which should be first in a believer’s life and are the most important because of what they mean to us, to God, and our fellowship with Him?

So, what are the first deeds? John does not say, but in the light of the above mentioned passages they include the basic techniques and disciplines of fellowship and abiding in the Lord. It would include such things as honest confession of sin, prayer, Bible study, reading, meditation, memorization, fellowship with believers, being occupied with Christ and refocusing all of our life on Him, the faith rest life, reckoning on our position in Christ, etc. (cf. Mark 3:14; 6:30-32; John 15:4-8; Ps. 119).

The Alternative—Removal
(2:5c)

5c ‘…or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place—unless you repent.’

Removal of their lampstand or witness is the alternative. Our Lord was and is saying, either do the above three or else you will lose your light-bearing capacity. Left love means lost light. The church of Ephesus does not stand today. Its light has been not just dimmed, but completely snuffed out.

A Second Commendation or Approval
(2:6)

6 ‘Yet this you do have, that you hate the deeds of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.’

They hated the deeds of the Nicolaitans. Scholars differ on their understanding of this group. Some think they were the followers of Nicolas according to early church Fathers (cf. Acts 6:5). Since their heresy seems to be associated with the doctrine of Balaam in 2:14-15, some believe this was an antinomian sect that advocated license in matters of Christian conduct, including free love. Others believe, based on the etymology of the word which can mean, “one who rules the laity” or “laity-conqueror,” that it was an error that exalted the clergy over the laity. Regardless, the church at Ephesus took a strong stand against the heresy and is commended by the Lord for doing so. Note that what was merely a matter of deeds in Ephesus, became an accepted doctrine in Pergamum because it was tolerated. An important lesson. If we do not correct our practices by the Word, they will become traditions that become the doctrines of men who nullify the Word of God.

The Call or Appeal
(2:7a)

7a ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.…’

A final exhortation (2:7a). “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” This is a loving call to hear what the Holy Spirit is teaching in these seven messages. Note the change from an appeal to the individual, “he who has an ear,” to the plural, “what the Spirit says to the churches.” This change broadens the appeal of each message to all the churches because the messages are representative and applicable to all of us. Here the Spirit of God who is the Spirit of truth and the author and teacher of Scripture is calling on us to evaluate our openness to respond to the things that need to be learned and applied in these messages.

The Certainty or Assurance
(2:7b)

7b ‘…To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God.’

Each message of Revelation 2 and 3 concludes with a promise to the overcomer, but there is a great deal of disagreement over the meaning of the overcomer promises. “Overcome” is the nikao„, “to conquer, prevail, triumph, overcome.” But the question is how exactly are we to understand these promises to those who overcome? This is where the disagreement exists. There are four primary views of these passages:

(1) The loss of salvation view: The promises are written to believers to encourage them to overcome lest they lose their salvation. To fail to overcome is to lose salvation.

(2) The ultimate triumph of faith or the perseverance of the saints view: According to this view all genuine believers persevere and overcome the world by living godly and obedient lives. Overcoming equals faithfulness or obedience which proves the genuineness of salvation.

(3) The all believers view: According to this view, all believers become overcomers the moment they believe in Jesus Christ. The very act of believing overcomes the world: “Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:5). Faith, not faithfulness is the primary focus in this position.

(4) The rewards view: According to this view, the overcomer passages are promises of rewards given to believers to encourage them to be faithful by overcoming the trials and temptations of life through faith in their new life in Christ.

For a discussion of the various views and some of the issues involved, see Appendix 3. For reasons discussed in Appendix 3, the fourth view is the position that is presented in this study.

The promise regarding the tree of life: “To him who overcomes, I will grant to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God” (Rev. 2:7b).

“Paradise,” paradeisos, is a Persian word meaning, “a pleasure park, or garden.” The Septuagint uses it to translate the Garden of Eden in Genesis 2:8-10. To the oriental mind it meant the sum of blessedness. Christ, as the “last Adam,” is the restorer of paradise lost as is seen clearly in Revelation 22:1-4, and 14.

But what about “the tree of Life”? First, the tree of life is literal. It is not just a symbol for eternal life or for the person of Christ. In Revelation 21:1-22:5, John is describing the eternal state which includes the new heaven and the new earth with the new Jerusalem, a literal place with some 25 verses devoted to its description. It is not a symbol.

Second, it is probably not just one tree, but a collective term referring to a whole row of trees that exist between the river and the avenue described in Revelation 22. This is all a part of the beautiful park or paradise of God.

Third, having a right to the tree of life is not equivalent to salvation, nor is it necessary for the maintenance of life. Why? Because possession of eternal life and the maintenance of eternal life comes from possession of Jesus Christ who is our eternal life. All believers possess eternal life at the point of believing in Christ (John 3:16). Furthermore, eternal life, as God’s gift to those who believe, is never maintained by what we do. Compare 1 John 5:11-12; John 1:12; 3:16, 18, 36; 5:24; 6:47; 11:25, 26; 20:31; 17:3.

Fourth, the tree of life, then, must offer some kind of superlative experience and blessing though the details are simply not explained to us. It is left with a certain vagueness, but in 2 Corinthians 12:4 we read that Paul, when he was caught up to Paradise, heard inexpressible words which a man is not permitted to speak. Hodges writes, “The vagueness surrounding the promise of the tree of life is an example of the deliberate inexplicitness of the rewards which are mentioned. Almost all of the other promises have something of the same undefined, but numinous, character.”[38]

It is simply a special reward for those who overcome through a walk of faith that results in faithfulness; it is a special reward of special blessing that will somehow enrich the blessings of paradise. I am reminded of Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 15:58 which promise:

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord.

Lesson 6:
The Message to Smyrna
(2:8-11)

“The Church in Suffering”

The City and the Assembly
(2:8a)

8 “And to the angel of the church in Smyrna write:…”

Again we should note that it is the risen and ascended, but active Savior who addresses the church in these messages. He walks about in the midst of the church (2:1) and as the one whose penetrating eyes are like a flame of fire (1:14), He knows every detail and situation of His church, individually and corporately. He knows all about the society in which we live and how it affects us and our testimony for Him, but as the all-knowing Savior, He comes and lovingly speaks to us where we live and calls us to find our source of happiness and strength and life in Him.

The City of Smyrna

Its location

Smyrna lay just 35 miles north of Ephesus on the west coast of Asia on the Aegean Sea. It was the loveliest of all the cities and was sometimes called “the Ornament of Asia,” “the Crown of Asia,” or sometimes “the Flower of Asia.” It was beautifully situated. It stood at the end of a road that journeyed westward across the lands of Lydia (western Asia Minor) and Phrygia (a land in the center of Asia Minor, our modern Turkey) and traveled out to the east.

In relation to the sea, it stood at the end of a long arm of the sea which ended in a small land-locked harbor in the very heart of the city making it one of the safest harbors. It controlled the trade of the rich Hermus Valley and was a great, wealthy, and important city. The city itself began at the harbor and traversed the narrow foothills. Behind the city rose a hill covered with temples and noble buildings which encircled a hill named the Pagos, but the hill was also called the “the Crown of Smyrna” because of the way the buildings formed a crown around the hill.

Its history

Smyrna had been a Greek colony as far back as 1000 B.C. Around 600 B.C. it was invaded and destroyed by the Lydeans and for 400 years there was no city there at all. Then around 200 B.C. Lysimachus had it rebuilt as a planned and unified whole. It was built with streets that were broad, straight, sweeping, and beautifully paved. The city had experienced death and had literally been brought back to life. It is undoubtedly because of Smyrna’s historical past, Christ refers to Himself as, “He who was dead and has come to life.”

Smyrna was a free city, one that knew the meaning of loyalty and fidelity to Rome unlike most cities. Cicero called it, “one of our most faithful and our most ancient allies.” It was the first city in the world to erect a temple to the goddess Roma and to the spirit of Rome. Her fidelity to Rome was famous in the ancient world. So again, Christ said to the church there, “be faithful unto death.”

In all of this there existed what was called “municipal vanity” and it was known for its “municipal rivalry and pride.” Everyone there wished to exalt Smyrna. So, it was not without reason that Christ spoke of Himself as “the first and the last.” In comparison with His glory, all earthly distinctions are pure emptiness and strife for being first in something pales into insignificance in view of His eternal glories.

There was a population of Jews in the city who were not only numerous, but influential and who did everything they could to hurt the church in Smyrna. So, the Lord also addresses this issue in this letter as well (vs. 9-10).

Another interesting fact is that the city received its name from one of its principle products, a sweet perfume called myrrh. This was a gum resin taken from a shrub-like tree. Though it had a bitter taste, the resin of the tree was used in making perfume (Ps. 45:8), was one of the ingredients used in the anointing oil of the priests (Ex. 30:23), and in the embalming of the dead (John 19:39). Smyrna is Ionic Greek for myrrh, a fragrant perfume used in burial. Many believe this church represents the martyrs of all time and the sweet smelling fragrance of their devotion until death (cf. 2Cor. 4:14-16).

Finally, Smyrna, unlike the city of Ephesus, stands today. Though many of these believers died a martyr’s death, Satan could not stamp out their testimony. Suffering has a way of keeping us pure in our devotion to Christ and it was evidently so with this church.

The Christ, the Author and Answer
(2:8b)

8b “…The first and the last, who was dead, and has come to life, says this:”

Again we see how the perfections of Christ’s person and work answers to the needs, problems, and conditions in each church. Since many in this church died for their faith, Christ assures them of their resurrection and future rewards because He is the first and last, the eternal God who became man, died and rose again (1 Pet. 1:3; Acts 2:24).

Literally, the Greek says, “He came to be dead and began to live, or came to life again,” an obvious reference to the cross and the resurrection. It describes what we might call an experience, an episode, a passing phase He went through for us, death. He passed into death, through death and out of death, and came to life in a triumphant event, the resurrection.

By way of application, the risen Christ is one who has experienced the worst that life could do to Him. No matter then what might happen to the Christians at Smyrna or to us, our Savior has gone through the worst life can bring. As such, He is one who feels for us in our suffering with special love and compassion and is ever present to come to our aid and comfort (Heb. 2:15-18; 4:15).

The risen Christ has conquered the worst that life can do. He triumphed over pain, the cross, the devil, sin, and death. He defeated all the enemies and He offers victory and the conqueror’s crown. This calls for our loyalty and commitment to Him, not simply for rewards, but because of what we have in Him and love Him.

The Church and Its Affairs
(2:9-11)

9 ‘I know your tribulation and your poverty (but you are rich), and the blasphemy by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.10 ‘Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.’

The Comfort and Approval (2:9)

He knows your tribulation (2:9). The word “tribulation” is thlipsis which means “pressure, a literal crushing beneath a weight.” “The pressure of events is on the Church at Smyrna, and the force of circumstances is trying to crush the Christianity out of them.”[39]

He knows your poverty (2:9). The word “poverty” is pto„cheia, and describes absolute poverty or complete destitution. To grasp this word, we might compare it with another, penia. Penia refers to one who has the necessities, but nothing superfluous; pto„cheia describes the state of one who has nothing at all.[40] Christ offers no criticism of this church. The saints were faithful in spite of suffering at the hands of their Jewish persecutors and I am sure they thought they were poor, but in contrast to Laodicea, which thought it was rich and was poor, these saints were rich (3:17).

Our Lord, so faithful to know and observe our lives and needs, first assures them He knows and cares for their condition and the great suffering on His behalf, and then commends them for their spiritual wealth in the midst of their physical poverty and suffering, much of which was brought about by the religious Jews of Smyrna. So, while poor, they were rich. They were rich positionally in Christ (Eph. 1:3) which, of course, was by grace. They were also rich in that God had counted them worthy to suffer for Him (1 Pet. 3:14-17; 1:6; 4:13-14). Finally, it appears they were rich in their spiritual lives because they were living close to God by faith.

He knows your persecutors (2:9b). These were the religious Jews who claimed to be the seed of Abraham. They were, but only physically. Spiritually they were of Satan and under his power and control (John 8:33-34). In Numbers 16:3, Israel was called the congregation of the Lord, but here Christ calls these unbelieving Jews, the congregation of Satan (cf. John 8:33 with 8:44).

The Counsel and Admonition (2:10)

Concerning fear and suffering. “Do not fear” is literally “fear nothing.” No matter how small or how severe, the One who has overcome death says, “fear nothing.” They could cast their burden on the Lord. He cared and He had overcome (Phil. 4:6-8; 1 Pet. 5:7; Isa. 41:10).

Concerning the future and testing. Some would face prison and severe testing, even death. It would be for ten days, a rather short period, or perhaps a reference to ten principle persecutions under the Roman emperors from Nero to Diocletian. But note the connection of this with Satan. This persecution is attributed to the Devil. It is a continuation of the serpent’s battle with the Lord Jesus Christ and those who belong to Him (Gen. 3:15; John 15:18-21). Human means and men are those we see persecuting the church of Jesus Christ, but invariably, behind the scenes is the old arch enemy, the prince of the power of the air. But never fear, the binder of believers in prison shall be bound, he is a defeated foe (Rev. 20:1-3; Rom. 16:20; Col. 2:15; Heb. 2:14-15).

