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Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Revelation 1:10

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I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

Vision of the Son of Man, Rev 1:10-20

10. I was in the spirit ] Was caught into a state of spiritual rapture. Son 4:2 and (nearly) Rev 17:3, Rev 21:10; cf. 1Ki 18:12; Eze 3:12; Eze 3:14; Eze 37:1; also 2Co 12:2-3.

the Lord’s day ] Undoubtedly here used (though for the first time) in the sense now traditional throughout Christendom. Many of the early Fathers, Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, &c. use the word of the First Day of the week. A few commentators have proposed to translate, “I was, in spirit, on the day of the Lord,” i.e. was carried away in spirit to the Great Day of the Lord’s Coming; but the reference to Rev 4:2 refutes this.

as of a trumpet ] As loud, and perhaps as clear.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

I was in the Spirit – This cannot refer to his own spirit, for such an expression would be unintelligible. The language then must refer to some unusual state, or to some influence that had been brought to bear upon him from without, that was appropriate to such a day. The word Spirit may refer either to the Holy Spirit, or to some state of mind such as the Holy Spirit produces – a spirit of elevated devotion, a state of high and uncommon religious enjoyment. It is clear that John does not mean here to say that he was under the influence of the Holy Spirit in such a sense as that he was inspired, for the command to make a record, as well as the visions, came subsequently to the time referred to. The fair meaning of the passage is, that he was at that time favored, in a large measure, with the influences of the Holy Spirit – the spirit of true devotion; that he had a high state of religious enjoyment, and was in a condition not inappropriate to the remarkable communications which were made to him on that day.

The state of mind in which he was at the time here referred to, is not such as the prophets are often represented to have been in when under the prophetic inspiration (compare Eze 1:1; Eze 8:3; Eze 40:2; Jer 24:1), and which was often accompanied with an entire prostration of bodily strength (compare Num 24:4); 1Sa 19:24; Eze 1:28; Dan 10:8-10; Rev 1:17), but such as any Christian may experience when in a high state of religious enjoyment. He was not yet under the prophetic ecstasy (compare Act 10:10; Act 11:5; Act 22:17), but was, though in a lonely and barren island, and far away from the privileges of the sanctuary, permitted to enjoy, in a high degree, the consolations of religion – an illustration of the great truth that God can meet his people anywhere; that, when in solitude and in circumstances of outward affliction, when persecuted and cast out, when deprived of the public means of grace and the society of religious friends, He can meet them with the abundant consolations of His grace, and pour joy and peace into their souls. This state was not inappropriate to the revelations which were about to be made to John, but this itself was not that state. It was a state which seems to have resulted from the fact, that on that desert island he devoted the day to the worship of God, and, by honoring the day dedicated to the memory of the risen Saviour, found, what all will find, that it was attended with rick spiritual influences on his soul.

On the Lords day – The word rendered here as Lords ( kuriake), occurs only in this place and in 1Co 11:20, where it is applied to the Lords supper. It properly means pertaining to the Lord; and, so far as this word is concerned, it might mean a day pertaining to the Lord, in any sense, or for any reason; either because he claimed it as his own, and had set it apart for his own service, or because it was designed to commemorate some important event pertaining to him, or because it was observed in honor of him. It is clear:

(1) That this refers to some day which was distinguished from all other days of the week, and which would be sufficiently designated by the use of this term.

(2) That it was a day which was for some reason regarded as especially a day of the Lord, or especially devoted to him.

(3) It would further appear that this was a day particularly devoted to the Lord Jesus; for:

(a)That is the natural meaning of the word Lord as used in the New Testament (compare the notes on Act 1:24); and

(b)If the Jewish Sabbath were intended to be designated, the word Sabbath would have been used.

The term was used generally by the early Christians to denote the first day of the week. It occurs twice in the Epistle of Ignatius to the Magnesians (about 101 a.d.), who calls the Lords day the queen and prince of all days. Chrysostom (on Ps. 119) says, It was called the Lords day because the Lord rose from the dead on that day. Later fathers make a marked distinction between the Sabbath and the Lords day; meaning by the former the Jewish Sabbath, or the seventh day of the week, and by the latter the first day of the week, kept holy by Christians. So Theodoret (Fab. Haeret. ii. 1), speaking of the Ebionites, says, They keep the Sabbath according to the Jewish law, and sanctify the Lords day in like manner as we do (Prof. Stuart). The strong probability is, that the name was given to this day in honor of the Lord Jesus, and because he rose on that day from the dead. No one can doubt that it was an appellation given to the first day of the week; and the passage, therefore, proves:

(1) That that day was thus early distinguished in some special manner, so that the mere mention of it would be sufficient to identify it in the minds of those to whom the apostle wrote;

(2) That it was in some sense regarded as devoted to the Lord Jesus, or was designed in some way to commemorate what he had done; and,

(3) That if this book were written by the apostle John, the observance of that day has the apostolic sanction. He had manifestly, in accordance with a prevailing custom, set apart this day in honor of the Lord Jesus. Though alone, he was engaged on that day in acts of devotion. Though far away from the sanctuary, he enjoyed what all Christians hope to enjoy on such a day of rest, and what not a few do in fact enjoy in its observance. We may remark, in view of this statement:

(a) that when away from the sanctuary, and deprived of its privileges, we should nevertheless not fail to observe the Christian Sabbath. If on a bed of sickness, if in a land of strangers, if on the deep, if in a foreign clime, if on a lonely island, as John was, where we have none of the advantages of public worship, we should yet honor the Sabbath. We should worship God alone, if we have none to unite with us; we should show to those around us, if we are with strangers, by our dress and our conversation, by a serious and devent manner, by abstinence from labor, and by a resting from travel, that we devoutly regard this day as set apart for God.

(b) We may expect, in such circumstances, and with such a devout observance of the day, that God will meet with us and bless us. It was on a lonely island, far away from the sanctuary and from the society of Christian friends, that the Saviour met the beloved disciple, and we may trust it will be so with us. For on such a desert island, in a lonely forest, on the deep, or amid strangers in a foreign land, he can as easily meet us as in the sanctuary where we have been accustomed to worship, and when surrounded by all the privileges of a Christian land. No man, at home or abroad, among friends or strangers, enjoying the privileges of the sanctuary, or deprived of those privileges, ever kept the Christian Sabbath in a devout manner without profit to his own soul; and, when deprived of the privileges of public worship, the visitations of the Saviour to the soul may be more than a compensation for all our privations. Who would not be willing to be banished to a lonely island like Patmos, if he might enjoy such a glorious vision of the Redeemer as John was favored with there?

And heard behind me a great voice – A loud voice. This was of course sudden, and took him by surprise.

As of a trumpet – Loud as a trumpet. This is evidently the only point in the comparison. It does not mean that the tones of the voice resembled a trumpet, but only that it was clear, loud, and distinct like a trumpet. A trumpet is a well-known wind instrument, distinguished for the clearness of its sounds, and was used for calling assemblies together, for marshalling hosts for battle, etc. The Hebrew word employed commonly to denote a trumpet showpar means bright and clear, and is supposed to have been given to the instrument on account of its clear and shrill sound, as we now give the name clarion to a certain wind-instrument. The Hebrew trumpet is often referred to as employed, on account of its clearness, to summon people together, Exo 19:13; Num 10:10; Jdg 7:18, etc.; 1Sa 13:3; 2Sa 15:10.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 10. I was in the Spirit] That is, I received the Spirit of prophecy, and was under its influence when the first vision was exhibited.

The Lord’s day] The first day of the week, observed as the Christian Sabbath, because on it Jesus Christ rose from the dead; therefore it was called the Lord’s day, and has taken place of the Jewish Sabbath throughout the Christian world.

And heard behind me a great voice] This voice came unexpectedly and suddenly. He felt himself under the Divine afflatus; but did not know what scenes were to be represented.

As of a trumpet] This was calculated to call in every wandering thought, to fix his attention, and solemnize his whole frame. Thus God prepared Moses to receive the law. See Exo 19:16; Exo 19:19, &c.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

I was in the Spirit; not only in spiritual employment, suppose meditation and prayer, but in an ecstasy; my soul was (as it were) separated from my body, and under the more than ordinary influence and communications of the Spirit, as Act 10:10; 11:5; 16:9; 18:9.

On the Lords day; upon the Christian sabbath, called the Lords day, ( as the eucharist, or breaking of bread, is called the Lords supper, 1Co 11:20), because Christ instituted it; or, because the end of its institution was the remembrance of Christs resurrection, (as the end of the Lords supper was the commemoration of Christs death), or because it was instituted for the honour of Christ.

And heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet: John in the isle of Patmos was keeping the Christian sabbath in spiritual services, meditation and prayer, and fell into a trance, wherein he had a more immediate communion with the Holy Spirit, which begun with his hearing a loud voice, as it were, behind him, as loud as the sound of a trumpet.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

10. I wasGreek, “Icame to be”; “I became.”

in the Spiritin astate of ecstasy; the outer world being shut out, and the inner andhigher life or spirit being taken full possession of by God’s Spirit,so that an immediate connection with the invisible world isestablished. While the prophet “speaks” in theSpirit, the apocalyptic seer is in the Spirit in his wholeperson. The spirit only (that which connects us with God and theinvisible world) is active, or rather recipient, in the apocalypticstate. With Christ this being “in the Spirit” was not theexception, but His continual state.

on the Lord’s dayThoughforcibly detained from Church communion with the brethren in thesanctuary on the Lord’s day, the weekly commemoration of theresurrection, John was holding spiritual communion with them. This isthe earliest mention of the term, “the Lord’s day.”But the consecration of the day to worship, almsgiving, and theLord’s Supper, is implied in Act 20:7;1Co 16:2; compare Joh20:19-26. The name corresponds to “the Lord’s Supper,”1Co 11:20. IGNATIUSseems to allude to “the Lord’s day” [Epistle to theMagnesians, 9], and IRENUS[Qust ad Orthod., 115] (in JUSTINMARTYR). JUSTINMARTYR [Apology,2.98], c., “On Sunday we all hold our joint meeting for thefirst day is that on which God, having removed darkness and chaos,made the world, and Jesus Christ our Saviour rose from the dead. Onthe day before Saturday they crucified Him; and on the day afterSaturday, which is Sunday, having appeared to His apostles anddisciples, He taught these things.” To the Lord’s day PLINYdoubtless refers [Epistles, Book X., p. 97], “TheChristians on a fixed day before dawn meet and sing a hymn toChrist as God,” c. TERTULLIAN[The Chaplet, 3], “On the Lord’s day we deem it wrong tofast.” MELITO, bishopof Sardis (second century), wrote a book on the Lord’s day[EUSEBIUS 4.26]. Also,DIONYSIUS OF CORINTH,in EUSEBIUS[Ecclesiastical History, 4.23,8]. CLEMENTOF ALEXANDRIA[Miscellanies, 5. and 7.12] ORIGEN[Against Celsus, 8. 22]. The theory that the day ofChrist’s second coming is meant, is untenable. “The day ofthe Lord” is different in the Greek from “the Lord’s(an adjective) day,” which latter in the ancient Church alwaysdesignates our Sunday, though it is not impossible that the two shallcoincide (at least in some parts of the earth), whence a tradition ismentioned in JEROME[Commentary on Matthew, 25], that the Lord’s coming wasexpected especially on the Paschal Lord’s day. The visions of theApocalypse, the seals, trumpets, and vials, c., are grouped insevens, and naturally begin on the first day of the seven, thebirthday of the Church, whose future they set forth [WORDSWORTH].

great voicesummoningsolemn attention Greek order, “I heard a voice behind megreat (loud) as (that) of a trumpet.” The trumpet summoned toreligious feasts, and accompanies God’s revelations of Himself.

