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Feb 18, 2015 · The Lord would not have told John to write the Revelation and send it to the seven churches (Rev. 1:11) unless there was a way for him to do so. Ships would have arrived with food on a regular basis, and there was likely some form of mail service, whether legitimate or not.
Aug 31, 2018 · The letters to the churches in Revelation are addressed to the “angel” of each church. The word angel literally translates as “messenger”, as angels were God’s messengers prior to Christ.
Jan 29, 2021 · The book of Revelation is the revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. The letters to the churches commend the churches but also warn the churches. Pastors today would do well to take up a serious study of these with their congregations.
- An Introduction to The Book of Revelation and Its Author, John
- Revelation 1 – John Sees A Vision from God
- What The Story Means to Us Today
- Additional Thoughts and Considerations
- The Science and History Behind The Story
- Notes on Biblical Translation
- Bible Text
Written by “John” and included as the last book in the New Testament, the book of Revelationis often difficult to interpret, comprehend, and place in context with the rest of the Bible. Its supernatural, apocalyptic message is often richly symbolic and difficult to understand. But this is typically due to the readers misunderstanding of apocalyptic...
This is the revelation from Jesus which God gave him to show us what must soon take place. The revelation was sent via angel to John who testified to everything he saw in this vision. Blessed is the one that reads aloud 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. “...
Take heart because ultimately, God will be victorious over evil
Revelation is the only New Testament book that focuses on prophecy. In essence, it completes the story begun in Genesis and describes a great battle between good and evil and the final disposition of earth. Revelation was penned by “John”, well known by the churches in Asia and generally accepted to be the John, apostle of Jesus and author of the New Testament book of John. Written around 95 AD (possibly as early as 69 AD) while he was exiled on the island of Patmos, John was praying when a v...
A vision applicable to modern-day?
Some may wonder if John’s vision, written and delivered to the “seven churches”, is only applicable to the time it was written. It an easy misinterpretation given the persecution of Christians at the time and indeed, as a means to calm the followers of the early church, it may have served that purpose. However, the seven churches (later, Revelation lists each individually) were not all of the Christian churches operating in Asia at the time. Specifically, not included in the list were the chu...
Who told John what to write in Revelation?
The book of Revelation begins by explaining how the visions depicted in Revelation were delivered to John. Later verses confirm and clarify the method God used to deliver the message to John. In short, God gave the message to Jesus who shared it with John. The direct contact to John varied – sometimes Jesus delivered the message to John directly while other times it was communicated via “his angel”. On occasion the voice came from heaven and Revelation does not explicitly describe who was spe...
Must Revelation be read aloud as instructed (i.e. a “chant”)?
John says, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy and blessed are those who hear it and take it to heart.” In ancient times, reading biblical texts aloud in a public setting was common. Thus, John was merely putting the task of “reading” the book of Revelation in context with the time and was not suggesting that his blessing would be bestowed only upon those who read the book aloud.
The significance of the number 7
The number seven plays a predominate role in Revelation – seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, seven bowls, seven lampstands, seven spirits of God, seven stars, seven thunders, seven plagues, beast with seven heads, and even seven literary sections in the book itself. The number seven is mentioned 54 times in Revelation. This has nothing to do with the number being magical, mystical, or “lucky”. In ancient times, the number seven was meant to signify totality. This definition of compl...
Why John addressed Revelation to only seven churches
In its introduction, John addressed Revelation to seven churches in Asia. We know the churches named really existed – five of the seven cities appear in a passage in Tacitus’ Annals. Given that seven represented completeness to ancient people, it is likely this was used to symbolize the entire church. Still, some have argued that geographically, the seven churches were linked together by a common postal-route. Oddly, this may indeed be the reason the seven churches were singled out. Each chur...
“Revelation”
The title of Revelation comes from the first word in the text – the Greek word apokalpsis – which means revealing, unveiling, or disclosure.
“Revelation from Jesus Christ”
The first sentence in Revelation can be interpreted in two different ways: as “revelation from Jesus Christ” or as “revelation about Jesus Christ”. Given the ancillary text surrounding the sentence, most translate it as “from Jesus Christ”.
The “servant John”
Revelation tells us that the message was delivered by an angel to “his servant John”. The word translated to “servant” does not exist in modern-day languages. It implies more than an employee or underling but less than a bonded servant or someone held in slavery against their will.
NIV
The New International Version. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011. Print.
The Message
Peterson, Eugene H. The Message: The Bible in Contemporary Language. Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2005. Print.
The NET Bible
Biblical Studies Press. The NET Bible First Edition; Bible. English. NET Bible.; The NET Bible. Biblical Studies Press, 2006. Print.
To start, the letters most likely did have specific intent and meaning to be directed at those specific churches which existed at the end of the first century. However, Revelation was given to ALL churches and ALL believers as the ONLY prophecy book for the Church Age.
The central message to the seven churches of the book of Revelation is to remain faithful to Jesus. Each of the seven churches were challenged in the area of faithfulness, either through persecution, false teaching, apathy, or wealth.
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Apr 20, 2020 · With the message of Revelation being repentance and faith leading up to the return of Christ, the letters to the churches demonstrate sins that need to be set aside and repented from, and faith that needs to be applied.