Concerning faithfulness and rewards. Be faithful until death. This means, be faithful to the point of martyrdom. Continue to trust the Lord, be faithful to Him and the truth of His Word even in the face of death.

The promise: “I will give you the crown of life.” The reward here is not eternal life. Eternal life is a gift through faith or personal belief in Jesus Christ (John 1:11-12; 3:16; 1 John 5:11-12). This is a special reward for endurance under persecution.

Note that victory in this present life is closely associated with occupation and orientation to the weightier things of eternity and the glories which shall follow (2 Cor. 4:16-18). Here is one of those things which should distinguish believers from unbelievers. Believers are to be sojourners who live with a view to eternity, while unbelievers are scripturally classified as earthdwellers (1 Pet. 1:17; 2:11; Rev. 3:10; Isa. 24:17).

The Challenge and Assurance (2:11)

The promise to the overcomer is that he shall not be hurt by the second death. The second death is eternal separation from God in the lake of fire (Rev. 20:1, 14). Believers may face physical death, but because they have had a second birth (John 3:3-7), no believer will ever face the second death (Eph. 2:1, 5; John 5:24; 11:25). Then, why this promise? Does this imply the possibility of the loss of eternal life? Regardless of what this passage means, it is an emphatic negation of the possibility. Some in Smyrna, as Polycarp, would die a martyr’s death, so the Lord is reminding them of this fact.

To overcome means here to remain faithful to the Lord even if it meant death. Here our Lord was simply reminding them that though some would die for Him, the second death could never touch them. The use of this negative promise, “will not be hurt…” is a literary device known as litotes. This is a rhetorical device used to affirm the positive by a negation. Hodges has a good explanation of litotes.

If someone says to me, “His request presented me with no small problem,” I know exactly what he means. The person who made the request of him had presented him a BIG problem!

In the phrase “no small problem” we have a very common figure of speech. Its technical name is “litotes” (pronounced, lie’-tuh-tease’). Litotes occurs when an affirmative idea is expressed by the negation of its opposite. In the sentence we started with, the affirmative idea is that the problem is very large. The phrase “no small problem” negates the opposite idea.[41]

Concerning the positive or affirmative emphasis behind the use of litotes, Hodges continues and writes:

What is the positive idea which it understates? Fortunately, the context helps us. In verse 10 we read: “Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” The Smyrnan Christians are challenged to face possible martyrdom with courage and fidelity to God. Their reward for doing so will be a superlative experience of life in the world to come. So to speak, they will be “crowned” with the enjoyment of life “more abundant” (see John 10:10).

In this light, Revelation 2:11 can be seen as truly an understatement. The overcomer (that is, the faithful Christian) will be more than amply repaid for whatever sacrifice he may make for Christ’s sake. His experience will be truly wonderful—far, far beyond the reach—the touch—of the second death. That is to say, this conquering Christian is as far above the experience-level of eternal death as it is possible to be.

In a masterly understatement, the Lord Jesus says in effect: “The first death may ‘hurt’ you briefly, the second not at all!”[42]

But perhaps there is something else here. The word “hurt” is the Greek adikeo„, “to injure, to hurt or do harm” (cf. Rev. 6:6; 7:2-3; 9:4, 10, 19; 11:5). It may also be used in a broader sense of “do wrong” (cf. Rev. 22:11). So, is there a way in which a believer can be said to be hurt or harmed by the second death? Unbelievers who persecute believers and who seek to get them to recant or renounce their faith in Christ are in some ways the personification of the second death and are not only acting out of their spiritual death against the believer, but are themselves, headed for the second death. So, when a believer fails to overcome the trial and recants because of the pain of the persecution, would he not then be hurt or harmed by the second death because he would then have lost his reward (2:11)?

Many believe that Smyrna represents the martyr period of the church, the church in extreme persecution under the Roman emperors. One classic illustration of this is in the true story of one of the great church fathers named, Polycarp. According to Ignatius, not long after the book of Revelation was written, he became the pastor of Smyrna and died a martyr’s death for his faith. The following is from the Martyrdom of Polycarp, translated by J. B. Lightfoot.

9:3 But when the magistrate pressed him hard and said, ‘Swear the oath, and I will release thee; revile the Christ,’ Polycarp said, ‘Fourscore and six years have I been His servant, and He hath done me no wrong. How then can I blaspheme my King who saved me?’

10:1 But on his persisting again and saying, ‘Swear by the genius of Caesar,’ he answered, ‘If thou supposest vainly that I will swear by the genius of Caesar, as thou sayest, and feignest that thou art ignorant who I am, hear thou plainly, I am a Christian. But if thou wouldest learn the doctrine of Christianity, assign a day and give me a hearing.’

10:2 The proconsul said; ‘Prevail upon the people.’ But Polycarp said; ‘As for thyself, I should have held thee worthy of discourse; for we have been taught to render, as is meet, to princes and authorities appointed by God such honor as does us no harm; but as for these, I do not hold them worthy, that I should defend myself before them.’

11:1 Whereupon the proconsul said; ‘I have wild beasts here and I will throw thee to them, except thou repent’ But he said, ‘Call for them: for the repentance from better to worse is a change not permitted to us; but it is a noble thing to change from untowardness to righteousness.’

11:2 Then he said to him again, ‘I will cause thee to be consumed by fire, if thou despisest the wild beasts, unless thou repent.’ But Polycarp said; ‘Thou threatenest that fire which burneth for a season and after a little while is quenched: for thou art ignorant of the fire of the future judgment and eternal punishment, which is reserved for the ungodly. But why delayest thou? Come, do what thou wilt.’[43]

Walvoord writes:

The Faithfulness of Polycarp to the end seems to have characterized this church in Smyrna in its entire testimony and resulted in this church’s continuous faithful witness for God after many others of the early churches had long lost their…

… The purifying fires of affliction caused the lamp of testimony to burn all the more brilliantly. The length of their trial, described here as being ten days, whether interpreted literally or not, is short in comparison with the eternal blessings which would be theirs when their days of trial were over. They could be comforted by the fact that the sufferings of this present time do not continue forever, and the blessings that are ours in Christ through His salvation and precious promises will go on through eternity.[44]

Lesson 7:
The Message to Pergamum
(2:12-17)

“A Church Married to the World”

The City and the Assembly
(2:12a)

12a “And to the angel of the church in Pergamum write:…”

Pergamum, a city of the Roman province of Asia, in the west of what is now Asiatic Turkey, occupied a commanding position near the seaward end of the broad valley of the Caicus. It was probably the site of a settlement from a very early date. Pergamum was one of the most prominent cities of Asia, located in the western part of Asia-Minor, about 45 miles north of Smyrna and about 20 miles from the Aegean Sea. The modern village of Bergama, Turkey, now covers part of the ancient site.

The first temple of the imperial cult was built in Pergamum (c. 29 B.C.) in honor of Rome and Augustus. The city thus boasted a religious primacy in the province, though Ephesus became its main commercial center. Pergamum is listed third of the ‘seven churches of Asia’ (Rev. 1:11) and forms the third letter, an order which suits its position in geographical sequence.

Pergamum was very wealthy, the center of emperor worship with many temples devoted to idolatry. This was the place ‘where Satan’s throne is’ (Rev. 2:13). The phrase has been applied to the complex of pagan cults, of Zeus, Athena, Dionysus and Asclepius (Esculapius), established by the Attalid kings, that of Asclepius Soter (the ‘saviour,’ ‘healer’) being of special importance. These cults are illustrative of the religious history of Pergamum, but “Satan’s throne” could be an allusion to emperor worship. This was where the worship of the divine emperor had been made the touchstone of civic loyalty under Domitian.

Here was the magnificent temple of Esculapius, a pagan god whose idol was in the form of a serpent. The inhabitants were known as the chief temple keepers of Asia. When the Babylonian cult of the Magians was driven out of Babylon, they found a haven in Pergamum.

It marked a crisis for the church in Asia. Antipas who is called, “My witness, My faithful one” (v. 13), is probably cited as a representative (probably the first to be put to death by the Roman state) of those who were brought to judgment and executed there for their faith.

Pergamum was a university town with a large library of 200,000 volumes given as a gift from Anthony to Cleopatra.

The title of the Magian high priest was “Chief Bridge Builder” meaning the one who spans the gap between mortals and Satan and his hosts. In Latin this title was written “Pontifex Maximus,” the title now used by the Pope. This title goes all the way back to Babylon and the beginnings of the mother-child cult under Nimrod of Genesis 10 and his wife Sumerimus. Later, Julius Caesar was elected Pontifex Maximus and when he became Emperor, he became the supreme civil and religious ruler and head of Rome politically and religiously with all the power and functions of the Babylonian pontiff.

Today a small village called Bergama is located here with a Christian testimony which continued into modern times. This church may depict the history of the church from the time of Constantine until the rise of the papacy from the time of Constantine forward.

The Christ, the Author
(2:12b)

12b “…The One who has the sharp two-edged sword says this:”

Again, as in each of the seven messages, the message is related to the picture of the glorified Savior in chapter one. This serves to stress His sufficiency and our need to live in the light of His person and work, past, present, and future.

“Sword” is rhomphaia, a long spear-like sword, but here it is seen with two edges to emphasize the double-edged, sharp, penetrating character of the Word of God or God’s truth as it is found in the person and work of Christ and God’s holy Word as it reveals Him.

The word “sword” is mentioned a total of nine times in Revelation. Rhomphaia is mentioned five times and makaira, the short Roman two edged sword, is mentioned four times. The rhomphaia was the long and heavy, broad sword used by the Thracians and other barbarous nations who often marched irresistibly over one country after another as God’s instruments of judgment. First of all, then, it symbolizes the irresistible authority and devastating force of our Lord’s judgment (cf. 19:15).

In Revelation 1:16 and 19:15 the rhomphaia is described as proceeding out of the mouth of Christ. The mouth, an instrument of speech, portrays this as the Word of Christ. In Revelation 19:13 Christ is called the Word of God and then, in verse 15, we have the statement about the sword that proceeds out of His mouth and by which He will slay the wicked.

Interestingly, John 5:24f and 12:48 teaches us that Christ’s acts of judgment will be carried out on the basis of His Word. It seems clear the sword coming out of Christ’s mouth is a reference to the Word and is a symbol of its truth, penetrating power and authority, severity, and the fact that Christ judges men on the basis of the Word.

The sword is the symbol of the Word of Christ which separates believers from condemnation and from conformity with the world (Rom. 12:2; 8:1; 1 Pet. 1:23; Heb. 4:12). But this same sword, the Word of Christ, also guarantees judgment to the world on the basis of its absolute truth.

Here again we see the sufficiency of Christ in His capacity to meet our needs and deal with our failures. Pergamum was a church that was married to the world. They were in compromise with the world, but it is the Word of Christ which transforms us from the world.

Romans 12:1-2. I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

The Commendation and Approval
(2:13)

13 ‘I know where you dwell, where Satan’s throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith, even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.

Again, as in each of the letters, we have the statement made about our Lord’s knowledge of our affairs. This repetition is not without significance. Here the Lord assures them He knows of their steadfastness in the midst of Satan’s headquarters or dominion. Satanic activity was rampant here spreading to all parts of the world because of the extreme amount of pagan idolatry and emperor worship carried on in this city.

“Where you dwell” is the Greek katoikeo„ from kata, “down,” and oikeo„ “to dwell.” It means, “to settle down, dwell permanently, be at home.” Another word group used of believers is the paroikos group (paroikia, paroikeo„) “to be a stranger, sojourner in a place, or a visitor,” (1 Pet. 1:17; 2:11; Heb. 11:9; [cf. Luke 24:18; Acts 13:17; 7:6, 29; Eph. 2:19]). Similarly, we might also compare parepide„mos, “stranger, resident in a strange place, alien” (Heb. 11:13; 1 Pet. 1:1; 2:11).

First, there may be here a note of warning regarding their attitude toward this life and the world. This is especially true for the book of Revelation because of the use of what practically becomes a technical term for those who have settled down in the world as “earth dwellers” (cf. Rev. 3:10; 6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 14; and 17:8). Believers are to view themselves and live: (a) as sojourners, (b) as aliens, and (c) as ambassadors with their citizenship in heaven. We are never to be at home in the world in the same way that unbelievers are (cf. Phil. 3:20-21; 1 Pet. 1:17; 2:11; 2 Cor. 5:19-20 with Rev. 3:10). The story of Abraham and Lot provide us with a good illustration of this truth. Abraham dwelt in tents by faith (Heb. 11:8-10), but Lot lived by sight, he became wedded to the world and wanted to settle down there (Gen. 13:9-13).

