Have you been told to write what you saw and heard and then not to write something you heard? There are many references to writing in the last book of the New Testament. Jesus Christ told John to write what he saw and heard, but later a voice from heaven told him not to write what he heard. Let’s learn more about this.
I have been reading through the Revelation of Jesus Christ in my morning appointments with God. As an author and writer, I noticed many references to writing. I categorized these references in three ways as imperatives (commands), descriptions, and a prohibition. The first imperative to write appears in chapter 1 verse 14: “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches.” This command is followed by the second imperative in chapter 1 verse 19: “Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later.”
The Revelation is evidence John obeyed the Lord Jesus. The book includes seven letters to seven churches (chapters 2 and 3). Each letter begins, “To the angel…write” (2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). Jesus Christ described his own writing in the sixth letter on the overcomers: “I will write on [the faithful overcomer] the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem.” (3:12) This reference leads us to the second category.
The verbs write and written are also used descriptively in Revelation. Jesus’s use of write to the church at Philadelphia quoted above is in the future tense. It is not an imperative. The writing is something he is going to do. He describes what he is going to write and where he will write it.
This descriptive category can be subdivided into divine and human subtopics. What Jesus said about writing mentioned fits into the divine subcategory. God, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit are writers or a medium for writing as the three persons of the Trinity. God chiseled the Ten Commandments on the rock tablets (Exodus 34:1). We already touched on Jesus telling John what he would write. The Holy Spirit plays a role in the writing of the divine law on human hearts. The Spirit is the medium instead of chiseling or black ink (Jeremiah 31:33; 2 Corinthians 3:3). The sealed scroll contained writing on the inside and outside (Rev. 5:1). The anonymous writer is surely God who is also the author of the Book of Life (Rev. 19:12; 21:27).
John represents the human category of the descriptive use of write. He is an author par excellence. The Bible contains many references to other people writing (Moses in Exodus 17:14; 34:27; Joshua in Joshua 8:32; Israelite kings in Deuteronomy 17:18-20; Jeremiah in Jeremiah 36:1-2 [Jeremiah recruited Baruch as a writer]).
The last category of writing is a prohibition. The Lord Jesus commanded John to write what he saw in chapter one. The apostle fulfilled this directive and prepared to record what the seven thunders said: ‘And when the seven thunders spoke, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven say, “Seal up what the seven thunders have said and do not write it down.”’ (10:4) John put his pen down and wondered why the prohibition. Bible scholars wonder about this imperative. I don’t find any explicit explanation in chapter 10. Everyone must wait until the seventh trumpet is blown and the mystery of God’s will is accomplished (verse 7).
The prophet Daniel received a prohibition not to make known written words in a scroll: “But you, Daniel, close up and seal the words of the scroll until the time of the end. Many will go here and there to increase knowledge.” (Daniel 12:4) This prohibition puzzled him and he was told, “the words are closed up and sealed until the time of the end.” (12:9)
Writers, just like readers, are impatient if they must persevere to the end before God’s mystery is disclosed. The prohibition for John did not mean he was finished with writing. Later in the Revelation, the apostle received directives to write two beatitudes. A voice from heaven said, “Write: Blessed are those who die in the Lord.” (14:13) Sometime later, an angel told John, “Write: Blessed are those who are invited to wedding supper of the Lamb.” (19:9)
What can we learn from this brief survey of writing in Revelation? Our God is a personal Being who loves to communicate with his image bearers. God speaks in various ways, but supremely in his Son Jesus Christ (Hebrews 1:1-2). A major way we learn of Jesus today is through the written word, the Bible. God called Jeremiah to prophesy, but he also wrote a letter to send God’s message to the Jewish exiles in Babylon (Jeremiah 29). His letter and the apostle John’s writing of the Revelation leave us examples of obeying God to write down divine messages. Our writings today are not equal to the Scriptures, but we become partners with God in communicating to his image bearers through our writings.
God expects writers, readers, and hearers to obey him when imperatives season his message, to learn from the descriptive portions of God’s word, and not to write or disclose certain things. John obeyed the prohibition not to write a particular portion of what he heard, but he still had a task to fulfill: “prophesy about many peoples, nations, languages, and kings with his mouth” (Revelation 10:11). John obeyed the prohibition. He also continued to prophesy. The remainder of Revelation is evidence of that. Likewise, God expects us to obey to write or not to write. May we be quick to obey God like John.