Revelation 1:19

Rev_1:19-20

Write the things which thou hast seen.

Christ enjoining the record of His revelation to man and explaining its meaning

These words suggest two general remarks concerning Christ.

I. He requires men to record the revelations He makes to them.

1. Those which had been experienced.

2. Those things which were now present.

3. Those which were approaching. Now these three classes of things John had to write down. Whatever man has seen, or will see of the Divine, he is bound to record--Write. Literature, though sadly corrupted and the source of enormous mischief, is a Divine institution. Rightly employed it is one of the grandest forces in human life. Thank God for books, our best companions, always ready with their counsel and their comfort. They are arks that have borne down to us, over the floods of centuries, the vital germs of departed ages.

II. He explains to men the meaning of the revelation He makes to them.

1. The unknown of the knowable. What is mystery to one man is not so to another; and what is mystery to a man to-day is no mystery to-morrow.

2. The unknown of the unknowable. He whom we call God is the great mystery, the absolutely unknowable--whom no man hath seen or can see. Now in the former sense the meaning of the word mystery is here employed. (D. Thomas, D. D.)

Sacred literature

I. That it contains the record of things which the authors have seen.

1. Which men have seen with the eye of the body.

2. Things which the authors have seen with the eye of the mind.

3. Things which the authors have seen with the eye of the soul.

II. That it contains the record of things which are happening around us. And the things which are. The Bible records the history of the past ages, of a great antiquity, and in this coincides with our expectation; but it also touches the moral, political, and historic life of men to-day. God knew the ages before they commenced their march, and has enabled men to anticipate their meaning by the gift of a holy inspiration.

III. That it contains the record of things which pertain to the future. And the things which shall be hereafter. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

Concerning writing

1. That men may by writing

communicate what light God gives them for the good of the Church. It is true the Gospel was at first spread and planted by preaching, that is more properly the means of conversion. There is reason also for this, if we consider

(1) The relation that is amongst all the members of the Catholic Church, whereby all are tied, to be edifying one to another, etc.

(2) The end wherefore God had given men gifts, which is to profit withal: and yet

(3) That a man cannot by word make his gift forthcoming in the extent that he is obliged; there is therefore a necessity of using writing for that end, it being a singular gift of God for promoting edification.

2. That none should take on them to write anything, as the Lords mind, for the edification of the Church, without a call to it: I mean not an extraordinary call, as John had; but this I mean, that as there is an ordinary call needful to the preaching of the Gospel, so, in the general, that same consequence will hold in respect of writing for such an end. And if we look through the Scripture, we will find a call for writing as well as for preaching. And to warrant writing, we would conceive so much to be necessary as may

(1) Satisfy the man himself as to his being called to such an eminent duty by God, and therefore there must be somewhat to hold out to him that it is Gods mind he should undertake such a task.

(2) That men walk not by their own satisfaction alone; but that there may be so much as to convince others, that God put them on that work.

3. That a man therefore may have peace as to his undertaking, we conceive there is a concurrence of several things needful to be observed: As

(1) There is a necessity of a single end, to wit, Gods glory, others edification; and in part may come in, his own exoneration as to such a duty. It is not self-seeking, nor getting of a name, nor strengthening such a particular party or opinion, that will give one peace in this matter.

(2) It is necessary, not only that the thing be truth; but that it may be edifying, profitable, and pertinent, at such a time: Gods call to anything, doth ever time it, and tryst it well, as most subservient to the scope of edification.

(3) Besides these, there are circumstances in the concurrence of providences trysting together, in reference to the person writing, to the subject written of, the time wherein and occasion whereupon, and such like: which being observed, may contribute to give some light in the thing. As

(a) If the person be called publicly to edify the Church; if he be of that weight, as his testimony may prove profitable in the Church for the strengthening and confirming of others, or the like considerations; though no new thing be brought forth by him: which ground, as a moral reason, Luke gives to Theophilus of his writing the Gospel (Luk_1:1).

(b) Considerations may be drawn from the subject. As

(i.)

If it be a necessary point that is controversed.

(ii.)

If the Scripture opened be dark and obscure; and possibly not many satisfyingly writing of it.

(iii.)

If the way of handling it be such as gives any new advantage to truth, or to the opening of that Scripture.

(c) The time would be considered, if such a truth be presently controverted, or such a subject necessary to be spoken unto now; if such a persons interposing may be useful, if such a duty be neglected, or if such a Scripture be not made use of, and the like.

