REVELATION
SIMPLIFIED
CHAPTER 1.17
Gleanings
from the Book of Revelation:
A
Weekly Verse-by-Verse Bible Study Series
The
REVELATION
TO JOHN
(The
Apocalypse)
Chapter
One
(Verse 17)
And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. And He laid
His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the First and the Last:
(Verse 18)
I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive
for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
(Verse 19)
Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which
are, and the things which shall be hereafter;
(Verse 20)
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right
hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are
the angels of the seven churches: and the seven
candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.
John’s Reaction to Christ
__He walked and talked with
Christ
__He was there at the
Crucifixion, Resurrection, and Ascension
__He was exiled to the Isle of
Patmos for Christ
__He is our brother in Christ
__He was in the Spirit unto the
Day of the Lord
__He heard the great voice of
Christ as of a trumpet
__He perceived the glorious
incarnate vision of Christ
Of all the men who walked the
pages of the New Testament, perhaps John was the most qualified to meet Jesus face to face. But look what happens to John when confronted with Our Lord and
Savior, he exclaims:
I fell at His feet as dead
Imagine what our view of Jesus Christ will be like. Imagine how we
will react. Imagine not being able to look at the sun, but one day we will see
the Creator who made the sun.
What an effect this vision had upon John. He fell on his face like
a dead man. (i.e., when I saw Him, I fell at the feet of Him as though I were
dead: I became dead of my own volition). Why? - Because of His awesome power
and glory.
Listen to Paul’s words:
1 Timothy 6:15-16 – (Jesus, the Sovereign One, all-powerful) Which in His times (the end times) He shall shew, Who is the blessed and only Potentate (the
highest celestial monarch), the King of Kings, and Lord of Lords; Who only hath immortality,
dwelling in the (unapproachable) light
which no man can approach unto; Whom no
man (not one in the human race) hath
seen, nor can (is even able to) see:
to Whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.
No one has ever seen the face
of Jesus in blazing glory. However, elsewhere in Scripture, similar effects
have been noted:
1. When Abraham received God’s
covenant
Genesis 17:3 - And Abram fell on his face: and God
talked with him, saying, As for Me, behold, My covenant is with thee, and thou
shalt be a father of many nations.
2. When Moses received the call
from God
Exodus 3:6 - Moreover He said, I am
the God of thy Father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of
Jacob. And Moses hid his face; for he was afraid to look upon God.
3. When Daniel was given his
vision of the end times
Daniel 8:17-18 - So He came near where I
stood: and when He came, I was afraid, and fell upon my face: but He said unto me, Understand, O son of man: for at the time
of the end shall be the vision. Now as He was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the
ground: but He touched me, and set me upright.
4. When the Seraphims hid their
faces at the calling of Isaiah
Isaiah 6:1 - In the year that king
Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and
His train filled the Temple. Above it stood the Seraphims: each one had six
wings; with twain (two) He covered His face, and with twain, He covered His feet, and with twain He did
fly.
5. When Ezekiel was commissioned
to be God’s prophet
Ezekiel 3:23 -24 - Then I arose, and went
forth into the plain: and, behold, the
glory of the LORD stood there, as the glory which I saw by the river of Chebar:
and I fell on my face. Then the
Spirit entered into me, and set me upon my feet, and spake with me.
6. When the inner circle was at
the Mount of Transfiguration
Matthew 17:5-6 - While He yet spake,
behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud,
which said, This is My beloved Son, in Whom I am well pleased; hear ye Him. And
when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and
were sore afraid.
7. When Paul was traveling the Damascus
Road at his conversion
Acts 9:3-4, 6-7 - And as he journeyed, he
came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from
heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou Me...And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to
do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told
thee what thou must do.
Now, imagine what our first
view of Jesus will be like. I believe we, like John, would be aghast with His
overwhelming power, magnitude, and stunning glory. Nevertheless, from the implication
in the next verse, we have nothing to fear. After John collapsed at the
glorified Christ’s feet as a dead man, observe what Jesus does:
And He laid His right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not.
His Right Hand
What does the right hand
express? As we mentioned before, it is a picture of perfect peace, power,
protection, service, and glory. Now
consider the words of the Psalmist:
Psalm 18:35 - Thou hast also given me
the shield of Thy salvation: and Thy right hand hath holden (held) me up, and Thy gentleness hath made me
great.
Fear Not
Envision: The Lord gently lays
the Almighty powerful hand of God upon
His friend John and says in a loving voice, like He has said many times before, “Fear Not John, don’t be afraid.”
An interesting fact: The KJV
has 74 fear not phrases in the Bible
and 29 be not afraid, other
translations retain different numbers. The first fear was not to Abraham in Genesis 15:1 when giving him the
covenant. The last is found here in Revelation 1:17 meaning: Do not be
frightened or alarmed.
I am the First and the Last:
I am He that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have
the keys of hell and of death.
I AM
In Exodus 3:14 when Moses asked
God (Elohim – The Almighty One) what His name was so he could tell the people,
Elohim responded by saying. “I AM THAT I AM.”
