Psalm 2 Hebrews 12:1-2 Revelation 1:1-6
A Vision for Life
Victor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and world-renowned psychiatrist, once observed that “Ever more people today have the means to live, but no meaning to live for.” Other studies have also revealed a quiet crisis. Many people today merely endure the present while hoping the future might hold something better. But what if the present itself is sacred? What if meaning is not postponed, but planted right here — in the soil of today?
Many in the Church play a similar waiting game with God. Often, they take their cue from (in my opinion) an incorrect understanding and interpretation of the Book of Revelation. Countless Christians are simply enduring the present while waiting for an undefined “something” – a time in the future when God will end all this and take us all to a better place. And they often justify this morbid waiting game by claiming that this is the message of the Book of Revelation.
They claim that the book delivers an undecipherable message except, perhaps, for the final generation on this planet…exactly who gets to be this final generation is, of course, never made clear…it always seems to be the generation at the time, whether that be the year 1000 or today. Many doomsday prophets have claimed to have lived in the the so-called “last days” and have been wrong, the present million-dollar booksellers and filmmakers included.
People tend to be so incredibly gullible, don’t they? If you have no sense of or interest in history anyone will be able to take advantage of your naiveté. To many at various times in the past and the present, the Book of Revelation is nothing more that a glorified crystal ball with a little Christian veneer sprayed over it for good measure.
But by treating this book as if it were a deck of tarot cards, many believers have completely missed the point. Like every other book in the Bible, we need to ask ourselves certain foundational questions so that we may be able to strive for correct understanding, interpretation, and application.
The first question we need to ask is, what does the book say about itself? The opening line tells us that this is a revelation or unveiling of Jesus Christ, which can mean two things: that it is from Jesus (which it is), but it can also mean that the book is intended to reveal something about Jesus (which is does).
So, the book of Revelation first and foremost points to our Saviour and as such, it is a book that should and, indeed, must lead us into a deeper and more profound relationship with our Lord. Thus, from the opening sentence we may safely assume that the book itself points us away from its current misuse as a final countdown calendar. It is a revelation of Jesus, and we should be looking for him, not nuclear warheads.
But the book also tells us that what is about to be revealed is to take place, words echoing Daniel 2:28 and yet, unlike Daniel, the things revealed in Revelation will take place soon. Throughout the book there is a sense of immanency, urgency, and immediacy…the time of fulfilment for the First Century audience was near.
That is what the book says about itself.
It also tells us that it is a revelation, not an obscuration. The book was meant to be understood by its original recipients. This statement in itself is extremely important as many interpret the book as addressing things way beyond the purview of any First Century audience. So, when we try to fathom its meaning, the second question we must ask ourselves is to whom was it first addressed? If we can figure that out, then we are able to study their history, their culture, their politics, their language, especially their idiomatic speech, their geography, and so on so that we might set the images and symbols and figures of speech in their original and proper context.
As Dr Weima always says, when approaching any New Testament text we need to listen with two ears: an Old Testament ear – its language, symbols, themes, promises, and narrative trajectories because the New Testament is deeply rooted in and constantly echoing the Old Testament – and an Old World ear because the New Testament has its own original historical, cultural, political, and social context with its own social norms and structures, language and rhetoric, religious pluralism, and political tensions. In other words, to faithfully interpret the New Testament (especially a book like Revelation) you must immerse yourself both in the Scriptures that preceded it (the Old Testament and, at times, even the Old Testament Apocrapha) and the world in which it was written (that would include interacting with archeological studies, epigraphic studies, language studies, and a study of many extra-biblical texts). This approach guards against superficial or anachronistic readings and opens up deeper and richer meanings in the biblical texts.
So, as we seek to understand this book we must always remember that John was writing to seven existing churches in Asia minor (modern day Turkey) who were well acquainted with the Old Testament with its symbolism and idiomatic speech and who were dealing with very specific First Century problems. Like every other book in the Bible written to specific people, understanding its original message helps us apply it properly in our own day and age.
So, the first question we must ask is what does the book say about itself and the second question is to whom was it addressed.
