Introduction
I will be honest. The
Book of Revelation is my favorite book in the Bible. I have always (as long as I can remember)
been excited about reading or studying this book. Much of that excitement has to do with the
fact that much of the material in Revelation has to do with eschatology. Eschatology is the study of the end times; it
is prophetic; it is predictive of the future.
Biblical eschatology is the branch of theology that pertains to what the
Bible predicts will happen in the end times, which are ultimately yet future to
our time but inevitably approaching as time moves forward. Eschatology has always been my favorite
theological subject. I am very excited
about this study and I hope that you will get as much from it as I do!
I want to start this study with an introduction. First, I will introduce how we will be
approaching this study. Second, I will
introduce some background on the Book of Revelation itself.
There are many different ways to study the Bible, obviously
resulting in many different interpretations.
I will admit that my approach to study is not the same as everyone
else’s. I have been studying the Bible
for a long time. I have read it twice
all the way through from beginning to end, first within one year when I was a
teenager, and recently within 90 days. I
have also read many portions of the Bible many times over. I have heard the Bible taught in church all
my life, having grown up in a Christian home.
I have heard the Bible taught in school as I attended Christian school
from 4th-10th grade, and as I have attended two different
Bible colleges and graduated from a school of ministry program. I have even taught the Bible to both children
and adults in church and in Bible college.
That being said, there are many people who have studied the Bible more
than me, and longer than me, and who know more about it, and its authors, and
its cultures, and its languages, and its history than me, who ultimately have a
different approach and a different point of view on Biblical prophecy and the
Book of Revelation than I do. The
purpose of this study is not for me to present every different viewpoint out
there, or to prove every point I make against all the others. It is also not to re-translate word for word
the original Greek text that the book was originally written in. I will be presenting the best of my present
knowledge of the book, from beginning to end, according to the method of study
that I believe is the best. I will be
prayerfully seeking the Lord’s guidance and understanding as I move through
this study, and my goal is that God would be glorified and that his Word would
be magnified as a result.
That being said, there will be times when I will present
alternative viewpoints and times when I will get into the original Greek, when
appropriate. There will also be times
when I will not get everything exactly right, as I am not infallible. I like to have discussion and participation,
and I invite questions. If this study
were to be live, my teaching style is such that I invite participation and
questions throughout. I also don’t mind
getting a little off topic from time to time to expound on a particular item
of interest. Please feel free to ask any
questions or make polite and respectful comments on these posts as this will be
a written study, but I still hope for it to be interactive.
Here is the approach I will be taking. I read and study the Bible seriously. Some parts are literal, some parts are symbolic. Some parts read as narrative
and some parts as figurative. I am of the
belief that the plain meaning is usually the best meaning. This means, that unless reason exists by
nature of the language or context to do otherwise, I will assume a position of
straight-forward, plain, and literal meaning (interpretation). Some portions will clearly be symbolic, and
some portions will be clear references to other parts of the Bible. I hope that this study will have value for
both religious readers and non-religious readers alike. I recommend that you read portions of the
text in advance so that you can get a sense of the big picture and so that when
you come to the study, the text will be familiar to you.
Here are some things you should know on the outset as we
begin this study. I believe that the
Book of Revelation is part of the inspired Word of God and I will treat it with
respect accordingly. What I mean by this
is that even though the words were originally written onto parchment by a
human, I believe the human author was being divinely inspired to write the
words as God wanted them written. There
is purpose and there is meaning to the words that were originally written. I approach the prophecies in the book from
the futurist position, which means that I believe the majority of the narrative in
Revelation is yet to happen in the future.
There are some who believe that it has all happened already. And there are some who don’t necessarily
believe that it will all happen at all, believing it to be symbolic or
allegorical. Enough of that for now, as
I’m sure my views will be made plain as we expound upon the text.
The format of this study will be exegetical and
expository. Exegetical means that not
only will the text itself be studied, but also the linguistic and literary
attributes and the historical context.
Expository means that the meaning of the text will be explained for
purpose and understanding. The entire
book of Revelation will be the subject material, verse by verse, from start to
finish. Depending upon the passage being
studied, either the entire passage will be provided at the onset, or provided
and broken apart one verse at a time, or, in some cases, both. The translation that will be primarily quoted
is the New American Standard Bible. If a
different translation is used, it will be indicated. Translations can be a subject of debate on
their own. I will say this up front
regarding translations; there are many that are good and reliable. There is no single English translation
that is superior in all respects to the others.
