And I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me.  And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands was One like a Son of Man, dressed in a foot-length robe wrapped around the chest with a golden sash.  Rev. 1:12, 13.
 
    We noticed yesterday that he concept of a "son of man" in the midst of the golden lampstands echoes images of the Old Testament covenant.  A major acpect of the Old Testament covenant resembles what we could call a contract today.  In a "covenant" two parties enter into a relationship of some kind--to build a house, to get married, to go to school.  All these things involve a connection between people or between a person and an institution.
 
    An interesting aspect of the Old Testament covenants is the part about "blessings" and "curses" (see Deuteronomy 28, for example).  While such language sounds strange in today's world, the idea behind it is not.  Let me illustrate.
 
    A few years back the bridge collapsed in my hometown.  It was a terrible thing for the community because it turned the downtown business section into a dead-end street.  And that pretty much destroyed the place economically.  The merchants no longer had customers.  Not only that, but it became necessary to travel anywhere from seven to 15 miles out of our way in order to cross a river only a few dozen feet wide.
 
    The situation was so desperate that when the Department of Transportation made a contract for a new bridge, the community leaders said, "You must put a date in that contract."  The authorities set the bridge's completion for May 26, about nine months later.  The community leaders put "blessings and curses" in the contract.  For every day that they finished the bridge ahead of schedule, the builders would receive $10,000 extra.  And every day that completion was late, $10,000 would be deducted from their final payment.  The contractors finished the bridge on May 1, 26 days early!
 
    The good news of the gospel is that God in Christ has already met the obligation of the covenant at the cross and the resurrection (Acts 13:32, 33; 2 Cor. 1:20).  For those in relationship with Jesus, the covenant contains nothing we need to fear.  The promises of God are all freely available in Christ.  We can have security in our relationship with Him.
 
    Many Christians are insecure.  They don't know if they have done enough or if they are right with God.  To them, Jesus says, "I am here among you."  Are these churches perfect?  Have they done all the right things?  No.  It's very clear that they are fallible, make mistakes, and, in some ways, are even turning away from Jesus.  Yet He continues to walk among those lampstands as the faithful God of the covenant who is always there for His people.
 
I believe that your sacrifice is sufficient to save me.  Make this concept real to me today.

And I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me.  And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands was One like a Son of Man, dressed in a foot-length robe wrapped around the chest with a golden sash.  Rev. 1:12, 13.
 
    One day a highway patrolman in South Dakota was heading north on Interstate 29 just as I was heading south past him.  Since my speed control was set at the speed limit (65 miles per hour), I was not concerned about his presence.  I was obeying the law.  So when the lights on his car began flashing and he slowed to make a U-turn, I remained calm with a clear conscience.  I figured he must be after someone else (although the road was fairly deserted at the time).
 
    As he came up and moved behind me it was clear that I was the one he was after.  With a clear conscience I pulled over, curious as to what the problem was.  "Did you know that you were traveling kind of fast?"
 
    "No, sir," I replied courteously, "I had my speed control set at 65 miles per hour."
 
    His next assertion startles me.  "You registered 77 miles per hour on my radar."
 
    "That's impossible," I responded as courteously as outrage would allow.  "I've been traveling at this setting for 3,00 miles now and no one has stopped me.  Are you sure there isn't something wrong with your radar?"
 
    That comment was probably a negotiating mistake, correct as it may have been.  It required me to make a substantial contribution to the well-being of the community I was passing through.  Although I felt angry about it for weeks, I could do nothing about it.
 
    John sees Jesus among seven golden lampstands, which represent the seven churches of Asia Minor (Rev. 1:20)  The vision portrays Jesus as walking among the lampstands, ministering to the churches.  The background to this idea is the Old Testament covenant: "I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be my people" (Lev. 26:12, NIV).
 
    One of the best things about the covenant concept is that God is not arbitrary.  He subjects Himself to the covenant.  "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands" (Deut. 7:9, NIV).  God is not like the ancient pagan gods who couldn't be trusted.  The Hebrew God approaches His people in a consistent fashion, obeying His own rules.  This is a tremendous source of security and stability for our spiritual life.  We know what to expect from Him.  I'm thankful God is not like that highway patrolman in South Dakota.
 
Lord, I commit myself anew to You today.  I desire the spiritual stability that You have promised in Your covenant with us.

 And I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me.  And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands.  Rev. 1:12.
 