And then thirdly, what was the original setting? What was the cause or concern that brought about its writing?
After the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost and the initial work of the Apostles, missionaries, and evangelists, the Church expanded rather rapidly. If you remember from the book of Acts, the predominantly localised Jewish persecution only fanned the flames as dispersed believers took the message with them beyond the borders and jurisdiction of Jerusalem and ancient Palestine. This often caused the unbelieving Jews in those areas to enlist the help of the Roman authorities, which wasn’t difficult to do, seeing that the titles used by the believers in reference to Jesus were the exact same titles ascribed to the Roman Emperors.
From the time of Caesar Augustus, the titles “lord”, “son of god” (remember he was the adopted son of Julius Caesar who was considered a god), “saviour of the world”, and “king”, echoed in the temples built in many cities all over the Roman Empire for the Emperor Cults. So, using the same titles for Jesus was viewed as an act of treason against the Empire and punishable by death.
Also, as all of life in the First Century was religious, the rejection of the ancient gods in favour of an unseen God (bear in mind that the Early Church not only had no images or idols, but they also did not have temples or church buildings), was seen as endangering the wellbeing of the general populace who believed the gods would punish them if they did not honour and serve them properly. It may interest you to know that Christians were often accused of being atheists at the time.
And then, in the mid to late AD 60’s, when the zealous Jews revolted against Rome, not only in Jerusalem and ancient Palestine, but throughout the empire, they also attacked the Christians, especially the Jewish Christians, as apostates…but Rome also attacked the Christians because of they came under suspicion because of their Jewishness and because of the reasons I stated before!
So it is a rather complicated affair, but let it suffice for now to say that it seems that from the outset the growing Church was a countercultural movement on every level and, as such, it faced strong opposition from those who did not accept their message. A careful reading of the letter to the Hebrews gives us a glimpse of the impact of such opposition.
Many believers, especially Jewish believers, were wondering whether or not they had made a mistake. Didn’t Jesus promise that he would judge their enemies? What about his prediction of the destruction of Jerusalem? Unfulfilled prophecy was not a good thing, and many may have wondered if Jesus was a false prophet.
It is this world and these very real First Century issues and concerns that form the backdrop to the book of Revelation and therefore if we are to understand its message, we need to read it in that context. It never ceases to amaze me that people will carefully study any other subject, but when it comes to the Bible, which should be treated as both a spiritual book as well as an historical document, we somehow think that truth will come to us by some sort of mystical osmosis. But without a standard for understanding and interpretating the Scriptures, we are left rudderless, without a sense of connection, direction, or destination.
Its like the story about a man who saw his neighbour struggling with a heavy washing machine at the doorway of his house. The owner of the house was overjoyed when the neighbour offered to help, but after several minutes of fruitless effort, the two stopped and stared at each other in frustration. The neighbour finally managed to say between gasps, “We’ll never get this appliance in there!” “In?” the homeowner panted, “I’m trying to move it out!”
Likewise, if you don’t know whether you are coming or going with any given text, you’re not going to get very far…and at that point you have one of two options. Either make up anything that seems to fit or give up trying to understand.
The book of Revelation is meant to be encouraging not frustrating…John says we will be blessed when we read it, so we must work hard at figuring out what he meant when he wrote it and what those who received it understood when they read it before we make any attempt at applying it to our own situation.
Now, as we know from the book itself, it was written by John on the Lord’s behalf in the form of a letter addressed to seven existing churches in Asia Minor. As we look at the specific messages to each church in chapters two and three, we will examine the reasons why each needed to be challenged to gain perspective and to refocus on what really mattered…why they needed to maintain a singular vision in a world filled with many distractions.
But how would maintaining a singular vision benefit them or us, for that matter? Consider the words of the author to the Hebrews: “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it…and then he goes on to speak about God putting everything in subjection to the Son of Man, leaving nothing outside his control, BUT then ADDS (and this is important…At present, we do not yet see everything in subjection to him. But we see…Jesus, crowned with glory and honour…” (Hebrews 2:1, 8b-9) Remember, the recipients of this letter were Jewish believers who were second guessing their decision to follow Jesus because of hardship, persecution, and misunderstanding and the author was urging them to regain their singular vision, namely Jesus and his present universal rule.