Some groups will have their favorites for various reasons. Some groups will claim that only one
particular English translation is appropriate to use or “inspired” or from God. I respectfully, and quite firmly,
disagree. The original Hebrew, Greek, and
Aramaic texts were inspired by God. The
English translations are just that; translations. All translations, by necessity, involve some
modicum of interpretation; it is unavoidable.
Likewise, all translators have to make decisions on context and appropriate
vocabulary and terminology. This becomes
especially difficult when translating cultural terminology or figures of
speech, etc. Most of the common modern
English translations are fine, such as the King James Version, the New King
James Version, the New International Version, the New American Standard Bible,
the English Standard Version, and the Revised Standard Version (to name a
few). Use whatever version you are most
comfortable with for your own reading and study. You should probably avoid paraphrased
versions for a study like this, but they can be useful for personal
edification, understanding, or devotion.
I have selected the New American Standard Bible in this case because it
is my understanding that of the modern translations it is the most literal in
terms of Greek translation, and the Book of Revelation was originally written
in Greek. Be cautious of any
interpretation that is used exclusively by one sect and one sect alone,
especially if they claim that it is the only reliable translation. There is probably an underlying motivation
for their claims of exclusivity.
And now for some background on the book itself. The Book of Revelation is the final book of
the New Testament and the final book of the Bible. That statement in itself is already
controversial. I am presupposing here
that the Christian Bible, both Old and New Testaments, are Scripture. As such, I am asserting that the Book of
Revelation is the final book of the Bible, not only in arrangement within the
Bible, but also in writing of divinely inspired Scripture.
The Old Testament was completed before Jesus was born. The New Testament was written after Jesus had
departed from this world. Generally, those of
Jewish faith will regard what Christians call the “Old Testament” as Scripture. Some strict adherents of
Jewish faith will go so far as to say that the Torah (Hebrew), or Pentateuch
(Greek), which are also known as the Books of Moses, or the first five books of
the Old Testament, are the only real Scripture.
Mormons will say that the Book of Mormon, as well as other writings like
the Pearl of Great Price and the Doctrine and Covenants (all of which were
written after the New Testament) are also to be considered Scripture. Roman Catholics will include additional books
as part of the “canon” (or officially recognized list) of Scripture that are
not recognized by Protestant or some Orthodox branches of Christendom. Suffice it to say, this study is presenting
Revelation as the last of 27 New Testament (NT from here forward) books and the
last of 66 Biblical books to be written both in order of the date of writing
and in order of arrangement within the Bible.
That means that all other books of the total 66 books of the Bible were
written before the date in history that Revelation was written. It also means that Revelation is the last
book you will read in the Bible if you read it in traditional order of
arrangement from start to finish.
The book was written by the Apostle John, who is one of the
twelve original disciples of Jesus in the Gospels, and one of the twelve
original apostles of the Christian Church.
He is the brother of the Apostle James, who is also one of the twelve
original disciples in the Gospels and one of the twelve original apostles (not
to be confused with the author of the NT Book of James, who was actually a
half-brother of Jesus, as well as a brother of Jude, who wrote the NT Book of
Jude, as well as a pastor in the first-century church in Jerusalem). The Apostle John is also the writer of the
Gospel of John (the 4th Book in the NT), as well as the NT Epistles
of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John. John wrote the Book of Revelation around the
year 95 or 96 AD or CE (whichever you prefer), while exiled by the Roman
government to the Isle of Patmos in the Aegean Sea (Mediterranean) off the coast
of modern Turkey, between Turkey and Greece.
These points have been debated by some scholars who question both the
authorship and the date of the writing, but I am convinced of their validity.
Now, let’s dive into the text and get started on the
adventure!
Revelation 1:1-3
“The Revelation of Jesus Christ,
which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon
take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant
John,
who testified to the word of God
and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw.
Blessed is he who reads and those
who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in
it; for the time is near.”
The word “revelation” used in the opening sentence is
translated from the Greek word “apokalypsis” which can also be translated as
“unveiling” and is the root for the English word “apocalypse.” So this book is about a revealing, or
unveiling, of something. But of what? It's the
revelation of Jesus Christ! So in the
opening sentence we learn what the Book of Revelation is all about. It is about the revealing or unveiling of
Jesus Christ! But we have already seen
Jesus, in the Gospels and in the Book of Acts.
Perhaps the view of Jesus we have from those books is only part on the
story. Let’s keep going.
Who was given this revelation? John?
Not so fast. We read that this
revelation of Jesus Christ was given from God to “Him.” Who is “Him?”
"Him" is Jesus Christ. The
unveiling of Jesus Christ was given by God, presumably the Father, to
Jesus. Why did Jesus need to have an
unveiling of Himself provided? We will
see more as the book goes on, but remember in the Gospels when Jesus stated
that He did not know the time of His own return? Matthew 24:36: “But of that day and hour no
one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father
alone.” When Jesus spoke those words at
the time and place recorded in Matthew’s gospel, even He was not privy to the
full disclosure of His second coming.