(d) Occasion also may be, from Gods putting one to have thoughts of such a subject when others are otherwise taken up, some not having access to be edifying otherwise; as when occasion of study is given, and the thing by public delivery or secret communication is known to others, and called for by them to be made public: or that they would set themselves to it, God giving occasion of health, quietness, means, etc., for it: the thing getting approbation from such as are single, and intelligent, judging such a thing useful; in this the spirits of Gods servants would be subject to others. (James Durham.)

The mystery of the seven stars … and the seven golden candlesticks.

The stars and candlesticks

It is the realm in which they are stationed, and its characteristics as indicated in the provision made for it. Where you see stars there is darkness. And how dark is that world, that kingdom, that community, that heart, into which the light of Christianity has not effectually penetrated? With all the splendour of its genius, all the glory of its arms, all the brilliancy of its power, how savage, how like a sepulchre, full of chilly gloom and festering death! When the Gospel first arose upon the world, in what state did it find mankind? Let the apostle answer (Rom_1:22-32). And when Gods messengers came to them with the light of truth and righteousness, how were they treated? Let the same apostle answer (Heb_11:35-38). Even the Lord of the covenant was crucified and killed, and all His apostles martyred, and the Churchs first age made one continuous baptism of blood by the enthroned malignity of the unsanctified heart. Such is humanity, unreached and unredeemed by the grace of God in Christ Jesus (Luk_10:3). Those stars and candlesticks have not been useless. Some hearts, communities, and kingdoms have been attracted by the light, and have learned to appreciate its transforming beauty, and are found to a greater or less degree walking and rejoicing in it. But still the world in the main is a dark and wicked world. The light sent of God is a light that shineth in a dark place, and will so continue until the day dawn for the great consummation. Till then, therefore, we must expect to suffer and to fight. (J. A. Seiss, D. D.)

The seven golden lampstands

I. A Churchs business is to hold up the light. A church which fails in aggressive evangelistic activity has failed utterly. What is the good of a lamp-post if there is no light in it? It is only a nuisance, for people to knock their heads against in the dark. A large number of the so-called Christian organisations of this day are lampstands without a light. But then, let us remember, too, that whilst thus one must strongly assert that the function of the Church is to lift up a light which is not its own, on the other hand, whosoever partakes of that light--which he cannot lift unless he loves--is changed into its nature. Ye are the light of the world. They are made light by contact with the Light; as a mirror laid in the sunshine will reflect the beams that fall upon it, and will cast them into some corners which, without its intervention, they would not have reached, and will be capable of being gazed on with undazzled eye by some whose optics were too weak to look upon the light itself. Now the scope of this light-bearing and witnessing for Jesus Christ which is the purpose of the Church, and of each individual in it, is not to be unduly narrowed. The Christian community is bound to bring the principles of Christs Gospel to bear upon all forms of life, individual, social, moral, and political, and sometimes economical. That is the function of the individual members of the Church because they are Christians. There is one more word I would like to say, and that is, if it is the purpose of a Christian Church to hold forth the light, how utterly irrelevant and puerile becomes the question whether we are to send the Gospel to distant lands, and how ridiculous the attempt to pit home against foreign evangelistic enterprise necessarily becomes. Light is light, which radiates, and you may as well expect a sunbeam to elect upon which side it shall shine, and how far it shall travel, as try to prescribe to the expansive and outward-rushing instincts of Christian beneficence, the sphere within which they are to confine themselves. Where I can shine I am bound to shine, and England has not got the language that is going to fill the world in a century or two, and the religion which will bless humanity, only in order that with her worldwide empire she may have markets for her produce, or gather as in a net the riches of the nations.

II. This office is the conjoint business of the whole Church. You have sometimes seen methods of illumination by which a rough triangle of wood is dotted all over with tin sockets, and tapers stuck in them. That is not the way in which a Church is to do its evangelising work. The symbol of our text gives a better metaphor--one lampstand holding one light. Now that contains two thoughts.

1. One is the universal obligation. It is the whole Church which composes the stand for the lamp. It is the whole of any Church which is bound equally to evangelistic effort. We are all disposed to think that the Church should do a deal. What about A., B., C., the members of it? It is their business. And it only becomes the duty of the community because it is the duty of each individual within it.

