Revelation 1:9-20

Relax, Read and Reflect

Prayer- Lord, Open our hearts and open our minds and help us learn. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.

One like a Son of Man

9I, 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. 10On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea."

12I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man,"[a]dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

17When 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. 18I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold 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. 20The 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[b] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

John is in exile on a small island in the Aegean because of his faith. He is not happy. An angel comes to him and he is scared, (OK, I would be frightened too.) This angel is "like a son of man". Could this be Christ? He has a two edged sword and seven golden lampstands for seven stars, (seven churches?)

Yes, you guessed it. Revelation is full of numerology. It deals with seven, forty, and 144,000 over and over. It is so into this that it can be divided into seven parallel sections, as well as the prologue and epilogue

What will the Spirit tell John?

What knowledge will this unlock?

Prayer. Lord, let us all read this and let it touch us. Not because we need to know when the earth will end but because we want to know how to prepare here on Earth. Go-Fight-Win. Amen.