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day,…. Not on the Jewish sabbath, which was now abolished, nor was that ever called the Lord’s day, and had John meant that, he would have said on the sabbath day; much less the Jewish passover, but the first day of the week is designed; so the Ethiopic version renders it “on the first day”; and is so called just as the ordinance of the supper is called the Lord’s supper, being instituted by the Lord, and the Lord’s table, 1Co 10:21, and that because it was the day in which our Lord rose from the dead, Mr 16:9; and in which he appeared at different times to his disciples, Joh 20:19, and which the primitive churches set apart for his worship and service, and on which they met together to hear the word, and attend on ordinances,

Ac 20:7; and Justin Martyr z tells us, who lived within about fifty years after this time, that on the day called

, “Sunday”, (by the Greeks,) the Christians met together in one place, and read the Scriptures, and prayed together, and administered the ordinance of the supper; and this, he adds, was the first day in which God created the World, and our Saviour Jesus Christ rose from the dead; yea, Barnabas a, the companion of the Apostle Paul, calls this day the eighth day, in distinction from the seventh day sabbath of the Jews, and which he says is the beginning of another world; and therefore we keep the eighth day, adds he, joyfully, in which Jesus rose from the dead, and being manifested, ascended unto heaven: and this day was known by the ancients by the name of “the Lord’s day”; as by Ignatius b, Irenaeus c, Tertullian d, Origen e, and others; for it must be some day that was known by this name, otherwise it is mentioned to no purpose, because it would not be distinctive from others; for which reason it cannot merely design the day in which John saw this vision, because the Lord appeared on it to him, for this would not distinguish it from any other day. Some have conjectured that this was not the weekly Lord’s day observed by the Christians, but the anniversary of Christ’s resurrection; and so the Ethiopians still call Easter “Schambatah Crostos”, the sabbath of Christ: to understand it of the former is best. Now, though John was driven from the house and worship of God, and could not join with the saints in the public worship of that day; yet he was employed in spiritual contemplations and exercises, and was under a more than ordinary influence of the Spirit of God; and his spirit or soul was wholly intent upon, and taken up with divine and spiritual things, with visions and representations that were made unto his mind, which he perceived in his spirit, and not with the organs of his body; he was in an ecstasy of spirit, and knew not scarcely whether he was in the body or out of it:

and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet; which was the voice of the Son of God, as appears by what it uttered, Re 1:11; and is afterwards said to be as the sound of many waters; and it was behind him, as in Isa 30:21, it came to him at an unawares, and surprised him, while he was in deep meditation on spiritual things: and it was a very “great” one; it was the voice of a great person, of the Son of God, and expressed great things, and was very sonorous and loud, it was like the sound of a trumpet; and this was partly to awaken the attention of John to it, and partly to express the certainty of the relation he gives of what it said; had it been a low muttering voice, it might be questioned whether John rightly understood it, and whether he might not be mistaken in the account of what he heard; but it being so loud and clear, there is no room for such a doubt.

z Apolog. 2. p. 98, 99. a Epist. c. 11. p. 244. Ed. Voss. b Epist. ad. Magnes. c. 9. c Apud Script. Quaest. & Respons. ad Orthodox. inter Justin. Opera, p. 468. d De Corona, c. 3. e Homil. in Exod. fol. 41. 7.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

I was in the Spirit ( ). Rather, “I came to be (as in 1:9) in the Spirit,” came into an ecstatic condition as in Acts 10:10; Acts 22:17, not the normal spiritual condition ( , Ro 8:9).

On the Lord’s Day ( ). Deissmann has proven (Bible Studies, p. 217f.; Light, etc., p. 357ff.) from inscriptions and papyri that the word was in common use for the sense “imperial” as imperial finance and imperial treasury and from papyri and ostraca that (Augustus Day) was the first day of each month, Emperor’s Day on which money payments were made (cf. 1Co 16:1f.). It was easy, therefore, for the Christians to take this term, already in use, and apply it to the first day of the week in honour of the Lord Jesus Christ’s resurrection on that day (Didache 14, Ignatius Magn. 9). In the N.T. the word occurs only here and 1Co 11:20 ( ‘ ). It has no reference to (the day of judgment, 2Pe 3:10).

Behind me ( ). “The unexpected, overpowering entrance of the divine voice” (Vincent). Cf. Eze 3:12.

Voice (). Of Christ, as is plain in verses 12f.

As of a trumpet ( ). So in 4:1 referring to this.

Saying (). Present active participle genitive case agreeing with rather than , accusative agreeing with . So on purpose, as is clear from 4:1, where also agrees with .

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

Comment:

1) “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day,” (egenomen en pneumati en te kuriake hemera) “I came to be in (the) spirit on the Imperial day,” the day of the king, (the 1st day of the week, the day Jesus became Lord over death); Tho exiled far from his earthly home, John was in the spirit (the sphere of his will) on the Lord’s Day – from a word meaning an “Imperial Day” The Day of a Royal King, The Day Jesus arose from the dead, the first day of the week, Mat 6:33; Mat 28:1; 1Co 15:1-2.

2) And heard behind me,” (kai ekousa opiso mou) “And heard (from) behind me”; He was not alone for he who promised “never to leave or forsake” his own, is trustworthy, Mat 28:20; Heb 13:5; Deu 31:6. Ask Abraham, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Daniel, Paul, etc. – The spirit of each is expressed, 1Ki 8:56.

3) “A great voice,” (phonen megalen) “A great, loud, or blaring voice,” a mega-phone like voice, distinctly clear, easy to be understood; Throughout the apocalypse (the Revelation) John first sees, beholds, or comprehends, then thereafter writes.

4) “As of a trumpet,” (hos salpingos) “As a blaring trumpet; similar to, with te clarity of a blaring trumpet that calls to battle, to a great convocation, or a celebration. The trumpet voice of Jesus has no uncertain sound Joh 14:6; Joh 8:24. It is clear, simple, truthful, and requires respectful obedience, Joh 13:34-35; Joh 14:15; Joh 15:14.

He who is “in the Spirit” on the “Lord’s Day” the imperial Day, should, like John, do what the Lord calls and commands of him, even today, Jas 1:22; Eph 2:10.

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

(10) I was (or, I became) in the Spirit.The mind, drawn onward by the contemplation of things spiritual, is abstracted from the immediate consciousness of outward earthly forms of life. In great natures this power is usually strong. Socrates is related to have stood rapt in thought for hours, and even days, unconscious of the midday heat, or the mocking wonder of his comrades. To high-souled men, set upon the spiritual welfare of the race, this power of detaching themselves from the influence of the outward is the result of their earnestness; the things spiritual are to them the real; the things seen are temporal. It is the Holy Spirit alone which can give the power of this spiritual abstraction; but it is through the ordinary use of means that this power is bestowed. In St. Johns case it was on the Lords Day that this spiritual rapture was vouchsafed.

The Lords day.There is no ground whatever for the futurist interpretation that this expression refers to the Day of the Lord, as in 2Th. 2:2. The phrase in this latter passage is totally different. The phrase here is. en te kuriake hemera. The adjective is applied by St. Paul (perhaps coined by him for the purpose) to the Lords Supper: from the Supper it came to be applied to the day on which Christians met for the breaking of bread. The day is still called (kuriake) in the Levant. On the Lords Day the vision came to the Apostle. It was the hour of sweetest, closest communion, when the memories of Christ risen, and the fellowship he had enjoyed at Ephesus, would work on his spirit, and aid in raising him in highest adoration, like St. Paul (2Co. 12:2-4). When so rapt, he heard a voice, strong, clear, and resonant as a trumpet. The Apostles voice could not be heard among his beloved flock at Ephesus; but there was a voice which would reach from the exile at Patmos, not to Ephesus and its sister churches, but to all churches and throughout all time. The mouth which persecution closes God opens, and bids it speak to the world. So St. Paul, through the Epistles of his Captivity, still speaks. Luther, by his translation of the Bible, spoke from his confinement at Wartburg; and Bunyan, by his divine allegory, shows how feeble were the walls of his cell at Bedford to silence the voice of God. If speech be silver and silence golden, it is also true in the history of the Church that from the captivity of her teachers she has received her most abiding treasures.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

10. Was Became, again; the word designates his transition.

In the Spirit Spirit-wrapt. Compare Rev 4:2; Rev 21:10. If the man’s own spirit were meant, we might suppose the thought to be that the consciousness had ascended from the lower ground of sense, and so mounted into the spirit as to be in communication with the spirit world.

But the divine Spirit is doubtless meant; and the thought is, that the human spirit is in the divine Spirit as in a divine atmosphere, in which things of the spirit world are seen, known, and uttered. So, “How then does David in spirit call him Lord?” Mat 22:43. “No man speaking by (Greek in) the Spirit of God, calleth Jesus accursed.” 1Co 12:3. In that supernatural state a mental production is put forth impossible to the same man’s natural powers alone. This Apocalypse is, indeed, the product of John’s mind, yet of his mind raised into a higher spiritual atmosphere. As in a divinely inspired waking dream, he thinks through a series of divine conceptions with an immediate spontaneity. The conceptions are divinely suggested to his mind, and so are, by him, thought and recorded. Under divine stimulation the language of his narrative, save where reciting the words of others, is his own.

The Lord’s day A phrase parallel to “the Lord’s supper,” 1Co 11:20, (where see note,) and similarly indicating that the institution was established by our Lord. See our notes on Mar 2:27; Joh 20:26; Act 20:7; 1Co 16:2.

