Prologue
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants a what must soon take place. b He made it known by sending his angel c to his servant John, d 2 who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, e whatever he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, f and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it, because the time is near.
4 John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace g to you from the one who is, who was, and who is to come, h and from the seven spirits ,i before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, j the firstborn from the dead k and the ruler of the kings of the earth. l
To him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by his blood, m 6 and made us a kingdom, priests ,n to his God and Father—to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. o
7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, p
and every eye will see him,
even those who pierced him.
And all the tribes of the earth ,q
will mourn over him. ,,r
So it is to be. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” s says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
John’s Vision of the Risen Lord
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction, t kingdom, u and endurance v that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. w 10 I was in the Spirit ,x on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet y 11 saying, “Write z on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see whose voice a it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, b 13 and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man, ,c dressed in a robe d and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest. e 14 The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snow f—and his eyes like a fiery flame. g 15 His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace, h and his voice like the sound of cascading waters. i 16 He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth, j and his face was shining like the sun at full strength. k
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man. l He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last, m 18 and the Living One. n I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever, o and I hold the keys p of death and Hades. 19 Therefore write what you have seen, q what is, and what will take place after this.20 The mystery r of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. s
A. Prologue: An apocalypse from God and a letter from John (1:1–6). 1:1–3. The first three words of the Greek text in Revelation are apocalypsis Iēsou Christou, literally “a revelation of Jesus Christ” (1:1). (This could describe either a revelation about Jesus or a revelation from Jesus.) Apocalypsis, which means an “unveiling” or an “uncovering,” is best defined as “the dramatic disclosure of God’s will.” God lifts the curtain from the theater of history to unveil how he is working behind the scenes to redeem humanity and to set right all wrongs in our fallen world.
1:4–6. John moves from the revelation of Jesus and its prophetic urgency to an epistolary greeting (1:4a). From the highest height of heaven, where God’s throne resides (Is 6:1), grace and peace pour forth from the one “who is, who was, and who is to come” (1:4b), a divine title meant to be read as a single name and a theological reflection on Ex 3:14, when Yahweh revealed himself as “I am who I am.” Before the throne is the Holy Spirit in the form of seven spirits, an allusion to the sevenfold ministry in Is 11:2 (the Septuagint [Greek] version of 11:2 adds a seventh virtue, “godliness,” to the six that appear in the Hebrew text). The final person of the Godhead is Jesus, whose atoning death and victory over sin have freed humanity (1:5–6).
B. The epiphany of the glorious Son (1:7–20). 1:7–8. The two OT figures, the Son of Man who “was coming with the clouds” (Dn 7:13) like a king riding a chariot (cf. Is 19:1; Ps 104:3) and the messenger of God who is pierced and rejected by Israel (Zch 12:10), are now unveiled as being the same person. Jesus is the one whom “every eye will see,” and “all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him” (1:7; cf. Mt 24:30). The very sight of a pierced and risen Christ will convince all people of their own wickedness.
1:9–11. John tells the reader that he was on the island of Patmos (1:9b), some thirty-five miles from the mainland. Other islands in the Aegean Sea were used as places of banishment by the Roman court, so Patmos (a rocky, volcanic, barren islet) likely was used for that same purpose. John was exiled because he preached God’s word and remained true to his testimony. He was a brother and “partner” in affliction with God’s family (1:9a). (The Greek word for “partner” refers to a person with whom one shares a deep communion or fellowship.) Together they have experienced not only the depths of tribulation but also the heights of the kingdom, and the power to endure.
1:12–13. When John turns to see who is speaking to him (1:12a), he is stunned by the blinding sight of Christ. He is the “one like the Son of Man” (cf. Dn 7:13) who stands among the seven golden lampstands of God’s heavenly temple (1:12b–13). Lampstands, or menorahs, were furnishings in the earthly tabernacle (Ex 25:31–40), Solomon’s temple (1 Ch 28:15), and Herod’s temple. However, these earthly versions were pale imitations of the seven glorious lampstands seen by John (cf. Heb 8:5).
1:14–16. Even though the divine origin of “one like a son of man” is ambiguous in Dn 7:9–14, it is clear in Revelation that this Son of Man is part of the Godhead, since he shares divine features ascribed to the Lord Almighty. In Daniel, it is God, as the “Ancient of Days” who judges the enemies of Israel, whose clothing is white as snow, whose hair is like wool, and whose throne is like a fiery chariot with wheels of flame (Dn 7:9; cf. Ezk 1:13–21). But in Revelation, the one on fire is not Daniel’s Ancient of Days but the Son of Man, whose “eyes [are] like a fiery flame,” whose hair is white as wool and snow (1:14), and who holds the stars in his hands (1:16; cf. Dn 12:3) and acts as judge (1:16). The seven stars in the Son’s right hand are a reference to the sun, moon, and the five planets that a person could see with the naked eye (Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, and Mercury). Ancient astrologers thought the future was written in the stars, but here it is the Son of Man who holds the destiny of his people. The double-edged sword protruding from Christ’s mouth is the Roman longsword used for penetrating armor. Here it is a metaphor for the power of God’s word to pierce our souls (1:16; cf. 2:12, 16; 19:15, 21; Pss 52:2; 57:4; Heb 4:12).
1:17–20. Like the prophets of other call narratives in the OT (Is 6:1–10; Ezk 1:28–2:3; Dn 8:15–18; 10:4–21), John at first reacts to the divine epiphany with terror (1:17a), because no sinner can stand before a holy God and live. Also like earlier prophets, John is reassured with the words “Don’t be afraid” (1:17b; cf. Dn 10:12, 19; Is 41:13) and strengthened by the Son’s right hand (cf. Dn 10:18). In this final scene, a mystery is unveiled. The stars in the right hand of the Son have turned into angels, and the lampstands into the seven churches of Asia Minor (1:20). In Daniel, heavenly bodies can symbolize God’s people and their angelic representatives (Dn 12:1–3; cf. Php 2:15). In Revelation, the stars and lampstands represent the church of God, whose light and witness will never fade because Jesus is ever in their midst (1:13, 20). [Lamp]