Studies in Revelation, part 5

Find Part 4 here.

Revelation 1:9, “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.”

Notice how right off the bat, John, even though he was given such a great revelation of things to come, does not exalt himself above the recipients of the letter. He calls himself our brother and companion.

He was a companion in three aspects:

In suffering: he was persecuted because of the word of Jesus Christ.

In the kingdom: another reminder that we do not belong to this age or to the systems of the world, but to Heaven.

In patient endurance: John encourages his readers to endure persecution just as he must endure persecution. The early church fathers tell us that John survived being dropped in boiling oil. Whether or not that occurred, we know by his exile that John did endure persecution for his faith.

It is because of Jesus that we have the kingdom and patient endurance. Suffering because of Christ is a unique privilege in this age. We can know him in the fellowship of His sufferings (see Phil 3:10).

John was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. The island of Patmos is fifty miles or so off the coast from Ephesus. This was a small island with minimal vegetation. John was perhaps not the only person imprisoned there, but one gets the impression of his immense solitude during this exile. Although there must have been a way to communicate with the outside world, since he was commanded by the Lord to send his scroll to the seven churches, if there was someone else with him, a scribe, perhaps, we are not told or given a clue.

John is also a faithful witness.

Revelation 1:10, “On the Lord’s Day, I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet…”

The Lord’s Day is Sunday, because that’s the day He rose again. It could also be referring to the day after Passover that they celebrated the Resurrection.

While John was in exile, he was neither idle nor self absorbed in sorrow. He was in the Spirit. This could mean:

Praise and worship
Prayer
Praying in tongues
Experiencing an open vision
A combination of these activities.

The voice John heard was behind him. It was in an unexpected place. It was loud enough to arrest his attention.

Notice how it says ‘like a trumpet’ instead of it being an actual trumpet.

Trumpets signal the start of some great announcement.

In Exodus 19:16 & 19 the voice of God followed a trumpet blast. I encourage you to compare and contrast these two passages. (Also look at Revelation 4:1.)

We will study a lot more about trumpets when we get to chapter eight. In the mean time, if you’re interested in studying more about trumpets in the bible, look up Numbers 10:1-10.

And we’ll study the voice of Jesus more in depth when we study Revelation 1:13.

In the mean time, I’d love to hear your thoughts!

God bless you!