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REVELATION 1:9-13
(9) I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation
and 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. (10) I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I
heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, (11) 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 that are
in Asia: to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis,
to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea." (12) Then I turned to see
the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden
lampstands, (13) 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.
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John was on the island of Patmos, in the Aegean Sea (a northern
branch of the Mediterranean Sea, which lies between Greece and
Turkey), for a specific purpose, i.e., “for
(‘because of’) the Word of God and for (‘because of’)
the testimony of Jesus Christ.”
The island is about ten miles long and six miles wide, and it
had a penal colony on it in John’s day.
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The existence of this penal colony led some early Church fathers
(e.g., Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Eusebius) in the
latter part of the second century (one to two hundred years
after
Revelation
was written) to teach that John was exiled and imprisoned there
due to His Christian beliefs. But this observation had its
origin in tradition, not in fact.
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If in fact John was exiled and imprisoned on the island, it
would be an action not foreign to Scripture’s promise that
persecution (suffering) will be the lot of those who live for
Christ in this unbelieving and wicked world (John
15:18-21;
16:33; 17:14; Acts 14:22; 1
Thessalonians 3:3, 4; 2 Timothy 3:12;
1 Peter 2:21; 1 John 3:1, 13).
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But, whether by exile and imprisonment or not, John was
positioned “by God” in this remote area specifically so that he
could convey this additional and final unveiling of Jesus
Christ, who is indeed the “Word of God (John 1:1, 14;
Revelation 19:10b),”
which unveiling is the capstone of the revelation of Christ to
man (cf. verses
one and
two)
— to bring to completion all that God desires man to know and
understand concerning His Son. It should be noted that the
present 66 books that make up the canon of Scripture is
complete, to which nothing can be added. Any person or
organization that attempts to do otherwise is subject to the
judgment declared in
Revelation 22:18,
19.
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As Chitwood* so aptly states, “God seems to have an
affinity for taking individuals whom He has chosen to isolated
or out-of-the-way places to receive His revelation. Moses wrote
the Pentateuch while in the desert; David wrote a number of
Psalms while out in the hills being pursued by Saul; Ezekiel
wrote from a place of exile, from Babylon; and Paul was
seemingly taken to a place in Arabia to receive the revelation
of the mystery, while later writing epistles from prisons.”
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John identifies himself with his readers as “both
your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and
patience of Jesus Christ.”
He not only was a child of God and thereby related to all other
children of God, he was also subject to tribulation
(persecution, sufferings) as previously mentioned. Furthermore,
he, as all Christians are, was a member of the “kingdom of
priests” (‘royal priests’) mentioned in verse
six. Scripture deals in the present
tense with Christians being made a “kingdom of priests” (1
Peter 2:9),
which priestly office is efficacious relative to the
responsibility of a child of God in the confession of sin (1 John 1:9),
a key ingredient in achieving spiritual maturity. Yet it is an
office that will not be fully realized until the establishment
of the literal kingdom at Christ’s Second Advent.
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Although Christ was born “King,” He has yet to occupy this
position. This will happen upon His return to earth whereupon
He will establishment His kingdom (Revelation
19:11-20:6).
The only present kingdom in existence on the earth is the
kingdom that God gave to Satan at a time in the distant past,
which will one day be taken from him and given to Christ. Just
as in the “type,” in the days of Saul and David, there were
presently two anointed kings in the camp; but only Saul could
sit on the throne until his crown was taken from him and given
to David. And so it will be in the “antitype,” Satan will
remain as anointed king until his crown is taken from him and
given to Christ.
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And when one lives for the kingdom, tribulation (persecution,
suffering) will follow; but, such, if allowed to have its
proper affect, will produce “perseverance”
(“patience” in the KJV), which is the Greek word hupomone,
endurance), another key ingredient in achieving spiritual
maturity. “And
not only that,
but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that
tribulation produces perseverance [endurance]; and
perseverance, character; and character,
hope“(Romans 5:3,
4; see also 2 Thessalonians 1:4, James 1:3).
