Revelation: A Message of Hope!
Introduction
As we begin to look at the Revelation we should note that its message is not one that is meant to frighten us. It is meant to encourage us. It is a book that some people completely avoid. It is a book that others immerse themselves in. Still, others abuse it and sensationalize it. We are going to take a look at it together and see what God's message was to the Christians in the first century and what its message is to us.
The author of the Revelation is John the son of Zebedee, the apostle. He also wrote the Gospel of John and the three Johannine epistles.
The Revelation is the only book of prophecy in the NT. After the last writing prophet, Malachi, and the closing of the OT canon the prophetic gift seems to have been forgotten. The NT opens with a flurry of prophetic activity. Zacharias the father of John the Baptist has a prophetic experience while attending to his duties in the temple. Mary the mother of Jesus and Elizabeth both experience the prophetic. There is a heightened working and moving of the Holy Spirit. John the Baptist is filled with the Holy Spirit while in his mother's womb. The Lord Jesus is conceived of the Holy Spirit. John is considered a prophet as is the Lord. Peter's message on the day of Pentecost is that the last days have arrived and God is pouring out His Spirit on all flesh. Sons and daughters will prophesy. The book of Acts mentions prophets like Silas, Niger, Paul, Agabus, and Philip's four daughters. Paul says that in the church there are apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. The church is a prophetic community. The crescendo to this prophetic moment in history is the book of Revelation. John, exiled to the isle of Patmos finds himself in the Spirit on the Lord's Day. They were already worshipping on Sundays! While in quarantine, he found himself in the Spirit. The book of Revelation is called a prophecy (1:3; 22:7, 10, 18, 19). It spoke directly to those who first heard it. It has spoken to those who have read it throughout the history of the church and it speaks to us today.
The Revelation is an apocalypse. When we hear the word apocalypse we think of things blowing up and the end of the world. The word apocalypse is the first word in the Greek text of Revelation. It means an unveiling. It means that things that have been hidden are now being revealed. There is a genre of literature that developed in Judaism during the intertestamental period. It interpreted the events of history through symbols and figures. The authors chose names of prominent OT figures and attached their names to these works, names like Enoch and Ezra. These works wrestled with three things: (1) a righteous remnant of God's people, (2) the problem of evil, and (3) the cessation of prophecy. They wrestled with the question of why the righteous suffer and why the kingdom of God had been delayed. These works were (1) always eschatological, (2) dualistic, and (3) evidenced a belief in a rigid determinism. They were characterized by pessimism.
The Revelation bears some similarities to other apocalyptic literature. However, it has some major differences as well. First of all, while the apocalyptical literature is pessimistic, the Revelation is marked by genuine optimism. It begins by letting its readers know that victory has already been won by the Lamb. God is in control of history! The starting point of history according to Revelation is the redemptive work of Christ. He is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world! The author of the Revelation is simply John. He is known enough that he does not need to choose some pseudonym of a famous OT figure. The Revelation is a prophecy. It is the crescendo of the restoration and fulfillment of the outpouring of the Spirit! There is a moral urgency in Revelation. The question is, "If all of this is true, what manner of person ought we to be in all manner of holy conduct?"
There are four basic approaches to interpreting the book of Revelation:
1. The preterist approach sees all of the events of Revelation as already fulfilled except for those events recorded in the final chapters. They usually find this fulfillment in either the destruction of Jerusalem in A. D. 70 or the fall of Rome in A. D. 476.
2. A second interpretive approach is the historist view. Historists view the Revelation as a forecast of events leading up to their own historical time period.
3. The futurist, which most of you will be familiar with through popular "prophecy" teachers. Most futurists see all of Revelation as something to be fulfilled in the future, sometimes excluding everything before 4:1.
4 A fourth interpretive model is the idealist or timeless symbolic. This model does not see any specific events prophesied in the Revelation. Rather, this view sees the Revelation as a picture of the principles of the way God works consistently throughout history to defeat evil.
Each of these interpretive models has both flaws and merits.
The preterist view may help us to see the way that John's first readers may have viewed his prophecy but fails to account for the final destruction of the beast and the ultimate victory of Christ.
The historist view always involves much subjectivity and it is questionable whether the Spirit would have inspired a book that had absolutely no bearing on the first-century church and only a remote bearing on the consumption of the age.
The futurist view looks to God's final victory over evil. Many futurists view everything from Revelation 4:1 as belonging to the future. Its strength is maintaining a future hope for Christians of all ages. Its weakness is that it leaves Revelation without any particular significance for those who first heard and read it.
