Study Focus: Our focus this lesson will be on the introduction to the messages to the seven churches (Rev. 1:9–2:7).
Introduction: Revelation 1:9–20 provides the backdrop for the messages to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3. Aspects of the glorious vision of Christ provide the unique setting for each of the seven messages. Jesus knows each of the seven churches and meets them where they are. The lesson closes with a more detailed look at the message to the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1–7).
Lesson Themes: The focus passage (Rev. 1:9–2:7) introduces the following themes:
I. The Identity of the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1:10
The Sabbath is the best explanation for John’s understanding of the Lord’s Day.
II. Jesus Meets the Churches Where They Are.
Jesus approaches each of the seven churches with different characteristics drawn from the introductory vision (Rev. 1:9–20).
III. John’s Basic Outline of Revelation (Based on Revelation 1:19)
In Revelation 1:19 John summarizes the whole vision as concerning the things that are and the things that will happen in the future. Revelation 4:1 shows that much of Revelation focuses on the future. This future begins in John’s time and extends until the end of time.
IV. Interpreting the Seven Messages to the Seven Churches
The messages to the seven churches contain information for the actual churches in Asia Minor, but they also parallel the spiritual conditions of Christianity in different historical periods.
Life Application: Students are invited to consider the implications of the startling picture of Jesus in Revelation 1:12–16, John’s reaction to this picture (Rev. 1:17), and Jesus’ gracious and comforting response to John (Rev. 1:17, 18).
Part II: Commentary
Revelation’s introductory vision (Rev. 1:12–18) centers on a glorious picture of Jesus. He is “like the Son of Man” (Rev. 1:13), the One who died and is alive forevermore (Rev. 1:18). Based on Daniel 10:5, 6 and a number of other Old Testament texts, this vision portrays the glory of Jesus otherwise seen only at the Transfiguration during His earthly ministry. The characteristics of Jesus in the vision are repeated throughout the seven messages of chapters 2 and 3. The vision is like the stage backdrop to the first act of a play.
In addition to the vision of Jesus (Rev. 1:12–18), the lesson addresses the location and time when John received the vision (Rev. 1:9–11),a basic interpretation of the vision (Rev. 1:19, 20), and an analysis of the message to the church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:1–7).
Main Themes of Lesson 2 Elaborated:
I. The Identity of the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1:10
The most popular view among commentators is that the “Lord’s Day” of Revelation 1:10 is Sunday, the first day of the week. The strength of this view is that later church fathers used the phrase with reference to Sunday, and the Latin equivalent, dominus dies, became one of the names for Sunday in the Latin Church. But all clear references to Sunday as “the Lord’s Day” are much later than Revelation and, thus, cannot serve as evidence for the meaning referenced when John wrote.
The best explanation for the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1:10 is that John was referring to the seventh-day Sabbath. While the exact phrase “the Lord’s Day” (kuriakê hemêra) is never used elsewhere in the New Testament or in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, many strong equivalents refer to the seventh-day Sabbath. The seventh day is “the Sabbath of the Lord[kuriô ] thy God” (Exod. 20:10, Deut. 5:14). “The Lord” (kurios) often refers to the seventh day as “my Sabbath” (ta sabbata mou—Exod. 31:12, 13; Lev. 19:3, 30; Lev. 26:2; Isa. 56:4–6; Ezek. 20:12, 13, 16, 20, 21, 24; Ezek. 22:3–8; Ezek. 23:36–38; Ezek. 44:12– 24). In the Hebrew of Isaiah 58:13, Yahweh calls the Sabbath “My holy day” (NKJV). And finally, all three Synoptic Gospels (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:27, 28; Luke 6:5) quote Jesus as saying that “the Son of Man is Lord . . . of the Sabbath [kurios tou sabbatou].” It would be strange, therefore, if John used the phrase “the Lord’s Day” for any other day of the week than the one we call Saturday.
II. Jesus Meets the Churches Where They Are.
Jesus appears on the scene of Revelation in spectacular fashion (Rev. 1:12–20). The same Jesus is in close relationship with the seven churches (Rev. 1:20). He knows each of them intimately (Rev. 2:2, 9, 13, 19; Rev. 3:1, 8, 15). And He introduces Himself to each church with one, two, or three characteristics from the earlier vision.
