9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet 11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. His eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 Write therefore the things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The vision calls to mind experiences of OT prophets when they received their call to prophesy. It is doubtful, however, that this signifies the beginning of John’s prophetic ministry; he had been banished to Patmos because he preached the word of God and the testimony of Jesus! The vision rather was the occasion of his call to receive and write Revelation. His self–description as your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus (9) is significant; that was the common lot of most Christians in the first century AD (cf. Jn. 16:33), and John anticipated an intensification of the suffering and endurance required later (cf. chs. 11-13). Tribulation and kingdom are part of the Messiah’s pattern (Lk. 24:26); to be in Jesus, therefore, is to experience both now, with a view to sharing the kingdom’s glory in the future. John was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day (10), i.e. in a condition of ecstasy, not by being transported to view events of ‘the day of the Lord’, but to receive the vision on ‘the day that belongs to the Lord’ (as in the phrase ‘the Lord’s Supper’; 1 Cor. 11:20). The expression ‘the Lord’s Day’ was probably modelled on the comparable Sebaste, i.e. ‘Caesar’s Day’, which in turn imitated the action of the Egyptian Ptolomy Euergetes, who named the 25th day of each month ‘the king’s day’ in honour of his coronation on the 25th day of Dios. It is thought that Caesar’s day was observed weekly in certain areas. Evidently an unknown Christian claimed the title ‘the Lord’s Day’ to celebrate the day when Jesus, God’s own appointed Lord of this world, rose from death to share the throne of God.
The list of the seven churches (11) is in the order of their occurrence on the road which led from Ephesus northwards through Smyrna to Pergamum and then southwards through Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea. C. Hemer suggested that this itinerary had existed since Paul’s day and agreed with Sir William Ramsay that the seven cities had acquired ‘special importance as organization and distributive centres for the church of the area’ (The Letters to the Seven Churches of Asia, JSNT Supp., 11 [1986], p. 15). The cities were both postal and administrative centres. It has been reckoned that at the time of John’s writing this area had the greatest concentration of Christians in the world. In addressing these churches John could reach not only others in Asia Minor, but those scattered through the world.
The imagery of the seven golden lampstands (12) recalls the sevenbranched lampstand in the Jerusalem temple (Ex 25:31; Zc. 4:2); but the one people of God is here represented as seven lampstands, in whose midst stands the risen Lord. The whole church, thus, is represented by each congregation, and each knows fellowship with the Redeemer.
The description of the risen Lord in vs. 13-16 echoes that of ‘the Ancient of Days’ in Dn. 7:9 and of the powerful angel in Dn. 10:5-6. The intention is to show that the Lord possesses the glory of heaven and shares the likeness of God. The expression one like a son of man goes directly back to Dn. 7:13 (rather than the gospels), where he is one to whom the kingdom of the world is given, the representative alike of God and his people. That he wears a robe reaching down to his feet could indicate his priestly character (Israel’s high priest wore such a robe; Ex 28:4); but since a robe of this kind was also worn by men of high rank, the point may not be pressed. That his head and hair were white like wool is a deliberate reminiscence [p. 1426] of Dn. 7:9, where God is so described. The application to Christ of the attributes of God is a constant phenomenon in Revelation. Eyes like blazing fire (cf. Dn. 10:6) penetrate the depths of the heart, and are suitable to one who judges the world. The voice like the sound of rushing waters in Ezk. 43:2 describes the awesome voice of God. That a sharp doubleedged sword issued from his mouth again alludes to the role of the Lord as judge of humankind, the power of whose word is irresistible. It is such a Lord who held in his right hand... seven stars, i.e. the churches; he has power not only to judge evil, but to sustain those who are his (cf. v 20).
John’s reaction to the vision of the exalted Lord is similar to that of all who have had such experiences (cf. Is. 6:5; Ezk 1:28; Dn. 7:28). I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One is a virtual exposition of Alpha and Omega in v 8 (cf. also Is. 44:6; 48:12), but it is applied to the Christ in the light of his death and resurrection. The First and the Last become incarnate and died and rose, and as the Living One he has power over death and the realm of the dead, and so has opened the doors of the eternal kingdom for all humanity.
The command to write what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later (19) is commonly thought to indicate the divisions of Revelation. On that understanding what you have seen is the vision just given; what is now denotes the letters to the churches in chs. 2-3; what will take place later comprises the visions of chs. 4-22. That is possible, but it does not apply to chs. 4-5, which describe events present, past and future (as also does ch. 12). It is best to see v 19 as a command to write the entire Revelation, rather than as an analysis of the book itself.
The interpretation of the seven stars as the angels of the seven churches has occasioned difficulty. To understand angels in a literal sense raises the question why John was told to write to angels. In any case, the letters have in view the churches themselves and individual members. Are then the ‘angels’ the leaders of the churches, such as bishops or messengers (‘angel’ means ‘messenger’, whether heavenly or earthly)? That is possible, but it is exceptional in apocalyptic literature for angels to symbolize men, and again the letters have in view the churches, not their leaders. The most plausible view is to understand the angels of the churches as the churches in relation to their exalted Lord. Although they live on earth, their existence is determined by the fact that they are in Jesus (9), and so priests and kings with Christ. The angelic nature of the church recalls Christians to realize on earth their heavenly calling. To help them to do that is the purpose of the seven letters.
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