Revelation 1:9

Revelation 1:9. Again the apocalyptic writer, after the manner of the prophets, especially Daniel, names himself (comp. Daniel 7:15; Daniel 8:1; Daniel 8:15; Daniel 9:2; Daniel 10:2; Daniel 12:5). But he is not only a prophet: he is not less personally concerned than those to whom he writes in the revelation which he is to declare. He is their brother, and he is a fellow-partaker with them in the things of which he speaks. In what a touching light does St. John thus present himself to the afflicted Church! But the words which he uses are more than touching. They take for granted that all who read are feeling as acutely as himself; and such is the nature of the Apocalypse, that, unless we either are or put ourselves as far as possible into his position, we shall never understand the book. For an afflicted Church, and not for a Church in worldly prosperity and ease, it has its meaning. The things spoken of by the apostle are three in number, and they are bound together into one conception, although the first is the main particular to be dwelt on, the other two being only additional and explicative (comp. on John 14:6). The first is tribulation, ‘the tribulation' through which the followers of the Lord in every age must pass; but the mention of it is followed by that of the kingdom, the present, not the future kingdom; and the patience, the stedfast endurance which holds out to the end amidst all sorrow, the patience of which we are so strikingly told by our Lord in Luke 21:19, that in it we shall ‘win our souls' (later reading; comp. Revised Version). These, too, are in Jesus, not ‘of' Jesus as if only His spirit were made ours, nor ‘for' Jesus as if only we were suffering and rejoicing and enduring for His sake, but ‘in' Him, believers being one with Him, and therefore partakers of His trials, His royalty, and His heavenly strength.

Was; literally, ‘became,' passed into, an expression, be it noted, that supports, though it could not have originated, the tradition of the writer's banishment.

In the isle that is called Patmos, a small and barren island in the Egean Sea, such as those to which it was customary at that period to banish prisoners. To this island it is generally supposed that St. John was exiled in the time of the Roman Emperor Domitian, and the following words are in harmony with the supposition that this was the explanation of his being there.

Because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. The ‘word of God' is that which comes from God, the ‘testimony of Jesus' that which is given by Jesus; but they cannot be limited here, as at Revelation 1:2, to the revelation of this book (comp. also chaps. Revelation 6:9; Revelation 20:4). All revelation may be so described. Revelation 1:10.

Was; literally, ‘became,' see on Revelation 1:9. It was not his ordinary condition (comp. Ezekiel 2:2). In the spirit. The expression occurs four times in the book, each time at a great crisis in the development of the visions (chaps. Revelation 1:10; Revelation 4:2; Revelation 17:3; Revelation 21:10). It denotes removal in thought from this material scene, elevation into the higher region of spiritual realities, transportation into the midst of the sights and sounds of the invisible world.

On the Lord's day. Certainly not the last day, the great day of judgment, known in the New Testament by a different expression, ‘the day of the Lord,' and before which, not on which, the events of the Apocalypse take place, but the first day of the week (comp. the expression used by St. Paul, ‘the Lord's Supper,' in 1 Corinthians 11:20). Yet the words are not to be regarded as a simple designation of the first day of the week in its distinction from the others. The nature and character of the day are to be kept particularly in view. It is the day of the ‘Lord,' the risen and glorified Lord, the day of Him who, thus risen and glorified, had founded that Church against which no enemies shall prevail. Wrapt therefore in contemplation of the glory of this Lord; not simply with the peaceful influences of the day of rest diffused over his soul, but dwelling amidst the thoughts of that authority and power which are possessed by the risen Jesus at the right hand of the Father, St. John receives the revelation which is here communicated to him.

Thus, then, we have both the outward and the inward circumstances of the Seer; and it will be observed that they correspond closely to the condition of the Lord Himself. St. John is at once in a state of humiliation and of exaltation. He has the marks of suffering upon him, but he is also in possession of a glory which enables him to triumph over suffering: he is ‘in Jesus.'

The vision follows, and the first part of it is the hearing of a great voice as of a trumpet. There can be little doubt that the trumpet spoken of is that so frequently alluded to in the Old Testament, the Shophar, the trumpet of war and judgment (see more fully on chap. Revelation 8:2), not the trumpet of festal proclamation; therefore not merely (as most commentators) one with a strong and clear sound, but with a sound inspiring awe and terror, and corresponding in this respect to the distinguishing characteristic of the Lord in the further details of the vision.