Revelation 1:1
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew 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)
The book is not the book of “Revelations” It is not “the Revelation of Saint John the Divine.” The word Revelation is singular and the first verse clearly declares, this book is, “The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God the Father gave unto Him.” Revelation is what God revealed to his son. Revelation is the testimony of Jesus Christ; these facts clearly make it the most important books in the Bible. The question that begs to be answered is this if Revelation is the Revelation of Jesus Christ, why is there so much confusion pertaining to the interpretation of the book? Revelation is undeniable, as we shall later see, was and is a message of Hope to the church then and the world today.
There are two important keys in the first verses of Revelation that will help us understand the book. Overlooking or failure to understand the meaning of these keys will result in a polluted and distorted interpretation of the book. Those verses tell us that this is the Revelation of Jesus Christ and it bare record of things that must "come to pass shortly". The term "come to pass shortly" is debated with the same ferocity and tenacity employed by the Devil in the Garden. The confusion arises when we try to make the phrase, "the last days" mean the same as "which must come to pass shortly." There is a reason for the dissent; we will cover this in detail later.
The second key states the message that was given to John was "signified", the meaning or idea expressed by a sign, as distinct from the physical form in which it is expressed. To understand the book we must understand the signification of the bible. A beast in Revelation is not a wild animal running through the forest. When the words "like as", "as of" or "like unto" appears in a statement it is an indication that a signification is implied. Like a tree, does not mean a 'man' look like a tree. We will do a detailed study of the signification of the Bible in a later lesson. For now let proceed on a verse-by-verse study of Revelation, it is not a book to be read in a "jumping here and their manner". The events in Revelation are in chronically order. Chapter 1-3 is a message to the church.
"Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw." (Revelation 1:2)
John merely states that he bare record of the Word of God. John used a language of "signification" which is equivalent to the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. These types of languages are supposed to withstand the test of time in maintaining their intended meaning. Yet we must also remember that facing the Devil even a simple message can become polluted.
"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)
He that readeth, and they that hear. In ancient times, very few could read, and of those who could read, very few could have direct access to such a book as this. Comparatively few copies of such a work could be made, and of course, the multitude must depend for their knowledge of its contents upon hearing it read in public assemblies--And keep; keep in mind. Here the phrase, "the time is at hand", seem to indicate a type of urgency. The readers would be blessed if they hear and keep the words of the prophecy.
The disciples, as well as the Jewish populace, expected Jesus to lead a revolt against the Roman Empire and establish his earthly Kingdom. The Jewish leadership at one time had tried to force him to accept their kingship. Throughout the New Testament, the question was asked and Jesus refused to give them the answer they expected. He commonly said things like, “My Kingdom is not of this world.” After his death and resurrection, after witnessing the signs and wonders the disciples knew, the time was right. When they, therefore, were come together, they asked of him, saying, Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel. And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. (Acts 1:6-7) At this point, the answer to their question was spoken off as only known by the father. They were left with instructions to go to Jerusalem and tarry or wait. Doubt ran rampant among the believers.
This was not the answer they expected. He further stated, "But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. (Acts 1:8-9)
Now let us illuminate several important points while outside of the book of Revelation. At this juncture, Acts 1, the Gospel had not been preached to the Gentiles. The Church had not been brought into existence nor had Paul begun his evangelistic work. Therefore, it is logical to assume that Jesus was speaking to his disciples. To further complicate the matter pertaining to his Kingdom, Jesus spoke in Luke 9:27, "I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the kingdom of God." Based upon a lack of understanding the Word of God, many detractors have stated that there must be some very old people on earth today. Among the numerous ideologies, there are those who say Jesus misspoke as pertaining to the Kingdom. What is often overlooked is this event took place in Revelation 4:2 signaling the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecies.
When the Book of Revelation was written, there was the need for a revelation to bring about a conclusion of all matters and settle all of the many questions. Because of the killing of the apostles and the persecution of the church, there was an urgent need for a message from God. (Rev.1:1) The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants' things, which must shortly "come to pass"; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. The very first words in the book of Revelation clearly reveal to us that these twenty-two chapters contain “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” that this Revelation was given by God and it was given for showing unto God’s servants things that must "come to pass". God’s angel appeared and spoke to John the Beloved, making the Revelation known to him.
John, a disciple of Christ who was standing there when Jesus made the profound statement of some not seeing death till they saw the Kingdom of God, not only received the Revelation, he also was caught up into Heaven, he saw and interacted in the Kingdom of God. He wrote and describes what he saw. Revelation is not a scary book that some proclaim, it is a book that reveals the finality of our hope.
It is not just a revelation or the unveiling of the person of Christ, although in the book of Revelation we see His high priestly, kingly glory; but the greater portion of it is given over to the unveiling of those events which will precede and accompany the return of the Lord Jesus to this earth. The truth is clearly seen from the facts that the Revelation was given to Jesus Christ by God the Father to show unto His servants, “things which must shortly come to pass. I must reiterate, it is about the destination and not the trip.
In this interesting and only prophetic book of the New Testament, the Lord Jesus is unveiled. The future is made known in a series of visions, seen by John who was on the Isle of Patmos. John saw spiritual things that will happen literally. John saw in a vision the things that would take place from that moment in time until Jesus Christ return and establish his Kingdom. Revelation is the answer to the disciple’s questions.
Verse 3 close with these words, “…for the time is at hand.” Again, someone may be saying, the writer John must have been mistaken, or he must have misunderstood because it has been more than 2000 years since those words were dictated to John the Beloved. To clarify the statement, John did not say we were living in the last days, he said the time was at hand referencing the beginning of the prophecy.
Scoffers and doubters and even church leaders have done everything in their power to shape and shed doubt on the Book of Revelation. Some say it refers to a time in the past. When speaking of the Book of Revelation, words like pre-millennium, post-millennium, dated, or even I just do not understand it is used. Those who scorn the concept that the bible is divinely inspired choose to see its significations as contradictory and confusing. They perceive no value in them. Because they scoff at the idea of God’s inspiration, they are blind to prophetic understanding. They choose to be ignorant of what God reveals about the future (2nd Peter 3:3-7).
As we proceed in this verse-by-verse study of the Book of Revelation, there are questions that we need to ask God for the answer. It is not my intent to provide you with the answers, I merely hope to point you in the right direction. The foremost problem with the Book of Revelation is, it predicts the future. It predicts the future of the church, it predicts the future of the Jews, it predicts the future of the nations and it predicts the future of the world, this is disturbing to many ethnic and denominational entities.
Next:
The message to the church.
