Revelation 1, Part 1

1. The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:

This book is called Revelation or more specifically, The Revelation of Jesus Christ. Note that it is singular and is not plural.
God, the Father, gave this revelation to “him”...to Jesus Christ
To show His servants things that “must” come to pass. We are better identified as servants as opposed to believers…there is an active mindset here.
He sent and “sign-ni-fied” it by his angel to John the Apostle; “Signified” is that it was made into signs
Many feel that Revelation is too difficult or scary or that we are simply unable to understand it. None of that is true. Perhaps one reason people are apprehensive to study this book is that of the 404 verses in this Book, there are over 800 allusions to the Old Testament so….maybe if we studied, or at least read the O.T. we’d be in a better position to understand it. As to the Book being “scary”...as you will come to understand, if you are a Christ follower, we have little to worry about as to the fate of the unbeliever and the fate of the world and its system. Another way to look at this title is “Reveal-ation”, again emphasising the revealing nature of the Book.

2. Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.

John wrote what he saw….nothing more….nothing less and it is based on the authenticity and testimony of Jesus.

3. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.

This is the “only” book out of the 66 in the Bible that has the audacity to say “Read me; I’m special”! Additionally, it is the only book that promises a blessing if it is read….but there are conditions.

1. You have to read the words
2. You have to hear the words
3. You have to “keep” that which is written

Simply reading the words on the page will not suffice and will not grant the blessing. If you read and obey what is written and take it to heart and allow the Holy Spirit to transform you, then you can expect a blessing from God. Otherwise you are just reading words without application.

It says that the time is at hand…Christs return is imminent…it can happen at any moment. Because He is coming “quickly”. Think of a tachometer in your vehicle…the one that measures the RPM’s….the revolutions per minute….that word “quickly” is translated Tachos which is where we get our word “tachometer”.

As things on this earth rev up, things are going to blow up and then we are going to go up!

4. John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;

John is telling us that this is from “him”....Jesus Christ….who is the same yesterday, today and tomorrow…He is the One Eternal NonCreated Person.

Notice another “seven”....from the seven Spirits which are before his throne….

We will see as we progress through the Book that many of the terms and symbolism used will be later identified and explained…so hang on….

5. And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,

Here we see three identities of Christ and shows us the reality of what He has done for us. We will see these same identities as we move through the study. One thing to keep in the of your mind is to think “lists” and to write them down….so here you would write down the statements that describe Christ. Making a list can prove invaluable as you move through the study.

-the faithful witness….past…..John 14:1-3
-the first begotten of the dead….present…Col 1:15-20
-prince of the kings of the earth….future….Matt 25:31

Think of it as three tenses….the past, the present and the yet future. 

WAS…Col 1:15-17
IS….Heb 67:25
TO COME….Rev 1:7

Did you know that there are three tenses to our salvation? We have a past, present and a future…..Three In One….a representation of the Trinity!!

Our Past…we have been saved, from the penalty of sin…positionally we have been saved. Eph 2:8-9

Our Present…we are being saved, from the power of sin…operationally, our moment by moment salvation by the power of the Holy Spirit. Rom 6

Our Future…we shall be saved, from the presence of sin…our physical redemption. Rom 8:23

6. And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

“Made us kings and priests” is very interesting….that is because in history and culture, the royal line never crossed over the priestly line….but there were three that were “king” and “priest….the royal line came from the Tribe of Judah and the priestly line came from the Tribe of Levi….but look at Melkisadeck and how he is described….and then look at Jesus Christ how He is described….both are said to be a king and a priest…here is a good area for your study down another path….THEN there is us….us as believers in Christ….the ones who have been adopted into His family….we are kings and priests….

7. Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.

Those which pierced Him…Zech 12:10. EVERY EYE is pretty all encompassing…it does not leave anyone out. There are no exclusions.

8. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

Remember that Christ is THE Alpha and THE Omega….the alpha is the first letter of the alphabet where as the omega is the last letter of the alphabet….it would be like me saying that He everything from A to Z….He sees everything….He knows everything…Nothing is hidden.

9. I John, who also am your brother, and companion in tribulation, and in the kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was in the isle that is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Here we are told that John is the author under the direction of Christ. Just a little bit about our brother John….he wrote the Gospel of John, 1-2-3 John and Revelation. John was a part of Christs inner circle….James, Peter and John….these three are seen together so often through out the Bible. Look at the Mount Transfiguration in Matt 17; look at the raising of Jareus’ daughter in Matt 9; Look at the Olivet Discourse in Matt 24; Look at Getsemine in Matt 26..

Also, when considering His inner circle, who did Christ ask to take care of His own mother? He did not assign her care to anyone in the family but gave the responsibility solely to John! There is a lot of speculation that the book 2nd John was written to her…you do you own homework and come to your own conclusions.

10. I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet,

“On the Lords Day”....most will agree that this was Saturday. The “Sabbath” was mentioned in Gen 2. Shabbat is mentioned 16 times and see that the Manna was not given on the Sabbath. We see that the Sabbath was given before the Law was given in Ex 22

Our calendars show Monday to Sunday but that is not what we see in the Bible.

Shabbat is the 7th day. The Millennial Temple will only be open on Saturdays….not on Sunday! But the day that we choose to worship is not a deal breaker. See Col 2:16-17