Revelation Chapter One
(Chapter 1 from Dr. Hyle's excellent book, Let's Study The Revelation)
REASONS SOME OPPOSE THE STUDY OF REVELATION:
SOME SAY THAT REVELATION CANNOT BE UNDERSTOOD.
If this be true, then the Holy Spirit is falling down on His job to reveal the truth of the Scripture.
OTHERS SAY THAT THEY WILL LEAVE OFF REVELATION AND SIMPLY PREACH THE GOSPEL. God has charged us to preach the Word. Revelation is part of that Word.
SOME HAVE SAID JOHN WAS AN OLD MAN WHEN HE WROTE REVELATION AND WAS MENTALLY WEAK. Anyone who will say this denies the inspiration of a portion of the Bible and is of his father, the Devil.
SOME SAY THAT SINCE REVELATION WAS WRITTEN IN A TIME OF DANGER FOR CHRISTIANS JOHN HAD TO WRITE COMPLETELY IN SYMBOLS SO AS NOT TO BE PERSECUTED. Revelation was written in the same decade and by the same man as First, Second, and Third John. Why, then, were they not also written in symbols?
STILL OTHERS SAY THAT IT IS TOO DEEP FOR THEM. The only reason for the Bible being too deep for anybody is found in I Corinthians 2:14. DATE OF THE BOOK....96 A.D.
Author (writer)...THE APOSTLE JOHN, who was alone on the Island of Patmos.
INTRODUCTION: Revelation 1:1-3
Verse 1:
"THE REVELATION" The word means: unveiling, uncovering, presentation, appearing, coming (as in a great performance when the curtain is pulled and the star is unveiled). The same word was used when Paul saw Jesus on the Damascus Road. This Book, above all, shows the Lord Jesus Christ and reveals Him to us. Hence, one who does not know Revelation cannot know Jesus as he should. What a shame that so many are so ignorant concerning this wonderful Book."WHICH GOD GAVE UNTO HIM." This probably means that God has given His Son the glory of the coming Revelation because of the suffering that He endured. He shall avenge His death on the cross when He comes in His glory.
The word "servants" means literally, "bondservants." A bondservant was one who had completed his time as a slave, but out of love for his master had volunteered to continue to be a servant. This is the kind of servant God wants.
"Shortly" in this verse means "speedily" or "surely." In other words there is no doubt that the things written in this Book will come to pass.
You will note that this message was given to John by an angel. Read Revelation 22:9. Some think that this teaches that this particular heavenly messenger was one of the Old Testament prophets. This may be true.
We find the writer in this verse. It was John, the apostle. We will find in verse 2 which John it was speaking of in verse 1.
Verse 2:
This verse says that the John verse 1 mentions is the one who bore record that Jesus was the WORD, and wrote that Jesus was the Son of God. Read John 1:1 and John 20:31 and you will see that it was the same John who wrote both books.Verse 3:
Notice that God promises a blessing to those who study Revelation. Let us notice whom He promises to bless: Those who read. Those who hear. Those who keep. ("Keep" means "to guard with care." So you can see that God will bless anyone who will observe or study Revelation.)You will notice also we are to study these things because "the time is at hand." It is always at hand. In other words, it could happen any minute. We are to WATCH at all times because it could be today.
The word "blessed" in this verse means happy, contented, etc. The reason is that those who are looking for Jesus to come are the happiest people in all the world. Communism, atomic bombs, wars, etc., cannot keep the person from being happy who is looking up every day for the return of the King. God also seems to abundantly bless the churches who believe and study Revelation.
Note: Let us notice again the meaning of the word, "Revelation." It is called in the Greek the "Apocalypse." This word means to manifest or reveal. Its twin word "Apocrypha" means to conceal or hide. From these two words we have the true meaning of the Book: "TO REVEAL THAT WHICH HAD BEEN HIDDEN."
SALUTATION: Revelation 1:4-8
Verse 4:
In these verses John is greeting the churches to whom he is writing. There were many things wrong with the churches and yet John takes time to greet them in a courteous way. There is a lesson here, real Christianity is courteous. To be unfriendly and curt is not Christian.Notice that John was writing to seven churches. Seven is God’s number of completion. So He is writing it to all churches. It isn’t nice not to read your mail, so for a church to leave off Revelation is a breach of good manner. (Numbers have significant meaning in the Bible. For example, one is the number of beginnings; two is the number of separation; three is the number of the Trinity; four is the earth’s number; six is man’s number; seven is God’s number of completion; eight is the number of new beginning; ten is the number of testing, etc.)
It was written to churches. These were young churches. Nowadays, people say that Revelation is too hard for us to understand, yet the Book was written to young churches.
Note that he says, "GRACE BE UNTO YOU AND PEACE" It was the custom of the Jews to greet each other with the phrase, "Peace be unto you." John went a step further and added grace to that because there can be no real peace unless there has been grace for our sins first. In other words, a person who has never been saved cannot know true peace.
AND FROM THE SEVEN SPIRITS. Remember that seven is God’s perfect number of completeness. To find the real meaning of the seven spirits, read Isaiah 11:2.
Verse 5:
"AND FROM JESUS CHRIST." Think of it. A letter from One so important as Jesus Christ."WHO IS THE FAITHFUL WITNESS." I believe that this means that Jesus is our legal witness before God. In a trial there is always the " key witness." When we stand before God, Jesus will say that He witnessed our conversion experience, and will be our witness.
Notice the word " prince." It should be " ruler." He is the King of kings and is going to reign someday on the earth for one thousand blessed years.
