Lesson: IA1: Prologue and Blessings: (Revelation 1:1-3)
Revelation 1:1-3 (NIV)
1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John,
2 who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
Introduction
This book is not the book of “Revelation’s” (plural). It is not “the Revelation of Saint John the Divine.” The word “REVELATION is singular—and as the first verse clearly declares, this book is “THE REVELATION FROM JESUS CHRIST, which God gave Him,” which doesn’t mean it is a revelation about Jesus Christ but the revelation given by Jesus Christ. Revelation is no technical theological idea; it is what God is offering to all who will listen.
Christ’s full identity and God’s plan for the end of the world is revealed in the book of Revelation. Its emphasis is on Jesus Christ’s second coming, His victory over evil, and the establishment of His kingdom. You don’t want to miss the main message—the infinite love, power, and justice of the Lord Jesus Christ, so as you read and study Revelation, don’t focus so much on the timetable of the events or the details of John’s visions.
Revelation was written to seven churches. Though the exact idea of letters to the seven churches is not found in Chapter 1, in verse 4 we do have the phrase, “John to the seven churches which are in Asia,” and later (v. 11) John receives the command to write what he sees and send it to the seven churches. He obeyed this command, and wrote his prophesy in the form of a letter, beginning with a greeting of grace and peace from each person of the triune God.
The book of Revelation was probably written during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian, about a.d. 95, under whose firm rule the Christians were severely persecuted. The emperor had demanded that public worship be rendered to himself; he was to be worshipped as lord and god. Christians refused to obey, and the second great wave of persecution against the church was launched. The Christians were subjected to public ridicule, economic boycott, imprisonment, exile, and death. The book of Revelation was God’s answer to that reign of terror. Christians could see, in a dimension never before revealed, that God was still on the throne.
Commentary
1 The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.
The very first words in the book of Revelation are “the revelation from Jesus Christ,” which clearly reveals to us that these 22 chapters contain “the revelation of Jesus Christ[1]”; that this Revelation was given by Him, and that it was given for the purpose of showing unto God’s servants (bond-slaves) things which “must soon take place.” There are two important words here, must and soon. History is not haphazard; it has purpose. Those things that are going to occur will happen soon. Here is the proof that it is quite wrong to use the Revelation as a kind of mysterious timetable of what is going to happen thousands of years from now. As John sees it, the things it deals with are working themselves out immediately. The end will come, and you can’t take that to the bank, and when it does it will be marked by suddenness and swiftness.
The word “revelation” is the Greek word apokalupsis, from which the word “apocalypse” is derived. The word simply means “unveiling, to reveal, to uncover, to make manifest.” A “revelation” exposes what was formerly hidden or secret. In this book, the Holy Spirit pulled back the curtain and gives us the privilege of seeing the glorified Christ in heaven and the fulfillment of His sovereign purposes in the world. In other words, Revelation is an open book in which God reveals His plans and purposes to His church. When Daniel finished writing his prophecy, he was instructed to “shut up the words, and seal the book” (Daniel 12:4); but John was given the opposite instructions: “seal not the sayings of the prophecy of this book” (Revelation 22:10). Why? Since Calvary, the Resurrection, and the coming of the Holy Spirit, God has ushered in the “last days” (Hebrews 1:1-2) and is fulfilling His hidden purposes in the world. “The time is near” (Revelation 1:3; 22:10).
The revelation recorded in this book will show God’s servants (the believers) what must soon take place. That information had been formerly veiled but would now be disclosed. Many people have told me that the book of Revelation is difficult, even impossible to understand; but, it was never God’s intention to hold back the meaning of the Revelation, but rather to show, to exhibit, to make known its meaning. All who willingly submit to Christ will have little difficulty with this book. The Bible is divinely inspired, and when God says certain things must come to pass, be sure that they will come to pass. But it is a revelation in language which only His servants can read and understand.
This short section gives us a concise account of how revelation comes to men:
Revelation begins with God, the fountain of all truth. Every truth which men discover is two things—a discovery of the human mind and a gift of God. The reception comes in two ways. It comes from serious seeking. God gave men minds and it is often through our minds that He speaks to us. However, He does not grant His truth to the man who is too lazy to think. It comes from reverent waiting. God sends His truth to the man who not only thinks vigorously, but waits quietly in prayer and in devotion.
God gives this revelation to Jesus Christ. The Bible never, as it were, makes a second God of Jesus while He walked the earth; rather it stresses His utter dependence on God. “My teaching,” said Jesus, “is not mine, but his who sent me” (John 7:16). “I do nothing on my own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me” (John 8:28). “I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who sent me has Himself given me commandment what to say and what to speak” (John 12:49). It is God’s truth that Jesus brings to men; and that is precisely why His teaching is unique and final.
Jesus sends that truth to John through His angel.
