⁹I, John, your brother and fellow participant in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.¹⁰I was in the spirit (or Spirit) on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,¹¹saying, “Write in a book what you see, and send it to the seven churches that are in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea” (Rev1:9-11).

Firstly, a brief word about how John describes his relationship with his fellow believers in the churches to whom he wrote. He doesn’t describe them as “fellow believers” although they are that, but rather as “fellow participants in the tribulation, kingdom and perseverance in Jesus”. That is indicative of that to which I have recently testified – that a true disciple of Jesus Christ, unless he/she shares in the Lord’s earthly suffering/tribulations, is none of His; nor shall they attain the glorious privileges that go with being a co-heir with Christ (e.g. Rev3:21😲). For as Paul indicates, such will be the case “if and only if^NOTE1 we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him (Rom8:17). Jesus Himself had been just as adamant on the matter, typified by His caution to would-be disciples in Lk14:26-33 – the ultimate challenge to any form of easy believism or so-called prosperity gospel.

The sustained mystery

Moving on to verse 11, this points to a mystery within a mystery. An angel tells John to “write in a book whatsoever you see”. The resulting book/scroll has become the final book of the New Testament, and most would rightly regard that as something of a mystery in view of the heavy symbolism. Yet there is a still deeper mystery within it, for in accordance with divine instruction, John did not in fact go on to record everything he saw – namely a mystery revealed to him by the seventh angel/messenger (Greek: ἄγγελος) . And it was to remain a mystery, for chapter ten records that “when the seven peals of thunder had spoken, I was about to write; and I heard a voice from heaven, saying, ‘Seal up the things which the seven peals of thunder have spoken, and do not write them.’”(v4).

Yet its opening verse had indicated that Revelation was to be an exposé (albeit often expressed symbolically) of what was to occur up to and including the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there was something quite crucial that was not to be revealed to the churches, at least not at the point of their inception. Rather it was to be “sealed up” until the very last days. As we shall see, that pertained to “the final mystery of God” (10:7). It relates to the “Little Book”, which will be considered in more detail once we get to chapter ten.

NOTE #1  “εἴπερ” (Rom8:17) – an infrequently used strengthened conditional clause meaning “if it is indeed the case that” or in modern parlance “if and only if” (we suffer with Christ)   

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