Following the many year-end recaps, are the new year projections. Everyone from economists, politicians, meteorologists, farmers to everyday families attempt to look at past data related to present circumstances. Naturally, they seek to glean useful information from that data in order to make intelligent choices for the future. Regardless of how much date is available, all such attempts to discern the future, however, are in vain. There is only One who knows and declares the future: God (Isa. 44:7; 45:21; 46:9–10). Only in Scripture can truth about the future be found. The Old Testament prophets, particularly Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and Zechariah, provide glimpses of the future. So did Peter and Paul in their inspired writings as well as our Lord in His Olivet Discourse, that we looked at last weak from Mark 13. But the book of Revelation provides the most detailed look into the future in all of Scripture. The fitting capstone of God’s revelation to humanity in the Bible, the book of Revelation unveils the future history of the world, all the way to history’s climax in the return of Christ and the consumating up of His glorious earthly and eternal kingdom. In salvation history the events indicated in the book have already begun to “come to pass” and await the final consummation (Osborne, G. R. (2002). Revelation (p. 55). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.).
In Revelation 1:1-6, believers can experience grace and peace through understanding the 1) Prologue (Revelation 1:1-2), 2) People (Revelation 1:3-4) and 3) Praise (Revelation 1:5-6) to the One who is coming “Soon and Very Soon”.
In seeing the One who is coming “Soon and Very Soon”, believers can experience grace and peace through understanding the:
1) Prologue (Revelation 1:1-2)
Revelation 1:1-2 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his servants the things that must soon take place. 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. (ESV)
The term “revelation” (Apokalupsis) appears eighteen times in the New Testament, always, when used of a person, with the meaning “to become visible.” Peter (1 Pet. 1:7) used this term to refer to the revelation of Christ at His second coming. The book of Revelation contains truths that had been concealed, but have now been revealed. Though it nowhere directly quotes the Old Testament, 278 of its 404 verses refer or allude to Old Testament prophetic truth, and it amplifies what was only initially suggested in the Old Testament. The visions of this book are presented as an “uncovering of hidden truths,” namely the hidden reality of God’s sovereign control of the future, of how he is going to bring an end to the seeming success of the forces of evil in the present age. (Osborne, G. R. (2002). Revelation (p. 53). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.)
• This is how God intended Revelation to be such a hopeful book. Instead of considering it a bunch of mysterious riddles, think of the descriptions as God triumphing over evil. As we seem to face insurmountable foes and betrayals, the hope of Revelation is that evil will not succeed. God will bring about the completion of His plan for our good and His glory
While all Scripture is revelation from God (2 Tim. 3:16), in a unique way the book of Revelation is the revelation—the revelation of Jesus Christ (apokalupsis Iesou Christou). While this book is certainly revelation from Jesus Christ (cf. 22:16), it is also the revelation about Him. The Gospels are also about Jesus Christ, but present Him in His first coming in humiliation; the book of Revelation presents Him in His second coming in exaltation. Every vision and description of Him in Revelation is one of majesty, power, and glory.
Please turn to Philippians 2 (p.980)
This is “the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him” The book of Revelation is the Father’s gift to the Son. As a reward for His perfect, humble, faithful, holy service, the Father promised to exalt the Son. Paul explains:
Philippians 2:5-11 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (ESV)
• Christ’s exaltation, promised in the last three verses (9–11), is described in detail in the book of Revelation. It thus contains the full disclosure of the glory that will be Christ’s at His return—His ultimate reward from the Father for His faithfulness during His humiliation. The first token of the Father’s pleasure with the obedient Son was His resurrection; the second was His ascension; the third was the sending of the Holy Spirit; and the last was the gift of the book of Revelation, which promises and reveals the glory that will be Christ’s at His second coming.
To further exalt and glorify His Son, the Father has graciously granted to a special group of people the privilege of understanding the truths found in this book. John describes those people as His [Christ’s] servants. Doulois (servants) literally means “slaves” (cf. Matt. 22:8; Mark 13:34). The doulos (bond-servant), however, was a special type of slave—one who served out of love and devotion to his master. Exodus 21:5–6 describes such slaves: “But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.”
