Revelation Bible Study

Revelation 1:1

Revelation 1:1-6

1 The revelation of Jesus Christ that God gave Him to show His slaves what must quickly take place. He sent it and signified it through His angel to His slave John, 2 who testified to God’s word and to the testimony about Jesus Christ, in all he saw. 3 The one who reads this is blessed, and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep what is written in it are blessed, because the time is near! 4 John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace to you from the One who is, who was, and who is coming; from the seven spirits before His throne; 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To Him who loves us and has set us free from our sins by His blood, 6 and made us a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—the glory and dominion are His forever and ever. Amen.

Revelation - not Revelations!

The Revelation of Jesus Christ,,, not the Revelations of Jesus Christ

Importance. The Book of Revelation is important because it is the last inspired book of the Bible to be written and is rightly positioned as the New Testament’s final book.

As the New Testament opens with the four Gospels relating to the first coming of Christ, so the Book of Revelation closes the New Testament with the general theme of the second coming of Christ.

The Book of Revelation is also the climax of many lines of revelation running through both Testaments, and it brings to conclusion the revelation of many prophecies yet to be fulfilled.

The second coming of Christ and the years immediately preceding it are revealed in Revelation more graphically than in any other book of the Bible.

The Book of Daniel describes in detail the period from Daniel’s time to Christ’s first coming and speaks briefly of the Tribulation and Christ’s rule on earth.

But the Book of Revelation amplifies the great end-time events with many additional details, culminating in the new heaven and the new earth.

Wrote by John

Authorship. As the opening verses in Revelation plainly state, the book was written by John. From the first century to the present, orthodox Christians have almost unanimously agreed that he is the Apostle John.

Dionysius was the first to dispute John as the author, and did so on the grounds that he disagreed with the book’s theology and found many inaccuracies in its grammar.

These objections were disregarded in the early church by most of the important fathers such as Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Tertullian, Hippolytus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen.

Practically all scholars today who accept the divine inspiration of the Book of Revelation also accept John the Apostle as its author. However, Erasmus, Luther, and Zwingli questioned whether he actually wrote it because it teaches a literal 1,000-year reign of Christ.

Date. Most evangelical scholars affirm that Revelation was written in A.D. 95 or 96. This is based on accounts of the early church fathers that the Apostle John had been exiled on Patmos Island during the reign of Domitian who died in A.D. 96. We know that after his death John was then allowed to return to Ephesus.

Because of a statement by Papias, an early church father, that John the Apostle was martyred before A.D. 70,,, whether John wrote Revelation has been questioned. However, the accuracy of this quotation from Papias has been seriously challenged by statements by Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius who affirm that the book was written by John on Patmos in A.D. 95 or 96.

Inspiration and Canoncity. Those accepting John the Apostle as the author universally recognize the divine inspiration of Revelation and its rightful place in the Bible. Because its style differs from that of other New Testament books, acceptance of Revelation by early Christians was delayed by a rising opposition to premillennialism. The doctrine of the literal 1,000-year reign of Christ was rejected by some church leaders in the third and fourth centuries. The evidence, however, shows that orthodox theologians readily accepted the book as genuinely inspired. Early fathers who recognized the book as Scripture include Irenaeus, Justin Martyr, Eusebius, Apollonius, and Theophilus, the bishop of Antioch. By the beginning of the third century the book was widely quoted as Scripture. The fact that the Book of V 2, p 926 Revelation complements other inspired Scripture such as the Book of Daniel has confirmed its divine inspiration.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary Style

Style. Like the Old Testament Books of Daniel and Ezekiel, Revelation uses symbolic and apocalyptic forms of revelation extensively. The fact that symbols must be interpreted has led to many diverse interpretations. In most cases, however, the meaning of the symbolic revelation is found by comparing it with previous prophetic and apocalyptic revelation in the Old Testament. This has led many interpreters to view the Book of Revelation as presenting realistic predictions of the future. Its apocalyptic and symbolic character sharply contrasts with books of similar nature written outside the Bible which are classified as Pseudepigrapha. While many of these extrabiblical books are almost impossible to understand, Revelation, by contrast, presents a sensible view of the future in harmony with the rest of Scripture (cf. Walvoord, Revelation, pp. 23–30).

Interpretation. Because of its unusual character, Revelation has been approached from a number of interpretive principles, some of which raise serious questions concerning its value as divine authoritative revelation.