2. A second thought is combined action. We must be contented often to be insignificant, to do functional work, to be one of the great crowd whose hand on the rope gives an indivisible but to Him up yonder not imperceptible pull to bring the vessel to shore. There are a myriad little spheres in the raindrops which make the rainbow, and each of them has a little rainbow in its own tiny depths, but they all fuse together into the sevenfold arch of perfect beauty that spans the sky.

III. This office is discharged under the inspection of Jesus Christ. According to the vision of which the text is the interpretation Christ is, and according to the words of one of the letters He walks, in the midst of the seven candlesticks. The presence of the Christ is the condition of the churches discharging their functions. He walks, says the letter already referred to, in their midst, which is the emblem of His continual activity. In so far as we are lights, we are lights kindled, and therefore burning away. There must be a continual replenishing of the inward supply from which the power of illumination comes, as is set forth in another instance in the Old Testament in which this symbol appears--viz., in Zechariahs prophecy, where he sees the arrangements by which the oil is fed to the golden candlestick. The oil must be fed to us, in so far as we are not lampstands, but lamps. That is to say, the great High Priest of the Temple moves as His predecessors did in the ancient sanctuary, and trims the lamps, not quenching the smoking flax, but raising it to a clearer flame. That presence stimulates. It is a solemn thought that He walks in the midst. It is made more solemn when we remember how, in these letters that follow my text, there is in each case repeated, I know thy works. That inspection of our acts is not all that He is here for, thank God! but He is here for that. Oh, if we believed it, what different people we should be, and what a different Church this would be! (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

The seven golden candlesticks

Your attention will be called to the striking symbol of the Church, as exhibited by the golden candlestick, which, like that which stood in the tabernacle, had its seven branches. We notice the fitness of this symbol of the golden candlestick.

I. In its position. The Church of Christ still waits without the veil, and sheds her blessed light to show to the world the Saviour.

II. The office of the Church. It does not sanctify, nor save, but it does hold forth the true light, and shed its brightness on a darkened world.

III. The unity of the Church.

IV. The source of life to the Church.

V. The beauty of the Church and her holy services.

VI. The value of the Church. (J. H. Norton.)

Things common to all churches

I. That all Christian Churches ought to be presided over by competent and duly-qualified pastors.

1. That all Christian Churches should be presided over by a recognised pastor.

2. That the pastor is the head and representative of the Church to which he belongs.

3. That the pastor exercises a great moral influence upon the Church with which he is connected.

II. That all Christian Churches are under the personal scrutiny of Christ.

1. Christ knows the Church. This thought should solemnise our Church life, and make it reverent in its disposition of soul.

2. Christ rules the Church. His rulership is for the moral welfare and defence of the Church, and should be obediently acknowledged.

3. Christ passes judgment on the Church. He passes judgment on the works, the patience, the suffering, the discipline, the creed, and the enthusiasm of the Church, and condemns or approves accordingly.

III. That all Christian Churches are engaged in spiritual conflict.

IV. That all Christian Churches should be sensitive to the revelation of the Divine Spirit. Lessons:--

1. That the ministerial office has the sanction of Heaven.

2. That Churches should be careful in the selection of their pastor.

3. That Churches should seek to cultivate a pure and fervent spiritual life. (J. S. Exell, M. A.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

1:19 Write: In the vision, God gives instructions for what John is to do on his behalf (see Isa 6:9-10). This vision’s purpose is to help the church (Rev 1:20) understand the present and the future from God’s perspective.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Rev_1:19. It is impossible for the οὐν, without reference to Rev_1:17-18, to serve only to recall the command, Rev_1:11.[842] Hengstenb. better combines the reference to Rev_1:11 with that to Rev_1:17-18 : When, therefore, this fear is removed, do what I have bidden thee. But, apart from the fact that it is very doubtful whether, Rev_1:11, Christ himself has spoken, this reference to Rev_1:17-18, which even does not correspond to the meaning of these verses, is highly unsatisfactory. Grotius seems with greater correctness to remark, Because you see that I am so powerful. The Lord, therefore, bases upon the revelation of his own majesty (Rev_1:17-18) communicated to the prophet, the command to write, i.e., to give written witness to the churches (Rev_1:1 sqq.); since the contents of this revelation, which is to be communicated, is essentially nothing else than the full unfolding of what has been beheld by the prophet (Rev_1:12 sqq.), and the majesty of Christ disclosed by the Lord himself in significant words (Rev_1:17-18). For the Living One will come; who was dead (Rev_1:18), whom they have pierced (Rev_1:7), but who is alive in eternity, whom John beheld, and was commissioned by the Coming One himself to proclaim his advent.

