A) Back to the Book of Revelation. We pick it up in chapter one, verse 11. If you have not noticed, we're taking this very slowly, piece by piece, on purpose. Jesus speaks to John, saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last." Jesus is the Alpha and the Omega, which for us is the A to the Z. He’s also the First and the Last. What does that mean? It means that everything revolves around Jesus, that in everything, He might have the preeminence.

B) Remember what we’re teaching: not one point of view, but multiple points of view. One of the interpretations of the seven churches is that they represent seven stages of the church’s life. It does not indicate that anywhere in the passage, so this is something that we must add if we decide to take this approach. Other people believe this is simply representative of the church at large, that each church has different elements, both good and bad, and represents different Christian members of the body, then and now.

C) Dr. Dave makes it clear that Jesus interprets the seven lampstands for us as the seven churches. There’s no question about that from verse 12 to verse 20. But the key component of today’s lesson has to do with where Jesus is in this process. There are seven churches, and where is Jesus? He’s in the middle of the lampstands, in the middle of the church, which is why we need to be careful when we’re talking about the church. We’re talking about the bride of Christ. When someone talks negatively about someone’s bride, it usually doesn’t end well.