Previous Section: A Simple, Face Value Understanding of Prophetic Scriptures
CHAPTER ONE - PROLOGUE
Revelation 1:1
The (1) Revelation (2) of Jesus Christ, which (3) God gave (4) Him to show to His (5) bond-servants, the things which must (6) shortly take place; and He sent and communicated {it} (7) by His angel to His bond-servant (8) John,
1. The word revelation comes from the Greek word apokalupsis, which means "revelation" or "uncovering." Jesus Christ is being "uncovered." The sense in which the Lord is being uncovered is that of eschatological Judge. The judgeship of Jesus Christ was stipulated in John 5:27, 30, Acts 10:42 and 17:31. The book of Revelation is the fullest statement on the Lord’s judgeship. The book answers why and how Jesus will judge Israel, the church, the wicked and Satan.
2. Of = indicates that this "uncovering" or "revelation" is from Jesus Christ.
3. God = the Father.
4. Him = The Father gives the revelation to the Son (Jesus Christ). The reason the Father gives the Son the revelation is so it can be shown to His bondservants.
5. Bondservants = Revelation is written to bondservants (7 churches of chapter 2 and 3).
The Greek term for bondservant is doulos. The term is used 14 times in the book of Revelation. Three times, it is used literally (6:15; 13:16 and 19:18). Eleven times, it is used metaphorically. Believers are not literally slaves. It is a title of honor. A doulos often functioned as the agent of his master, possessing a representative authority. Therefore, a bondservant of the most High God is one who subordinates himself to God and lives obediently before God in full dependency on God.
6. Things which must shortly take place = is a Greek clause, literally=what (it) is necessary to happen in short (soon).
This Greek clause is often used by pretribulationists to support their argument of imminency, but is this really the case? En tachei is the debated phrase. The phrase can have two possible meanings: (1) that the events depicted will happen in rapid-fire fashion. That is, once the events begin to happen, they will occur very quickly; or (2) that the events depicted can happen soon. That is, the time of fulfillment will not extend beyond the normal, natural, customary sense of soon.
The basic question is this: Is John describing how the events will happen or when the events will happen?
Those arguing that John intends when the events will happen must overcome a logical and theological problem. Given that 1900 years have passed since John penned these words, soon would lose any historical impact or meaning. There is only one biblical sense in whichsoon could be used to represent 1900 years, and that’s viewing "time" from God’s so-called vantage point. However, nothing in the text indicates that this is the case. Logically then, this conclusion is weak at best.
Theologically, for John to state that the events depicted in the Revelation will happen soon, with reference to time, contradicts Matthew 24:36. Matthew 24:36 states, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." Therefore, John could not say how soon the Lord might return or how soon the events connected with His return might transpire unless God gave him direct revelation.
The only logical and theologically correct conclusion is to understand en tachei as indicating how the events will occur. The events connected with the Lord’s return will happen quickly. Matthew 24 indicates that they will happen in less than a three and a half-year period.
7. By His angel = Literally, the Greek says, "by the angel of Him." By the use of the definite article, John indicates that this is a very specific angel. This is the first angelic figure mentioned in the Revelation. We are not given his name. By designating, this angel as the angel in the Greek, John’s audience must have known the identity of this angel. The particular Greek construction demands this conclusion. Revelation 22:6 restates the fact that the Lord’s angel communicated the Revelation to John. It is important to understand that the chain of communication is not broken. The Father gave the revelation to His Son, who gave it to His angel, who gave it to John who wrote it down for the bondservants.
8. John = the disciple whom Jesus loved (John 13:23, 19:26), writer of the Gospel of John and three epistles.
Revelation 1:2
(1) who bore witness to (2a) the word of God and to (2b) the testimony of Jesus Christ, {even} (3) to all that he saw.
1. Who bore witness = John (the apostle whom Jesus loved), bore witness. The Greek verb "to witness" is only used here and in Rev. 22:16, 18, 20. However, it is one of the New Testament’s favorite verbs for the proclamation of the Gospel (Acts 10:42, 18:5, 20:21, and Ephesians 4:17). John identifies himself by the two messages he proclaimed.
2a. To the word of God = occurs five times in the Revelation (1:2, 9; 6:9; 19:13; 20:4). The word of God is either the name of Jesus (Rev. 19:13) or the cause of persecution for the righteous (1:9; 6:9; 20:4). The word of God is the direct prophetic communication from God. Thus, John is stating that what follows in the book of Revelation came straight from God the Father.
2b. To the testimony of Jesus = occurs five times (1:2, 9; 12:17; 19:10; 20:4). The Greek language uses the word and with the meaning of "even." Here John indicates that he proclaimed the word of God, even "the testimony by Jesus." By this second phrase (the testimony of Jesus), John further defines "the word of God." In order words, what John proclaims is what God the Father gave Jesus Christ to show to His bondservants. John writes what God said and Jesus proclaimed through His angel.
3. To all that he saw = In the New American Standard Bible, the word "even" appears. It appears in Italics because it does not appear in the Greek manuscripts. The translators, placing it as a commentary insert in the translation, help the reader understand that the phrase "to all that he saw" further explains "the testimony of Jesus." John declares that he saw all that Jesus revealed, which He (Jesus) received from the Father. What John does in verse 2 is state for the record that what is recorded in the Revelation is exactly what God the Father wanted to the last word.
Revelation 1:3
(1) Blessed is he who reads and (2) those who hear the words of the (3) prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is (4) near.
1. Blessed…reads = This is the first of seven beatitudes in the Revelation (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14). John first indicates that the person who reads the book aloud is blessed. The seven churches would have used this format when they first received the letter from John. There would be one copy, which the synagogue leader would read. Scripture commands the public reading of the word of God (1 Tim 4:13).
2. Those…hear…heed = Not only is the public reader blessed, but so is the hearer and doer. The original Greek indicates that one must be both a hearer and a doer in order to be blessed.
Because Jesus Christ comes as Judge of all the earth, those who hear and heed the message will be blessed. But those who do not hear and heed will suffer. The only exception is the one third part of Israel that suffers, but survives Daniel’s 70th Week and is then saved and goes into the millennial kingdom on earth (Dan. 9:24; Romans 11:25-26).
3. Prophecy = While the Revelation is apocalyptic in nature, it is primarily prophetic. This is John’s designation for the Revelation by Jesus Christ—prophecy. The reader at this point must make a hermeneutical decision concerning the interpretation of God’s revelation of His Son. The apocalyptic nature of the book must not over shadow the fact that this is a prophecy. The highly figurative nature of the book does not mean that the literal referent cannot be known. Neither are we free to guess the literal referent. Daniel 7 provides the hermeneutical example for how the book is to be interpreted. We will look at this matter later.
4. Near = eggus (Greek adverb) It can describe time or space. The fact that eggus is used with kairos (time), a technical eschatological term that refers to that time when the kingdom will come, means John is using eggus in a spatial sense. John does not indicate that he has personal knowledge of the exact date of the arrival of the kingdom. Therefore, he could not state whether the kingdom was soon to come or not. Rather, the kingdom is the next event on the agenda of God for the faithful believer. How much time will elapse before the kingdom comes is not known? John uses the uncertainty to motivate his audience to hear and heed the prophecy.
Peter’s sermon on the day of Pentecost indicated that the coming of the Holy Spirit is a mark of the "last days." We are presently living in the "last days." Thus, the literal physical reign (kingdom) of God is the next event on the agenda of God. It is near.
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