Revelation 1:4-8

The book of Revelation is hermeneutically inexhaustible. Its words operate on so many levels that no single exposition can hope to reach them all. In this brief commentary, I will focus on Revelation’s allusions to the Old Testament and its anti-imperial message.

First, a few preliminary matters:

Form

Verses 4-6 remind us that Revelation is a letter, like Paul’s letters. Chapters 2 and 3 of Revelation are explicit letters to the 7 churches, but the entire book is also a letter. The formal features of NT letters are:

• Identification of the sender (1:4. Compare with Galatians 1:1: “Paul, an apostle”)

• Identification of the recipients (1:4. Compare with Gal. 1:2: “To the churches of Galatia”)

• Grace and peace from God (1:4. Compare with Gal. 1:3: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ”)

• (Sometimes) a doxological affirmation (1:4-6. Compare with Gal. 1:4-5: “… who gave himself for our sins to set us free from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen”)

Author

Who is John? Beginning in the late 2d century, Christians began identifying the author as the Apostle John. This is unlikely. If you are interested in why it is unlikely, consult a reliable modern commentary that discusses authorship. It is better to stick with the author’s own self-designation: he is a prophet (Rev. 22:9).

Context

The fact that Revelation is to be sent to 7 specific churches tells us that the original context of Revelation is crucial for understanding its message. Revelation was written to and for these churches in the 1st century. It was not primarily written to and for us in the 21st century. There is much we can and need to learn from it, but we will get off on the wrong interpretive foot if we assume that Revelation’s primary message is for us in our situation today. Our task is to appreciate the meaning of Revelation for its first hearers and readers and then to how its message in their situation can apply to us today in our situation. In particular: To what extent do we today the claims of human empires, claims that contradict the claims of God’s kingdom?

The main part of our passage is a doxology:

Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

The doxology begins with God, “who is and who was and who is to come.”

• The Greek is very odd. Here’s a literal translation: “From the one who is and the he was and the coming one.” (Even this literal translation doesn’t capture the oddness of the Greek—see commentaries for details.)

• “The one who is” seems to echo Exodus 3:14 (which has its own translation problems): “God said to Moses, ‘I am who I am.’ He said further, ‘Thus you shall say to the Israelites, “I am has sent me to you.”’” 

• “Who is to come” (literally, “the one who is coming”): This could be simply a curious way of referring to God’s future existence.

One thing is clear: Calling God the one who is, who was, and who is coming establishes God as the alternative to the beast of Rev. 17, which “was and is not and is to come.” The main purpose of Revelation is to convince its readers that the Roman Empire and its personnel are really agents of Satan and to urge resistance. To that end, it portrays a series of contrasts between realities tied to God and realities tied to Satan, such as the contrast between the lamb of God (chapter 5) and the beast with two horns like a lamb but which speaks like a dragon (13:11). The readers are being told that they must choose between the true God, the who is, who was, and who is coming, and the false god of the Empire, who was and is not and is to come.

The doxology then mentions “the seven spirits who are before [God’s] throne.” “Seven spirits” appears also in 3:1; 4:5 (seven burning torches before the throne); and 5:6. Is this a reference to the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is mentioned unambiguously in Revelation, for instance in 3:11 (“Listen to what the Spirit is saying to the churches”). Rev. 4:5 identifies the seven spirits with burning torches, a likely reference to Zechariah 4:2, in which the prophet sees “a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it; there are seven lamps on it.” (See also Ex 25:37.) An additional reason for describing the Holy Spirit as seven spirits is to create a contrast between the Holy Spirit and three unclean spirits that come from the mouths of the dragon, the beast, and the false prophet (Rev. 16:13). The Holy Spirit is portrayed as seven spirits because in Revelation the number seven is associated with divinity and perfection.

The doxology then turns to Jesus Christ, portrayed as “the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.”

• “Faithful witness.” The Greek word for “witness” is martus (μάρτυς), whence we get the English “martyr.” For Revelation, a witness is someone who offers testimony, especially if that testimony involves their death (as with Antipas, described like Jesus as a faithful witness in 2:13). Assuming that there is some literary connection between Revelation and the Gospel according to John (an assumption that is difficult to prove), portraying Jesus as a witness ties Revelation to one of that gospel’s major themes, testimony.

• “Firstborn from the dead.” This notion, which is found also in Colossians 1:18 and 1 Corinthians 15:20, signifies that Christ’s resurrection was an eschatological event—the beginning of the general resurrection and thus a sign that the last days had begun. It also creates a contrast between Jesus, who “who was dead and came to life” (2:8), and the beast of chapter 13, one of whose heads had seemingly been killed, yet lived (13:3, 12, and 14).

• "Ruler of the kings of the earth.” Here Jesus is set in opposition to Babylon the Great, which “rules over the kings of the earth” (17:18). As often in Revelation, here the reader is faced with a choice between obedience to the true ruler ordained by God and the false ruler, propped up by Satan.

To sum up: at least one major purpose of the doxology is to contrast God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit with Satan and the Roman Empire, symbolized by the beasts of chapter 13 and by Babylon the Great in chapter 17.

The doxology concludes with a prayer: “To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.”

The Old Testament background to the prayer is Ex 19:6 “You shall be for me a priestly kingdom and a holy nation.” Revelation gives this theme a Christological spin: Jesus has made us to be a kingdom and priests.

What does it mean to be made a kingdom? Christians are members of God’s kingdom, but Rev. 5:10  asserts that we share in Christ’s act of ruling: “You have made them a kingdom and priests serving our God, and they will reign on earth.” Whether Revelation conceives of this ruling as occurring in the future (as in 20:4; 20:6; and 22:5) or as having already begun depends on which Greek manuscript is used as the basis for translation. Some manuscripts read “will reign” (future tense) and other read “reign” (present tense). The difference between the two tenses is a single letter (“s”: basileuousin [present] vs basileusousin [future]).

To say that disciples are priests of God sets them in opposition to the second beast of Revelation 13, who “makes the earth and its inhabitants worship the first beast” (13:12). Once again, Revelation is telling the reader that they must choose between God’s authentic priesthood and Satan’s false priesthood.

Our passage then turns to the return of Christ, borrowing images from Daniel and Zechariah. “He is coming with the clouds” refers reader to the messianic figure of Daniel 7:13-14 (“I saw one like a human being coming with the clouds of heaven…. To him was given dominion and glory and kingship”). “Every eye will see him, even those who pierced him” echoes Zechariah 12:10:

I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem so that, when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him as one mourns for an only child and weep bitterly over him as one weeps over a firstborn.

Revelation, however, expands the scope of mourning. Not just the house of David, but “all the tribes of the earth will wail.”

Rev. 1:4-8 ends with the affirmation that God is almighty. This is, in one sense, the basic message of Revelation. In the face of the Roman Empire, with its armies and power and its claim to rule by the mandate of the gods, Christians were challenged to believe that this empire was in fact a tool of Satan and that its power was fleeting—that in truth it is the God of the Old Testament and of Jesus who is powerful. The first readers of Revelation were being called to believe in spite of appearances that God alone is almighty.