This is also given by the sense of the following words, which more accurately designate the subjects to be written of: ἄ εἰδες, κ.τ.λ. There can be no doubt that the εἰδες refers to the vision above narrated. The καὶ ἅ εἰσὶν, moreover, after its reference to ἃ εἰδ., or to κ. ἃ μελλ., κ.τ.λ., is fixed, means either and what it is, i.e., signifies;[843] or, and what is, i.e., the present relations.[844] The latter is far more natural, especially as the antithesis between ἃ εἰσὶν and ἃ μέλλει γεν. is marked particularly by the retrospection of the μετὰ ταῦτα to the ἃ εἰσὶν. Yet it must not be said that the ἃ εἶδες in ch. 1, ἃ εἰσὶν in chs. 2 and 3, and ἃ μελλ., κ.τ.λ., are comprised; but, rather, the epistles already contain the future, and the succeeding chapters the present; yea, the entire book bears the true prophetic stamp in this, that what is future is also prophesied of the present.[845] That in Rev_1:20 a point of the vision, Rev_1:12 sqq., is actually indicated,[846] can be decided concerning the meaning of the ἃ εἶδες the less, as by the ἃ εἶδες the entire vision, Rev_1:12 sqq., is meant.[847]

[842] Against Aretius, who immediately remarks, ἔκστασις injures the memory; also against De Wette.

[843] Alcas., Aret., Eichh., Heinr., Herd., Ew., Bleek, De Wette; cf. Klief., what they are.

[844] Areth., N. de Lyra, C. a Lap., Grot., Calov., Vitr., Beng., Wolf, Züll., Hengstenb., Ebrard, Lücke p. 401, Volkm.

[845] Cf. Introduction, sec. 2.

[846] Cf. Rev_17:7 sqq., and elsewhere.

[847] Against De Wette; also against Kliefoth.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Rev 1:19 . οὖν , at the command of him who has authority over the other world and the future (resuming Rev 1:11 . now that the paralysing fear of Rev 1:17 has been removed). Like the author of 4th Esdras, this prophet is far more interested in history than in the chronological speculations which engrossed many of the older apocalyptists. The sense of γράψον κ . τ . λ . is not, write the vision already seen ( ἃ εἶδες , Rev 1:10-18 ), the present ( ἃ εἰσὶν , Rev 1:20 to Rev 3:20 , the state of the churches, mainly conceived as it exists now and here), and the future ( ἃ μέλλει γενέσθαι μετὰ ταῦτα , i.e. , Rev 4:1 f.), as though the words were a rough programme of the whole book; nor, as other editors ( e.g. , Spitta) unconvincingly suggest, is ἃ εἰσὶν = “what they mean,” epexegetic of ἃ εἶδες , or εἶδες ( cf. Rev 10:7 , Rev 15:1 ) in a future perfect sense (Selwyn). The following chapters cannot be regarded merely as interpretations of Rev 1:10-18 , and the juxtaposition of μέλλει γεν . (from LXX of Isa 48:6 ) fixes the temporal meaning of εἰσίν here, even although the other meaning occurs in a different context in Rev 1:20 . Besides, Rev 1:10-18 is out of all proportion to the other two divisions, to which indeed it forms a brief prelude. The real sense is that the contents of the vision ( εἶδες , like βλέπεις in Rev 1:11 , being proleptic) consist of what is and what is to be, these divisions of present and future underlying the whole subsequent Apocalypse. The neut. plur. with a plural verb and a singular in the same sentence, indicates forcibly the indifference of the author to the niceties of Hellenistic grammar. For the whole see Dan 2:29-30 , also Barn. i.: “The Lord ( δεσπότης ) hath disclosed to us by the prophets things past and present, giving us also a taste of the firstfruits of the future”; v.: “We ought, therefore, to be exceedingly thankful to the Lord for disclosing the past to us and making us wise in the present; yea as regards the future even we are not void of understanding”. Moral stimulus and discipline were the object of such visions: as Tertullian declares of the Mortanist seers: “uidunt uisiones et ponentes faciem deorsum etiam uoces audiunt manifestas tarn salutares quam occultas” ( de exhort. cast. 10).

