John and Jesus' introductions. THE REVELATION IS FROM GOD TO CHRIST AND CHRIST PASSES IT ON TO US BY JOHN. CHRIST REVEALS THE MESSAGE SUMMARY TO JOHN. JOHN INTRODUCES THE SOURCE OF THE MESSAGE ITS INTENDED AUDIENCE, AND ESTABLISHES THE CONTEXT AS THE DAY OF THE LORD.

John says that his perspective is from the Lord's Day and the first thing that he heard was a trumpet. During the chapter Christ portrays that He knows all and sees into men to know if there is anything precious. He pronounces death on those who do not accept healing and repentance.

Use this link to go back to the summary.

Concerning Christ

We are presented with a special picture of Christ in chapter 1:

Eyes like flames of fire (Eyes that illuminate, separate and obliterate. I will consider this is grater detail in Revelation 2.)

Mouth with a two-edged sword as He spoke. This sword is what God uses to smite the nations: And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations . . ., (Rev 19:15 [KJV]). It is also an obvious an obvious reference to Hebrews 4:12 showing that it is surgically sharp to separate carnal from spiritual but also devastatingly lethal. Man smites with weapons but God has no need of weapons to dispense His justice. He does it with His word.

God's word is alive, it adapts to suit the precise conditions and accounts for spiritual elements, like thoughts and intentions, as well as well as things related to biological life or soul i.e. actions. When God metes out punishment it is exactly appropriate, unquestionably fair.

The word quick is an archaic use of the word where it actually means alive . This sword can separate soul and spirit . Soul is carnal life as in what was breathed into man. Spirit is spiritual life as when born again. Note what John says.

It also talks about separating joints and marrow which I see as a clear reference to Ezekiel 37.

This chapter in Ezekiel shows how God can re-construct human beings. There is no way to reach marrow without getting inside the bone itself. This knife is so sharp that it penetrates the bone to operate on the marrow. The marrow is what gives health to the bones (Job 21:24, Psalms 63:5, Proverbs 3:8, Isaiah 25:6) and the bones are the basic structure.

Hand , actually the right hand (a firm grip or one offered to a friend)

Feet like burnished brass (oligodynamic and uncontaminated. Cannot be corrupted.)

The Structure of the Chapter

Preface

John begins by explaining in verses 1-3 why he got the book and how it came into his possession. It is not his book. It is a blessing to those willing to read it so that they can hold on to what is written and thereby survive what is ahead.

Salutations

Next John greets readers. He sends his own greetings along with those from the Father and Christ.

The book is from God the Father but we are also sent greetings from Christ and an angel! It is interesting that in verse 1 it is clear that God (Greek:theos) clearly refers to the Father while the same word in verse 6 appears to refer to Christ. This shows how important understanding the context is. The Father and Christ are an entity which we call God. All spirit beings are  elohim in nature but only those two are God and represent the Holy Spirit.

Christ will return in the clouds and everyone around the world will see Him.

Christ will not have an appearance that kills everyone that looks at Him. Some people believe that everyone that looks upon God will curl up and die. That is not true.

God has absolute control over His power and He has determined that His power will always be directed in love. His voice can shake mountains and worse but He will not talk like that all the time and have the earth constantly rumbling, He also uses a still small voice. In my graphic for this page I have tried to show the parts of Christ not specifically described in Revelation as they would be in Exodus 24.

Introduction and Context

John says that it is a vision, it is not real because he was really at Patmos. He says that his perspective is from the Lord's Day where he was given a message to the seven Churches in Asia. Most of what we find in this vision will therefore be about the Day of the LORD. So the group that this is directed to are people who will exist at the Lord's Day. They may be dead in-between but they will exist at the Lord's day. The Lord's Day starts at Trumpets and goes on until Atonement. It is 10 days long. These people exist simultaneously hence seven angels, otherwise one would be able to go from place to place. You would only need one. Notice the kind of voice that He is using; a shrill piercing sound like a trumpet not a deep booming thunderous one.

The one book was to go to all of the Churches. Parts would address the dominant characteristics in each church but the letter went to all because in all churches there is the need to address all of the problems. Even though the letter reached them at different times they all existed at the same time. The problems occurred all at once. The Church did not go through stages, the letter did.