The allegorical or nonliteral approach. This form of interpretation was offered by the Alexandrian school of theology in the third and fourth centuries. It regards the entire Bible as an extensive allegory to be interpreted in a nonliteral sense. The allegorical interpretation of the Bible was later restricted largely to prophecy about the Millennium by Augustine (354–430), who interpreted Revelation as a chronicle of the spiritual conflict between God and Satan being fulfilled in the present Church Age. A liberal variation of this in modern times considers Revelation simply as a symbolic presentation of the concept of God’s ultimate victory.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Interpretation)

The preterist approach. A more respected approach is known as the preterist view which regards Revelation as a symbolic picture of early church conflicts which have been fulfilled. This view denies the future predictive quality of most of the Book of Revelation. In varying degrees this view combines the allegorical and symbolic interpretation with the concept that Revelation does not deal with specific future events. Still another variation of the preterist view regards Revelation as setting forth principles of divine dealings with man, without presenting specific events.

The historical approach. A popular view stemming from the Middle Ages is the historical approach which views Revelation as a symbolic picture of the total church history of the present Age between Christ’s first and second comings. This view was advanced by Luther, Isaac Newton, Elliott, and many expositors of the postmillennial school of interpretation and has attained respectability in recent centuries. Its principal problem is that seldom do two interpreters interpret a given passage as referring to the same event. Each interpreter tends to find its fulfillment in his generation. Many have combined the historical interpretation with aspects of other forms of interpretation in order to bring out a devotional or spiritual teaching from the book. The preceding methods of interpretation tend to deny a literal future Millennium and also literal future events in the Book of Revelation.

The futuristic approach. The futuristic approach has been adopted by conservative scholars, usually premillenarians, who state that chapters 4–22 deal with events that are yet future today. The content of Revelation 4–18 describes the last seven years preceding the second coming of Christ and particularly emphasizes the Great Tribulation, occurring in the last three and one-half years before His coming.Objections to this view usually stem from theological positions opposed to premillennialism. The charge is often made that the Book of Revelation would not have been a comfort to early Christians or understood by them if it were largely futuristic. Adherents of the futuristic school of interpretation insist, on the contrary, that future events described in Revelation bring comfort and reassurance to Christians who in the nature of their faith regard their ultimate victory as future. The futuristic interpretation, however, is demanding of the expositor as it requires him to reduce to tangible prophetic events the symbolic presentations which characterize the book.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary (Purpose)

Purpose. The purpose of the Book of Revelation is to reveal events which will take place immediately before, during, and following the second coming of Christ. In keeping with this purpose the book devotes most of its revelation to this subject in chapters 4–18. The Second Coming itself is given the most graphic portrayal anywhere in the Bible in chapter 19, followed by the millennial reign of Christ described in chapter 20. The eternal state is revealed in chapters 21–22. So the obvious purpose of the book is to complete the prophetic theme presented earlier in the prophecies of the Old Testament (e.g., Dan.) and the prophecies of Christ, especially in the Olivet Discourse (Matt. 24–25). Along with the predictive character of the Book of Revelation is extensive revelation in almost every important area of theology. In addition, many verses suggest practical applications of prophetic truths to a Christian’s life. Specific knowledge and anticipation of God’s future program is an incentive to holy living and commitment to Christ.

Application. In addition to passages that suggest practical application of prophetic truth, chapters 2–3 are especially important for they consist of messages to seven local churches which appropriately represent the entire church. The pointed message of Christ to each of these churches is the capstone to New Testament Epistles dealing with the practical life of those committed to the Christian faith. On the one hand believers are exhorted to holy living, and on the other hand unbelievers are warned of judgments to come. The book provides solid evidence that the righteous God will ultimately deal with human sin and bring to consummation the salvation of those who have trusted in Christ. A solemn warning is given to those who are unprepared to face the future. A day of reckoning, when every knee will bow to Christ (Phil. 2:10), is inevitable in the divine program. Because of its broad revelation of events to come as well as its pointed exhortation to righteousness, the book pronounces blessing on those “who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near” (Rev. 1:3).

In Revelation there are 5 main things that are revealed at the beginning,,, God - then He revealed it to Jesus - Jesus revealed it to the angel - angel revealed it to John - John revealed it to the 7 churches

The opening words, The revelation of Jesus Christ, indicate the subject of the entire book.

The word “revelation” is a translation of the Greek apokalypsis, meaning “an unveiling” or “a disclosure.”

From this word comes the English “apocalypse.”

