A. 1a,§1-3 - Book of Revelation, Explained

¤ The Book of Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ given to Him by God. God's prophetic thoughts were what the congregations and in the future the nation of Israel needed/needs. Jesus Christ gave it to us through His angel, through His apostle John, and finally through His church (Rev. 1:1).

John was then the only living disciple of the Lord Jesus. The only remaining witness. And of all that he had seen, he testified that it was the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ (Luke 6:13; Rev. 1:2).

¤ Christ is the Head and Lover of the Church (Eph. 5:23-27).

He is God's Plan of Salvation for all mankind (Acts 4:12).

¤ Our only Hope is the Coming of Jesus/God (Rev. 1:7-8), Rev. 1:7a, <Behold, he is coming with the clouds,>

For this the Book of Revelation prepares, and this is what Jesus says at the end, Rev. 22:20, <"Yes, I am coming soon.">

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¤ If you keep the Book of Revelation, you will be blessed and heaven will open to you (cf. Rm. 4:6-8), Rev. 1:3, <Blessed is the one who reads, and they that hear the words of the prophecy, and obey what is written in it; because the time is near.>

Jesus Christ is the Word of God, which became Flesh and by which Life and Light came (John 1:1-5 and 9-14).

¤ God did in Jesus what God had demanded in His Word. God let Himself in Jesus be crucified. In this way God's prophetic Word had spoken and is speaking, Rev. 19:10b, <For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.>

Woe to them who add something to this Book or to the whole Bible, or take something away (Rm. 3:4; Rev. 22:18-19).

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¤ The Prophetic Word has enormous power from God's point of view. Two thousand years ago, much had been foretold about the life of Jesus Christ. And among the Jewish people, Jesus fulfilled all those prophecies (Luke 24:44).

In the same way, He bluntly declared to his fellow citizens that no prophet has been honored in his hometown without much more explanation (Luke 4:16-30 and especially verse 24).

¤ And so on. To His cousin John the Baptist, when in prison he could not (anymore) believe everything, He answered (Luke 7:1-23), Luke 7:22b-23, <“Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the good news is preached to the poor, 23. and blessed is the one who does not fall away on account of Me.”>

This was based on several texts of the prophet Isaiah as regards the coming Messiah, for example, Isa. 61:1-2a (Luke 4:18-19), <The Spirit of the Lord GOD is on Me, because the LORD has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and freedom to the prisoners, 2. to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favor, ….>

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¤ Imprisoned for his faith, the apostle John had been expelled to the prison island of Patmos. It was the year 96 AD. He was seeking the Presence of God, he was ‘on the Lord’s day in the Spirit’ (Rev. 1:10a).

Suddenly the Lord Jesus stood behind him. When he saw Him, he fell at His feet like a dead man. But the Lord Jesus reassured him, and next, told him something miraculous (Rev. 1:10b-20), Rev. 1:20, <“…. The mystery of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven golden lampstands {is this}: The seven stars are the messengers/angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.”>

¤ He got among others seven letters from the Lord Jesus for the churches in seven Asian cities. The nearest large port city on the mainland was Ephesus. After that came the other cities in the same order as in the Book of Revelation, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea (Rev. 1:4-11).

But these events of Light would be more than just letters to seven churches (Rev. 2-3).

¤ The stars together with the lampstands would be seven huge Lights, seven events of Light, just as Jesus Himself had come as the Light (John 1:4-5).

Seven consecutive ages, such as the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the Lord’s Supper / Communion) was celebrated for seven consecutive days. At the beginning the Passover lamb had been sacrificed, and after the Sabbath, on Sunday, a Sheaf of the Firstfruits had been raised to God. All three Feasts Christ had fulfilled (Lev. 23:4-14; Luke 22:1-20).

¤ Seven successive Light periods, Revival events, Revival ages. For many churches at the same time (Rev. 2:7; 2:11; etc.).