A group of seminary students was playing basketball when they noticed the janitor reading a book in the corner. Seeing that it was the Bible, they asked what part he was reading. “Revelation,” he answered.
Hearing this, the young scholars thought they would try to help the poor soul make sense of so complicated a book. “Do you understand what you are reading?” they asked.
“Yes!” he said. When they smugly inquired about his interpretation, the lesser-educated but better-informed man answered: “Jesus is gonna win!”
Given its message, the book of Revelation may best be understood by those who are lowly in the world. Those who are humble and meek. Those who do not look to the unbelieving world for answers or hope, but to the Lamb of God—Jesus Christ.
A careful introduction to this book is necessary. In my 30+ years of pastoral ministry, I have never taught through this book. Why such hesitation? Many reasons, actually. I have preached from different portions of the book, but to tackle it as a whole, I wasn’t qualified to interpret all of the symbolism—it’s mostly symbolism, nor have I been completely eager to tackle the book. Another reason is that everyone comes to this table with their own presumptions about End Times and what different parts of this book are saying.
Considering all of that, I approach this series with care. There are great Bible scholars who differ in their interpretations of this book of scripture. I respect different views, as long as they are grounded in sound biblical rules of interpretation.
I have studied and compared different views on this book. From my studies, my faith has been greatly strengthened. I want your faith to be greatly strengthened, too. I won't say that I have figured it all out. That would be arrogant and foolish. I am going to share what I understand to be a correct interpretation of what we read through this book. I will not take the time to give all of the scriptural references to my findings and conclusions. There are books you can read to help you with those. My aim is not to bog anyone down, but to reveal.
Why are there so many views of interpretation of this book, or of the subject of End Times? This book is written in symbols—pictures. You cannot interpret everything that John writes literally. If you do, most likely you will miss the point and picture. I also think that some views are based on what people want the book to say, rather than laboring to find what it says. That is not an easy job in itself. Interpreting Scripture is laborious. We read in 2 Timothy 2:15, that we are to rightly handle the word of truth. This is literally “cutting straight.” We must be careful, like a craftsman, to cut straight. As opposed to loose and shooting from the hip.
Here’s my approach to this sermon series. We will read through the book together. As Revelation 1:3 says, “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” As we read together, I will point out or spotlight some of the things that are important to notice in the text. I cannot address everything or explain everything. I don’t plan on another 109 sermon series, as with the book of Ephesians. As we move along, I will pull out some relevance for us today and give a summary of what we read.
If you have a question about something I have said, or something that I did not address, feel free to ask me on the side or email me for clarification or an explanation. I will do my best.
Where do we start? By pulling out our compass. We need to make sure we are heading in the right direction. Richard Phillips, in his commentary “Triumph of the Lamb,” wrote, “The message of Revelation is: God’s government of history to redeem His purified and persecuted church through the victory of Christ, His Son.”
I could not have said it better. This book is about the Triumph of the Lamb of God! If you fail to see this, you have missed the intent of the book. The Apostle John wrote down what he saw and heard from his present time to the end of time, and God was orchestrating it all. And through it all, the Lamb of God—Jesus Christ, is the victor!
If you are looking at this book of the Bible to tell you when the end of the world is going to happen, or how it is going to happen, I think you will be disappointed. That is not the intent of this book.
I have divided the first eight verses into four sections to help us see what is being communicated to us.
Section 1: Vvs.1-2 -- The What, From Whom, and To Whom, and How
What is this book about? It is “the revelation of Jesus Christ.” “Revelation” here is the Greek term “apocalypsis.” It is where we get our English word, yes, you get it—apocalypse. The Greek word used here comes from two Greek terms, which mean “from a hiding place” or “to reveal or unveil something.” The message is, God is revealing or unhiding something to His Church. It is a revealing of Jesus Christ, and specifically coming from God, given to Jesus, who gives it to John through an angel. All of that is in verse one. We read from verse 4 and verse 11 that this revealed message is to be given to the seven local churches in Asia.
