Our study today is titled, Revelation Chapter 1 Commentary: The Mystery of the Seven Stars. This chapter sets the scene for the rest of the book of Revelation.
Please click here for the Introduction to The Prophecies of the Book of Revelation.
Revelation Chapter 1 Commentary: The Mystery of The Seven Stars
Revelation 1:1, 2: The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants—things which must shortly take place. And he sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John, who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, and to all things that he saw.
The very first words of the book encourage us! God thought about us so much that He wanted to impart this Revelation to us. It is a cruel enemy who wants us to feel that God is content for us to remain in darkness and ignorance. Be thankful that this Revelation is His special gift to you.
You can easily see the five steps by which He gave us this book:
It originated with God, the Father, Himself.
He gave it to His Son, Jesus Christ.
Jesus “sent and signified it by His angel.”
The angel revealed it to the prophet John in holy vision.
John communicated to God’s servants (you and me) “things which must shortly take place.” It is intended for us to understand. Its “mysteries” are not truths Christ wants to hide from us, but which He longs to impart to us.
Revelation 1:3: Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.
This is the only book in the Bible that offers a special blessing on those who read it. Even the illiterate person is included if he will only listen to someone else read it to him! Of all the books of the Bible, this is the one that must not be neglected.
Revelation 1:4-8: John, to the seven churches which 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, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first born from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see him, and they also who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen. “I am the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End,” says the Lord, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”
If these few verses were all that we had of the Word of God, there is enough in them to give us everlasting happiness. “Grace . . . and peace” are freely given to anyone who will believe these words-even the most sinful. Do not any longer feel that you are shut out from the smiles and favor of Heaven. This greeting comes from the Father “who is and who was and who is to come,” from the Holy Spirit, and from Jesus Christ, the mighty One who arose from the grave. All Heaven looks upon you kindly and with tender love. Your job is to believe it, to rest in that confidence.
As soon as you believe this assurance, your heart will join in that glad song of praise “to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood.” If anyone wonders if he is ready for heaven, let him consider whether or not he readily and happily offers praise to the Lord. “Praise is beautiful for the upright” (Psalm 33:1).
“Be thankful to Him, and bless His name” (Psalm 100:4). “Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father through Him” (Colossians 3:17). The unbeliever knows no joyful feeling of gratitude to God for praise is strange to his heart. He even eats his daily food without realizing who the Giver is, never offers thanks for sunshine and flowers, trees and birds. But he can be taught: “My lips shall utter praise, for You teach me Your statutes” (Psalm 119:171).
With our own eyes, we shall see Jesus come “with clouds.” These are no ordinary clouds. They will be thousands of angels (Psalm 68:17, King James Version). “He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels” (Luke 9:26). Even those who don’t believe His gospel must watch Him come, and those who crucified Him cannot look the other way. At His trial, Jesus told them, “Hereafter you will see the Son of man sitting at the right hand of power, and coming on the clouds of heaven” (Matthew 26:64).
“Alpha” and “Omega” are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. Christ was in the very beginning, the eternal “only begotten of the Father,” and He is the end—He is all in all.
Revelation 1:9-11: I, John, both your brother and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “What you see, write in a book and send- it to the seven churches which are in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”
“By the emperor’s decree, John was banished to the isle of Patmos. . . . Patmos, a barren, rocky, island in the Aegean Sea, had been chosen by the Roman government as a place of banishment for criminals; but to the servant of God this gloomy abode became the gate of heaven. . . . Though banished from the scenes of his former labor, he did not cease to bear witness to the truth. Even in Patmos he made friends and converts.”
Because the Bible explains itself, it will be easy to determine what “the Lord’s day” is. “The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath,” said Jesus (Matthew 12:8). And what does Scripture say the “Sabbath” is? “The seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God” (Exodus 20:8-11). The Lord calls the Sabbath, “My holy day” (Isaiah 58:13). “It was on the Sabbath that the Lord of glory appeared to the exiled apostle. The Sabbath was as sacredly observed by John on Patmos as when he was preaching to the people in the towns and cities of Judaea.”