This is why unbelievers find the book of Revelation incomprehensible; it was not intended for them. It was given by the Father to the Son to show to His servants, to those who willingly serve Him. Those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord cannot expect to comprehend this book. “A natural man,” explains Paul, “does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised” (1 Cor. 2:14). Had God not taken the initiative, the human mind could never have understood the real forces at work in the world. Nor could anyone have known how it would all turn out. (Mounce, R. H. (1997). The Book of Revelation (p. 40). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Believers are not to try to set the “times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority” (Acts 1:7). Instead, they are at all times to heed their Lord’s warning to “be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming” (Matt. 24:42). The knowledge that the events depicted in the book of Revelation are soon (tachos) to take place has and should motivate Christians to live holy, obedient lives (2 Pet. 3:14). To the recipients of the seven letters it meant that persecution would soon be reality. … Throughout the ages, God’s servants have experienced that the things Jesus made known to them truly occurred. Therefore, the church today is anxiously waiting for Jesus’ promised return (Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Book of Revelation (Vol. 20, p. 77). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.).
The book of Revelation is unique in New Testament literature because it is the only book that God “made it known by sending His angel”. The phrase “made it known” contains the idea of revealing via signs or symbols. It likely refers to the symbols used in the visions to depict the imminent events that will lead to the end (Osborne, G. R. (2016). Revelation: Verse by Verse (p. 21). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.) A cave halfway up the mountain on Patmos is the traditional site where John recorded these words. Today the cave is covered by a sanctuary (shown here) located within the Convent of the Apocalypse (Duvall, J. S. (2014). Revelation. (M. L. Strauss & J. H. Walton, Eds.) (p. 18). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.).
Revelation is the only book sent and communicated to its human author by angels (cf. Rev. 22:16). Not only were angels involved in transmitting the book of Revelation to John, but they also play a prominent role in the scenes it depicts. Angels appear in every chapter of Revelation except 4 and 13. The words angel or angels are used seventy-one times in the book of Revelation—more than in any other book in the Bible. In fact, one out of every four uses in Scripture of those words is in the book of Revelation. This book, then, is an important source of information on the ministry of angels. The word “angel” in Hebrew and Greek means “messenger” and is used both of earthly and heavenly messengers. Here his angel is a heavenly messenger, but there is no clear indication as to what particular angel it is (Bratcher, R. G., & Hatton, H. (1993). A handbook on the Revelation to John (p. 12). New York: United Bible Societies.).
The human agent to whom the angelic messengers communicated the book of Revelation is here identified as His [Christ’s] servant John. John the apostle, was the son of Zebedee and brother of James. The enormity of the visions John received on that barren island staggered him. Throughout his gospel, John never directly referred to himself. Yet here the bookends his vision with the statement, “I, John” (1:9; 22:8)—an exclamation that expressed his amazement that he was receiving such overwhelming visions. John wrote Revelation about A.D. 95, during the reign of the Roman emperor Titus Flavius Domitian. The emperor had demanded that he be worshiped as “Lord and God,” and the refusal of the Christians to obey his edict led to severe persecution. Tradition says that it was Domitian who sent John to the Isle of Patmos (1:9)., a Roman penal colony off the coast of Asia Minor. (Wiersbe, W. W. (1996). The Bible exposition commentary (Vol. 2, p. 566). Wheaton, IL: Victor Books.)
In verse 2, as he had loyally bore witness/testified to the first coming of Christ (John 19:35; 21:24; 1 John 1:2; 4:14), so John faithfully, under the Spirit’s inspiration, to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ. The word of God expressed in the book of Revelation is the testimony about the coming glory of Jesus Christ given to His church (cf. 22:16) and recorded by His faithful witness, John.
Illustration: This revelation also approaches us as a demand. As God’s servants who receive his message, we, like John (1:2), must be “witnesses” of his message (6:9; 12:11; 17:6). Thus, for example, those who truly long for a kingdom of justice in the future must act justly in the present (Amos 5:18–24); those who look for the day when God will right all wrongs must avoid being wrongdoers. In many parts of the world Christians are actively sharing their faith and paying a heavy price for it; for example, Protestants in China multiplied from under two million believers to perhaps thirty times that number after four decades of intense persecution and the torture and martyrdom of many of their leaders. The twenty-five baptized Christians in Nepal in 1960 multiplied one-thousand times over in twenty-five years—at a time when Christians faced a six-year prison sentence for baptizing others. By contrast, many North American Christians have proved timid merely witnessing to their coworkers. Revelation challenges our complacency, whether by pointing us to the price true Christians must be prepared to pay for following Jesus, or by revealing the dangers of compromise with a world inescapably opposed to the one we acknowledge as Lord. (Keener, C. S. (1999). Revelation (pp. 59–60). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House.)
