Day 223

Have you had an angel talk to you? This kind of event is extremely rare. God does not tell us the future as a regular course of events. So when John was shown what he was shown, by an angel none the less, it must have taken him by surprise. He did not know what to do about it. He wrote it down because he was told to write it down, not because that was his initial thought.

There is a blessing to applying what this book says, even though at times we will not fully understand what is being said. Visions of the future are by nature difficult to understand. John saw things and only had images and language that he knew to describe what he saw. When we see an iPhone, we know what it is and say, “That is an iPhone.” But to someone who hasn’t ever seen an iPhone, it is a strange, mysterious flat box that talks, changes its face, and plays music. It is a window into another world of strange people and events. They wouldn’t have the language to describe what they were seeing.

So too with Revelation. John uses things he understands to describe things he doesn’t understand, but only sees. So we will work to try to understand what we can. I confess, I am not an expert on Revelation, so my approach may not match with the great prophetic schemes that have been developed to help understand this book. I know that Jesus wants us to get something out of this book, and we will.

John writes to the seven churches that are in Asia, modern day Turkey. But notice what this book contains: the revelation of Jesus Christ. It is not a revelation of end time events. It is showing us Jesus. This book reveals Jesus. There are some things about the end of the world and the beginning of heaven, but the focus on the book is showing us Jesus.

We learn several things in verses 4-8. He is timeless, rose from the dead, is supreme ruler on earth, our savior, and our returning King.

John hears a voice like a trumpet tell him to write this down. I don’t know if you have had the privilege of having a trumpet blast you in the back of the head, but I can tell you from experience, you pay attention to it. It pierces your brain. You can’t ignore it. This voice comes from a human being, but no ordinary human being. The description starts off fairly typically for someone of that day, but then shifts to describe no ordinary human being. This was Jesus in the flesh. The same glory that John had seen on the Mount of Transfiguration was present here. Seeing someone like this today would scare the tar our of you.

John falls to the ground in fear, and rightly so. Jesus introduces Himself to John. But Jesus begins, “Don’t be afraid.” This is the normal reaction when Jesus shows up. When the Creator of the Universe shows up, fear is a normal response. Even for those who know Jesus, like John, fear is the normal response. So if someone says they have encountered Jesus, but there was no fear, sorry guys, they didn’t see Jesus.

John saw seven stars and seven lamp stands. Notice that John needs to be told what they mean! So if we get a few details wrong, we will be OK. He saw them firsthand and he needed Jesus to explain it. The seven are connected to these seven churches that are each going to get a personalized message from Jesus. Jesus wants them to know exactly what His knowledge of their life is and what His expectations are for them. No mystery. Revelation.