Finally, the revelation is given to John.
A particular style of ancient literature was called “apocalyptic.” Many Jewish apocalyptic works existed at the time Revelation was written. Written to describe the end of the world and God’s final victory over evil, these works usually featured spectacular and mysterious imagery as well as hidden secrets that would be revealed. These Jewish works were largely pessimistic, for there was not much hope for the present. Such literature was often written the name of an ancient hero.
The book of Revelation is apocalyptic but is different in several ways:
It names John as the author rather than an ancient hero.
It denounces evil and exhorts people not to hide Christian standards.
It offers hope rather than gloom.
John was not a psychic attempting to predict the future; he was a prophet of God describing what God had shown him (this book is called the prophecy, 1:3). The apocalyptic literature in Scripture (Daniel 10-12; Mark 13; and the book of Revelation) includes fantastic imagery to remind the readers of their constant supernatural battle with evil.
Readers need to understand some characteristics of apocalyptic literature in the Bible. First, the Bible’s apocalyptic sections are revelations from God. Revelation is God’s giving his people a peek into the future. Second, apocalyptic literature emphasizes God’s supernatural acts. Revelation highlights God’s power by focusing on the end times, when God will interrupt human history and defeat evil once and for all. Third, apocalyptic literature is symbolic. It attempts to describe supernatural actions with graphic symbols of real events, things, or traits. For example, Christ is described in Revelation 5:6 as having “seven horns and seven eyes.” The number seven represents perfection. A horn symbolizes power. So “seven horns” speak of Jesus’ extraordinary power, and “seven eyes” speak of His ability to see all things.
This book is the revelation of Jesus Christ. God gave the revelation of His plan to Jesus Christ (see also John 1:18; 5:19-23; 12:49; 17:8). Jesus Christ, in turn, sent His angel, who revealed it to His servant John (see also 22:16). The angel will explain various scenes to John, acting as a guide. Angels are referred to sixty-seven times in Revelation. They are highly significant in this book; we see them worshipping God, revealing His Word, and carrying out His judgments. But angels were not always the ones conveying information. Sometimes Christ Himself communicated information to John (Revelation 1:10); sometimes it was an elder (Revelation 7:13); but often it was an angel (Revelation 17:1; 19:9-10). Sometimes a “voice from heaven” told John what to say and do (Revelation 10:4).
The ultimate purpose of God is to have His will done on earth as it is in heaven. The book of Revelation shows that no power in heaven, earth, or hell can frustrate the fulfillment of that plan. God’s kingdom will come, whether men like it or not. The book of Revelation is occupied for the most part with events which have little bearing on our lives, for most of the matters with which it deals will take place after the church has been removed from the scene.
God has a plan for this earth. The book of Revelation draws all the strands of prophesy from the other books of the Bible and weaves them into a detailed picture of things to come. However, it is not just a revelation—or the unveiling—of the person of Christ, although in the book 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. This truth is clearly seen from the fact that the Revelation was given to Jesus Christ by God the Father to show unto servants things which must soon take place.
John, the servant, then passed the message along to the churches—God’s servants. God’s people are described as “servants” in Revelation (see, for example, 2:20; 7:3; 22:3). The word “servant” is used elsewhere in the New Testament to describe believers. The real servant of God is, in fact, his slave. A servant can leave his service when he likes; he has specified hours of work and stated hours of freedom; he works for a wage; he has a mind of his own and can bargain as to when and for what he will give his labor. A slave can do none of these things; he is the absolute possession of his owner, with neither time nor will of his own. Two things emerge from this:
The greatest men regarded as their greatest honor the fact that they were servants of God.
We must note the extent of this service. Moses, the law-giver; Abraham: the adventurous pilgrim; David, shepherd boy, sweet singer of Israel, king of the nation; Caleb and Joshua, soldiers and men of action; Elijah and Isaiah, prophets and men of God; Job, faithful in misfortune; the apostles, who conveyed to men the story of Jesus; every Christian—all are servants of God. There is no one whom God cannot use, if he will submit to His service.
The phrase “what must soon take place” denotes imminence—it would happen “soon.” This seems odd to today’s readers because 2,000 years have passed since the time this was proclaimed. We must remember that in apocalyptic literature the future is eminent, without concern for intervening time. Recall the words of 2 Peter 3:8, “A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” God is timeless. It has only been a little over two days (according to God’s great Time Clock of prophesy) since these words were uttered. Therefore, to those of us who are spiritually minded, who compare spiritual things with spiritual, it has not been a long time. It has only been two days. In God’s eyes the future is just around the corner, even though it may seem far away to us. No one knows when these events will happen, so believers should live at all times as though Christ will come in the next moment. The word “soon” (2:16; 22:7, 12, 20) means that the action will be sudden when it comes, not necessarily that it will occur immediately. Once the end-time events begin, they will occur in rapid succession (see Luke 18:8; Acts 12:7; 22:18; 25:4; Romans 16:20).
