There’s so much information in Revelation; I think it’s probably impossible to get through it in one episode or even in one reading. This is me sharing as much as I could and encouraging you to keep praying, reading, and studying!

The first verse of Revelation 1 tells us quite a bit about what we’re getting in to.

In Revelation 1:1, we are told that the message is for “his servants” but in Revelation 1:11 John is told to send the message to the Seven Churches of Asia Minor. What about his servants in Jerusalem? What about his servants in Africa? Who exactly was this message for and why?

Depending on your leanings, the absence of concern for Jerusalem can be explaining very easily. Many believe the book of Revelation to be written after the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, this would mean all of the believers living in Jerusalem would have relocated by this time, rendering a message to Jerusalem unnecessary. Only Preterists need the text to be written prior to 70 AD as they believe it is predicting 70 AD. A major question I would have for them is why the Churches of Asia Minor should care about the destruction of Jerusalem in the first place.

As for the rest of the world, I don’t have a tidy answer. The mystery of Northern African is present throughout the New Testament and history. We know from Acts 8 that there were followers of the Most High in Africa and that at least on of them converted to follow Messiah. Early church history proves there were Churches in Ethiopia and Alexandria—in fact, Ethiopia is home to some of the oldest churches in history. I could ask why they didn’t get a dedicated messenger (like Paul) and why we don’t see letters to these churches in the New Testament, but the more relevant question at the moment is why wasn’t the revelation sent to them?

Here is where the historicist model shines brightly. Most historicists view the churches of Asia minor as being symbolic of periods of time in church history. Under this interpretation, the message is meant to reach all servants of the Most High but these specific churches are called out to point out either to outline the future of the church or categorize individuals in the church. We’ll get more in to that in the next episode, though.

Futurism has a similar problem to Preterism in explaining the importance of the seven churches. The churches mentioned in Revelation are no longer central hubs to the faith. It seems odd that the Most High would take care to call them out specifically if they had no influence during the time of the events. Otherwise why not just address the revelation to all servants of God? For futurism to make sense, either the seven churches were the best for preserving the revelation or at the very least they are examples of churches that will exist during the time of the end.

There were lots of disciples and apostles. We often focus on Paul, because he wrote most of the New Testament, and the Twelve, but at the time of the crucifixion, there were at least 120 disciples who had been present with Messiah from the beginning (Acts 1:15-22). I don’t have an answer but I do have some observations and theories.

What you wear has always been a marker of status. Today we think of name brands and money when the word status is thrown out, but I’m focusing us to the position itself. For instance, if you are a construction worker, you’re probably not going to the site in heels and a formal ball gown. Similarly, if you are a lawyer, you’re unlikely to show up in court wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Certain clothes and footwear are more conducive to our occupation than others. Even during Biblical times you could identify a person’s position in society based on what garments they wore.

We are told two things about the garment Messiah is wearing: it is long and has a girdle (or belt) that set high on His chest. Long garments were worn by the wealthy—the length made them impractical for labor and the additional material cost money.[5] The girdle is golden which also signifies wealth. In addition to wealth there is the fact that elsewhere in the Bible the Amor of God is described as having a belt (or girdle) of truth. Perhaps this golden girdle symbolizes the value of His truth. There are also some who claim the girdle’s placement around the chest mirrors that of the priestly garments, thus this could be a symbol of His status as our High Priest.[6] In Exodus, God does command them to make a girdle for the high priest and the breastplate is place above it (Exodus 28:27-28). Technically above could mean on top of or over, meaning the girdle was beneath the breastplate and therefore at the chest. However, it could also mean above, where the girdle sits below the breastplate and is at the waist or hips. The article making the claim cited historian Josephus as the source, so they very well may be correct (I did not look up their citation to verify).

I’ve always skipped over the fact that verse says his head and his hairs are being described and latched on to this description as it relates to hair. However, there’s a reason God included it as a description of his head as well.