In verse 8 Christ seems to be speaking in the voice that John was familiar with but on the Lords Day (verses 10-11) it is like a trumpet. God's voice can change and it does change again in verse 15 to a thunderous waterfall. We know that the source of the Holy Spirit is Christ and the Holy Spirit is represented in flowing water. Christ is a huge waterfall. We know that out of our innermost parts will flow rivers of living water (John 7:38) but in Christ it is an enormous waterfall (like Niagara Falls) and apparently it is poured out on the Church.

This is the introduction to the Ten Commandments or the Law. In Revelation the law is being written in the hearts of Christians (by the resurrection/baptism and being filled with the Spirit, both represented by the water) hence we have water and the trumpet. The explanation is given in Hebrews and the second book to the Corinthians.

John is still on Earth. Christ reveals Himself to him in His power as the beginning and end. 7 stars = 7 angels to churches; 7 candlesticks = 7 churches (v20) therefore the stars are angels ministering to the candlesticks and may or may not be supernatural beings.

Twoedged sword

God did not say that Christ's tongue became a twoedged sword but that one came out of His mouth. Each time He opened His mouth one came out. It is referring to the word of God as I pointed out earlier using Hebrews 4:12-13 and John 3:7-8 before, but in Revelation it has a different focus than in Hebrews. Christ can create by His word as He spoke and it happened at creation but it can also destroy. While what is said in Hebrews will always be true, God's word can also mean certain death as it so often does in Revelation.

Twoedged sword in Hebrews is

G3162 machaira

1. a knife, i.e. dirk.

2. (figuratively) war, judicial punishment.[probably feminine of a presumed derivative of G3163]

KJV: sword

G4501 rhomphaia

a sabre, i.e. a long and broad cutlass (any weapon of the kind).

{literally or figuratively}

[probably of foreign origin]

KJV: sword

This was a close-combat curved sword used by the Greeks and Romans. It could slash or thrust using the elongated handle but was normally single-edged. Eyes of flame would be long-range and would differentiate between friend and foe from early but by killing at close range there would be no mistake. Christ is careful whom he kills but it is decisive. The words in Hebrews are focussed on bringing life but those in Revelation on the day of the Lord are focussed on death.

Other general comments

God had always intended that there would be seven key characteristics of the Church. It may be that He has assigned a special angel to deal with each characteristic but it is also possible that it is referring to the human messenger in each Church that He is using to bring about the success of his objective. It could therefore mean that there is more than one person active but whomever they are must each take the message personally. Notice that from each Church there are survivors and some letters are addressed to the angel in the Church suggesting that the angel is a human or humans who will be responsible for passing on the message.

Easton's Bible Dictionary - Girdle

Heb. hagor, a girdle of any kind worn by soldiers ( 1 Samuel 18:4 ; 2 Sam 20:8 ; 1 Kings 2:5 ; 2 Kings 3:21 ) or women ( Isaiah 3:24 ).

Heb. 'ezor, something bound, worn by prophets ( 2 Kings 1:8 ; Jeremiah 13:1 ), soldiers ( Isaiah 5:27 ; 2 Sam 20:8 ; Ezekiel 23:15 ), Kings ( Job 12:18 ).

Heb. mezah, a band, a girdle worn by men alone ( Psalms 109:19 ; Isaiah 22:21 ).

Heb. 'abnet, the girdle of sacerdotal and state officers ( Exodus 28:4 Exodus 28:39 Exodus 28:40 ; 29:9 ; 39:29 ).

Heb. hesheb, the curious girdle ( Exodus 28:8 ; RSV, cunningly woven band) was attached to the ephod, and was made of the same material.

The common girdle was made of leather ( 2 Kings 1:8 ; Matthew 3:4 ); a finer sort of linen ( Jeremiah 13:1 ; Ezekiel 16:10 ; Daniel 10:5 ). Girdles of sackcloth were worn in token of sorrow ( Isaiah 3:24 ; 22:12 ). They were variously fastened to the wearer ( Mark 1:6 ; Jeremiah 13:1; Ezekiel 16:10 ).

The girdle was a symbol of strength and power ( Job 12:18 Job 12:21 ; 30:11 ; Isaiah 22:21 ; 45:5 ). Righteousness and faithfulness are the girdle of the Messiah (Isaiah 11:5 ).