    On Easter in 1969 I had the privilege of being in Rome.  After attending the pope's Easter remarks in St. Peter's Square, my three friends and I went to see the ruins of the ancient Roman Forum.  It was quite a thrill to stroll on ground that Peter and Paul must have walked, looking at the remains of buildings that had been once grand, but still made of the same stones that the apostles would have seen and touched.
 
    Most tourists visiting the Forum start opposite the Mamertine Prison (where Paul may have been confined).  You then move past the temple of the Vestal Virgins, up and down Palatine Hill, and past the Basilica of Constantine to the other end of the Forum.  There we came across the Arch of Titus, the Roman general who conquered the city of Jerusalem in the year A.D. 70.  Imagine our excitement when we saw in sharp relief an illustration of soldiers parading around Rome with the seven-branched lampstand removed from the Temple in Jerusalem!  We felt truly close to the world of the Bible.
 
    Throughout the ancient Roman world the seven-branched menorah (lampstand) was the most common symbol for Judaism, just as the fish and the cross later became emblems for Christian faith.  In a striking way, the book of Revelation adopts this image of Judaism to represent the churches of Asia Minor.  By this means John clearly understood that true Christian faith was heir to Israel's heritage, even if at times the synagogue did exclude Christians (Rev. 2:9; 3:9).  It was those who did the expelling that had lost touch with their Jewish heritage, not the faithful followers of Yeshua the Messiah.
 
    Were the Nazis right, then?   Has the church replaced Israel?  Was the Holocaust a judgment from God rather than human wickedness?  It is hard to imagine first-century Christians taking such a position.  They proclaimed a Jewish Messiah, who fulfilled the ancient promises made to Israel.  They converted pagans to Israel's one true God.  While not requiring Gentiles to be circumcised, Jewish Christians such as Paul embraced them as new participants in their Jewish faith in Jesus.  Gentile believers were the spiritual children of Abraham (Gal. 3:28), inwardly circumcised (Rom. 2:28, 29) and grafted into Israel's tree while unbelieving branches were broken off (Rom. 11:17).
 
    In the book of Revelation the lampstand image stresses the Jewishness of Christian faith and the intimate connection between that faith and the ancient heritage of Israel.
 
Lord, help me to learn more about my Jewish roots and appreciate them the way Paul and John did.

  "Write what you you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea."  Rev. 1:11.
 
    The seven churches are the first of a series of sevenfold visions in the book of Revelation.  John describes seven churches, seven seals, seven trumpets, and seven bowl-plagues.  An introductory scene precedes each of these sevenfold visions.  For example, the vision of Christ among the seven lampstands (Rev. 1:12-20) comes before the vision of the seven letters (Rev. 2:3).  The introductory scenes are like stage backdrops in front of which the actions of each vision take place.  As a result, John Bowman (in The Interpreter's Dictionary of the Bible) persuasively sets out the thesis that Revelation is modeled on the form of an ancient Greek play, with seven acts and seven scenes played out against the backdrop of each vision's introduction.
 
    In the book of Revelation, then, God has used the familiar form of the drama to communicate a message about what is real in the universe.  While actors often speak of things that are not as if they were true, drama can be a powerful vehicle to express truth.  A former student of mine, Dan, always wanted to become a famous actor.  Perhaps that was why his sister Candy said what she did at their father's funeral.  She observed to him that being a minister seemed a lot like theater.
 
    Somewhat to his surprise, Dan later entered ministry and found out that his sister was right in a way.  He discovered that ministers play a role of great power and influence.  They represent God to people.  Ministers may have inappropriate thoughts at times, but they dare not act on them or they will bring the name of Christ into disrepute among the weak, the young, or the unbelieving.
 
    Ministers, therefore, play a role.  They must set an example, because they represent Christ in the world.  They must keep true to the script and not goof around, flirt, or tease.  At the same time they need to be accessible enough that people will share their pain with them.  It's a rather challenging task.  So when Dan told Candy that he had decided to become a minister, she said to him, "Good, Danny, that's theater."
 
    The role of the Christian in a secular world is equally challenging.  We must always act with the mission in mind, yet be accessible to those in need.  Who is skillful enough to meet the challenge?  No one, but with God all things are possible.  He chose a murderer with a speech impediment to lead His people out of Egypt (Moses).  He selected the runt of the litter to slay the giant (David).  He was born in a manger, yet changed the world!  He summons the unlikely to do what seems impossible.  And He doesn't call the equipped, but equips the ones He calls.
 
Lord, help me keep the mission in mind in all I do and say today.

   I was in the Spirit during the Lord's Day, and I heard a loud voice like a trumpet behind me.  Rev. 1:10.
 