It’s interesting to me that our society often conflates Satan and Hell with fire when Biblically speaking it is God who is most often connected to fire (e.g., the burning bush). in Revelation we see this association with fire appear in the eyes. This description of His eyes repeats the description given by Daniel in Daniel 10:6, but this time it’s ascribed to an angel. Fire is also prominent of Ezekiel’s description of God and the throne in Ezekiel 1; 8; and 10. So what does this fire represent?

In Malachi 3:2, He is described as a refiner’s fire; this would be a fire that essentially melts something so that it can be molded (or refined) into something better. In Isaiah 6, His lips are purified with a flaming coal, implying that fire cleanses. Another interesting mention of fire is in Exodus 4:17, where God is described as “a fire in the eyes” of the Israelites. This is almost a mirror image, tho liking it means the Israelites are looking up at the mountain top seeing fire where God is. In most cases, however, fire is associated with judgement.

Another thought I had is that in the end, Messiah will only see the righteous and pure—those who have been saved by His blood. In that way, His children are sealed and it is the rest of the world that feels His wrath.

Some translations say bronze, while others say brass. The Greek word used here is χαλκολίβανον, which Strong’s concordance defines as “neuter of a compound of G5475 and G3030 (in the implied mean of whiteness or brilliancy); burnished copper, an alloy of copper (or gold) and silver having a brilliant lustre:—fine brass.”[3] There are a couple things to consider when thinking about this.

There are quiet a few places where God’s voice is described as being like many waters (Jeremiah 10:13; Ezekiel 1:24; 43:2)—the angel of Daniel 10 also fits this description. There were a two main thoughts that came to me as I read this:

The stars in His right hand are revealed to us later in the chapter. Revelation 1:20 tells us they are the angels of the seven churches of Asia Minor. We will see stars come up again in Revelation 6, 8, and 12. Might these also be angels?

In ancient culture the right hand was the “good hand.” It was an honor to be seated at the right hand of someone, thus the fact that the stars are in His right hand is a sign of rank and fortune.

Another thing to note is the question of what type of angel. The Bible doesn’t give us a complete history of angels and that leaves a lot of room for speculation. We know there are cherubim (who do not look like babies with wings) and seraphim, both of which are described in Ezekiel and Revelation. However we also see angels disguised as men (e.g. Genesis 19) and we see God appear as an angel disguised as a man (e.g., Genesis 18). There are archangels, but we don’t know how they differ from other angels—is it a title or a type of angel? On top of all that, the word angel actually means messenger and could mean an earthly human as well. In Revelation 2, John is told to write to the angel of each church—is this a heavenly being or a person like the pastor who will be the messenger of the word? To me the latter makes more sense given that God could have given heavenly beings the message directly and left John out of it. Of course, there could have been need for cohesion and a larger picture, which would make the former plausible.

So left to my own devices I would assume a sword represented war or fighting, but as always we should let the Bible define things.

Psalm 149:6 says that a two-edged sword was to be in the hands of the saints. Proverbs 5:4 describes an immoral woman as being sharp as a two-edged sword. Hebrews 4:12 says the Word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword.

One would assume the Messiah is not being compared to an immoral woman—this is one of those symbols where satan is counterfeiting traits of the Most High to add to our confusion. Most interpretations I’ve seen or heard lean toward the two-edged sword representing the Word of God. Note also that in Ephesians 6, when describing the armor of God, a sword represents the Spirit.

When Moses goes up the mountain to meet God and comes back down, he is said to be shining such that they had to put a veil over him. In Revelation we are told that the countenance of the Messiah is like the Sun, which also suggests shining.

The number 7 is used 12 times in this chapter! There are 5 groups of 7, 3 of which appear to be symbolic:

A few sources online suggested the 7 Spirits are meant to represent the Holy Spirit. A major argument for this interpretation is Isaiah 11:2. In this passage, 7 Spirits are used to describe the power given to Messiah which many interpret to be a reference to the Holy Spirit.[7][8]