Second, there is also a note of exhortation here as well as comfort. It reminds us that God not only knows our pressures, our temptations, and the problems we face, but that He is always there to help us if we want it. He noted they had remained steadfast regardless of the Satanic depths and atrocities of their environment and was there for them to enable them to overcome if they would only continue to walk by faith in dependence on Him.

The principle of the Christian life is not escape, but endurance and conquest by faith. It may be much easier to live somewhere else in easier circumstances, but our duty is generally to stay and become a testimony for the Lord and overcome the world in which we live. We should always remember that the grass usually looks greener somewhere else, but until we are with the Lord or in the millennium, life will be full of trials of some sort and to some degree. The call is for strength with all power, according to His glorious might, for attaining of all steadfastness and patience, joyously giving thanks… (cf. Col. 1:11-12a).

The mention of the fact they had held fast to Christ’s name, and the death of Antipas would suggest persecution and attack by Satan to destroy this church. Since this was unsuccessful, Satan turned to other methods as we will see in what follows.

“Where Satan’s throne is,” not simply seat. This statement stems from the fact of the extreme idolatry and demonic nature of the religious activity connected with the worship of the serpent god of Esculapius, the worship of the Emperor of Rome, and the persecution these Christians faced as a result.

The situation at Pergamum reminds us of the reality of the angelic conflict or the spiritual warfare of this present form of the world (Eph. 6:10). In the past, because of its godly heritage, America has been sheltered from some of the more obvious forms of demonic conflict that we have only read and heard about from missionaries. But Satan, though a defeated foe, is still alive and well and, as a roaring lion, is carrying on his havoc in the world which is now rampant in America. We are now facing Satan’s activities as never before and many believe this is in part preparing the world for the Tribulation. Satanism, devil worship, ritual murders, sacrifices to Satan, and gross immorality are no longer unheard of, but are occurring in our cities all across America. The New Age movement with its mysticism, channeling, belief in mystical forces, etc. is rampant in book stores, in schools, in our government, on TV, in the movies, in politics; it is literally everywhere. For an excellent resource regarding our present world scene as it pertains to culture, current issues, cults, and the occult, see Probe Ministries web site at http://www.probe.org.

As mentioned above, the reference here in verse 13 is a reference to Satanic power manifested in the particular religious, political, and idolatrous character of Pergamum. It became the seat of emperor worship and, according to Hyslop who wrote The Two Babylons, it also became the new home of the mother-child cult of Babylon which was moved from Babylon after the death of Belshazzar. It was later moved to Rome.

One of the prominent features we find in Revelation is a prophetic picture of the revival of ancient Babylonianism (Rev. 17-18). This means that one of the things that will occur in preparation for the events of the coming Tribulation will be a rise, not only in Satanic activity, but of his activity in the various forms of ancient eastern mysticism and occult activity that was so much a part of this cult. We are seeing it today in the New Age Movement.

The Condemnation and Admonition
(2:14-15)

14 ‘But I have a few things against you, because you have there some who hold the teaching of Balaam, who kept teaching Balak to put a stumbling block before the sons of Israel, to eat things sacrificed to idols, and to commit acts of immorality.15 ‘Thus you also have some who in the same way hold the teaching of the Nicolaitans.

After approving what He could, the Lord proceeded to admonish. Like them, most believers have things in their lives that are good, but there is always room for improvement. There are things that are wrong! Do we have ears to hear?

The Doctrine of Balaam (2:14)

Balaamism, as we might call it, was a compromise in the realm of morals. For people in this city to eat things sacrificed to idols meant to engage in the feasting and orgies of the various idolatrous temples. It meant to commit fornication. The teaching or doctrine of Balaam was a perversion of the Christian doctrine of liberty (see 1 Cor. 8-10; Rom. 14-15:3; Gal. 5:13). Let’s compare the following three ways we can look at the subject of Balaam.

The Way of Balaam (2 Peter 2:15)

The way of Balaam is really the way of covetousness and refers to one who hires himself out to do religious work merely for personal gain; it’s the merchandising of one’s spiritual gifts for personal gain out of covetousness.

The Error of Balaam (Jude 11)

This refers to Balaam’s error in thinking that he could get God to curse His covenant people and bypass His covenant promises because of their evil. Seeing their evil, Balaam supposed that a righteous God must curse Israel. But he was blind to God’s faithfulness to His promises which was based on the higher morality of the cross and God’s grace though the sacrifices that pointed to the cross.

The Doctrine of Balaam (Revelation 2:14)

Since Balaam found out he could not curse Israel, he realized he would be able corrupt them by getting them to marry the beautiful women of Moab. So he taught or advised Balak to tempt Israel in marrying the daughters of Moab. This would defile their separation and cause them to abandon their pilgrim character. It was a teaching that promoted a breakdown in separation from the world. Note that Pergamum comes from two words, per, which has the idea of “completely, thoroughly,” and gamos, “marriage.” The church at Pergamum began to lose their pilgrim character and was becoming thoroughly married to the world (cf. Jam 4:4; 1 Pet. 1:18; 2:11).

The Teaching of the Nicolaitans (2:15)

The reference to the Nicolaitans identifies the group who were teaching Balaamism. Note the words “thus…in the same way” of verse 15. As mentioned earlier, some think this refers to the followers of Nicolas (so say some of the church fathers), while others believe the word comes from nikao„, “to rule,” plus laos meaning “people.” Scholars are divided on the precise problem here, but it seems clear that they were subjugating the people to Satan’s authority by teaching compromise with the world which always neutralizes the church by compromise. The church loses its pilgrim perspective and adopts the viewpoint, values, priorities, and pursuits of the world.

Christians often reject the overt acts of what they think of as worldliness defined by a list of prohibitions or obligations both negative and positive, while retaining the viewpoint or attitude of worldliness. But worldliness is found more in attitudes and values than in acts because what we do is really the product of our thinking or belief system. Millions of people go through all the motions of worship each week but maintain a heart that is completely out of touch with God and end up, in reality, worshiping themselves. We can meticulously avoid all overt acts of worldliness as we might define them, and still have a heart full of hypocrisy, criticism of others, jealousy, bitterness, envy, and preoccupation with the details of life rather than eternal treasures. There are many examples we might mention of worldliness, but one example that comes to mind is the Madison Avenue gimmickry which so often goes on in the name of evangelism or church growth. See Appendix 4, on the subtle snares of worldliness.

Whoever the Nicolaitans were, they were conquering the people by bringing them under Satan’s authority through influential teachers who were tolerating or even promoting evil or license. In our study of the messages to the seven churches, we have gone, then, from “murder” to “mixture.” Martyrdom tends to purify the church, but mixture, a breakdown in biblical separation into worldliness, putrefies the church.

The Counsel and Appeal
(2:16)

16 ‘Repent therefore; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth.

In verse 16, the Lord called this church to repentance with a sharp warning of judgment with the sword out of His mouth, suggesting that the judgment is based on the truth of His Word. Remember, the sword symbolically represents the two-fold ability of the Word of God to separate believers from the world while at the same time to condemn the world for its sin. It was the sword of salvation and deliverance as well as the sword of death.

Worldly thinking must be dealt with positively and quickly or it eats into our lives individually and corporately (cf. 1 Cor. 5:7-9). Like cancer, worldliness eats deeply into our viewpoint of life and what we expect from it. This impacts our values, and then our priorities and pursuits. And while we may begin to recognize much of its presence and seek to root it out, some of its remnants often remain below the surface, hidden like barnacles below the waterline on a ship.

The Lord counsels the church to repent. The verb “repent” is here an aorist imperative in the Greek text which carries with it an element of urgency. It calls for an immediate response, one designed to arrest the direction in which the church was going. “Repent” is metanoeo„, “to change the mind.” Here is one of those generic terms that must be understood within the context in which it is found just as with the word salvation (cf. in Phil. 1:19 the Greek so„te„ria, “salvation, deliverance, preservation”). “In both the New and Old Testaments, repentance means ‘to change one’s mind.’ But the question must be asked, about what do you change your mind? Answering that question will focus the basic meaning on the particular change involved.… Biblical repentance also involves changing one’s mind in a way that affects some change in the person. Repentance is not merely an intellectual assent to something; it also includes a resultant change, usually in actions.”[45] Repentance is used in Scripture in at least three ways:

(1) A repentance that is merely a change of mind about something in a context that does not deal with salvation (Matt. 21:28-32). It is a real repentance, a change of mind, with a real result, but it has nothing to do with salvation.

(2) A repentance that is unto salvation. In a context dealing with salvation or eternal life, etc., it has to do with changing one’s mind about one’s condition in sin and need of the saving work of God in Christ. It is equivalent to faith or a part of faith like two sides of a coin (cf. Acts 2:38 with 11:17; Acts 5:31 with Eph. 1:7, and Acts 19:14). First, we acknowledge our sinfulness and inability to save ourselves, and then (the other side of the coin) we turn to Christ in faith as the only means of salvation.

(3) Then there is a repentance that deals with some spiritual issue in the Christian life in which repentance is a change of mind concerning the path we are following and is equivalent to confession of specific sins with a view to spiritual change, pursuing the path of godliness. This is the usage in these letters.

The Issue: Either we repent of our worldliness, acknowledge its presence and evil and commit to moving in a godly direction, or we face divine discipline and the loss of our light bearing capacity—our very purpose for existence as a church. It appears they did. A Christian church has continued into modern times in the modern city of Bergama.

The Solution: The Christian needs to live in the Word, the two-edged sword, which penetrates and transforms us by the renewing of the mind with the mind of Christ (Rom. 12:1-2; 1 Cor. 2:16). This includes keeping our focus on eternal treasures (Matt. 6:19f; 1 Pet. 1:12f). The alternative is divine discipline on the basis of that same Word, which, if neglected, results in our discipline according to the warnings and principles of Scripture (John 15:1f; Heb. 12:5f).

This warning is immediately followed by a special exhortation and assurance.

The Challenge and Assurance
(2:17)

17 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, to him I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, and a new name written on the stone which no one knows but he who receives it.’

The Challenge

“He who has an ear…” is again an appeal to the individual for spiritual change. Spiritual change in a church has to begin with the individual.

“To him who overcomes…” Here is God’s challenge to believers to overcome by faith in the Savior’s victory and provision. Specifically, overcoming in this context meant to refuse to eat of things sacrificed to idols and to remain sexually pure, to avoid fornication, and remain distinct and separate from the world. While initial faith that is genuine brings one into union with Christ, it is the continuation of an active faith from living in the Word, feeding on the things of Christ, that overcomes and leads us into the abundance and sufficiency of Christ’s life with great reward both now and in the future.

The Assurance

The Hidden Manna

“The hidden manna” is literally, “of the manna, the hidden.” It is a restrictive attributive which defines the distinctive identity of the manna. With this construction, there is some emphasis on the hidden character of the manna. In the Old Testament, the manna stood for God’s faithfulness to provide and sustain His people through the wilderness wanderings in place of the leeks, melons, garlic, and onions of their old life in Egypt, an apt picture for the world system. As a memorial to God’s faithfulness, a portion of the manna was placed and thus hidden in the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 16:32-34; Heb. 9:4). Trench calls our attention to the fact that it was after this manna was laid up in the Ark that it obtained the name, “hidden.”[46]

Manna was also called, “food from heaven” (Ps. 78:24). In John 6:48-51, the Lord spoke of Himself as the true bread from heaven that gives eternal life in contrast with the manna in the Old Testament. He said, “your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died” (John 6:49). While the manna sustained their physical life for a time, it was only a picture of the one who would come and who would give life and life abundant (John 10:10).

From the use of manna in Scripture and from the nature of the promises to the overcomer, I would suggest there is a two-fold meaning and application here:

(1) It has a present meaning or application. It refers to the sufficiency of the person and work of Jesus Christ as He is revealed in the Word which the world does not know or see since the natural man does not see or discern the things of Christ (1 Cor. 2:14). Therefore, believers need to daily feed upon His life in the Word for daily sustenance and blessing (cf. Heb. 3:7f). This and this alone can make us fruitful believers, and provide true happiness and stability of life, something which the allurements of the world simply cannot give.

(2) It has a future meaning. The promise of manna looked forward to a greater capacity to enjoy all the manifold blessings and glories of the kingdom in the presence of Christ that would come to the overcomer who refused to eat of the things sacrificed to idols.

A White Stone

By repeating “I will give,” there is an emphasis on the grace of the Savior and the second gift is highlighted as distinct from the first. Though rewards are promised for faithfulness, they are still a matter of the grace of God for it is by His grace and strength that we experience the capacity for faithfulness.

“A white stone.” This is perhaps the most difficult to interpret of all the rewards mentioned in chapters 2 and 3 because of the various uses of white stones and because no other passage tells us anything about white stones.

