(Rev 1:1 NKJV)  The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants; things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,

Revelation: ἀποκάλυψις    apokalupsis

Thayer Definition:

1) laying bear, making naked

2) a disclosure of truth, instruction

2a) concerning things before unknown

2b) used of events by which things or states or persons hitherto withdrawn from view are made visible to all

Common idea of Revelation:  Confusing, impossible to understand, no two people can agree on what it says. – Just about the opposite of the definition of the word.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ:  Is possessive:   It belongs to Christ, not a Revelation about Him.

which God gave Him:  How Jesus got it.  It came from God.

to show His servants;  He wants us to know these things.

things which must shortly take place:  This one throws some off completely.  Some things such as the seven churches, have immediate applications.  Others deal with the end of this age, or this world as we know it.

And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John,

signified  σημαίνω  sēmainō

Thayer Definition:

1) to give a sign, to signify, indicate

2) to make known

(Rev 1:1 NASB)  He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John,

(Rev 1:1 NIV)  He made it known

What is the Order of this message?

God

Christ

Angel

John

(Rev 1:1-2 NKJV)  . . . His servant John, (2) who bore witness to the word of God, and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw.

Simply stated, John is just the one who faithfully conveys the message from God to us.

 (Rev 1:3 NKJV)  Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.

 

for the time is near. – As already mentioned, there were things for the churches of Asia to do immediately.  There are still things for us to do.

(Rev 1:4 NKJV)  John, to the seven churches which 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,

This is greeting: John, to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace to you and peace

It is a different description of God: Him who is and who was and who is to come,

Some take this to be the Holy Spirit (it may not be)  the seven Spirits who are before His throne,

Who Jesus is:

(Rev 1:5 NKJV)  and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler over the kings of the earth.

[And what He has done for us] To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood,

(Rev 1:6 NASB)  and He has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father;

[finally:] to Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

(Rev 1:7 NKJV)  Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

(Rev 1:8 NKJV)  "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End," says the Lord, "who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty."  -- I believe this is God the Father.

(Rev 1:9 NKJV)  I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

(Rev 1:10 NKJV)  I was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,

the Lord's Day,  Is this a variation of Day of the Lord?  We don’t know.

(11)  saying, "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last," and, "What you see, write in a book and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia:

to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamos, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."

As you can see from the map, a messenger would come to these churches in geographical order.  Some say that the conditions of these churches represent conditions of time periods.  That may be true, but it is also very clearly geographical.

(Rev 1:12-16 NKJV)  Then I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And having turned I saw seven golden lampstands, {13} and in the midst of the seven lampstands One like the Son of Man, clothed with a garment down to the feet and girded about the chest with a golden band. {14} His head and hair were white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes like a flame of fire; {15} His feet were like fine brass, as if refined in a furnace, and His voice as the sound of many waters;

many waters;  Water doesn’t seem that loud, but have you ever tried to talk over it?

{16} He had in His right hand seven stars, out of His mouth went a sharp two-edged sword, and His countenance was like the sun shining in its strength.

 (Rev 1:17-18 NKJV)  And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as dead. But He laid His right hand on me, saying to me, "Do not be afraid; I am the First and the Last.

 (Rev 1:18) "I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore. Amen. And I have the keys of Hades and of Death.

(Rev 1:19 NKJV)  "Write the things which you have seen, and the things which are, and the things which will take place after this.

Write the things which you have seen,  Chapter 1

the things which are:  Chapter 2 & 3: 

The Seven Churches

 things which will take place after this.  The rest of the book:  Chapter 4 to the end:

(Rev 4:1 NKJV)  After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven. And the first voice which I heard was like a trumpet speaking with me, saying, "Come up here, and I will show you things which must take place after this."

 (Rev 1:20 NKJV)  "The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

“The mystery” won’t be a mystery any more!

the angels of the seven churches,

(Rev 1:20 TLB)  This is the meaning of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and the seven golden candlesticks: The seven stars are the leaders of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks are the churches themselves.

I commend the Living Bible for trying to get at the idea, but it just isn’t true to the original language:

Angel just means messenger.  Could easily have been the preacher.  Maybe the elders, or leaders.

Remember!  It’s Revelation, Not Concealment!

For the next lesson Revelation 2 – The Church at Eph & Symrna

 

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