In seeing the One who is coming “Soon and Very Soon”, believers can experience grace and peace through understanding the:
2) People (Revelation 1:3-4)
Revelation 1:3-4 3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, 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, (ESV)
The book of Revelation is bracketed by promises of blessing (beatitudes, as in Matt. 5:3–12) to those who read and obey it (cf. 22:7; Luke 11:28). The Apocalypse was revealed so that believers would be blessed by having a heavenly perspective on redemptive history and consequently obeying the commands of the Lord of history (Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 184). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.)
The three participles translated reads, hear, and keep/heed are in the present tense. Reading, hearing, and obeying the truths taught in the book of Revelation (and in the rest of Scripture) are to be a way of life for believers. The change from the singular “the one reads” to the plural those who hear, and who keep/heed what is written in it” depicts a first-century church service. It was common practice when the church gathered for one person to read the Scriptures aloud for all to hear (cf. 1 Tim. 4:13). The book of Revelation is God’s final word to His saints, the culmination of divine revelation. Its writing marked the completion of the canon of Scripture (cf. 22:18–19), and its scope encompasses the entire future sweep of redemptive history (1:19). Therefore, it is imperative that believers pay diligent heed to the truths it contains. Since only Scripture was to be publicly read, John’s “obvious intention that the Apocalypse was to be read publicly argued strongly from the start that it be included among those books that eventually would be recognized as part of the NT canon” (Dr. Robert L. Thomas, Revelation 1–7: An Exegetical Commentary [Chicago: Moody, 1992], 62–63).
Please turn to Luke 12 (p.871)
Johns indication that “the time is near“ reiterates the truth taught in verse 1, that the events depicted in the book of Revelation are imminent. Time does not translate chronos, which refers to time on a clock or calendar, but kairos, which refers to seasons, epochs, or eras. The next great era of God’s redemptive history is near. That the return of Christ is imminent, the next event on God’s prophetic calendar, has always been the church’s hope. The language of imminence intends to draw the reader into a sense of expectation and responsibility, a sense meant to characterize every age of the church (Osborne, G. R. (2002). Revelation (p. 55). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.)
Jesus commanded His followers to watch expectantly for His return:
Luke 12: 35-40 35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks. 37 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. 38 If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! 39 But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. 40 You also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.” (ESV)
• This parable, … uses the imagery of a thief to indicate the unexpected nature of Christ’s second coming. Believers should be continually expecting and ready for Christ’s return, because the time of his coming is unknown (cf. Matt. 24:36).( Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1983). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles)
• Despite the skepticism of the scoffers, who demand, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation” (2 Pet. 3:4), the Lord Jesus Christ will return. And His return is near. Throughout, the focus is not just on eschatology but on ethics. In other words, in light of the fact that “the time is near,” we are called to live decisively and completely for God.( Osborne, G. R. (2002). Revelation (p. 59). Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic.)
Unlike modern letters, in which the senders put their names at the end of the letter, ancient letters sensibly named their writers at the beginning. In verse 4, John identifies himself as the writer. This comes from the corroboration of Irenaeus, Origen, Tertullian, and Clement all affirm that the apostle John was the author of this book (Ryrie, C. C. (1996). Revelation (p. 14). Chicago: Moody Press.).
John directs the letter to the seven churches. (In verse 11, John locates the seven churches in the cities of “Ephesus [the provincial capital], Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea.”) These are the churches that are in Asia (modern Turkey) as the recipients. In the NT, Asia normally refers to the Roman province that occupied the entire western portion of Asia Minor stretching inland to the Anatolian plateau. It is the area represented by the ancient kingdom of Pergamum, which in 133 B.C. fell to the Romans (Mounce, R. H. (1997). The Book of Revelation (p. 45). Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.)
Grace to you and peace was a standard greeting in New Testament letters (cf. Rom. 1:7; 1 Cor. 1:3; 2 Cor. 1:2; Gal. 1:3; Eph. 1:2; Phil. 1:2; Col. 1:2; 1 Thess. 1:1; 2 Thess. 1:2; Philem. 3), but this greeting introduces a benediction from the exalted Trinity (cf. 2 Cor. 13:14). Grace (“unconditional and undeserved kindness”) is the great privilege of the Christian age. The Book of Revelation begins and ends with grace (see 22:21), as do all thirteen letters of Paul, but the word grace occurs nowhere else in Revelation. Peace (wholeness and well-being) was the great privilege of the Old Testament age (Num. 6:26), in Hebrew, shalom. Christians share in all the blessings God has to offer (Easley, K. H. (1998). Revelation (Vol. 12, p. 14). Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers.). This is in effect an eschatological promise and offer of God’s grace and peace to those who will turn their lives over to Christ. In the world these are a mere unrealized hope, but in Christ these become a reality. This is especially so because John goes on to anchor this promise first in the triune Godhead and then in the salvation that Christ has won by his death for his followers (Osborne, G. R. (2016). Revelation: Verse by Verse (p. 24). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.).
