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THE KING’S BUSINESS
Matt. 17:5;- Ps. 103:3; Isa. 19:1; Matt. 24:30; 26 :64, 65). . So this passage clearly represents that when our Lord Jesus comes again He is coming as Jehovah, manifested openly as Jehovah. The verse tells us plainly that He will come personally and visibly, not only His friends but His foes shall see Him, “ They that pierced Him,” that is those who nailed Him to the cross shall.see Him (cf. Zech. 12:10). The day o f our Lord’s return will be for his faith ful people the gladdest day they ever knew, but it will be a sad day for those who have rejected Him, “they shall mourn over Him” (cf. Zech. 12:11, 14; 13:11). v. 8. “I am (add, the) Alpha and (add, the) Omega, the beginning and the ending (omit, the beginning and the ending), saith the Lord (add , God), which (who) is, and which (who) was, and which (who) is to come, the Almighty.” In this passage it is the Lord God, the Almighty, who speaks of himself as the Alpha and Omega. Further on the Lord Jesus.speaks o f himself in the same way. O f course the meaning is that the Lord God (and Jesus, as we shall see later), are the beginning and the ending, for Alpha and Omega are the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet. He is the Eternal One Who is, and the One Who was, and the One Who is’ to come. There is no past, present and future with Him, he is the eternal I Am. vs. 17, 18. “And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me (omit, unto me); Fear not, I am the first and the last: I-am he that liveth, (and the living one:) and (add , I) was dead; (,) and,' behold I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have (forevermore, and I have) the keys of hell and of death (o f death and of Hades).” John had enjoyed more tender intimacy with our Lord during His earthly life than any other person, but this same John is now completely overpowered at the vision o f our Lord in His glory. But for all His overpowering majesty and glory, Jesus proved to be the same tender One still, “he laid h is ‘ right hand upon
John” and gently said, “ Fear not.” This “ fear not” applied not only to the glory o f our Lord’s presence here,/but also had in view all the awful visions o f judgment that are to follow. Jesus here without hesi tation takes to Himself divine names and titles. He calls H im self'“the first and the last” (cf. Isa. 44:6; 48:12), and “the living One” (cf. John 14:19). But our Lord’s true humanity comes out also, he says, “ I was dead.” There is certainly no Christian Science in this; Christian Science denies the reality o f death, our Lord here asserts it and says he Himself was dead. But now He is not only “alive forevermore” Him self, but has also the keys o f death and Hades for others. vs. 19, 20. “ Write (add , therefore) the things which thou hast seen (sawest); and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;' The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are. the (omit, the) seven churches.” What John was to write is divided into three parts: (1) “The things which thou sawest.” These are found in chapter i. (2) “The things which are,” these are found in chapters ii and iii. (3) “ The things which shall come to pass here after” (better, after these things), These are found beginning with chapter iv and going on to the end o f the book (see Chapter 4:1, R.V.) ’ This is God’s own division o f the book o f Revelation and is the key to the .whole book. The “ stars” in the right hand o f Jesus are the angels o f the churches. The word translated “ angels” means “messengers” and may stand for the ministers or missionaries o f the churches. W e are told in the Old Testament that those who turn many to righteousness are to shine as “the stars forever and ever” (cf. Dan. 12:3). As the imagery o f this book is largely founded upon the imagery o f the book o f Daniel, the calling o f the missionaries o f the churches “ stars” is doubly significant. These missionaries are in Christ’s own mighty “ right hand” (cf.
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