In His Hands

Isaiah 9:2, 6-7               John 16:31-33              Revelation 1:9-20

In His Hands

So far in our series on the Book of the Revelation, we have examined the need for a singular vision for life as believers in which our primary focus ought to be our triumphant, reigning King Jesus. Even though both Old and New Testaments promise that there would be no end to the increase of the government of Jesus…that all authority in both heaven and earth has been given to him…that he is the ruler of all…that all things have been placed in subjection to him…that he will reign until all his enemies have been placed under his feet…that the gates of hell will not prevail against the advance of the Church he will build…even though we have these promises in his Word, we do not yet see all things in subjection to him…and this may lead to a sense of doubt and despair and fear…so we are encouraged to fix our eyes on Jesus, the Author and the Finisher of our faith, the one seated on the right hand of power, crowned with glory and honour, and coming on the clouds of heaven. 

Maintaining a singular focus based on what we read in God’s Word rather than what we see in the world is crucial if we are to maintain a biblical faith.

Today, I’d like us to look at what John tells us about his life and experience as he wrote while on the island of Patmos.

In verse 9, John shared with his readers two very important lessons. 

“I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”

The first lesson is rather obvious. We are in this world and therefore we will share in the troubles of this world. In John 16:33, Jesus told his disciples that while they live in the world, they will have tribulation (same exact word as used here in Revelation 1:9), but that they should take heart as he has overcome the world…and so we have peace in him.

The second lesson is one that is far more difficult to remember, especially during times of struggle, and it may take a lifetime to understand it. John’s statement here teaches us that although we may be in this world and subject to its woes, we must never forget that we are in the kingdom as well. John told his 1st Century readers that he was their brother and their partner in the tribulation and the kingdom. In the world, but not of the world.

Again, a reminder for us to maintain a singular focus. Only one Almighty reigns. Our reaction to life in the world is determined by our understanding of life in the kingdom.

In this statement, John claimed that he was both brother and companion or partner to his 1st Century readers. In other words, he was no stranger to their experience of life in the world. Like them, he was in the world and was therefore subject to the troubles or tribulation of this world, but also like them, he was part of the kingdom of God. 

He clarifies this claim by stating that he was on the island of Patmos “on account of” his preaching and teaching the Word of God and “on account of” his bearing witness to Jesus. 

Now, let me start by saying that there is no substantial or clear evidence (archaeological or literary) that Patmos was ever a penal colony or a prison like Alcatraz. But banishment for offences that did not warrant the death penalty was quite common, so being sent to a remote island like Patmos is consistent with 1st Century practice. If you recall, all Jews were banished or expelled from Rome by Claudius because of alleged arguments about someone called “Christ” (Acts 18:1, Suetonius, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, 25).

And as we have already seen with the use of the word “tribulation” in the quotation from Jesus’s statement in the Gospel of John about experiencing troubles or difficulties simply because we are in the world, the word “tribulation” here in Revelation 1:9 may not be referring to something catastrophic after all. The use of the definite article “the” may simply refer to the general day-to-day tribulation mentioned by Jesus, and yet, I hasten to add, it is equally possible that it may be referring to something more specific, like the persecutions described in some of the seven sermons to the churches. 

But either way, John was telling his readers that he was not writing to them from some ivory tower…he was in the tribulation with them.... And yet, he immediately reminded them that this was not the only reality that they shared as brothers and companions. They were also in the kingdom. 

Now, I’m sure you all remember the parable of the wheat and weeds in the Gospel of Matthew 13:24-30. “The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sowed good seed in his field,” Jesus said. In his explanation of this parable in verses 36-43, Jesus told his disciples that the field is the world, the good seed are believers, the bad seed are non-believers. 

But what is important for us as we seek to understand what John was saying here, is that the good seed and the bad seed grow together in the field until the “harvest” at the end of the age. So, we may be in the kingdom, but as long as we are on this side of eternity, we will encounter the seed of the enemy. In other words, in the world we will have tribulation or troubles, but we are the good seed and therefore we take heart because we are in the kingdom.

I also want you to notice here that John linked the “kingdom” with “patient endurance”. I think the primary reason why many believers embrace a defeatist theology is because they do not yet see all things in subjection to him, so they assume the kingdom is not a present reality. But in every sermon John wrote to the seven churches he repeated the same admonition: “To the one who conquers” or “to the one who overcomes” or “to the one who perseveres”. (Revelation 2:7; 11; 17; 26. 3:5; 12; 21.)

