Revelation 1:9-20

SPECIAL DOCTRINO-ETHICAL AND HOMILETICAL NOTES (ADDENDUM)

Section Second

First Vision. Heaven-picture of the Seven Churches (Revelation 1:9-20)

General.—The pastoral fidelity of man here appears in reciprocal action with the pastoral fidelity of God. John on Patmos thinks of his seven churches in the spirit of prayer. But the Lord, through the Spirit of revelation, changes his glance at the seven churches into a vision of the whole future of the Church.—Heavenly blessedness in the midst of earthly martyrdom.—The prophetic visions as the theocratic higher reality of the Platonic ideas, the lofty mysterious source-points of all fundamental spiritual currents, or of the stream of salvation in the history of the world.—Preliminary conditions of prophecy—external affliction, internal solemn joy, loneliness, prayer.—Forms of revelation.—Development of revelation from the auricular to the ocular wonder.—Appearance of Christ in His glory in respect of its fundamental features. Christ, the Son of God, also eternally the glorified Son of Man—The shock experienced by the Seer at the appearance of the Lord in His revelation, a species of death, and hence a source of new, high life. How this shock—a. In its original form runs through the history of the prophetic callings (Exodus 3:6; Exodus 4:24; Exodus 34:30-35; Isaiah 6:5; Jeremiah 1:6; Ezekiel 3:14-15; Daniel 10:0.); b. Is reflected in Jewish tradition (Jude 1:13:22) and in Greek manticism, in which the manticist himself represents death, whilst the priest who expounds his oracle is representative of new life; c. Is shadowed in the history of apostate prophets, especially in that of Balaam (Numbers 24:4); d. Is crystallized in the fundamental forms of regeneration; repentance and faith—death of the old, resurrection of the new, man.—Doctrine of the kingdom of the dead, and of death.—Hades is to be distinguished from Gehenna.—The appearance of Christ, deadly for the moment, conferring life for ever.—Sacred literature (Revelation 1:19).—Key of symbolism (Revelation 1:20).

Special.—[Revelation 1:9.] John, an exile on earth, at home in Heaven.—The great Prophet, a brother and companion [fellow-partaker] of all Christians, (1) in tribulation, (2) in the glory of the Kingdom, (3) in the endurance of Jesus.—Patmos, so poor in geography, so glorified in the Theocracy, like Bethlehem and Nazareth. The like is true of Palestine and the earth itself. [Revelation 1:10.] Sunday in its apostolic radiance: The day of the spirit; of transport; of complete revelation.—Sunday quiet, absorption of life in its profoundest depths, and thereby, at the same time, in the richest retrospect, and the clearest fore-view.—The sacred voice.—[Revelation 1:11.] The sacred Book.—The Bible reposing upon Divine voices and trumpets.—The Christian who, through deep absorption of spirit, finds the three times [the past, present and future] in the present, thereby learns to know God as He Who is, Who was and Who cometh.—The seven churches or representatives of all churches—primarily, of all those in Asia Minor—or the one Church in its seven-fold form.—The sacred septenary of the churches, founded upon the septenary of the Spirits of God, and ever recurring in the subsequent sevens.—[Revelation 1:12-13.] Christ is, therefore, here in the midst of the candlesticks, as well as in the other world. The same hierarchism which sunders doctrine and life, belief and morals, clergy and laity, spirit and nature, faith and culture, body and soul, also tears earth and Heaven apart. As the deist confines God to the other world, so the Hierarchy banishes the Lord Jesus Christ thither.—Christ is the living unity of the seven individual golden candlesticks, and through this unity alone is the type of the one seven-branched candlestick fulfilled (Exodus 25:31-37).—[Revelation 1:14-16.] The form of Christ, considered in regard to its attributes; or the difference between theocratic symbolism and humanistic æsthetics.—[Revelation 1:17.] Fear not, a groundword of Christianity from beginning to end (Luke 2:10; Matthew 28:5; see the Concordances, Title, Fear not).—The history and operation of the Death and Resurrection of Christ lift all fear from all believers.—[Revelation 1:18.] Christ, the Living One, (1) in respect of His spiritual essence and mission (the First, the Last, the Life of life); (2) in respect of His history (having been dead, and having become alive forever); (3) in respect of His power (having the keys of Death and Hades),—[Revelation 1:19.] “Write what thou seest.” All Scripture a copy of Divine reality.—[Revelation 1:20.] The key of symbolism must form the starting-point for the disclosure of all Apocalyptic mysteries.—The Angels of the churches, neither presbyteries, nor bishops, nor preachers, but the spirit of the churches in symbolic personification—the spirit which, undoubtedly, should be represented by the heads of the churches, but which is very frequently not represented by them. This spirit represents their idiocrasy, their ideal, the quality of their spiritual life, and is the local invisible church.—The churches as candlesticks.—Celebration of Sunday.—Bible festivals.—Celebration of Easter.—Festival of the dead.—Celebration of church consecration (or consecration of the angel of a church).—Celebration of the ministry.—See the succession of the visions, Revelation 4:2 (individual items) Revelation 17:3 (individual items).—Parallels: Acts 10:10 sqq.; Revelation 20:7; Zechariah 4:2; Daniel 7:0.; Daniel 10:0.; Isaiah 41:10; Isaiah 48:12; Malachi 2:7.*