Stones were used in the secret societies as amulets of protection and by judges who determined a verdict by placing a white and black stone in an urn. If the white one came out it meant acquittal of all charges. But, since there will be no need of protection in eternity and because I believe these are rewards to believers who already stand acquitted, justified in Christ, neither of these seem to fit with what John had in mind.

“Stone” is pse„phos and may be used to designate a precious stone, like a diamond. This idea is supported in this verse by the word leukos which may mean more than just white, and can be equivalent to “splendid, shining,” or even, “glistening.” Compare the following verses which support this interpretation (Matt. 17:2; Rev. 3:4, 5; 6:11; 7:9, 13; 19:14). Some seek to connect it in some way to the promise of the hidden manna, the Ark of the Covenant, and the priesthood. They see it as a diamond which corresponds to the Urim and Thummim worn by the high priest and would speak of special priestly prerogatives and access into the very presence of God. Others see an analogy to the stone awarded to victorious gladiators or warriors when they returned from battle. It would be much like a ‘well done’ for service rendered.

There was also a custom in John’s day in which special stones were given which entitled the bearer to special hospitality and friendship. As you can see, there were many customs and several possibilities for the meaning of the stone. Whatever, it clearly symbolized special blessing and privilege that will be given to those believers who overcomer the influx of the world on their lives.

A New Name

“A new name which no one knows…” Here the Lord promises us a special name. Why? It could show intimacy and God’s personal love and concern for each one of us, but as a special reward for believers who overcome, it probably has a different significance.

It undoubtedly demonstrates something of the character of the overcomer or something of his new responsibilities or both. Abram’s name was changed to Abraham to portray the fact that he was to become the father of a multitude. Jacob, which means supplanter, was changed to Israel, the one over whom God would henceforth rule. Unstable Simon became Peter the little rock. Similarly, the overcoming believer is promised a new name which may show something of what God has accomplished in his or her life through a walk of faith in faithfulness.

The custom of giving a new name to mark a new status was known in the heathen world as well. The name of the first of the Roman Emperors was Octavius; but when he became the first of the Emperors he was given the name Augustus. This very name marked his new status; he was now unique and superhuman and more than man.[47]

The significance of a new name, then, would not be lost on readers living in John’s day since only recently the title of the Roman emperor had been changed. Thus, the new name to be awarded faithful believers was an assurance that they would one day be elevated to a position superior even to that of Augustus. The gift of this new name marks the believer’s entrance to a new and higher stage of responsibility symbolizing new and greater authority. Regardless of the meaning, for our day when we are often identified by an impersonal number, it highlights the fact we are not just impersonal numbers, but those who are personally known and loved by God.

Lesson 8:
The Message to Thyatira
(2:18-29)

“The Church in Compromise”

The City and Its Affairs
(2:18a)

18a “And to the angel of the church in Thyatira write:…”

Thyatira was smaller than Pergamum and 40 miles southeast, but it too was another city in the Roman province of Asia, in the west of what is now Asiatic Turkey. It passed under Roman rule in 133 B.C. and was an important point in the Roman road system, for it lay on the road from Pergamum to Laodicea.

It was also an important center of manufacture; dyeing, garment-making, pottery and brass-working are among the trades known to have existed there. A large town (Akhisar) still stands on the same site.

The Thyatiran woman Lydia, the ‘seller of purple’ whom Paul met at Philippi (Acts 16:14), was probably the overseas agent of a Thyatiran manufacturer; she may have been arranging the sale of dyed woolen goods which were known simply by the name of the dye. This ‘purple’ was obtained from the madder root, and was still produced in the district, under the name ‘Turkey red,’ into the present century.[48]

Because of its industry, the city was known for its trade guilds, or organized groups and associations for potters, tanners, dyers and bronze workers. It was particularly known for its wool and dying industry as illustrated in the life of Lydia, a distributor of the purple garments for which this city was famous (Acts 16:14). These guilds created a tremendous problem because it was extremely hard for a merchant to pursue his or her trade without belonging to one of these guilds. To belong to these guilds put a Christian in a compromising position because of the pressure from the guilds to participate in their pagan, idolatrous feasts. “Each guild had its own patron deity, feasts, and seasonal festivities that included sexual revelries.”[49]

Some of the symbols in the letter to the church (Rev. 2:18‑29) seem to allude to the circumstances of the city. The description of the Christ (v. 18) is appropriate for a city renowned for its brass-working (chalkolibanos, translated ‘fine brass’, may be a technical term for some local type of brassware). The terms of the promise (vv. 26‑27) may reflect the long military history of the city.[50]

This church may portray the period of the church during the middle ages and the time of the papacy.

The Christ, The Author and Answer
(2:18b)

18b “…The Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and His feet are like burnished bronze, says this:”

Again, we are pointed to the Lord Jesus as the issue and answer to every need and problem in life, no matter where we live and what our conditions. Walvoord writes:

In keeping with what follows, Christ is introduced as the Son of God, whose eyes are like blazing fire and whose feet are like burnished bronze. This description of Christ is similar to that in 1:13‑15, but here He is called the Son of God rather than the Son of Man. The situation required reaffirmation of His deity and His righteous indignation at their sins. The words “burnished bronze,” which describe His feet, translate a rare Greek word chalkoliban, also used in 1:15. It seems to have been an alloy of a number of metals characterized by brilliance when polished. The reference to His eyes being “like blazing fire” and the brilliant reflections of His feet emphasize the indignation and righteous judgment of Christ.[51]

Obviously, this description of our Lord stresses His authority in discipline and judgment as the Son of God, an expression found only here in the book, and the penetrating power of His knowledge along with the swiftness of His judgment. Thyatira was standing in idolatrous compromise and allowing a false authority to supplant the authority of Christ.

The Church and Its Affairs
(2:19-23)

19 ‘I know your deeds, and your love and faith and service and perseverance, and that your deeds of late are greater than at first.20 ‘But I have this against you, that you tolerate the woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess, and she teaches and leads My bond-servants astray, so that they commit acts of immorality and eat things sacrificed to idols.21 ‘And I gave her time to repent; and she does not want to repent of her immorality.22 ‘Behold, I will cast her upon a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation, unless they repent of her deeds.23 ‘And I will kill her children with pestilence; and all the churches will know that I am He who searches the minds and hearts; and I will give to each one of you according to your deeds.

The Commendation or Approval (2:19)

As the One who has infinite knowledge of all the affairs of His people, this church is commended for its works and service, and for the fact this had even increased. But please note a contrast which has a special lesson for us. Ephesus had a godly zeal for sound doctrine and holiness (2:12), but she was lacking in devotion and love to Christ—cold orthodoxy.

Thyatira had a definite and even greater ministry of service and endurance, one that seemed to be motivated by faith and love (cf. vs. 19), but Thyatira lacked on the side of zeal for sound doctrine, moral purity, holiness of life, and zeal against false teaching and practice. Obviously, the church needs to have both, it needs a balance or it must eventually lose its testimony and capacity for ministry.

The Condemnation or Ailment (2:20-23)

The church is strongly rebuked for tolerating a false prophetess with her teaching which promoted immorality and idolatry. She was evidently teaching that a believer’s freedom in Christ allowed them to not only belong to the trade guilds, but to participate in the immoral and idolatrous feasts that very often included cultic prostitution.

Jezebel refers to a literal woman who falsely claimed prophetic powers and who had somehow taken a position of leadership, perhaps because of her unusual gifts. Her actual name was probably not Jezebel, but she was a virtual Jezebel in her actions (1 Kings 16:31-33; 2 Kings 9:30-37). As the Jezebel of the Old Testament enticed God’s servants to abandon their loyalty to the Lord and to participate in her idolatrous practices, so this woman of Thyatira was enticing Christians to abandon their loyalty to Christ and a separated life. Her teaching was probably similar to that of the Nicolaitans.

In His grace, the Lord gave her time to repent, but she had no time nor interest in it. The fact she was called Jezebel suggests she not only was a false prophetess, but an unbeliever. The issue here then was a call to repent in the sense of changing her mind about her present evil course and condition and about her need of Christ so that she would turn to Him in faith.

Verse 22 refers to her judgment for failure to repent. While this refers to a literal judgment God would bring upon this woman, it also forms a prophecy of the Lord’s judgment on those churches which follow her adulterous ways.

“Bed of sickness” forms a sharp contrast between her luxurious and licentious couch of immorality and the pain of God’s divine judgment that awaited her for her rebellion.

“And those who…into great tribulation” simply refers to the severe judgment God would bring on her followers. It should not be taken as a reference to the future unprecedented time spoken of in Matthew 24:21 and literally called, “the tribulation, the great one” in Revelation 7:14.

The adultery mentioned here includes both spiritual adultery (idolatry), and physical adultery (fornication in cultic prostitution). This is the only place adultery is indicated. The fact adultery constitutes a violation of the marriage vow could indicate that some of those who had been seduced by this Jezebel’s teaching were believers, those who had been betrothed to Christ as His bride (cf. 2 Cor. 11:2; Jam. 4:4).

“Unless they repent of her deeds.” Note the change from “they” to “her.” This stresses that their deeds of immorality were really the product of her teaching, example, and error. It reminds us of what a great responsibility those in places of leadership have (cf. Luke 6:40; Jam. 3:1), but also of how we need to be sure that the lives and teaching of our leaders truly line up with the Word of God.

Verse 23 gives the effects. But we need to distinguish between two groups seen in the church at Thyatira. Compare “And I will kill her children” with verse 24 “But I say to you…” In verse 24 the Lord addresses the faithful remnant, those who would not tolerate her and who rejected both her doctrine and her practice. In verse 23, He speaks about those who followed her.

Some see these as unbelievers, mere professing Christians who were totally entangled in her doctrine and practice, but that they were unbelievers seems to me to be an unnecessary assumption as suggested by the use of the term “adultery” and in view of the problems at Corinth (1 Cor. 10-11). Certainly, some may have been only professing Christians, but others were likely to have been true believers, people who had put their faith in Christ, but who had been seduced by this woman’s trickery, and who refused to listen to the truth on this matter so as to repent of their actions.

First, there were those who tolerated her (verse 20). In other words, they rejected her teaching, refused to follow her, and refused to commit fornication and to eat things sacrificed to idols. But, contrary to the believers in Ephesus, they refused to deal with her through church discipline. What she was teaching was clearly license versus true Christian liberty. This teaching was contrary to Scripture, but they tolerated her presence rather than deal with the problem.

Second, there were those who were her children—her spiritual progeny. These are referred to in verses 20b-23. Evidently, these were those who accepted her teaching and, like Ahab who was influenced by Jezebel of old, followed her example by participating in the activities of the labor guilds which meant involvement in eating things sacrificed to idols and fornication. Some of these could have been true believers who were judged and died the sin unto physical death (1 Cor. 11:28-32; 1 John 5:16-17).

The Counsel and Admonition
(2:24-25)

24 ‘But I say to you, the rest who are in Thyatira, who do not hold this teaching, who have not known the deep things of Satan, as they call them—I place no other burden on you. 25 ‘Nevertheless what you have, hold fast until I come.

Verse 24. This counsel is to those believers who will hear, repent and break off the compromise. “The deep things of Satan” in verse 24 most likely refers to the false doctrine being taught. They taught moral evil and that its experience was necessary to truly appreciate good. Note the words “as they call them.” They were evidently teaching license as good and bragging about the debts of their sin.

No other burden, i.e., command is placed upon them—they were only to reject Jezebel, and avoid immorality and idolatry. They were then told to hold fast to what they had. This is no minor warning. The tendency of believers is to lose ground rather than hold fast and move ahead.

In verse 25 the words, “what you have, hold fast until I come,” warns against the universal principle that things always tend to degenerate rather regenerate. It’s much like the second law of thermodynamics which simply put says, life goes from order to disorder and not vice versa. Things naturally go downhill unless there is great effort against those forces that, like gravity, tend to pull us downward. So there is always the need to cling to the Lord and hold tightly through a close walk with Him in the Word, regardless of the many blessing we possess in Christ and where we are in our spiritual journey, babe in Christ or mature (cf. 1 Cor. 10:1-13; Phil. 3:12-14).

The Challenges and Assurances
(2:26-28)

26 ‘And he who overcomes, and he who keeps My deeds until the end, to him I will give authority over the nations; 27 and he shall rule them with a rod of iron, as the vessels of the potter are broken to pieces, as I also have received authority from My Father; 28 and I will give him the morning star.

Verse 26 speaks of the promises and assurances to the overcomer.

“The overcomer,” as suggested previously, refers to those believers who overcome the specific challenges of these verses and are rewarded for their faithfulness. This is suggested by the exhortation to hold fast in verse 25 and by the words, “who keeps My deeds until the end,” in verse 26.

