Revelation 1
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Terms:
Terms:
Revelation, in Greek it is “apokalupsis” which we get our work apocalypse from, it means an uncovering, unveiling, or disclosure. in the new testament this word describes the unveiling of spiritual truth Romans 16:25 “Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the preaching of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages” , the revealing of the sons of God Romans 8:19 “For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God.” , Christs incarnation Luke 2:32 “a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel.”” , and his glorious second coming 1 Peter 1:7 “so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” In all of these verses it is referring to something or someone, that was once hidden, but now becoming visible.
Eschatology: From the Greek word “eskhatos” meaning last and the suffix -logy meaning the study of, so the study of or the conceptions of the last things: immortality of the soul, rebirth, resurrection, migration of the soul, and the end of time.
Four main eschatological approaches:
Preterist: Interprets Revelation as a description of fisrt-century events in the Roman Empire. this view conflicts with the books own often-repeated claim to be a prophecy.
Historicist: Interprets Revelation as a panoramic view of church history from apostolic time to the present - seeing in the symbolism such events as the barbarian invasions of Rome, the rise of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as various individual popes, the emergence of Islam, and the French Revolution. Historicism has produced many different and often conflicting interpretations of the actual historical events contained in Revelation
Idealist: Interprets Revelation as a timeless depiction of the cosmic struggle between the forces of good and evil. In this view, the book contains neither historical allusions nor predictive prophecy. Revelation then becomes merely a collection of stories designed to teach spiritual truth.
Futurist: This approach insists that the events of chapters 6-22 are yet future, and that those chapters literally and symbolically depict actual people and events yet to appear in the world. It describes the events surrounding the second coming of Christ in chapters 6-19, the millenium and the final judgement in chapter 20, and the eternal state in chapters 21-22.
Premillennialism: The belief that Christ’s second coming will inaugurate a literal 1000 year earthly kingdom. Christ’s return will concide with a time of great tribulation and at this time there will be resurrection of the people of God who have died, and a rapture of the people of God who are still living, and they will meet Christ at his coming. A thousand years of peace will follow the millennium, during which Christ will reign and Satan will be imprisoned in the Abyss. Premillennialist usually fall into one of the three views of the rapture.
Pretribulation Rapture: Believe that the second coming will be in two stages separated by a seven-year period of tribulation. At the beginning of the tribulation, God’s people (Christians) will rise to meet the Lord in the air (the Rapure). Then follows a seven-year period of suffering in which the Antichrist will conquer the workd and persecute those who refuse to worship him. At the end of this period, Christ returns to defeat the Antichrist and establish the age of peace. This position is supported by 1 Thessalonians 5:9 “For God has not destined us for wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,”
Midtribulation Rapture: Believe that the Rapture will take place at the halfway point of the seven-year tribulation, i.e. after 3½ years. It coincides with the "abomination of desolation"—a desecration of the temple where the Antichrist puts an end to the Jewish sacrifices, sets up his own image in the temple, and demands that he be worshiped as God. This event begins the second, most intense part of the tribulation.
Some interpreters find support for the "midtrib" position by comparing a passage in Paul's epistles with the book of Revelation. Paul says in 1 Cor 15:51-52 “Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed.” Revelation divides the great tribulation into four sets of increasingly catastrophic judgments: the Seven Seals, the Seven Trumpets, the Seven Thunders (Rev 10:1–4) and the Seven Bowls, in that order. If the "last trumpet" of Paul is equated with the last trumpet of Revelation and the revelation of the scroll of the Seven Thunders, the Rapture would be in the middle of the Tribulation. (Not all interpreters agree with this literal interpretation of the chronology of Revelation, however.)
Posttribulation Raptue: Believe that Christ will not return until the end of the tribulation. Christians, rather than being raptured at the beginning of the tribulation, or halfway through, will live through it and suffer for their faith during the ascendancy of the Antichrist. Proponents of this position believe that the presence of believers during the tribulation is necessary for a final evangelistic effort during a time when external conditions will combine with the Gospel message to bring great numbers of converts into the Church in time for the beginning of the Millennium.
Postmillennialism: is an interpretation of chapter 20 which sees Christ’s second coming as occurring after the Millennium. Postmillennialism holds that Jesus Christ establishes his kingdom on earth through his preaching and redemptive work in the first century and that he equips his church with the gospel, empowers her by the Spirit, and charges her with the Great Commission (Matt 28:19) to disciple all nations. Postmillennialism expects that eventually the vast majority of people living will be saved. Increasing gospel success will gradually produce a time in history prior to Christ's return in which faith, righteousness, peace, and prosperity will prevail in the affairs of men and of nations. After an extensive era of such conditions Jesus Christ will return visibly, bodily, and gloriously, to end history with the general resurrection and the final judgment after which the eternal order follows.
Amillennialism: Amillennialism, in Christian eschatology, involves the rejection of the belief that Jesus will have a literal, thousand-year-long, physical reign on the earth. This rejection contrasts with premillennial and some postmillennial interpretations of chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation.
The amillennial view regards the "thousand years" mentioned in Revelation 20 as a symbolic number, not as a literal description; amillennialists hold that the millennium has already begun and is identical with the current church age. Amillennialism holds that while Christ's reign during the millennium is spiritual in nature, at the end of the church age, Christ will return in final judgment and establish a permanent reign in the new heaven and new earth.
1-3 4-8 9-11 12-16 17-20
1-3 4-8 9-11 12-16 17-20
1-3
1-3
The gospels reveal Christ at his first coming but this book is an unveiling of Christ at his second coming, not in humiliation and temptation but in glory and power.