Whenever believers base their faith on experience or personal perception they lose sight of biblical reality. The singular vision we ought to maintain as believers is what has been revealed…the secret things belong to God and are not for us to know.
So, you may well ask, what is the benefit of this singular vision? Well, the first benefit is that it helps us remember where grace and peace comes from. In verses 4 and 5, John wrote: “Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth.” All too often, believers take God’s blessings for granted and it is only when he withholds them that we sit up and pay attention.
All things can become so familiar that we forget where our salvation and our status as children of God originated. We forget that if it wasn’t for God graciously reaching out to us through Jesus even while we still sinners we would still be dead in our trespasses and sins. We have forgotten that our peace and reconciliation with God came at a high price tag. Most unbelievers only give God a second thought when they are in trouble, but how many believers don’t live like that too? When the goings good, they give very little time to God…in fact, they give very little period. But when things get rough, they jam the switchboard of heaven! Dearest beloeved brethren, this ought not to be so.
Believers should want to meet with their Lord often. They should want to speak to him in prayer and hear him answer through his Word. They should want to tell everyone else about him. If its not like that, there’s something wrong with us. Just think of how easy it is to tell the whole world about the one’s you love, be that your friend, spouse, child, grandchild, or great grandchildren. But why not God who is the source of love? And so we need to recapture that singular vision so that we might remember where grace comes from and through whom you have received peace.
So first, both grace and peace come from God the Father whom John described as the eternally uncreated one.
But second, both grace and peace also come from the “seven spirits before the throne”. Now, here your Old Testament ear should start twitching. In Isaiah 11:2, the prophet described the sevenfold Spirit of God resting upon the Messiah: “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.”
These seven characteristics are often interpreted as the sevenfold ministry of the Holy Spirit and many scholars believe that this is what John was referring to here. This is the Holy Spirit in his fullness.
But wait, I hear some of you thinking, there’s another passage in Zechariah 4:1-7 that also speaks about the seven spirits, and I would say you’re absolutely right!
In that passage, an angel asked the prophet what he saw: Zechariah replied, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.” And I said to the angel who talked with me, “What are these, my lord?” Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?” I said, “No, my lord.” Then he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel (who was the grandson of King Jehoiachin (1 Chronicles 3:17) and the appointed governor of Judea after the exile): Not by might, nor by power, (and here it comes) but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain. And he shall bring forward the top stone amid shouts of ‘Grace, grace to it!’”
So, here the angel revealed to Zechariah that the seven branched candlestick is the Spirit of God who would ensure the positive outcome of Zerubbabel’s efforts despite severe opposition. Does that sound familiar? God will overcome despite opposition. Remember the verse from Hebrews? We do not yet see all things in subjection to him…but we do see Jesus, crowned with glory and honour. Gaining perspective through a singular vision once more.
However, I hear some others thinking that the seven branched candlestick was a symbol of God’s presence in the Tabernacle and the Temple, and I would say, you’re absolutely right! And yet, there are still others who are thinking that the seven branched candlestick in the Tabernacle and Temple represented the burning bush and the pillar of fire in Exodus, and I would say, you’re absolutely right! The Holy Spirit has often been associated with fire as we see in Acts 2 as well.
But I hear others thinking that perhaps the number seven used here to describe the Spirit has something to do with the fact that there are seven churches to whom this revelation is addressed, and I would say, you’re absolutely right! The divine and complete number seven indicates that the Holy Spirit is present in every one of the churches and that he will work out his purpose in those churches despite their hardship, fear, and failures.
The finally, in a very vivid way, John reminds us that grace and peace comes to us from God the Son.