When He came to earth the first time, it was in meekness with His glory veiled. He came to be “obedient unto death, even the death of the cross” (Philippians 2:8). He was God manifest in flash, and He showed it in a thousand ways that only the eye of faith could recognize. James, for example, brought up in the same Nazareth home with Jesus, failed to recognize Him as the Son of God. He was perfect in character, perfect in conduct, in conversation, deity and humanity, and yet was not known as such to the boys and girls who shared that Nazareth home!
One day, however, He is coming back with His glory all unveiled to smash the opposition of the world and to wield a scepter of iron. He is coming back in pomp and power to reign, backed by the hosts of heaven. His deity, manifest even now to the eye of faith, will blaze forth like flaming lightning then. In the book of Revelation, the Person of Christ is unveiled and we are given view after view of that glorious man who fills all heaven with His praise.
According to tradition, John, the writer, was the only one of Jesus’ original twelve disciples who was still alive at this time (that is, if the date of a.d. 90-95 is accepted. John wrote the Gospel of John and the letters of 1, 2, and 3 John. John’s Gospel and letters show the great God of love, while the thunder of God’s justice bursts from the pages of Revelation. John wrote Revelation while in exile on the island of Patmos in the Aegean Sea, sent there by the Romans as punishment for his witness about Jesus Christ. Shut off from the rest of the world, he entered into a communion with his Lord he had never known before. It is true that John the Beloved is the writer of the book of Revelation, but he is not the author. The Father of Revelation is the Lord Jesus, Himself. The Apostle John was the scribe . . . the holy man to whom God spoke these words. It seems that the Holy Spirit desires to make this known clearly an unmistakably. Revelation 1:1 and Revelation 22:8 clearly declare that the revelation came from God Almighty—not from man. The book of Revelation is not history, as some would have you believe. This book records things past, things present, and things yet to come.
Jesus gave His message to John in a vision, allowing him to see and record certain future events so that they could be an encouragement to all believers. The vision includes many signs and symbols that convey the essence of what is to happen. What John saw, in most cases, was indescribable, so he used illustrations to show what it was like. Readers of this symbolic language don’t have to understand every detail—John himself didn’t. Instead, we must realize that John’s imagery reveals that Christ is indeed the glorious and victorious Lord of all. Some of Revelation’s original readers were being severely persecuted because of their faith. The awesome and sometimes frightening pictures of Jesus’ ultimate victory over evil were intended to encourage them to persevere.
Why does John use symbolism? For one thing, this kind of “spiritual code” is understood only by those who know Christ personally. If any Roman officers had tried to use Revelation as evidence against Christians, the book would have been a puzzle and a mystery to them. But an even greater reason is that symbolism is not weakened by time. John was able to draw on the great “images” in God’s revelation and assemble them into an exciting drama that has encouraged persecuted and suffering saints for centuries. However, you must not conclude that John’s use of symbolism indicates that the events described are not real. They are real!
There is a third reason why John used symbolism: symbols not only convey information, but also impart values and arouse emotions. John could have written, “A dictator will rule the world,” but instead he described a beast. The symbol says much more than the mere title of “dictator.” Instead of explaining a world system, John simply introduced “Babylon the Great” and contrasted the “harlot” with the “bride.” The very name “Babylon” would convey deep spiritual truth to readers who knew the Old Testament.
Jesus is the ruler of the universe! He will come to this earth in victory. For believers, this is Good News. For unbelievers, it’s a sober call to repent of their evil ways and prepare for Christ’s return. The same God who controlled the past, and who will be in control in the future, still controls the present—even if it seems as though evil his winning. This world is an allusion; the real world is the spiritual world. God is allowing evil to triumph for a time, but evil is ultimately doomed. The primary point of this book of Revelation is that God is sovereign. He has already determined the end of history. The secondary point is that Satan’s rebellion is futile although Satan is the ultimate foe of God and God’s people, he has already lost.
The angel sent by God is unnamed. He is simply referred to as “His angel.” The order of the Revelation is from God, to Christ—then by Christ’s angel to John, and then to us . . . to all believers, servants, bondsman . . . all who are born again.