Spiritual endurance is uniquely tied to (1) fruit-bearing [Luke 8:15],
(2) the achievement of the salvation of the soul [Luke
21:19;
Romans 2:7; Hebrews 10:36; 12:1],
(3) the hope that all Christians should harbor and to which they
should aspire [Romans 8:25;
15:4; 1 Thessalonians 1:3; James 5:11],
godly living [1
Timothy 6:11;
2 Timothy 3:10; James 1:4; 2 Peter 1:6].
And the Christian should know that the source of this
perseverance or endurance is God [Romans 15:5;
Colossians 1:11].
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John declares that he was “in the Spirit on the
Lord’s Day,”
a phrase which should literally read, “I became in spirit in the
Lord’s Day;” and is indicative of his removal in this manner
from the island of Patmos into heaven and being moved forward in
time as well, to a time at the end of the present dispensation.
Wuest* compares John’s condition to the trance that Peter
experienced in
Acts 10:10,
whereby he was privy to a special vision from heaven. But in
the case of John, it was more than a mere trance; rather, it may
have been very similar to Paul’s out-of-body experience in which
he was caught up to into the “third heaven”
(“Paradise”)
in
2 Corinthians 12:1-5.
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John was removed from earth into heaven and moved forward in
time (“in
spirit”)
to the “Lord’s Day.”
Although a case is often made that this expression, the “Lord’s
Day,” refers to the first day of the week (referring to
Acts 20:7
where it is observed as the day that it was customary for the
disciples to assemble, which day reflected the day Christ rose
from the dead and the day of Pentecost), can hardly be the
case. Nowhere in Scripture is the first day of the week
(Sunday) referred to as the “Lord’s Day”
(or, “the Day of the Lord,”
as it is referred to numerous other places in Scripture).
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Chitwood also notes the following: “In this respect,
also note Psalm 118:24,
‘This is the day the LORD has
made; we will
rejoice and be glad in it.’ This verse if often
quoted out of context and applied to a day during the
present time, during Man’s Day. This verse though is set within
a Messianic passage and has to do with the future Messianic Era
when the Lord’s Day will replace Man’s Day on earth. And any
application to present time would have to involve a secondary
application of the verse.”
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“Man’s Day,” a reference to
1 Corinthians 4:3
(in which the expression “man’s judgment”
[KJV], should be translated “man’s day” [Wuest: “the
(judicial) day of mankind”])
is a term used by some, such as Chitwood, to express the time
frame from the creation of man until the end of the Tribulation,
the beginning of the Messianic Era, the establishment of the
millennial kingdom upon earth. Others, such as Wilson*, see it
as the time from the fall of man in the Garden until the rapture
of the saints.
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Specifically, Chitwood holds that on earth, Man’s Day
goes to the end of the Tribulation and that there should be no
overlap between it and the “Lord’s Day,”
which starts upon Christ’s establishment of His millennial
kingdom at His Second Advent. He further holds that in
heaven, the “Lord’s Day”
has always existed, using
John 8:56
(cf.
Mark 12:27)
to show that Abraham was removed from Man’s Day on earth to find
himself in the “Lord’s Day,”
which, again according to Chitwood, is exactly the same thing
seen in the removal of the Church at the end of the present
dispensation in both
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:4
and
Revelation
1:10-20.
So while Man’s Day and the “Lord’s
Day”
cannot run concurrently on earth, in heaven the “Lord’s Day”
has always been, only to end (on earth and in heaven) at the
beginning of God’s Day immediately following the Messianic Era
when Christ “delivers
the kingdom to God the Father, when He puts an
end to all rule and all authority and power”
when “He has put all
enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed
is death.”
(1 Corinthians
15:24-26).
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Chitwood further bolsters his argument by referring to the book
of
Joel,
where he states “following the Day of the Lord being
introduced in connection with judgment befalling the nations (1:15;
2:1), the timing of the beginning of the Day of the
Lord is seen. In Joel
2:27-3:21, the beginning of the Day of the Lord on
earth is clearly seen to be following Christ’s return to the
earth after the Tribulation has run its course, i.e. .,
after Man’s Day has run its course. Joel’s prophecy, in
actuality, cannot be understood after any other fashion.”
