REV 1- REVELATION – The Beginning
Wouldn’t it be helpful to better understand the Word of God? Whether you believe in God or not, if you are a person who wants to better your life, knowing more about God will benefit you. Learning more about the Bible will help you and all around you. We will start with the Book of the Bible that is most likely the most misunderstood and least read book-Revelation. We begin with the first chapter of this book.
“Revelation” is the translation of a word which has been misused to convey fear. It is the Greek word “apocalypse”, which means “unto covering” or “revealing”. Revelation, the apocalypse, is the unveiling of Jesus Christ. It is a book that is both about Him and by Him. This book is not a puzzle; it is a completed picture. The word “revelation” (in common language) means “the disclosure of that which was previously hidden or unknown”. The book of Revelation tells us that Jesus is coming again, how He is coming, and what condition the world will be in when He comes.
An angel told the prophet Daniel that many prophesies would not be understood until the end times. “Go your way, Daniel, because the words are rolled up and sealed until the time of the end…those who are wise will understand” (Daniel 12:9-10). In Revelation, prophecies are unsealed, and John is given opposite orders: “Then He told me, ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this scroll, because the time is near” (Revelation 22:10). John was told to get the word out! He was to use every method he could to relay this message to the world.
Some people say they can’t understand the book of Revelation. Even Martin Luther (the one responsible for the Protestant Reformation from the Catholic Church 16th Century) wrote, “My spirit cannot adapt itself to the book, and a sufficient reason why I do not esteem it highly is that Christ is neither taught nor recognized in it”. Twelve years later, Luther modified his view somewhat, but he never fully accepted the last book in the Bible. However, down through the centuries, men have been blessed by reading Revelation, but many still ignore studying the book saying it is not relevant to our daily lives.
UNDERSTANDING THE BOOK OF REVELATION
Before reading the passages of this first chapter, here is the summary of that chapter to provide the understanding and the meaning of the Book of Revelations- the last book in the Bible. Apostle John introduces his book as a revelation given to him by Jesus and pronounces a special blessing on those who read, hear and take to heart “the words of this prophecy”. The book is sent to the seven churches with which John has special ties and is dedicated to Jesus as coming Savior.
This is the Coronation of a Savior! John now tells his story, while exiled to Patmos by the Roman emperor Domitian (A.D. 81-96). John was praying one Sunday, when a voice instructed him to write what he was about to see. John turned and was given a vision of Jesus in His full glory, so awesome that John fell to the ground, stunned. Jesus lifted him up, identified Himself, and told John to write. NOTICE- Jesus touched and lifted John up.
Now the reading of Revelation Chapter One!
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants what must soon take place; and he made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
3 Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near.
4 John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood
6 and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
7 Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, everyone who pierced him; and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty,
9 I John, your brother, who share with you in Jesus the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet
11 saying, “Write what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Per’gamum and to Thyati’ra and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to La-odice’a.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden girdle round his breast;
14 his head and his hair were white as white wool, white as snow; his eyes were like a flame of fire,
15 his feet were like burnished bronze, refined as in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters;
16 in his right hand he held seven stars, from his mouth issued a sharp two-edged sword, and his face was like the sun shining in full strength.
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand upon me, saying, “Fear not, I am the first and the last,
18 and the living one; I died, and behold I am alive for evermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.
19 Now write what you see, what is and what is to take place hereafter.
20 As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. RSV.
The Meaning of Each of These Verses !
The Revelation of Jesus. 1:1-In the N.T. revelation (unveiling of a mystery) is always used of a divine unveiling of something that has been hidden. Here Jesus is the one who discloses “what must soon take place” – and in the process reveals something of His glory.
Blessing. 1:1-The “one who reads” and “those who hear” refer to a public reading of the book in church. Because this is “prophecy”, in the sense of divine revelation, it merits immediate acceptance as Scripture. Because the revelation comes directly from the risen Jesus, it is of utmost importance.
The seven churches. 1:1-. All seven were in the Roman province of Asia, now AsiaMinor. They are listed in 1:11, and a message directed to each is found in Rev. 2 and 3. It describes the churches of John’s day- but they are also present churches, with good and bad qualities- all during the Church Age, which is from Pentecost (50 days after Jesus’ resurrection) to Rapture. More on this in another video!
Firstborn from the dead. 1:5a- Christ’s resurrection is the pledge that we too will be raised. He was not only the first, He is the One who has supreme authority over the vast family of faith destined to follow Him.
The Key Verses are1:5b-6.
Doxology to Christ. 1:5b-6- Here is some of the most powerful praise found in the Bible, celebrating Christ’s love, the forgiveness won for us by His blood, and the exalted position to which He has raised us.
John’s Exile. 1:7-10- Tradition agrees that as an old man John was exiled duringthe reign of Domitian and that he wrote Revelation from Patmos, an island off the coast ofAsia Minor, probably in the mid A.D. 90’s.
The Vision of Jesus. 1:7-10-Each element in the seven-element description of the glorified Christ has symbolic significance. The white head and hair reflect Daniel 7:9 and symbolize wisdom and judgment. The eyes of blazing fire reflect Daniel 10:6 and may indicate a penetrating gaze or perhaps the fierceness of the judgment to come. The feet of glowing metal reflect a common O.T. symbol of God’s glory, found in Ezek. 1:13, 27; 8:2; and Dan. 10:6. The voice like rushing waters is a familiar simile in Jewish writings for the power of God’s voice, repeated in Rev. 14:2 and 19:6. Anyone who has heard a thundering waterfall can sense why. The doubled edged sword may reflect Isa. 11:4, which is again a portrait of final judgment. Overall, John’s language serves to express the awesomeness of the glorified Christ’s appearance and the unity of this book with O.T. prophetic books that describe history’s end.
First and the Last. 1:17- This title granted to God in Isa. 44:6 and 48:12 affirms Jesus as Lord of Creation and Master of history.
The keys of death and Hades. 1:18- Keys were a symbol of authority. Jesus has full control over every realm.
The key to interpreting Revelation. 1:19-20- Many understand verse 19 to provide the key to understanding Revelation. “What you have seen” is John’s vision of Jesus, found in chapter1. “What is now” is reflected in the letters Christ dictates, to be sent to the seven Asia Minor churches, found in chapters 2 and 3. And “what will take place later” is a vision of history’s end, correlated with the O.T. prophet’s vision of that time, found in chapters 4-21, which is the Tribulation, the Millennium, and then the New Heaven and the New Earth.
These end events will not be fulfilled until the Church Age is over- or when the Rapture occurs. To close let’s hear Jesus’ words in Revelation 3:10- “Since you have kept my command to endure patiently, I will also keep you from the hour of trial (Tribulation) that is going to come upon the whole world to test those who live on the earth.” (NIV)
This is the promise of protection and eternal salvation given by the Son of God- Jesus Christ our Lord!