Which God gave him, is that this is a gift from God the Father to God the Son, as a reward from his perfect submission and atonement. God the Father is now presenting this revealing of Christ’s future glory and John the apostle is present and tasked with recording it for all mankind. This interpretation could be in conjunction with Jesus’ words in Mark 13:32 ““But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.”
This is the only biblical book that comes with a blessing for the ones who read or hear of its contents and respond in obedience.
The time is near, The next great season of God’s redemptive history is imminent, but although Christ’s second coming is next it may be delayed so long that people begin to question it.
4-8
4-8
The seven churches in Asia Minor or what is now Turkey had seven districts. In each district were seven cities that served as central points for the region. It is to the churches in these seven cities that John is writing.
Also seven is the biblical number of completeness and the seven churches represent the Christian church in total.
Who is and who was and who is to come is God’s eternal presence and is not limited by time.
The seven spirits before the throne could be a reference to the seven fold ministry of the Holy Spirit in Isaiah 11:2 “And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.” - or it is referring to the lampstand with seven lamps (a menorah) in Zechariah, which is also a description of the Holy Sprit Zechariah 4:2 “And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it.” Also again seven is the biblical number of completeness referring to the completeness of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus Christ the firstborn of the dead, of all the ones who will be raised from the dead which is detailed later in Revelation, Jesus was the first. There were others raised from the dead before Jesus, many by Jesus himself, but those did not stay alive and also did not raise themselves from the dead as Jesus did. Jesus and all those raised at the end will not die again.
Jesus is the rightful ruler of the earth, king of kings.
Verses 4 and 5 are a greeting from John and also from the Trinity of God. The eternal God the Father, God the Holy Spirit in completeness (seven spirits), and God the son the King of kings and the firstborn of the dead.
Since Jesus’ crucifixion, when the veil at the entrance to the holy of holy places in the temple was torn in two, we are all who are in Christ allowed to be in the presence of God as priests.
This is like the promise of Daniel in Daniel 7:13 ““I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him.” Christ will return in clouds of glory, not like ordinary weather clouds but more like the Shekinah glory of God in the Old Testament. But unlike the Old Testament when you could not bear to look at the glory, Exodus 33:20 “But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for man shall not see me and live.”” Christ will return in glory that will be completely visible for all to see.
The ones who pierced him is not a reference to the Roman soldiers that crucified Jesus but to the Jews who were earthly responsible for Christ’s death. The root was that it was the holy plan of God for our salvation but even though it was the sovereign plan of God the Jews rejected Jesus and had him killed.
Just because it is God’s plan does not absolve us from guilt and sin, this will be the wailing on account of him. Even so, Amen.
Verse 8 is reiterating the eternality of God from before time existed to after this world passes away God is eternal.
9-11
9-11
John is a Christian and he shares with us all of the qualities of a Christian, especially in the 1st century. Persecution for the faith, membership in the body of faith, anticipation of the second coming of Christ, and endurance and steadfast perseverance in spite of difficult times.
John was exiled to the small Island of Patmos, a Roman penal colony which is off the coast of Asia Minor in the Aegean Sea. He was exiled for his spreading of the faith by the Emperor of Rome, most likely Domitian (AD 81-96), some believe he was exiled by Nero (AD 54-68) but that most likely would have been too early in the Christian church as it does not allow time for John’s ministry in Asia Minor to reach the point where the authorities would have felt the need to have him exiled. According to early Christian historian Eusebius, John was released from Patmos by emperor Nerva (AD 96-98).
John being in the Spirit does not mean that this was all a dream, he was awake and his visions were spiritual in nature from God. On the Lord’s day means that these visions were given to him on a Sunday.
He was told by the loud voice of God, as clear and loud as a trumpet, to write down what he is seeing and send it to the seven churches in Asia Minor. There will be specific messages to the seven churches but also to the church as a whole, the seven (completeness) being a picture of all Christian churches as a whole.
12-16
12-16
Each lampstand represents a church and also the seven represent the church as a whole. In the middle of the lampstands was Christ, always in the middle and present in his church. Matthew 18:19-20 “Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven. For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.””
Christ is dressed in a robe with a golden sash providing a picture of Christ in his high priestly role. His hair glowing like a bright white light, like the Shekinah glory of God in the Old Testament. His eyes burning like fire, able to pierce through anything and see everything. His feet were like the bronze covered alter where the burnt offerings were done, glowing hot with his divine judgement. His voice no longer meek and gentle as in his first coming but loud and powerful as waves crashing on the rocks of the island.
The seven stars in his right hand are the messengers or leaders of the seven churches. Christ holds and controls his church and its leaders.
His mouth, not mild and gentle, but with power and authority to pass judgement on those who attack his people and try to destroy his church.
His face shone like the sun, like it did at the mount of transfiguration. Matthew 17:1-2 “And after six days Jesus took with him Peter and James, and John his brother, and led them up a high mountain by themselves. And he was transfigured before them, and his face shone like the sun, and his clothes became white as light.”
17-20
17-20
John falls down at seeing the radiance and glory of Jesus, and even though Jesus was revealed in his transfigured, triumphal form he is comforting to John, telling him not to fear.
Just like the Alpha and the Omega, Jesus is the first and the last, eternal. He has conquered death and is the one who is in control of who dies and when.
Again John is told to write down what he has seen about what is happening and what is to come.
The word angel literally means messenger so they are the messengers or leaders of the churches.