The message to Ephesus (Rev. 2:1–7), for example, describes Jesus as the One who holds the seven stars in His hand (Rev. 1:20) and walks among the seven golden lampstands (Rev. 1:12, 13). In the message to Smyrna (Rev. 2:8), Jesus is the First and the Last, the One who died and came back to life (Rev. 1:17, 18). In the letter to Pergamum, He approaches with a sharp, two-edged sword (Rev. 2:12, Rev. 1:16). So it goes throughout the seven church letters.
Here’s the interesting thing. Jesus presents Himself in a different way to each of the seven churches. He is able to adapt to each church’s particular needs and circumstances. In other words, He meets each church as it is. And if no church and no Christian has the full picture of Jesus, then we all have reason to be humble. We are all learners, even with all that we have been given.
III. John’s Basic Outline of Revelation (Based on Revelation 1:19)
The author of Revelation often embeds clues about the organization and key ideas of the book in the transition texts. One of those transition texts is Revelation 1:19. In this text, John lays out the plan of the whole book. The text begins, “ ‘Write, therefore, what you have seen’ ” (author’s translation). This sentence parallels Revelation 1:11: “ ‘Write what you see’ ” (author’s translation). Revelation 1:11 is present tense and Revelation 1:19 is past tense (Greek aorist indicative). This means the entire vision of Revelation was given between the command in Revelation 1:11 and the command in Revelation 1:19. Now he is told to write it out.
What has John seen? Two things: “The things which are” and “the things which shall be hereafter” (Rev. 1:19). So the book of Revelation includes both things current at the time of the seven churches and things that were yet to come, from their perspective.
In Revelation 4:1 Jesus says to John, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things” (NASB; emphasis supplied). This statement is similar to Revelation 1:19. Beginning with Revelation 4:1, the rest of Revelation focuses primarily on the future after John’s time. While there are flashbacks to the cross (Rev. 5:6, Rev. 12:11), and even events before Creation (Rev. 12:4, 7, 9), the primary focus, for most of the book, is events future to John’s day.
What, then, are “the things which are and the things which will take place after this” in Revelation 1:19? The answer: everything between Revelation 1:19 and 4:1, namely, the messages to the seven churches. As the lesson brings out, the seven messages also have prophetic significance for the whole Christian era, in addition to addressing the situation of those seven churches and the messages that Jesus brings to them. Careful attention to Revelation 1:19 shows how key texts of Revelation can help readers see the structure in John’s mind and in the mind of the One who gave him the vision.
IV. Interpreting the Seven Messages to the Seven Churches
The messages to the seven churches are “prophetic letters.” They are more like Matthew 24 than they are like Daniel 7 or Revelation 13. So their message concerns seven actual churches in Asia Minor, the ones that originally received them (Rev. 1:4, 11), and, by extension, for all those who read these messages (Rev. 1:3; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; and so on).
There were, however, more than seven churches in Asia Minor, but the spiritual conditions in those churches parallel the spiritual conditions of Christianity in different historical periods from the time of John until today. So embedded in these messages to seven historical churches was a grand survey of the major developments of Christian history. These periods are briefly discussed in the specific comments on each church in lessons 2 and 3.
V. The Messages to the Church in Ephesus
The church in Ephesus is the first congregation addressed by Jesus, describing Himself as the One who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands and holds the seven stars in His right hand (Rev. 2:1). The verbs “walks” and “holds” portray Jesus’ personal care and close attention. Despite Jesus’ care for them, the church loses its original love for Him becoming distracted with other things and needs to repent. This first message applies not only to the first-century church of Ephesus but reflects Jesus’ assessment more generally of the Christian church in the first century. Little by little the early Christians’ first love experience subsided and the need for a turning back to their earlier fervency became evident (see 1 John 4:7–11).
Part III: Life Application
Why is the gracious, forgiving Jesus, who washed the feet of His disciples, portrayed in such a spectacular and startling way in Revelation 1:12–16? While the appearance of Jesus frightened John to his core, fear was not the response Jesus desired (Rev. 1:17, 18). Like an elementary school teacher in the classroom, God sometimes has to earn our respect before we will take His graciousness seriously. But to truly know God is to love Him. The Father is just like Jesus (John 14:9).