As a faithful witness, Jesus came to reveal the Father despite strong opposition from the leaders and gross ignorance from the people. He never once compromised his message. It was always reserved for those who had ears to hear…
He came to defeat the power of sin, Satan, and death by dying as a sinless human being. Satan, and death without sin are rendered powerless and therefore death could not hold him. As such he became the firstborn from the dead (and this is not only referring to physical death). Remember, in Adam all die, but those who once were dead in their trespasses and sins but who are now in Jesus are born again to life. (See 1 Corinthians 15:22)
But as conquering king, he came to rule and reign over all things…all authority in heaven and earth has been given to him (Matthew 28:18-20) and he reigns now to place all his enemies under his feet (1 Corinthians 15:25). (Again, lets try to maintain our singular focus…we don’t yet see all things in subjection to him, but we do see him him crowned as universal king.) Jesus alone is King of kings and Lord of lords as he is the ruler of all on earth.
But most importantly for us, John reminds us that Jesus is the one who loved us and freed us from our sins by his blood…his substitutionary, atoning sacrifice of himself once for all his people. Ah, I hear the Old Testament ears twitching again. This is Passover imagery! Deliverance came to all who were under the blood of the lamb. The angel of death passed over the households (men, women, and children) that bore the sign of sacrificial atonement.
Always keeping this singular vision before us, helps us see beyond our own limited perspective. Grace and peace comes from the creator, the sustainer, the owner, the saviour, the ruler of all creation and if this Triune God is for us, who and what can ever be against us?
The second benefit of maintaining a singular vision is an understanding of the goal of grace and peace. “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” And our Old Testament ears hear echoes of Exodus 19:6, where God declared that Israel would be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation if they obeyed his voice and kept his covenant..in other words, God originally intended the entire nation of Israel, not just the priestly tribe of Levi, to have a special relationship with him and to serve as mediators between God and the other nations.
So, as we are his witnesses and as we are seated on his throne in heavenly places (Ephesians 2:6), we are meant to do the work of both priests (the ones who proclaim his death until he comes again and who teach others to observe all that God requires of us) and kings (the ones who exercise his authority over his world as his ambassadors). Remember, Jesus is currently reigning to place all his enemies under his feet (indicating an overall eschatological victory prior to his Second Coming) and remember that he has entrusted to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. (2 Corinthians 5:19-20)
We are witnesses and we are rulers. Jesus has asked for the nations as his inheritance, and he has promised that the gates of hell will not prevail against the advance of the Church.
If what John wrote here is true, why then do some believe that things are only getting worse and worse until Jesus comes to our rescue?
Allow me to answer this question through a story. Florence Chadwick was the first woman to swim the English Channel in both directions. Later she attempted to swim the strait between Catalina Island and the Californian shore. On the morning of July 4th, 1952, she waded into the water determined to reach California. But the fog was so thick that after swimming 20 of the 21 miles, she gave up despite being urged to continue swimming by both her mother and her trainer. Bitterly disapointed she later said, “I’m not excusing myself, but if I could have seen the shore, I might have made it.” Did you get that? “If I could have seen the shore…”
If we allow the many distractions all around us to cloud our vision, we too will be tempted to give up.
This was the original message to the seven churches in Asia Minor and this is still the same message to us in Christ Church, Heiloo. Without the singular vision of the Word, we will lose sight of the shore, and we will give up…we need that singular vision of Jesus as the victorious, reigning King.
How do we acquire this singular vision? By daily remembering that our grace and peace comes from the one who began all things, sustains all things, reigns over all things, governs all things, and who will bring all things to completion before the Day of Jesus Christ. Laying aside every weight, every hinderance, every distraction, every negative perspective, we run our race focussing on Jesus…our God, our Saviour, our King, the Judge of all, the Alpha and the Omega. (Hebrews 12:1-2)
In Lewis Carol’s book, Alice in Wonderland, Alice asked the Cheshire Cat, “Would you tell me please which way I ought to go from here?” to which the Cat answered, “That depends a good deal on where you want to go.” “I don’t much care where,” Alice replied. “Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” said the Cat.
If we do not maintain a singular vision…if we don’t much care for where we go…we to will be led in many different directions as we will have no singular destination or goal.
Shall we pray?
© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2025
Frankl, Viktor E. Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy. Translated by Ilse Lasch, Beacon Press, Boston, 1959 (original German edition: Ein Psychologe erlebt das Konzentrationslager, Verlag für Jugend und Volk, Vienna, 1946).