    What did John mean by the "Lord's Day"?  When did the prophet receive his vision?  As scholars look at this text, they don't find the question easy to answer.  They offer at least five plausible options.  First is the day we call Saturday.  Saturday is the seventh day of the week on the Hebrew calendar, known to the Jews as the Sabbath.  Scripture frequently refers to the Sabbath as "the Lord's Day."  In Isaiah 58 the Lord Himself speaks of the Sabbath as "my holy day."  And in Mark 2:27, 28 Jesus declares that He is "Lord of the Sabbath."  So a strong biblical option for understanding John is that he was alluding to these earlier texts to identify the Sabbath as the day on which the vision came.  Since he shows a great deal of interest in the Sabbath command in chapter 14, I believe this is the best option.
 
    The second option is the day now named Sunday.  Christian writings from the second century (as close as 35-40 years after the book of Revelation) clearly use the phrase "the Lord's Day" as a figure of speech for Sunday.  The idea developed in relation to the fact that Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week (our Sunday), so "the Lord's Day" could allude to that.  But we have no evidence that Christians in the first century kept Sunday.
 
    A third possibility is that John was referring to what we regard as Easter.  Jesus rose on Sunday, the first day of the week.  But it was also at the time of the Jewish Passover.  Christians celebrate Easter every year around the time of Passover.  If that is what the prophet had in mind, he is telling us he received the vision in the spring, around Passover season.
 
    Fourth, perhaps John had in mind the Old Testament Day of the Lord, a phrase used in the Bible for God's great intervention at the end of earth's history.  In this case the revelator would be saying something like "I saw this vision with the end of the world in mind."
 
    Fifth, some ancient documents suggest a special "Emperor's Day" once a year, when people would gather for worship.  John might be "thumbing his nose" a bit at the Roman emperor by asserting that God intervened on the very day when the enemy seemed in full control.  Revelation shows that Jesus is Lord, not a human emperor.
 
    At a moral spiritual level, it doesn't hurt to remind ourselves that every day is a gift from God.  Every day is a day "that the Lord has made" (Ps. 118:24), a time to be used to glorify Him and to bless others.  Every day is to be enjoyed with thanksgiving.  Have a good one today!
 
Lord, You have given this day to me.  I return it to You with my thanks.  I dedicate all my thoughts and actions to Your service.

 I, John, your brother and companion in the affliction and kingdom and patient endurance which is in Jesus, came to be on the island which is called Patmos, on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.  Rev. 1:9.
 
    I was born on the upper east side of Manhattan when the area was poor.  I grew up in a nearby suburb and attended church in Manhattan.  If you can drive in New York City, I always thought, you can do it anywhere.  I found it rather amusing to have people visit from other parts of the country and have them frozen in horror as I drove at breakneck pace, weaving in and out of traffic.  I was sure that my driving abilities were superior to anyone who had learned how to drive in less interesting parts of the world.
 
    But as I grew older God provided me with opportunities to travel and find out that my confidence as a driver rested on fairly limited experience.  While the drivers in New York City are fast and often reckless, they don't hold a candle to those of Paris or Rome.  And for sheer audacity, no one can compare with the cab drivers of Caracas, Venezuela!
 
    But for me the most challenging places to operate a car in are the former British countries of the Southern Hemisphere, such as Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa.  Not only do people drive on the left there, but the driver sits in the right-hand seat and shifts gears with the left hand!  And imagine figuring out how to drive on the left and then discovering the marvelous British legacy known as the roundabout.  Instead of having everyone stop at an intersection, in such countries the cars participate in a free-for-all merry-go-round that sucks you in and spits you out somewhere else, sometimes in the right direction!  While I thought driving in these places was great fun, I made plenty of foolish moves along the way, humbling my New York confidence.
 
    When John received the vision on Patmos, he was not in his usual environment.  He was far away from the comfortable routines of his past.  And the changes in his life included experiences he called "affliction."  But as difficult as life on Patmos was for him, he knew that God had brought him there.
 
    When life is routine it is easy to feel as if we are in control, as if we can handle whatever may come.  Quickly we may lose our sense of need for God.  So sometimes God moves us away from our usual round of activities and puts us in places where we have to depend more fully on Him.  Approaching the end of time, followers of God will find themselves placed in new and challenging circumstances.  As a result they will come to rely on Him more consistently and completely than ever before.
 
Lord, help me to remember You in the prosperous and easy times.  Bring me experiences that will prepare me for whatever may come, yet keep me humble in my need for You.

