Revelation 1-12

The book of revelation was written by John and is the book of revelation of Jesus Christ. Revelation means the act of revealing or making known and this book is all about making Christ’s presence known to the world. The purpose in itself is to show how servants some of the things that would shortly come to pass.

In trying to compare the book of Revelation to other works that we’ve read, I can honestly say that I liked this much better than others. Revelation is said to be an “apocalyptic” prophecy that contains a series of letters which introduce the seven churches in the roman province of Asia. “Apocalypse” means the revealing of divine mysteries; John is to write down what is revealed (what he sees in his vision) and send it to the seven churches. The seven churches were: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and lastly Laodicea.

This idea of writing to the various churches was said in a voice during chapter 1. Chapters 2 and 3 focus especially on the seven churches which these letters were sent to.

The letter that I’m going to focus on is the first one: Ephesus. Ephesus begins with “Write to the angel in Ephesus and say, Here is the message of the one who holds the seven stars in his right hand and who lives among the seven golden lamp-stands. I know your activities, your hard work and your perseverance. I know you cannot stand wicked people, and how you put to the test those who were self-styled apostles, and found them false” (pg 2031). This quote does indeed go on to list other things that this angel has done for God. Although as the message continues, God says “Nonetheless, I have this complaint to make: you have less love now than formerly. Think where you were before you fell; repent, and behave as you did at first, or else, if you will not repent, I shall come to you and take your lamp-stand from its place” (pg 2031). Reading this I was honestly extremely shocked because it’s kind of like a threat.

This reference of a lamp-stand stood out to me while reading. As I continued and put pieces together I learned that the seven stars are the seven messengers to the seven congregations; while the seven lamp-stands represent the seven congregations themselves. Each congregation is (significantly) represented by a lamp-stand and this is a source of light. We see this in chapter 1 as it says “The secret of the seven stars you have seen in my right hand, and of the seven golden lamp-stands, is this, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lamp-stands are the seven churches themself” (pg 2031). In the note, when it says that if the angel in the church of Ephesus doesn’t continue to do his job and make sure that everyone can hear him, God will take away his church, his lamp-stand, or remove him from the position.

I found this to be quite interesting because it shows a side of God that is very vicious. Almost like a park bully, if you don’t do something then I’m going to punish you, and if you do what I want then we will be on good terms. God even says “It is in your favor” (pg 2031) literally saying “Hey buddy, this is in your best interest, otherwise it’s not going to be good for you”.