Setting the foundation
The book of Revelation begins with some statements that are easy to overlook, but are key to understanding the book. Let’s look at them and see them with new eyes.
The Revelation of Jesus
“The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.”
The book begins intensely as the “Revelation of Jesus Christ” (Apokalypsis Iesou Christou in Greek), “which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place”.
This book is described as an apocalypse, which may trigger certain images in your mind, but that is not what it means. Even the literal correct translation as “Revelation of Jesus” leaves questions open. Apocalypse is a literary genre that describes how to read this book — it is a book that provokes and demands action.
But in all of this we should not forget that it is about Jesus, he is in the center. There are two ways to translate “of Jesus Christ”:
- God gave the revelation to Jesus Christ, He is the one who gives the revelation, or
- Jesus is the content of the revelation, the revelation is a revelation about Jesus.
The Greek supports both, and that may be the intention. The revelation comes from Jesus, but the intention is to reveal more about Jesus. The servants are the believers to whom John is writing, and they are the ones to whom this book is addressed.
The phrase “what must soon take place” is also deliberately chosen and refers to the vision of Daniel 2 which describes the end of the world’s kingdoms and the reign of God. The difference with Daniel is that this is no longer in the future, but has already happened.
The next verse reinforces this by talking about the testimony of Jesus. We will see that this is a central theme throughout the book. Jesus does not just talk about it, he is a living testimony— and so should we.
The next verse makes this even clearer: “Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.”
- We should study this (in those days the book was read aloud because not everyone had a copy), but more importantly, we should apply this.
- The time is near. There is not much time, we should act now. Nothing has changed about this in the last 2000 years.
- It is a prophecy: The urgent reminder to the Church to act.
The time is near does not mean that it can happen at any time, but is an exaggerated expression of imminence, as in Mark where the same phrase is used but describing that the kingdom of God has come.
The base
Now comes a passage that is very much like the beginning of a New Testament letter, where the writer usually lays the foundation for what is to come. It is the same here.
“John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the seven spirits before his throne,”
- Grace and peace are given to them because they will need it, because they cannot meet the challenges on their own.
- Jesus is the eternal “who is, who was, and who is to come” (verses 4 and 8). He is the Ruler of time, the Almighty. This is also expressed in Alpha and Omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet) — He is the beginning and the end. He does not change.
- The “seven spirits in front of the throne” sounds a little strange. In the prophet Zechariah, the lamps are identified with the Holy Spirit. It is likely that these lamps are meant to burn on the seven lampstands that identify the churches. The phrase “in front of the throne” comes from chapter 4. The Holy Spirit comes from the throne of God to fulfill God’s plan.
“and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,”
- We had the theme of Jesus being the faithful witness. It comes up again and again because this is the key. The connection of “faithful witness”, “firstborn” and “ruler of kings” comes from Psalm 89 as the son of David.
- The firstborn from the dead is an encouragement to be faithful until death, for that is not the end.
- “He loves us and has freed us from our sins” is a reminder that Jesus is for us.
“and has made us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father — to him be glory and power for ever and ever! Amen.”
- He HAS made us to kings and priests. We are already kings but need to exercise it — not in the way the world rules.
Coming with the clouds
“‘Look, he is coming with the clouds,’ and ‘every eye will see him, even those who pierced him’; and all peoples on earth ‘will mourn because of him.’ So shall it be! Amen.”
This is a quote from Zechariah:
“And I will pour out on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and supplication. They will look on me, the one they have pierced, and they will mourn for him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for him as one grieves for a firstborn son. On that day the weeping in Jerusalem will be as great as the weeping of Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.”
But here it is extended to the whole earth, not just Israel. This mourning there is compared to the mourning for their king Josiah.
The first part of the passage from Revelation is from Daniel.
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshipped him.”
A similar combined quote is found in Matthew where Jesus speaks of the end times.
Furthermore “all the people on earth” is a similar phrase as in Abram’s promise that through him all nations will be blessed.
When we put these two passages, together we see that
- There is a deep emotional response to it (for their beloved king).
- It has to do with the death of Jesus (the Son of Man).
- The gain is that all nations will worship Him, as already promised to Abram.
- But the text leaves open how the nations react (“beating their breasts for his sake”) — some out of repentance for their savior, others out of fear of judgment.
So the passage is not talking about the coming wrath of Jesus because certain people killed him (the nation was not really involved), but a call to repentance and salvation for the nations.
Conclusion
The time is near and the Church should act. As Jesus did everything, the Church can step forward and reach the nations.