Revelation Study: Part 3
Notes
Transcript
Review Parts 1-2
Read Revelation 1.
1 This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John,
2 who testifies to everything he saw. This is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear and obey what is written in it, because the time is near.
4 John, To the seven churches in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and 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 released us from our sins by His blood,
6 who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.
7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
9 I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and kingdom and perseverance that are in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and my testimony about Jesus.
10 On the Lord’s day I was in the Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet,
11 saying, “Write on a scroll what you see and send it to the seven churches: to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”
12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking with me. And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands,
13 and among the lampstands was One like the Son of Man, dressed in a long robe, with a golden sash around His chest.
14 The hair of His head was white like wool, as white as snow, and His eyes were like a blazing fire.
15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and His voice was like the roar of many waters.
16 He held in His right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword came from His mouth. His face was like the sun shining at its brightest.
17 When I saw Him, I fell at His feet like a dead man. But He placed His right hand on me and said, “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last,
18 the Living One. I was dead, and behold, now I am alive forever and ever! And I hold the keys of Death and of Hades.
19 Therefore write down the things you have seen, and the things that are, and the things that will happen after this.
20 This is the mystery of the seven stars you saw in My right hand and of the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.
Verse 7
Verse 7
7 Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him—even those who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. So shall it be! Amen.
King James Version Chapter 1
7 Behold, he cometh ewith 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.
He is coming with the clouds,
and every eye will see Him—
even those who pierced Him.
And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.
So shall it be! Amen.
Comments:
This verse seems to be structured like a hymn with 4 lines and then the closing “Amen.”
John combines two OT prophecies (Daniel 7 & Zechariah 12) in this verse, much like Jesus did in Matthew 24:30 in His Olivet Discourse.
30 At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and all the tribes of the earth will mourn. They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory.
Let’s look at the Old Testament passages in their context to better understand John’s meaning.
Daniel 7:1-8 records Daniel’s vision of 4 beasts, which seem to represent 4 kings of 4 distinct kingdoms: the Babylonians, the Medes & Persians, the Greeks, and the Romans.
In v. 9-12, Daniel sees the Ancient of Days (God the Father) passing judgment on the beasts.
And then in Daniel 7:13-14 he sees another vision:
13 In my vision in the night I continued to watch, and I saw One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into His presence.
14 And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.
The phrase “coming with the clouds of heaven” in v. 13 is the phrase John uses in Revelation 1:7, so let’s look at what Daniel says about this and see if that helps us understand what John is saying.
The events that Daniel has seen in his vision concern events which were present and future to him, but of course much if not all of this is past for us, since Daniel lived over 2500 years ago.
The judgment by the Ancient of Days against the human kingdoms may refer to Christ’s triumph over evil at the cross, or it may refer to the Final Judgment still to come. There is a sense in which God judged all sin and evil at the Cross, but there’s another display of His judgment which will come at the final day.
This double meaning should remind us of the “already/not yet” aspect of God’s Kingdom. The Kingdom of God has begun in the Person and Work of Jesus Christ, and yet we do not see it in its full expression yet.
So, in v. 13 Daniel sees a vision of “One like the Son of Man” – that is, someone who appears to be a human being. In the OT, the phrase “son of man” typically means human being and refers to the physical nature of a person’s existence.
Of course, we understand that Jesus is the Son of Man that Daniel sees, as Jesus applies this term to Himself all throughout the Gospels. When Jesus used the term “Son of Man” in the Gospels to refer to Himself, He was identifying Himself as the One Daniel spoke of in Daniel 7. So Jesus’s interpretation of this passage is that it’s talking about Him.
The original readers would not have known about Jesus yet obviously, and so when they heard “son of man” they’re thinking of a human being, someone like you and me.
What would have shocked Daniel’s original readers, though, is what Daniel says next about this Human One, this “Son of Man.” And this is the phrase John uses to talk about Jesus in Revelation 1:7.
“Coming with the clouds of heaven”
In the OT context, the only ones that rode on the clouds were gods, specifically the gods in charge of the weather (such as the false god Baal that we read of in the OT). Other nations and people associated the clouds with their gods, but this language was also adopted by the Israelites to refer to the true God, Yahweh.
4 Sing to God! Sing praises to His name. Exalt Him who rides on the clouds — His name is the LORD— and rejoice before Him.
1 This is the burden against Egypt: Behold, the LORD rides on a swift cloud; He is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt will tremble before Him, and the hearts of the Egyptians will melt within them.
So Daniel’s readers would have understood that this one coming with the clouds is God Himself, which is shocking since Daniel just described Him as “One like the Son of Man.” How could “One like the Son of Man” also be God? This wasn’t revealed until the coming of Christ, but this isn’t the only OT text that implies that the coming Redeemer and Messiah would be both God and Man.
“Coming”
One reason that this verse has been interpreted in multiple ways is that the word “coming” means different things depending on one’s perspective. Typically, the word means that from the writer’s (or speaker’s) perspective, someone who is not close to me is approaching me (Part of our problem is that we don’t always consistently use the word this way in English, so we confuse the ideas of coming and going, but other languages tend to make this distinction clearer).
But as I understand it, this word means that the one being spoken about (the Son of Man) is far away from Daniel and is approaching the place where Daniel is. So, we need to ask, where is Daniel?
It would appear that in this vision Daniel is in heaven, the place of God’s throne. And so the Son of Man is approaching the throne of the Ancient of Days from somewhere else.