The purpose? It tells us. To show or make known to the servants of Jesus the things that must soon take place. We don’t want to trip over the phrase, “soon take place.” The point is that some events will occur soon in the history timeline, while others will not. God is not on our time clock.
Charles Spurgeon explains it this way: “The aim of the book of Revelation is not to lead us into speculation but is meant for practical purposes. Things written concerning the future are not intended so much to gratify our curiosity as to stimulate our watchfulness. The main objective is to keep us constantly on the lookout.”
Section two looks at verse 3.
“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.” That is an interesting promise of being blessed. “Who reads it aloud” refers to the local elder or pastor at the church that received the letter from John and read it aloud to the congregation of believers. That is how it was done. The pastor did not receive the letter and make photocopies to send home to the saints. The handwritten letter from John was delivered, and the elder stood and read it in front of the congregation.
The promise extends to those in the congregation. “… and blessed are those who hear, and keep what they hear in it.” These two promises of blessedness reiterate the biblical importance and biblical calling for saints to congregate and join themselves together for worship and the learning of God’s word. In the early days of the church, all believers met together. They yearned to meet and fellowship with other believers and to learn the words of Jesus Christ and the apostles. Oh, how times have changed in the view of the church by members of His Church. As a side note, the two promises in verse three are to believers. Unbelievers may read the book of Revelation out of curiosity or fear, but the promise is not for them. As an unbeliever, they are reading the judgment that is coming to them.
Also note that the promise is to those “who keep what is written in it.” This tells us there is a practical application within this revelation. It is not just information but also an application to live out. This is not just a book of speculation, but of learning, worshiping, and application into our daily lives.
Section Three: Vvs.4-6
“To the seven churches.” These are seven local churches in Asia. The number seven helps us understand that the revelation given to John is for all of the churches of Jesus Christ. The number seven denotes “fullness & completeness,” that is, the time necessary for something to be done effectively and completely. This is significant in the Old Testament (e.g., Gen 2:2; Lev 26:18; Josh 6:4), and is used many times in Revelation. We’ll read of seven Angels with seven plagues, seven golden bowls, seven stars, seven lampstands, seven trumpets, and “the seven spirits” in verse five. Therefore, when you read the number seven, think of “Fullness and Completeness.” Seven Churches tells us that this Revelation is for the complete Church of Jesus Christ, all churches.
Also, notice the three times “from” is used in verses four and five. If you underline them in your Bible, you will notice three members of the Triune Godhead – The Trinity – established upfront in this revelation of world History and God’s plan of the Consummation of all things. The first refers to God the Father. The seven spirits refer to God, the Holy Spirit. The next points to God the Son—Jesus Christ.
You may be wondering why it says, “seven spirits who are before his throne.” Remember the connotation of seven—completeness or fullness. I think it alludes to the seven-fold spirit of God in Isaiah 11:2. The number seven indicates the fullness of the Holy Spirit’s work. Also see Rev 3:1; 4:5; 5:6.
Verse four says, “… from him (God the Father) who is and who was and who is to come,…” The literal phrase is “from the One who is, from the One who was, and the One coming” (cf. Rev. 4:8). This phrase is a title for the unchanging Covenant God (cf. Ps. 102:7; Mal. 3:6; Jas. 1:17). This phrase reflects the OT covenant title “I Am” (YHWH, cf. Exod. 3:14). This phrase is used for God the Father in vv. 4 and 8, and of Jesus Christ in vv. 17 and 18 (cf. Heb. 13:8). The use of this phrase is one way the NT authors asserted the Deity of Jesus—that Jesus Christ is God, as the Father is God, and the Holy Spirit is God. Co-equal in nature.
