UNDERSTANDING REVELATION - 1 Revelation of Jesus Christ The book of Revelation is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” That is, in the original language, the phrase “of Jesus Christ” may be understood to be either a revelation from Jesus or one that reveals Him. Given the context of 1:1 it seems that the former interpretation is the primary meaning for it is the revelation “which God gave Him to show His servant
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION - 2 Revelation’s Intended Audience This blog’s first article concluded with some questions regarding Revelation’s intended audience(s). To begin our quest to address that subject we will jump into the middle of the pool and turn to Revelation 12. The first five verses of this remarkable chapter reveal events that occurred roughly 2000 years ago. Let’s look (please read 12:1-5) ! Even a casual reading of this short passage would reveal that it is a
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 3 Revelation’s Intended Audience 2 We continue to discover more firmly Revelation’s intended audience as we open to the book’s beginning in 1:1-3. In verse one we see an example of the “divine protocol” of God’s communication from His throne room to the sinful race. Jesus expressed it in John 12:49-50. The book is a Revelation from Him and a book about Him. It is Christ who, in chapters two and three, has perfect knowledge of the condition of
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 4 Revelation’s Divine Design We continue from the previous article. The contents of this article will clearly show that the book of Revelation consists of two sections – chapters 1-14 portray God’s activities, His footprints, during the entire Christian era; chapters 15-22 with God’s judgments resulting in the elimination of sin, rebellion, and death into a glorious eternal victory. Already we have seen in the obvious parallels between the prologu
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 5 The Divine Skeleton of Revelation We proceed further in laying a firm foundation to this book of Revelation so that the edifice we construct will stand the test of scrutiny. It is a “must” that we are able to rightly interpret the symbolic imagery throughout the document. So, we turn to Rev.1 and ask, “What image do we see of Christ in this chapter? First, we are greeted by the Holy Trinity (v. 4-6) , Jesus Christ being “the faithful witness”,
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 6 Revelation’s Skeleton Continued At the outset of this article, I feel the need to mention that we have skipped over significant sections of Revelation’s content, namely the seven churches, the seven seals, and most recently the seven trumpets—with little or no commentary. These sections we will pay close attention to in future articles in this blog. To this point in our discussion my purpose is to focus on the literary structure—the divine desig
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 7 God’s Sanctuary – The Big Picture In the previous article (6) I made the statement that the Jewish religious year with its feasts and ceremonies was a “compacted prophecy” of the entire Christian era. This subject we now need to pay attention to, as it provides the foundation for a more complete understanding of the numerous Introductory Sanctuary Scenes we discovered in Revelation, dealt with in articles five and six. Our quest begins in Genesis
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION - 8 Revelation’s Prologue The first seven articles of this blog have focused on the organization, design, and literary construction of this Apocalypse. It did not originate with John; its origin is divine. Its design thoroughly informs its theology—what God is teaching us! We now begin to look more closely at its details, the goal – to correctly understand its message. This article will focus on Rev. 1:1-8. These eight verses are rich in content,
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION - 9 The Word and The Testimony There are two significant phrases in the introductory section to Revelation 1:2 and 9 that we need to pay attention to. Those are “to/for the word of God and to/for the testimony of Jesus Christ”. Their significance is shown by their repeated mention, with slight variations, four more times (6:9; 12:17; 14:12; 20:4) in the book. The twofold description in these six passages function as the divine standard to distingu
To The Seven Churches UNDERSTANDING REVELATION - 10 To The Seven Churches In Rev. 1:11-15 John is instructed by a loud voice to write what he sees in a book “and send it to the seven churches which are in Asia”. When he turns to identify the voice speaking, he sees “One like the Son of Man” clothed in priestly garb “in the midst of the seven lampstands.” As before mentioned, according to Jesus, the entire book of Revelation is for the “the churches” (22:16); and not just fo
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 11 The Faithful Witness Revelation 1:5 states that Jesus is “the faithful witness”. Jesus Himself echoes that truth in 3:14 saying He is “the Faithful and True Witness”, that is, He clearly delineates the condition of seven local churches in Asia Minor, and by extension, to the Christian church in all times and all places. Rev. 2:1 describes Christ walking among the seven lampstands, holding the seven stars in His right hand. The previous verse s
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 12 The Enthronement of the Lamb It is significant that regarding the promises to the overcomers in Revelation 2 and 3 that the last promise to those in Laodicea in 3:21 actually becomes an introduction to the subject matter in chapters 4 and 5. 3:21 reads, “to him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne as I also overcame and sat down with My father on His throne”. Even a cursory reading of Revelation 4 shows that John was given a v
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 13 The Lamb Breaks the Seals In the previous article (12) we witnessed in Revelation 4-5 the inaugural exaltation of Jesus Christ to the right hand of the throne of God. Let us meditate on what led up to that exalted state of Christ. Matthew 1:23 states that the Babe in the manger was “God with us”! We call it the “incarnation”—God becoming Man. John 1, Colossians 1, and Hebrews 1 perfectly describe the reality of the incarnation of this One. L
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 14 The Cry of the Martyrs Genesis 6:9 records God’s query to Cain as to his brother’s (Abel) whereabouts. Cain endeavors to deflect the question with his answer. God’s response is, “What have you done? The voice of your brother’s blood cries out to Me from the ground” (6:10). It is in this metaphorical sense that we are to understand the souls “under the altar who had been slain” as Christ breaks the fifth seal, Rev. 6:9-11. The place where Abe
UNDERSTANDING REVELATION – 15 The 144,000 and The Great Multitude Revelation 7 The seventh seal does not follow immediately on the heels of the sixth. It doesn’t appear until Revelation 8:1. The sixth seal brings us down to the time when the multitudes of the lost (v. 15) are crying to be hidden from “the face of Him who sits on the throne and from the wrath of the Lamb, [saying] who is able to stand” (vs. 16-17)? Revelation 7 is an “interlude” between the sixth and sevent