  I, John, your brother and companion in the affliction and kingdom and patient endurance which is in Jesus, came to be on the island which is called Patmos, on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.  Rev. 1:9
 
    It is all too easy to pontificate about the sufferings of others when you haven't experienced what they have gone through.  I remember a beloved teacher whose wife was dying of cancer.  His graciousness to each student in spite of the horrible burden that he carried to school every day awed me.  The power of his life and of his impassioned expositions on love, marriage, and suffering in the Christian life constantly stirred me.  I wanted nothing more than to be like him when I finished my education.
 
    Things went from bad to worse.  Day after day we saw less of our teacher as he was more and more needed to care for his wife's deteriorating condition.  Occasionally he let us peek briefly through the curtain of his stoic fortitude and sense the pain that he and his wife were experiencing.  The funeral was an awesome moment of melancholy in which we all embraced our beloved professor in his spiritual emotional pain.  The one who had so often carried us in our troubles now needed our support.
 
    Loving and admiring this man, I wanted so badly to do or to say something that would be helpful.  In my mind I ranged through my seven years of ministry, thinking of all the brilliant things I might have said at funerals.  Yet I had never, up to that point, lost anyone who was truly close to me.  Aunts, uncles, and parents were still alive, and my grandparents had been somewhat distant. 
 
    Taking my teacher aside one day, I shared some theological thoughts that I hoped would be helpful to him in his loss.  His response stunned me.  It was the only time I ever saw him angry.  "Don't you ever do that to anyone again!" he said.  "None of that theology is worth a piece of manure right now.  You don't know what it means to lose your wife, and your words only make it worse."  If the ground had opened up just then, I would gladly have jumped in!
 
    Only those who have truly suffered know how to comfort the suffering.  John knows what they are going through from experience.  Those who share in suffering or persecution often find themselves unified in ways that transcend all barriers.  Race, culture, and denominational differences matter little when experiencing the consequences of opposition to the gospel.  Knowing that others have felt what we do has healing power for our own pain.  And through what we have endured we learn how to minister to others who suffer.
 
Lord, steer me away from theologies of success and prosperity.  Help me embrace the hard things of life.  May my wounds have healing power in the lives of others.

 "I am the Alpha and the Omega," says the Lord God, "The One who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."  Rev. 1:8
 
    One Friday in October news reached a community that locusts were on the way and would devastate any crops still in the field.  The community's farmers immediately went into "around the clock" mode.  Beginning Friday afternoon they harvested all night Friday and all day Saturday to get the crops in before the locusts arrived.  That is, everyone except one individual.
 
    A Seventh-day Adventist farmer followed his normal Friday afternoon routine, putting away equipment and setting aside all chores that he could do another day.  Anticipating his response, a few of his neighbors came over to plead with him.  The labor of an entire year was at stake.  Surely God wouldn't mind if the Adventist farmer "took care of business" just this one time?
 
    "I will keep the Sabbath as usual," the man told his neighbors. "I trust God to deal with the locusts."
 
    The neighbors tried once more to dissuade him, but his mind was made up, so they returned to their farms and their desperate effort to get the crops in before the locusts arrived.  All night Friday and all day Saturday they labored, managing to save most of what they had grown.
 
    Sunday morning dawned, and the Adventist farmer looked out the window at the remnants of what had once been a thriving crop.  The locusts had come through during the night and eaten up everything.  The neighbors returned, to comfort the farmer as much as to chide him.  But they did ask him to explain God's failure to compensate him for his faithfulness.
 
    "God does not always make a final settlement in October," the farmer replied.
 
    In our text God is the Alpha and Omega (beginning and ending of the Greek alphabet).  He is the one who is, was, and is to come (the one in control of the past, the present, and the future), and the Almighty.  God is the Lord of history.  No situation that we encounter could possibly take Him by surprise.  Everything that happens to us is part of a larger plan.  But how do we explain the farmer's misfortune?
 
    God's judgment on wicked nations and systems fill the book of Revelation.  But His true people can be found in those same nations and systems.  They experience the "side effects" of divine judgment.  Because of the mixed nature of human systems, God's faithful people should never expect perfect security in this life.  Faithfulness does not always receive an immediate reward.  The Lord does not always make a final settlement in October.
 
Lord, give me the confidence today to know that You are in control, even when things seems totally out of control.  Give me patience to wait for Your justice. 

Behold,He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, including those who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Yes, Amen.  Rev. 1:7.
 