In verse five we have a 3-fold description or titles of Jesus. “Faithful Witness” – Trustworthy and faithful unto death (Jn.. 1:18; 18:37; I Tim . 6:13); “The firstborn from the dead” - describing the inaugurator of resurrection life. It places Jesus Christ as the preeminent one (Col.1:15); and “the ruler of kings on earth” - this is a reminder upfront that Jesus is dictating the history of man. It is not man, or spiritual powers, or the devil who rules, but Jesus Christ. He rules human thrones and spiritual thrones (Dan. 2:47; Rev 17:14; Eph 1:21).
Every Christian should love, love, love verses 5-6. “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ is in the beginning of this revelation. The Gospel is a part of the theme of this unveiling.
Section Four: Vs. 7 – The “Behold”
“Behold, he is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail on account of him. Even so. Amen.” Jesus spoke this of himself, recorded in Matthew 24:30: “Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.” When Jesus is on trial by the religious leaders, he tells them (Matt 26:64), - Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.” He is coming in all power and authority.
Also note that “… and every eye will see him.” When He comes, it is everyone who will behold Him. Not just believers, but all will see him—those alive and those in hell. When the ungodly see Him, they will realize that their opposition against their Creator is now being judged. This judgment against the ungodly is not just to those who are alive in the flesh when Jesus returns, but to all the ungodly, dead or alive.
There is a popular doctrine (teaching) that Jesus will come before this coming mentioned here in Revelation 1:7. It is referred to as the secret or invisible rapture. The word “rapture” refers to the taking away of saints from the earth to escape a great tribulation. The main scripture support used is from 1 Thess. 4:17. This view believes that Jesus will come from heaven and stop in the clouds above the earth, and all living Christians will be taken off the earth and meet Jesus in the sky/clouds. Then Jesus will take them back to heaven with Him. No more Christians left on earth, which means no presence of His Church on the earth. The length of time that Jesus keeps His Church in heaven before returning for the judgment day varies. Among those who hold this rapture teaching, the Church is kept in heaven for seven years or three and a half years. After this time period, Jesus will then gather all the saints from heaven and come back to the earth as described in Revelation 1:7, for the Day of Judgement against wicked nations.
This teaching is not in the text that we are looking at today. Therefore, I do not want to address this teaching at this time. If you want to discuss this teaching about the rapture of the Church, I would be glad to sit down with our Bibles and discuss. Personally, I do not find this teaching in the Bible, which includes in the Book of Revelation. Yet, there are many Bible Teachers and Commentators who teach and affirm this doctrine of a secret rapture of the Church occurring before the Second Coming of Christ (the Day of the Lord). Therefore, we will humbly respect the different opinions and teachings on this subject.
Section Five: Vs. 8
Jesus calls Himself, “Alpha and Omega.” These are the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet. The point is that He is the first and last and all that is contained between them. God is the absolute beginning and the end, and therefore Lord of all that happens in human history. He is at the same time the eternal one, the transcendent one, who is unaffected by the conflicts of history,
“The Almighty” or “all-ruler”. God’s power will be demonstrated in the book. I think this title of Jesus is essential here. The Christians in John’s day and throughout history, including today, see earthly powers seemingly rule and have their way. Is God held in check by men or by Satan? Jesus makes it clear in the beginning of what we will read in this book that He is the Almighty One, the All-ruler. No one rules above Him or apart from Him. All Might is His. All might and all power belong to Him. Read Daniel 4:34-35.
My Summary of thoughts:
On November 27, 1989, the day when Communism fell in Czechoslovakia, a Methodist church in the capital city of Prague erected a sign. For decades, the church had been forbidden any publicity, but with the winds of freedom blowing, the Christians posted three words, which summarized not only the New Testament in general but the book of Revelation in particular: “The Lamb Wins.”
Their point was not that Christ had unexpectedly gained victory, but that he had been reigning in triumph all along. Christ is always the winner. He was winning, even when the church seemed to lie crushed under the oppression of totalitarian rule. He is victor even if it looks like the wicked are having their way. They are not. He is leading history towards His victorious day, the Day of the Lord! The Lamb Wins!! The Lamb Wins!!
Comments