The Trinity Writes A Letter
Revelation is a letter written to the seven churches of Asia Minor at the end of the first century. These churches were along a circuit similar to a postal route. Most likely this letter was copied and sent around to the churches. Now remember the churches were not like ours today. The church was basically individual homes within a city. So multiple copies of this letter would have been sent around and preserved to be read over and over again. Any significance to seven? I would say so. Again, seven means complete. We'll get into the churches more later.
John is the writer but the true author is the trinity which would make this one very important letter. We see in 1:4 he starts off with a greeting of grace and peace. This is a common greeting often found throughout the Epistles. We never see it the other way around and that is, I believe, because we cannot have true peace without grace first. First comes grace, then peace. Also, Grace was a common greeting among the Gentile Believers where Peace or Shalom was a common Jewish greeting. Both are incorporated here.
Now I just said this book was authored by the trinity didn't I? What do I mean by that? Well I didn't even notice this bit of info before, but it's there right in front of me. We see this in V4:
"John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be to you and peace from Him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; and from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness and the first begotten of the dead and the prince of the kings of the earth........"
Isn't that cool? The word "Trinity" cannot be found in scripture as it is more of a modern term, but we can see it clearly as we exegete our way thru scripture.
From Him: Ok this is clearly God the Father and is reminiscent of what Moses encountered when he saw that bush burning way back in Exodus 3. There, when asked by Moses who He was, the answer was to tell the others that he was "I AM" This name or title for God speaks of his eternal presence.
From the 7 Spirits: We would recognize this as the HS. If you want to see this a bit more clearly check out 3:1, 4:5 and 5:6 and you'll see these spirits are called "Spirits of God." Another passage to check out would be Zech 4:1-10.
From Jesus Christ: He's called here the faithful witness which he, of course, is. He is also called the firstborn of the dead and a ruler of all rulers. He is most definitely a King, a force to be reckoned with. When He returns, it will be to bring justice, and it will be too late then to make decisions for Christ. Jeremiah spoke of this future King in the Hebrew scriptures when he said this:
"Behold, the days come says the Lord that I will raise unto David a Righteous Branch and a King shall reign and prosper and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth. " 23:5
Rev 1:5 says our sins are washed by his blood. The word "washed" gives us an idea of something beeing loosened. It basically means or gives us the idea of our sin being loosened from us like Tide loosens dirt off our clothing.
We are called to be Priests to God. This is a reference to the OT Priests. What was the duty of the Priests? It was the Priests who went to God to worship for the Nation Israel. Only the Priests had direct access to Him. They were the ones to bring others to God helping them to be reconciled back to God when it was needed. Now in the NT we are called to such duty. We are called to worship God and to bring others as well. This job title was transferred to the Christians the day the veil of the Temple was torn from the top to the bottom, now giving believers direct access to God with no need for a mediator outside of Jesus himself.
V7 is interesting. How many know that this was read repeatedly as a stanza in the early church? They wanted to keep reminding themselves that He was coming back soon. When it says "Behold He comes with the clouds" we see it's put in the present tense. The word is "erchomai" and gives a sense that His coming would be imminent because He's on His way. We, of course, should be ready as were they, because we know not when He will show up.
This coming or "erchomai" gives us a picture that His coming will be as an astroid on its way to Earth even now. It's 2000 years closer than when this book was written. He says 7 times in this book, "I am coming." There will be no stopping Him.
The word "Behold" means to look; fix your attention on; see clearly. Notice His name isn't mentioned. "He" will be recognized by the ones waiting for Him. This verse is not a verse of comfort . This is not speaking of what is commonly known as the Rapture which we will touch on later. We see that many will wail because of Him. This wailing is not a good thing.
"Every eye shall see him" is a bit different than his resurrection. Then, only the believers saw Him. This time all will witness this event when he rips the heavens open and enters our space this time a the Lion of Judah, the King of Kings. All will take one look at Him and know. This could not have happened yet.
The Didache, which is an early church document , written about 100 AD had 16 points to it with the last one making a refernce to the 2nd coming. The last sentence of this document gives a reference to the fact that when He does return every eye shall see him. Now this document was written more than 30 years past the destruction of Jerusalem. This early writing also gives validity to the 95 AD dating of the book of Revelation, because obviously this had not happened yet. They in 100 AD or so were still waiting as we are now.
One out of every 25 verses in the entire bible speak of His 2nd Coming. This event permeats the total Bible.
"They also which pierced Him" is speaking of the Nation Israel. Now, at this point, of his return they will turn to Him as a Nation and God will pour out His Grace on his chosen Nation Israel. The Prophet Zechariah spoke of this coming day when he said this:
"And I will pour upon the house of David and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem the spirit of grace and of supplications and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced and they shall mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son and shall be in btterness for Him as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn. In that day shall there be a great mourning in Jerusalem........In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin anf for uncleanness. Zech 12:10,11-13:1.
For more on this you can check Romans 11:26-27, Matt 24:3, 21-31. It will be clear and the whole world will know it.
In the above reference of Matthew the disciples asked Him for a sign for the end of the world. He tells them to watch. First He says many will fall away from the truth, there will be a great tribulation like the world has never before seen. The sun will be darkened and the stars will fall and then the sign will appear. The sign will be his return.
The Christian response to all this? Come. Even so, Amen.
We see in V8 that God, himself is signing the letter as I AM. The Alpha & Omega are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet indicating here that the Lord God is the beginning and the end of all things. He's eternal and his signatory is the Almighty "pantokrator."
What do we do in light of knowing this? Paul gives us a clue in his letter to Titus:
"For the grace of God that brings salvation to all men has appeared, teaching us that denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world. Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. These things speak, and exhort, and rebuke with all authority. Le no man despise you."
Even so.....Come. Amen
"