1. The Revelation
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.
REVELATION 1:3
Included in this book of Revelation is a built-in blessing.
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and
keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand (Revelation
1:3).
The blessing is upon those that hear and those that read this book. It was
addressed to the seven churches in Asia. It was actually intended to be read in
the churches and, no doubt, a copy was made for each church.
In those days they did not have bookstores or racks in the supermarkets. Writing
material was very scarce. The early writing material was papyrus from Egypt.
Then Egypt put a premium on it and began a papyrus embargo in order to raise
prices and put the squeeze on the world.
So, in Pergamos, they invented
parchment as a writing material. But it, too, was very scarce. At the time of
Christ there were great libraries but very few people had any books of their own.
They did, however, have the materials to write personal letters. Each of the
churches received a copy of the letter and it was to be read aloud in the church.
Much of the church service in those days was given to the reading of the various
epistles and this book of Revelation.
The blessings are to those that hear, to
those that read the words of this prophecy, and to those that keep the things
that are written in it.
Notice that John himself calls it a prophecy. Thus, when we read it we must look
to the future. It's speaking of things that shall happen.
Interpretations
There are various interpretations of the book of Revelation. There's the preterist
interpretation of the book of Revelation, which seeks to make all the events
correspond to the church's struggle against imperial Rome. It sees the whole
book transpiring during the period of Roman history when the church went
through great persecution by various emperors. It interprets the book as
completed and fulfilled.
There is the historic interpretation which sees the book of Revelation as the
history of the church's struggle against the world systems. This goes beyond the
Roman period and follows through to the present time.
There is also the spiritual interpretation which confuses things so completely that
nobody understands what is what. This interpretation spiritualizes everything so
nothing means what it says.
Everything is interpreted as a spiritual allegory.
When you spiritualize the Scriptures you remove any authority or teaching from
them, because every man is free to interpret the spiritual allegory as he desires.
Then there is the futurist interpretation of the book of Revelation. I personally
feel that the futurist view is the correct view.
With the futurist view you can read
the book and believe that it meant what it said, and it said what it meant. You
don't have to start twisting things to make them fit here and there, and changing
them to fit some scheme. The futurist view takes the Revelation just as it says,
to be understood just as it is.
REVELATION 1:4-5
John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace,
from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seen
Spirits which are before his throne (Revelation 1:4).
The number seven is mentioned over and over throughout this prophecy. Seven
is sometimes called God's perfect number because it represents completeness or
totality. Seven days make a complete week, seven notes comprise the musical
scale, and seven colors are in the rainbow. Thus, seven churches would indicate
the complete church.
Geographically, these churches complete a small circle. There were many more
churches in Asia Minor than these seven; one of the major churches, Colosse,
was not addressed here. But, because seven is the number of completeness,
these seven present us with the complete history of the church.
In this prophecy here also have the seven seals, the seven trumpet judgments,
the seven thunders, and the seven vials of God's wrath - all of which
demonstrate God's complete judgment on the earth.
It is also worth noticing that the number eight is the number of new beginnings.
The eighth day starts the new week; after seven musical notes the eighth note
starts the new upper scale. Since each letter of the Greek alphabet carries a
numeric equivalent, it is interesting that the total numeric value of the names for
Jesus in the Greek are all divisible by eight - Jesus, Christos, Kurios. He is the
new beginning, and we have a new beginning in Christ.
"Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is
to come." This is God's eternal character. God is past, He is present, and He is
future. He was, He is, and He is to come. He's all these at the same time.
Everything is the "eternal now" with God.
"And from the seven Spirits which are before his throne." Here (and in
Revelation 3, 4, and 5) we read of the seven Spirits before the throne of God.
Again, the number seven indicates the completeness of the work of the Holy
Spirit.
The prophet Isaiah, speaking of the ministry of Jesus Christ declared,
The spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and
understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the
fear of the LORD (Isaiah 11:2).
Thus, the seven-fold working of the Holy Spirit is defined and described.
John sends the blessings from God, from the Holy Spirit, "and from Jesus Christ,
who is the faithful witness" (Revelation 1:5). Jesus Christ is the faithful witness
of what God is. He came to reveal the Father.
The night in which He was betrayed, Jesus was talking with His disciples. Philip
cried to Him, "Lord, show us the Father, and it sufficeth us." Jesus said, "Have I
been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that
hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the
Father?" (John 14:8-9).
Today, God wants to reveal Himself through you. It is God's purpose that the
world sees Him through you. That is a very heavy obligation on our part. Jesus
said, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me" (Acts 1:8). Our lives are to bear witness of
Jesus Christ and who He is.
The word witness in Greek is "martus," from which we get our English word
"martyr." "Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness [martyr], and the first
begotten of the dead" (Revelation 1:5).
This phrase first begotten doesn't mean the first in time but the first in priority.
First begotten is speaking of prominence. It refers to Jesus Christ as the most
important one ever raised from the dead.
Also, Jesus was begotten of the dead unto eternal life never to die again. Others
had been raised from the dead only to die a second time. But Jesus arose never
to die again. In this sense, He is "the first begotten of the dead."
He is "the prince [ruler] of the kings of the earth" (Revelation 1:5). This is the
title and position that Jesus will have during the kingdom age. God "has made
him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honor"
(Psalm 8:5). We see a world that is in chaos and under the power and dominion
of Satan. But we're looking for that glorious coming Kingdom when Jesus will
assume His position as the ruler of the kings of the earth.
Revelation 1:5 describes Jesus and His relationship to you: "Unto him that loved
us." Never doubt the love of Jesus Christ for you! Satan will seek to have you
doubt that love. He'll whisper, "You've been bad! God certainly doesn't love you
now. You've failed! You haven't lived up to His standards. Jesus doesn't love bad
little boys."
That isn't true. Jesus loves you no matter what your condition.
"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Jesus died for the
ungodly. And if, while you were a sinner and rebelling against Him, He loved you
enough to die for you, how much more shall you experience the fullness of that
love and grace now that you've opened your heart to Him and sought to walk
after Him.
Unto him that loved us, and [because He loved us] washed us from our sins in
his own blood (Revelation 1:5).
For the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son, cleanses a man from all sin. In His love,
Jesus shed His blood and washed you from all of your sins. For "all we like sheep
have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath
laid on him the iniquity of us all" (Isaiah 53:6). He died in our place.
REVELATION 1:6-7
"And hath made us kings and priests unto God" (Revelation 1:6). Or, more
literally, "hath made us a kingdom of priests unto God."
A priest of the Old Testament had a two-fold ministry. First of all, he represented
the people before God. While doing this, he wore a breastplate with twelve
