A KALEIDOSCOPIC VISION

Please see the links to our EXTRA Bible Study notes at the bottom of the page.

Opening Prayer

I will sing Your praises, Lord. I will sing Your praises forever. You alone are worthy of praise.

Read REVELATION 1:1–20

^[1] The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, ^[2] who testifies to everything he saw-that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. ^[3] Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near. ^[4] John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, ^[5] and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, ^[6] and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father-to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. ^[7] “Look, he is coming with the clouds,” and “every eye will see him, even those who pierced him”; and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.” So shall it be! Amen. ^[8] “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.” ^[9] I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. ^[10] On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, ^[11] which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.” ^[12] I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, ^[13] and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. ^[14] The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. ^[15] His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. ^[16] In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance. ^[17] When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. ^[18] I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. ^[19] “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. ^[20] The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Meditate

“If you want to know the glory of God, if you want to experience the beauty of God, and if you want to be used by the hand of God, then you must live in the Word of God” (David Platt).

Think Further

How do you “see” a voice (12)? From the very beginning, the book of Revelation challenges our assumptions and breaks down the categories we wish to box it in with. It is a vision, but it is something that John both sees and hears (10,12), and this extraordinary kaleidoscope of imagery is in fact “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (2). Although John has a vision, what we now have is a vision report, an extraordinarily beautiful, crafted and intricate piece of writing. We will need to read and listen carefully to hear its message!

All the way through, John presents us with things with which we are familiar—but in a surprising way. It is a letter, the opening greetings (4,9) reminding us of Paul’s letters, but it is also a revelation (apocalypse is the Greek word translated “revelation,” 1) and a prophecy (3) which draw us into praise and worship (5b,6). Attentive listening will offer insights that we could not otherwise know, give us a distinctive understanding of God’s perspective and draw us into a response of offering ourselves afresh to God.

John is clearly a pastor, who knows his congregations well and shares with them the hope of the kingdom, the hardship that being faithful to Jesus involves and the endurance that is needed to hold reality and hope together (9). He sees the realities they face and makes sense of them by drawing on the full range of the Old Testament Scriptures—Scriptures that point to the centrality of Jesus as the one who makes God known to us. He is the one who sees and judges truly; he is the one who holds his people secure. This is truly a “revelation from Jesus Christ” (1).

Apply

Which part of your life do you need to open to the clear gaze of Jesus? Where do you need to hear his Word?

Closing prayer

Holy Spirit of God, continue to enlighten my mind with new truth from the Word.

Click here to sign up to receive the EXTRAs via email each quarter.

Encounter with God is published in the USA under license from Scripture Union England and Wales, Trinity House, Opal Court, Opal Drive, Fox Milne, Milton Keynes, MK15 0DF.

Yesterday’s reading

View all readings

Tomorrow’s reading