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The sum of this prophecy, that the Apostle must write whatsoever he should see, adding nothing, nor taking away anything, as verse 2. Hereof there are two parts: one is a narration of those things which are, that is, which then were at that time contained in the second and third Chapters, the other part is of those things which were to come, contained in the rest of this book.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The oldest manuscripts read, "Write therefore" (inasmuch as I, "the First and Last," have the keys of death, and vouchsafe to thee this vision for the comfort and warning of the Church).

things which are--"the things which thou hast seen" are those narrated in this chapter (compare Rev 1:11). "The things which are" imply the present state of things in the churches when John was writing, as represented in the second and third chapters. "The things which shall be hereafter," the things symbolically represented concerning the future history of the fourth through twenty-second chapters. ALFORD translates, "What things they signify"; but the antithesis of the next clause forbids this, "the things which shall be hereafter," Greek, "which are about to come to pass." The plural (Greek) "are," instead of the usual Greek construction singular, is owing to churches and persons being meant by things" in the clause, "the things which are."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 19. Write the things which thou hast seen] These visions and prophecies are for general instruction, and therefore every circumstance must be faithfully recorded. What he had seen was to be written; what he was about to see, relative to the seven Churches, must be also written; and what he was to see afterwards, concerning other Churches and states, to be recorded likewise.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(19) Write the things which thou hast seen (better, sawest).—It is well to notice the small connecting word “then,” which has been omitted in the English. It gives the practical thought to the whole of the previous vision. This vision is to be described for the benefit of the Church of Christ, that she may never forget Him who is the foundation on which she rests; the true fountain of her life; and in whom she will find the source of that renewing power to which the last Note alludes. In the history of the faith it will be always true that they who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength (Isa_40:28-31). Lest, then, at any time the saints of God should be tempted to cry that “their judgment was passed over from their God,” the Evangelist is bidden first to detail this vision of Him who is the Life and Captain of His people. He is also to write the things which are—those eternal principles and truths which underlie all the phenomena of human history; or the things which concern the present state of the churches—and the things which are about to be after these things—those great and wondrous scenes of the fortunes of the Church and of the world which will be unfolded.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. Write] Add therefore—The Lord reveals His exaltation in His Manhood as a reason why His servant is not to fear and is to write His words in faith and hope.

the things which are] Some take these words to mean “what they (viz. the things which thou hast seen) are,” i.e. what they mean. But it is simpler to take the verse as meaning, that he is to write down the whole vision, whether of past, present, or future events. “The things which thou hast seen” are not, indeed, by any logical necessity visions of past events: but all that he had yet seen actually did symbolise the facts of Christ’s Incarnation, Resurrection, and entrance into glory. It may be observed, that the Incarnation and Ascension are actually represented in a later scene of the vision, Rev_12:2; Rev_12:5. “The things which are” will perhaps refer chiefly to the messages to the Seven Churches, “the things which shall be hereafter” beginning with ch. 4.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Write the things which thou hast seen,.... The Alexandrian copy and some others, and the Complutensian edition, read, "write therefore the things", &c. meaning what he had now seen, the vision of one like to the son of man, amidst the golden candlesticks, with seven stars in his right hand, and as above described; this was what he had seen Rev 1:12; for it does not refer to what he had seen of Christ in the days of his flesh, but to what he had now seen in this representation of him:

and the things which are; the state of the churches of Christ in the apostolic age, and at that time signified by the Ephesian church, and that part of the Smyrnean which John lived to see:

and the things which shall be hereafter; from hence unto the end of the world, in successive generations, signified by the rest of the churches, and in the visions of the seals, trumpets, and vials.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

19 Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;

Ver. 19. Write the things which thou hast seen] That is, the gospel, the history of Christ (as some think), which he wrote at Ephesus after his return from Patmos, over forty years after our Saviour’s death.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Write the things which thou hast seen - An account of the vision which thou hast had, Rev 1:10-18.

And the things which are - Give an account of those things which thou hast seen as designed to represent the condition of the seven churches. He had seen not only the Saviour, but he had seen seven lampstands, and seven stars in the hand of the Saviour, and he is now commanded to record the meaning of these symbols as referring to things then actually existing in the seven churches. This interpretation is demanded by Rev 1:20.

