My Study of Revelation part 1

Today I took a mini road trip (okay, so it was a half hour drive) to Florida and sat in a Starbucks and figured out where I want to go next with my personal Bible study.  It's been too long since I've done anything in depth on my own.  And so I quite randomly decided to go with the book of Revelation.

I'm a bit angsty when it comes to Revelation, and have been for many years.  I don't believe in the Rapture but find myself surrounded by Christians who do, so that can tend to be a sore spot for me.  Being a history major, another sore spot for me with Revelation is when people entirely ignore the historical context of this book and it's potentially immediate applications to AD 70 and the fall of Jerusalem.  Of course, both of these sore spots are things I haven't really investigated for myself...I've just heard things and immediately decided without any real thought that they sound better than the Rapture or better than no historical context to the book.  Fail me.  So I come to my study of Revelation with a couple...shall we say biases...  I wish I didn't.

And so this study will be my best attempt at an open mind.  I want to know what the book actually teaches for myself.  I downloaded a couple commentaries onto my kindle today, and I'm going to be consulting study bibles as well as probably the internet here and there.  I hope to record my findings here, if only as accountability of sorts to actually follow through with the entire book.  So if you decide to follow along with me, this is going to be a bit of a cliff hanger every week because I, too, won't know what's coming next.  Bear with me.

Commentaries/books I will be using heavily:

Faithlife Study Bible
Revelation for Everyone by N.T. Wright
"The Revelation Explained An Exposition, Text by Text, of the Apocalypse of St. John" by F. G. Smith (really random, I know, but it was free on Kindle, so I went for it)
Life Application Study Bible (NIV)
Scofield Study Bible (NASB)
Zondervan's NIV Study Bible

Without further ado, for this post, Revelation 1:1-8.

To set the stage, a few things in the way of background occur to me.  John is imprisoned on the island of Patmos as he writes this book.  Christianity in general is facing persecution and uncertainty as they try to figure out what God's plan is for this new Jesus movement, as well as wondering when Jesus will return.  Into this uncertainty John writes the book of Revelation.  The book of Revelation could more accurately be called "Apocalypse," although perhaps not in the way that we think of apocalypse today.  It turns out that apocalypse in its pure form means "sudden unveiling of previously hidden truth."  The book of Revelation, according to N.T. Wright, is based on the ancient Jewish belief that God's sphere of being and operation and our sphere are not separated by a gulf.  Rather, with the Temple and later with Jesus, heaven and earth meet and overlap.  In looking at Jesus, we are able to see God.  This belief is certainly reflected in the first eight verses of the book; the focus of this passage is on making clear the character, attributes, and actions of the Trinity - although perhaps in most detail, Jesus.

According to N.T. Wright, the first eight verses of Revelation tell us five important things about what sort of book this is:

1. a four stage revelation.  It is revealed from God to Jesus through an angel to John who reveals it to the churches.
2. a letter.  It both contains letters to seven specific churches and is intended as a general letter to the Church as a whole.
3. a prophesy (vs 3) -  John draws on the Old Testament prophetic tradition and also changes things up a bit.
4. a witness (vs. 2) - the words "witness" and "testimony" are very similar in use and meaning.  There is both a sense that God is conducting a heavenly lawcourt where witness borne by Jesus and his followers is key as well as a sense that those who bear this "testimony" may be called to suffer and/or die. 
5. Everything to come flows from Jesus and ultimately God the Father. (vs. 4, 8)

Random other findings to follow:

In his commentary, Smith points out the use of the number seven in vss. 4-8.  First of all, why seven churches specifically?  7 denotes fullness or completeness.  These seven churches are thus representative of the entire church, even as they are actual historic churches.  Second, what do the "seven spirits" refer to?  This is a reference to the Holy Spirit - the number seven refers to the fullness/excellence of the Holy Spirit.  Spirits rather than angels are used because angels are created beings.

There is a pretty amazing description of Jesus in verses 5-7.  I did a bit of my own research into each of the things Jesus is described as being in this passage.  

1. Jesus is a faithful witness - a witness to God's faithfulness and goodness.  Other places where "faithful witness" shows up in the Bible:  Ps 89:37 "it [David's throne] will be established forever like the moon, the faithful witness in the sky."  Jeremiah 42:5 "Then they said to Jeremiah, 'May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we do not act in accordance with everything the Lord your God sends you to tell us.'"
2. Jesus is the firstborn of the dead. - It is important to keep in mind that firstborn does not necessarily always denote the literal firstborn.  (Jacob/Esau, for example)  It denotes, rather, preeminent status.  So don't be too concerned with the fact that Jesus was not the first person to rise from the dead.  He was, however, the first to rise with an imperishable body.  Other places this concept shows up: Colossians 1:18 - "And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy."  Ps 89:27 - "And i will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth." Acts 26:23 - "that the Messiah would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles." 1 Cor 15:20 - "But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep."
3. Jesus is the ruler of Kings on earth.  Other places this concept shows up: Ps 89:27 - "And I will appoint him to be my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth." Dan 2:47 - "The king said to Daniel, 'Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, for you were able to reveal this mystery.'"
4. Jesus is Him who loves us.  Other places this concept shows up (among many): John 13:34 - "A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so must you love one another."  John 15:9 - "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love."
5. Jesus is Him who has freed us from our sins by his blood.  More than anything, this seems to refer to the fact that there is no more need for Old Testament sacrifices.  This concept shows up in 1 Peter 1:18-19 - "For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect."   
6. Jesus has made us a kingdom.  1 Peter 2:9 - "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."  Revelation 5:10 - "You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth."
7. Jesus has made us priests to his God and Father. 1 Peter 2:9 "But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God's special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light."
8. Jesus is coming with the clouds and every eye will see him...  This is perhaps the most interesting one to me, if simply because I learned a new way of looking at this phrase recently.  According to N.T. Wright, it is quite possible that the cloud imagery used in this passage as well as Matthew 24: 30 and Daniel 7:13 refers to an upward movement (Daniel 7:13 makes it very obvious - "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven.  He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence") rather than a downward movement.  In other words, it is from the perspective of heaven that we should understand it.  Jesus comes from earth to heaven, and every eye will see him.  This would then refer to his ascension and vindication.  1 Thessalonians 4:17, as I understand it, still refers to his second coming.    This phrase refers heavily to Zechariah 12:10 - "And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication.  They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son."

God is described in verse 8 as the Alpha and the Omega.  Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet and the phrase thus refers to God as the beginning and the end and everything in between.  The phrase "who is and was and is to come" is a reference to Yahweh (I Am).  

Overall, what struck me about this passage is the focus on who God is.  It is clear that John wants the focus of the book to be on making God known.  There is a ton of theology packed into a tiny little section.

I would love if anyone wants to take this journey with me.  If you have other perspectives or insights on this passage, let me know in the comment section!