Title: John the Called/Revelation 1:9-12
Contents
(Explanation of Revelation 5)
John Called/Revelation 1:9-12
Today's verse tells how John, who delivered the book of Revelation, received his mission. The apostle John is the last of the 12 disciples. He is the only disciple who died of natural causes while the other disciples were martyred. When he was persecuted and exiled to the island of Patmos, God called him.
Moved by the Holy Spirit, he heard the voice of God and saw a vision. God gave him a mission to send letters to 7 churches. Today, we will look at the scene where he is called and 7 the church and listen to the voice of the Lord.
John in Tribulation
John describes himself as “your brother and sharer in the tribulation and kingdom and endurance of Jesus.” These three words, ‘suffering, country, and patience’ are closely related. Heaven belongs to those who have endured suffering. There is a saying, “He who has not eaten bread soaked in tears should not speak of life.” John could speak of heaven because he was a man who suffered for the Lord, the essential element of heaven. Only those who have endured suffering can possess the kingdom of heaven [Matthew: 510] “Blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The reason for saying that we are brothers who share in the Gospel is not because of our office as an apostle, but because we are saying that we are entitled to speak of the same sufferings as the saints.
John passed the risk of death because he preached the word of God, and eventually he was exiled to the island of Patmos. At that time, Patmos was a place of exile. John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos in AD 94 during the reign of the Domisian emperor, and was released in 96, the year of the emperor's death. He wrote the Book of Revelation for two years. Patmos Island is 16 km long and 8 km wide and is shaped like a crescent moon. Rome usually exiled political prisoners to the island. Exiles on the island were stripped of their Roman citizenship and their property confiscated. Since 1947, it has been a Greek territory.
The hardest part of being exiled was the loneliness and hard work of fighting the waves. The word ‘sea (dalassa)’ appears 25 times in the book of Revelation. It is not a romantic meaning, but an expression that refers to a difficult and difficult situation. Surrounded by the sea on four sides, all you can see is the vast sea, and it is a lonely sea with only the sound of waves. Patmos Island is a rocky island that you cannot get to unless you run away. There is only one reason that John suffered this kind of suffering because of “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”
John's tribulation model means the tribulation we must bear. Blessed are you if you suffer for the Lord's sake. (Matthew 5:11) He told us to suffer along with the gospel. (2 Tim. 1:8) Also, as partakers of the Lord's kingdom, we should not live according to the fleshly thoughts, but what we do Whatever you do, you must do it for the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31)
John the Holy Spirit
[Verse 10] “On the Lord's day I was moved by the Holy Spirit, and I heard a loud voice behind me like the sound of a trumpet.” John was moved by the Holy Spirit and heard the word of the Lord. I was moved by the Holy Spirit in the harsh environment of the island of Patmos. It doesn't matter where you are, what matters is whether you are with the Lord. It was on the Lord's Day. ‘The Lord’s Day’ is the first day after the Sabbath and refers to the day the Lord was resurrected. Historically, it is a scene where the Sabbath is changed to Sunday. Jews keep the Sabbath, Christians keep Sunday. Christians keep Sunday because it is the day of the Lord's resurrection.
Those who are still unable to get out of the Sabbath controversy preach the Sabbath Gospel while chanting the Ten Commandments. The Sabbath is the decree of the Age of Law, and the Sunday is the day of the Age of the Holy Spirit and the Age of Grace. To insist on the Sabbath is an error that comes from forgetting that we are living in the age of the Holy Spirit. On this very day, John was moved by the Holy Spirit. According to the Bible, on the Lord's Day when the Lord was resurrected, we worshiped God while praying, offering, and listening to the Word. (Acts 20:7, 1 Corinthians 16:2) The Sabbath is not an obligation, but a model of life in heaven. (Hebrews 4) :4-11) The Bible tells us not to criticize because of the Sabbath. (Colossians 2:16)
Moved by the Holy Spirit, John heard a loud voice, which sounded like a trumpet. It is an expression of how loud and clear the sound was. That sound had the same authority as if you had to blow a trumpet and summon an army. If the sound of the trumpet moved the army, the voice of the Lord that John heard moved his soul. The sound of this trumpet is a warning bell for tribulation. In the book of Revelation, the trumpet is associated with a warning or tribulation. Here too, it adds the meaning of giving a mission along with such a meaning.
The voice of the Lord is “a loud voice.” It was the same situation when Moses met the Lord on Mount Sinai and received his mission. [Ex 19:16] “In the morning of the third day there were thunders and lightnings and a thick cloud over the mountain, and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, and all the people in the camp trembled.” Moses received a mission he could not refuse. So is John. So are we.
john to check
John heard a loud voice. The content of that voice is [verse 11]. It is to write down everything you see and send it to the 7 churches. “Seeing” can be interpreted in two ways. It can be interpreted in a small sense as below [verse 13], or in a broader sense as “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ” [verse 2]. When interpreted in a small sense, the meaning is limited to the 7 churches, and when interpreted as the words of Jesus, the meaning can be applied to the entire book of Revelation. Here, spring is good in a narrow sense.
He tells them to “write it in a book” and send it to the 7th church. It means that it is not a mission to be fussed about. This is something to keep in mind for those who didn't actually write the letter. Upon receiving the mission, John confirms. [Verse 12] Religious experience must be confirmed and verified, “when he turns and turns to see the voice that has spoken to me.” There are a lot of cases where people say they saw a vision and follow it without verifying it, and then they get it wrong. We must discern the word. [1 Corinthians 2:13] “Spiritual things are discerned by spiritual things” It is important who delivers.
Even if you are tempted by the devil, if you mistake it for what God is preaching, it is a big deal. Eve in the Garden of Eden followed the serpent (Satan)'s voice and brought her own punishment. [Romans 12:2] “Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may discern what is the will of God, which is good and acceptable and perfect.”
John turned around to check and saw 7 golden candlesticks. As it is interpreted in [verse 20], it is 7 stars, 7 lions, and 7 churches. So, what are the 7 churches? Those who give the strange interpretation are not the real church, and they are not in a situation where John would write a letter to them. The seven churches that will appear in the future by interpreting the number 7 as a real number are said to be the seven churches that will appear like a comet but will eventually apostate. Or, there is an interpretation that in the future, the churches will fall by stepping on the appearance of the seven churches sequentially. They believe that the book of Revelation only speaks of prophecies that will unconditionally follow.
This part is not a story to come, but a story about the 7 churches in Asia Minor that actually existed at the time. We have already told you that 7 churches are central churches that can receive circulating mail in the third time. But what should not be overlooked is that the seven churches have points that today's churches need to fix and correct. In this respect, our church is also in these seven churches.
Dear saints,
Although John was exiled to the Isle of Patmos, Rome did not exile his mission. In the midst of the dark sea, we become friends with solitude and listen to the voice of the Lord. He saw a brighter spiritual light in the midst of tribulation. Filled with the Holy Spirit, he heard the voice of God. John is rebuking us today, who sometimes blame the environment.
No matter how difficult or difficult it is, as a saint living in the last days, we must be filled with the Holy Spirit and live with a sense of duty that no one can stop. In this age of many false thoughts and shams, I hope that you will become believers who only obey God's Word with greater spiritual discernment.