Revelation 1:1-6 Introduction To Revelation Series

1. Rev. 1:1-6

• Greetings to the Seven Churches

1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him

to show His servants?things which must shortly take

place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His

servant John,

2 who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony

of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.

3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words

of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written

in it; for the time is near.

4 John, to the seven churches which 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 firstborn

from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the

earth. To Him who loved us and washed us from our

sins in His own blood,

6 and has made us kings and priests to His God and

Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and

ever. Amen.

Notice the process this revelation takes in verse 1: The

Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to

show His servants—things which must shortly take

place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to

His servant John. God the Father gave it to Yeshua the

Messiah, who gave it to His angel, who gave it to John,

who gave it to His servants, that is, all believers, which

includes you and me. This is so precious to see!

16 The Revelation of Jesus – Yeshua the Messiah

Often we think that angels don’t have a very important

role. But what does Scripture say? It says in

Hebrews 1:14: Are they not all ministering spirits

sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

The law was given to Moses through angels,

we read in Acts 7:53: who have received the law by

the direction of angels and have not kept it. There are

many other examples of their intervention in the affairs

of man. Primarily angels have a responsibility to minister

to the people of God.

What does the expression “shortly take place” mean?

Already 2,000 years have passed! In Daniel 12:9 he is

told: Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed

up and sealed till the time of the end. However, here

in Revelation 22:10 John is told: Do not seal the words

of the prophecy of this book, for the time is at hand.

The events prophesied in Revelation deal mostly with

the seven years Tribulation Period judgments that are

coming on this world and the subsequent restoration of

the nation of Israel. I believe the expression “shortly take

place” refers to the fact that when the time is ripe, the

events of the Tribulation will happen very rapidly.

In verse 2 John bears record of the testimony of Jesus

the Messiah: Who bore record of the word of God,

and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things

that he saw. John, the author of the book of Revelation,

testifies here of witnessing and recording all that he saw

and received from the glorified Messiah.

Verse 3 begins with a blessing: Blessed is he who

reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy,

and keep those things which are written in it;

Rev. 1:1-6: Greetings to the Seven Churches 17

for the time is near. You know, Revelation is the only

book in the Bible that begins and ends with a promise of

blessing. The one who reads and listens and keeps the

words of this prophecy will be blessed. Then in the last

chapter (Revelation 22:14) the Messiah Jesus Himself

promises: Blessed are those who do His commandments,

that they may have the right to the tree of

life, and may enter through the gates into the city.

So just reading is not enough; it must be accompanied

by obedience.

Now I ask you a personal question: when was the

last time you opened your Bible and read the book of

Revelation? You might answer: “It is too hard to understand;

it is confusing with all those difficult symbols!”

Yes, that is true. However, God is able by His Holy Spirit

to help you understand, not necessarily all at once, but if

you are persistent it will eventually make good sense to

you. Israel’s Prophets spoke to their nation about future

events in the Old Testament: Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel,

Daniel and the Minor Prophets. The book of Revelation

helps us to understand what they wrote about and puts all

these events in the proper order.

Now as you know, the Hebrew disciples in the book

of Acts preached the gospel, beginning at Jerusalem and