2 Who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
John, while in the Spirit, saw a vision and then faithfully reported . . . everything he saw. John saw what will literally take place upon this earth and in heaven at the culmination of all things. He saw the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. Revelation, according to John, is God’s Word—not simply John’s narration of what he saw. It is an eternal message. The expression “the testimony of Jesus Christ” underlines how uniform this communication was, for while the revelation of prophesy is often radical, it is always uniform. God never contradicts Himself. The book of Revelation builds on the testimony of Jesus Christ. It expands and explains many of the things He taught in the Olivet Discourse, which in turn were based on statements in the book of Daniel and elsewhere in the Old Testament. The testimony “of” Jesus Christ could also be translated “from” Jesus Christ. The words of this book describe the promises and actions of God that have come true through Jesus. Revelation, as difficult as it may be to understand, should not be neglected. It should be read and studied, for it is the Word of God and the testimony of Christ to all believers, from the first century to today. We must keep an eye on things in the light of what the book has to say.
When a so-called Christian says that he does not understand the Book of Revelation, it makes me wonder, because this book was given to us in order that we might understand these mysteries of the kingdom of God.
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.
The book of Revelation promises a blessing—and warns of a curse. The blessing stated here and again in Revelation 22:7 is for those who read the book and keep the things that are written in it. The curse is described in Revelation 22:18-19, and will happen to those who tamper with the message of this prophecy. Some preachers today declare that this book is a frightening book, a book to be ignored, however, the Holy Spirit at the very beginning declares that it is a blessed book, and that it brings joy and eternal pleasure to the soul that reads it—those who read Revelation—whether in public or in private, whether they read it aloud or silently, may rest assured of the Lords blessing because it is promised here, and God cannot break His promise. However, God have mercy on some of the men who tamper with the book of Revelation in this day of liberalism and lying prophets!
“Blessed” means “God blesses those who” or “God’s blessing is upon.” This promise sets John’s writings apart from other Jewish apocalyptic literature and points out that these words were inspired by God. This is the first of seven beatitudes in Revelation (see also 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14).
Who is it that is blessed? The one who reads aloud the words of the prophecy. The public reading of Scripture was common in Jewish heritage (see, for example, Nehemiah 8:2-3; Luke 4:16; Acts 13:15). Christians also read Scripture aloud in public because copies of the Gospels and the letters of the apostles were not available to every believer. Someone—usually a scribe or someone trained in writing and reading text—would be chosen to read aloud portions of the text. Later, the office of “reader” became a position in the church.
Scripture reading was an important event. In addition to the reader, blessed also are those who hear and keep what is written. This echoes Jesus’ words in Luke 11:28: “Blessed are those who hear the word of God[2] and keep it” (NKJV). “Hear” and “keep” (take to heart) are important terms and major themes in the book. Used together, they mean “to persevere in faithful obedience.” The man who hears these words is blessed. We do well to remember how great a privilege it is to hear the word of God in our own language, a privilege which was dearly bought. Men died to give it to us; and the professional clergy sought for a long time to keep it to themselves. The man who takes these words to heart is blessed. To hear God’s word is a privilege; to obey it is a duty. There is no real Christianity in the man who hears and forgets or deliberately disregards God’s word. The blessed ones are those who come to church to hear God’s Word and then keep (obey) it so that it changes their lives—“until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13).
Revelation is a book of prophesy that is both prediction (foretelling future events) and proclamation (preaching about who God is and what He will do). Prophesy is more than telling the future, for in a sense it is God’s truth communicated to humankind. Behind the predictions are important principles about God’s character and promises. These words will bless the hearers because through them they can get to know God better and be able to trust Him more completely. The words are more than just predictions of the future; they include moral instruction that the listeners were to “hear” and “keep.”
The phrase “the time is near” is like the phrase “what must soon take place” in 1:1 and refers to imminence. Believers must be ready for Christ’s second coming. The Last Judgment and the establishment of God’s kingdom are certainly near. No one knows when these events will occur, so all believers must be prepared. They will happen quickly, with no second chance to change minds or sides. At any time in history, God could have ordered events to precipitate the return of Christ.
Someone may be saying, “The writer John must have been mistaken, or he must have misunderstood, because it has been 2000 years since those words were dictated to John the Beloved.” But again—let me remind you that ever since Jesus came to this earth, was crucified, buried and rose again, and ascended back to the Father where He is now seated at the right hand of the Father to mediate for us (1 Timothy 2:5, Hebrews 1:3), we had been living in the last days. “God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath IN THESE LAST DAYS spoken unto us by His Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also He made the worlds” (Hebrews 1:1, 2). Here the Holy Spirit clearly testifies that these are the LAST DAYS. I emphasize the statement: Since the Church began, we had been living in the last days. Jesus came to this earth literally in the “end time,” or—the end of the world. Since Jesus came and died on the cross, we have been living in the closing days of time. Therefore, these things will soon come to pass,” and truthfully, the time is near!”
[1] This book is the revelation of Jesus Christ, but it is also true that the whole Bible is too, for all revelation comes through Christ, and all of it relates to Him.
[2] The “word of God” refers, I believe, to both Christ and the contents of this book. He is the living Word, and when the written Word reveals Him to us he is the living Word, you may be sure of that.
