Revelation 1: 7-16, The Alpha and Omega

John explains that he is writing to seven churches in Asia Minor.  He has much to say about Jesus.

Revelation 1: 7-8, Greeting

“Look, he is coming with the clouds,”
    and “every eye will see him,
    even those who pierced him”;
    and all peoples on earth “will mourn because of him.”
So shall it be! Amen.

8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

The quotations at the beginning of this praise chorus are from Daniel 7:9-13. and Zechariah 12:10.  These passages describe the appearance of the Messiah, to all eyes.

In the Greek alphabet, alpha was the first letter and omega the last, so "Alpha and Omega" represents the beginning and the end -- and everything in between.  Jesus is the beginning and the end of the Cosmos, of Time, of all things.

John, looking forward into Time, says that Jesus will come again, visible to all humankind.

God is described as "is, was, is to come" -- current, past and future (in that order.) This is consistent with God's statement to Moses, that His name is "I Am."

Revelation 1: 9-11, The setting for John's vision

I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 
10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 
11 which said: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”

John ministered at Ephesus, a port city on the Aegean Sea, on the coast of Asia Minor (now Turkey.) The seven churches in this list are scattered throughout Asia Minor, probably visited early on by Paul and other missionaries.  The island of Patmos is a small island in the Aegean Sea, off the coast of Asia Minor, about 70 miles from Ephesus by air.

John has been exiled to Patmos by the Roman government.

Notes:  Walvoord translates "Lord's Day" as "day of the Lord" – not a day of the week. Some put significance in the ordering "suffering, kingdom, patient endurance". The concepts of "suffering, kingdom, patient endurance" will be stressed in this book.

Revelation 1: 12-16, The speaker

I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 
13 and among the lampstands was someone like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 
14 The hair on his head was white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 
15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and coming out of his mouth was a sharp, double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.

This is a dramatic picture. What did the speaker look like?  Why would he look like this? What do gold, wool, snow, fire, bronze, waters signify (if any)?

The quote "like a son of man" comes from the end of the passage in Daniel 7:9-13.