And the things which shall be hereafter - The Greek phrase rendered “hereafter” - μετὰ ταῦτα meta tauta - means “after these things”; that is, he was to make a correct representation of the things which then were, and then to record what would occur “after these things:” to wit, of the images, symbols, and truths, which would be disclosed to him after what he had already seen. The expression refers to future times. He does not say for how long a time; but the revelations which were to be made referred to events which were to occur beyond those which were then taking place. Nothing can be argued from the use of this language in regard to the length of time embraced in the revelation-whether it extended only for a few years or whether it embraced all coming time. The more natural interpretation, however, would seem to be, that it would stretch far into future years, and that it was designed to give at least an outline of what would be the character of the future in general.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Write the things which thou hast seen; either the things which thou hast seen from the beginning of the gospel; for John, Mat 4:21, was a companion of Christ from the time presently following his baptism and temptations: or, the vision of me which thou hast now had; which I judge most probably the sense, not understanding why our Lord should set John to write what (though they were not yet written, yet) Christ knew should be written in another book by John himself, viz. in his Gospel, and by Matthew, Mark, and Luke, in their histories of the Gospel, and in the Acts of the Apostles; especially considering they were to be written plainly, so as he who runs may read them; and what John was to write here, was to be written enigmatically, and darkly represented in visions: and it is against reason to think the same things should be first revealed plainly, and then more darkly, and both by direction from God.

And the things which are; the present affairs of the church; we have the history till Paul was carried prisoner to Rome, (which was about the 60th year after Christ), in the Acts of the apostles; so that I conceive the farthest that John looked back was but thirty-five years; for he was in Patmos about the year 93, and is conceived to have written this book, 96. Hence the matter of the Revelation is easily concluded:

1. The things which were the present affairs of the church, Anno 96, or looking back only to 60, which things are supposed to be written by John, in Rev 2:3.

And the things which shall be hereafter; to the end of the world, under the reign of the dragon, (the pagan Roman empire), and the reign of antichrist, or the beast, for one thousand two hundred and sixty years, and from thence until Christ shall come to judgment.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. Write—This command naturally appears to presuppose immediate writing; precluding the notion of John’s penning the Apocalypse after leaving Patmos. He is to be a recorder of speeches made. Doubtless the authority that could command the dead was competent to enable his hand to write, if need be, with all the rapidity and accuracy of a modern stenographic reporter. Ουν—therefore—is found in the Greek, in all the MSS., and in all the Versions except our English. It is an important, a hinging, word. It was for this write that the Christophany takes place. Because of my personal presentation in glorious form, and my authenticating self-annunciation, therefore write.

Things… seen—The Christophany, the annunciation, and the symbols of stars and candlesticks.

Things which are—The present facts and conditions of the seven Churches as symbolic of the normal condition of all Churches.

Which shall be—The future destinies of the Churches as dependent on their present conduct. We might, indeed, suppose from the comprehensive terms of this threefold range of topics, that the whole book is here included in the commission. But the symbols of stars and angels indicate that the things of the seven Churches, and the constituency they represent, are alone embraced.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Write the things. The true reading and most English Versions give, "write therefore the things;" i.e. because thou hast seen me and received thy commission from me. The omission of "therefore" comes from the Genevan Version. The threefold division of things probably refers to past, present, and future visions, not to the past, present, and future in history. But it is possible that "the things which thou sawest" refers to the visions, and "the things which are," etc., to the realities symbolized in the visions.

Vers. 19, 20. Christ enjoining the record of his revelation to man and explaining its meaning.

"Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter," etc. These words suggest two general remarks concerning Christ.

I THAT HE REQUIRES MEN TO RECORD THE REVELATIONS HE MAKES TO THEM. He is the great Revealer of God to humanity, and his revelations are ever recurring and constant. And here we are taught that they are not only to be taught and studied, but to be recorded. The revelations here referred to are of three classes.

1. Those which had been experienced. "The things which thou hast seen." What things John had already seen! How manifold, wonderful, significant! What man of any reflection or conscience has not seen things from God?

2. Those things which were now present. "The things which are." Things that were at hand, that came within his observation and consciousness. There are eternal principles that underlie and shape all human history. These principles are as present as the air we breathe, although the majority of the race are unconscious of them. There are some which reveal themselves in vivid consciousness these shall be recorded, their images shall be photographed on the heart.

