Revelation 1

The Revelation of Jesus Christ
1 This is the a revelation of Jesus Christ [His unveiling of the divine mysteries], which God [the Father] gave to Him to show to His bond-servants (believers) the things which must soon take place [in their entirety]; and He sent and communicated it by His angel (divine messenger) to His bond-servant <abbr title="Meta. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. He signifies a high intellectual perception of Truth, but one not yet quickened of Spirit. John represents that attitude of mind in which we are zealous for the rule of Spirit. This attitude is not spiritual, but a perception of spiritual possibilities and an activity in making conditions in which Spirit may rule. This John-the-Baptist perception of Truth leads us to strive with evil as a reality, not having discerned the truth about its transitory character.">John, 2 who testified and gave supporting evidence to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to everything that he saw [in his visions]. 3 Blessed (happy, prosperous, to be admired) is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and who keep the things which are written in it [heeding them and taking them to heart]; for the time [of fulfillment] is near.

Message to the Seven Churches
4 John, to the seven churches that are in [the province of] Asia : Grace [be granted] to you and peace [inner calm and spiritual well-being], from Him Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, and from the seven Spirits that are before His throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead, and the Ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who [always] loves us and who [has once for all] freed us [or washed us] from our sins by His own blood (His sacrificial death)— 6 and formed us into a kingdom [as His subjects], priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion forever and ever. Amen. 7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes (nations) of the earth will mourn over Him [realizing their sin and guilt, and anticipating the coming wrath]. So it is to be. Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega [the Beginning and the End],” says the Lord God, “Who is [existing forever] and Who was [continually existing in the past] and Who is to come, the Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all].”

=== The Patmos Vision === 9 I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patient endurance which are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos, [exiled there] because of [my preaching of] the word of God [regarding eternal salvation] and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 10 I was in the Spirit [in special communication with the Holy Spirit and empowered to receive and record the revelation from Jesus Christ] on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet, 11 saying, “Write on a scroll what you see [in this revelation], 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 .”

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And after turning I saw seven golden <abbr title="candlestick--The candlestick of the Temple represents the intelligence in man. The "seven golden candlesticks" of Rev. 1:12 are receptacles of spiritual light.">lampstands ; 13 and in the midst of the lampstands I saw someone like the Son of Man, dressed in a robe reaching to His feet, and with a golden sash wrapped around His chest. 14 His head and His hair were white like white wool, [glistening white] like snow; and His [all-seeing] eyes were [flashing] like a flame of <abbr title="Meta. Fire is generally used in the Bible as a symbol of destruction of evil and error. It stands for cleansing and purification. In its true essence it is the fire of Spirit, or the divine energy, which never ceases its life-giving, purifying glow; when its cleansing work is completed in man's mind and body there is no more error to be consumed, and it then manifests in purified man as his eternal life.">fire [piercing into my being]. 15 His feet were like burnished [white-hot] <abbr title="Bronze Symbolizes Strength and Support">bronze, refined in a furnace, and His voice was [powerful] like the sound of many <abbr title="Meta. Water in its different aspects represents weakness and negativeness, cleansing, mental potentiality, and in some cases life, or vital energy.">waters. 16 In His right hand He held seven <abbr title="star--Represents man's first awakening before he realizes his Christ wisdom and power. The morning star heralds the coming of light and the glory of the sun. In like progressive unfoldment, the mind has its star of promise, which leads on to wisdom, then to final glory in the sun of righteousness, which is the Son of God.">stars, and from His mouth came a sharp two-edged sword [of judgment]; and His face [reflecting His majesty and the <abbr title="(in Jewish and Christian theology) the glory of the divine presence, conventionally represented as light or interpreted symbolically (in Kabbalism as a divine feminine aspect).">Shekinah glory] was like the <abbr title="Meta. The sun represents spiritual intelligence. Light is always a symbol of intelligence, and the sun, the supreme source of light in man's world, represents the highest form of intelligence, spiritual intelligence. The moon, which symbolizes the intellect, receives all its light from the spiritual intelligence. This is the true source of all light. Our individual mind is quickened to the extent that we make it receptive to the inflooding of the light of Spirit.">sun shining in [all] its power [at midday].

17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead. And He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last [absolute Deity, the Son of God], 18 and the Ever-living One [living in and beyond all time and space]. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of [absolute control and victory over] death and of Hades (the realm of the dead). 19 So write the things which you have seen [in the vision], and the things which are [now happening], and the things which will take place after these things. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: the seven stars are the angels (divine messengers) of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

Revelation 2