And it is while John is in heaven in the “Lord’s Day,”
that he is able to see events that transpire immediately
preceding the “Lord’s
Day,”
e.g., the judgment of Christian’s at Christ’s judgment seat.
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Although this commentator gives deference to Chitwood in all
biblical interpretative matters, primarily because he has found
no other like him who is able to tie both Testaments together
into a whole; in the understanding of Man’s Day and the “Lord’s Day,”
he finds himself at variance with Chitwood regarding the matter
(a rare event).
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Although admitting that Chitwood’s take on the matter may be
correct, it appears to this commentator that the change from
Man’s Day to the “Lord’s Day”
has to do with the initiation of judgment upon mankind, both
Christian and unbeliever alike, which involves not only the
judgment of Christians at Christ’s judgment seat, but also the
redemption of the inheritance (lost by Adam’s disobedience in
the Garden), which involves the judgments upon earth and its
inhabitants that take place during the Tribulation. And this
interpretation is based on the following:
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References in the book of
Joel characterize the “Day
of the Lord”
as a day of judgment, destruction, darkness and gloominess,
a devouring fire, desolation; a “great
and awesome day”
(Joel 1:15-3:21)
— depictions, at least in this commentator’s mind, of the
judgments to come (Judgment Seat and the Tribulation).
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And if this is the case, then it appears to confirm
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:10;
wherein the “Day of the Lord”
(5:4)
appears to be linked with the Rapture of the Church (4:16,
17) and judgment that follows (5:3, 9).
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And as for Abraham being able to see, as Christ put it, “My
Day”
(John
8:56)
and “was glad”
in seeing it; this commentator sees no conflict with
Abraham’s response, knowing that justice would finally
prevail.
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Understanding the “Lord’s Day”
in this manner, as the day that the Lord “takes over,” i.e.,
snatches the Church from earth for judgment (the separation of
the bride from the body of Christ), as well as initiating the
redemption of the inheritance through various judgments upon
earth and its occupants (Jews and Gentiles), appears to this
commentator to coincide with and clarify
1 Thessalonians 4:13-5:10;
2 Peter 3:10;
and
Revelation 1:10ff.
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And then, if this is the case, the second half of verse
ten
(“and
I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet”)
is similar to the “shout, with the voice
of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God”
of
1
Thessalonians 4:16
and the trumpet sound of
1 Corinthians 15:52.
Therefore, John being removed from earth into heaven
foreshadows the removal of the Church at the end of the
dispensation.
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The voice comes with an identifier and a command. The Person
speaking identifies Himself as “the
Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last”
later to be seen as Christ (vss.
17,
18;
cf.
Deuteronomy 32:39;
1 Samuel 2:6;
Psalm 68:20).
And the command to John is to write what he sees “in
a book and send it to the seven churches that are in Asia:
to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to
Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and
to Laodicea.”
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The designation, “the Alpha and the
Omega,
the First and the Last,”
as noted in previous commentary on verses
seven
and
eight,
applies to Jesus Christ.
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John was commanded to write what he was to see, which was a
panorama of:
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The Church at judgment, with a view to the impending
Messianic Era [chapters 1b-3].
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Things relative to the transfer of the government of the
earth from angels to man [chapter
4].
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Things preparatory to the redemption of the inheritance,
having to do with both heavenly and earthly
spheres of the kingdom that would exist under Christ, His
co-heirs, Israel, and the nations [chapter
5].
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Daniel’s unfulfilled Seventieth Week, the Tribulation,
relative to Israel and the nations during these seven years
[chapters
6-19a]
— a time when “the inheritance” would be redeemed through
judgment, and “the bride,” previously shown forth at the
judgment seat would become the Son’s wife, allowing
the Son to be in a position to reign [cf.
Genesis 2:18].
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Events immediately following the Tribulation, extending into
the Messianic Era [chapters 19b, 20a].
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Events occurring at the end of the Messianic Era relative to
Satan, his angels, and his followers among men on earth,
along with the judgment of the unsaved dead [chapter 20b].