3. Those which were approaching. "The things which shall be hereafter." With that inspiration of him who sees the end from the beginning, the human soul may catch a glimpse of all future times. The divinely inspired genius becomes to some extent independent of all space and time, overleaps all boundaries, geographic and chronologic. It seems to have been so with John on this occasion. In his visions the future ages of the world appeared down to the final trump of doom. John seems to have "Dipt into the future, far as human eye could see; Saw the vision of the world, and all the wonders that would be.

Now, these three classes of things John had to write down those that had unfolded themselves, those that were unfolding themselves, and those that would be to the end of time. Whatever maul has seen or will see of the Divine, he is bound to record. "Write." Literature, though sadly corrupted and the source of enormous mischief, is a Divine institution. Rightly employed, it is one of the grandest forces in human life. Truth orally communicated is inexpressibly important and immeasurably influential. He who speaks truth rationally, faithfully, earnestly, devoutly, touches the deepest springs in the great world of mind. What bloodless and brilliant victories the truth has won in all ages! Albeit truth written has some advantages over truth spoken, for man seems to multiply himself by the book he has written. His book is a kind of second incarnation, in which he may live and work ages after the fingers that held his pen are mouldered into dust. Thank God for books, our best companions, always ready with their counsel and their comfort. They are arks that have borne down to us, over the floods of centuries, the vital germs of departed ages. Let men write them, but let their subjects be not the trashy things of time and sensual pleasure, the visions of a wild fancy or the speculations of a reckless intellect, but the revelations that Christ has made.

II THAT HE EXPLAINS TO MEN THE MEANING OF THE REVELATION HE MAKES TO THEM. "The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks." There are two kinds of mystery, the knowable and unknowable.

(1) The unknown of the knowable. It is conceivable that the whole created universe is knowable, even to the intellect of finite man. Yet what the most enlightened man knows is but a fraction of what to him is still unknown a mystery. Hence every step in the advance of an earnest inquirer is turning the mystery of today into an intelligible fact of tomorrow. What is mystery to one man is not so to another; and what is mystery to a man today is no mystery tomorrow. The other kind of mystery is

(2) the unknown of the Unknowable. He whom we call God is the great Mystery, the absolutely Unknowable whom no man "hath seen or can see." Now, in the former sense the meaning of the word "mystery" is here employed, In Christ"s explanation here we have two things worth note.

1. The ideal Christian pastor. "The seven stars are the angels of the seven Churches." Who the angels were is a matter of speculation. Every settled Christian community, whether religious or not, has some leading person or persons amongst them. In these Christian congregations in Asia Minor there seems to have been some leading man. He was, no doubt, like Timothy in Ephesus the pastor. Every true Christian minister or angel is a "star." His light is borrowed, but borrowed from the primal source the "Sun of Righteousness." His orbit is Divine. Faithful teachers are stars that shall shine forever; (Dan_12:3) false teachers are wandering stars, (Jud_1:13) or stars which fall from heaven. (Rev_8:10 Rev_6:13 Rev_12:4)

2. The ideal Christian Church. "The seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven Churches." Observe:

(1) Christian congregations are lights. "Candlesticks.

(2) They are precious lights. They are "golden." They throw the best kind of information upon an ignorant world.

(3) They are imperfect lights. A lamp is a composite and requires constant care. No finite power can make the sun brighter or larger. Not so with the lamp. The lamp may grow dim and go out the "golden candlestick" may be there, but no light issues therefrom. "It was thought by the ancients that if ever the fires which burned on the altar of Vesta became extinct, they could not be rekindled unless by being brought in contact with the sun. D.T.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Write the things which thou hast seen - This day: which accordingly are written, ver. 11-18. And which are - The instructions relating to the present state of the seven churches. These are written, ver. 20-chap. iii, 22. And which shall be hereafter - To the end of the world; written, chap. iv, 1, &c.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

hereafter

things that are to be after these, i.e. after the churches.

The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

This chapter concludes with a solemn charge given by our Saviour to St. John, to write and record the vision of the seven stars, and seven golden candlesticks, which he had newly seen; letting him into the mystery of both, by telling him, that the seven stars are seven angels; that is, signify seven angels; and the seven candlesticks are, that is, signify seven churches, and represent them.

In like manner, when Christ says in the sacrament, This is my body, the meaning is, this bread signifies and represents my body.