The revelation was given to John to communicate to others, His servants, and it prophesies what must soon take place, rather than relating a historic presentation as in the four Gospels.

The word “soon” (en tachei; cf. 2:16; 22:7, 12, 20) means that the action will be sudden when it comes,,, not necessarily that it will occur immediately.

Once the end-time events begin, they will occur in rapid succession (cf. Luke 18:8; Acts 12:7; 22:18; 25:4; Rom. 16:20).

Old Testament Daniel and Revelation go together.

John was possibly over the churches of Asia

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The words, He made it known, are from the Greek verb esēmanen, meaning “to make known by signs or symbols,” but the verb also includes communication by words. The angel messenger is not named but some believe he was Gabriel, who brought messages to Daniel, Mary, and Zechariah (cf. Dan. 8:16; 9:21–22; Luke 1:26–31). The reference to John as a servant (doulos, which normally means “slave”) is the term used by Paul, James, Peter, and Jude (cf. Rom. 1:1; Phil. 1:1; Titus 1:1; James 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1) in speaking of their positions as God’s servants.

1:2. John faithfully described what he saw as the Word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. What John saw was a communication from—and about—Jesus Christ Himself.

1:3. The prologue concludes with a blessing on each individual who reads the book as well as on those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it. The implication is that a reader will read this message aloud to an audience. Not only is there a blessing for the reader and the hearers, but there is also a blessing for those who respond in obedience.

John concluded his prologue with the time is near. The word “time” (kairos) refers to a period of time, that is, the time of the end (Dan. 8:17; 11:35, 40; 12:4, 9). The end time, as a time period, is mentioned in Revelation 11:18 and 12:12. In 12:14 the word “time” means a year (cf. Dan. 7:25); and the phrase “time, times, and half a time” means one year (“time”) plus two years (“times”) plus six months (“half a time”), totaling three and one-half years—the length of the time of “the end.” Revelation 1:3 includes the first of seven beatitudes in the book (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14).

The prologue presents concisely the basic facts underlying the entire book: its subjects, purpose, and angelic and human channels. It is most important to observe that the book was primarily intended to give a practical lesson to those who read and heed its contents.

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1:4–6. This salutation—like Paul’s salutations in his epistles and the salutation of John himself in 2 John—specifies the book’s destination. The recipients of this message were the seven churches in the Roman province of Asia in Asia Minor (Rev. 1:11; chaps. 2 and 3). The words grace and peace concisely summarize both a Christian’s standing before God and his experience. “Grace” speaks of God’s attitude toward believers; “peace” speaks both of their standing with God and their experience of divine peace.

The salutation is unusual in that it describes God the Father as the One who is, and who was, and who is to come (cf. 1:8). The seven spirits probably refers to the Holy Spirit (cf. Isa. 11:2–3; Rev. 3:1; 4:5; 5:6), though it is an unusual way to refer to the third Person of the Trinity. Of the three Persons in the Trinity, Jesus Christ is here mentioned last, probably because of His prominence in this book. He is described as the faithful Witness, that is, the source of the revelation to be given; the Firstborn from the dead (cf. Col. 1:18), referring to His historic resurrection; and the Ruler of the kings of the earth, indicating His prophetic role after His second coming (chap. 19).

V 2, p 929 Christ’s resurrection was from the dead. As the “Firstborn,” He is the first to be resurrected with an everlasting body, which is a token of other selective resurrections including those of saints who die in the Church Age (Phil. 3:11), the Tribulation martyrs (Rev. 20:5–6), and the wicked dead of all ages (20:12–13).

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The Seven “Beatitudes” in Revelation

“Blessed is the one who reads 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” (1:3).

“Then I heard a voice from heaven say, ‘Write: ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on. “Yes,’ says the Spirit, ‘they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them’ ” (14:13).

“Behold, I come like a thief! Blessed is he who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may not go naked and be shamefully exposed” (16:15).

“Then the angel said to me, ‘Write: “Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding supper of the Lamb!” ’ And he added, ‘These are the true words of God’ ” (19:9).

“Blessed and holy are those who have part in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a thousand years” (20:6).

“Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in this book” (22:7).

“Blessed are those who wash their robes, that they may have the right to the tree of life and may go through the gates into the city” (22:14).

In His dying on the cross Christ who loves us is the One who freed us from our sins by His blood (some Gr. mss. have the word “washed” instead of “freed”). Believers are now a kingdom and priests with the purpose now and forever of serving God. This prompted John to express a benediction of praise and worship culminating with Amen (lit., “so be it”).

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