“The names of the seven churches are symbolic of the church in different periods of the Christian era. The number seven indicates completeness, and is symbolic of the fact that the messages extend to the end of time, while the symbols used reveal the condition of the church at different periods in the history of the world.”
Revelation 1:12-17: Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. His head and His hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters; He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength. And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last”
When John saw the seven golden lampstands, he knew he was looking into the temple (or sanctuary) in heaven. But where he had expected to see only heavenly beings, he was surprised to see “One like the Son of man.” How could it be that there was a man in heaven?
When Jesus became our Saviour, He made a sacrifice forever. Although He is glorified (as we shall be when He comes), He will forever remain a man, one with us. “Unto us a Child is born,” never to leave us (see Isaiah 9:6).
John’s description of Christ is almost the same as that which Daniel gives in Daniel 10:5-12. Both saw a “man” who was “girded with gold,” who had “eyes as torches of fire,” “feet like burnished bronze,” and a voice as the sound of many waters. Both Daniel and John fell before Him as dead men
and to both He said, “Do not fear.”
Those who reject Christ may pretend to despise His word, and may imagine that it will have no effect upon them. But they are mistaken, for it is a sharp two-edged sword piercing to the “division of soul and spirit, … a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12). Jesus says of the rejecter of His gospel, “The word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48). That word will save you now if you receive it; otherwise it will judge you at the end.
Revelation 1:18-20: “I am He who lives, and was dead, and, behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death. Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this. The mystery of the seven stars which 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 which you saw are the seven churches.”
Have you ever stood by the grave of a loved one? If so, you know how to appreciate this assurance. To us, the grave is a heavy door, securely barred. Not even the world’s wisest scientists can unlock it. But Jesus has the keys.
What are the seven stars? The word “angels” in the Greek has the meaning of messengers, or ministers. If the lampstands are the seven churches, the angels of the seven churches must be the leadership of the churches. “God’s ministers are symbolized by the seven stars, which He who is the first and the last has under His special care and protection. The sweet influences that ought to be abundant in the church are bound up with these ministers of God, who are to represent the love of Christ. The stars of heaven are under God’s control. He fills them with light. He guides and directs their movements. If He did not, they would become fallen stars. So with His ministers. They are but instruments in His hands, and all the good they accomplish is done through His power.”
Are you one of Christ’s ministers? Those seven stars include all who give themselves to the service of Christ as pastors, elders, deacons, teachers, yes, including those who teach the gospel to the children-all who have any part in the leadership of the church. Don’t fear, because you are held safely in the right hand of Him who is “alive for evermore.” Cherish your work; don’t try to be relieved of it, for the best place anyone can be is there in the right hand of the Son of God! And let us all respect and honor Christ’s ministers.” We urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake.” (1 Thessalonians 5:12, 13).
Robert J Wieland.
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Prophet Daniel: Study of Daniel Chapter 3-6 by William H Shea
What the Bible Says About The Rise of Islam (Revelation 9 – 5th and 6th Trumpet)
The 144,000 in Revelation Chapter 7 – Professor Ranko Stefanovic
Revelation’s End Time Remnant – Mark Finley Video Sermon
For a more detailed and easy to read commentary on the book of Revelation I urge you to buy Revelation of Jesus Christ: Commentary on the Book of Revelation. This verse-by-verse commentary offers a text-focused and Christ-centered approach to the book of Revelation.
Ranko Stefanovic is professor of New Testament at the Seventh-day Adventist Theological Seminary at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. He holds a Ph.D. degree from Andrews University and is a well-loved teacher, popular speaker, and author of scholarly articles.
Click here to go to the commentary on Revelation chapter 2 commentary: Letters to the seven churches of Asia minor.
Revelation Chapter 1 Bible Study Video
Below is a sermon on Revelation chapter 1 by Kenneth Cox.
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