At the outset of the book, John gives us the authority for the Revelation he saw and recorded. It came from God, given to Jesus, and delivered to John through Christ’s angel, messenger.

John addressed his writings to the seven churches in Asia minor, as he was instructed to do (vs. 11). But as the promises, warnings, counsel and encouragement of the book are clearly pertinent to the entire church, it is evident that those 7 churches are representative of the entire Church of Christ.

Then follow greetings to the Church. “Grace be unto you, and peace, from… ” God, the 7 spirits, and Jesus. God is not named as such, but is described as “him which is, and which was, and which is to come.” God is the one who has been from “everlasting” and will be to “everlasting” (Psa. 90:2) – always existent. He was, He is, and He always will be. This may be a reasonable extension of His description as the great “I AM” of Exodus 3:14, referring to Jehovah.

That John’s description refers to Jehovah is clear enough. He is distinguished from Jesus, mentioned in verse 5, and is said to have 7 spirits before his throne. In Chapter 4 of Revelation God is viewed as seated on his universal throne, with 7 spirits before his throne. There also He is described as he “which was, and is, and is to come,” (Rev. 4:8), and there also distinguished from Jesus, the Lamb who subsequently approached the throne. (Rev. 5:7) But another title is added: “Lord God Almighty.”

Both of these designations also appear in verse 1:8, but it is not apparent from the King James version, which omits the word “God.” From the American Standard version verse 8 reads

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, saith the Lord God, who is, and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

We understand this text to refer to Jehovah. If so, then we have found yet another appellation for God: “Alpha and Omega.” But here we have a title that does not refer exclusively to God, for it is elsewhere used of Christ [1].

Not in verse 11, for “Alpha and Omega” there is evidently spurious (note its absence in ASV), but in Rev. 22:13. “I come quickly … I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last … Even so, come, Lord Jesus.” (Rev. 22:12,13,19. Notice also Rev. 1:17 where Jesus is “the first and the last,” which is very much like saying “alpha and omega,” the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.)

In what sense is God Alpha and Omega, and in what sense is Jesus Alpha and Omega? From different standpoints. Jesus is the first of God’s direct creation (Revelation 3:14), and the last, for after the Logos (Michael) was created, he was used to create all else.

“By him (Jesus) all things consist.” (Col. 1:17)

God is the first and last in another sense. He is the only supreme omnipotent God, there never will be another, and thus he is the First and Last supreme God. Isaiah 43:10 speaks of Jehovah this way.

“Ye are my witnesses, saith Jehovah, … before me there was no God formed, neither shall there be after me.”

IN THE SPIRIT ON THE LORD’S DAY

At the time John received the Revelation it was late in his life. It is commonly thought that John was the only surviving apostle at that time. That he would linger longer than the others may have been suggested by our Lord’s words of him, recorded in John 21:18-23. Jesus had foretold Peter’s death, cryptically, “signifying by what death [crucifixion] he should glorify God.” Peter then inquired of John’s future. Jesus replied, “If I will that he tarry … what is that to thee?” And indeed, John did tarry. He tarried longer than the others, in the flesh.

But Jesus actually said “If I will that he tarry till I come …” That could not happen to John himself. But may it be that Jesus referred to the possibility of John’s tarrying till the 2nd advent, to identify him as representing those of his followers who would tarry into the second advent the feet members of the Body of Christ? We think so. We understand John receiving the vision of Revelation to represent the feet members at this end of the age, those who tarry into the second advent, receiving the revelation of present truth, a revealing of God’s plans.

When John received the Revelation, he was “in the Spirit on the Lord’s day …” (Rev. 1:10) Literally, this means he received the Revelation on Sunday, the Day of the Lord’s resurrection. But spiritually it points to the John class on the Lord’s greater day – the “Day of the Lord,” the time of his return, and assumption of control of earth’s dominion. (Revelation 11:15) In this greater day, the vision of truth from our returned Lord originates, like the Revelation John himself received, from God. And we also receive it through a messenger, the Laodicean messenger.

Perhaps that John “turned . . . and being turned, I saw” the vision of the 7 candlesticks, the 7 churches, shows that from our vantage point we look back over the Gospel age to view the history of the church, and our Lord’s care for it.

OUR LORD, THE HIGH PRIEST

In verses 13-18 our Lord appears among the golden candlesticks, identified as symbolic of the 7 churches. This shows him as our Great High Priest, tending and caring for the candlesticks, much as the high priest in the tabernacle might care for the burning of the 7-branched candlestick in the holy. Perhaps another parallel to this scene is in Genesis 15:17, showing the Divine presence (lamp of fire – margin) attending the sacrifice of the Church.

Our Lord is described in detail. Various elements of his description are:

• Clothed with a garment to the foot
• A golden girdle about the chest
• Head and hair white as wool
• Eyes as a flame of fire Feet as burnished copper
• Voice as the sound of many waters
• 7 stars in his right hand
• 2-edged sword proceeding from his mouth
• His countenance was as the sun
• The first and the last
• He that lives forever, but had been dead
• He has the keys of hell & death.

These all indicate symbolic aspects of Christ. It is of interest that in the messages to the various churches, one or another of these features is recalled, as though emphasizing an aspect of the Lord’s character which specially relates to the experiences of that church.

The introductory chapter closes with a brief interpretation of the main symbols introduced to that point. The 7 candlesticks are the 7 churches, and the 7 stars in the hand of our Lord are 7 messengers to the 7 churches.

 

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[1] Many brethren choose the other alternative-that verse ~ refers to Jesus, leaving “Alpha and Omega” a singular title for Him, and share the other designations with Jehovah. On this see Streeter, Rev. of Jesus Christ, pp. 84-85. Also see last subhead, Rep. 1514.

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