“And he who keeps My deeds.” “My deeds” undoubtedly refers to Christ’s way of life and to obedience to NT principles and imperatives. To keep Christ’s deeds means to experience Christ’s life and character in contrast to Jezebel’s works. Keeping His deeds is a result of overcoming through the walk of faith and daily fellowship or the abiding life. We must remember that Christ is not calling us to overcome in our own strength, which is really weakness, but to appropriate His strength and power through the knowledge of the Word and by faith. The issue is that of Philippians 4:13, “I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.” But overcoming is also the basis for special rewards like positions of authority and responsibility the Lord promises believers in the millennial kingdom like authority over nations, etc. Undoubtedly, it is because we overcome in His strength and grace and never by our own strength that we find the elders, representatives of the body of Christ, casting their victors’ stephonos) crowns, (emblems of rewards) before the throne (see Rev. 4:10-11).

Verse 27. After mentioning authority over the nations, the Lord Jesus immediately speaks of return and promises He will return, rule, and reign to remind the overcomers that they will share in all of this with Him at second advent to earth. All believers will be in the reign of Christ and in the kingdom, but not all will share in that reign in the sense of verse 26.

“The Morning Star” is referred to in three passages:

(1) In Revelation 22:16 it is a reference to the Lord Himself.

(2) In 2 Pet. 1:19 is seems to be a reference to the fuller understanding we will receive at the return of the Lord for the church when the Lord is personally present to enlighten us.

(3) In Rev. 2:28 (our passage) the context suggests that in some way it relates to the overcomers and their reward in ruling with the Savior. Perhaps it is the assurance of His presence and provision to be able to handle the authority given over the nations assigned. As a promise to the overcomer, the one who keeps the Lord’s deeds to the end, it can hardly be a symbol of Christ’s return since all believers will share in His return regardless of their spiritual state. Paul teaches us a similar truth in 1 Thessalonians 5:9-11. The apostle shows us that all believers, whether awake (spiritually alert and sober) or asleep (spiritually out of fellowship), will be delivered from the coming wrath of the Tribulation and taken up to be with the Lord if they are living on earth when He returns. It is significant that the words Paul uses for awake and asleep have a moral connotation and are different words entirely from those used in chapter 4:13-17.

More than likely, the key to the meaning of the morning star is found in Revelation 22:16 which says, “I am the root and offspring of David, the bright morning star.” Literally, the text says as in 2:28, “the star, the morning one.” This means the brilliant or bright one, the brightest of all the stars. Note: this links Jesus with the throne of David and describes Christ as the star. Jesus is descended from the royal line of David and is the star, the King himself, who was prophesied in Numbers 24:14-19 as the star who would come out of Jacob and possess the scepter.

The Lord is promising the overcomer that he will share His royalty and splendor as the morning star. First, the Lord said that the overcomer would be given a dominion like His own (cf. 2:27b, “as I have received authority from My Father”), and so here in 2:28, the overcomer will be given a rule and splendor like that of the Lord’s. In this promise, the Lord promises a dominion and a splendor just like His own.

Verse 29 again repeats the familiar call to hear, a call that goes beyond this one church to all the churches. Only here as in all the rest of the messages, the call to hear follows the promises to the overcomers whereas in the previous three letters, it precedes it. Again we see the personal and loving concern of the Spirit of God for His people and His desire that we all respond in faith and obedience.

Lesson 9:
The Message to Sardis
(3:1-6)

“Deadness in the Church”

The City and the Assembly
(3:1a)

1a “And to the angel of the church in Sardis write:…”

The City of Sardis

Sardis was a city exceedingly fabled for its past wealth and splendor, but it had deteriorated greatly. Its greatness lay in the past. Sardis had, at one time, been considered to be impregnable because of its ideal physical arrangement and topography for defense. It sat on a hill or mountain surrounded by steep cliffs almost impossible to scale with only one narrow way of approach. Yet Sardis had been attacked and conquered twice because of its arrogance manifested in its lack of watchfulness (3:2-3). The city was also famous for its woolen, textile, and jewelry industry.

Sardis was devoted to the worship of the mother-goddess Cybele and no temple worshipper was allowed to approach the temple of the gods with soiled or unclean garments. A white and clean robe was required to approach its so-called gods. Yet note the following account of the actual moral conditions of this idolatry. Andrew Tate writes,

Her worship was of the most debasing character and orgies like those of Dionysos were practiced at the festivals held in her honour. Sins of the foulest and darkest impurity were committed on those occasions; and when we think of a small community of Christians rescued from such abominable idolatry, living in the midst of scenes of the grossest depravity, with early associations, and companionships, and connections, all exerting a force in the direction of heathenism, it may be wondered that the few members of the church in Sardis were not drawn away altogether, and swallowed up in the great vortex.[52]

From this, you can see the obvious allusions to the historical setting in the Lord’s words in 3:4-5.

The Church of Sardis

Though filled with external works and activity, this church is known as the sleeping church. As Paul put it in 2 Timothy 3:5, they had a form of godliness, but, because of their failure to walk with the Lord, they were denying the real power of God through their hypocrisy. They were out of touch with elements of true spirituality. Some may have been only professing Christians engaged in religious activities who had never truly trusted in Jesus Christ. More than likely, however, they were carnal believers who had made a good start, but had failed to move on, to grow and experience true spirituality. They were active, engaged in works, but temporally dead, out of fellowship with Christ (Eph. 5:14-18).

The Christ, the Author and Answer
(3:1b)

1b “…He who has the seven Spirits of God, and the seven stars, says this:

The answer, as always, is centered in Who Christ is—The Savior who has the seven Spirits of God and the seven stars. These two aspects of Christ’s ministry to the church are brought immediately to the forefront because they give us the key to both the problem of this church and its solution.

The Seven Spirits of God

“The seven Spirits of God” is a reference to the Holy Spirit who proceeds from the Father and the Son to the believer (John 7:37-39; 15:16, 26). He is the Son’s gift to enable believers to experience genuine spirituality through the multiple ministries and work of the Spirit symbolized here in the number seven which is a clear allusion to the seven-fold ministries of the Spirit mentioned in Isaiah 11:2-5. But believers have a responsibility to walk by the Spirit who indwells them. The responsibility is to walk by faith in His enabling power and to deal with the sin in their lives through honest confession or they will hinder (grieve and quench) the work of the Spirit. So part of the problem was the believers in the church at Sardis were grieving and quenching the ministry of the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30; 1 Thess. 5:19).

The Seven Stars

In the introduction I shared my reasons why I, along with many others, have believed the seven stars referred to the spiritual leadership which is primarily responsible to hold forth the light of the Word to the local flock of believers. Here, it appears, was another key area of weakness; the failure to communicate and receive the Word in a consistent and an in-depth way with personal application and response of the mind, heart and will. Therefore, the two life-giving provisions of God for man—the Holy Spirit and the Word—were being neglected. The result was spiritual deadness (Zech. 4:6; Heb. 4:12; Eph. 3:16-19; 1 Thess. 2:13).

The Church and its Affairs
(3:1c-6)

1c ‘…I know your deeds, that you have a name that you are alive, but you are dead. 2 ‘Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die; for I have not found your deeds completed in the sight of My God. 3 ‘Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. 4 ‘But you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments; and they will walk with Me in white; for they are worthy. 5 ‘He who overcomes shall thus be clothed in white garments; and I will not erase his name from the book of life, and I will confess his name before My Father, and before His angels.6 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

The Condemnation Declared (3:1c)

As with all the churches, the Lord declares, “I know your deeds.” That which is invisible to men is perfectly clear to the Lord who is in the business of revealing our true condition regardless of how spiritual we may think we are. He uses His Word, the convicting work of the Spirit, and other agents (trials and members of the body of Christ) as mirrors of reproof to show us our need and draw us to Himself. The question is, as He will challenge us in verse 6, do we have eyes to see and ears to hear?

So, in the very next words, we see a rude awakening and reality:

· We see that they had a name, a reputation—what men thought.

· We see they were alive, that is, they were an active church full of programs and church activity—what men see.

· But, regardless, they were dead, without true spiritual vitality—what the Lord saw and knew.

The point is they had a reputation, they were known far and wide, and they were active, filled with activity, action, and programs, just like a great deal of the church today all across America. By the world’s standards they were successful and they were probably proud of their church, but our Lord says not so, “you are dead.” So what does He mean by “dead?”

In Scripture, death stands for the concept of separation as well as the absence of life.

· For the unbeliever, death means without spiritual life, unregenerate, and without God—separated from relationship with God.

· But for the believer, death, like sleep, is sometimes used as a symbol for carnality, for being out of fellowship with God, separated from Christ as the source of the abundant life (Eph. 5:14).

Some could have been only professing believers, and so they were spiritually dead, just professing believers involved in an active church. But I don’t think that is the emphasis here. He was talking to true believers who were spiritually carnal and working from the energy of their own resources rather than from His (the Word and the Holy Spirit).

This is a warning. A church is in danger of death:

· When it begins to worship its own past or history, its reputation or name, or the names in the church.

· When it is more concerned with forms than with function and life.

· When it is more concerned with numbers and noses, than with the spiritual quality of life it is producing in its people.

· When it is more involved with management than with ministry or with the physical over the spiritual.

This illustrates the problem of institutionalism in the church, but today, we also have a new scenario that can be a part of this picture, the megachurch which has become a part of American jargon with megabucks, megatrends, and the megamall. Our megamalls have been styled as “cathedrals of consumption” because they are designed to feed the consumer appetites of our lifestyle today. But if we are not careful, churches can become “cathedrals of consumption” as well.

The Counsel Advised (3:2-3)

“Be watchful.” We could translate this, “become and stay awake” or “get awake.” By the analogy of Scripture this was a command for believers to get back into fellowship, i.e., to repent or confess their sin and start walking in the Spirit and in the light of the Word (Eph. 5:14-18).

For the unbeliever or the merely apparent believer, this becomes a call to become genuine with Christ, to put one’s faith in the Savior (cf. 1 Thess. 5:4-8).

“And strengthen the things that remain.” Strengthen is an aorist imperative of the verb ste„rizo„ which means “to strengthen, make stable, firm.” The aspect of the verb (an aorist imperative in the Greek) carries the idea of urgency like, do it now, before it is too late. This is basically a command to get with God’s plan for spiritual stabilization and strength. And what is that? A life in the Word. If you have any doubt about that, spend some time reading and meditating on Psalm 119.

Note the following verses where ste„rizo„ is used:

(1) Romans 1:11, compare this with Luke 22:32 (Christ’s warning and command to Peter) and John 21:15-17. Here is the principle of pastors and teachers strengthening believers by feeding the lambs and the sheep with the Word.

(2) Romans 16:25-26. Here we have the principle of believers receiving the Word in the assembly as well as from personal study.

“The things which remain.” When people stop operating from the base of God’s Word and from the power of His Spirit, spiritual decline always begins. It’s a kind of law of spiritual degeneration. But even in such a state there is at first some semblance of what is right in a man’s life—good habits, traditions and actions, a remembrance of morality, even though people forget the source. Remember, the church of Ephesus had good works (Rev. 2:2), even though it appears they too lacked the right spiritual source when we compare them with 1 Thess. 1:4, but eventually even this was lost because Ephesus failed to go back to do the first works.

Even human good is better than evil and God uses such morality to benefit society and even His own church. This is one of the purposes of good government, to restrain evil and promote good. Morality in parents helps to produce the same in their children. But the point is, without the proper spiritual base and the absolute guide of Bible doctrine even this will be finally lost. So, He quickly warns, “which were about to die.”

“For I have not found your deeds completed…” “Perfect” is the verb ple„roo„ which may mean “to fill, make full,” or “complete.” The verb is in the perfect tense which means its aspect (how the writer perceives its verbal action or state) is stative, resultative, or completed. It conceives the verbal idea as completed, or as completed with continuing results and looks at an existing condition. The word “complete” refers to “the deeds” done. This is what was incomplete or not completed. But does this mean they need more works, or that there was something incomplete about the works accomplished, or both? The context suggests both, but perhaps the focus is on the second, a missing element in their deeds. Their works were incomplete in that they lacked the proper source and motive. They had not measured up to God’s standards. They were not Spirit produced and could not stand the test of His examination. At the judgment seat of Christ they would fall under the category of wood, hay and stubble (1 Cor. 3:12-15). They were imperfect either in quality (works of the flesh) or they were imperfect in content.

“Remember therefore what you have received (perfect aspect) and heard (aorist)” (3:3). This represents faith and the truth they had received as a trust and the perfect aspect of the verb “received” calls attention to the abiding responsibility incumbent upon the receiver.

“And keep it, and repent.” Compare this verse with Colossians 2:6 and 1 Thessalonians 2:13. They were to remember the early days of their life in the Word, when the Word was received by faith and was their source of strength and wisdom for all of life. This former life of faith they were to keep, to hold fast to continually, but it was also vital that they repent carefully because a true change of mind and heart is necessary for a genuine and consistent walk with the Lord (Prov. 4:23, 26).