*[The G.V. here reads “Engel”=angel, instead of the “messenger” of the E. V.—Tr.]

Starke: A man is in the Spirit (1) ordinarily, when he permits himself to be governed by the Spirit of God (Romans 8:9; Galatians 5:5); (2) extraordinarily, by transport and a Divine revelation of things to come (Matthew 22:43).—Christ is always present with His Church, to enlighten, sanctify and defend it (Ephesians 5:26).—He has, therefore, no need of any vicar.—The Church has for its foundation-pillar the invincible power and strength of Christ.—Christ’s servants are in His hand, honored by Him and assured of His help.

Richter (see p. 73): In Revelation 1:17-18, Jesus declares, in different words, the same thing that is expressed in Matthew 28:18, “All power [authority] is given unto Me in Heaven and on earth,” and the same that is expressed in that other saying of His, “I and the Father are one” [John 10:30]. After the lapse of nearly two thousand years, we find ourselves in a different posture toward this saying—so far as belief in it is concerned—from that occupied by the Church in John’s time. Has there not been a considerable progress in the setting up of Christ’s Kingdom? (It is true that we must not overlook the fact that, together with the furtherances of faith during the course of the centuries, there has been a constant new formation of apparent hindrances.)

Gaertner (see p. 73): With the trumpet-sound of the voice of Christ, the Revelation was opened for the ear;—with the seven candlesticks, it was opened for the eye.—These seven candlesticks precisely correspond to the seven lamps on the seven-branched candlestick in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle. The independent candlesticks, having each one its own standard, denote the greater perfection of the New Testament Church; furthermore, the Lord walks in the midst of them, which would be impossible, so far as the figure is concerned, in the case of the one seven-branched candlestick (rather, this fact is declaratory that there shall be, in the New Covenant, no external visible hierarchic unity of the churches). What is there more beautiful and more cheering than a bright light upon a candlestick in a dark and gloomy night! So the Church is a light in the darkness of this world, shining into the gloom and obscurity of mankind. Where there is a church that has the pure word of God and acts in accordance therewith, there is a golden candlestick; just so the faithful Church in Israel was a light to the Gentiles throughout the whole of the Old Testament time. The seven candlesticks are indicative of a perfect Church, into which the Holy Spirit from God’s inner world streams seven-fold (seven-fold, and yet singly, through Christ).

[Bonar (Revelation 1:17): And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. O sinner, learn to know this Christ now as the Saviour, ere the day arrives when you shall see Him as the Judge! His love would save you now; His majesty will crush you then.]