Revelation of John 1 - Introduction ...

Tuesday, Dec 15, 2009. When you are looking for a book in the bible which is not easy to understand, then the revelation of John might be your first choice. It is a book of old and far reaching images. The author describes visions and speaks in pictures, which come from many thousand years of biblical history. The revelation of John is said to be written by the apostle John, who received it from interaction with God's angels:

“The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” (Rev 1,1-3)

We want to have a look into this revelation this week. It is a fascinating book. But it is also slightly dangerous to touch it, in particular to touch it in public. Do we understand the pictures correctly? What do they tell us?

I would like to start with a warning. There have been many who claim to have the understanding of this book. It is a book which summarizes and foretells the history of the world from a quite global standpoint. It takes the standpoint of God, who is above history and who is describing his struggle with mankind, his efforts to establish truth and love in the middle of egoism and mistrust. There are many events painted in strong images, events which will take place in world history or which have taken place already. Both skeptical scholars and Christians of various background have tried to give a more concrete version of these prophesies, they tried to match the images with history. Most of these interpretations remain preliminary and cannot really be called convincing. However, they are defended with strong emotions by some schools. So be careful, when you enter the discussions!

However, the revelation of John contains so many amazing and breathtaking images and statements, that it is really worth reading. It takes us into a global view. I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.

But the revelation of John has different parts. First, there are letters to “the seven churches”, which are named and addressed individually: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea. God sees each church individually. God cares for each church. And he takes measures which are adequate for the spiritual state of the church and the people who form the body of Christ. We can get a message here even without going into the details of what God has to say. We can see how he cares and that he does the same for us personally. He wants us to find a sincere and pure faith. He wants us to live in faith and truth. He loves us. He is there. [R.W.E.P., jesusnetwork.eu]

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