The Bible is unique and different from any other book in the world. It is a book that still stands today after years and years of criticism. It has been hammered on by all kinds of people for thousands of years. The hammers have worn out but the book still remains.
The Bible took over two thousand years to write and includes more than forty different authors. Yet, it is one, beautiful, continuous story of God's love and God's plan for sinning man.
The book of Revelation, written by the apostle John, is the last book of the Bible. It is divided into three sections or divisions. In Revelation 1:19 John was told by the angel to "write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be after these things."
In chapter one, John wrote the things which he had seen - the vision of Jesus Christ. This is the first section of the book.
In chapters two and three, John wrote the things which are the letters of Jesus to the seven churches of Asia dealing with - things concerning the church, the ministry of the church, and the witness of the church in the world. These letters are the second section of the book and they describe the various periods of church history.
From Revelation 4 onward, the third section of Revelation, John prophesied those things which are to take place after the church has been taken out of the world - the future which is about to unfold before us.
REVELATION 1:1-2
The head of your King James Bible says "The Revelation of St. John the Divine." That is not accurate. That is man's heading. The book of Revelation does not reveal St. John the Divine. It reveals Jesus Christ.
We get the truth in verse one: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." The word revelation is a translation of the Greek word "apokalypsis" which literally means "unveiling."
Picture, if you will, a draped statue that is about to be dedicated in front of city hall. The band is playing, the mayor gives a speech, and the artist who carved the statue tells about designing it. Then, the dramatic moment comes and the canvas is lifted. Everybody sees this statue that will now adorn city hall for the next century.
That lifting-off of the canvas in the Greek is the word apokalypsis
.
It is taking off the wraps so you can see. The book of Revelation is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. So rather than being a sealed book, as some claim, it is taking the wrap off so that we might see Jesus in His future glory.
It is extremely important for you to know what God is and who Jesus Christ is.Some of you are totally ignorant concerning God. Your hearts are darkened. You have no knowledge of Him. Some of you have a veil over your eyes and heart, and you really don't want any knowledge of God. The Bible states, "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Psalm 141).
The man is a fool who doesn't seek to know God.
God has spoken to man. In times past He spoke by the prophets. In these last days he has spoken to us by His own dear Son "whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds" (Hebrews 1:2). Jesus Christ is the faithful witness of what God is. If you want to know what God is like, you can look to Jesus Christ and understand what God is all about.
The Revelation [or unveiling] of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John (Revelation 1:1).
Here we find the route by which this revelation came to us. God gave it to Jesus Christ, showing Him the glory that should be revealed. Concerning the cross the Bible said, "Who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame" (Hebrews 12:2).
This book of Revelation, to a great extent, is the joy that was set before Jesus Christ as the Father showed Him the place that He would have in the ages to come.
Jesus, in turn, gave the revelation to His angel who brought it to His servant, John, "who bore record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw" (Revelation 1:2).
In his first epistle John wrote, That which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life... That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ (I John 1:1,3).
John is the faithful recorder writing the things that he saw and heard, writing as the Lord dictated to him.
This revelation came by vision as well as by voice. The people in the vision, the spiritual entities that John saw, were conversing with him and explaining many of the things that he saw.
