1:19
John is instructed to write down what he has seen, and this includes all that we will see in the rest of the book. Why is he to do this? Because Christ is Lord, He is the first and last. If we want to know what is going on and how things work then we need to look to Christ, and to know Christ. “What is now and what will take place later”. A pattern in Scripture is that with prophecy there is an immediate fulfillment (or at least near term fulfillment) and then a greater fulfillment. The near term fulfillment validates and illuminates the longer term fulfillment. So Revelation was relevant to the immediate situation, and to the end of time, and all times in between. This should give us a word of caution in over-interpreting the visions. Terrible events did happen, but there were not cosmic events. This isn’t to say cosmic events never happen, just that we should exercise a degree of caution.
1:20
We are now told explicitly that the seven stars represent angels, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. People can put too much emphasis on angels, and Paul warns against this in Colossians, but angels are real and are part of God’s economy, part of His way of working.
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