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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadBob Utley You Can Understand the Bible - Revelation 1:17 - 1:20
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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Rev_1:17-20
17When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. And He placed His right hand on me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, 18and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 19Therefore write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after these things. 20As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches."
Rev_1:17 "I fell at His feet as a dead man" This type of revelation has always caused consternation to humans receiving it (cf. Dan_8:17; Dan_10:9; Eze_1:28; Eze_3:23; II Baruch 21:26; IV Ezra 5:14). It is an awesome thing for the supernatural spiritual realm to unveil itself to a human being.
▣ "He placed His right hand on me" This gesture shows Jesus' care and attention to His people (cf. Dan_8:18; Dan_10:10; Dan_10:18).
▣ "Do not be afraid" This is a present imperative with the negative particle, usually meaning to stop an act that is already in process. Humans are afraid of the supernatural realm (cf. Jesus' words in Mat_14:27; Mat_17:7; Mat_28:10; Mar_6:50; Luk_5:10; Luk_12:32; Joh_6:20 and the angel's words in Mat_28:5; Luk_1:13; Luk_1:30; Luk_2:10).
▣ "for I am the first and the last" This was usually a reference to YHWH (cf. Isa_41:4; Isa_44:6; Isa_48:12), but here it is used of the exalted Christ (cf. Rev_1:8; Rev_2:8; Rev_22:13). This is an equivalent to the phrase "Alpha and Omega." See notes at Rev_1:4; Rev_1:8.
Rev_1:18
NASB, NRSV "the living One"
NKJV "I am He who lives"
TEV "I am the living one!"
NJB "I am the Living One"
This is an allusion to the covenant name for God, YHWH, which comes from the Hebrew verb "to be" (cf. Exo_3:14). See Special Topic: Names for Deity at Rev_1:8. He is the ever-living, only-living One (cf. Dan_12:7; Joh_5:26). Again, this is the NT author's use of an OT title for God to describe Jesus. This is very similar to Jesus using YHWH's name for Himself in Joh_8:58.
▣ "I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore," The resurrection was:
1. the Father's stamp of approval (cf. Act_2:24; Act_3:15; Act_4:10; Act_5:30; Act_10:40; Act_13:30; Act_13:33-34; Act_13:37; Act_17:31; Rom_4:24; Rom_10:9; 1Co_6:14; 1Co_15:15; Eph_1:20; Col_2:12; Heb_13:20; 1Pe_1:21)
2. a demonstration of the Spirit's power (cf. Rom_8:11)
3. a demonstration of Jesus' personal power (cf. Joh_10:11; Joh_10:15; Joh_10:17-18)
This reference to Jesus' death may also have been a way to thwart the Gnostic false teachers who denied His humanity.
▣ "I have the keys of death and of Hades" The Jews saw death as a prison with gates (cf. Job_38:17; Psa_9:13; Psa_107:18; Isa_38:10; Mat_16:19). Keys are a metaphor for authority. This is symbolic of Jesus' authority over death for Himself and His followers (cf. Rev_5:9-10; 1 Corinthians 15).
NASB, NKJV,
NRSV, NJB "Hades"
TEV "the world of the dead"
The King James Version translates this as"hell," but this is an English translation confusion of the Greek words, Hades and Gehenna. Hades corresponds to the OT word Sheol (cf. Rev_6:8; Rev_20:13-14). In the OT humans were pictured as descending into the earth where they were gathered into families. It was a conscious but joyless existence. Slowly God began to reveal more and more (progressive revelation) about the afterlife. The rabbis asserted that there was a righteous (Paradise) and wicked (Tartarus) division in Sheol (cf. Luk_23:43). The Bible is sketchy on the details about the afterlife. It speaks in metaphors of heaven (i.e., streets of gold, city 1500 miles cubed, no closed gates, etc.) and hell (fire, darkness, worms, etc.)
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Rev_1:19 This phrase has been used as the pattern for interpreting the book of the Revelation. It is seen as either a twofold or a threefold vision. The Greek phrase is a twofold description of what is current and what will occur. John was speaking to his day as well as to the future. This book combines both aspects in the traditional prophetic sense of current events foreshadowing eschatological events. This book addressed the persecution of John's day and the persecution in every age but also ultimately persecution of the end-time anti-Christ (cf. Dan_9:24-27; 2 Thessalonians 2).
Rev_1:20 "mystery of the stars" This term (mustçrion) is used in several senses by Paul, but all relate to the eternal, but hidden plan of God for humans' salvation, which is believing Jews and Gentiles being united into one new body in Christ (cf. Eph_2:11 to Eph_3:13). Here, however, it seems to be used in connection with the seven churches Jesus is addressing in chapters 2 and 3. From Rev_1:20 it is obvious that the seven spirits, seven stars, seven golden lampstands, and seven angels are all symbolic in some way of the seven churches. This term is used in a similar way of a hidden meaning to a symbol in Rev_17:7. See notes and Special Topic at Rev_10:7.
▣ "the angels" The Greek (aggelos) and Hebrew (malak) terms can be translated "messengers" or "angels." There have been several theories as to their identity.
1. Some say they were the seven spirits which are mentioned in Rev_1:4.
2. Others say they were the pastors of these churches (cf. Mal_2:7).
3. others say it refers to the guardian angel of these churches (cf. Dan_10:13; Dan_10:20-21).
It seems best that they refer to a personification of the churches as a whole, whether symbolized in a pastor or an angel.
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