The seven churches of Revelation in the area which is Turkey today. John wrote the Book of Revelation in letter form on Patmos, an island where he was banned to.
(4) John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto 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; (5) 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. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, (6) And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (7) Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (8) I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty. (Revelation 1:4-8 KJV)
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John addresses himself to the seven churches in Minor Asia, in the area where there is
The number seven occurs very often in the Bible and stands for completeness. So we can say that John is addressing himself to the completeness of all the various Christian churches. It is interesting, however, that there are no Christian churches left in that area today, and that it is almost completely Muslim today.
In Revelation 1:1 we could see that John is just the writer, a kind of messenger like the Angels, who tell him what Jesus told them from God the Father, John is not the author, and here in verses 4-5 John writes that God Himself (which is, and which was, and which is to come, cf. Exodus 3:14) and from Jesus Christ whom he describes more detailed in verses 5-7. Again we find the number seven for completeness. The seven Spirits represent the Holy Spirit, and all the three, the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit represent the Triune God in three persons. While the Father and the Son are located in Heaven, Jesus is represented on earth by the Holy Spirit, one of the three persons of God. The Holy Spirit is the mediator between God and man and brings our prayers to God’s Throne. He is Spirit, and His location is on earth and in Heaven (and probably elsewhere) at the same time. The seven Spirits, like the seven Churches, show up that the complete person of the Holy Spirit is before God’s Throne, but He is on earth as well, because He can be at different places simultaneously. I do not doubt that the other two persons of God can do that, too, but they do not do so, because the earth is a rotten place where they do not want to be because of all the sin. Leaving us the Holy Spirit on earth is another form of grace this earth and everything on it should be grateful for.
John praises Jesus for His faithful witness whom we can trust and whose words are true. Jesus is the "first begotten of the dead", something which Paul expressed in his letter to the Colossians by "who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead" (Colossians 1:18 KJV) or by "But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept." (1 Corinthians 15:20 KJV) The firstborn sons were always something special in
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, Sanctify unto me all the firstborn, whatsoever openeth the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of beast: it is mine. (Exodus 13:1-2 KJV)
Jesus was the first to overcome death by leading a sinless life, something humans will never be able to. But through His sacrifice we can all live and be born into life from the dead through our faith in Him. John praises Jesus for His love for us, and as the one who died for us and for our sins by shedding His blood and washing them therein, so we can now come to God without any guilt. As if that was not enough, Jesus even gave us a very high position and made us "kings and priests unto God and his Father" (see verse 6), so we are no slaves but free, even kings with power, and priests with His authority. Brothers and sisters, are you aware that we are now His kings and priests already, holy in His eyes? Well, I am far from holy and still a sinner, and it is good that God sees me through the blood of Jesus which cleansed me, and that He does not hold my short-coming against me. Apostle Peter also says we are priests and holy:
"Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. " (1 Peter 2:5 KJV)
John praises Jesus as the "prince of the kings of the earth" in verse 5, which means that Jesus is above anything else there is and has all the power of this world. Jesus is LORD. The idea is repeated later in Revelation 19:16 where John calls Him "KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS" (KJV). I do not think we have deserved to be honoured like we are - but what do I know? God knows better, and all we can do is say "Thank you, Lord, for making us your kings and holy priests, and please give us the chance of behaving worthily on earth, so everybody can see we belong to you.” But it is difficult to behave like kings and holy priests on this earth all the time, and we really need God to sanctify us, for we are far from that, so very far. Look at all the abused children, the raped women, the shot civilians, the wars, the environment, all the hate. We are so far from being perfect. But there is hope for us, and Revelation speaks of it as we will see in the further run.
We can read in verse 7 that Jesus Christ will come back for a second time, and we are also informed which way this will happen. Jesus will come back with the clouds. This can be read all over the Bible, in the Old Testament (like in Daniel) and the New Testament, and in almost the same wording. Please compare the verses…
I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. (Dan 7:13 KJV)
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in the clouds with great power and glory. (Mar 13:26 KJV)
And Jesus said, I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. (Mar 14:62 KJV)
And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Mat 24:30 KJV)
Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven. (Mat 26:64 KJV)
And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. (Luke 21:27 KJV)
Yes, He is coming in the clouds. There is no need to doubt about that, though many people think this is a metaphor. But they seem to forget that God is Almighty and can do so. Why should He not come back in the clouds?
We humans cannot see God. If we saw Him, we would die at once, because nobody can stand facing God as long as we are still caught in our sinful flesh. God and sin does not go together, and light destroys darkness.
God usually hid Himself when contacting the Israelites, and He very often did so in a cloud, or He spoke through a burning bush. So when John says Jesus will come back in the clouds and Daniel says so as well as Mark and Matthew, why should we still doubt it? God can do that. The fact that we humans cannot do that does not mean God cannot do it, either. I often find myself making God as small as that and do not have enough faith, though Christians should know that “with God nothing shall be impossible.” (Luke 1:37 KJV) Luke described Jesus ascending like this:
And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. (Acts 1:9-11 KJV)
Do people really doubt that, too, that Jesus was taken up, which could be observed by the people around when it happened? Luke, who was a doctor, did not write the book of Acts metaphorically but described the story of the Apostles very realistically. Jesus was taken up and then a cloud received Him. A little later Luke writes in the verses that two men in white told the people that Jesus would come back the same way as they had *seen* Him go to Heaven. It is real, not just a metaphor. Luke’s language was rather objective. He did not even call the two men in white Angels, but he described what people had given witness to. Especially Luke took good care of being objective.
But let us continue with Revelation. John continues in the same verse that every eye shall see Jesus when He comes back. Why not? Nobody would doubt that President Obama could be seen by every eye when speaking the oath as a President of the
In verse 8 God speaks Himself and tells us through His prophet John who He is, namely “Alpha and Omega” which were the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. In God are all things completed. He is the beginning and the ending. He refers to Himself as Alpha and Omega four times in Revelation, in verse 1:8 and the following verses:
"Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last" (Revelation 1:11 KJV)
"And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end." (Revelation 21:6 KJV)
And finally He also refers to Himself as Jesus right after referring to Himself as the Alpha and Omega:
“I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last. […] I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star.“ (Revelation 22:13-16 KJV)
Also compare it to
"Thus saith the LORD the King of
The first and the last, the redeemer, the King of
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What does it mean for me now?
While the first book of the Bible describes how God created the world in six days, the last book, the book of Revelation is the Book of completion of God’s Creation. The number of completeness, number seven, is mentioned 31 times in the Book of Revelation (King James Version), which underlines this. Revelation shows how we humans will be made complete and sanctified, and what it takes to be healed. God created the world and man, but only through Jesus’ work of redemption can we be completed. Paul wrote:
“And ye are complete in him, which is the head of all principality and power” (Colossians 2:10 KJV)
If someone is complete in Him, he is a new creature:
“Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation. Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God.” (2 Corinthians 5:17-20 KJV)
Yes, it is done! The devil, still raging on earth, has no claim on us anymore if we are in Jesus Christ, who has redeemed us. We are to wait for Jesus’ Second Coming, which will be the way He left when He was taken up and received in a cloud. I may believe in the completeness of God’s creation and that He, Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end, has all the power there is and has a plan to complete what He started. God’s Word will be done, for He is in control, always.
I want to thank God for all His mercy and grace.
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