Tuesday, December 14, 2004
Revelation 1:9-20
Rev 1:9-20 A Vision of Christ
John describes his situation on Patmos and states "I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day." In the spirit? In prayer or meditation, obviously. In his vision he is instructed by a voice 'like a trumpet' to write this vision down and send it to seven churches.
He sees seven golden lampstands surrounding one that looked like the 'Son of Man,' which is a title Jesus used frequently and it is a common belief that he was referring to himself as 'the Son of Man.' He is dressed in a long robe with a gloden sash. "His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burned bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters." (v. 14-15)
A similar figure is described in Daniel 10:5-6 "I looked up and saw a man clothed in linen with a gold belt from Uphaz aroud his waist. His body was like beryl, his fase like lightning, his eyes like flaming torhchisn, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the roar of a multitude." This 'one who is like a human' was sent to Daniel to tell Daniel about future wars. It is also possible to read this as a foretelling of the End of Time.
The description of the voice is similar to the description of the voices of the four fantastic creatures that Ezekial saw, and the voice of 2 Esdras 6:17 that told of the end times.
Did Jesus go to Daniel in a vision? It may have been possible for John. Although there is debate about whether or not the author of the Revelation of John is the same John who wrote the Gospel attributed to John or the three epistles of John, I think that they at least came from the same tradition, and it is in the Gospel of John that Jesus, as the Christ, was made at the beginning of Time. It would be possible for Christ to be a messenger from God before Jesus was born.
Verse 16
"In his right hand he held seven stars, and form his mouth cam a sharp, two edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force."
Verses 17-20
John cowers at this vision, just as Isiah, Ezekial, and Daniel had done. I find this interesting that Abraham talked openly to God and even haggled with him, but the prophets cower.
The speaker states that he is the 'first and the last'. This is a title God has used, not Christ, but the imagery is exactly the same as one who was sent to Daniel. This may seem odd, but the concept of Christ being God was developed by the writing of this book.
Christ explains that the sevel stars are the seven angels of the churches, and the lampstands are the churches. Did this mean that churches associated themselves with angels? Just how did the early church organize? It's common for a parish to be named after a saint, and thus have some patronage. Did the early churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea have angelic patronage? I'll have to look into this.
What have we learned? John used imagery from Ezekial and Daniel. The line between God the Creator and God the Christ is blurred a bit. It's probably going to be difficult to understand the Revelation of John without understanding the prophets of the old testament and the deuterocanonical books. ¶ 1:06 PM
John describes his situation on Patmos and states "I was in the spirit on the Lord's Day." In the spirit? In prayer or meditation, obviously. In his vision he is instructed by a voice 'like a trumpet' to write this vision down and send it to seven churches.
He sees seven golden lampstands surrounding one that looked like the 'Son of Man,' which is a title Jesus used frequently and it is a common belief that he was referring to himself as 'the Son of Man.' He is dressed in a long robe with a gloden sash. "His head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burned bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters." (v. 14-15)
A similar figure is described in Daniel 10:5-6 "I looked up and saw a man clothed in linen with a gold belt from Uphaz aroud his waist. His body was like beryl, his fase like lightning, his eyes like flaming torhchisn, his arms and legs like the gleam of burnished bronze, and the sound of his words like the roar of a multitude." This 'one who is like a human' was sent to Daniel to tell Daniel about future wars. It is also possible to read this as a foretelling of the End of Time.
The description of the voice is similar to the description of the voices of the four fantastic creatures that Ezekial saw, and the voice of 2 Esdras 6:17 that told of the end times.
Did Jesus go to Daniel in a vision? It may have been possible for John. Although there is debate about whether or not the author of the Revelation of John is the same John who wrote the Gospel attributed to John or the three epistles of John, I think that they at least came from the same tradition, and it is in the Gospel of John that Jesus, as the Christ, was made at the beginning of Time. It would be possible for Christ to be a messenger from God before Jesus was born.
Verse 16
"In his right hand he held seven stars, and form his mouth cam a sharp, two edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining with full force."
Verses 17-20
John cowers at this vision, just as Isiah, Ezekial, and Daniel had done. I find this interesting that Abraham talked openly to God and even haggled with him, but the prophets cower.
The speaker states that he is the 'first and the last'. This is a title God has used, not Christ, but the imagery is exactly the same as one who was sent to Daniel. This may seem odd, but the concept of Christ being God was developed by the writing of this book.
Christ explains that the sevel stars are the seven angels of the churches, and the lampstands are the churches. Did this mean that churches associated themselves with angels? Just how did the early church organize? It's common for a parish to be named after a saint, and thus have some patronage. Did the early churches in the cities of Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea have angelic patronage? I'll have to look into this.
What have we learned? John used imagery from Ezekial and Daniel. The line between God the Creator and God the Christ is blurred a bit. It's probably going to be difficult to understand the Revelation of John without understanding the prophets of the old testament and the deuterocanonical books. ¶ 1:06 PM
