John, the Apostle, the author of the lessons that we have studied for nearly nine months, is also the author of the Book of Revelation. There can be no reasonable doubt that he was banished to Patmos and wrote the Book of Revelation during the reign of Domitian, about the year A. D. 96. So Irenæus, the pupil of Polycarp, the pupil of John, declares, and so for ages the church believed without dissent. No other view would have ever been suggested had it not been for a system of interpretation that could only be satisfied by making him predict the destruction of Jerusalem, which took place A. D. 70. This view holds that he was sent to Patmos by Nero at the time Paul was put to death. On the other hand it is almost certain that he did not go to Ephesus until Paul had died, and that he had been long at Ephesus before he was exiled to Patmos. There is no real ground for not concluding that Domitian exiled him, that he was in Patmos in A. D. 96, and then wrote Revelation, the last book of the sacred canon.

      It was a time of persecution and be was himself an exile when the Lord unrolled the curtain of the future, revealing the future struggles, trials, and triumphs of the church. He wrote in order that the saints, when the dark waves of persecution and sorrow rolled over them, might be enabled to look beyond and see the brightness of the coming morning.

      Patmos, where John wrote, is a rocky island in the South Ægean Sea, within sight of the Asiatic shore, and of the provinces in which the Seven Churches were located. The first three verses are introductory. They declare that this book is, 1. A Revelation of Jesus Christ; 2. Made to John; 3. Of things that would shortly come to pass; 4. A blessing is pronounced upon those who read, those who hear, and those who keep the words of this prophecy. May all our readers, so enter upon the study, that they shall enjoy this blessing!

      4. John to the seven churches in Asia. The writer introduces himself. The seven churches knew and revered him. For more than twenty years that portion of Asia had been the seat of his labors. Since the death of Paul no man was so [262] loved by these churches. The term Asia, is not used in the sense in which we use it. The Roman province of which Ephesus was the capital, was called the province of Asia. The rulers were called Asiarchs, or as it is in the Common Version, "the chief of Asia." See Acts 19:31. The seven churches are named in verse 11, and were the chief churches of that region. Seven were probably selected because seven is the perfect number, and the seven represented all the characteristics of the whole church. The reader will find that the number seven has an important place in Revelation. Grace be unto you. The usual form of salutation in addressing a church. See Romans 1:7. From him which is, and which was, etc. Who is from everlasting to everlasting. He fills the present with his presence, has always filled the past, and will always fill the future. And from the seven Spirits, etc. There has been much discussion of this passage. I think the key is found to it in John's use of the number seven. There are seven churches, seven candlesticks, seven angels of the churches, seven seals of the sealed book, seven trumpets, seven vials, etc., etc. The number in all cases denotes fulness, completion, perfection. Here, I suppose, it is to denote the fulness of the Spirit. The Spirit proceeds from the throne of God. Other views have been held by very respectable authorities, but this appears to me to be less objectionable than any other.

      5. And from Jesus Christ. The salutation is from God, the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ; the three who agree in one (1 John 5:7). The faithful witness. Christ came into the world and bore witness and "we know that his witness is true." He has never been convicted of an untruth or a mistake. The first begotten of the dead. By his own resurrection he became "the first fruits of them that slept." The prince of the kings of the earth. All power in heaven and in earth was given into his hands. Hence he is the rightful ruler of the earth. Every kingdom should acknowledge his authority. The time will come when these will be "the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ." Unto him that loved us. From the salutation he passed to an invocation, addressed to Jesus Christ, the One who loved us with such a surpassing love, that he washed us with his own blood, making it an offering for our sins. In other words he died in our stead, when we merited death on account of our sins.

      6. And made us kings and priests unto God. The Revision translates, "Made us a kingdom, priests unto his God and Father;" made us a kingdom of priests, which is probably the true idea. In this kingdom of Christ every man is a priest and can attend to priestly ditties. He needs no Jewish or Catholic priest to offer sacrifices for him, or to shrive him. He can go directly to God without the intervention of the priest and is competent to all priestly duties. In this kingdom of [263] priests there can be no priestly caste which takes precedence of the rest. Peter evidently has the same thought when he speaks (1 Peter 2:9) of a "royal priesthood," yet the Papacy has made Peter the head of the greatest system of priestcraft that the world has ever known.

      7. Behold he cometh with clouds. The mind of John turns to the second coming of Christ. It is uniformly represented that, as a cloud received him from sight when he was last seen by his disciples, so when he comes again he will appear riding on the clouds of heaven. See Matt. 24:30; Mark 13:26. Clouds are appropriate symbols of Divine majesty and are often so employed in the Scriptures. See Ex. 19:18; Ps. 18:11. Every eye shall see him. From his cloud chariot he will be visible to all the inhabitants of the earth, those that pierced him, his enemies who pierced him on the cross and have continued to pierce him through the centuries by "crucifying him afresh," and to his friends. All kindreds . . . shall wail, etc. Shall wail because they have rejected him. There shall be those of all families and nations that are rebels against his authority.

      8. I am Alpha and Omega. These two words are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet; the A and Z, the beginning and end, and mean that this is true of the speaker. Jesus had just been spoken of and it is natural to regard him as the speaker. He uses the same language of himself in verse 11 and Rev. 22:13. It can only be true of the Father and the Son. One or the other of these two must be the speaker here.

