What did he hear?

There was only one piece of information denied us as we looked at the vision through John's eyes. Who or what was he looking at? We are given a very mysterious clue when he says that the one he saw was "like a son of man." "Son of man" was what Jesus was called, and in this chapter we will find that part of the vision's self description certainly sounds like it is referring to Jesus. But why not "like THE son of man?" "A" son of man implies that there are more than one. Perhaps John is being sloppy? Don't bet on it.

One of the things we will learn about John is that he was definitely not sloppy. He never used a word randomly, and when he causes us to stop and think, we can be certain he meant to do it. So, "Who was it?" should be on our list of points to ponder as we continue on through the Revelation.

Before John saw anything of the vision, he heard a voice behind him. Here is what it said.

Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

At this point John turned and saw what was described in the last chapter. Then the voice continued.

Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.

Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Following these words is the dictation of the seven letters to the seven churches. These letters are chapters two and three of the Revelation. I will not print them into the text of this book as I have the words above. At some point, you are going to want to start checking me out with your own text of Revelation, and this is a good time to find a Bible if you don't already have one at hand.

I won't be dealing with the letters at this point of the study, except in a very general way, but it will be good for you to know what is in them if you don't already. So you may want to read chapters two and three of Revelation now.

So, the words printed above plus the seven letters is, according to my hypothesis, what John actually heard when he saw the vision on the Lord's day. You may ask, "What about the rest of the book? Did he just make it up?" Perhaps, but if he did, it was inspired by the One we call the Holy Spirit.

Remember I said in the previous chapter that things seen in a vision carry with them certain knowledge. The same thing is true for the words of the vision. All that is experienced - words and pictures - bring such a wealth of information, that in order to communicate faithfully and completely what was received, the same ground must be covered many times, each pass communicating a different level of the information that was instantly understood by the one who had the vision.

In three short chapters, what John saw and heard could be described. But to share what he knew afterwards from the vision, took John eighteen more chapters!

And that brings us back to John, whom we are trying to get to know. How can we understand very well what he was trying to tell us if we don't keep "looking" at him?

Have you ever tried to talk to someone who won't look at you? Pretty frustrating, isn't it? And if you are trying to say something important, you end up convinced that you aren't communicating at all. If you know the person well, you might even take hold of their shoulders and say, "Listen to me!"

But John can't do that. And we do keep ignoring him. We are image-oriented creatures, and the images John presents to us are so vivid, we center on them and ignore his words. And before long, we entirely forget about John.

And we all do this; scholars, hobbyists and casual readers alike.

If this were a novel about John, we would be identifying with him, thinking about his situation, wondering what was going to happen to him next. Yes, if it were a well written novel, our minds would be filled with images, but John would be in them.

That is what I am suggesting here, that we keep John in the picture. If we can do so, we will be immensely more able to understand what he tried to tell us. As a beginning step to that understanding, we will PAY MORE ATTENTION to what his words are saying, instead of staring out the window, daydreaming about the images he presents to us. But beyond that, as we look at John, we may just begin to get a sense of the spirit behind his words and images. Then we might begin to justifiably think we are beginning to understand his message.

Daydreaming? Well, perhaps you don't, but a lot of us do. That is why I put the chapter on what John saw before the chapter on what John heard, even though he heard the voice before he saw anything. Most of us center on the image and have to force ourselves to pay attention to what is being said. We'll have to force ourselves to attend very closely John's words if we are to understand Revelation.

As you were reading the letters to the seven churches, you might have noticed that there are similarities in each of them. Christ points out what they may have been doing right and what they might have been doing wrong. Sometimes other groups are mentioned - either internal or external to the church. And in each letter, a reward is named for those who "overcome."

It will pay you to note carefully what behaviors have been praised. Patience and endurance are noted in the letters as very praiseworthy. Remember this. You may want to note down all of the transgressions. While you are at it, note the suggestions given, what is being praised, and what is promised.

If you are paying attention, you may note the two most offensive things mentioned. How do we tell which are most offensive? Two churches are threatened with being "extinguished" for their transgressions. What are the crimes? Ephesus has lost the love with which it began its ministry, and Laodicia has become lukewarm.

Pay further attention to how things are said. The reward offered to those who overcome in Smyrna is that they will not be hurt by the second death. Please note that it does not say they will not experience it, just that it won't hurt them. Most of us read that promise to say that those who overcome will escape the second death experience, whatever it turns out to be. In making scores of similar wrong assumptions we move away, a step at a time, from what John was trying to tell us.

Be tough. Insist on seeing and hearing ONLY what is there to understand, and try to see and hear ALL that is there. I will try to help.

Everything that needed to be communicated to us was included in the first three chapters of Revelation. The letters contain all of the details. All of these details from the seven letters are amplified, illustrated and defined as Revelation unfolds, but we must approach the remainder of this inspired writing with open minds, else we waste our time and the Lord's good work.

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