Revelation 1:4b-8

This week we have only one, short reading. But it is a doozy: Revelation 1:4b-8. This may be, for many of you, the first time you have heard Revelation read and preached on in Sunday worship.

First, do not be afraid of the Revelation to John (as this last book of the Bible is known). It is apocalyptic literature, and therefore highly metaphorical and vivid. But it is fully the Word of God, and is meant to equip us for discipleship in Christ just as all the other books of the Bible are.

Read all of chapter 1, as context is always important for understanding. Notice that our reading is the beginning of a letter, with a salutation. Just as our letters usually begin, “Dear So-andSo”, Bible letters usually begin, “Grace to you and peace…”. Do some research to find out to whom this letter was written, and why.

The letter mentions “seven spirits”. What’s up with that? There is a numerology in Revelation. In this numerology, 7 is a holy number because it is the sum of God (3 = three persons) and the world 4 (as in “the four corners of the earth). You might do some research about 7 as holy and 6 as “incomplete” and not holy, in Revelation.

One question: how is Revelation 1:4b-8 reassuring?