The Commendation Stated (3:4a)

They are comforted and commended because there were a few who had not fallen into the above condemnation.

“Soiled garments” speaks of the contamination of the life and witness by accommodation to the standards of the world prevalent in any society. More precisely, it refers to the unrighteousness of men in immorality, apostasy, idolatry, or of their own religious works of righteousness in mere external religion and legalism (Isa. 64:6; John 6:63).

The Certainties Promised (3:4b-5)

They are next comforted and assured by calling their attention to certain verities or certainties that the Lord promises to every believer in Christ. The certainties come in three distinct parts: (a) arrayed in white garments, (b) name not to be blotted out, and (c) their name confessed before His Father.

The White Garments (3:5a)

“Walking with Christ in white” is a reward for faithfulness. Note that the reason given in 3:4 is stated in the words, “for (the causal use of hoti, “because”) they are worthy.” The worthiness here is linked to the fact that these were believers “who have not defiled their garments.” This shows us that walking with Him in white is a reward for personal righteousness or deeds of righteousness. Note also how this fits with Revelation 19:8. Walking in white must refer to the white garment of fine linen mentioned in Revelation 19:8. There we are told the bride of Christ (the church) is “… to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean.” This is then declared to be the righteous acts of the saints, a reference to deeds or acts of righteousness produced in the life of the believer by the Holy Spirit because only these deeds will stand the test of the Judgment (Bema) Seat of Christ (1 Cor. 3:13).

No person is ever worthy of salvation righteousness. Justification, or salvation righteousness, is a gift given through faith in the finished work of Christ. It is based on His worthiness and record, not ours (Eph. 2:8-9; Tit. 3:4-7), but the white garment mentioned in 3:5 is related to the garment of 3:4 and is given as a reward for a worthy walk. While some writers assume that all Christians will wear these white garments in the kingdom, this verse teaches us that only overcoming believers, those who haven’t defiled their garments (verse 4), will wear these particular garments representative of the righteous acts of the saints in the kingdom.

His Name Never to be Erased (3:5b)

In verse 5, the overcomer is also promised he can never have his name erased from the Book of life. Could this suggest the possibility of the loss of salvation? Such a concept is totally contrary to the analogy of the faith in the New Testament which teaches us all believers are kept secure by the power of God and the finished work of Christ (cf. John 10:28-29; Rom. 8:38-39). As Charles Stanley so aptly put it, “Does it make any sense to say that salvation is offered as a solution for our sin and then to turn around and teach that salvation can be taken away because of our sin as well?”[53]

Because so many do not understand the nature of salvation as a finished work of God in Christ and are insecure in their faith, verses such as this are misunderstood as suggesting the possibility of the loss of salvation, or as a proof for the doctrine of the perseverance of the saints. This results in a fixation on what the verse does not say rather than on what it is saying in the context biblically, historically, and culturally. This verse was never intended as a warning. Instead, it is a promise of encouragement in view of the historical setting of John’s day. To say that verse 5 suggests the possibility of losing salvation is at best, an argument from silence.

If we understand the promise of 3:5 in its historical and contextual context, we will find that it is not dealing with the issue of losing or proving salvation at all. By the use of a figure of speech known as litotes (an affirmation expressed in negative terms), we have an emphatic declaration that stresses the certainty of the promise. In other words, a positive point is made by denying its opposite. This not only stresses the security of the believer—for every believer’s name is written in the book of life—but is a way of promising something special to the overcomer in the kingdom and eternal future. Bob Wilkin, who agrees with this view, quotes William Fuller and writes:

William Fuller, who defends this understanding of Rev 3:5, writes, “A command that everyone keeps is superfluous, and a reward that everyone receives for a virtue that everyone has is nonsense.” The eternal-rewards interpretation takes the command seriously, views the reward as a powerful motivation to obedience, and doesn’t distort the Gospel![54]

Tatford also interprets Revelation 3:5 in a similar way when he writes,

Practically every city of that day kept a role or register of its citizens…one who had performed some great exploit, deserving of special distinction, was honoured by having his name inscribed in golden letters in the citizens’ roll. Our Lord’s emphatic statement, therefore, implies not merely that the name of the overcomer shall not be expunged, but per contra that it shall be inscribed in golden letters in the heavenly roll.[55]

There is even evidence that a person’s name was sometimes removed from the city register before death if he had been convicted of a crime.[56] When these messages were written, Christians were under the constant threat of being branded as social rebels and stripped of their citizenship if they refused to recant or denounce their faith in Christ. So here, as a source of motivation and encouragement, the Lord personally reminds the overcomer not only of the safety of his heavenly citizenship, but of the special acknowledgment the Lord Himself will give before the Father and before His angels.

His Name Confessed Before the Father and His Angels (3:5c)

As just indicated, this promise is related to the previous promise and may really be a part of that promise. It is likewise not dealing with salvation, but with reward by way of an accolade, a special acknowledgment or public recognition for faithfulness. Again we need to keep in mind the historical background mentioned above. Though the overcomer may experience blame and ridicule and loss of citizenship before the world because he or she refuses to follow after the world or bow to its threats, the overcomer will experience special reward in the form of public recognition. Undoubtedly, special accolades like, “well done, you good and faithful servant,” is in mind.

The Challenge Needed (3:6)

See the preceding studies for the nature of this challenge to have ears to hear.

Some final lessons:

(1) The means for living the Christian life, so vital for spiritual reality, is a knowledge and a careful application of the Word through the various ministries of the Spirit (vs. 1).

(2) The sign of a successful church, one truly in touch with God, is Christlikeness. How much do the people of the church demonstrate the Savior in their personal lives, in their families, in their values, priorities, ministries, etc.? It is never just activity or works or size or reputation. Activities and reputations by themselves are never a proof of true spirituality.

(3) Genuine godliness is the foundation of moral goodness. Moral goodness is always incomplete and on the verge of degeneration without godliness through the Spirit and the Word with its absolute truth.

(4) God is always faithful to reward His people for their faithfulness to Him. Salvation is by faith alone, sola fide, in Christ alone, but rewards are the product of overcoming faith in the life of Christ appropriated in the Christian’s life.

Lesson 10:
The Message to Philadelphia
(3:7-13)

“The Church of the Open Door”

The City and the Assembly
(3:7a)

7 “And to the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:”

Philadelphia, which means “brotherly love,” was situated in Lydia along the Hermus River valley about 38 miles southeast of Sardis. It was backed by volcanic cliffs and though the land was rich and fertile from the volcanic residue, Philadelphia was a dangerous place to live due the many earthquakes experienced by the region. Because of its location, the city was in constant danger of earthquakes and experienced shocks as an everyday occurrence according to Strabo. As a result, many of its inhabitants chose to live in huts outside the city in the open country. Note the allusion to this in the promise of 3:12, “and he will not go out from it any more.” Like Athens, Philadelphia was a temple warden and gave to the emperor the title “The Son of the Holy One.” It is undoubtedly for this reason the Lord is called, “He who is holy, who is true” in verse 7.

Barclay points out another important historical feature about this city and one also alluded to in the statements of the message to the church there:

Philadelphia was founded for a special purpose and with a special intention. It was situated where the borders of Mysia, Lydia and Phrygia met. It was a border town. But it was not as a garrison town that Philadelphia was founded, for there was little danger there. It was founded with the deliberated intention that it might be a missionary of Greek culture and the Greek language to Lydia and Phrygia; and so well did it to its work that by A.D. 19 the Lydians had forgotten their own Lydian language and were all but Greeks…That is what the Risen Christ means when he speaks of the open door that is set before Philadelphia. Three centuries before Philadelphia had been given an open door to spread Greek ideas in the lands beyond; and now there has come to it another great missionary opportunity, an open door to carry to men who never knew it the message of the love of Jesus Christ.[57]

The symbols of the ‘crown’ and the ‘temple’ mentioned in verses 11 and 12 are undoubtedly allusions by way of contrast with the games and religious festivals that were a part of life in the city of Philadelphia. In contrast with the instability of life in a city prone to daily earthquakes, those who ‘overcome’ are promised the ultimate stability of being rewarded with special privileges in the temple of God. This church may picture the modern missionary era of church history.

The Christ, the Author and Answer
(3:7b)

7b “…He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, and who shuts and no one opens, says this:”

Once again our risen Lord presents Himself in an aspect of His person and work which is fitting to the needs and problems of the assembly to ever remind us of the sufficiency of His life.

“He who is holy” asserts the Savior’s deity as the absolutely righteous One, the One totally set apart from sin. In Isaiah 40:25, Yahweh calls Himself “The Holy One.” It is a title of deity and contrasts Him with the claims of Emperor worship.

“Who is true.” “True” is the Greek word ale„thinos. It means “the real, the genuine, the ideal,” and stands opposed to what is false and to what is only a picture or type of the real.

(1) He is the One of whom all the Old Testament spoke. There we find only pictures and shadows, but He is the reality and the substance (Col. 2:16-17).

(2) This places Him in contrast to all the deceptions of the world and the false and futile answers it offers to man. God’s answer for man is Jesus Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life (John 14:6).

“Who has the key of David.” In Revelation 1:18 the keys speak of Christ’s power to give salvation and victory over death and the unseen Satanic world which tenaciously tries to hold men under the dominion of sin and death (Heb. 2:14). Here, however, the key speaks of (1) His royal claims as Lord and Head of David’s house. It anticipates and looks to His rule and kingdom on earth. (2) But it also reminds us of His royal authority or sovereignty even now over heaven and earth (Matt. 28:19).

When men by their arrogance and ecclesiastical or political position and actions would strive to shut out true Bible-believing believers from effective service, we need to remember His power and authority. Men may bind us, as they did John and Paul, but God’s Word is not bound (2 Tim. 2:9). Further, when we think we must compromise God’s principles of the ministry and resort to human gimmicks, Madison Avenue techniques, or any kind of worldly means to accomplish spiritual objectives or as the keys to open doors, we need to again reflect on the truth of this passage. The Lord holds the key to opening doors to ministry as well as the door to the hearts of men. Note the following description.

“The One opening…” (3:7b) In the final analysis it is always our Lord who opens all true doors of ministry to us. This church had a little strength, i.e., they were small in numbers by man’s standards as man counts success, but this must never disturb or discourage us.

“And who shuts and no one opens…” There is also an important lesson here as believers seek God’s guidance for ministry. Paul and His missionary team had planned to minister first in Asia, but were forbidden by the Holy Spirit (Acts 16:6). Then they wanted to minister in Bithynia, but they were not permitted to minister there either (vs. 7). Instead, they were called to Macedonia. In other words, at that point at least, the Lord shut the doors to Asia and Bithynia, but opened them in other places. Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 16, Paul expressed his plans to eventually visit Corinth (16:5-7), but he carefully qualified this with “if the Lord permits” (vs. 7). However, for the moment, he was committed to staying at Ephesus to minister. Why? Because “a wide door for effective service has opened to me, and there are many adversaries (evidently a sign to Paul of God’s hand on his work at Ephesus)” (cf. vss. 8-9). But when we turn to 2 Corinthians, we find that Paul had to change his plans in regard to Corinth due to circumstances beyond his control and the sovereign leading of the Lord, the One who opens and closes doors. The obvious lesson is that we must learn to grab the opportunities when they come, but not push and get frustrated when the Lord isn’t opening the door. For other passages using the open door image see Acts 14:27; 2 Cor. 2:12; Col. 4:3.

The Church and its Affairs
(3:8-13)

8 ‘I know your deeds. Behold, I have put before you an open door which no one can shut, because you have a little power, and have kept My word, and have not denied My name.9 ‘Behold, I will cause those of the synagogue of Satan, who say that they are Jews, and are not, but lie—behold, I will make them to come and bow down at your feet, and to know that I have loved you.10 ‘Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell upon the earth.11 ‘I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown.12 ‘He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write upon him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name.13 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

The Commendation Stated (3:8)

(1) For Faithfulness with opportunities given to them

The statements of commendation flow out of the truth of Christ as the One who opens in verse 7. They were using the opportunities (the open doors) the Lord had given them as the door opener. This is implied in verse 8a. Christ knew their deeds, and so He put before them an open door of ministry. We should note that “put” of the NASB, or “set” of the KJV, or “placed” of the NIV is the perfect tense of Greek dido„mi which literally means, “I give.” It is used according to context in the sense of “bestow, grant, supply, deliver, commit, and entrust.” While the idea here is clearly that of placing before the Philadelphian believers open doors of ministry, it should be noted that this word is used of entrusting something to someone for some type of stewardship: money for investment purposes (Matt. 25:14-15), the keys of the kingdom (Matt. 16:19), and someone’s care (John 6:37, 39; 17:6, 9, 12, 24; Heb. 2:13). See also Luke 19:23 where dido„mi is used of putting money in the bank to gain interest. There are two points to ponder here. First, open doors of opportunity—no matter how hard we think we have worked to open the doors—are gifts from the Savior because without Him, they would not open. Second, open doors are trusts given to us for faithful stewardship just as with our spiritual gifts or our finances. If we will be faithful to live in the fullness of His life, He will bring opportunities of service and ministry.

