Chapter 1 (pdf)
Download1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near. 4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
Verse 3 says that the time is near for Jesus to come, and verse 7 tells us that He will come on the clouds. The prophecy of coming on the clouds was fulfilled with the Roman invasion on Jerusalem, see the blog post More on Matthew 24 - https://bibletimeprophecy.com/f/more-on-matthew-24blogcategory=coming+on+the+clouds
Just as God had incited war in Isaiah 19, Jesus had incited war as a just judgement against the city of Jerusalem. Jesus had pronounced woes to the Pharisees in Matthew 23 and the desolation of Jerusalem was fulfillment of that decree. The coming on the clouds was fulfilled around 70 AD. See the blog post for clarification on the translation of verse 7.
Notice here that verse 5 is about Jesus, and that makes verse 4 about God. Here is separation of God and Jesus. We are called to be priests to God, 1 Peter 2:4 As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, 5 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
There were many signs before the coming of the judgement on Jerusalem. Every eye saw the star that was shaped like a sword, everyone in the city heard the prophet crying out “Woe to Jerusalem” every day until he ended his life when the Romans attacked the city. This is explained in the above blog.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
The “second coming” of Jesus is all the rage right now, but here God says that HE is the one to come. The Most High God will come again and dwell with his people. Revelation 21:3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.” 12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
Golden Lampstands are defined as churches in verse 20. The nature of them being golden is shown in Zechariah 13:9 This third I will bring through the fire; I will refine them like silver and test them like gold. They will call on My name, and I will answer them. I will say, ‘They are My people,’ and they will say, ‘The LORD is our God.’”
Son of man is a title given to a prophet. The book of Ezekiel had numerous instances where God tells Ezekiel “Son of Man, say…” Jesus was indeed a prophet, quoting the coming judgement on Jerusalem. Jesus is a Son of Man, giving the thousands of years prophecy to John.
A long robe (Strong’s - clothed to the feet) with a golden sash is similar to what was worn by the seven angels bearing the plague judgements in Revelation 15:5 After this I looked, and the temple—the tabernacle of the Testimony—was opened in heaven. 6 And out of the temple came the seven angels with the seven plagues, dressed in clean and bright linen and girded with golden sashes around their chests. There was also a messenger angel that battled against the princes of Persia and Greece in Daniel dressed like this. The tabernacle priests wore linen to denote their service to the presence of God and their purity. The angel in Daniel was a high-ranking angel with a high level of authority and power by being able to overcome a prince of spiritual darkness. Daniel 10:5-6 I lifted up my eyes, and behold, there was a certain man dressed in linen, with a belt of fine gold from Uphaz around his waist. / His body was like beryl, his face like the brilliance of lightning, his eyes like flaming torches, his arms and legs like the gleam of polished bronze, and his voice like the sound of a multitude…20 “Do you know why I have come to you?” he said. “I must return at once to fight against the prince of Persia, and when I have gone forth, behold, the prince of Greece will come.
Hair being white is the wisdom of God, as in the ancient of days in Daniel 7:9 “As I looked, thrones were placed, and the Ancient of Days took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and the hair of his head like pure wool; his throne was fiery flames; its wheels were burning fire.
Eyes like a flame of fire - from biblehub.com topical: The eye is frequently used to convey moral and spiritual truths. Jesus emphasizes the importance of the eye in spiritual matters in Matthew 6:22-23 : "The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!" Eyes are how we receive truth and understanding. True eyesight allows us to see past the letter of the law into the heart of the law. Eyes healed with eyesalve will show us the prophetic fulfillment of Revelation instead of literal apocalyptic events. His truth is a burning flame of fire that provides a constant and bright light.
Here is a description of feet like burnished bronze from biblehub.com topical: the feet of the glorified Christ are described as "like bronze glowing in a furnace," symbolizing His purity, strength, and authority in judgment. Malachi 3:1 prophecies the coming messenger, Jesus, the pure, strong, authoritative messenger of God. Blessed are his feet.
A voice like a roar of many waters is the authoritative voice of God. Jesus now has authority to judge (John 5:27) and here’s the verse on God’s roaring voice: Psalm 29:3-4 The voice of the LORD is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the LORD is heard over many waters. / The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is majestic.
The seven stars are seven churches and they are held in his right hand which holds significant symbolic and theological meaning throughout the Bible, often representing power, authority, blessing, and favor. In biblical times, the right hand was considered the hand of strength and skill, and it frequently appears in Scripture to convey divine power and protection. Biblehub.com topical
The two-edged sword of his mouth is described in Hebrews 4:12 as the Word of God, and again by Paul as the sword of the Word in Ephesians 6.
The face shining like the sun in its full strength is the powerful presence of God, as Moses had in the desert. Moses was asked to put on a veil in order to hide the glory, imagine Jesus with the glory... in its full-strength glory!
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Jesus is the first - 1 Corinthians 15:20 But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. Jesus is the last chance for redemption. Matthew 21:33 “Hear another parable. There was a master of a house who planted a vineyard and put a fence around it and dug a winepress in it and built a tower and leased it to tenants, and went into another country. 34 When the season for fruit drew near, he sent his servants to the tenants to get his fruit. 35 And the tenants took his servants and beat one, killed another, and stoned another. 36 Again he sent other servants, more than the first. And they did the same to them. 37 Finally he sent his son…
Jesus has the keys of Death and Hades. The book showing we are redeemed in Revelation 20 is the Lamb’s books of life.
THIS is the Jesus we submit to and strive to imitate! Glory be to God! He’s not the baby in a manger. When you pledge your life to Jesus, striving to obey him in every way, be sure that you have this image of Jesus in your arsenal of faith in addition to the ones given in the gospels. Each one of these attributes deserves an in-depth study but I gave only one verse just to show evidence of the description. Please do your own study and be BLESSED!!