The early Christian writers applied the word sabbath to the Jewish Saturday-sabbath, and called the Christian sabbath “the Lord’s day,” yet without thereby admitting that the Lord’s day was not the decalogue sabbath. It was of the heretical sect of Ebionites that Theodoret said, “They keep the sabbath according to Jewish law, and sanctify the Lord’s day in like manner as we do.” Says Stuart: “A party in the Christian Church adhered to this usage so long and so tenaciously that finally the Council of Laodicea (about A.D. 350) made a decree that “Christians should no longer keep the seventh day by refraining from labour.” The Church historian, Eusebius, who had all the Christian literature on the subject at command, is quoted by Stuart as saying, in his commentary on Psalm xcii: “The Word,” (that is, Christ,) “by the new covenant, translated and transferred the feast of the sabbath to the morning light, and gave as the symbol of true rest namely, the Lord’s day the first day of the light in which the Saviour obtained the victory over death, etc. On this day we assemble, after an interval of six days, and celebrate the holy spiritual sabbath; even all nations redeemed by him throughout the world, and do those things according to the spiritual laws which were decreed for the priests to do on the sabbath. All things whatever that it was their duty to do on the sabbath, these we have transferred to the Lord’s day, as more appropriate to it, because it has a precedence, and is first in rank; and more honourable than the Jewish sabbath. It is traditionally handed down to us, that we should meet together on this day; and it is ordered that we should do these things announced in the Psalm.”

And heard behind me This sublime Christophany must dawn upon St. John gradually, lest he be fatally overpowered, as in fact he was laid by it as dead. Rev 1:17. He first only hears, and that a voice, loud, indeed, but behind him. He turns, and the candlesticks first are seen, and then the radiant person.

A great voice Not the voice of Christ, as appears by Rev 4:1; where see note, and also Rev 10:4.

[REFERENCES. 1. Port of La Scala; 2. Port of Sapsila; 3. Port of Gricon; 4. Port Merica; 5. Small Western Creek; 6. Port of Diacorta; 7. Town and Monastery of Patmos; 8. Cave of the Apocalypse. Below figure 8 is traced the paved road from the harbour to the town on the hill, leaving the Apocalyptic Grotto, or cave, on the left hand.]

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘I was in Spirit on the Lord’s day.’

The phrase ‘in Spirit’ refers in Revelation to the work of the Spirit in bringing John to a specific point or place so that he may receive a vision, moving backwards and forwards in space and time (Rev 4:2; Rev 17:3; Rev 21:10). Compare also Ezekiel in Eze 3:12; Eze 3:14; Eze 8:3; Eze 11:1; Eze 11:24; Eze 37:1; Eze 43:5.

‘On the Lord’s day.’ This is the only occasion where such a phrase is connected with being ‘in the Spirit’. And this suggests that it is not just a reference to the day on which it happened, for that is never considered important anywhere else, but rather to a reference to where the Spirit took him. Thus we must question whether it means what we call ‘Sunday’.

Sunday is not called ‘the Lord’s day’ (he kyriake hemera) anywhere in Scripture, and as far as we know the term was not elsewhere used in that way until the early second century, when it was possibly by mistaken implication from this book. In fact the technical term in the New Testament for what we call Sunday was ‘the first day of the week’. This was true when 1 Corinthians was written (1Co 16:2) and also when Luke was writing (Act 20:7).

So in view of the fact that the phrase ‘in the Spirit’ occurs three times more in Revelation (Rev 4:2; Rev 17:3; Rev 21:10), in each case when John is introduced to particular revelations, it seems certain that this phrase here refers to such a revelation and this would suggest that the phrase ‘the Lord’s day’ parallels to some extent references to ‘the day of the Lord’, that great day when God would act to bring about His final purposes.

But the change of phraseology prevents direct connection. Had John meant ‘the day of the Lord’ he would have said so. While in Hebrew, and therefore in the Old Testament, a phrase directly parallel to ‘the Lord’s day’ is not linguistically possible, it would have been possible in the New. But when the phrase ‘the day of the Lord’ also occurs in the New Testament, as it often does, it is always in the same form as in the Old Testament. It is a technical term directly imitating the Hebrew. Thus had he meant that John would have used it here.

The fact is that in the New Testament ‘the Lord’s’ always means ‘Christ’s’. Compare for this ‘the Lord’s supper’ (1Co 11:20), and also see 1Co 7:22 ; 1Co 10:21; 1Co 11:26; 1Co 11:29; Gal 1:19. So this is rather referring to ‘the Lord Christ’s day’, for which compare 1Co 1:8; 1Co 5:5; Php 1:6; Php 1:10; Php 2:16. This is confirmed by the immediately following vision of Christ as about to act on His day.

So in this vision John is transported to ‘Christ’s day’ or, as he puts it literally, ‘the Lord’s day’, to the time when the Lord Christ is about to have His day, the day awaited from the beginning of time.

This is in contrast with the present time. At present it is ‘man’s day’ (1Co 4:3 – which is of similar construction) rather than the Lord’s day (1Co 4:5). But that is now about to pass and man will learn at Christ’s return that man has had his day. So John is brought face to face with the glorified Christ at the point when He is ready to bring this age to completion and to carry out the final judgment.

The Day of Christ differs from the Day of the Lord in that the former refers to the day in terms of Christian accountability whereas the latter refers to the time of God’s judgments on the world, although this latter signifies more than that for it culminates in the new Heavens and the new earth (2Pe 3:10-13) connecting the two. But John’s message is specifically to Christians and he is concerned to refer the day specifically to them so that it is ‘Christ’s day’ that he refers to.

It should be noted that this reference to time refers only to this particular vision. There are therefore no specific grounds for referring the phrase ‘the Lord’s day’ to any other visions in Revelation, for they move backward and forward in time.

The significance of this first vision is to remind the churches that Christ is coming, that the day of Christ is imminent, and that He is, as it were, poised on the point of returning for His people, something which will encourage them in what lies ahead. It is to remind them that they must therefore be in readiness for that Coming.

Later in Revelation 19 that coming will be described in terms which clearly connect with this vision. So in vision John is taken forward in time (he was not aware of how long it would be) so that he can report back to the churches that he has seen the glory of the Coming One for Whom they are waiting, standing as it were at the gate, ready to return, thus stressing the imminence of His return.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

‘And I heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet, saying “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.’

Having been thus carried forward to ‘the Lord’s day’ he is initially commanded, by ‘a great voice, as of a trumpet’, to write down what he sees in a ‘book’ and send it to seven churches.

The picture is vivid. John has arrived in the Lord’s day but at first he looks around and sees nothing. And then a voice like a trumpet comes from behind him which makes him turn round, and there before him he sees what he is told to write about, a figure of matchless splendour, whom he recognises as the glorified Jesus, standing among seven lampstands, in readiness for His return.

The voice of a trumpet echoes Exo 19:16-19 where God spoke with the voice of a trumpet and officially adopted His people in the Lordship covenant treaty containing the ten commandments, with a view to what lay ahead. Here too the Son of Man reminds His churches in the most solemn and powerful manner of His covenant with them, again with a view to what lies ahead. This brings out the solemnity of the moment.

(We must remember here that the ten commandments were in the context of a covenant of grace, very similar in form to the suzerainty treaties of those days. The covenant begins with a description of God’s Name and His gracious acts, describing Who He is and what He has done for them. He then requires in return their response, submission and obedience. It is initially a covenant of grace not a covenant of Law. Its nature was changed by the misinterpretation of later ages).

What John has to write down is ‘what he sees’. That is that the Lord Jesus Christ is poised to return in splendour to have dealings with His people, and that they need to prepare for this occasion. Then he is told to send to the seven churches the messages delivered to him, in the context of this vision. The seven letters containing the messages follow in chapters 2 and 3 and are directly based on the vision. It is clear from this that the description of this magnificent revelation of the returning Christ was also sent with the letters. We have no grounds for denying that these letters actually were sent round the seven churches, for the churches are mentioned in a circular order suitable for visits by a messenger.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Rev 1:10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, That is, the day which we in general call Sunday; denominated the Lord’s day, in memory of his resurrection from the dead. That the primitive Christians set this day apart for religious worship, appears both from St. Paul’s Epistles, and from Justin Martyr’s Apology, Ignatius, Tertullian, &c. It should be observed, that this Revelation was given on the Lord’s day, when the apostle’s heart and affections, as we may reasonably suppose, were peculiarly sublimed by the meditations and devotions of the day, and rendered more capable of receiving divine inspiration. The heavenly visions were vouchsafed to St. John, as they were before to Daniel, (ch. Rev 9:20.) after supplication and prayer; and there being two kinds of prophetic revelation, in a vision, and a dream, the Jews accounted a vision superior to a dream, as representing things more perfectly, and to the life; so that this book is represented as the highest degree of prophetic revelation.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Rev 1:10 . With we dare not immediately combine , in the sense: “I saw in the Spirit the day of judgment; ” i.e., “I foresaw it represented.” [702] In contradiction with this [703] are, the fact that the presentation of is in itself complete, the expression , and the circumstance that the contents of the book are not limited to the day of judgment. The [704] designates essentially nothing else than the of Act 22:18 ; Act 11:5 . Yet by , [705] the Divine Spirit, in his objectivity, [706] cannot be understood, [707] but the must by all means be interpreted subjectively. [708] The antithesis is . , [709] or, according to 1Co 14:14 sqq., . [710] The is understood in one way, Rom 8:9 , and in another also in Mat 22:43 ; Mar 12:36 , where the subjective is designated as sanctified or prophetically illumined by the objective Spirit of God; while in the present passage, as well as in Rev 4:2 , and especially Rev 21:10 , the reference to the efficacy of the Holy Ghost is in no way removed, but by is understood only the higher, spiritual nature of man, [711] in virtue of which he is capable of receiving a revelation, having visions, and being .

The [712] is the first day of the week, the Sunday, which was celebrated as the day of the Lord’s resurrection. [713] On the holy day, John was especially well prepared to receive the divine revelation. [See Note XXV., p. 125.] But there is no foundation for understanding the . of an Easter Day, [714] or for assigning to that Sunday [715] the fulfilment of the expectation, attested by Jerome, that Christ will return on Easter Day. [716]

refers not to the fact that a revelation of the invisible God is presented, [717] nor that John must first be prepared by hearing for the impending sight, as no one can see God without dying. [718] Against both these views, is the fact that John not only actually sees Christ, but also experiences the complete effect thereof. [719] It is also not to be said that “here clearly the awakening to ecstatic consciousness is described,” as though John at first had seen nothing, “at least, nothing remarkable,” but only first heard; [720] for “the awakening to ecstatic consciousness,” [721] which is not everywhere represented, has already occurred, since John hears or sees, [722] viz., in the Spirit. It is only the unexpected, surprising utterance of the divine voice that is here stated. [723] A comparison may, at all events, be made with Eze 3:12 , where, however, the presentation seems to be conditioned by the development of the scene itself.