(2) For spiritual competence

“You have a little power.” They were small in number by comparison to the religious and idolatrous people of the city, but, small as they were, they did have power, spiritual capacity because they were operating from the source of Christ’s life and authority.

(3) For faithfulness to the Word

“And have kept My word.” This was the secret to their lives and ministry (Heb. 4:12). Keeping God’s Word and keeping our hearts dependent on and close to Him go hand in hand (Prov. 4:20-23). “Kept” is the Greek te„reo„, “to watch over, guard, keep, preserve” and “give heed to, pay attention to, observe” especially of the Law, or the Word, or teaching, etc.[58] Undoubtedly, both ideas are involved. They were committed to Christ’s Word or the Word about the Savior to preserve it from false ideas and adulterations, but they were also committed to observing its truth in their lives.

(4) For attestation to their faith in Christ

“And have not denied My Name.” This speaks of their spiritual fidelity and separation from the world. Remember, one may confess the Lord with his mouth and yet, in some way, deny Him with a life that is inconsistent with the truth of Scripture or the character of Christ.

The Comfort Promised (3:9-11)

(1) Comfort concerning their persecutors (3:9)

“Those of the synagogue of Satan.” The synagogue refers to the place of Jewish worship and study.

“Of Satan” is a genitive of possession, Satan’s synagogue, that which belongs to him. Satan was its head and the power behind the scenes. More crime, evil and persecution have been perpetrated in the name of religion and by the religious, self-righteous type than almost any other one source of evil. Religion is Satan’s trump card, and one of his primary weapons that he uses to both deceive and hurt mankind. This is what we have here. Religious persecution by religious Jews operating under Satan’s control whether they realized it or not. The Lord’s word to the religious leaders in John 8:41-47 is fitting here:

41 “You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father, even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me; for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me. 43 Why do you not understand what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear My word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. 45 But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. 46 Which one of you convicts Me of sin? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? 47 He who is of God hears the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

“Who say they are Jews and are not.” They were literal Jews, physical descendants of David and Abraham, but in claiming to be Jews they were also claiming to be God’s people, religious guides to the truth, and the means and access to God. The apostle Paul comments on what constitutes a true child of Abraham in Romans 9:6-8. There he makes the clear distinction between racial Israel and regenerate Israel.

Rom. 9:6-8 But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7 neither are they all children because they are Abraham’s descendants, but: “through Isaac your descendants will be named.” 8 That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants.

They were not children of God regardless of their claims and religiosity. They had rejected God’s Son and revelation of God, they were of their father the Devil, as Christ plainly told them. To be a true Jew in the biblical sense one had to have the hope and faith of Abraham. Abraham was the possessor of faith in the promises of God to him and faith in the coming Messiah.

The promise: Since faithful believers will reign with Jesus Christ and share in His throne, these persecutors will in essence have to fall down at the believer’s feet in “operation footstool” (Phil. 2:10-11, Heb. 2:13).

(2) Comfort concerning the Tribulation (3:10)

The reason for deliverance

“Because you have kept the word of my patience” (3:10a). “The Word of My patience” refers to the Word, the testimony of Scripture regarding the truth of Christ as the suffering, resurrected, and so also, the victorious Savior who endured the shame of rejection and the cross and who endures today as the resurrected and ascended Lord now sitting at God’s right hand (Heb. 1:3 with 12:1-3).

“Kept” is again the Greek te„reo„, “to guard, watch over, protect,” or “obey, observe” as with the principles and commands of Scripture. This is a non motion verb in contrast to verbs of motion like so„zo„, “to save, deliver,” and lambano„, “to take.” This is important because this same word is used of the promise which follows. We will see why when we consider the promise.

But what does it mean to keep the word of His endurance? It means to be a believer, one who has trusted in the person and work of Christ who now sits at God’s right hand for us. Rather than reject this message, they had kept it by faith.

The promise of deliverance (3:10b)

“I will also keep you from the hour of testing,…” “Testing” is the Greek peirasmos, “a trial, temptation, or testing.” The context must determine the exact meaning of the word. Here the context shows us the reference is to a very specific meaning, that of world-wide testing or tribulation.

“Hour” is metaphorical for a shortened period. Because of the clause that follows, this clearly refers to more than the general trials or testings or temptations which people today may encounter. The hour is defined in three ways:

(1) It is “the” hour of trial. The presence of the Greek article specifies this as a very specific time of testing.

(2) It is to come upon the whole world. The term translated “world” is oikoumene„, meaning “the inhabited earth,” but modifying it is the adjective, holos, “whole, complete.” The testing is worldwide.

(3) Finally, it is designed to test a certain category of people defined as “those who dwell upon the earth.” The verb “dwell” is katoikeo„ from kata, “down” and oikeo„, “dwell, live.” Katoikeo„ means “to live, dwell, reside, settle (down),” or it can mean “inhabit.”[59] The construction of the Greek (a substantival present articular participle) describes the inhabitants as those who are characterized as earth dwellers. As used in Revelation, “those who dwell upon the earth” is basically a technical term for unbelievers because they are earthdwellers, i.e., people bound only to this life and what it can give (6:10; 8:13; 11:10; 13:8, 14; 17:8; Isa. 24:17f). In contrast to believers who are to think and live as sojourners or aliens, the earthdweller is quite at home on earth.

“The hour of trial,” sometimes referred to as “the Tribulation,” refers to the time of wrath or judgment described in chapters 6-19. This is the same as Daniel’s Seventieth Week (Dan. 9:27) and the time of Jacob’s trouble described by Jeremiah as unprecedented in its judgment (Jer. 30:7).

The promise:

First, note that this is not a reward to the faithful. This will come in verses 11-12. Instead, this is a promise to the church as a whole. This is clear from 3:13 which broadens this as a promise to the churches at large. All believers are to listen to these messages and their warning, exhortations, and promises and act accordingly. As in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, this is to bring comfort to the church.

Second, the promise is “I will keep you from the hour…” i.e., from the Tribulation. This is very specific and carefully described in the Greek to emphasize and clearly teach the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. The Greek words for “keep out” are te„reo„ ek meaning “out of.” There are four other ways this could have been stated if John wanted to imply that church age believers would be in the Tribulation, but none of them were used.

· te„reo„ en = To keep in. This would be a promise of preservation in the Tribulation.

· te„reo„ dia = to keep through. This would be a promise to keep us through the Tribulation.

· aireo„ ek = to take out, or so„zo„ ek = to save out. This could mean that believers would go into the Tribulation and then be taken out of the Tribulation.

· aireo„ apo = to take from. This would mean that believers would go into the Tribulation and then be taken out of the Tribulation.

Rather than any of the above, John chose to use te„reo„ ek, which means “to keep out.” This is a promise that believers will never get into the Tribulation. But how? Paul describes this for us 1 Thessalonians 4:13f. We can chart it like this:

Some have tried to argue that this construction means just the opposite of the above interpretation. Gundry, for instance, in his book, The Church and the Tribulation, believes it argues for a post-tribulational emergence of the saints. He writes, “As it is, ek lays all the emphasis on emergence, in this verse on the final, victorious outcome of the keeping-guarding.”[60] Although this is generally true with ek, if ek is related to a non-motion verb like te„reo„, the idea of motion out of something is negated by the static nature of the verb. The fact then, that a motion verb like so„zo„ is used here with ek shows the fallacy of Gundry’s argument. However, even if a verb of motion were used, it would not prove Gundry’s argument. A good illustration is 2 Corinthians 1:10 which has rhuomai ek, “delivered us from death.” Certainly Paul did not mean that God had delivered them out of death through resurrection, but that He had kept them from death.[61] Another illustration of this use of ek with a verb of motion is James 5:20, “save him from (the peril) of death,” so„zo„ plus ek.

As James 5:20 and 2 Corinthians 1:10 means saved from the peril of death, i.e., from dying. So likewise 1 Thessalonians 1:10 and Rev. 3:10 means delivered from the peril of wrath, the time of testing, the Tribulation.

(3) Comfort and admonition concerning the imminent return of the Lord (3:11)

His coming is promised to be “quickly.” This means “suddenly, unexpectedly, without announcement” and not necessarily soon. It implies imminency and so the charge here is to “hold fast,” a warning against spiritual carelessness and carnality. The warning reminds us to live in the light of His coming, to hold fast to Him in faith and service. For when He comes it will mean examination and rewards. He will not forget our service on His behalf, but we must hold fast to the hope and expectation of His coming for us or we will live carelessly, indifferently to our calling and purpose as believers. When that happens we lose our crowns, rewards for faithful service. So the Spirit quickly adds, “that no one take your crown.”

“That no one take your crown” is an interesting picture. To lose a crown is to be deprived of the honor or glory potentially available through faithful living. There are two possible ideas here:

(1) It could refer to rewards which are lost and given to others because we failed to hold fast. Swete states, “‘The picture is not that of a thief snatching away what is feebly held, but rather of a competitor receiving a prize which has been forfeited.’”[62] I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 9:24 where the apostle challenges us regarding rewards, “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win (lit. lay hold of).” There is also the parable of Luke 19:24 where the Lord says regarding the unfaithful servant, “Take the mina away from him, and give it to the one who has the ten minas.”

(2) Or, it could refer to rewards lost because of the evil influences that we might allow to hinder us in the race of life (cf. Matt. 13:7, 22; Col. 2:18; 2 John 8; Rev. 2:20 with 2:25f).

Actually, both concepts are true as the above Scriptures make clear.

Certainties for the overcomer (3:12)

In verse 12, then, the believer who overcomes is promised three specific things:

First, he will have as a reward a special ministry as a permanent and prominent fixture in the temple of God (Eph. 2:21f). All believers are in the spiritual building and household of God (Eph. 2:21-22), but some will be pillars as special rewards. To be a pillar is a sign of special reward with a permanent position of honor and responsibilities in the millennium and eternal state. Pillars stood for stability, ornamentation, and service.

Second, he will never be removed from this place of preeminence in the eternal temple. The overcomer has a fixed eternal place of honor in the sanctuary of God. “He will not go out from it anymore.”

Third, he will have three special names: he will have written on him God’s name and the name of the new Jerusalem along with Christ’s own new name. This would all signify the priestly dignity and prominence given to the victors.

The Challenge and Admonition
(3:13)

13 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’

Finally the letter is closed with the usual charge to all the churches or to the church of God at large wherever it may exist in the world to hear and take this message to heart.

Lesson 11:
The Message to Laodicea
(3:14-22)

“Lukewarmness in the Church”

Introduction

All of the messages to the churches of Asia are extremely practical, but perhaps none fits the conditions in both Europe and in North America as does the message to Laodicea, the church that had become so lukewarm in its deceptive self-sufficiency. Regarding this condition, MacArthur has given us an accurate picture. He writes:

One of the remarkable sidelights in the staggering political changes in Eastern Europe is the fact of a vibrant Christianity that has emerged in the midst of the suffering, persecution, and atheism of these Communist dominated countries.

By contrast, in free Europe where there has been prosperity and democracy, the church is almost completely dead. The church has ceased to have any impact on the society. Atheism and humanism have taken over. Government and public policy is governed almost totally by philosophies that are antibiblical and even intolerant of the truth of Scripture.

If you look at the U.S., you find much the same thing. Government and the media, which affects the thinking of so much of America, are, for the most part, liberal and intolerant of Christianity. Leadership in both Europe and the U.S. are working for a one world government while the populace is preoccupied with their comfort and pleasure or the good life. The moral climate or condition of both free Europe and the U.S. is rotten to the core. According to a number of polls, if you compare the values, priorities, practices, and pursuits of professing Christians and non-Christians alike, you find very little difference on the whole.

Yet, much of free Europe and all of America owe their freedom, their prosperity, and blessings to the preaching of the Word of God, to the reformation in Europe, and to the ministries of men like the Wesleys, George Whitfield, and Jonathan Edwards in America.

What then is the problem? Is it freedom? Is it prosperity? No! But there are inherent dangers in both freedom and prosperity, subtle dangers.

It is more than a curiosity that the church has flourished behind the Iron Curtain while dying in the West. The reasons are clear. Lacking any visible external threat to our faith, many in the free world have lost any sense of the subtlety of the enemy and how he attacks. We have grown careless and apathetic. We have become concerned more with our own comfort and well-being than with the command of Christ that we should follow in His steps (1 Pet. 2:21).[63]

So, what’s the problem? People simply can’t stand prosperity. With freedom and prosperity come the temptation to trust in our blessings rather than in the Blessor. We become fat, comfortable, and self-sufficient. If we have plenty, we tend to think we have need of nothing. If we do not have enough, looking at the wealth around us, we tend to think that what we need is what others have—material blessings.