But here, in the moment spoken of in Revelation 1:1, Jesus is given the
revelation of His second coming. We will
see more of the revealing itself as we continue in the study.
Back to the text. God
gave the revelation of Jesus to Jesus to give to his bond-servants. What is a bond-servant? Webster’s online dictionary defines
bond-servant as “one bound to service without wages.” So the concept is similar to a slave, but
there can be a difference. A slave has
no choice. A bond-servant can be a term
used of one who has chosen to be a slave.
For example, in the Mosaic Law (Old Testament), a Hebrew slave could
only be enslaved by another Hebrew for 6 years and then had to be set free in
the 7th year. If, however, the
former slave loved his or her master and/or household and wanted to remain in
service, they could voluntarily choose to remain as a bond-servant. In practice, they would serve without wages
and would be taken care of by their master, like a slave, but they would now be
doing it by choice. (See Deuteronomy
15:12-18.) There is an implication here
that slaves of Jesus are slaves by choice.
So the revelation, or unveiling, of Jesus was given by God
to Jesus to, in turn, give to His servants
(followers/believers/Christians). And
this was a revelation of “the things which must soon take place.” So we see, from the very first sentence, that
this vision is of things to come. It is
prophetic. It is a revelation of future
events from the period of time in which John was living and writing. Now the text says “soon.” It has been over nineteen-hundred years since
this was written. What does "soon"
mean? Well, of course, “with the Lord
one day is like a thousand years” (2 Peter 3:8). But I don’t think that is necessarily all
that is meant here. The Greek word for
“soon” here is “en tachei.” The meaning
of this word has less to do with the concept of something happening soon and
more to do with quickness or suddenness.
So the meaning here is that once the events of this prophecy begin to
transpire, they will happen suddenly and quickly.
Let’s wrap up verse one.
God gave a revelation of Jesus to Jesus to give to his servants. The revelation was prophetic in nature,
meaning it had to do with future events from the perspective of the time period
that the author (John) was writing.
Jesus then sent the message/revelation/vision to His servant John using
an angel as the messenger. So verse one
tells us that this book is about a future revealing of Jesus that was given to
Jesus by God to give to His followers.
Verse two indicates to the reader that the author, John, is
testifying that he was an eyewitness to the vision. This lets us know that this account is
credible as it is being provided, first-hand, by an eyewitness. When a trial is brought to court, witnesses
are called to testify. The court isn’t
interested in speculation or gossip, they want eyewitness testimony. That assurance is being provided here. And how reliable is the source? Well, the eyewitness to these events is none
other than the Apostle John. If he is
unreliable, then we might as well get rid of the Gospel of John and the
Epistles of 1st, 2nd, and 3rd John, since he
wrote those too.
Verse three contains a unique blessing. The blessing is upon the one who reads this
book, the one who hears the reading of this book, and the one who heeds the
words contained therein. This is the
only book in the Bible that promises such a special blessing to those who read
it specifically. Other places in the
Bible talk about blessings for heeding the Word of God, but other books don’t
claim such a special blessing like this.
This is unique. Ironically
enough, the Book of Revelation, which is the only book in the Bible to contain
a special blessing for its specific reading, is also one book of the Bible that is often
ignored by readers and untaught by churches because it is considered confusing,
or symbolic, or hard to understand. Keep
in mind that in the 1st century, written copies of anything were scarce. Some churches might have had one copy of a
particular book of scripture for the entire church to use. But that’s okay here, because both the reader
and the hearer of this book are promised a blessing! And the one who heeds, or takes seriously, or
pays attention to, or believes this book is promised a blessing. This verse again makes reference to the fact
that this book is a prophetic writing when it states, “the words of the
prophecy.” I have one final comment on
this verse. Many have taught that this
book cannot be understood. I would
assert that this verse states otherwise.
What good is it to promise a blessing to those who read something that
is unintelligible? If a blessing is
given to those who read it, then it is meant to be read. If it is meant to be read, then it is written
with purpose and it is meant to be understood.
Not much blessing can come from something that can’t be understood.
Application
The application here is that the Book of Revelation is meant to be read
and understood. Not only that, but we
will be blessed by reading it and studying it.
As we go through this study, ponder the relevance of the text to your
life. Take the time to read and think
and reflect. Let this book challenge
your preconceptions. Take it seriously. But enjoy it!
A blessing is something that should bring you joy! I am looking forward to this adventure, and I
hope you are too.
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