seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Revelation 1:9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”
12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.
19 “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
I used this study guide.John was on Patmos. It's an island out in the middle of the sea, made solely of hard marble rock. John was on a rock being instructed to write to the seven churches named in verse 11. The commentary says there wasn't enough dirt on the island to cultivate, so John wasn't sitting under a shade tree. John was at a marble quarry. He may have been cracking marble boulders. John was deserted on a marble rock. I bet some of that marble would become cornerstones in some Roman building. It might have been marble to be sculpted into statues. We aren't told if John was there as a prisoner, or if he was there to witness to the prisoners. John was on Patmos... on a rock.
He heard a voice; it reminded him of Jesus. He'd already seen Jesus alive since Jesus left the tomb. He watched Jesus show Thomas the Nail holes. He ate a fish dinner with Jesus on the shore. John knew the voice of his best friend, Jesus. But when he turned to say hello to his best friend, John saw a refined man of great stature ready to take on any little king who wanted to take Him on. Jesus was Jesus, only different.
Jesus was Jesus, only different. Back in the late 60's when I graduated from high school, the guys were going off to basic training. They were training to go to Vietnam. When those boys left, they were young and naive. When they came home to visit before deployment, they were different. They were trained to kill. They were the same, but different.
When John saw Jesus he passed out! Who passes out in response to seeing their best friend? Jesus was Jesus only different. He traveled on glowing feet. Jesus was carrying a sword. Jesus never carried a sword. He was standing in the midst of what appeared to be empty lampstands. These weren't lamps giving light. They were just the stands the lamp would perch on. He had seven stars in His hand. Did He get those seven stars from the seven major churches mentioned here? Did Jesus take away the lamps of the Seven Churches because they screwed with the message? Why wasn't Colossus on the list? We know there was a church there. It's not on the list.
If Jesus was holding the stars in His hand, couldn't He have just quashed them, putting out their light? He didn't do that. He didn't just crush their stars. He told John to transcribe their warnings and get those warnings delivered.
At any rate, John passed out when he saw his buddy, Jesus. Jesus was different. He had obviously received some upgrades from His Father. He was no longer the meek mild Jesus who would turn the other cheek. He was Jesus, only different.
Jesus woke John, told him not to be afraid, and then gave him a mission to accomplish. Oh goody, a mission on a marble rock in the middle of nowhere.
John was to write down what he witnessed. John was to get word to the Seven Churches listed.
It was Jesus, only different.