The mighty, loud [724] voice is like the sound of a trumpet. In connection with the use of the [725] purely as a comparison, the remark is not applicable that the assembling of congregations, and the appearances or revelations of God and Christ, are announced with the sound of a trumpet. [726]

The voice which imparts the command, Rev 1:11 , [727] belongs not to “an angel speaking in the person of Christ,” [728] nor to the angel mentioned in Rev 1:1 , [729] nor to God speaking in distinction from Christ, who speaks in Rev 1:15 . [730] It has been thought that the voice proceeds from him whom John, Rev 1:12 sqq., sees, and therefore from Christ himself; [731] but on account of Rev 4:1 , this cannot be admitted. It is therefore, as in Rev 4:1 , Rev 10:4 ; Rev 10:8 , entirely undecided as to whom this voice belongs. This also agrees very well with the .

[702] Wetst.; cf., also, V. d. Honert, Dissert. Apocalypt , p. 77 sqq.; Winer, p. 173; Zll.

[703] Cf., also, De Wette, Hengstenb.

[704] Cf. Rev 4:2 , Rev 21:10 .

[705] Cf., especially, Rev 21:10 .

[706] Cf. LXX., Jdg 11:29 : . (Num 24:2 ).

[707] As Grotius, who compares Mar 1:23 ; Mar 5:5 ; and Ebrard, who compares Act 4:8 sqq.; and also Klief., say more clearly than many other expositors who appear to be of the same opinion.

[708] Cf. 1Co 14:2 ; 1Co 14:14 ; 1Co 14:31 .

[709] Act 12:11 .

[710] Cf., also, 2Co 12:2 sqq.

[711] Cf. Rom 8:16 .

[712] Cf. 1Co 11:20 .

[713] 1Co 16:2 ; Act 20:7 ; cf. Dionys. Cor. in Euseb., H. E. , iv. 23:

(“We keep the holy Lord’s day”). Barnabas, Ep. , c. Revelation 15 : , , . . . (“We devote the eighth day to gladness, on which also Jesus rose from the dead”), etc.

[714] Eichh.

[715] Beng.

[716] On Mat 25:24 , “The apostolic tradition that, at the time of the Easter vigils, it will not be allowed to dismiss the people before midnight, expecting the coming of Christ” (“Traditionem apostolicum ut in die vigiliarum paschae ante noctis dimidium populos dimittere non liceat, expectantes adventum Christi”).

[717] C. a Lap.

[718] Exo 33:20 sqq.; Isa 6:5 ; Ewald, Hengstenb.

[719] As in Isa 6:5 .

[720] Ebrard.

[721] On ch. 4. (p. 215) Ebrard interprets the very preposterously as “standing upon earth.” Volkmar: As the external world lies extended before man’s face, so what is concealed is back of the world’s view.

[722] Rev 4:1 .

[723] Cf., also, Stern, but who incorrectly refers to Isa 30:21 . See Knobel on this passage.

[724] , Rev 5:2 ; cf. Mat 24:31 ; Mat 27:46 ; Mat 27:50 .

[725] Cf. Rev 5:14 .

[726] Num 10:2 ; Num 10:10 ; Joe 2:1 ; Joe 2:15 ; Exo 19:19 ; Mat 24:31 ; 1Th 4:16 ; De Wette, Hengstenb., etc.

[727] is to be construed with . by attraction.

[728] N. de Lyra.

[729] Ebrard; cf. on Rev 5:1 .

[730] C. a Lap.

[731] Alcas., Ew., Hengstenb.

NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

XXV. Rev 1:10 .

Trench: “Some have assumed, from this passage, that was a designation of Sunday already familiar among Christians. This, however, seems a mistake. The name had, probably, its origin here. A little later, we find familiar to Ignatius, as Dominica solemnia to Tertullian ( De Anima , c. 9; cf. Dionysius of Corinth, quoted by Eusebius, H. E. , iv. 23, 8; Clement of Alexandria, Strom ., vii. 12; Origen, Con. Cels ., viii. 22). But, though the name ‘the Lord’s Day’ will very probably have had here its rise (the actual form of the phrase may have been suggested by , 1Co 11:20 ), the thing, the celebration of the first day of the week as that on which the Lord brake the bands of death, and became the head of a new creation, called therefore sometimes , this was as old as Christianity itself ( Joh 20:24-29 ; 1Co 16:2 ; Act 20:7 ; Epistle of Barnabas, c. 17).” A refutation of the interpretation as “the day of the Lord’s coming” is given in Alford.

NOTES BY THE AMERICAN EDITOR

XXV. Rev 1:10 .

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 2478
BEING IN THE SPIRIT

Rev 1:10. I was in the Spirit on the Lords day.

WE are told by our blessed Lord, Not to fear those who can only kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. The truth is, that whilst men are wreaking their vengeance upon the body, they cannot obstruct Gods communications to the soul, or destroy the happiness of those whom they desire to torment. Paul and Silas have borne testimony to this: for, with their feet fastened in the stocks, and their backs torn with scourges, they sang praises to God aloud at midnight. St. John, too, when he was banished to the Isle of Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ: and was there a companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, participating, in his advanced age, the afflictions with which all the seven Churches of Asia had been visited; he, I say, received more abundant manifestations of Gods love to his soul, and was honoured there with revelations more full and complete, than were ever vouchsafed to any other child of man. And we also, if suffering for the sake of Jesus Christ, may expect that, as our afflictions abound, so also shall our consolations abound by Christ [Note: 2Co 1:5.].

In confirmation of this, I will shew,

How far this experience of St. John may be realized in us

When it is said, that He was in the Spirit on the Lords day, I conceive that we are to understand, he was in a trance or ecstacy, somewhat similar to that of the Apostle Paul, who was caught up into the third heavens, and knew not whether he was in the body, or out of the body [Note: 2Co 12:2-4. with Rev 4:2.]. Yet, as it was the Lords day, a day kept sacred by the Christian Church, in commemoration of the resurrection of our blessed Lord [Note: On the first day of the week our Lord appeared to his Disciples: on that day, in the following week, he appeared to them again, Joh 20:19; Joh 20:26. From that time the Church assembled on that day for holy exercises, Act 20:7; and it was ever afterwards kept holy, 1Co 16:2.], we may be sure that he was in a frame of mind becoming the Sabbath of the Lord. Now, I readily acknowledge, that, as far as relates to any thing miraculous, Christians of the present day have no warrant to expect any communications similar to those which were vouchsafed to John: but of spiritual blessings it is the privilege of every Christian to participate; and on the Sabbath-day he ought to experience a more abundant effusion of them on his soul.

The Lords day is set apart for that end

[It is a day on which all worldly business should be suspended, and the soul be wholly given up to divine and spiritual employments. The ceremonial part of the Sabbath may be considered as abrogated, together with the rest of the Mosaic ritual: but the moral observance of it is as much in force as ever. Even in Paradise that was enjoined, and therefore we are assured it is of perpetual obligation: and the kind of observance which it demands, is well described by the prophet: Thou shalt turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and shalt call the Sabbath a delight; the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words [Note: Isa 58:13.]. Here we see how the Sabbath should be sanctified: every thing that is earthly and carnal should be banished from our minds; and our whole conversation and employment should have a direct reference to God, and to the concerns either of our own souls, or of the Redeemers kingdom in the world.]

Our frame of mind should be suited to it

[If we regard the Lords day as we ought, then, as the prophet says, shall we delight ourselves in the Lord; and he will cause us to ride upon the high places of the earth, and will feed us with the heritage of Jacob our father [Note: Isa 58:14.]. Six days God has given us for earthly labour: the seventh should be wholly his; our thoughts and desires going out after him; our souls rising to him in sweet meditation, and in holy intercourse; our praises ascending from the altar of our hearts, and all our sacrifices doubled. In a word, we should then dwell in God, and have God dwelling in us; so near should be our access to him, so intimate our communion with him, so entirely our souls surrendered up to him. On every day we should be a people near unto God; but on the Sabbath more especially we should be able to say, Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ [Note: 1Jn 1:3.]. In this sense we should be in the Spirit on the Lords day. To be filled with the Spirit, is as much our privilege, as it was of the Apostles [Note: Eph 5:18.]. To pray in the Holy Ghost, to walk in the Spirit, and live in the Spirit, are not peculiar to any order of men, or any age of the Church: they are duties enjoined on all [Note: Jude, ver. 20. Gal 5:25.]: and if we serve our God with the fidelity that becomes us, these things will characterize our whole lives, whilst they will preeminently appear on the Sabbath-day.]

That we may not think lightly of this privilege, let me proceed to state,

II.

The special call we have to seek it

To illustrate this, I would observe,

Our necessities require it

[By our intercourse with the world, we are, to a certain degree, clogged and fettered, so that we cannot run our race with the steadiness that we could wish. But, on the Sabbathday, all these weights are laid aside, and our garments being girt about us, we make our way with augmented rapidity [Note: Heb 12:1.]. If I may be permitted to use so familiar an expression, we are going down, like a clock, throughout the week; and need to be wound up on the Sabbath-day, for further exertions in the service of our God. And who has ever truly sanctified his Sabbaths, without being able to attest, that they have been made effectual for this blessed end? Like Elijah, we have a long journey before us; and we eat richly of the provision which God has made for us. But God sets a second feast before us: and we rise and eat again; and are thus strengthened for exertions, which would have far surpassed our natural strength [Note: 1Ki 19:5-8.]. Yes, a second ordinance has been the means of completing that, which the first had only begun. Indeed, God often so peculiarly adapts the provisions of his house to our peculiar necessities, that it seems as if the minister had been informed of our particular case, and had been addressing himself to us alone. And here I may put it to the conscience of every individual amongst us, and ask him, Whether he has not actually found that he has suffered loss in his soul, when he has neglected to improve a Sabbath, and spent it in vain pursuits? Nay, I may further ask, Whether a very great portion of the enormities committed, amongst those who call themselves Christians, may not, in a great measure, be traced to a neglect of the Sabbath-day? I may justly say then, that the Sabbath was made for man [Note: Mar 2:27.], even for the supplying of our spiritual necessities; and that those necessities loudly call upon us to sanctify that day unto the Lord.]