You see, the kingdom of God is inextricably joined to perseverance or to overcoming through patient endurance. There will be a harvest, to be sure. The weeds will be uprooted first and cast into the fire at the end of the age…but until then, we who are in the kingdom will have to patiently endure the tribulation…a tribulation that is common to all who are in the world.

However, before we move on, I do want to make a few comments on the reality of the persecution of Christians in the 1st Century prior to the persecution of Christians under Nero. When we read the book of Acts, we find that most persecution of Christians came from unbelieving Jewish opposition rather than direct Roman imperial hostility. Other than in Philippi with the owners of the slave girl, and in Ephesus with the pagan craftsmen, every other instance recorded in the book of Acts was directly linked to jealous unbelieving Jews. This may be what was happening in the seven churches at that time because, in two of the seven sermons to the seven churches, John linked persecution with “those of the synagogue of Satan” who say they are Jews and are not. No pagan would ever have claimed to be a Jew.

So, we may safely assume that, prior to Nero’s persecution in AD 64, Roman involvement in Christian persecution was indirect because legally they viewed Christianity as a Jewish sect…which was tolerated.

Now, there are some who hold to the so-called “traditional” view that Revelation was written during an alleged persecution under the later emperor Domitian. I say alleged because there is no solid evidence for an empire-wide persecution of Christians under Domitian. This view of a late date for the writing of Revelation is based more on church tradition than on clear evidence. 

Ancient sources like Suetonius (Life of Domitian 10-17), Cassius Dio (Roman History 67.14), and Pliny the Younger (Letters 10.96-97), mention Domitian’s authoritarian tendencies and purges of senators or nobles, but not specifically Christians. It is interesting to note that Suetonius did mention persecution of Christians under Nero (Nero 16,2) but he said nothing about the persecution of Christians under Domitian!

So where does this tradition come from? It seems to be based on a quote found in Eusebius’ (AD 260-339) Ecclesiastical History (Book 3.17-20) drawn from a statement made by Irenaeus (AD 130-200) regarding the identity of the beast numbered 666. But it is not clear from the quote whether Irenaeus was saying that John, who had the vision, saw the vision towards the end of Domitian’s reign…or if he who had the vision, namely John as a person, was seen towards the end of Domitian’s reign. It really depends on the translator as to whether the referent to the verb “was seen” is “John” or “the vision”. Is the subject of the verb ‘he’ or ‘it’?

Based on grammar, syntax, thematic flow, as well as the lack of historical or literary evidence for a late date for Revelation, many scholars today would agree that what Irenaeus was saying was that John (the John who had seen the vision), was seen…almost in their generation toward the end of the reign of Domitian. Most scholars believe now that Revelation was written shortly before the extremely brutal persecution of Nero, in other words, sometime before AD 64.

As we have seen, most persecution prior to that date was caused, either directly or indirectly, by the unbelieving Jews…so, in the Revelation, John was predicting a radical shift in their near future. Soon Christians, who had up until that time been persecuted mostly by unbelieving Jews, would be persecuted by Rome.

But again, the word “tribulation” does not necessarily mean one singular cataclysmic event…it could, as in the Matthew passage, mean the day-to-day struggle Christians in every age will experience since we live in the world, but are not of it. So, John reminds us that though we may experience tribulation because we are in the world, we have peace in Jesus because we are not of the world, but of the kingdom. It is all a matter of focus. Indeed, a focus on the kingdom helps us to persevere and to overcome the world through patient endurance, as we wait for the time when all things will be in subjection to him and when all his enemies will be under his feet…when the weeds will finally be uprooted and removed and cast into the fire.

This is the stuff faith is made of, and we must learn to walk by faith and not by sight. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1) Faith comes by believing God’s Word even when the exact opposite seems to be the case. God was at work at the time John wrote this book, and he is still at work today. 

Now, John said he was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day. Although Scripture doesn’t explicitly say that Christians held services on the Sunday, or the first day of the week, we do know that Jesus rose on the first day of the week (Matthew 28:1; Mark 16:2; Luke 24:1; John 20:1), he appeared to the disciples on the first day of the week (John 20:19, 26), and the Early Church met regularly on the first day on the week (Acts 20:7; 1 Corinthians 16:2). We know from Early Christian writings that by the end of the 1st Century, this first day of the week was consistently referred to “the Lord’s Day”, so we may safely assume that this is what John meant here.

