THE SECRET IS OUT! (REVELATION 1)
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Are you good at remembering passwords? Have you been asked at your job to change your passwords regularly? I’m terrible at remembering passwords. I try to coordinate my passwords for online, e-mails and computers. My memory was so bad with passwords that, one time after I changed my church computer about six months ago for a better online conferencing, I could not get back into my bank account!
After two prompts, I was asked to change my password, which I refused to because it meant remembering another password. The next day I managed to get in. It happened for a few months until last month only six letters were left working after exhausting the keys while I was working on my Grammar Bible, Then I remembered my password incident. It seems that the number 8 has been malfunctioning on and off all along!
It is interesting to know from my IT turned pastor coworker that he had bought a gadget that could remember up to 300 passwords.
The Book of Revelation is the prophesy of prophesies, the great tribulation (Rev 2:22, 7:14) of tribulation, not just commonly the time is at hand but conclusively “for” (gar) the time is at hand (Rev 1:3, 22:10). It is traditionally ascribed to John the apostle, who called himself “His servant” (Rev 1:1), a title claimed by John alone in the epistles, not by Paul, James or Peter. Revelation is without the article in Greek, or “apokalupsis” in Greek and apocalypse in English. It is derived from two words – the preposition “apo-“ means “out” and the verb “krupto” means “secret,” so together it means : The secret is out!
What has God in store for us for the day at hand? How are we to prepare for the last days? Why do we best heed God’s word now before that day?
Live Strong and Feel Special
1 The revelation of 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 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. 4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen. 7 Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! 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."
A customer sent an order to a distributor for a large amount of goods totaling a great deal of money. The distributor, noticing that the previous bill hadn't been paid, instructed the collections manager to contact the customer. The collections manager made the call and left a voice-mail for them saying, “We can't ship your new order until you pay for the last one.”
The next day the collections manager received a collect phone call from the customer who said, “Please cancel the order. We can't wait that long. We don’t know when we’ll payi.”
Revelation is a disclosure, a discovery and a display of the future, of which the coming of Christ is physical, public and personal. It is hard not to feel we’re living in the last days. Besides disease, disasters and death, Big Brother is watching you – CCTV, GPS, Google, IPO and IT companies are all tracking you.
The verb “show” (v 1, deiknuo) appears more times in Revelation than any book in the Bible. The next three occurrences of the verb is inviting:
Rev 4:1 "Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this."
Rev 17:1 "Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute
Rev 21:9-10 "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb."
It is translated as communicated (NASU), made it known (ESV) and to make plain (Message). Here is the passage’s disclosure:
Who
Revelation of Jesus Christ (v 1)
What
“show” his servants what must soon take place (v 1)
When
soon (v 1)
How
“reads” the words of this prophecy… who “hear” it and “take to heart”
(v 3, three “how” participles)
Where
what is written “in” it (v 3)
Why
because the time is near (v 3, 22:10)
Take to heart is more than mediation but to observe, translating as keep (Matt 19:17), observe (Matt 23:3), watch (Matt 27:36) and hold fast (Rev 3:3). It means day shift, night shift and overnight shift.
Why are we to live strong and feel special? There is a reason (gar): because time is near. The phrase “time is near” is “time is at hand” (KJV). While most translations stick to “near.” At hand means “soon or shortly, but not speedily or suddenly.” (Yap) The Message translated it as “Time is just about up” and Wuest translated it as “imminent.”
The titles “Alpha and Omega” occurs in the first and last chapters of the book – for the first in verse 3 and Revelation 22:10, and Alpha and Omega in verse 8 and Revelation 22:13. The words “his angel” and “send” and “soon/shortly” and “amen” (v 7, 22:20) also repeat in the first and last chapter, but in the last chapter not just “his servant” (John) but to all his servants. (Rev 22:6)
Verse 5’s “love” and wash” are participles, but the second (first main sentence is “signify” v 1) main sentence is in verse 6: (He) has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father. The age “ever and ever” occurs a record-breaking seven times (Rev 1:6, 4:9, 10, 5:13, 14:11, 15:7, 19:3). “Power forever and ever” is an apocalyptic saying only appearing in the last days books of 1 Peter (4:11),
Jude (25) and Revelation (Rev 1:6).
Past (aorist)
Present
Future
V 6 and “has made” us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father
ESV: “made us”
V 7 Look, he “is” coming with the clouds,
and
V 7 every eye “will see” and “mourn” him
The third main clause sentence also begins with “He” - Look, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him (v 7). It is made public to all, made plain to all, made personal for all. Verse 7 for the first time will include our response: and every eye will see him… all the peoples of the earth will “mourn” because of him– fourth main verb. Jesus said all the nations of the earth will “mourn” when Son of Man appears in the sky (Matt 11:17), also translated as “lament” (Matt 11:17), cut down (Matt 21:8) and bewail (Luke 8:52). They will cry till it hurts, cry their tears out, cry like a dove or cat, cry like a newborn, cry themselves spent hoarse, lungs hurt. You will out-cry anyone, anything anyday imaginable. Guys and girls, baby or adult, man or woman, saved or unsaved (v 7). Now the mourning will include” every”,” “all” and “the peoples” or kindreds (KJV) of the earth” – often translated as tribes (Matt 19:28).
Feel Safe but Be Sober
9 I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 On the Lord's Day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 which said: "Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and Laodicea." 12 I turned around to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and among the lampstands was someone "like a son of man," dressed in a robe reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash around his chest. 14 His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and his eyes were like blazing fire. 15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters. 16 In his right hand he held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
Last year was 20 years from when Tom Hanks’ movie Cast Away was made. The movie was about a postage delivery man who spent four years in an island after his plane crashed.