Girdles were used as purses or pockets ( Matthew 10:9 . A. V., purses; RSV, marg., girdles. Also Mark 6:8 )

Notice that all of the references except for the last line are from the Old Testament and hence Hebrew. So the Old Testament gives several words for girdle but Revelation was written in Greek and there is only one used for all in the New Testament.

Observe that Christ was wearing a girdle around His chest. Most of the girdles above are worn around the waist. Josephus says that the high priests garment was girt about the breast, a little below the arm holes. The Bible says that it was around the paps which is the chest area. This was not a belt but a reminder of the ephod, i.e. the curious girdle. The curious girdle (Exodus 28:8) was attached to the ephod, and was made of the same material hence was interwoven with gold. Christ's girdle here is of pure gold. The ephod was a sleeveless tunic and the girdle was the sash to tie it with. Spiritually the High Priest is ready and dressed but He does not have the ephod with the twelve stones. These come from the resurrection and the 144,000 etc. He will soon talk about the twelve stones that were in the ephod. Christ wore the curious girdle (Exodus 28:8) which identifies Him as the High Priest who alone can complete the Day of the LORD. You can find more details on the priest in this article discussing the role of the priest. Notice what importance Isaiah attaches to the robe and girdle.

Oligodynamic action is the ability of small amounts of heavy metals to exert a lethal effect on bacterial cells. Many years ago I found this description at the link http://www.articlesbase.com/art-and-entertainment-articles/the-qualities-of-brass-door-hardware-still-the-choice-for-decorative-door-furniture-3170085.html that now seems to be dead.

There is still a certain tradition to use brass as door furniture; it is a strong metal, made up of mostly zinc and copper, with a yellowish colour to it that gives it a gold-like appearance making it aesthetically pleasing. Brass is used within door furniture as it is relatively resistant to tarnishing; it is often used within decoration because of its colour.

Brass is also a very useful metal as it becomes a germicidal, due to the copper within the brass, through the oligodymanic effect. This means that brass is a mild antiseptic, and brass doorknobs typically disinfect themselves of a lot of bacteria within eight hours, which is very practical. While the hardness of the material makes brass a perfect metal to use on door furnishing; after World War II, brass door furniture was seen as extravagant, which is still a high impression that has been maintained to this day.

Although, there is a downside of brass that it reacts with the elements in the air. This can result to slight colour change and corrosion over years. However, to combat this brass furnishings can be lacquered, which slows these reactions down. Other metals are also sometimes added to the alloy to make the brass even more workable; an example of this would be lead alloys within brass door furniture. These metals can also include tin, arsenic and antimony, which help to resist corrosion. Iron can also be included to the brass in order to make the brass harder and easier to forge.

Usually in brass door furniture the surface is not lacquered rather highly polished as lacquer can degrade through constant use. After time this surface can be repolished to restore the beautiful glossy finish.

So Christ's feet protect His righteousness from contamination. He remains pure as He walks along. He remains righteous from head to toe eternally, always protected from contamination by contact. His eyes tell us something about what is going on inside Him.

Now let us step back and take in what is happening. John hears a voice and turns to see his childhood friend but He is not looking friendly. A sword is whipping out of His mouth and in His eyes John sees Nebuchadnezzar's furnace. He hears a voice that is definitely no nonsense and poor John collapses. This person then bends over or stoops to rest His hand on Him all the while with this sword spitting out and eyes like a furnace and tells him don't be afraid. Uh huuuh. Where are the Pampers? Fortunately He says, relax.

A note on Revelation 1:9

In this verse John says that he is our brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ. What I understand him as saying is: 1.. I am your brother, 2.. I am your companion in (a) tribulation (b) the kingdom and (c) patience. First let me focus on the word patience. The dictionary that I quoted higher up (MESD) gives its meaning as:

G5281 ὑπομονή hupomone (hï-po-mo-nee') n.

endurance (cheerful or hopeful), constancy.

[from G5278]

KJV: enduring, patience, patient continuance (waiting)

The quotation can therefore be rewritten our brother, and companion in tribulation, and companion in the kingdom and companion in patience of Jesus Christ. Not the patience of Jesus Christ, not His patience but our patience, the patience of the saints, of Him. What is that about?

So we see that John was talking about the resurrection and its aftermath. They were companions at present in tribulation but also in that future kingdom, a kingdom where they were glorified and Babylon destroyed forever.

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