Revelation 1:17

And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; I am the first and the last: So fallen is man, that God's manifestation of His presence overwhelms him. LAID HIS RIGHT HAND UPON ME - so Jesus at the transfiguration to the three prostrate disciples, of whom John was one, saying, "Be not afraid." The 'touch' of His hand imparted strength (; ; ; ; ). UNTO ME. Omitted in 'Aleph (') A C h, Vulgate. THE FIRST AND THE LAST - ...

12-20 The churches receive their light from Christ and the gospel, and hold it forth to others. They are golden candlesticks; they should be precious and pure; not only the ministers, but the members of the churches; their light should so shine before men, as to engage others to give glory to God. And the apostle saw as though of the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in the midst of the golden candlesticks. He is with his churches always, to the end of the world, filling them with light, and life, and love. He was clothed with a robe down to the feet, perhaps representing his righteousness and priesthood, as Mediator. This vest was girt with a golden girdle, which may denote how precious are his love and affection for his people. His head and hairs white like wool and as snow, may signify his majesty, purity, and eternity. His eyes as a flame of fire, may represent his knowledge of the secrets...

Verse Revelation 1:17. _I FELL AT HIS FEET AS DEAD._] The appearance of the _glory_ of the Lord had then same effect upon Ezekiel, Ezekiel 1:28: and the appearance of Gabriel had the same effect on Daniel, Daniel 8:17. The terrible splendour of such majesty was more than the apostle could bear, and he fell down deprived of his senses, but was soon enabled to behold the vision by a communication of strength from our Lord's right hand....

AND WHEN I SAW HIM, I FELL AT HIS FEET AS DEAD - As if I were dead; deprived of sense and consciousness. He was overwhelmed with the suddenness of the vision; he saw that this was a divine being; but he did not as yet know that it was the Saviour. It is not probable that in this vision he would immediately recognize any of the familiar features of the Lord Jesus as he had been accustomed to see him some sixty years before; and if he did, the effect would have been quite as overpowering as is here described. But the subsequent revelations of this divine personage would rather seem to imply that John did not at once recognize him as the Lord Jesus. The effect here described is one that often occurred to those who had a vision of God. See Daniel 8:18, “Now as he was speaking with me, I was in a deep sleep on my face toward the ground; but he touched me, and set me upr

EXPOSITION THE TITLE. The simplest form of this, as of other books of the New Testament, is the oldest: 'The Revelation of John' (Αποκάλυψις Ιωάννου). Other forms worth noting are: 'The Revelation of John the Apostle and Evangelist;' 'The Revelation of the holy and most glorious Apostle and Evangelist, the virgin, the beloved, that leaned on the breast, John the Divine.' 'The divine' as a title for St. John, which is retained here in both the Authorized Version and the Revised Version, is certainly as old as Eusebius ('Praep. Evan.,' 11.18). Recent discoveries at Ephesus have shown that "divines" (θεολόγοι) was a title of the chief priests in the temple of Artemis at Ephesus. It is possible, but hardly probable, that this suggested the title for St. John. It probably points to his witness to the Divinity of the Logos or Word. Eusebius ('Hist. Eccl.,' III. 24.13) remarks that John omit...

AND WHEN I SAW HIM,.... The glorious person here described, who was just behind him, and of whom he had a full view, being so near him: I FELL AT HIS FEET AS DEAD; through consternation and fear, the sight was so amazing and terrible; the appearance of a divine person in any degree of majesty and glory, has had some considerable effect upon men, even upon the best of men; but John seems to be more affected with it than any, as the vision was the more grand and illustrious: Manoah was afraid he should die, but did not fall down as dead; Ezekiel fell upon his face, but had his senses; Daniel's comeliness turned into corruption, and he retained no strength, he fainted, and fell into a deep sleep; see Judges 13:22; but John fell down at once, as dead. This panic which good men were seized with, at any more than ordinary appearance of God, or apprehension of his presence, arose

Revelation 1:1. _The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw._ John was one who was of the same spirit as his Master. He lived in very intimate communion with his Lord, and, therefore, to him the choicest revelations were made. The Lord does not reveal his secret to uncongenial minds. He that will do his will shall know of the doctrine, and he shall know all secret things. Oh! if we lived nearer to God, if we walked more in the love of Christ, how much more we might know and see; or, if we saw not visions, yet there are inward perceptions to the heart which God would grant us if we lived more in the light of his countenance....

ANALYSIS AND ANNOTATIONS I. THE PATMOS VISION OF THE GLORIFIED SON OF MAN CHAPTER 1 _ 1. The introduction (Revelation 1:1)_ 2. Greeting and benediction (Revelation 1:4) 3. The praise (Revelation 1:6) 4. The testimony of the Almighty (Revelation 1:8) 5. John in Patmos (Revelation 1:9) 6. The vision of Christ in glory (Revelation 1:12) 7. The commission ...

THE PROLOGUE gives an account of the vision of the Son of Man, and the manner in which the messages to the seven churches came to the seer. Revelation 1:9. John your brother: the term brother in the NT is used to signify fellow-Christian, the members of the same Christian community (_cf._ the phrase our brother Paul, 2 Peter 3:15; see Harnack, _Mission and Expansion of Christianity_ 2_,_ i. 405 f.). TRIBULATION refers to the persecutions. The order of the words is significant, kingdom coming after tribulation and before patience, and reminds us of the words, Through much tribulation we must enter the kingdom (Acts 14:22). PATIENCE: _i.e._ patient endurance. We must not only enter

John turned to see the speaker whose voice had startled him, and his eyes rested upon. vision of surpassing glory. He beheld seven golden lamps, and among them walked one "like unto the Son of Man." He was not like the Son of Man as he had seen him when he walked in humility upon the earth with his divine glory veiled by the likeness which he had assumed to sinful flesh, but more like the transfigured Christ as he had appeared on the holy mount to his wondering disciples. He was arrayed in. kingly robe and girt with. girdle of gold. Heavenly purity was indicated by the dazzling whiteness of his head and hair, and the splendor that shone from his countenance was like that of the unclouded sun. Every manifestation of the divine glory is accompanied with brilliancy and splendor. "In him there is no darkness at all." The burning bush of Horeb, the glory of Sinai, the Shekinah of the tabernac...