Revelation 1

9 John was a companion, or sharer, in the suffering that is part of the Christian’s life in Jesus. He was also a fellow inheritor of the kingdom of Jesus (Romans 8:17). All those who belong to the kingdom of Jesus will face tribulation in this world (John 16:33; Acts 14:22). Because John was a faithful witness of Christ, he had been imprisoned on the island of Patmos.²

10-11 John received this revelation on the Lord’s Day—that is, Sunday.³ When John received the revelation, he was in the Spirit (verse 10); that is, he was in a state of special spiritual awareness, which made it possible for him to receive such a revelation (see Acts 10:10; 22:17; 2 Corinthians 12:1-4).

12-15 The seven golden lampstands (verse 12) represent the seven churches, to which this book of Revelation was sent (see verse 20). The one like the son of man (verse 13) is Jesus Christ Himself (Daniel 7:13). The Old Testament prophet Daniel had seen a similar vision of the glorified Christ (Daniel 7:9; 10:5-6).

16 In the vision, Christ was holding seven stars in His right hand; these stars represent the spirits of the seven churches (verse 20). From His mouth came a sharp double-edged sword, which represents His word (Ephesians 6:17), especially His word of judgment (see Hebrews 4:12; Revelation 2:16; 19:15,21).

Christ’s face was like the sun. John had once before seen the glorified Christ; at that time also Christ’s face had shone like the sun (Matthew 17:2).

17-18 When John saw this vision of Christ, he fell at Christ’s feet. Then Christ said to him, “Do not be afraid” (see Daniel 10:10-12; Matthew 17:6-7).

Christ then said that He was the First and the Last (the Alpha and Omega), which is the name that God gave to Himself in verse 8 (Isaiah 44:6). Christ said that He held the keys of death and Hades;⁴ that is, He had complete authority over death.

19-20 Then Christ commanded John to write down everything he had seen and was about to see. As we study this book of Revelation, we must not forget that what we are reading is an exact account of the revelation which Christ Himself gave to John. Some parts of this revelation may be hard to understand, but regardless of that, let us remember that this revelation has come from Christ Himself, and has been written down for our benefit.

The seven stars are the ANGELS of the seven churches (verse 20). Here the word angels can mean the angel of each church, or it can mean a special spiritual spokesman of each church. Through such an angel or spokesman, Christ speaks to each of His churches.

The seven churches are called the seven lampstands. They are called lampstands because the main work of every church is to be like a lampstand showing forth the light of Christ to all the world. Christ is the lamp or light of the world (John 8:12); and we are the “lampstand” for His light (see Matthew 5:14-16 and comment).