What does the description of Jesus in Revelation 1 say to us about Jesus’ appeal to all humanity? In John’s vision of Jesus in Revelation 1, Jesus is carefully described as “One like the Son of Man,” having white hair and eyes like a flame of fire. His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength, and He holds stars in His right hand. He is the “first and the last” and possesses the keys to Hades and Death. This description certainly is reminiscent of the “One like the Son of Man” in Daniel 7:13, and God-fearing Jews who longed for their Messiah would certainly take notice. Commentators also have mentioned, however, that the description of Jesus would likewise appeal to Gentiles with some of their ideas of deity. For sure, Jesus is presented as the One who can fulfill the true longings of all humanity. He meets us where we are and lifts us up. He is like us yet possesses the keys to Hades and Death. He is all-powerful yet wise and caring. He is humanity’s true desire.
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Key Text: Revelation 2:7
Study Focus: Our focus this lesson will be on the introduction to the messages to the seven churches (Rev. 1:9–2:7).
Introduction: Revelation 1:9–20 provides the backdrop for the messages to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3. Aspects of the glorious vision of Christ provide the unique setting for each of the seven messages. Jesus knows each of the seven churches and meets them where they are. The lesson closes with a more detailed look at the message to the church in Ephesus (Rev. 2:1–7).
Lesson Themes: The focus passage (Rev. 1:9–2:7) introduces the following themes:
I. The Identity of the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1:10
The Sabbath is the best explanation for John’s understanding of the Lord’s Day.
II. Jesus Meets the Churches Where They Are.
Jesus approaches each of the seven churches with different characteristics drawn from the introductory vision (Rev. 1:9–20).
III. John’s Basic Outline of Revelation (Based on Revelation 1:19)
In Revelation 1:19 John summarizes the whole vision as concerning the things that are and the things that will happen in the future. Revelation 4:1 shows that much of Revelation focuses on the future. This future begins in John’s time and extends until the end of time.
IV. Interpreting the Seven Messages to the Seven Churches
The messages to the seven churches contain information for the actual churches in Asia Minor, but they also parallel the spiritual conditions of Christianity in different historical periods.
Life Application: Students are invited to consider the implications of the startling picture of Jesus in Revelation 1:12–16, John’s reaction to this picture (Rev. 1:17), and Jesus’ gracious and comforting response to John (Rev. 1:17, 18).
Part II: Commentary
Revelation’s introductory vision (Rev. 1:12–18) centers on a glorious picture of Jesus. He is “like the Son of Man” (Rev. 1:13), the One who died and is alive forevermore (Rev. 1:18). Based on Daniel 10:5, 6 and a number of other Old Testament texts, this vision portrays the glory of Jesus otherwise seen only at the Transfiguration during His earthly ministry. The characteristics of Jesus in the vision are repeated throughout the seven messages of chapters 2 and 3. The vision is like the stage backdrop to the first act of a play.
In addition to the vision of Jesus (Rev. 1:12–18), the lesson addresses the location and time when John received the vision (Rev. 1:9–11),a basic interpretation of the vision (Rev. 1:19, 20), and an analysis of the message to the church at Ephesus (Rev. 2:1–7).
Main Themes of Lesson 2 Elaborated:
I. The Identity of the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1:10
The most popular view among commentators is that the “Lord’s Day” of Revelation 1:10 is Sunday, the first day of the week. The strength of this view is that later church fathers used the phrase with reference to Sunday, and the Latin equivalent, dominus dies, became one of the names for Sunday in the Latin Church. But all clear references to Sunday as “the Lord’s Day” are much later than Revelation and, thus, cannot serve as evidence for the meaning referenced when John wrote.
The best explanation for the Lord’s Day in Revelation 1:10 is that John was referring to the seventh-day Sabbath. While the exact phrase “the Lord’s Day” (kuriakê hemêra) is never used elsewhere in the New Testament or in the Greek translation of the Old Testament, many strong equivalents refer to the seventh-day Sabbath. The seventh day is “the Sabbath of the Lord[kuriô ] thy God” (Exod. 20:10, Deut. 5:14). “The Lord” (kurios) often refers to the seventh day as “my Sabbath” (ta sabbata mou—Exod. 31:12, 13; Lev. 19:3, 30; Lev. 26:2; Isa. 56:4–6; Ezek. 20:12, 13, 16, 20, 21, 24; Ezek. 22:3–8; Ezek. 23:36–38; Ezek. 44:12– 24). In the Hebrew of Isaiah 58:13, Yahweh calls the Sabbath “My holy day” (NKJV). And finally, all three Synoptic Gospels (Matt. 12:8; Mark 2:27, 28; Luke 6:5) quote Jesus as saying that “the Son of Man is Lord . . . of the Sabbath [kurios tou sabbatou].” It would be strange, therefore, if John used the phrase “the Lord’s Day” for any other day of the week than the one we call Saturday.