The screenwriter William Broyles Jr spent a few days alone on an isolated beach near Mexico’s Sea of Cortez, to get an idea of what it was like. According to reports in The Austin Chronicle from 2000, the experience taught Broyles more about what it really means to be lonely:
“I realized it wasn’t just a physical challenge. It was going to be an emotional, spiritual one as well,” he told the publication. While there, he made himself find his own food, water, which included breaking open coconuts and eating speared stingrays, and building shelter made of bamboo and palm leaves.
It was during this time, that he also came up with the idea for Wilson the volleyball companion, as a ball washed up on the beach he was staying on and he began to talk to it. The name was Wilson was simply the brand of the ball.
https://inews.co.uk/culture/film/cast-away-true-story-real-life-tales-survival-inspiration-tom-hanks-movie-netflix-944044
Hanks told ABC News in ‘06, “Once Chuck has figured out how to stay alive, his battle is no longer against the elements, it’s about desperation. It’s about… loneliness that is very different from being home on a Saturday night with nothing to do.”
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/20-years-after-its-release-cast-away-is-more-relevant-than-ever/
Can you imagine being banished, exiled or quarantined for four years for your faith? It is more likely to happen than ever.
John was a “brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (v 3) - a price he paid as a disciple for “the word of God and the testimony of Jesus” (v 2, 9). His experience and introduction in the book as a prisoner was similar to Ezekiel by the Kebar River, when the heavens were opened and he saw visions of God (Ezek 1:1) and a voice speaking to him (Ezek 1:28).
The “loud voice” The “loud voice” of verse 10 occurs close to 30 times in the Bible, but only “great voice” (v 10) in KJV only in Revelation, altogether three times (Rev 1:10, 16:17, 19:1). The first imperatives are “write” and “send.” (v 11). Write (v 11) as an imperative occurs an incredible 12 times in Revelation (1:11, 19, 2:1, 8, 12, 28, 3:1, 7, 14, 14:13, 19:9, 21:5)! This “send” (pempo) is different from the previous “send” (apostello) in verse 1. The crux of Revelation is to be known and kept. It is a shock but it is not a secret. It is an open secret. It is not confidential document, classified information, or close ended.
Person
Object
Significance
Robe and sash
“to foot” KJV (v 13)
golden sash
Presider – He’ll convene
Head and hair
(v 14)
white like wool, as white as snow
Purity (Walvoord) – He’ll cleanse
Eyes (v 14)
blazing fire
Penetration – He’ll cover
Feet (v 15)
bronze glowing in a furnace
Perpetuation – He’ll consume
Voice (v 15)
the sound of rushing waters
Peace –He’ll calm
Hand (v 16)
seven star in right hand
Possession (Walvoord) –He’ll claim
Mouth (v 16)
sharp double-edged sword
Purge – He’ll condemn
Face (v 16)
the sun shining in all its brilliance.
Perfection – He’ll correct
Days will come when believers will be blamed, betrayed, beaten, banished and even beheaded, but we can feel safe because the Lord is on our side through turmoil, tribulations and treachery.
Be Struck and Feel Small
17 When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. Then he placed his right hand on me and said: "Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. 18 I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades. 19 "Write, therefore, what you have seen, what is now and what will take place later. 20 The mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
The first thing that pressed my button in Revelation is the number of times the verb “fall” (v 17) is in the book, 23 times, more than Matthew’s 19 times. Of all 23 times, verse 17 is the most dramatic – fall as though dead. Fall is a movement from top to bottom, from up to down, from high to low.
There are times in my life I experienced that when my knees buckled and bend and even bowed. Once I was knocked out cold in my teens playing soccer or football. I asked the teens, “What happened?” They said, “Both players went for the ball. The next thing we know you were flat on your back.” I questioned, “How long was I out?” They replied, “Quite some time.” The second was we stopped for a snack halfway from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara when an earthquake struck and the ground moved, and our knees with it. My wife and I looked at each other and said, “Let’s go home!” Lastly, when I had a stroke. I was sitting on the toilet bowl when I fell like a tree fell. Praise God, I did not fall sideways and hit the bathtub or the sink, but 45 degrees to land on the floor!
John’s fall was instinctive, involuntary and immediate. Why did the Son of man say to him, “Do not be afraid?” Because people in the Bible don’t see God and live.
Hell (v 18) occurs six times by itself in the Bible, but four times accompanied by death, but only in Revelation. What is hell/hades? Hell is a place without God, good and grace.
Key occurs six times in the Bible but plural is for heaven (Matt 16:19) and death and hell here (v 18). Death and hell are separate entities in Revelation (Rev 6:8). Death is the entry and hell is no escape. Only Jesus can make promise and make good on the promise of deliverance from hell and death because He has conquered, crippled and canceled death. He’s the Living One; He was dead, and behold He’s alive for ever and ever! And He hold the keys of death and Hades. (v 18)
First and the Last (v 17)
Origin and destiny
Past and present
Letters
Opportunity
Dead…alive for ever and ever (v 18)
Death and Life
Passion and Promise
Life
Overcomer
hold the keys of death and Hades (v 18)
Open and shut
Pardon and punishment
Lordship
Owner
Conclusion:
Are you ready for His coming? Are you saved, sober and steadfast? Is He pleased with you and proud of you? Are you saved, sober and steadfast? Be amazed at God, approved by God and assured in God!
