Wooooaaaaa, part 1 of 22 (Revelations 1)

The Apostle John has been exiled to the island of Patmos.  The traditional view is that he wrote Revelations later in the first century AD, after all the other foundational Apostles have died.  He alone is left.  He writes one final book.

Likewise, the Christian faith has exploded in numbers, so much so that it can even be a social scapegoat.  In 64 AD, a fire breaks out in the city of Rome and destroys much of the city.  The origins of the fire are unknown, but Emperor Nero blamed Christians.

Revelations 1 explains what the book is.  John is told to write in a book what he sees and send the book to "the seven" churches - Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.

This book is highly symbolic and probably no two Christians fully agree on everything about it.

From my perspective, the book being sent to "the seven" churches does not mean that the message applies only to those seven churches, but all churches for all time.  The number "seven" is frequently associated with a complete total, so the book being sent to seven churches means that the message of the book applies to all churches at all times.

Why does this matter?  In particular, chapters 2-3 deal with specific problems faced at these particular cities.  I do not think these are "eras" that the church goes through, but rather pitfalls that any church or individual can fall into at any point in time.  

I would take it a few steps further.  I think much of what John has to say is not so much a buildup of events that will take place at the second coming, but rather encouragement of the problems that every generation will face until the second coming.  Thus, the letter being sent to the seven churches (I.e., the entire church) is part of that.

There is an actual story that takes place as John writes the book.  The book is more famous for its descriptive imagery, but John actually describes the circumstances of how he wrote it.  

First, he hears a loud voice like a trumpet.  So, he is on Patmos.  He might be doing something completely mundane like thinking of dinner when this voice comes out of however.

He turns around and sees a powerful man surrounded by seven lamps.  The man is Jesus, but it is not the Jesus that John last saw.  Rather, this Jesus has eyes of fire and a sword coming out of his mouth.  John can only fall at his feet as if he were dead.

This is the same man that John lived with for three years.  Here Jesus appears to John in full radiance.  All John can do is fall down.  

Likewise, the lamp and lamp stands surround Jesus.  This is explained to represent the seven churches (again, entire church) and the angels associated with the seven churches.