Part 2 of 12 of the theme 'Lessons from Revelation ' by Gijs van den Brink
The previous times we saw that Revelation is a book full of visions that are not always easy to understand.
Now we want to dwell on the spiritual experience in which John received his visions. He tells something about it himself.
In Rev. 1:10 he says (literally translated) "I got into the spirit (egenomēn and pneumati, from ginomai, arise, become) on the Lord's day; and I heard behind me ....
He does not say "I was in the spirit," but "I got into the spirit. We also read this in 4:2 (cf. also 17:3 and 21:10). We are talking about the spiritual experience that Peter and Paul describe as ''ekstasis', sense rapture or spirit ecstasy (Acts 11:5; 22:17). What John undergoes is a form of prophetic ecstasy, making him present in heaven "in (the) spirit" (4:1, cf. Paul, 2 Cor. 12:2-5).
Furthermore, we read in the book about 50 times "I saw" and about 25 times "I heard. Clearly, visions and auditions (hearing voices and sounds) are how John received his revelations.
But does this now mean that his will and mind were turned off? Apparently not, for we see an interaction between a consciously present John and what happens in the vision. John reacts emotionally to what he sees and hears. For example, in 5:4 he weeps greatly when he notices that no one can open the scroll in the hand of God. He also answers questions asked of him in the vision (7:13-14). By the way, we see all this with the prophets in the OT as well. They see visions and hear voices in full consciousness (Jer.1:11; Eze.10:15; 43:3; Dan.9:21; Am.7:8).
For example, in Revelation 11:4, a visionary state in which God or an angel speaks to John turns into a prophetic speech in which John himself is speaking.
Why the Book of Revelation is so much harder to understand than the gospel or the epistles is because of the visions. John takes pains to describe what he sees and hears to his hearers.
Author: Gijs van den Brink
From: Study Bible Magazine
This is part 2 of 12 concise blog on the topic of "Lessons from Revelation" from Study Bible Magazine, Some of which we will be posting online in the near future. We hope this will help you understand the Bible better!