The ordinances are unprofitable to us without it

[Whence is it that so many attend upon divine ordinances from year to year, and never derive any saving benefit from them? It is because they do not ever seek to be in the Spirit on the Lords-day. When they wake in the morning, they have no distinct consciousness, that it is a day to be consecrated wholly to the Lord. When they rise, they do not earnestly implore help from God, to enable them to improve their time aright, and to sanctify to them the ordinances of his grace. When they come up to the house of God, they do not endeavour to get their minds duly impressed with a sense of the importance of the work in which they are engaged. When hearing the blessed word of God, they do not receive it as the word of God himself to their souls: nor, when his seed has been sown in their hearts, do they go and harrow it in by prayer. They attend on the duties of the Sabbath as a form; and never call themselves to an account at the close of the day, how they have improved it, or what blessing they have obtained, or whether they are one jot nearer to heaven. Is it to be wondered at that these persons never make any advance in religion? What kind of a crop would the husbandman have, if he were equally careless about his agricultural pursuits? Here, then, is the true reason why the most faithful ministers labour, as it respects the greater part of their hearers, in vain. A person who has attained to the age of forty-two has had no less than six entire years of Sabbaths. What might not such an one have attained, if he had improved them for the end for which they were given? what knowledge of divine truth, what enjoyment of the Divine presence, and what meetness for the heavenly inheritance? Yet are there many who have made no more advance in any of these things, than if no such opportunities had ever been afforded them. I charge you, brethren, that, whatever guilt you may have contracted by your abuse of past Sabbaths, you begin this day to improve them for your eternal good, that they may not rise up in judgment against you, to your everlasting confusion.]

The Sabbath thus improved, will be a foretaste of the eternal Sabbath to our souls

[There is a rest remaining for the people of God. And, O! what a rest will that be!an entire rest of the soul in God! a total absence of every disquieting thought! a complete enjoyment of the Divine presence, and a perfect exercise of all our faculties in His service! In proportion as we spend the Lords day aright, this is our frame in this life: and our Sabbaths on earth are a preparation for, and a prelude to, our eternal rest. Say, brethren, is it not desirable to enjoy, thus, what I may call a heaven upon earth? Do not grudge the labour or the self-denial that are necessary for the attainment of this state. Richly will the fruit repay the culture, and the recompence reward the toil experienced in the pursuit of it. See on a dying bed those who have employed their Sabbaths according to the will of God: will you find no difference between them and the careless votaries of pleasure? And, follow the two to the bar of judgment; and will you find no great distinction between them there? I say then, to every one amongst you, Fulfil your duties to the world, with zeal and diligence, on the six days that are allotted you, though not without a careful waiting upon God; for you may be not slothful in business, and yet fervent in spirit, serving the Lord: but, on the Sabbath, live exclusively for God, and seek to be wholly in the Spirit on the Lords-day.]
And now suffer, I pray you, a word of exhortation
[Consider, brethren, how many Sabbaths you have lost; and not one of them can ever be recalled. Consider, too, how few may yet remain to you. It is possible that, to some one here present, this very Sabbath may be the last. O! what bitter regret will arise in your minds, if you are called into eternity before the interests of your immortal souls have been secured! Do not delay this necessary work: do not arm death with terrors so appalling, as those must be which you will have to encounter in a dying hour, on a retrospect of your past advantages, and in the prospect of your future doom. Reflect, rather, how glorious your prospects will be on the borders of eternity, if now you give yourselves up wholly to your God; and how abundant an entrance will then be ministered unto you into the everlasting kingdom of your Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. I would that you would all set that day before you; and then I should have but little occasion to press upon you a due improvement of the Lords day. But, I readily acknowledge, you cannot do this of yourselves. Yet you are not thereby justified: for the Spirit of God. should assuredly be poured out upon you, if you would seek his influences; and through his mighty agency you should be raised to holy contemplations and to heavenly delights. May a Pentecostal effusion of that blessed Spirit be now experienced amongst you, and your present delight in God be a pledge and foretaste of your eternal blessedness!]

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

Ver. 10. I was in the Spirit ] Acted by him, and carried out of himself, as the demoniac is said to be in the unclean spirit, as being acted and agitated by him. See Trapp on “ 2Pe 1:21 “

On the Lord’s day ] The first day of the week, the Christian sabbath, Mat 24:20 , called the Lord’s day, from Christ the author of it; as is likewise the Lord’s supper, and the Lord’s Church, kirk, , the very word here used. To sanctify this sabbath was in the primitives a badge of a Christian. For when the question was asked, Servasti Dominicum? Keepest thou the sabbath? The answer was returned, Christianus sum, intermittere non possum, I am a Christian, I must keep the Lord’s day. This day was also called anciently dies lucis, the day of light (as Junius observeth), partly because baptism (which the ancients called ), was administered on that day; but principally, because by the duties of this day rightly performed, the minds of men are illuminated, and they translated out of darkness into Christ’s marvellous light.

And heard behind me ] Not before me; implying that the Spirit calleth upon us, being secure, passing by, and not regarding those things it calls for.

As of a trumpet ] To teach us that the things here delivered to the Church must be ever sounding in our ears and hearts, indwelling richly in us, Col 3:16 . I confess the matter is very mysterious and obscure. Hence Cajetan’s exponat cui Deus concesserit, Let him expound it that can; I can say little to it. Hence Calvin (as Bodine reports him, Method. Hist. vii.) being asked his opinion about the Revelation, ingenuously confessed, se penitus ignorare quid velit tam obscurus scriptor, &c., That he, for his part, knew not what to make of it. Hence also Graserus, Mihi inquit, tota Apocalypsis valde obscura videtur; et talis cuius explicatio citra periculum vix queat tentari; Methinks, saith he, the whole book of the Revelation is wondrous dark, and indeed such as without danger of doing amiss, a man can hardly take in hand to interpret. I confess that I have hitherto profited less by the reading of no part of the Bible than by this so very dark a prophecy: thus he. Howbeit difficulty doth but whet on heroic spirits; and obscurity should not weaken but waken our diligence. God would have us to inquire into these things, though they be far above us; what else meaneth this trumpet, and that blessing so solemnly proclaimed with the sound of a trumpet, to him that readeth, and those that hear the words of this prophecy? Rev 1:3 . All cannot read, but all must hear. And let him that readeth or heareth, understand, Mat 24:15 . What if there be a veil laid over this Revelation, will it not be ratified by reading, and by degrees wholly worn away? Especially, if when we open the book we pray with David, “Lord, open mine eyes, that I may see the wondrous things of thy word:” and not pray only, but weep, as St John did, till this sealed book were opened.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

10, 11 .] I was (on , see above. Not merely “ I was ,” but “ I became ”) in the Spirit (i. e. in a state of spiritual ecstasy or trance, becoming thereby receptive of the vision or revelation to follow. That this is the meaning is distinctly shewn by the same phrase occurring in ch. Rev 4:2 ; where after seeing the door open in heaven, and hearing the , he adds, . See also ch. Rev 21:10 . Ebrard well says, “ Der Rapport mit der Umgebung durch die Sinne ist unterbrochen, und ein Rapport mit der unsichtbaren Welt tritt ein :” “connexion with surrounding objects through the senses is suspended, and a connexion with the invisible world established.” On the attempt made by some to give the words a different meaning, see below) on the Lord’s day (i. e. on the first day of the week, kept by the Christian church as the weekly festival of the Lord’s resurrection. On any probable hypothesis of the date of this book, this is the earliest mention of the day by this name. This circumstance, coupled with an exegetical bias, has led certain modern interpreters, of whom as far as I know, Wetstein was the first, to interpret the words of the day of the Lord’s coming , . So Zllig, and in our own country, Drs. S. R. Maitland and Todd. But 1) the difficulty, of the thus early occurrence of this term, is no real one. Dr. Maitland says (see Todd’s Lectures on the Apoc., Note B, p. 295), “I know of nothing in the Scripture or in the works of the ante-Nicene Fathers on which to ground such an assumption.” To this we may answer, that the extent of Dr. Maitland’s knowledge of the ante-Nicene Fathers does not, happily for us, decide the question. For, while he repudiates passages “professedly (?) brought forward from Ignatius, Irenus, &c.,” those of Tertullian (“die dominico jejunium nefas ducimus,” de coron. c. 3, vol. ii. p. 70: “quomodo dominica solennia celebrabimus,” de fug. pers. c. 14, p. 119), Dionysius of Corinth ( , , Eus [9] iv. 23), Julius Africanus ( , , de temp. 5), Epiphanius ( , ; Hr. lxxv. 7, p. 910), Clem.-Alex [10] ( , Strom. vii. 12 (76), p. 877 P.), are apparently unknown to him. Indeed he confesses (Todd, ut supra p. 301) to have found the word in Origen against Celsus viii. 22, vol. i. p. 758 ( , , ), and concedes that there may be many more places, but this does not modify his opinion, nor its adoption by his successor Dr. Todd. It may be well to cite the testimonies from Ignatius (ad Magnes. 9, p. 669, , ) and Irenus (in the Qustt. ad Orthod. in the works of Justin Martyr, 115, ed. Otto, vol. iii., p. 180 f., , . , , , , ): whence it is hardly possible but that the word should have occurred in Irenus. Mr. Elliott, Hor. Apoc. iv. 367 note, has pointed out that the Peschito renders , 1Co 11:20 , “not as befitteth the day of the Lord ye eat and drink” (Etheridge), which is an interesting proof of the early usage. This chronological objection being disposed of, and the matter 2) taken on its own merits, it really is astonishing how any even moderate Greek scholars can persuade themselves that the words can mean that which these Commentators maintain. They must be bold indeed who can render , “ I was transported by the Spirit (or, in spirit ) into ,” in the face of ch. Rev 4:2 ; and , “ the day of the Lord’s coming ,” in the face of the absence of a single precedent, and of the universal usage of the early Church. No such rendering would ever have been thought of, nor would it now be worth even a passing mention, were it not that an apocalyptic system has been built upon it.

[9] Eusebius, Bp. of Csarea, 315 320

[10]-Alex. Clement of Alexandria, fl. 194

What Drs. M. and T. say of the art. as making for their sense, is really past comprehension! as it is, that Dr. T. should call it the emphatic article. I need hardly remind students that it is in this connexion any thing but emphatic, being merely designative, as in , Act 20:26 ; , Act 21:26 ; ( ) , so often used by St. John in his Gospel. One day being known by the name , any thing happening on it would be designated ordinarily as happening , , or, as is one of those nouns which frequently lose the article, . In either case, the meaning, as far as the sense of is concerned, is precisely the same. Nor does either the art., or the use of the word by Chrys. in that sense (? I have not been able to find it), make it probable that Easter Sunday is meant): and I heard behind me (cf. Isa 30:21 ) a voice (ref. Ezek.), great as of a trumpet, saying (the trumpet is the instrument of festal proclamation, Num 10:10 ; Joe 2:15 , &c.: accompanies divine manifestations, Exo 19:19 f.; Joe 2:1 ; Mat 24:31 ; 1Th 4:16 . The similarity to the sound of the trumpet here was in the loudness and clearness of the voice: see also ch. Rev 4:1 . From this latter it appears that this voice was not that of our Lord, but of one who there also spoke to the Apostle. Dsterd. remarks that the leaves an indefiniteness as to the speaker), What thou seest (the present carries on the action through the vision now opening, “ what thou art seeing ”) write (forthwith: aor.) into a book (the prep. of motion gives the transference from the writer to the document), and send to the seven churches, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea (for all particulars respecting these churches see the Prolegomena, iii.).