Here note, That the bishops and governors, the pastors and teachers, of the church are called angels, because they are sent by God on his message, because they had their commission from him; and to signify that unspotted purity which be found with them, both in life and doctrine; and they are represented by stars, to denote their dignity and duty, their usefulness and beneficialness, the swiftness and constancy of their motion, but especially in regard to their nature.

A star is of the same nature with the heavens, celestial; not earthly, not elementary: ministers should be heavenly, holy, blameless, inoffensive; they should teach by tongue and hand, and instruct by lip and life. God grant that in our hearts we may experimentally find the works of holiness, and in our lives express the power of holiness. Amen.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. Write. Not only the vision just seen, but the things which are, viz., the description of the state of the churches given in chapters 2 and 3; and also the things which shall be, viz., the revelation of future history recorded in chapters 6–20.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

The Son of Man continues to speak.

stars

These stars are symbols that represent the seven angels of the seven churches. (See: Symbolic Language)

lampstands

The lampstands are symbols that represent the seven churches. See how you translated this in Revelation 1:12. (See: Symbolic Language)

the angels of the seven churches

Possible meanings are 1) heavenly angels who protect the seven churches or 2) human messengers to the seven churches.

seven churches

This refers to seven churches that actually existed in Asia Minor at that time. See how you translated this in Revelation 1:11.

translationWords

lampstand

angel

church

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

19. ἅ εἶδες. If the Revelation be a homogeneous record of a single trance, this must mean the vision just described, otherwise we might think the Seer was bidden to write all his visions. Jeremiah had prophesied more than twenty years (Jer 1:2; Jer 36:1) before he was bidden to write. If so it would follow from μετὰ ταῦτα and ἡ φωνὴ ἡ πρώτη Rev 4:1 that the earlier visions pass again before the Seer.

ἃ εἰσίν. Whether the verse means that the Seer is to write the whole vision, whether of past, present or future events, or that he is to write the vision and its interpretation and its appointed sequel, is hard to decide because there is nothing in the general arrangement of the book to support either sense. The use of εἰσὶν twice in the following verse (perhaps in Rev 16:14), and Rev 17:9 sqq. tells in favour of the latter, so too does the change from the plural εἰσὶν to the singular ἃ μέλλει γίνεσθαι. In a careful writer this would almost certainly mark a contrast between the several meanings of what was shown in the visions and the mass of future events.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19.] Write therefore (‘because I have vouchsafed thee this vision,—I whose majesty is such, and whose manifested loving-kindness to thee.’ The connexion is better thus than with ver. 11, as some: “Now that thy fear is over, write what I bade thee,” Hengst. So Aret., who remarks, “ἔκστασις memoriam lædit.” But it is very doubtful whether ver. 11 is spoken by our Lord at all: see there) the things which thou sawest (just now: the vision which was but now vouchsafed thee), and what things they signify (two meanings of ἃ εἰσίν are possible. 1) ‘the things which are,’ viz. which exist at the present time. This has been taken by Arethas, Lyra, Corn.-a-lap., Grot., Calov., Vitr., Beng., Wolf, Züll., Hengst., Ebrard, Lücke, Düsterd., Rev_2) as above, ‘what things they (the ἃ εἶδες) signify:’ so Alcas., Aretius, Eichhorn, Heinr., Ewald, De W. In deciding between these, we have the following considerations: a) the use of the plural εἰσίν, as marking off this clause in meaning from the next, which has ἃ μέλλει γενέσθαι. If this latter is sing., why not this? Is it not because the μέλλει γενέσθαι merely signifies the future time, in which this latter class, en masse, were to happen, whereas this ἃ εἰσί imports, what these things, each of them, severally, mean? And b) this seems to be borne out by the double repetition of εἰσιν in the next verse, both times unquestionably in this meaning. So that I have no hesitation in taking the meaning given above), and the things which are about to happen after these (viz. after ἃ εἶδες: the next vision, beginning with ch. 4., which itself opens with μετὰ ταῦτα εἶδον. I would take γενέσθαι in the sense of happening, not in the wide ages of history, but in apocalyptic vision: seeing that, ταῦτα meaning ἃ εἶδες, a present vision, ἃ μέλλει γενέσθαι will by analogy mean the things which shall succeed these, i. e. a future vision. Notice, it is not ἃ δεῖγενέσθαι as in ver. 1: not the necessity of prophecy, but only the sequence of things seen);

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.