The idealist view is supported by the fact that Revelation is mostly symbolism literarily. Its weakness is that it denies the Revelation any historical fulfillment.
None of these approaches is sufficient alone and each one can help us understand the Revelation and its meaning for its first hearers and readers and for us.
We can learn from each of them. One writer said this:
"The author himself could without contradiction be preterist, historist, futurist, and idealist. He wrote out of his own immediate situation, his prophecies would have a historical fulfillment, he anticipated a future consummation, and he revealed principles that operated beneath the course of history.... Although John saw the Roman Empire as the great beast that threatened the extinction of the church, there will be in the last days an eschatological beast who will sustain the same relationship with the church in the great tribulation. It is the eschatological beast, portrayed in type by Rome, that the Apocalypse describes... modern interpreters overlook the distinction between the historical fulfillment of prophecy and its eschatological fulfillment..." (Robert H. Mounce)
Some scholars believe the Revelation was written during the reign of Nero (late 60s A. D.) sometime after he burned Rome, blamed the Christians, and persecuted them. However, it was probably written somewhere between A. D. 81-96 during the reign of Domitian. It was during this time that the Roman emperor cult gained its height and when Christians were persecuted. We will see that the way the Revelation is written and the warnings it contains lend themselves to this date. The book had relevance to its first hearers, it has relevance for us.
TEXT:
The Revelation is a prophetic letter that unveils our blessed hope! Revelation 1:1-3 is a prologue and introduction to the Revelation. It was probably written after the whole had been written. These verses "tell how and for what purpose the Revelation was given, and then pronounce a blessing on both the reader and obedient listener" (Robert H. Mounce). It begins:
1. Revelation 1:1 -- "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"
The first word in the text is Revelation (apocalypse). It means to unveil or reveal what was hidden before. This tells us what kind of book we are about to read and helps us think about how we should read it. The other places where this word is used in the NT are:
Luke 2:32
Romans 2:5
Romans 8:19
Romans 16:25
1 Corinthians 1:7
1 Corinthians 14:6
1 Corinthians 14:26
2 Corinthians 12:1
2 Corinthians 12:7
Galatians 1:12
Galatians 2:2
Ephesians 1:17
Ephesians 3:3
2 Thessalonians 1:7
1 Peter 1:7
1 Peter 1:13
1 Peter 4:13
"of Jesus Christ" -- This unveiling belongs to Jesus Christ. He is the only One worthy to open the book and to lose its seals.
"which God gave unto Him" -- This agrees with John's theology in his Gospel. Jesus is the Word of God. No man has seen God at any time, the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father has revealed Him (John 1:18). Jesus is both God and the Revealer of God (John 8:42; John 12:49; John 14:10). God has given everything to the Lord Jesus Christ (John 6:37; Matthew 28:17). These words emphasize the truth that in Christ God has complete solidarity with humanity. Seated upon the throne of the universe is One Who is at once fully Human and fully Divine. He is God and Man!
"to show unto His servants" -- the purpose of the Revelation is for the Lord to show "His servants"... These "servants" include those who first heard these words, those who heard them throughout church history, and to us. The church is a prophetic community. The Lord will do nothing except He first reveals it to His servants the prophets. This is God's way. When He was about to bring the flood upon the world of Noah, he told Noah. When He was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities of the plains He stopped by Abraham's house and told him.
"the things which must shortly come to pass" -- He was about to do some things in the first century and He is about to do some things in the 21st century. He has given us this wonderful book of the Bible to give us insight and hope!
John was able to hear because He found himself in the Spirit on the Lord's day. He could not worship at the local church in Ephesus that day with fellow believers, but He had church anyway!
"He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John" -- Jesus sent an angel to share this unveiling with John. In apocalyptic literature both in and out of the canon of Scripture, there are angelic guides. They guide the journey. Sometimes they give understanding, as they did for Daniel the prophet. There are angels throughout the book of Revelation. The angelic world is real. From the opening verses of the NT, we find angels appearing to Matthew, Mary, Zacharias. The angels came in visions and dreams. They surrounded Jesus in the wilderness and at Gethsemane. They ministered to the apostles in Acts and hear in the last book of the Bible, we find them there again. They are ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who are the heirs of salvation. There is an increase in spiritual activity in those heightened moments of history. We don't worship angels, as John will see later in the book, but we do worship their Lord! In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead in bodily form. So often people who talk about spiritual warfare focus on the enemy. The Revelation lifts our eyes to the angels of God and the message that those that be for us are more than those that be against us! When you think about the spirit world think about that! The angel of the Lord encamps around those that fear him and deliver them! For this, cause ought the woman to have power on her head because of the angels!