"UNTO HIM THAT LOVED US" should be " Unto him that loves us." Not only did He love us enough to die for us, but He loves us now as much as ever. His love never grows stale.
"AND WASHED US" can also be rendered " And freed us." He untied our chains, and has freed us from the bondage of sin.
Verse 6:
"AND HATH MADE US KINGS" is better translated, " And hath made us a kingdom of priests." We are to be a kingdom when Jesus comes. John here is looking forward to the one thousand years of peace that Christ will bring with Him when He comes."TO HIM BE GLORY." The thought of the coming King thrilled John, so he says, " Glory to God."
"AMEN." The word means," Let it be done." John says that he likes what he sees and is anxious for it to happen. Are you anxious for the King to come?
Verse 7:
"BEHOLD, HE COMETH WITH CLOUDS." Verse 6 can only take place when verse 7 takes place. Jesus must come before the Kingdom can come. Some believe that we can bring in a kingdom of peace and then Jesus will come. There will be no kingdom until the King comes."BEHOLD" means " look." John was probably carried away and shouted, " Look, He cometh."
"WITH CLOUDS." His throne shall be the clouds. Have you ever been above the clouds and looked down? What a beautiful picture that shall be when Jesus comes with the clouds.
"ALL KINDRED OF THE EARTH SHALL WAIL." Why? Because when He comes here, we will be with Him, and the people who will be on the earth for the most part will be the lost who have been in the Great Tribulation. They are Christ rejecters and have a right to mourn.
"EVEN SO, AMEN." This means " Yes, let it happen." John had to say " Amen" every once in a while. He couldn’t wait. He was looking for Jesus to come at any moment.
Verse 8:
"I AM THE ALPHA AND OMEGA." These are the first and the last letters of the Greek alphabet. It is like saying, "I am the A to Z." Jesus is everything. He meets every need. A little boy said, "The Lord is my Shepherd and that’s all I want.""THE ALMIGHTY." Read Isaiah 9:6. Note: In concluding the salutation, let us go back to verse 7 and the "Even so, amen." It teaches at least two important things:
An affirmation of the fact that these things shall take place. An expression of joy by John because of the thought that Jesus is coming. JOHN’S VISION OF JESUS: Revelation 1:9-20.
"JOHN." Notice the simple title, "John." He used no high sounding titles to impress.
"WHO ALSO AM YOUR BROTHER. " John would rather be called "brother. " To be called "brother "is the highest title that one Christian can give another.
"AND COMPANION. " "Companion "really means "co-laborer. " John put himself on the plain level. He did not want to be high and above the layman. God does not intend in this age for the preacher to dress higher or think of himself higher than the laymen.
"IN TRIBULATION, AND IN THE KINGDOM. " John could not get his mind off the Kingdom that Jesus was going to establish. He was exiled on a lonely, barren island, but he did not complain. He found joy in thinking of the coming Kingdom.
"AND PATIENCE OF JESUS CHRIST. " The literal translation is, "The patient waiting for Jesus Christ. " The Bible teaches that often the saints in Heaven say, "How much longer, Lord? " We should be praying the prayer, "Even so, come, Lord Jesus. "
"WAS IN THE ISLE THAT IS CALLED PATMOS, FOR THE WORD OF GOD AND FOR THE TESTIMONY OF JESUS CHRIST. " John tells here why he was on the Isle: 1. For the Word of the Lord (because he dared preach the Word). 2. Because he testified for Jesus. Many preachers are almost exiled today who preach the Word as it is.
Verse 10:
"I WAS IN THE SPIRIT ON THE LORD’S DAY. " The word "was "is translated "became. ""AND HEARD BEHIND ME A GREAT VOICE, AS OF A TRUMPET. " When God speaks of the last days, He often makes mention of a trumpet. When Jesus comes, He will come with the sound of a trumpet. Oh, to be in the Spirit at the sound of the trumpet.
The next thing on God’s timetable is the trumpet. The blowing of the trumpet means two things:
Get up in the morning (resurrection) Assemble (rapture)
Verse 11:
This verse deals with the letters being sent to the seven churches. John sent them their orders. Notice that they were orders from God. Let us be careful that we take our orders only from Him.Verse 12:
"AND I TURNED TO SEE THE VOICE. " This is Jesus. Note John 1:1 and Genesis 3:8. "I SAW SEVEN GOLDEN CANDLESTICKS. " Read verse 20 for the key to this.Verse 13:
Notice who is in the middle of the churches. It was the job of the high priest to keep the candlestick of the Tabernacle in order. So it is the job of our High Priest to keep His churches in order.Verse 14-16:
LOOK AT JESUS.Hair like snow (purest thing in all the world). Eyes as a flame of fire. Feet like fine brass. Countenance as the sun. WHAT A PICTURE!! John saw Jesus. Someday we shall see Him too.
In verse 16 read, ‘AND HE HAD IN HIS RIGHT HAND SEVEN STARS. " For the key to this read verse 20. Angel means messenger. It probably referred to the pastors. What a joy to know that Jesus holds His preachers in His right hand.
Verse 17:
Tells us what John did when he saw Jesus. Jesus answered "FEAR NOT. " To those of us who know Jesus we need not fear His coming, as He is coming to reward us.Verse 18:
"FOR EVERMORE "means "Into the ages upon ages, "not "through, "but "into. "Verse 19:
This is the outline verse of the Book:Things which thou has seen --Chapter 1
Things which are --Chapters 2 and 3
Things which shall be hereafter --Chapters 4 through 22
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