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what he has seen and what will take place after this. Revelation is a prophetic disclosure of what is—the current state of affairs for the church and what will come, that is, what the church will have to face. The three phrases (what you have seen, what is, and what is to come) parallel the title for God in verse 4, and “relate to the eschatological perspective of the book as a whole.”77 Jesus again confirms in John’s mind and heart that this is a message for churches and that the lampstand, the presence of God, will continue shining amidst the faithful.

      Conclusion

      When presented this picture of Jesus, what is our response? Like John, I think if we saw Jesus in person, we would fall to our faces in fear. But we would also be recipients of his touch. When Jesus walked the earth, this is the picture of Jesus that demons saw. They were able to see the supernatural world. They saw not only the common-looking man that Jesus was on the exterior, but also the supernatural Jesus that John saw. What was their response? “What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are—the Holy One of God” (Luke 4:34). They were terrified.

      Our world is in desperate need of an accurate picture of Jesus. What kind of picture are we portraying by our words and deeds? We want to make sure we lead people to the right plane with the right pilot. We can’t force them to get in. But we can at least try our best to present the correct picture of him. I believe that if people are truly seeking God (Proverbs 8:17), then this picture will be irresistible.

55. A version of this story appears in “Go Global: The Great Commission”, My Bible.

56. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 75.

57. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 30.

58. Aune, Revelation 1–5, 77.

59. Thomas and Macchia, Revelation, 80.

60. Osborne, Revelation, 82.

61. Osborne, Revelation, 80.

62. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 75.

63. Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary, 45

64. Aune, Revelation 1–5, 83.

65. Osborne, Revelation, 83.

66. Bauckham, New Testament Theology, 116.

67. See, for example, Thomas and Macchia, Revelation, 81.

68. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 203.

69. Osborne, Revelation, 84.

70. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 203, quoting Jeremiah 36:2.

71. See discussion from chapter 1:1–8.

72. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 207.

73. See Beale, The Book of Revelation, 209; Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 78; and Osborne, Revelation, 89, who say that the robe should be interpreted more generally as that worn by dignitaries and rulers indicating Jesus’ kingship. The aristocrat wore the sash around the chest, not the waist, to indicate high rank.

74. Johnson, Hebrews through Revelation, 428.

75. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 80.

76. According to Jewish literature, power over the keys of death and Hades belong to God alone (Jerusalem Targum. On Genesis 30:2; Sanh.113a) (Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 81).

77. Osborne, Revelation, 97.

      Revelation 2:1–7

      Jesus’ Message to the Church in Ephesus

      Introduction

      Can you imagine taking a test on your spouse one day? You answer every question right. If I took a test on my wife Lora, I would answer: Color of eyes: light brown; Color of hair: light brown; Height: 5 feet and 7 inches; Weight: next question; Personality: pleasant, serious and faithful; Hobbies: gardening, reading Victorian novels; Favorite food: Indonesian gado-gado; Favorite color: yellow. If I answered all these questions correctly, would it be true that I know everything there is to know about my wife? Even if I did, what if I knew all that and still didn’t love her? What if I didn’t treat her right, and ignored her needs? Would people notice more my knowledge of my wife, or my lack of love for her?

      Love legitimizes knowledge. Our love for our spouses makes what we know about them meaningful. If we do not show love, then our understanding of them does not matter. The same is true for the follower of Jesus in reference to our relationship with God. Love legitimizes doctrine. I just referenced Luke 4, and how the demons recognized Jesus. They knew exactly who he was, but they did not love him. Our love for God and for the people of the church and for the people of the world proves that we know God. This is the message of Revelation 2:1–7, the message to the church in Ephesus.

      Exposition

With chapter two, we see a shift in the nature of Revelation. John is delivering to the seven churches in Asia Minor a message from Jesus himself. Aune writes that the form of the letters can be seen as a mixed genre created by John. The primary literary genre is that of a royal or imperial edict. The secondary genre or mode is that of prophetic speech, or “parenetic salvation-judgment oracle.”78 In other words, John is creating a new kind of epistle here, with the nature of an edict from a king combined with a prophetic word of either encouragement or rebuke.

      The model of Jesus’ letter to the churches follows this pattern: There is the addressee, “to the angel of the church in . . .” (2:1); followed by a description of the speaker, “The words of him . . .” (2:1). The description of the speaker reveals a close relationship between the seven messages of chapters 2 and 3 and the vision of Jesus in chapter 1. Following this, we see the knowledge of the Speaker, “I know . . .” (2:2). (Sometimes this is positive and sometimes this is negative). This is followed by the verdict: “[. . .] you have abandoned the love you had at first” (2:4); in this case, the command or the exhortation, “He who has an ear, let him hear” (2:7), followed by a promise of “the tree of life” (2:7) to those who are faithful.

What

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