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Rev 1:10 . Ecstasy or spiritual rapture, the supreme characteristic of prophets in Did. xi. 7 (where the unpardonable sin is to criticise a prophet ), was not an uncommon experience in early Christianity, which was profoundly conscious of living in the long-looked for messianic age (Act 2:17 f., cf. Eph 3:5 ), when such phenomena were to be a matter of course. Throughout the Apocalypse (Rev 21:5 , etc.) John first sees, then writes; the two are not simultaneous. While the Apocaiypse is thus the record of a vision ( , Rev 9:17 ), the usual accompaniments of a vision i.e. , prayer and fasting are significantly absent from the description of this inaugural scene, which is reticent and simple as compared, e.g. , with a passage like Asc. Isa. iv. 10 16. It is possible, however, that the prophet was engaged in prayer when the trance or vision overtook him (like Peter, Act 10:9-11 , cf. Ign. ad Polyc. ii. 2, , ), since the day of weekly Christian worship is specially mentioned on which, though separated from the churches (was there one at Patmos?), he probably was wrapt in meditations (on the resurrection of Christ) appropriate to the hour. The Imperial or Lord’s day, first mentioned here in early Christian literature (so Did. xiv., Gosp. Peter 11, etc.) contains an implicit allusion to the ethnic custom, prevalent in Asia Minor, of designating the first day of the month (or week?) as in honour of the emperor’s birthday (see Thieme’s Inschr. Maeander , 1906, 15, and Deissmann in E.Bi. 2813 f.). Christians, too, have their imperial day ( cf. Introd. 2), to celebrate the birthday of their heavenly king. With his mind absorbed in the thought of the exalted Jesus and stored with O.T. messianic conceptions from Daniel and Ezekiel, the prophet had the following ecstasy in which the thoughts of Jesus and of the church already present to his mind are fused into one vision. He recalls in spirit the usual church-service with its praises, prayers, sudden voices, and silences. (Compare Ign. Magn. ix. , , .) John’s service of God (Rev 1:2 ) involved suffering, instead of exempting him from the trials of ordinary Christians; the subsequent visions and utterances prove not merely that in his exile he had fallen back upon the O.T. prophets for consolation but that ( cf. 2Co 11:28-29 ) he was anxiously brooding over the condition of his churches on the mainland. Cf. Dio Chrys. Orat. xiii. 422, where the philosopher dates the consciousness of his vocation from the period of his exile. Upon the other hand, the main criterion of a false prophet (Eus. H. E. Rev 1:17 ; Rev 1:2 ), apart from covetousness, was speech , i.e. , the arrogant, ignorant, frenzied rapture affected by pagan Cagliostros, who were destitute of any unselfish religious concern for other people. , the regular method of spiritualistic voices and appearances: , loud and clear, not an unusual expression for voices heard in a trance ( cf. Martyr. Polyc. xxii. 2, Moscow MS). The following Christophany falls into rhythmical expression. As a revelation of the Lord (Rev 1:1 , cf. 2Co 12:1 ), with which we may contrast Emerson’s saying (“I conceive a man as always spoken to from behind and unable to turn his head and see the speaker”), it exhibits several of the leading functions discharged by Jesus in the Apocalypse, where he appears as ( a ) the revealer of secrets (Rev 1:1 f., Rev 5:5 ), ( b ) the guardian and champion of the saints (Rev 1:2-3 , etc.), ( c ) the medium, through sacrifice, of their relationship to God, ( d ) associated with God in rewarding them, and ( e ) in the preliminary overthrow of evil which accompanies the triumph of righteousness. Compare the main elements of the divine nature as conceived by the popular religion of contemporary Phrygia, viz. , ( a ) prophetic power, ( b ) healing and purifying power, and ( c ) divine authority (symbolised by the axe): C. B. P. , ii. 357.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Revelation

THE KING OF GLORY AND LORD OF THE CHURCHES

Rev 1:9-20 .

In this passage we have the seer and his commission Rev 1:9-11; the vision of the glorified Christ Rev 1:12-16; His words of comfort, self-revelation, and command Rev 1:17-20.

I. The writer does not call himself an apostle, but a brother and sharer in the common good of Christians. He does not speak as an apostle, whose function was to witness to the past earthly history of the Lord, but as a prophet, whose message was as to the future.

The true rendering of verse 9 R.V. brings all three words, ‘tribulation,’ ‘kingdom,’ and ‘patience’ into the same relation to ‘in Jesus.’ Sharing in afflictions which flow from union to Him is the condition of partaking in His kingdom; and tribulation leads to the throne, when it is borne with the brave patience which not only endures, but, in spite of sorrows, goes right onwards, and which is ours if we are in Christ.

Commentators tell us that John was banished to Patmos, an insignificant rock off the Asiatic coast, under Domitian, and returned to Ephesus in the reign of Nerva A.D. 96. No wonder that all through the book we hear the sound of the sea! It was common for the Romans to dispose of criminals in that fashion, and, clearly, John was shut up in Patmos as a criminal. ‘For the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus,’ cannot fairly bear any other meaning than that he was sent there as punishment for bearing witness to Jesus. Observe the use of ‘witness’ or testimony, as connecting the Apocalypse with the Gospel and Epistles of John.

In his rocky solitude the Apostle was ‘in the Spirit,’ -by which is, of course, not meant the condition in which every Christian should ever be, but such a state of elevated consciousness and communion as Paul was in when he was caught up to the heavens. No doubt John had been meditating on the unforgotten events of that long-past day of resurrection, which he was observing in his islet by solitary worship, as he had often observed it with his brethren in Ephesus; and his devout thoughts made him the more capable of supernatural communications. Whether the name of the first day of the week as ‘the Lord’s Day’ originated with this passage, or had already become common, is uncertain. But, at all events, it was plainly regarded as the day for Christian worship. Solitary souls, far away from the gatherings of Christ’s people, may still draw near to Him; and if they turn thought and love towards Him, they will be lifted above this gross earth, and bear that great voice speaking to them, which rose above the dash of waves, and thrilled the inward ear of the lonely exile. That voice, penetrating and clear like a trumpet, gave him his charge, and woke his expectation of visions to follow.

We cannot enter on any consideration of the churches enumerated, or the reasons for their selection. Suffice it to note that their number suggests their representative character, and that what is said to them is meant for all churches in all ages.

II. The fuller consideration of the emblem of the candlesticks will come presently, but we have reverently to gaze upon the glorious figure which flashed on John’s sight as he turned to see who spoke to him there in his loneliness.

His first glimpse told him that it was ‘one like to the Son of man’; for it can scarcely be supposed that the absence of the definite article in the Greek obliges us to think that all that John meant to say was that the form was manlike. Surely it was a more blessed resemblance than that vague one which struck on his heart. It was He Himself ‘ with His human air,’ standing there in the blaze of celestial light. What a rush of memories, what a rapture of awe and surprise would flood his soul, as that truth broke on him! The differences between the form seen and that remembered were startling, indeed, but likeness persisted through them all. Nor is it inexplicable that, when he had taken in all the features of the vision, he should have fallen as one dead; for the truest love would feel awe at the reappearance of the dearest invested with heavenly radiance.

The elements of the description are symbolical, and, in most instances, drawn from the Old Testament. The long robe, girdled high up with a golden girdle, seems to express at once kingly and priestly dignity. Girded loins meant work. This girdled breast meant royal repose and priestly calm. The whiteness of the hair comp. Dan. vii. 9 may indicate, as in Daniel, length of days; but more probably it expresses ‘the transfiguration in light of the glorified person of the Redeemer’ Trench. The flaming eyes are the symbol of His all-seeing wrath against evil, and the feet of burning brass symbolize the exalted Christ’s power to tread down His enemies and consume them. His voice was as the sound of many waters, like the billows that broke on Patmos, whereby is symbolized the majesty of His utterance of power, whether for rebuke or encouragement, but mainly for the former.

Flashing in His hand were seven stars. The seer does not stop to tell us how they were disposed there, nor how one hand could grasp them all; but that right hand can and does. What this point of the vision means we shall see presently.

The terrible power of the exalted Christ’s word to destroy His foes is expressed by that symbol of the two-edged sword from His mouth, which, like so many prophetic symbols, is grotesque if pictured, but sublime when spoken. The face blazed with dazzling brightness unbearable as the splendors of that southern sun which poured its rays on the flashing waters round John’s rocky prison.

Is this tremendous figure like the Christ on whose bosom John had leaned? Yes; for one chief purpose of this book is to make us feel that the exalted Jesus is the same in all essentials as the lowly Jesus. The heart that beats beneath the golden girdle is the same that melted with pity and overflowed with love here. The hands that bear the seven stars are those that were pierced with nails. The eyes that flash fire are those that dropped tears at a grave and over Jerusalem. The lips from which issues the sharp sword are the same which said, ‘I will give you rest.’ He has carried all His love, His gentleness, His sympathy, into the blaze of Deity, and in His glory is still our brother.

III. His gracious words to John tell us this and more. Soothingly He laid the hand with the stars in it on the terrified Apostle, and gentle words, which he had heard Him say many a time on earth, came soothingly from the mouth from which the sword proceeded. How the calming graciousness rises into majesty! ‘I am the first and the last.’ That is a Divine prerogative Isa 44:6. The glorified Christ claims to have been before all creatures, and to be the end to which all tend.

Verse 18 should be more closely connected with the preceding than in Authorized Version. The sentence runs on unbroken, ‘and the Living one,’ which is equivalent to the claim to possess life in Himself John v. 26, on which follows in majestic continuity, ‘and I became dead’-pointing to the mystery of the Lord of life entering into the conditions of humanity, and stooping to taste of death-’and, behold, I am alive for evermore’-the transient eclipse of the grave is followed by glorious life for ever-’ and I have the keys of death and of Hades’-having authority over that dark prison-house, and opening and shutting its gates as I will.

Mark how, in these solemn words, the threefold state of the eternal Word is set forth, in His pre-incarnate fullness of Divine life, in His submission to death, in His resurrection, and in His ascended glory, as Lord of life and death, and of all worlds. Does our faith grasp all these? We shall never understand His life and death on earth, unless we see before them the eternal dwelling of the Word with God, and after them the exaltation of His manhood to the throne of the universe.

The charge to the Apostle, which follows on this transcendent revelation, has two parts-the command to write his visions, and the explanation of the symbols of the stars and the candlesticks. As to the former, we need only note that it extends to the whole book, and that the three divisions of ‘what thou seest,’ ‘the things which are,’ and ‘the things which shall be hereafter,’ may refer, respectively, to the vision in this chapter, the letters to the seven churches, and the subsequent prophetic part of the book.

