Seek to Understand Revelation

We need to pause here and consider something. John just had an experience with a divine intervention. He is attempting to describe it here, but his only tools are words. To appreciate John's difficulty, imagine trying to describe fireworks display to a blind person. It is one thing to be able to see and appreciate the beauty of the fireworks. It is another thing to duplicate the experience using only words. This reminds me of a song by the Bee Gees called Words. One line goes, “Its only words, but words are all I have to take your heart away “(Bee Gees 1969). In other words, words don’t always reflect true feelings to the extent one would wish. But here is where Christians have an advantage. Jesus had said that that He would send the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in His name, and the Spirit will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you (John 14:26-27). So, when John says he heard a loud voice like a trumpet he did not hear a trumpet. He heard a voice like a trumpet. Whether the voice had the musical quality of a trumpet or just as equally loud as the trumpet is not clear. Suffice it to say the voice got John’s attention. The voice told John to write on a scroll what you see and send it to the Seven Churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamon, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea (Rev. 1:11-13). Here is the direct commission to John to write the letters to the churches to be included in the book that we now know as Revelation. As I mentioned before, I believe it is no coincidence that the seven cities were also the center of Emperor Worship in the Asian Providence of the Roman Empire. So far what has been said, has been said behind John’s back. John goes on to say that he turned around to see the voice that was speaking to him... The fact that John describes his motions in detail insists that whatever he saw left an impression on him. I have learned that in narrative writing, the author has options to give little detail or a lot of detail. In giving a little detail, the writer covers more content. In giving a lot of detail, the pace of the narrative slows down and focuses on what the writer deems important (Alter 1981). John goes on, when He turned around, He saw seven golden lampstands and among the lampstands was someone like the “Son of Man.” John goes on to describe the Son of Man. He sees the solemn light of the seven-branch candlestick shines upon him. These are necessary elements in the cult of Emperor Worship. The shining half circle of light directs the seer’s gaze naturally upwards to the point where the exalted Lord stands in sovereign majesty, whose name, out of reverence John does not even utter. The whole scene, set within a beautiful frame, is full of a bright, yet tranquil golden radiance. In the light thrown by the great candles, the figure on the throne stands out. The long priestly garments of bluish-purple, the girdle high under the armpits as prescribed for the high priest (Exodus 28:27), the head gleaming silvery white, the eyes amid all this light are like flames of fire, and even the feet seem to glow with the radiance of burnished brass (Lilje 1957).