Observe four statements
significant to Jesus:
1. I AM THE FIRST AND THE LAST
a. Conveys His eternal state:
Past, present, and future
2. I AM HE THAT LIVETH AND WAS DEAD
a. Conveys His redemptive work in
the past, death, and Resurrection
3. I AM ALIVE FOREVERMORE
a. Conveys His present state: He
is presently making intercession for us
4. I HAVE THE KEYS OF HELL (HADES)* AND OF DEATH
a. Conveys His authority and
power over death and Hell itself.
b. He conquered death.
*Hell, Hades will be explained
in a later study.
To further our discussion,
consider seven I Am sayings exclusive to the Gospel of John:
1. I AM THE BREAD OF LIFE (cf. John
6:35)
a. Bread (like manna) to sustain
us
Unlike manna that satisfied the
Israelites physically in the wilderness, we are to feed on this bread daily for
our spiritual food. He is our heavenly supply line and desires our dependence
on Him for nourishment to maintain life.
Jesus said,
John 6:51 - I am the Living Bread which came down from Heaven: if any man eat of this
Bread, he shall live for ever: and the Bread that I
will give is My flesh, which I will give for
the life of the world.
2. I AM THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD [comos (cf. John 8:12)]
Psalm 27:1a - The LORD is my light and my salvation.
Light
a. To guide our walk (as a lamp
unto our feet)
God [Jehovah (H3068)] led the Israelites in the
wilderness by light. Figuratively speaking, we are to follow Jesus likewise.
Exodus 13:21 - And the LORD went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by
day and night.
b. To expose sin
c. To separate us from
darkness
d. To give us spiritual life
e. To give us eternal life
f. To glorify our bodies
g. To be absolute in His holiness
3. I AM THE DOOR (cf. John 10:7)
a. Of the sheep
b. To the sheepfold of God’s love
c. To both Jew and Gentile
d. To access God
e. To protection from God
f. To the Kingdom of God
g. To eternal life
4. I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD (cf. John
10:11- 4)
a. To pastor the flock
b. To lead the flock
c. To protect the flock
d. To call His sheep by name
e. His sheep know His voice
f. To Give His life for the sheep
g. Psalm 23:1 – The Lord is my Shepherd.
5. I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE
LIFE (cf. John 11:25)
a. To the redemption of sinners
and souls
b. To the judgment of unbelievers
c. As the first begotten of the
dead
6. I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH, AND
THE LIFE (cf. John 14:6)
a. The way of salvation
b. The way through the narrow gate
c. The way to Heaven
d. Christianity was known as the
Way (cf. Acts 9:2)
e. Before Pilate He testified to
the truth (cf. John 18:37)
f. The truth shall set you free
g. Through Him is everlasting life
7. I AM THE TRUE VINE (cf. John 15:1)
a. God is the Vinedresser
b. Israel was known as the vine
brought out of Egypt (cf. Psalm 80:8)
c. Israel’s rejection is depicted
in Isaiah 5:1-7
d. Jesus is the True Vine
e. Everyone is connected to Him by
faith
f. We are to produce fruit
g. It is vital to maintain a
living connection to the vine
John 15:4 - Abide in Me, and I in
you. As the branch cannot bear
fruit of itself, except it abide in the Vine; no more
can ye, except ye abide in Me.
Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are,
and the things which shall be hereafter
In this scene, Jesus is
speaking and dictating to John. As mentioned earlier, John, chosen by God to be
His prophet, is told to write down the outline of the Book of Revelation:
1. The things which you have seen
(Chapter 1)
2. The things which are (Chapters 2
and 3)
3. The things which shall be
hereafter (Chapters 4 to the end of the book)
The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in My right
hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the
seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven
churches.
1. A Mystery – In Scripture, a
sacred secret. Here, what was once hidden since Daniel's time is now being revealed
or made known. It is a truth given to John by special Revelation from God.
Here, these mysteries are being revealed to us. Paul, for example, writes,
Ephesians 3:3 - As I briefly wrote
earlier, God Himself revealed His
mysterious plan to me. (NLT)
2. The seven stars I am holding in
my right hand are the angels (messengers) of the seven churches.
a. Stars - Represent
authority
b. Angels – aggelos [G32], a messenger, especially an
angel. By implication, a pastor: - Angel
messenger [Visit: www.thekingsbible.com ]
3. The seven candlesticks
(lampstands) I am walking amongst are the seven churches in Asia Minor. In
effect, Jesus is saying, “I am among you.”
Prayer
Heavenly Father, we give Christ
the glory and pray His light may brightly shine forth from us. We look forward
to the day when we meet Your Son Jesus and see His Face as John did. In Jesus'
name, we pray, Amen.
QUESTIONS
1. How does one react upon
seeing Christ’s glory?
2. Name one Old Testament saint
who encountered God.
3. What does Christ’s right hand
signify?
4. Why are we told not to be
afraid?
5. Name three I Am titles for
Jesus.
6. Outline the Book of
Revelation.
7. What do the seven stars and
lampstands represent?
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