The KJV has "signified." This is an important word for interpreting Revelation. While the things in Revelation depict actual historical events both past and future, they are signs and symbols, symbolic rather than literal.
John belonged to Jesus and so Jesus sent His angel to show John what was going to shortly come to pass. Not to scare the churches or John, but to encourage and give hope, and to call them to find themselves aligned with him.
2. Revelation 1:2 "who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw."
The word witness is one that is important to John. He uses it extensively in his other writings. He calls himself a witness. This is the word that we get our word martyr from. There is a testimony in the Revelation. There is also a test. Those who first read these words would face tests as the world around them seemed to be dominated by the beast of the Roman empire. There have been evil systems ever since that have tried to dominate the world and the church. One day there will be one final eschatological beast that rises us. We can see its precursors in the wickedness of the world throughout history. Human history is heading in two directions. There is what scholars call "salvation history." The entire world is heading in one direction towards the ultimate coming of Christ. It is as if we are all on a subway headed towards the eschaton, together. The good and the evil. If you have ever ridden on a subway, you know that if you do not have balance, when abrupt stops happen or the subway lurches forward you can find yourself falling all over the place. The message of Revelation is that Christians should have a good stance. We have handrails and straps to hold onto. As the world seeps towards its destiny, we do not have to be afraid because of the testimony of Jesus Christ. We have a message of HOPE! In this world, you will have tribulation, but Jesus has overcome the world! I've got ahold of something that keeps me from being thrown around! HE is a solid Rock!
The world is also headed towards "perdition history." This is the downward spiral that the world's systems are led by. Paul called it the course of this world, the spirit that now worked in the children of disobedience (Ephesians 2:2). The spirit of the antichrist gets so incarnated into the world's systems that people do not even recognize it. There will be a beast that will arise, but we are not looking for Him! We are looking for Jesus Christ!
"All that he saw" -- We should read the Revelation as a whole. The message is the entire book, not cherry-picked verses that we might try to fit into current events. The message of Revelation when you read the whole is that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Let's read it ALL!
3. Revelation 1:3 "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."
Most people in John's day could not read. They learned by hearing (See 22:18-19).
There are seven beatitudes in Revelation (See 1:3;14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). Compare Luke 11:28. The church read Scripture publicly just as their Jewish forebears had (See Neh 8:2; Luke 4:16; Acts 13:15; Col 4:16; 1 Thess 5:27). They chose readers because they could read and do it well.
The word "blessed" means happy. Reading the Revelation should be an exercise in happiness rather than dread. It is a prophecy. The prophecy is not ultimately about the beast from the sea or the land. It is not ultimately a prophecy about the prostitute who rides on the back of the beast. It is not about the plagues or the great red dragon. These are all just incidental players on the stage. The star of the Revelation is the Lamb and the conclusion of the play is a wedding feast where the Lamb marries His bride! Happy are those who hear those who read the words, happy are those who hear, happy are those who keep the words! They get to be a part of the bride! They get to be at the feast!
"the time is near" -- The time was near for those in the first century. Jesus was coming. They went on to their reward. The time is nearer today than it was then. Jesus has come in many ways. He came in the judgment on Jerusalem in the first century. He came with the destruction of Rome in A. D. 476. He came many times when he overthrew Babylon and Medo-Persia and Greece. But, He is coming more fully than He ever has, and we are going to see Him!
The time is near. The world is moving closer and closer to the ultimate fulfillment of these prophecies. His second coming is as sure as His first.
Application
He is returning for those who bear His Name and are sealed with His Spirit.
Today, if you have never taken the step of placing your trust in Jesus, would you call on His Name in prayer right now? Just talk to Him. Perhaps you've been living a life that has been controlled by habits that you know are wrong. Ask Him to forgive you and help you. There is HOPE today, that you can overcome those things. The Bible speaks of repentance/belief as the first step in our first response to the relationship God has begun to initiate with us. Repentance means changing our minds, believing that what God accomplished through the cross of Jesus Christ can change our lives.
When we believe we are baptized in order to call on the Name of the Lord. If you have not been baptized in the Name of Jesus, today is your day. When we are baptized the Bible promises that God will fill us with His Spirit, the same Spirit that John found himself in during that Lord's day on the isle of Patmos at the end of the first century.
Maybe you've done all these things and today you are seeking to grow to be refreshed, this altar is open to each and every person. Would you pray with me this morning?
Conclusion and Exhortation
This week begin reading through the Revelation and asking God for understanding. I encourage you to read it thinking about the victory of Jesus rather than the defeat of the world's evil systems. Remember you are on the winning side!
Closing prayer
Benediction