      9. I, John, who am your brother. Observe that he places himself on the same level of the brethren to whom he writes. He is not their "Reverend Father in God," but their brother. No apostle ever makes assumptions bearing any resemblance to those of the priests of Rome and episcopacy. Companion in tribulation. Partner in persecution. It was a time of suffering in the churches. Domitian, the Roman emperor, was a capricious tyrant. But this persecution could be better endured because they were also partners in "the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ," and heirs of its promises. Was in the isle called Patmos for the word of God. Sent there because he preached the word of God. It was a rocky isle about eight miles long and one mile wide, within sight of the Asiatic coast where the seven churches lay, and has now about four thousand inhabitants. [264]

      10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day. Under the influence of the Spirit. The Lord's day is the day on which Christ arose from the dead, the first day of the week, as the Lord's Supper is the memorial of his death, and the term was also so used by the early Church. So Ignatius (about A. D. 101) and Chrysostom and Theodoret, who came later, use the term. It is remarkable that all of the appearances of the Savior after his death, of which we know the time, were on the Lord's day. There is, 1. That to Mary, to Peter, to the two disciples, and to the ten apostles on the first Sunday; 2. That to the eleven apostles on the second Sunday, one week later; 3. He sends forth the Spirit and founds the Church on the day of Pentecost, Sunday also; 4. And here he appears to John, his last appearance to mortals, on Sunday.

      11. Write in a book. A loud voice, like a trumpet, was heard, before John saw the speaker. It bade him write in a book, a manuscript roll, to the seven churches in Asia, the province of Asia, what he should see. These churches all lay not far from Ephesus, in one province, and are now named. Ephesus, which Paul founded and where John made his home, located in a great commercial city, now passed away. Smyrna. A seaport, still the principal city of that coast, the seat of one of our missions and of a church planted by G. N. Shishmanian, and presided over by Bro. Tavitian. Pergamus. A city once the capital of a kingdom, now a town of 14,000 inhabitants, called Bergamos. Thyatira. The home of Lydia, the first convert made by the gospel on European soil. She might have been instrumental in planting the church in her native city. It is now a small village. Sardis. Once the capital of a great Kingdom. Now a miserable village. Philadelphia. There have always been, up to the present time, a people in Philadelphia, claiming to be Christians. Laodicea. The church here was honored with an epistle from the Apostle Paul.

      12. I saw seven golden candlesticks. These, we are told, were symbols of the churches. As the candlesticks were to give forth light, so the churches were to light the world.

      13. One like the Son of man. Wheri John turned at the sound of the voice he saw him. He was like the Son of man, whom he remembered so well, but so [265] glorious that he could not be certain. He walked amid the golden candlesticks, as Christ is still present among the churches.

      14. His head and his hairs were white. The color of purity, the same color as the raiment described on the Mount of Transfiguration. His eyes were like a flame of fire. Like lightning, a glance bright, sharp, penetrating, that would look through a man.

      15. His feet . . . as if they burned. As at the Transfiguration Christ shone with light, so now his whole person was gleaming, and his "countenance was like the sun in his strength."

      16. He had in his right hand seven stars. These are said (verse 20) to be the seven angels of the churches. We have not space here to discuss these angels, but if the reader will refer to The Vision of the Ages, he will find the reasons there given for regarding them the preachers of the churches, supported in their work by the hand of Christ. The angels were not celestial spirits, for John is commanded to write to them. A two edged sword. The word of God, which proceeds from the mouth of Christ. See Eph. 6:17, and Heb. 4:12. Christ effects his conquests by this two edged sword.

      17. Fear not. The splendors of the vision, the majesty and brightness of the Person before him, filled John with such awe that he was overcome and fell to the earth. Then Christ laid upon him his hand, the same loving hand whose pressure John had often felt, and then be said, "Fear not." His coming to those who love him is always in love.

      18. Keys of death and hell. Rather, Hades, the abode of the dead. The meaning is that he has the mastery over death and the abode of the dead.

      1. The apostles were the brethren of the saints, not lords over God's heritage.

      2. He who stooped to human form, took our nature and became the Son of man on earth, still remains the Son of man and our brother in his exaltation and glory. [266]

      3. To be "in the Spirit" by obedience to its commands on the Lord's day is the surest way to have the presence of Christ.

      4. The vision of the Savior walking among the golden candlesticks and holding the seven stars in his hand, teaches a lesson of trust in him. The candlesticks symbolize the churches, and the vision teaches that he is with his people always; always in the midst of the churches.--Vision of the Ages.

      5. THE GLORY OF CHRIST.--He was arrayed in a kingly robe and girt with a girdle of God. Heavenly purity was indicated by the dazzling whiteness of his head and hair, and the splendor that shone from his countenance was like that of the unclouded sun. Every manifestation of the divine glory is accompanied with brilliancy and splendor. "In him is no darkness at all." The burning bush of Horeb; the glory of Sinai; the shekinah of the tabernacle; the City of which God and the Lamb are the light; the transfigured Savior of Hermon; the Son of man of Patmos, and all the visions of the prophets of both covenants, indicate that whenever Deity manifests himself there is a revelation of heavenly splendor. The Son of man; the Man of sorrows; the Lamb of God, is also the bright Morning Star and the Sun of Righteousness.--Vision of the Ages.

      6. THE GROUPING.--This lesson is a picture and the imagery is most striking. The teacher should not fail to note and impress it. There is, (1) The Place: A lonely, rocky, surf-lashed isle, with the sea near at hand in every direction; (2) The Time; The Lord's day, the day that Christ had risen from the dead, and at which the churches everywhere were meeting and celebrating his dying love; (3) The Subject: An old man, the last of the apostles; an exile driven from the churches by persecution and cast into this place as a prison; (4) The Lord: He has not forgotten his aged servant. He had loved him on the earth and he loves him still. Observe the glory of his appearance. Such is his glory on the heavenly throne; (5) His Message: It is to the churches; to us, his disciples. In heaven he does not forget us, but remembers us, hears us, and watches over us.

[CLC01 262-267]