As to the explanation of the symbols, stars are always, in Scripture, emblems of authority, and here they are clearly so. But there is great difference of opinion as to the meaning of the ‘angels,’ which are variously taken as being guardian angels of each church, or the presiding officers of these, or ideal figures representing each church in its collective aspect. It is impossible to enter on the discussion of these views here, and we can only say that, in our judgment, the opinion that the angels are the bishops of the churches is the most probable. If so, the fact that they are addressed as representing the churches, responsible for and sharing in their spiritual condition, suggests very solemn thoughts as to the weight laid on every one who sustains an analogous position, and the inseparable connection between th spiritual condition of pastor and people.

The seven candlesticks are the seven churches. The formal unity of the ancient church, represented by the one candlestick with its seven branches, is exchanged for the real unity which arises from the presence of Christ in the midst. The old candlestick is at the bottom of the Mediterranean. The unity of the Church does not depend on compression into one organization, but on all its parts being clustered around Jesus.

The emblem of the candlestick, or lamp-holder, may suggest lessons as to the Church’s function. Each church should be light. That light must be derived. There is only one unkindled and unfed light-that of Jesus Christ. Of the rest of us it has to be said, ‘ He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light.’ Each church should be, as it were, a clustered light, like those rings of iron, pierced with many little holes, from each of which a tiny jet of gas comes, which, running all together, make one steady lustre. So we should each be content to blend our little twinkle in the common light.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

Spirit. App-101. See Rev 4:2; Rev 17:3; Rev 21:10.

on = in (Greek. en).

the Lord’s day = the day of the Lord (Isa 2:12, &c), the Hebrew terms for which are equivalent to the Greek he kuriake hemera, the Lord’s day. Occurances: 1Th 5:2. 2Th 2:2 (with texts). 2Pe 3:16. Not our Sunday.

trumpet. In O.T. connected with war and the day of the Lord. See Zep 1:14-16; &c. This verse (10) is the key to understanding the book of Revelation: John was taken “in the power of The Holy Spirit”, from (A.D. 96) on to a time past this present time, to the future (“the day of the Lord”), and shown things both past and that are future.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

10, 11.] I was (on , see above. Not merely I was, but I became) in the Spirit (i. e. in a state of spiritual ecstasy or trance, becoming thereby receptive of the vision or revelation to follow. That this is the meaning is distinctly shewn by the same phrase occurring in ch. Rev 4:2; where after seeing the door open in heaven, and hearing the , he adds, . See also ch. Rev 21:10. Ebrard well says, Der Rapport mit der Umgebung durch die Sinne ist unterbrochen, und ein Rapport mit der unsichtbaren Welt tritt ein: connexion with surrounding objects through the senses is suspended, and a connexion with the invisible world established. On the attempt made by some to give the words a different meaning, see below) on the Lords day (i. e. on the first day of the week, kept by the Christian church as the weekly festival of the Lords resurrection. On any probable hypothesis of the date of this book, this is the earliest mention of the day by this name. This circumstance, coupled with an exegetical bias, has led certain modern interpreters, of whom as far as I know, Wetstein was the first, to interpret the words of the day of the Lords coming, . So Zllig, and in our own country, Drs. S. R. Maitland and Todd. But 1) the difficulty, of the thus early occurrence of this term, is no real one. Dr. Maitland says (see Todds Lectures on the Apoc., Note B, p. 295), I know of nothing in the Scripture or in the works of the ante-Nicene Fathers on which to ground such an assumption. To this we may answer, that the extent of Dr. Maitlands knowledge of the ante-Nicene Fathers does not, happily for us, decide the question. For, while he repudiates passages professedly (?) brought forward from Ignatius, Irenus, &c., those of Tertullian (die dominico jejunium nefas ducimus, de coron. c. 3, vol. ii. p. 70: quomodo dominica solennia celebrabimus, de fug. pers. c. 14, p. 119), Dionysius of Corinth ( , , Eus[9] iv. 23), Julius Africanus ( , , de temp. 5), Epiphanius ( , ; Hr. lxxv. 7, p. 910), Clem.-Alex[10] ( , Strom. vii. 12 (76), p. 877 P.), are apparently unknown to him. Indeed he confesses (Todd, ut supra p. 301) to have found the word in Origen against Celsus viii. 22, vol. i. p. 758 ( , , ), and concedes that there may be many more places, but this does not modify his opinion, nor its adoption by his successor Dr. Todd. It may be well to cite the testimonies from Ignatius (ad Magnes. 9, p. 669, , ) and Irenus (in the Qustt. ad Orthod. in the works of Justin Martyr, 115, ed. Otto, vol. iii., p. 180 f., , . , , , , ): whence it is hardly possible but that the word should have occurred in Irenus. Mr. Elliott, Hor. Apoc. iv. 367 note, has pointed out that the Peschito renders , 1Co 11:20, not as befitteth the day of the Lord ye eat and drink (Etheridge), which is an interesting proof of the early usage. This chronological objection being disposed of, and the matter 2) taken on its own merits, it really is astonishing how any even moderate Greek scholars can persuade themselves that the words can mean that which these Commentators maintain. They must be bold indeed who can render , I was transported by the Spirit (or, in spirit) into,-in the face of ch. Rev 4:2; and , the day of the Lords coming, in the face of the absence of a single precedent, and of the universal usage of the early Church. No such rendering would ever have been thought of, nor would it now be worth even a passing mention, were it not that an apocalyptic system has been built upon it.

[9] Eusebius, Bp. of Csarea, 315-320

[10]-Alex. Clement of Alexandria, fl. 194

What Drs. M. and T. say of the art. as making for their sense, is really past comprehension! as it is, that Dr. T. should call it the emphatic article. I need hardly remind students that it is in this connexion any thing but emphatic, being merely designative, as in , Act 20:26; , Act 21:26; () , so often used by St. John in his Gospel. One day being known by the name , any thing happening on it would be designated ordinarily as happening , , or, as is one of those nouns which frequently lose the article, . In either case, the meaning, as far as the sense of is concerned, is precisely the same. Nor does either the art., or the use of the word by Chrys. in that sense (? I have not been able to find it), make it probable that Easter Sunday is meant): and I heard behind me (cf. Isa 30:21) a voice (ref. Ezek.), great as of a trumpet, saying (the trumpet is the instrument of festal proclamation, Num 10:10; Joe 2:15, &c.: accompanies divine manifestations, Exo 19:19 f.; Joe 2:1; Mat 24:31; 1Th 4:16. The similarity to the sound of the trumpet here was in the loudness and clearness of the voice: see also ch. Rev 4:1. From this latter it appears that this voice was not that of our Lord, but of one who there also spoke to the Apostle. Dsterd. remarks that the leaves an indefiniteness as to the speaker), What thou seest (the present carries on the action through the vision now opening,-what thou art seeing) write (forthwith: aor.) into a book (the prep. of motion gives the transference from the writer to the document), and send to the seven churches, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea (for all particulars respecting these churches see the Prolegomena, iii.).

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Rev 1:10. ) A sentence consisting of three members: : Rev 1:9-10.- , on the Lords day) That there is a Lords day, and that it is so called, is plain even from this passage: moreover, that the Lords day is that day which was called by the Gentiles the day of the Sun, which is the first day of every week, and which is opposed to the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week, is clear from the universal stimony of Christian antiquity. We may also learn the reason of this title from the Scripture itself of the New Testament. Many seek the origin of the title in the fact of the Lords Resurrection on that day. This indeed is true, but it cannot have been the principal or the only reason. The days of the Lords Nativity, of His Baptism, Transfiguration, Cross, Resurrection, Ascension, and Coming in glory, are all remarkable. Which of these is in the highest sense the Lords day? The Lords Supper is the supper of the Lord: the Lords day is the day of our Lord Jesus Christ; under which name the style of the apostle denotes the one day of His coming, which also is spoken of absolutely as the day, or that day. The opinion of the ancient Christians is not at variance with this view; respecting which opinion these things are read in Jerome on that passage, at midnight, Matthew 25 : Let us say something, which perhaps may be useful to the reader. There is a tradition of the Jews, that Christ will come at midnight, in consonance with the time in Egypt, when the passover was celebrated, and the destroying angel came, and the Lord passed over the tents [of Israel]: the door-posts of our foreheads, too, have been consecrated with the blood of a Lamb. Whence I suppose, also that the apostolical tradition has continued, that on the eve of the passover it is not permitted to dismiss the people before midnight, expecting the coming of Christ: and when that time shall have passed, security being now presumed upon, all keep the festival. The Lord was expected on every Lords day, although the solemn expectation of His Coming was especially celebrated before the Paschal Lords day. The seventh day is a memorial of the creation: the first day is a memorial of the final consummation. The former is the day of Jehovah: the latter, the day of the Lord. Undoubtedly, whoever perceives beforehand in his mind, that the first day of the week is called the Lords day, because that is the day of the Lords coming, he then, and not till then, perceives with what remarkable propriety it happened to John, that he should, on the Lords day, both see and describe the Lord as coming.

I once thought that the vision, which Ezekiel relates from ch. 40, was on the day of the Sabbath, and that that day of the Sabbath might be compared with the Lords day mentioned in this passage; but I now of my own accord give up that idea. For indeed, in the year of the world 3374, in which Calvisius places that vision, the first day of Tisri was the Sabbath; but the vision was three years afterwards, on the tenth day of Tisri, in the middle of the week. The Lords day opens another inquiry. Irenus, nearly a contemporary writer, affirms that the Apocalypse was seen , at the end of the reign of Domitian; and, besides others, Newton vainly opposes him, in his Observ. on the Ap. p. 163. See Exeg. Germ. p. 174. But Domitian was slain in the 96th year Dion., on the 18th Sept., on the Lords day: and since Irenus thus accurately marks the time of the vision by the well-known death of the persecutor, it will be most safe to depart as little as possible from the very day. But what if that Lords day in that year was the 3d April, that is, the paschal feast; or the 19th June: comp. Ord. Temp. p. 389 [Ed. ii. p. 334, sq.]; or the 18th of September itself? I define nothing: I follow the footsteps of Irenus. At any rate, the fact of the Apocalypse being given before the death of Domitian supplies another observation. Apollonius of Tyana was addressing the people at Ephesus, and in the middle of his speech he exclaimed, Strike the tyrant; and again, Be of good courage, the tyrant is slain. And on that day, and at that hour, Domitian was slain at Rome. Whether Apollonius had been aware of the conspiracy against Domitian, or perceived from any other source what was taking place, the Apocalypse at the same time supplied the Ephesians with a much greater discovery of future events, to check the followers of Apollonius, and to vindicate the glory of Jesus Christ.- , I heard behind me) Johns face had been turned towards the east; and in like manner the Lord, while He appears to him, directed His face to the east, towards Asia, to which the writing was to be sent.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

voice The theophanies. Rev 1:9-20; Gen 12:7

Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes

in: Rev 4:2, Rev 17:3, Rev 21:10, Mat 22:43, Act 10:10-33, 2Co 12:2-4

on the: Joh 20:19, Joh 20:26, Act 20:7, 1Co 16:2

as: Rev 4:1, Rev 10:3-8

Reciprocal: Exo 16:23 – rest Exo 19:16 – voice Exo 24:16 – seventh day Lev 23:3 – General Num 24:4 – falling Num 28:9 – General Psa 118:24 – the day Isa 56:6 – every Isa 58:1 – like Isa 58:13 – call Jer 17:22 – neither do Eze 3:12 – a voice Eze 8:3 – the spirit Eze 9:1 – cried Eze 11:1 – the spirit Eze 37:1 – hand Eze 40:1 – hand Mat 12:8 – General Mar 2:28 – General Mar 16:9 – the first Luk 1:41 – was Luk 2:27 – by Luk 6:5 – General Act 21:4 – we Act 22:17 – while 1Th 4:16 – with the trump 2Ti 3:12 – shall Rev 14:2 – of a

