MESSAGE STATEMENT:
I. THE THINGS WHICH YOU HAVE SEEN--THE CHRIST (1:1-20)1
A. Prologue:2 1:1-8
1. Superscription: This work is the revelation from
Jesus Christ which God gave to Him and which He
made known through an angel to John concerning
what must soon take place and it will bring
blessing upon those who read, hear, and keep it
1:1-3
a. From God: This is the revelation from Jesus
Christ which God gave to Him to show his
servants to show his servants what soon must
take place 1:1a
b. To John: God made this revelation known by
sending his angel to his servant John who
bore witness to the testimony of concerning
all that he saw about the Lord Jesus Christ
1:1b-2
c. Blessing: The writer proclaims blessing upon
all who read aloud the words of the prophecy
and who hear and keep what is written therein
because the time is near 1:3
2. Salutation: 1:4-8
a. Audience: John writes to the seven churches
that are in Asia 1:4a
b. Prayer: John prays that his readers might
receive grace and peace from the triune God
(Father--Him who is, who was, who is to come,
Spirit--from the seven spirits who are before
his throne, and from the Son--Jesus Christ
the faithful witness, heir of the dead (first
born) and ruler of kings on earth) 1:4b-5
B. The Vision of Christ:3 1:9-20
1. The Occasion of the Vision: 1:9-11
2. What John Observed: 1:12-16
3. The Outcome of the Vision: 1:17-20
II. THE THINGS WHICH ARE--THE CHURCHES:4 (2:1--3:22)
A. Ephesus: 2:1-7
1. Address/Greeting: "To the angel of the church in
Ephesus5 2:1a
2. A Descriptive Title of the Lord: "The words of
him who holds the seven stars in his right hand,
who walks among the seven golden lampstands"6This
image from 1:12-13 pictures Christ who in loving
authority keeps the Ephesians safe in their
cosmopolitan world of complex dilemma, confusion,
and pressure. 2:1b
3. A Commendation and Criticism:
a. A Commendation: They have withstood false
teachers; they are orthodox7 2:2-3
b. A Criticism: The Ephesians have left their
"first love"8 2:4
c. A Warning/Exhortation 2:5
1) Exhortation: When the church is told to
"remember from where you have fallen"
and to "do the deeds you did at first"
there is a sense of movement from one
state to another 2:5a
a) The Movement of the City:9
(1) The city moved by Croesus,
king of Lydia, from a location
near the harbor to a new cite
closer to the temple in the
6th century BC
(2) The city was then moved 300
years later by Lysimachus,
king of Thrace, back to a site
near the harbor
(3) Perhaps now with the silting
of the harbor there was a
chance that the city was going
to move again toward being a
temple-centered state again
b) The Movement of the Church:
(1) The church has moved from its
effective love of one another
to its proclamation of
hardened orthodoxy
(2) If the church did not repent
and love others again it may
loose its battle with the
people and see the city move
back to the site beside the
pagan temple
2) Warning: Unless they repent, the Lord
will come and remove their lampstand10
2:5b
4. Commendation:Even though the Ephesians are not
loving they do share God's heart in that they hate
the Nicolations just as He does 2:6
5. A Promise: 2:7
a. Audience: The promise is given to the one who
desires to hear the warning from the Lord and
overcomes 2:7a
b. Promise: To the one who overcomes God will
grant to eat of the tree of life in the
Paradise of God 2:7b
B. Smyrna: 2:8-11
C. Pergamum 2:12-17
D. Thyatira 2:18-29
E. Sardis 3:1-6
F. Philadelphia 3:7-13
G. Laodicea 3:4-22
III. THE THINGS WHICH SHALL BE HEREAFTER--THE CONSUMMATION: 4:1-
-22:5
A. The Prologue--The Heavenly Court
B. The Program During the Tribulation: 6:1--19:21
1. The Seven Seals:11 6:1--8:1
2. The Seven Trumpets:12 8:2--11:19
3. Seven Historical, Explanatory Prophecies 12:1--
14:20
4. The Seven Bowls 15:1--16:21
5. An Explanation of the Institution During the
Tribulation: 17:1--19:5
6. The Intervention of Christ: 19:6-21
C. The Program After the Tribulation: 20:1--22:5
IV. THE POSTLUDE--COMFORT CAUTION, AND CONCLUSION 22:6-21
___________________________
1 The significance of this portion of the book is that it
sets the mood for the rest of the work. The revelation about to
be given is not from John but from the triune God. Therefore it
is authoritative. The audience for whom it has special value is
the Church (which will be greatly emphasized in chapters 2--3).
The Lord who is going to be so involved in judgments is
demonstrating Himself to be intimately involved with the churches
and this gives comfort to the Church. As will often be the case,
a view of who God is will precede His acts of judgment to bolster
the confidence of His followers. His character is so magnificent
(1:14-16) that it produces worship by the observer (1:17a), yet
to the one who worships Him, He gives comfort (1:17b-18). Also a
key to endurance by the Church is a proper view of who Christ is.
Therefore the book begins with such a vision.