II. Jesus Meets the Churches Where They Are.
Jesus appears on the scene of Revelation in spectacular fashion (Rev. 1:12–20). The same Jesus is in close relationship with the seven churches (Rev. 1:20). He knows each of them intimately (Rev. 2:2, 9, 13, 19; Rev. 3:1, 8, 15). And He introduces Himself to each church with one, two, or three characteristics from the earlier vision.
The message to Ephesus (Rev. 2:1–7), for example, describes Jesus as the One who holds the seven stars in His hand (Rev. 1:20) and walks among the seven golden lampstands (Rev. 1:12, 13). In the message to Smyrna (Rev. 2:8), Jesus is the First and the Last, the One who died and came back to life (Rev. 1:17, 18). In the letter to Pergamum, He approaches with a sharp, two-edged sword (Rev. 2:12, Rev. 1:16). So it goes throughout the seven church letters.
Here’s the interesting thing. Jesus presents Himself in a different way to each of the seven churches. He is able to adapt to each church’s particular needs and circumstances. In other words, He meets each church as it is. And if no church and no Christian has the full picture of Jesus, then we all have reason to be humble. We are all learners, even with all that we have been given.
III. John’s Basic Outline of Revelation (Based on Revelation 1:19)
The author of Revelation often embeds clues about the organization and key ideas of the book in the transition texts. One of those transition texts is Revelation 1:19. In this text, John lays out the plan of the whole book. The text begins, “ ‘Write, therefore, what you have seen’ ” (author’s translation). This sentence parallels Revelation 1:11: “ ‘Write what you see’ ” (author’s translation). Revelation 1:11 is present tense and Revelation 1:19 is past tense (Greek aorist indicative). This means the entire vision of Revelation was given between the command in Revelation 1:11 and the command in Revelation 1:19. Now he is told to write it out.
What has John seen? Two things: “The things which are” and “the things which shall be hereafter” (Rev. 1:19). So the book of Revelation includes both things current at the time of the seven churches and things that were yet to come, from their perspective.
In Revelation 4:1 Jesus says to John, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things” (NASB; emphasis supplied). This statement is similar to Revelation 1:19. Beginning with Revelation 4:1, the rest of Revelation focuses primarily on the future after John’s time. While there are flashbacks to the cross (Rev. 5:6, Rev. 12:11), and even events before Creation (Rev. 12:4, 7, 9), the primary focus, for most of the book, is events future to John’s day.
What, then, are “the things which are and the things which will take place after this” in Revelation 1:19? The answer: everything between Revelation 1:19 and 4:1, namely, the messages to the seven churches. As the lesson brings out, the seven messages also have prophetic significance for the whole Christian era, in addition to addressing the situation of those seven churches and the messages that Jesus brings to them. Careful attention to Revelation 1:19 shows how key texts of Revelation can help readers see the structure in John’s mind and in the mind of the One who gave him the vision.
IV. Interpreting the Seven Messages to the Seven Churches
The messages to the seven churches are “prophetic letters.” They are more like Matthew 24 than they are like Daniel 7 or Revelation 13. So their message concerns seven actual churches in Asia Minor, the ones that originally received them (Rev. 1:4, 11), and, by extension, for all those who read these messages (Rev. 1:3; Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; and so on).
There were, however, more than seven churches in Asia Minor, but the spiritual conditions in those churches parallel the spiritual conditions of Christianity in different historical periods from the time of John until today. So embedded in these messages to seven historical churches was a grand survey of the major developments of Christian history. These periods are briefly discussed in the specific comments on each church in lessons 2 and 3.
V. The Messages to the Church in Ephesus
The church in Ephesus is the first congregation addressed by Jesus, describing Himself as the One who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands and holds the seven stars in His right hand (Rev. 2:1). The verbs “walks” and “holds” portray Jesus’ personal care and close attention. Despite Jesus’ care for them, the church loses its original love for Him becoming distracted with other things and needs to repent. This first message applies not only to the first-century church of Ephesus but reflects Jesus’ assessment more generally of the Christian church in the first century. Little by little the early Christians’ first love experience subsided and the need for a turning back to their earlier fervency became evident (see 1 John 4:7–11).
Part III: Life Application