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Rev 1:10. In the Spirit means he was in a spiritual rapture in which he could hear and see things that could not ordinarily be heard and seen. Lord’s (lay. The New testament religion has no holy days as did that of the Old. However, the Lord arose from the dead on the first (lay of the week (Mar 16:9), the church was started on the first (lay of the week (Lev 23:16; Acts 2), the disciples met on the first day of the week to break bread (Act 20:7), and the congregational collection of money was made on the first day of the week (1 Corinthians 1 G:1, 2). These facts would give the first day of the week some distinction that is said of no other day. The conclusion is clear that the same day is what is meant by the Lord’s day in our verse. As of a trumpet. The comparison is made because that kind of instrument had a vibratory sound that was intense in quality and far-reaching in volume. John does not mean he thought he heard a trumpet, for verse 12 says lie turned to “see the voice.” But the voice was so impressive that John likened it to a. trumpet. Heard behind me is significant. By coming up behind John he could hear the voice before seeing the tremendous display of spiritual imagery accompanying it.

Comments by Foy E. Wallace

Verse 10

3. “I was in the spirit on the Lord’s day”–Rev 1:10.

The claim that John was in the spirit means that he was in visional rapture, not in the Holy Spirit, but in the state described of Paul in 2Co 12:1-21, and of Peter in Act 10:1-48. As though out of the body, John was in a state in which the external objects and material surroundings were as though they did not exist–he had for the time passed out of the physical world into the spiritual state. This was not the effect of any natural cause, but rather the result of the interposition of supernatural power.

The words visions and dreams are not synonymous, and their meanings are not identical, though sometimes they are used indiscriminately in the Scriptures, as in Gen 46:2; Num 12:6; Job 20:8; and Dan 2:28. In the vision, the subject may be awake, as in 2Ki 6:17; Act 23:11; Act 27:23 –in a state of supernatural ecstasy. But in the dreams through which God revealed his purposes and his will, and in the divine purpose, to him was also imparted the powers of interpretation.

The examples of such dreams were numerous, as in Gen 20:3-6; Gen 28:12-14; 1Sa 28:6; Dan 2:1-45; and Joe 2:28. This power to interpret was, of course, supernatural and, therefore, the dreams and visions belonged only to the supernatural prophetical and apostolic ages and ceased with them.

Since the complete revelation of God’s will for the redemption of man and the edification of his church has been delivered, and its inspired documents committed to the apostolic records of the New Testament, there can be no need or reason for their existence, and no confidence can be held in the claims and pretensions of individuals and cults presuming to employ them, and such presumption can only be labelled as false and impious.

The verse under consideration states that John was in the spirit on the Lord’s day. The preposition on is the same in the Greek as in, and the context must determine the distinction. The use of it here means in the midst of the Lord’s day. It is not a reference to the first day of the week, but to the day in which the Lord accomplished these events, as used in Isa 13:9 in which Isaiah described the destruction of ancient Babylon as the day of the Lord; and in Zec 14:1 where Zechariah referred to the destruction of Jerusalem as the day of the Lord. The phrase meant the day of events connected with the judgments of the Lord. 2Ti 1:18 referred to the day of God’s mercy, meaning the time in which his mercy is extended to men. In this sense the phrase in the Lord’s day is used in Rev 1:10; it means in day of the rapture into which the Lord had placed John–that he had been transported into the midst of the scenes of the vision as though he was, himself, in the day of their happening.

(4) The voice of the Son of man.

1. “And heard behind me a great voice”–Rev 1:10.

This part of the scene was not occult, but auditory. John heard this voice, and it came from behind him, from a point where he was not looking. The great voice was “as a trumpet”–a signal, as if to announce the approach of a solemn epiphany, a divine presence.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Rev 1:10-11. I was in the Spirit That is, in a trance, a prophetic vision; so overwhelmed with the power, and filled with the light of the Holy Spirit, as to be insensible of outward things, and wholly taken up with spiritual and divine. What follows is one single, connected vision, which St. John saw in one day: and therefore he that would understand it should carry his thoughts straight on through the whole, without interruption. The other prophetic books are collections of distinct prophecies, given upon various occasions. But here is one single treatise, whereof all the parts exactly depend on each other. Rev 4:1, is connected with Rev 1:19. And what is delivered in the 4th chapter goes on directly to the 22d. On the Lords day On this our Lord rose from the dead. On this the ancients believed he would come to judgment. It was therefore with the utmost propriety that St. John on this day both saw and described his coming. And I heard behind me St. John had his face to the east: our Lord likewise, in this appearance, looked eastward toward Asia, whither the apostle was to write: a great voice as of a trumpet Which was peculiarly proper to proclaim the coming of the great King, and his victory over all his enemies. I am Alpha and Omega, &c. That these titles should be repeated so soon, in a connection which demonstrates they are given to Christ, will appear very remarkable, whatever sense be given to the 8th verse. The argument drawn in the preceding note upon it would have been strong, wherever such a passage as this had been found; but its immediate connection with this greatly strengthens it. And I, says Doddridge, cannot forbear recording it, that this text has done more than any other in the Bible toward preventing me from giving into that scheme which would make our Lord Jesus Christ no more than a deified creature. And, What thou seest, and hearest, write He both saw and heard. This command extends to the whole book. All the books of the New Testament were written by the will of God: but none were so expressly commanded to be written; in a book So all the revelation is but one book: nor did the letter to the angel of each church belong to him or his church only, but the whole book was sent to them all: and send it unto the seven churches Hereafter named; and through them to all churches, in all ages and nations. To Ephesus Mr. Thomas Smith, who, in the year 1671, travelled through all these cities, observes, that from Ephesus to Smyrna is forty-six English miles; from Smyrna to Pergamos, sixty-four; from Pergamos to Thyatira, forty-eight; from Thyatira to Sardis, thirty- three; from Sardis to Philadelphia, twenty-seven; and from Philadelphia to Laodicea, about forty-two miles.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

TIME OF THE END

While it is positively revealed that no one is to know the day of His coming, yet it is positively certified that the Lords true people are to know the time of the end. As Daniel and John did not live in the time of the end, they did not know it. Daniel was terribly grieved because he did not know it; but God said to him (12:9):

Go thy way; close up the vision and seal the book till the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

We are now living in that period. Many are running to and fro, and spreading abroad the knowledge of the Lords speedy coming. Thus you may rest assured that we are living in the time of the end, and the coming of the Lord is nigh. We are flooded on a sides with innumerable prophetical signs of His coming, of which we shall have occasion to speak, ever and anon, in the progress of this exposition. In Rev 1:9, we find that John was banished to the Isle of Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. When our Savior appeared to Saul, on his way to Damascus, He said: I have appeared unto thee to make thee a minister and a witness. Thus the word and testimony are inseparable concomitants.

If John had preached and withheld his testimony, he might have stayed in Rome. We must not only preach the word straight and clear, but constantly corroborate it by our testimony. In that case the blessing of persecution will not be delinquent.

10. As John arrived in Patmos late Saturday evening, spent the night in prayer, with the opening Sunday morning, the glorified Savior came down, opened heaven to his vision, and revealed the wonderful prophetical panorama. Why is our Sabbath the first day of the week? We see here the apostles kept the first day, and, because of its sanctity, called it the Lords day.

The Old Dispensation wag under the law, which said, Work first, then rest; and if you do not work, you shall not rest. The New Dispensation is under the gospel, which says, Rest first, and then you will be in good fix to do your work. Hence, the very genius of the dispensations superinduce the change from the seventh to the first day of the week.

Fuente: William Godbey’s Commentary on the New Testament

Verse 10

On the Lord’s day; the first day of the week, being the Christian Sabbath. It is called the Lord’s day on account of its being the day on which our Lord rose from the dead.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

1:10 I was in the {h} Spirit on the {i} Lord’s day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

(h) This is a holy trance expressed, with which the prophets were entranced, and being carried out of the world, conversed with God: and so Ezekiel says often, that he was carried from place to place by the Spirit, and that the Spirit of the Lord came on him.

(i) He calls it the Lord’s day, which Paul calls the first day of the week; 1Co 16:2 .

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

The Holy Spirit appears to have caught John up and projected him in his spirit to a future time in a vision (cf. Rev 4:2; Rev 17:3; Rev 21:10; Eze 3:12; Eze 3:14; Eze 8:3; Eze 11:1; Eze 11:24; Eze 43:5). [Note: See F. J. A. Hort, The Apocalypse of St. John, p. 15.]

The "Lord’s day" probably refers to Sunday. [Note: Swete, p. 13; Morris, p. 51; Newell, p. 24; Johnson, pp. 424-25; Mounce, p. 76; Beasley-Murray, p. 65; Aune, p. 84; Ladd, p. 31; Beale, pp. 203-4; Roger T. Beckwith and Wilfred Stott, This is The Day: The Biblical Doctrine of the Christian Sabbath in its Jewish and Early Christian Setting.] But it could refer to the future day of the Lord spoken of frequently elsewhere in Scripture. [Note: E. W. Bullinger, The Apocalypse or "The Day of the Lord," p. 152; Walvoord, p. 42; Smith, p. 324.] The New Testament writers never called Sunday the Lord’s day elsewhere in Scripture. This term became common after the apostolic age. [Note: Thomas, Revelation 1-7, p. 91.]

A loud trumpet-like voice instructed John to write down what he saw and send it to seven churches in Asia Minor. The trumpet reference probably implies that submission to its command was necessary. The voice belonged to Jesus Christ (Rev 1:12; Rev 1:17-18).

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)

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