He was either leading or participating in a worship service on a Sunday…either alone or with other believers.

Now, “in the Spirit” does not necessarily mean an ecstatic experience because we all live “by the Spirit” and should “walk in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:16-26), but it could mean that John was particularly inspired by the Spirit while worshipping on the Lord’s Day. Whatever the meaning, it seems clear that he was focused on God and therefore he was open to receiving from God. 

The description of Jesus’s loud voice as a “trumpet” echoes the revelation of God on Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:16, 19; 20:18) and the description of Jesus’s person echoes several Old Testament passages such as Daniel 7:9, 13-14; 10:5-6; Ezekiel 1:7; 43:2; and Isaiah 11:4, 49:2. The voice told John to write to seven specific, historical churches in Asia Minor, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. 

It is interesting that when John turned to see who was speaking to him, he saw, not one golden lampstand (the lampstand used in the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:31-40) and Temple to represent God’s presence and his revelation of himself in the burning bush and the pillar of fire etc), he did not just see one golden lampstand but seven, indicating that God was personally present with each of the seven churches as he, like the Tabernacle in the wilderness, stood at the centre of the lampstands (Numbers 2:17).

Note that the first thing Jesus said to John after he saw him was “Fear not”, the most repeated command in the Scriptures. You see, fear is such a natural human response in uncertain and threatening situations, so repeatedly God must tell us to trust (or fear) him rather than fear our circumstances or our enemy or our enemies. Everything John had just described about what he saw and everything he would describe in what he heard indicates that God is right in the midst of us…in the thick of our messy situations…he is with us, he is in us…the words John used here speak of God’s presence, his promises, and his power.

Jesus then revealed himself to John as the first and the last, a clear reference to a term used in the book of Isaiah to refer to God, specifically emphasizing his eternality and his sovereignty (Isaiah 41:4; 44:6; and 48:12). As such, Jesus is the one who began all things and who will see all things through to the end which he alone has determined…he is the author and finisher of our faith as he is the one who died and is alive for evermore. Life and death are in his hands.

There is something extremely encouraging about the death and resurrection of Jesus as it applies to our lives. To all who watched him die, hope died with him. But he triumphed over death…now they could not see that at the time, but in the resurrection, Jesus proved that the promise of God is greater than our limited perceptions…than what we see or perceive. We may not see much light in our lives at present, but that does not mean that God’s promise will fail. 

When we focus on the struggle, the troubles, the tribulation in the world, we may lose hope…we may fear…we may doubt…or we may adopt a defeatist theology. But when we, like John, turn to focus on Jesus, suddenly the world and all its woes become immensely small and the only fitting thing to do is to fall prostrate before him and worship him. Jesus not only spoke to John, but he also revealed his powerful presence with his people, and this revelation led to John to what we could call a crisis of faith.

You see, it is relatively easy to talk about God, isn’t it? But when we are suddenly confronted with the awesome majesty of God…his sovereignty…his burning holiness…then we are faced with a crisis. Our life…our fears…our doubts come into sharp focus in the light of his glorious splendour, and when we see him as he is we are forced to respond to the reality of his Person…and John fell down at the feet of Jesus “as though dead”.

Yes, John and the seven churches in Asia were struggling in the 1st Century world they lived in…and yes, he was about to be told that things would get worse. So we too may face things that are hard to understand…that make us wonder where God is and if he has forgotten us or absconded. But John encourages us here to look at the one who speaks his Word to us…to focus on him as triumphant King, seated on his royal throne, ruling over all things.

If we are to live by faith and not by sight, we must take our eyes off whatever momentary affliction we are concerned with…we must take our eyes off the “tribulation” we face every day as inhabitants of this world…and we must gain a singular focus on the kingdom and on our King. We are citizens of heaven, dearest beloved brethren (Philippians 3:20). We are in the palms of Jesus’s hands and nothing in all of creation can snatch us out of his hands (John 10:28) or remove us from the love of God that is ours in Jesus (Romans 8:37-39). 

So, will you turn to focus away from the world and its troubles…will you remove your focus from the tribulation we all share in this world…and fix your eyes on the one who speaks to you through his Word even today? Such an action will be a great encouragement to you and to others…but it will also present you with a great challenge. Such as action…such a refocussing could change your entire life for ever.

You must ask yourself if you are merely willing to hear the voice from behind, or if you are willing to turn and really see who is speaking to you. 

Shall we pray?

© Johannes W H van der Bijl 2025.