The problem is that men are putting their faith in the wrong thing, in their material world, in treasures on earth. Christ told us in no uncertain terms to do the opposite, to lay up treasures in heaven. Paul instructs us in 1 Tim 6:17-19:

Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy. {Instruct them} to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is life indeed.

In other words, in the words of the Savior, we need to lay up heavenly treasures (Matt. 6:19f). Scripture warns us of this very problem over and over again.

God warned Israel in Deuteronomy 6:10f against forgetting the Lord as the source of their freedom and salvation. Nine times in Deuteronomy He tells them not to forget what the Lord had done for them and 15 times He tells them to remember the Lord and His deliverance.

The Lord Himself in the letter to the church at Laodicea warns and instructs us against the deadening and lukewarm effects of trusting in material wealth (the details of life) rather than pursuing a vital faith relationship with Jesus Christ.

The Laodicean church was a church that had lost its impact on the world because it had become occupied with the world and because it had left the Lord standing outside. Whether one believes in the idea that the seven churches of Asia portray seven historical stages the church would go through or not, certainly this church illustrates conditions of the church in the 20th century in a large portion of the world.

The City and the Assembly
(3:14a)

14a “And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write:…”

Laodicea was the chief city of Phrygia in the Lycus valley, strategically located where three highways converged. It was thereby a highly commercial and wealthy city. It was a city of wealthy bankers and financiers. The many millionaires combined to build theaters, a huge stadium, lavish public baths, and fabulous shopping centers. Sound familiar?

It should be obvious, but clearly, the American Mall, the big discount stores, and shopping centers define American culture in the ’80s and ’90s. The ‘80s has gone on record as the decade of consumerism and the ’90s has certainly continued the trend, even adding Internet shopping to the list. Consumerism is completely out of control.

I was in the north part of Dallas not long ago and was amazed at the number of shopping centers, restaurants, strip malls, and huge enclosed malls. But it’s like this all over America, especially in the big cities. There is a concentration of buyers, sellers, and products; jammed parking lots and crushing crowds with millions of dollars being spent by people buying things they don’t need with money most of them don’t have.

Americans spend more than 30 percent of their income on luxury items, compared to less than 10 percent just forty years ago. Statistics on personal consumption published by the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis reveal that Americans’ spending on recreation rose from 42.7 billion in 1970 to 246.8 billion in 1988—a 477 percent increase!

Consumer Credit outstanding in America went from 167 billion in 1975 to nearly 660 billion in 1988. That’s a whopping 295 percent increase![64]

In A.D. 60 Laodicea was destroyed by an earthquake. Being highly resourceful and self-sufficient, the people restored their own city rather than receive a government loan from Rome. That was very commendable and a far cry from what we find today in America. It demonstrated a self-sufficient attitude that would have detrimental spiritual results if carried over into their relationship with the Lord.

In addition to being a banking center, it was a manufacturing center for woolen garments and medicinal eye salve, powders and tabloids (3:17-18).

They did have one inadequacy, however—their water supply. Laodicea received its water through an aqueduct coming from a spring four miles to the south. The waters of neighboring Hierapolis, however, were famous as hot springs and would have provided a contrast with the tepid aqueduct water in Laodicea. By contrast also there was Colossae which had ice cold springs, but nothing like this was known in Laodicea.

Certainly, this church illustrates and speaks to the church in our time, our modern period of materialism, consumerism, self-sufficiency, do-your-own-thing kind of independence and individualism, religiosity, and apostasy.

The Christ, the Author and Answer
(3:14b)

14b “…The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:”

Again, as with the previous letters, this one begins with a part of the description of the Savior as given in chapter one. So our attention is focused on the person of the risen Lord Jesus and how He alone is the answer and solution.

“The Amen.” Amen is the Greek ame„n from the Hebrew A^m^n. A^m^n is from a root meaning “to be firm, stable, sure, established, and trustworthy.” It is used in Isaiah 65:16 of God as “the God of truth,” literally, “the God of Amen.”

The word was used to acknowledge and emphasize what was valid, sure and true, or important and significant. It is used in the Old Testament as a liturgical formula in which a congregation or individual accepts both the validity of an oath or curse and its consequences (Num. 5:22; Deut. 27:15ff.; Neh. 5:13; Jer. 11:5). Twenty five times, always in the gospel of John, John records the Lord’s use of this word, ame„n, translated as, “truly truly, I say to you.” Here in Revelation 3:14, the “amen” is explained with the words, “the Faithful and True Witness.”

“Amen” also connoted the idea of finality or the last word; is used of our Lord as the True One, the last word and final authority in each individual’s life as well as for the entire world. As used of Christ, it points to Him as the end, the finality and certainty of all things. With Him one needs no substitutes, no subtractions or additions. With Jesus Christ there is no further search needed for truth for in Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Col. 2:3). Thus, every promise He makes is true and every woe He pronounces shall come to pass.

“The Faithful and True Witness.” As mentioned, this clause defines the word “amen.” But it is especially designed to contrast Christ’s statement of verses 15 and 16 with the statement of the Laodiceans about themselves in verse 17. As the “Faithful and True Witness,” He stripped them and so also us of all our false appearances and pretentiousness, rationalizations and excuses. It stresses the need in each of us for honest examination followed by an honest to God confession that demonstrates a genuine desire for a change of life. It would further teach us the need to be in His Word which reveals our true condition (Heb. 4:12). The Lord said, “Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth” (John 17:17).

“The beginning and the creation of God.” The word “beginning” is the Greek word arche„ meaning (a) first in time or (b) first in place, cause, or origin. The point is Jesus Christ is the origin, the cause, the Creator of all things (John 1:3; Col. 1:16-17; Rev. 1:8; 21:6). He is the Creator of this earth, now fallen under the curse of sin through rebellion to Him. But He is also the Creator of the coming kingdom and the eternal state of a new heavens and earth in which dwells perfect righteousness (cf. Isa. 65:17f).

As with the world today and many, many believers, Laodicea was occupied with and trusting in the things of this fallen creation that is now passing away and slated for destruction. They were trusting in the details of this life rather than in the Creator and in heavenly treasures.

Their priorities and security lay in temporal things rather than in the eternal and in the Creator Himself (Matt. 6:19f; 1 Tim. 6:17-19). Perhaps, like much of Christianity today, their hope and faith was in a responsive Christ who is supposed to satisfy His people by quickly granting them ease and comfort. It is a Christianity that wants heaven or millennial conditions now in this present fallen world under Satan’s control. But that is not the message of the Bible and certainly not the message of Revelation.

The message of Revelation is about a continuing struggle with evil both in the church age (Rev. 2-3) and in the Tribulation to come (Rev. 6-19). It’s a struggle that will only get worse and worse and will not end until it is brought to an end by the personal return of the Lord.

The hope of the church and the biblical message that enables people to weather life’s storms and grow through them is gratitude for what happened at the cross of Christ combined with a passionate confidence in what will yet take place at His blessed coming. Surely, the only source of real stability in this present (a kind of stability that does not require the character-weakening mechanism of denial nor the demand for comfort) is a deep thankfulness for the past work of the Savior combined with a confident expectation for the future glories promised by Christ.

The Church and its Affairs
(3:15-22)

15 ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I would that you were cold or hot. 16 ‘So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth. 17 ‘Because you say, “I am rich, and have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined by fire, that you may become rich, and white garments, that you may clothe yourself, and that the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed; and eye salve to anoint your eyes, that you may see. 19 ‘Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline; be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 ‘Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me. 21 ‘He who overcomes, I will grant to him to sit down with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne. 22 ‘He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.’”

The Condemnation and Admonition (3:15-17)

Please note that in this church there was no commendation. This church is condemned because it is neither hot nor cold, but simply lukewarm. What does this teach us?

“I know your deeds.” As before, the Lord begins with a solemn reminder of His knowledge of the true condition of our lives. Since His witness is true and He is the Amen (the final word) it is as foolish for us to run and hide, as it was for Adam and Eve. We should never run or hide from his witness to us through the Word, or from the disciplines He brings into our lives. Why? Well, not only does denial dishonor the Lord and bring with it serious consequences to our fellowship with Him (see vs. 20) and our ability to grow up spiritually, but sooner or later we are going to have to face the Lord for the way we have lived and used or abused His grace.

Rom. 14:11-12 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to Me, And every Tongue shall give praise to God.” So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God.

“Hot” is zestos, a word which means “boiling hot.” It is found in Rom. 12:11 where we are first warned against “lagging behind in diligence,” but also exhorted to be “fervent (zestos) in spirit, serving the Lord,” an obvious cause and effect relationship. It refers to spiritual fervor, zest, zealousness for the things of Jesus Christ. Our word zest comes from this word.

“Cold.” Christ says “I would that you were either cold or hot.” Why cold? Why is cold preferred to lukewarm?

First, there may be an allusion to Colossae which had cold springs. The point is that cold water is refreshing, it provides refreshment for the weary, and hot water has a healing or soothing effect upon the sick or on aching and sore joints and muscles. But Laodicea had neither; in fact, it was nauseating.

Note our Savior’s comment at the end of verse 16. “I will spit you out of My mouth.” The translation “spit” of the NASB or NIV, or “spue” of the KJV, are not really strong enough. The Greek word here is emeo„ which means, “to vomit.” There is another word, ptuo„ that means “to spit” that John could have used if that is what he meant.[65] From the standpoint of their ministry they provided neither refreshment nor healing, they could only cause nausea. In other words, they were useless to the Lord and His purposes for the church in the world. Remember Matthew 10:42 and the cup of cold water given in the name of Christ. They were even useless for that.

Second, when a person is cold and feels its bitterness, he is more apt to seek warmth or refuge from the cold and flee to Jesus Christ for his needs. But if one is lukewarm he becomes more difficult to reach because he feels comfortable and self-sufficient (3:17b).

“I would.” This is the Greek ophelon, a fixed form used to express an unattainable wish. It’s equivalent to “would that, I wish.” It assumes the nature of an interjection where one wishes that a thing had happened, but has not and probably will not. They had become thoroughly hardened and indifferent to Christ through the deceitful riches of the world and their sin (cf. Heb. 3:7f).

What does it mean to be lukewarm? Verse 17 expresses what Christ means by lukewarmness. It refers to Christians who are indifferent or apathetic because they are self-sufficient and self-satisfied. Christians who are trusting in themselves and their wealth or what they thought their wealth could buy them. Note their threefold claim:

(1) “I am rich”—they had an over abundance of material blessings, but by this statement, it shows they were proud and trusting in that richness as though wealth had the power to give them security and happiness.

(2) “… and have become wealthy”—they continued to add to their wealth. Not only was wealth a sign of security, happiness, and success, but the truth is, it never really satisfies and people want more. I can’t remember who it was that said this, though I know he was a very famous wealthy man, but when asked how much is enough, the millionaire replied with one word, “more.”

(3) “… and have need of nothing”—They were so well off they thought they needed help from neither man nor God. They had bought into the satanic delusion that money can buy anything. They didn’t need to trust God. They could simply go out and buy whatever they needed or desired. There was no need to wait on the Lord, no need to put Him first.

They sought their security in their talents, abilities, human resources, and financial wealth. They thought they were protected from all dangers, were insulated from all problems, and immune to every kind of tragedy.

These are the kind of people who thought they deserved special treatment: first class accommodations, the finest clothes, the best of everything. Their real God was comfort and pleasure.

The problem was that they sought their happiness in things and their security in their wealth. As a result they neglected the Lord and biblical values. They neglected real service or ministry to others.

America has more churches per capita than any other country. Our currency reads, “In God We Trust.” But according to recent statistics, there is very little difference between the lifestyles of Christians and non-Christians. The moral degeneracy of our nation in its attitudes, values, and beliefs is everywhere obvious. The crime rate, substance abuse, the divorce rate, abuse of women and children, the secularism, rise of the occult, the new age movement, and many other signs make it clear this country is in critical condition regardless of its Christian heritage and its many churches.

We are the wealthiest nation in the world with more churches, more Bibles, Christian literature, and Christian schools than any other nation in the world, yet, we are losing the battle.

Why isn’t the church more effective in the world today? Is the problem simply with the world? Is it too stubborn and too blind to listen? Or could part of the problem be with us? Have we, because of our materialism and in spite of our religiosity, excluded the Savior? Have we literally shut Him out of our lives so He can no longer flesh out His life in ours to impart His vision, His character and values into ours?

What’s the cure for the American church? What do we need to do? In the verses that follow, we have the Lord’s counsel and advice along with His promises and rewards.

The saddest thing about the Laodicean church (and that which characterizes America today) is not just the Lord’s statement about their condition as “wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked,” but the words that preceded this indictment, “and you do not kno