The phrase Him who is and who was and who is to come identifies the first Person of the Trinity, God the Father, described here in anthropomorphic terms. Because it is the only way we can understand, the threefold description (cf. 1:8; 4:8) which views God in time dimensions (past, present, and future), although He is timeless. The eternal God is the source of all the blessings of salvation, all grace, and all peace. John’s choice of words reflects the changeless nature of Yahweh expressed in Exodus 3:14: “I AM WHO I AM.” God does not change. He keeps his promises. Even “if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself” (2 Timothy 2:13). The Father is committed to our salvation; he is unchanged by our lapses into sin and forgives us for the sake of his Son’s peace-making work (Mueller, W. D. (1996). Revelation (p. 12). Milwaukee, WI: Northwestern Pub. House.).
• It seems the powers of evil, in particular the Roman Empire, are actually in control. This title corrects that erroneous conclusion, saying in effect, “The God who controlled the past and is in charge of the future is actually sovereign over the present situation, even though it may not seem like it.” (Osborne, G. R. (2016). Revelation: Verse by Verse (pp. 24–25). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.)
“The seven Spirits who are before His throne|” once again draws upon the number seven. Following the referent to seven Churches is the referent to seven Spirits. The number “seven” is significant in scripture and specifically in the book of Revelation. Seven represents the concept of fullness or completeness. The idea of completeness originates from the creation account in Genesis 1, where six days of creation are followed by the consummate seventh day of God’s rest. The seven historical churches are viewed as representative of all the churches in Asia Minor and probably, by extension, the church universal. (Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 186). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.). Here in Revelation 1:4, there is obviously only one Holy Spirit; but the number seven depicts Him in His fullness (cf. 5:6; Isa. 11:2; Zech. 4:1–10). In Isaiah 11:2 the Holy Spirit is described this way. He is there called the Spirit of the Lord, of wisdom, of understanding, of counsel, of might, of knowledge, and of the fear of the Lord… The greeting therefore, has moved from a focus upon the Father to a focus upon the Holy Spirit, to be followed in the next verses by a focus upon the Son (Gregg, S. (1997). Revelation, four views: a parallel commentary (p. 54). Nashville, TN: T. Nelson Publishers.).
Illustration: Shall We Gather at the River?
Having an understanding of the throne of God through the presence of the Spirit, can make all the difference in the world in dealing with present difficulties.
Rev. Robert Lowry, thirty-eight, ministered in New York City during that terrible period in 1864 when the plague was sweeping away multitudes of citizens. When he wasn’t visiting sick members of his Hanson Place Baptist Church, he was conducting funerals. One hot July day, Lowry himself was near collapse, exhausted, dispirited. Reaching for a scrap of paper, he began composing a poem; then, at his organ, he composed the music for it. It spoke of his hope to meet his suffering and dying parishioners in heaven, down by the River of Life. He wrote: “Shall we gather at the river, Where bright angel feet have trod? With its crystal tide forever Flowing by the throne of God? Yes, we’ll gather at the river, The beautiful, the beautiful river; Gather with the saints at the river That flows by the throne of God” (Morgan, R. J. (2000). Nelson’s complete book of stories, illustrations, and quotes (electronic ed., p. 421). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers).
Finally, believers can experience grace and peace through:
3) Praise (Revelation 1:5-6) to the One who is coming “Soon and Very Soon”.
Revelation 1:5-6 5 and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn 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 forever and ever. Amen. (ESV)
Grace and peace also flow from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings on earth. He, too, is seen in the glory of His exaltation. It is only fitting that John mentions Christ last, and gives a fuller description of Him, since He is the theme of the book of Revelation. A faithful witness is one who always speaks and represents the truth, and that certainly characterizes the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a perfect witness to the nature of God (cf. Jn. 18:37, Rev. 3:14). Jesus Christ, the faithful witness who cannot lie and lived and spoke flawlessly the will of God, promises believers salvation’s grace and peace.