2 The prologue of chapter one is programmatic in that the
descriptions of Jesus become characteristics which He wishes to
emphasize in each church. Notice the "seven stars" in 1:16,20
and compare this with 2:1,8,12,18; 3:7,14. Notice "the first and
the last" in 1:17-18 and compare with 2:8 et cetera (cf. also,
1:15 with 2:18).
As Hemer writes, "John, I believe, saw in Christ the one who
alone was qualified to answer the particular needs of the
churches, and he saw in the heavenly city of REv. 20 - 22 God's
final answer to their troubles amid the imperfections of the
world's existing cities" (Unto the Angels of the Churches" Buried
History 10:4 (1974):11).
3 Jesus stands as Judge in the midst of the Churches. Jesus
is in the midst of the churches (1:13, cf. 1:20). Jesus holds
the leaders (ajggelo") of the seven churches in his hand of honor
(right hand) as those who are to give out light like stars
(1:16;20). He is like a "son of man"(this has reference to
Daniel 7:13-14 where Messiah will come in judgment over the earth
with eternal dominion). He is clothed in a rob as a Judge (cf.
Ex. 28:2) in 1:13. His white head/hair, eyes like fire, and feet
like burnished bronze are like Daniel's "Ancient of Days" who
comes as Judge (Dan. 7:9-14) in 1:14-15. His thundering voice is
that of the Son of God and it reveals the majesty and power
before which human authority must bow (1:15). Therefore, he will
rule as Judge over all of the earth. He will bring devastating
judgment with his word which will penetrate like a powerful sword
(rJomfaiva) in His glory as God (shining face) in 1:16. And He
will bring salvation for the redeemed in the midst of judgment in
1:17-18.
4 The literary arrangement of the messages to the Seven
Churches is as follows:(1) An Address of Greeting, (2) A
Descriptive Title of the Lord, (3) A Commendation, (4) A
Criticism, Complaint, or Condemnation, (5) A Warning or Threat,
(6) An Exhortation, (7) A Promise.
This was probably not a panorama of church history (e.g.,
Thyatira did not represent the Middle Ages, and Sardis did not
picture the Reformation). How would this have been meaningful to
the first century readers? Everything is expressed in such an
historical setting that one can hardly comprehend what is being
said apart from a historical approach to the churches. As Hemer
writes, "The seven letters must be seen in their original
setting. We must try to find what they meant to their original
readers." Later he writes, "The church partook of the character
of its city and its works may be judged as a response to that
environment", and again, "A man's mind was formed by the
character and past of his city in a way to which the modern would
offers no parallel" ("Unto the Angels of the Churches" Buried
History 10:4 (1974):11,16).
Rather, these messages unfold specific historical issues for
the churches which need to be corrected. Churches today may have
similar kinds of doctrinal and practical problems which correlate
by analogy. Hemer writes, "Their message is also universal.
Their lessons are applicable to churches and individuals of any
age, for the realities of human nature to which they speak do not
change" ("Unto the Angels of the Churches" Buried History 10:4
(1974):13.
The location of the seven churches is as follows: They were
in sequence along a circular trade-route and were the natural
centers of communication for all the inner districts of Asia over
which John was probably responsible (See Ramsay, The Letters to
the Seven Churches of Asia, pp. 171-196; Hemer, "Unto the Angels
of the Churches" Buried History 10:4 (1974):12). Going north in
Asia Minor (or Mysia) one would go from Ephesus to Smyrna and
Pergamum, and then return south through Thyatira, Sardis,
Philadelphia, and then Laodicea.
5 Ephesus was known for three things: (1) It was a great
seaport; but its harbor began to fill up with silt by the second
century BC; now it is only a swamp five miles from the modern
coastline, (2) It was a center of fertility goddesses--especially
the Greek Artemis (Roman Diana), (3) It was a center for
Christian evangelism of all of Asia (Acts 19)
6 lucniw'n
7 The False Apostles were probably Jewish or even
antinomians who advocated "permissive society" perhaps especially
in view of the emperor worship of Domitian. Ephesus had a temple
of the imperial cult with a statue of Domitian more than four
times life size. Perhaps the false apostles were finding ways
for Christians to worship the emperor and Diana
8 This may refer to their love of God but this may well
refer to their love for one another (Ephesians 1:15 reads, "For
this reason I too having heard of the faith in the Lord Jesus
which exists among you, and your love for all the saints"). The
latter seems to have been "the" problem in the book of Ephesians-
-maintaining the unity which God had provided for them through
loving one another (4--6). Although they were orthodox they did
not love. As Hemer writes, "The condemnation of error may have
led them into a hard, factious spirit which elevated the boast of
orthodoxy above love of the sinner" (Hemer, "Unto the Angels of
the Churches" Buried History 10:4 (1974):20).
9 Hemer, "Unto the Angels of the Churches" Buried History
10:4 (1974):14.
10 The church will either become ineffective, or non-
existent. Some times God's does this to a church. Sometimes
churches are supposed to die because of their own evil.
11 I hold to a telescopic view: the seventh seal introduces
the seven trumpets, the seventh trumpet introduces the seven
bowels. Otherwise there is no seventh seal or trumpet, and there
is a seventh bowl. Before the seventh seal there is an
historical interlude.
12 Before the seventh trumpet there is an historical
interlude.
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