    In verse 7 we find a combination of two texts from the Old Testament.  The "coming with the clouds" reminds us of the Son of man in Daniel 7:13.  That those who pierced him will mourn over Him, echoes Zechariah 12:10.  Matthew 24:30 also combines the same two texts, so Revelation 1:7 may reflect Jesus' earlier teaching.
 
    In Zechariah the ones who pierce and mourn are "the house of David" and the "inhabitants of Jerusalem."  But Revelation changes it to "all the tribes of the earth," a common shift in the book.  It applies the literal and local things of the Old Testament in a spiritual and worldwide manner.  The concept of "Israel" expands to include people of any race and place who are in relationship with Jesus.
 
    So the key to inclusion among the people of God is a connection with His Son.  But how can you have a relationship with Jesus when you can't see, hear, or touch Him?  That possibly was abundantly illustrated by the most-watched movie of all time, Titanic.  Titanic earned twice as much money from theater admissions as any other movie until then.  The popularity of the film had a rather trivial reason.  Millions of teenage girls in North America became smitten with the handsome young male lead, Leonardo DiCaprio.  Many went back to see the movie several times.  Some claimed to have seen it more than 40 times!  They were developing a relationship with someone they couldn't see, hear, or touch in person!  Few of them had ever encountered DiCaprio in real life.
 
    How could this be?  The movie was not Leonardo himself.  But it was a witness to the reality that was the actor.  And millions of teenage girls found that witness sufficient for a serious relationship.  Whereas millions will testify to the existence of Leonardo DiCaprio and the influence he may have had in their lives, billions through the centuries have testified to the reality of Jesus, most basing it on the testimonies found in the sacred and inspired pages of Scripture.
 
    It is clear that you can have a living relationship with someone you cannot see, hear, or touch.  When it comes to Jesus, you develop that relationship by spending time with the witness about Him in His Word.  You need to invest in serious Bible study as well as talk to other people who know Him and hear their testimonies about His impact in their lives.  And you need to get involved in the mission that He left for His disciples (Matt. 28:20) to accomplish.  Those in relationship with Jesus will one day participate in the glorious victory portrayed in Revelation.
 
Lord, I need the presence of Jesus to be real in my life today.  May His Word become flesh in everything I do or say.

 To the One who loves us and has freed us from our sins by His blood, and has made us a kingdom, priests before God, even His Father--to Him be glory and power for ever and ever, Amen.  Rev. 1:5, 6.
 
    Nothing can get you down like being fired.  But being expelled from a job is not the worst thing that could happen to you.  In his book We Got Fired!...And It's the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us, Harvey Mackay shares inspirational stories of rejects turned celebrities.
 
    A music studio fired Elvis Presley in 1954.  "You ain't goin' nowhere, son," its representative declared.  "Go back and drive a truck."  Tell that to the thousands of Elvis impersonators who sing his tunes decades after his death.
 
    A newspaper terminated Walt Disney because he had run out of ideas.  The Disney Company, with its movies, theme parks, television stations, and more, is now a multibillion-dollar empire.
 
    A French cycling team dropped Lance Armstrong after he began treatment for testicular cancer in 1997 (with just a 50 percent chance of survival).  They even refused to pay his remaining salary or his medical bills.  Big mistake.  Armstrong not only beat the cancer, but he won seven consecutive Tour de France races after recovery.
 
    Before he ruled CNN, Larry King wrote a column for the Miami Herald.  The Herald's editor let him go for being too chummy with his subjects.  His way with people paid off, though.  Few politicians or celebrities ever bypass Larry King Live today.
 
    Steve Jobs cofounded Apple Computer in his garage, then got thrown out by his own company.  Jobs picked up the pieces and bought a majority share in Pixar in 1986.  Nine years later he won an Oscar for Toy Story.  By 1997 he was back at Apple!
 
    I can relate to how it feels when life dishes out rejection.  But the above examples make it clear that no matter how bad things get (Armstrong could have been dead by 1998), God can use it as a stepping-stone to greatness.
 
    I certainly don't always feel like a king, do you?  When you feel as if nothing will ever go right for you--that everybody's against you--it is easy to wonder whether life is worth living.  Yet Revelation insists that we are elevated to the status of kings and priests in Jesus Christ.  Should you ever think that you are nobody--that no one cares--grab the book of Revelation and scatter those thoughts with the clear assertions of God's Word!  Instead of being nobodies, through Jesus Christ we have been elevated to the highest places.  The book of Revelation not only tells us who Jesus Christ is but also who we can become in Him.
 
Lord, all the glory and all the praise belong to You.  Burn into my heart today a strong sense of the value I have in Your eyes.