The Apostle John, the last living apostle of Jesus, was exiled to the island of Patmos by the Roman authorities for the faithful preaching of the Gospel (Revelation 1:9). While on the island of Patmos, he had a series of visions which he wrote down and now form the Book of Revelation. This book is divided into three parts: “the things John has seen,” which relates to John’s vision in Revelation 1, the “things which are” that refers to John’s letters to the seven churches, and the things that will occur, the remainder of the Book of Revelation.
The word revelation is from the Greek word “apokalypsis,” which means to uncover, remove a veil, to have an unobstructed view. The uncovering, the removal of the veil here is the revelation of Jesus Christ as we have never seen Him before. This is not a new Jesus, just an element of Jesus that was not made known to us in the Gospels.
The prophecy of the book of Revelation is from Father God to His Son Jesus to give to us, his followers to show us “what soon must take place.” This is the only book of the Bible that says that those who read and hear its words will be blessed if they pay attention to what it says. This book is a revelation of Jesus in all His glory!
John’s Vision
The apostle John knew Jesus intimately. He walked with Him, and He talked with Him; he saw Him transfigured right before his eyes on the Mount of Transfiguration. He was there when Jesus died on the cross and saw Him in His resurrected state. John knew Jesus and believed His message with such an unwavering tenacity that He was exiled by the Roman authorities to a remote, barren island for his relentless preaching of Jesus.
While exiled, Jesus appeared to John in a vision. John heard a voice, and when he turned to “see the voice,” he saw seven golden lampstands and Jesus in all His glory holding seven stars in His right hand. Every detail of John’s vision has significance, from the lampstands to the detailed description of Jesus’ appearance. Let’s explore Revelation 1.
Seven Golden Lampstands and Seven Stars
Jesus doesn’t leave us guessing about the meaning of the seven golden lampstands and the seven stars. He tells John that the seven golden lampstands represent seven churches and the seven stars, each church’s angel. The lampstands are golden, which shows the churches are valuable and precious to Jesus. To fulfill their purpose of giving off light, these lampstands but be filled with oil. Oil in the Bible represents Holy Spirit. Likewise, the churches must be filled with Holy Spirit so that their purpose can be achieved, to illuminate Jesus to the world.
John is told to write letters to the “angels” of the seven churches. The seven stars represent these angels. The word angels in Greek describes either a human messenger or an angel sent on a specific mission. In this case, the term most likely refers to the pastors of the churches who have a specific mission to pastor their church. Additionally, Jesus holds each of the seven stars in His hands, symbolizing that He has power and control over the churches.
When John sees Jesus, He is in the middle of the lampstands. Although the letters from Jesus point out serious flaws and imperfections in the churches, Jesus still loves the churches and walks among them. It is reassuring to know that flaws and imperfections don’t cause Jesus’ love to wane for us. He still wants to be in our midst.
Message to the Seven Churches
The churches that Jesus chose to write letters to were real churches located in Asia Minor, now western Turkey. There are two explanations of why Jesus chose these specific seven churches. One is that these churches represent the varying spiritual conditions of churches throughout the church age. Another is that each of these churches represents the seven stages of church history, with Laodicea, the apostate church representing the current stage of church history. Regardless of how we view these churches, we can learn much about the present from Jesus’ letters.
In each letter, Jesus would begin by identifying Himself with a title related to John’s earlier vision in the first chapter of Revelation. This title pertained to the spiritual condition of the church that He was addressing. Jesus would then inform each church that
He knows all about them and their deeds. He would then assess the church’s spiritual condition and appeal to each church to listen to his assessment and take action.
Although each letter addressed a specific church’s spiritual condition, the letter was for all the churches to heed as indicated by Jesus saying at the end of each letter, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Additionally, He would end each letter with a promise to those who overcome. John tells us in 1 John 5:4 who the overcomers are. He says, “For whatever is born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.” Another version puts it this way, “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.” As children of God, we are overcomers! Jesus’ promise to the churches is a promise to us today.
Next time we will explore each of the seven churches.