Please turn to Psalm 89 (p.496)
The second description of Jesus, the firstborn of the dead, does not mean He was chronologically the first one to be raised from the dead. There were resurrections before His in the Old Testament (1 Kings 17:17–23; 2 Kings 4:32–36; 13:20–21), and He Himself raised others during His earthly ministry (Matt. 9:23–25; Luke 7:11–15; John 11:30–44). He is not one firstborn (Prototokos) in time sequence, but rather first in preeminence. Of all who have ever been or ever will be resurrected, He is the premier one.
God declares of the Messiah in Psalm 89:
Psalm 89:24-29 24 My faithfulness and my steadfast love shall be with him, and in my name shall his horn be exalted. 25 I will set his hand on the sea and his right hand on the rivers. 26 He shall cry to me, ‘You are my Father, my God, and the Rock of my salvation.’ 27 And I will make him the firstborn, the highest of the kings of the earth. 28 My steadfast love I will keep for him forever, and my covenant will stand firm for him. 29 I will establish his offspring forever and his throne as the days of the heavens. (ESV)
• Just as Israel is God’s “firstborn” (Ex. 4:22), so the king is the firstborn as the people’s embodiment (see note on Ps. 2:7). The NT calls Jesus the “firstborn,” portraying him as the exalted heir of David who represents his people (Rom. 8:29; Col. 1:15, 18; Heb. 1:6; Rev. 1:5); he is the one who fulfills the prospect of being the highest of the kings of the earth (Rev. 1:5; 19:16; cf. Matt. 28:18–19; he is bringing the Gentiles to acknowledge this). (Crossway Bibles. (2008). The ESV Study Bible (p. 1051). Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles.) The book of Revelation records the unfolding of that promise.
The third title in Revelation 1:5, the ruler of kings on earth, depicts Christ as absolutely sovereign over the affairs of this world, to which He holds the title deed (cf. 5:1ff.). That Jesus Christ is the sovereign King of the earth is repeatedly taught in Scripture (e.g., 19:16; Ps. 2:6–8; Jer. 23:5; Zech. 9:9; Matt. 2:2; 21:5; Luke 19:38; 23:3; John 1:49). He is Lord, having a name “above every name” (Phil. 2:9–11), who, according to the Father’s plan and the Spirit’s work, grants believers His royal blessing of grace and peace.
The work of Christ on behalf of believers caused John to burst forth in an inspired doxology of praise to Him. In the present, Christ loves believers with an unbreakable love (Rom. 8:35–39). The greatest expression of that love came when He freed/released us from our sins by His blood—a reference to the atonement provided by His sacrificial death on the cross on believers behalf. Here is the heart of the gospel. Sinners are forgiven by God, set free from sin, death, and hell by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross. God made Him our substitute, killing Him for our sins, so that the penalty was fully paid for us. God’s justice was satisfied and God was able then to grant righteousness to repentant sinners for whom Christ died.
Christ’s love also caused Him in verse 6, to “made us a kingdom” , referring to the sphere of God’s rule which believers enter at salvation; cf. Col. 1:13) in which we enjoy His loving, gracious rule and almighty, sovereign protection. Finally, He made us “priests to His God and Father, granting us the privilege of direct access to the Father (cf. 1 Pet. 2:9–10). Believers are not only have been made part of his kingdom and his subjects, but they have also been constituted kings together with him and share his priestly office by virtue of their identification with his death and resurrection. (Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 192). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.).
John concludes his doxology with the only proper response in light of the magnitude of the blessings Christ has given believers: To Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. The Greek word Amen here, means “let it be so,” which served to strongly affirm something just stated. It expressed an indication of trust in God’s ability to bring about a desired result.( Barry, J. D., Mangum, D., Brown, D. R., Heiser, M. S., Custis, M., Ritzema, E., … Bomar, D. (2012, 2016). Faithlife Study Bible (Re 1:6). Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press.)
That is to be the response of all who read, and hear this marvelous book in which that future glory and dominion is clearly presented. The high point of vv 1–6, and of the whole chapter, is here: the achievement of God’s glory through Christ’s work and the service of his people as kings and priests. That God is to receive glory means that He alone is worthy to receive credit for the successful accomplishment of redemptive history (Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation: a commentary on the Greek text (p. 194). Grand Rapids, MI; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.)
(Format note: Some base commentary from MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (1999). Revelation 1–11 (pp. 13–26). Chicago: Moody Press.)
