Revelation 1:1-3; Daniel 2:28-30; 45-47

John is announcing the arrival of events Daniel expected to occur in the last days. John saw the resurrenction of Christ as fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel regarding the inauguration of the kingdom of God. What John is about to present to us concerns not just the distant future but what is before us here and now. The last days are now.

The time is near echos the words of Jesus in Mark 1:15 : "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is now arriving."

Revelation 1:4,20; Revelation 4:5-6; Zechariah 4:2-9

The seven lamps represent one Spirit who enables and empowers us.
Jesus could have had this in mind when speaking of the church (Matthew 5:14-16).
The church is to draw its power from the Holy Spirit.

Revelation 1:5a; Psalm 89:27,37

Here Christ is described as faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, the ruler of the kings on earth.
Here Jesus is portrayed as the prophesied seed of David.

Revelation 1:5b-6; Exodus 19:6

In Exodus we read "You shall be ...", John changes this to "He has made us ...".

Revelation 1:7a; Daniel 7:13

Jesus coming with the clouds of heaven.

Revelation 1:7b; Zechariah 12:10

What applied to physical Israel is now applied to peoples of every nation.

Revelation 1:10; Ezekiel 2:2; 3:12,14,24

John is identifying himself with Ezekiel's experience.

Revelation 1:10-11; Exodus 19:16-20; 17:14; Isaiah 3:8; Jeremiah 36:2

More comparisons, including Moses, together with the call to write everything down.

Revelation 1:12-20

This follows the normal pattern of Old Testament prophetic visions.
Revelation 1:12-16 The vision is related.
Revelation 1:17a The response to the vision recorded.
Revelation 1:17b-20 The interpretation of the vision recorded.

Isaiah 6:1-7;
Jeremiah 1:11-12,13-15;
Ezekiel 2:9-3:11;
Daniel 8:3-27; 10:2-12:3; 12:5-13
Zechariah 4:1-4; 5:1-11; 6:1-8

Taken with the other similiarities we describe we see that John is identified in his personal calling and experience with the Old Testament prophets (Moses, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Daniel). In the same way the visions John receives are to be interpreted in light of Old Testament revelation and prophecy.

Revelation 1:13-16; Daniel 7:13-14, 10:5-6

The divinity of Christ is a theme in Revelation.

Revelation 1:8, 1:17, 2:8, 22:13; Isaiah 41:4, 44:6, 48:12

Alpha, Omega, First, Last - we are encouraged to compare Christ with God.
The prhase refers to the complete sovereignty of God over human history.

Revelation 1:15b; Ezekiel 1:24, 43:2

The description of his voice, sound of rushing waters, encourages us to draw a close comparison between Christ and God.

Revelation 1:16b, 2:16, 19:15; Isaiah 11:4, 49:2

The sharp two-edged sword speaks of Christ's roles as judge.
His role of judgement includes both the church and the world.

Revelation 1:17-18; Daniel 8:16-19, 10:7-17

John's experience is the same as Daniel's.

Revelation 1:20; Daniel 2:27-30

The word mystery provides us with another allusion to Daniel.

Revelation 3:5b; Zechariah 4:2

John's experience overlaps with what Zechariah recorded.