Bible Study - Revelation 1-3 and Having ”Ears that Hear”

The last few weeks, we have been hearing Jesus telling parables in Matthew 13 and then saying several times, “He who has ears, let him hear.” Jesus also said, “How blessed are your ears, for they hear,” in contrast with others who who are “hearing but they do not hear, nor do they understand.”

This made me think of the last book of the Bible, the Revelation to the Apostle John, including letters to be sent to seven churches in Asia Minor (not in modern day Asia, but in what is now the country of Turkey). In each of these seven letters, we hear the phrase, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”

In our Epistle lessons the last few weeks, we have also been hearing about the Holy Spirit and His importance in bringing us to faith in Christ and keeping us in that faith. We and our churches today still need to hear the Spirit’s guidance for our churches through God’s Word, and we have many problems and concerns that are similar to those described by John in Revelation. That is what we will look at in our study in the coming weeks. The actual letters are in Revelation Chapters 2 and 3, but we will begin with Chapter 1, which will help us better understand what follows.

Here is a brief introduction. The Book of Revelation was likely the last of the books of the Bible to be written, in 95 AD, or at the latest, 96 AD. The early Christian leader, Irenaeus, tells us that John wrote this letter near the end of the reign of Domitian as Emperor of the Roman Empire, from 81-96 AD. Domitian strongly emphasized worship of the Emperor as a God and brought on widespread persecution of anyone who refused to worship Domitian in that way. That created serious problems for Christians, who would only worship the one true Triune God, saying  that Jesus is Lord and God, to the glory of God the Father, in connection with God the Holy Spirit. (See Philippians 2:1, 5-11.

John, the author of Revelation, was one of the original disciples of Jesus and became the leader of the church in Ephesus, in Asia Minor, for many years. He wrote the Gospel of John and the 3 Letters of John that we have in the New Testament. As persecution of Christians increased, under Domitian and others, John was exiled to the island of Patmos, in the Mediterranean Sea. (See Revelation 1:9.) This was done by the Romans in the hope that leaving the church in Ephesus without its key leader would weaken the Christians in Ephesus and in all of Asia Minor. Maybe then these Christians would feel the pressure and worship the Emperor as a God, as Domitian wanted them to do. This would settle down these Christian rebels and bring more unity to the Roman Empire. 

John, however, knew the prediction of Jesus that he would not die in the same way as Peter and the other original disciples did. (Tradition says that they all died as martyrs while sharing the Christian faith, other than John. See what John tells about Peter and him in John 21:17-24.) John could not travel to visit his old church and others, because of his “exile,” but he could write to them. Read Revelation 1:1-3.

John says that Jesus sent a revelation and prophecy from God to him through an angel, and John was to write down what he saw and heard from Jesus and send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor (Revelation 1:4). What John wrote was not his own word, but “the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ;” and he was to write down “all that he saw” (v. 2).

Verse 3 then promises: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” (Remember that at that time, many people could not read, and there were very few “books” available. Most all of them were scrolls, and copies could only be made, very carefully by trained scribes, trained writers. Most people listened to what others read to them.)

What a privilege it is for us to have a Bible we can all read and study on our own, today. As we will see, what John wrote by the revelation of Jesus, and through the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, was not just for those ancient churches, but for us and our churches still today. Take time, if you can, to read through Revelation 1, for next week. Notice the unusual language and picture images as the chapter goes on; yet remember, “Blessed are those who hear and who keep what is written” (Revelation 1:3). “He who has ears, let him hear” (Matthew 13:9, 43).