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The Book of Revelation, 181–82. See also Ladd (Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 22), who says that there is no problem in literally interpreting the “end is near” when we remember that the prophets of the Scriptures did not think chronologically (kronos) but rather were event-oriented (Kairos). The end was near from the perspective that the end had already begun in the death and resurrection of Christ. From the perspective of the throne of God, the end is near and has been near since Jesus rose. We are in the end, and have been since that time.

37. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 183.

38. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 23.

39. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 65.

40. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 66 and Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 24.

41. Osborne, Revelation, 58.

42. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 185.

43. Beale believes that the concept of seven in Revelation is both literal and figurative. Here, in 1:4, it is literal, but elsewhere it could also be a case of synecdoche, a figure of speech in which the part represents the whole. The seven churches in Asia represent the universal church. Thus, Revelation would be a universal message (Beale, Revelation, 186–7). Aune disagrees. He believes that the concept of seven churches refers to the divine origin and authority of the message of John, not the universality of its recipients (Aune, Revelation 1–5, 29). However, we need to agree that there were seven historical churches in Asia Minor who actually received this letter. These are not symbolic creations in the mind of John.

44. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 188.

45. Aune, Revelation 1–5, 31.

46. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 189. See also Osborne, Revelation, 61; Thomas and Macchia, Revelation, 76; Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 25; and Johnson, Hebrews through Revelation, 420–21.

47. Mounce, The Book of Revelation, 70. See also Aune, who considers the seven spirits as “the seven principle angels of God” (Aune, Revelation 1–5, 34–35), although he does admit that in Jewish literature it is rare to find a “spirit” reference to angels. It more often refers to the demonic.

48. Psalm 89:27 reads, “And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth.” Beale writes, “John views Jesus as the ideal Davidic king on the escalated eschatological level, whose death and resurrection have resulted in his eternal kingship of his ‘beloved’ children (cf. v.5b), and this idea is developed in v.6.” Beale, The Book of Revelation, 191.

49. Osborne, Revelation, 63.

50. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 25.

51. See 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinthians 15.

52. Beale, The Book of Revelation, 194–5.

53. Ladd, A Commentary on the Revelation of John, 27. See Isaiah 61:6.

54. Osborne, Revelation, 72.

      Revelation 1:9–20

      Opening Vision of Jesus, the Lamb of God

      Introduction

A National Geographic photographer told a story of when he was asked to get photos of a forest fire in California. The editors needed the photos fast, so they sent him immediately. He got to the airport, jumped into the plane, and told the pilot to take off. After a while in the air, he told the pilot, “Just fly close to the forest fire and do a couple of circles around it.” The pilot asked, “Why would I want to do that?” The photographer said, “I’m a photographer, and I need to you get close so I can get good pictures.” The pilot said, “So you are not the instructor?”55

      Have you ever felt like you were in a plane flown by someone who didn’t really know how to fly the plane either? Or have you felt like you didn’t know what plane to get into in the first place? If we were entrusting our lives to a pilot, at 37,000 feet in the air, we would certainly want to make sure he was an expert pilot, capable of dealing with turbulence and unexpected problems.

      It’s sad to think about how many people entrust their spiritual lives to a pilot who doesn’t know what to do. Maybe some of us have entrusted our lives to Jesus, allowing him to be the spiritual pilot of our lives, but we still don’t really know that much about him. As we grow in our understanding of Jesus, our confidence in his ability to handle the difficult situations of our lives will grow. We will increase in our willingness to rest in his care and control because we see him as he really is.

      I believe most people are desperate for a reliable pilot right now. The world only seems to be getting scarier, and it would be nice to know there’s someone at the helm of our lives who can take us the right direction. People all around us may be looking for someone other than themselves to pilot their lives, because the turbulence is too strong.

Revelation 1:9–20 provides us with a picture of Jesus that should reassure us even in the most uncertain times. John was writing in the midst of the turbulence of persecution. He calls himself a “brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus” (1:9). He was writing from the island of Patmos, where he’d probably been exiled. Patmos was a penal settlement, about forty miles west-southwest of Miletus, where Roman authorities sent offenders.56 It was like an island prison. But in the middle of this persecution and trial, John heard the voice of Jesus and came face to face with images of Jesus that seared his mind. These images were so powerful and awe-inspiring, he could only think of material and physical analogies to describe the glory of what he saw.

      Exposition

      John writes that he was on Patmos “on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (1:9). This doublet in Revelation typically refers to persecution or suffering that precedes it, so it’s likely that John was exiled because of his witness, just as Jesus died because of the word of God and his testimony, and just as the faithful will be martyred because of the word of God and their testimony (see the two witnesses of chapter 11). Also, the fact that John calls himself a partner in tribulation assumes that he was currently being persecuted, just as many in the recipient churches were.

Ladd thinks that the language indicates that John was no longer on Patmos when he composed Revelation.57 But Aune makes the good point that, although this is a possibility, the use of

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