Revelation 1:9–13 (NKJV)
In this follow-up to John’s greeting from Himself and from Christ, John begins to share the circumstances of the vision of Revelation.
9 I, John, both 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. 10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet, 11 saying, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” and, “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.”
Revelation 1:9-11
John, a disciple of Christ and recipient of tribulation in the kingdom, was on an island called Patmos. He was exiled there, and was off the island at the time of the writing of the vision. He claims to have been “in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day,” likely referring to Sunday, and signifying that he received a vision from the Holy Spirit. He describes the scene: a loud voice came from behind him, that sounded like a trumpet, and it says, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last,” to which John already alluded in the previous passage. The voice instructed John to write the vision in a book and send it to the seven churches, to which John already referred generally in the previous passage. Here, though, John records the names of the churches in Asia included in the seven: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.
12 Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 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.
Revelation 1:12-13
In this brief conclusion to this passage, John tells a little more about the scene. When John heard the voice from behind him, and then turned to see the scene from which the voice emitted. When he turned, he saw seven golden lampstands, and walking among them was a figure of a being described as “One like the Son of Man.” He wore a garment, like a robe, that reached down to His feet, and he had a golden band gird around His chest. This image is similar to a priestly garment, but more elite in that it has a gold band around it. The
Devoted To You 