Revelation 1:12-13

Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me.  And having turned I saw seven gold lampstands, and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band.

• ·         John hears a “Voice, as of a trumpet”, then having “turned to see the Voice that spoke” Scripture declares that John “saw”. What if John wouldn’t have turned? What if Moses wouldn’t have “turned” to see the burning bush? Many times God chooses to approach us with an unfamiliar presentation from an unusual vantage point in an offensive manner (Jn. 20:14-16; 21:4, 12). He does this as an “invitation” to turn from the mundane into the supernatural! He looks to see if we have our “ear to the wind” so to speak, being attentive to His voice. As we “turn” toward Him, He is found by us (Zech. 1:3).  In many cases, those who continue on in the familiar without turning, miss out on what God is saying and doing. God only called to Moses after He “saw that he turned aside to look”.

• ·         The revelation of Jesus Christ, as the glorious “Son of Man” (Rev. 1:13; 14:14) is central throughout the book of Revelation, founded upon the core reality of the Messiah, who is both fully God and fully man.

Exodus 25:37 “You shall make seven lamps for it, and they shall arrange its lamps so that they give light in front of it.

Ezekiel 1:26 And above the firmament over their heads was the likeness of a throne, in appearance like a sapphire stone; on the likeness of the throne was a likeness with the appearance of a man high above it.

Daniel 10:5 I lifted my eyes and looked, and behold, a certain man clothed in linen, whose waist was girded with gold of Uphaz!

Revelation 1:10-11

I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, saying, “What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia; to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.”

• ·         In the Spirit is to be supernaturally controlled in your faculties:  your eyes see things that otherwise they never would see, that your ears hear voices that otherwise you would never hear; that your mouth says things that otherwise you would never have said.  (DP)

Exodus 19:16 Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of a trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Isaiah 58:1  “Cry aloud, spare not; lift up your voice like a trumpet; tell My people their transgression, and the house of Jacob their sins.

Revelation 1:9

I, John, your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

• ·         John is a persecuted man, banished, imprisoned, for his adherence to Christ (MH)

• ·         He did not suffer as an evil-doer, but that it was for the testimony of Jesus (MH)

1 Samuel 9:27  ….And he went on.  “But you stand here awhile, that I may announce to you the word of God.”