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Introduction: Read the Book of Revelation Prayerfully
REVELATION 3:22
22 “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the assemblies.”
Whoever reads the “Gnomon”, a New Testament commentary by Johann Albrecht Bengel, encounters repeatedly, interspersed among short remarks regarding the text of the seven letters of Revelation to the seven churches, short, interjectory prayers, in which Bengel summarized the texts and his explanations, while also applying them to himself. His humility and gratitude encourage us to do as he did. At the end of Christ’s message to the church leader of Laodicea, Bengel prayed shortly: “Lord Jesus, give me gold, white clothing, and eye salve for my eyes”. This great and pious man did not find it misguided to place himself on the same level as the repugnant worshiper of money in Laodicea, or to ask salvation, cleansing and knowledge for himself. Would that we, too, like Bengel, read the church letters prayerfully, that we might hear more clearly what the Spirit says to the churches. He who, once again, reverently and prayerfully reads through the seven messages of Christ, can recognize seven spiritual elements in the answers of the living Lord to the church leaders.
1. Jesus' Command to Write Seven Times
Jesus responded to the prayer of the isolated apostle, and mercifully revealed to him how He Himself was caring for every one of the churches John had left behind in Asia Minor. The seven messages are the answer of Jesus Christ, the good Shepherd, to the intercession of the exiled apostle, who was now suffering on the barren island under a sentence of not being able to do anything. Yet, in the end, his solitary intercession was accomplishing much more than would have happened had he been there himself. The Lord was working in his place. John was learning to keep silent, to believe, and to hope. His continuous prayers were moving the arm of the Lord.
The seven messages of Jesus signify a verbal inspiration in the form of the Master’s dictation. In these messages, Jesus introduced himself as the One who lives, who reigns, and who works. He judges and commands, commends and punishes, encourages and gives every one of the seven preachers breathtaking promises, provided they let themselves be overcome by the Holy Spirit.
The seven letters are not spiritless philosophical or theological treatises, which systematically analyze the situation of the churches in Asia Minor, and then offer theoretical solutions. No, the seven messages are, in fact, love letters of the living Lord to His seven church leaders. The Good Shepherd watched over and accompanied each one of them separately. Now He writes to each one of them His personal evaluation, which includes commendation, criticism, threatening, and encouragement, with a summons for each of them to overcome the inner and outer troubles in their own lives and in the lives of their churches. In this way He encouraged each one of His messengers solely through special promises. Here we read personal letters of the Son of God, written with the hand of John, the last apostle, to the church leaders in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis and Laodicea.
These messages were not only intended for the responsible ministers in the local churches, but were also to be read, word by word, to the church members of the seven churches. Then they were to be prayed over. The churches needed to recognize how the living Lord was dealing with each one of the responsible church leaders, that they, too, might grow in repentance, faith, love and hope.
2. The Various Self-Introductions of the Sender
Whoever compares the various words of self-introduction of the risen Lord in each of His letters, with the previous introductory vision that the glorified Son of Man had revealed to John (Revelation 1:12-20), can recognize amazing spiritual principles in these words of self-revelation of Jesus Christ.
Jesus did not only appear to John on the Isle of Patmos to reveal His glory and essence to him. Much more, His divine attributes, revealed in His words of self-revelation, were, in themselves, the exact answers to the condition of the seven individual churches. Jesus did not reveal Himself for His own sake, but as the means to the end in building up each church.
- He held the seven stars in His right hand, though two of them were pale and about to go out (Revelation 1:16, 20; 2:1; 3:1).
Jesus walked in the midst of the seven golden lampstands as a sign of His continual presence in the middle of His churches, although He threatened to remove the lampstand of the church of Ephesus from its place unless her minister repented (Revelation 1:12, 20; 2:1-5).
- In the second message, just as with John, Jesus introduced Himself as the First and the Last, the One who lives and was dead, to assure the church leader in Smyrna that the martyr death threatening him would not mean his end, but that which would lift him up to His living Lord (Revelation 1:17-18; 2:8, 10).
- The Lord introduced himself to the minister of the church in Pergamos as the incorruptible Judge with the sharp two-edged sword, who was preparing to condemn the syncretistic mix of religion in His church at once (Revelation 1:16; 2:12).
- Jesus appeared to the minister of the church in Thyatira with eyes like a flame of fire and feet like fine, glowing brass, ready to annihilate at once the satanic break-in through the feminist and medium, Isabel: “Indeed I will cast her into a sickbed, and those who commit adultery with her into great tribulation” (Revelation 1:14-15; 2:18, 22-24).
- Jesus confirmed to the church leader in Philadelphia that He, Jesus, has the keys of Hades and of Death. He had opened to him a mission door to the Jews and the Greeks, which no one could shut (Revelation 1:18; 3:7).
- Jesus introduced himself to the repulsive, yet beloved church leader in Laodicea, as the Faithful and True Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, so that he might put away his foolish and incredulous trust in perishable gold and silver, and start living in view of eternity (Revelation 1:5; 3:14, 18, 20-21).
Whoever compares the appearance of the heavenly Son of Man to John with the selected attributes of Jesus as the Sender of the seven letters, will notice that the Lord added four more names to His comprehensive revelation, in order to encourage the church leaders to faith, love and hope.
- In His letter to His messenger in Thyatira, Jesus revealed Himself as the Son of God (Revelation 2:18). This startling name, which appears only once in the Book of Revelation, is one of the few self-testimonies of Jesus as the Son of God in the New Testament. It should be understood and guarded as a unique jewel. According to Psalm 2, the Son of God is the answer of the covenant God to the rebellion of mankind. He will crush all antichristian spirits in the nations, and will save His church (ekklesia) out of the raging sea of the rebels. The Son of God reigns. Unto Him all authority in heaven and on earth has been given (Psalm 2:1-12; c.f. Revelation 2:18, 26-28).
- In His letter to the church at Philadelphia, Jesus calls Himself “He who is holy”, “He who is true”, to confirm to the church leader that He, in his testimony of Christ to the scholarly Jews, is not mistaken. He is Jesus, the holy Creator, the true Ruler, and the incorruptible Judge of the world. He is the truth in person. He who does not submit to Him willingly remains hardened in error, and remains bound in the lie of the devil, the father of lies. By so doing, he resists the truth of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Isaiah 1:6-10; Revelation 3:7), just as most Jews and Muslims do today.
- To the church leader in Laodicea Jesus introduced Himself as the “Amen”, who represents God’s “yes” to all the promises of the Old Testament, and the Beginning of a new creation. The enterprising preacher had to recognize that his earthly well-being was temporal, empty, and insignificant. With the coming of Christ the previous administration of God ended, and spiritual inventory began. A new creation had begun, in which nothing endures except those born of the Spirit (2 Corinthians 1:20; Colossians 1:15; Revelation 3:14, 18, 19).
He who compares the introductions of Jesus’ letters with His initial spiritual introduction (Revelation 1:12-20) will recognize that Jesus did not employ all of His glorious attributes in the letterheads of His messages. Neither His glorious garment, nor His head that shone like the sun, were mentioned in His letters. The Son of God is lowly in heart, and did not reveal His power and authority just as a means to an end. The Son of God does not glorify Himself. The aim of His self- revelation was to save, sanctify, strengthen, correct, and give life again to the church leader. Jesus lives for His church. He loves her. He is the answer to all their problems.
PRAYER: We worship You, Son of God, because You did not reveal Yourself to show Your own glory, but to edify Your church. Grant us not to boast of ourselves during our services, but to declare your great essence in Your several characteristics at all times.
QUESTION:
- How many characteristics of Jesus can you find in His epistles at the hand of John?