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Things having to do with the eternal ages beyond the
Messianic Era, when man will hold the scepter relative to a
rule extending beyond this earth, out into the universe [chapters 21, 22].
*Outline taken from
Chitwood*
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The following comments from Chitwood relative to Christ and His
bride, as seen in the type-antitype arrangement of Scripture,
are germane to the fourth item in the above outline:
According to the manner in which God
established matters in the beginning relative to man holding the
scepter in the stead of Satan and his angels, a sovereign cannot
reign apart from possessing a consort queen (Genesis 1:26-28;
2:18-24). The man and woman must reign together, seated
on the throne as one complete being.
Thus, God’s Son today is not
in a position to assume the scepter and reign. He must have
a wife to ascend the throne with Him, a wife that, in the antitype
of Eve in Genesis 2, is not only part of His body but
will complete Him (cf. Ephesians 1:22, 23; 5:23,
30; Hebrews 2:10). And the Son will not possess a
wife in the manner seen in the type until the end of the coming
Tribulation (cf. Ruth 3, 4).
Knowledge of this fact will address,
resolve, and put to rest widely-held false teachings concerning a
present existence of some type mystery form of the kingdom in which
the Son is presently reigning; or, others become more specific and
see the Son already seated on David’s throne within this purported
mystery form of the kingdom. The preceding may sound strange to
those properly instructed in things pertaining to the kingdom (cf.
Matthew 13:52).
And so it should. Strange though or
not, all of the preceding is widely held in Christian circles today,
even taught in numerous Bible schools and seminaries. But the one
biblical fact concerning the necessity of the man and the
woman ascending the throne together will, alone, show the
fallacy of such teachings, for Christ does not presently have
a wife to ascend the throne with Him.
Aside from the preceding, though
there are two anointed kings in relation to the earth today (Christ
and Satan), as there were two anointed kings in Israel during the
days of David and Saul, and only one can hold the scepter at
any given time. In the type, Saul held the scepter until he
was put down and his crown taken and given to David. Only then
did David and his faithful men take the scepter and reign in Israel
(cf. 1 Samuel 31:1-6; 2 Samuel 1:4-10; 5:3).
And matters can only be exactly the same in the antitype.
Satan will hold the scepter until
he is put down and his crown taken and given to Christ. Only
then will Christ and His faithful co-heirs take the scepter and
reign over the earth.
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The seven churches listed in verse eleven, which were seven
literal churches of that day, symbolized (or may symbolize)
several things in addition to their primary prophetic
significance within this passage. They may reflect the
different stages of the Church during this dispensation, and
much is made of this within the writings of several prophetic
teachers of the Word. They certainly reflected the actual
spiritual condition of each church. They also certainly reflect
various spiritual conditions of believers throughout the
dispensation. But the primary significance of the listing of
these churches is not any of the above.
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It is stated in verse
twenty that the “seven
golden lampstands,”
are the seven churches, which are named in verse
eleven,
with details provided about each in chapters
two
and
three.
They are in the presence of Christ (“in
the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man”),
and they depict the complete Church, which has been
removed from the earth at the time of the rapture and which
awaits judgment, with a view to the Messianic Era.
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The number “seven” is one of five numbers used in Scripture to
show completeness in one form or another (the others are
“three,” “ten,” “twelve,” and “forty”). The number “seven”
shows the completeness of that which is in view, and this
is a number used particularly concerning judgment occurring
throughout most of the book (beginning in chapter
six, e.g.,
seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowls, showing God’s complete
judgment upon Israel (to bring it to repentance) and the
nations during the Tribulation). And as to the Church, the
“seven” churches indicates the “complete Church,” raptured prior
to the Tribulation, to appear before Christ in His role as
Judge.
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Comments pertaining to Christ in verse
thirteen
and following will be expressed in the next addition.
*Quotations
from:
Arlen L. Chitwood, The Lamp Broadcast, Inc. (www.lampbroadcast.org)
Kenneth S. Wuest, Teacher Emeritus of New Testament Greek, Moody
Bible Institute
A. Edwin Wilson, Pastor, Daytona Heights Baptist Church, Red Bank,
Tennessee
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