This would seem to imply that when Daniel says that the Son of Man was coming with the clouds, he means us to understand that He is entering Heaven, not leaving Heaven. He is going up, not coming down.
This leads me to believe that Daniel’s vision is about the ascension of Jesus Christ 40 days after His resurrection, and not about His Second Coming.
His Kingdom has begun, He has all authority in heaven and on earth (Matthew 28:18, Acts 2:33-36), his Kingdom is growing to fill the earth (as in the vision in ch. 2 of the rock that grew and filled the earth), He is the one who passed through the heavens (Hebrews 4:14; 6:19-20) and sat down on His throne at the place of honor at God’s right hand (Hebrews 1:8; 8:1; 12:2)
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me.
33 Exalted, then, to the right hand of God, He has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear.
34 For David did not ascend into heaven, but he himself says: ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand
35 until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.” ’
36 Therefore let all Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ!”
14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess.
19 We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
20 where Jesus our forerunner has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.
8 But about the Son He says: “Your throne, O God, endures forever and ever, and justice is the scepter of Your kingdom.
1 The point of what we are saying is this: We do have such a high priest, who sat down at the right hand of the throne of the Majesty in heaven,
2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
So I think the best interpretation of Daniel’s prophecy concerning the One like the Son of Man coming with the clouds of heaven is that it refers to the ascension of Jesus Christ following His resurrection.
But this doesn’t appear to be the way the NT always uses this expression or imagery.
Revelation 14:14-16 uses the imagery of Jesus sitting on a cloud to come for the harvest at the end of the ages, which as I understand it refers to the end times.
1 Thessalonians 4 speaks of believers being caught up together with Jesus Christ in the clouds.
Perhaps the clearest passage which connects clouds to Christ’s return is Acts 1:9-11, which says that just as Jesus went up in a cloud, He will return in a cloud.
9 After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.
11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”
So clearly, the cloud imagery is not limited to the ascension of Christ but can refer to His Second Coming. Perhaps even in Daniel there is a double application.
I think the point of the clouds isn’t the specific timing it’s talking about, but rather drawing attention to the power and authority of Jesus as God, since it is God who rides on the clouds; when we read this imagery of Jesus in the clouds, what ought to come to our minds is that Jesus is God, He is powerful, He is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
This is probably at least part of what John wants to draw our attention to here as well. Look at how amazing Jesus is! He is God, He is the one who rides on the clouds, He is the Sovereign Lord of the universe.
Is John talking about Jesus’s ascension or Second Coming here?
Almost certainly John is speaking of the Second Coming, considering that Jesus had already ascended decades earlier at this point. The fact that John uses the present tense “is coming” rather than past tense also implies this. And the present tense also reminds us of the ever-present reality of His return. He is coming back! Are you ready?
*Break for Questions or Comments*
The next 3 phrases all come from Zechariah 12:10
10 Then I will pour out on the house of David and on the people of Jerusalem a spirit of grace and prayer, and they will look on Me, the One they have pierced. They will mourn for Him as one mourns for an only child, and grieve bitterly for Him as one grieves for a firstborn son.
11 On that day the wailing in Jerusalem will be as great as the wailing of Hadad-rimmon in the plain of Megiddo.
12 The land will mourn, each clan on its own: the clan of the house of David and their wives, the clan of the house of Nathan and their wives,
13 the clan of the house of Levi and their wives, the clan of Shimei and their wives,
14 and all the remaining clans and their wives.
1 “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.
and every eye will see Him—
even those who pierced Him.
And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.
In Zechariah 12, the prophecy certainly refers to the people of the nation of Israel looking upon their Lord and Messiah whom they pierced and mourning or grieving because of Him, a mourning or grief that leads to repentance and restoration to God.
Notice the changes that John makes in his application of Zechariah’s prophecy:
1. “The house of David and the people of Jerusalem” becomes “every eye” – no longer a focus on the nation of Israel, but now on God’s purpose for all the nations. “This implies an extension of the OT concept of Israel, since what applied to that nation in Zech. 12 is now transferred to the peoples of the earth, who assume the role of repentant Israel.”[1]
[1]Beale, G. K., & McDonough, S. M. (2007). Revelation. In Commentary on the New Testament use of the Old Testament (p. 1090). Baker Academic; Apollos.
2. “They [the house of David and the people of Jerusalem] will mourn for him” becomes “all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him.” Again, the role of national Israel in Zechariah’s prophecy is transferred to the nations, the whole world.
3. John’s use of “mourn” seems different from Zechariah’s. In the original prophecy, the mourning and grieving seems to be related to the repentance of the people of Israel, that they’re embracing their Messiah whom they killed. But John seems to have a double meaning (typical of John) with his use of the word: some people from the nations are mourning in repentance, and some are mourning in terror at the coming judgment that He's bringing.
The final phrase of verse 7 says: “So shall it be! Amen.”
Literally, “Yes, Amen.” It’s the Greek word for yes and the Hebrew word for yes, expressing the certainty of what John has said as well as the longing for it to be reality.
Verse 8
Verse 8
8 “I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, who is and was and is to come—the Almighty.
King James Version Chapter 1
8 I am Alpha and Omega, hthe beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Scholars disagree on exactly who is speaking in this verse – whether it’s God the Father or Jesus Christ. To me, the context seems to indicate that it’s Jesus, and I think that’s the more traditional interpretation, but other commentators believe it’s referring to the Father.
Either way, I think the truths spoken here are true of both the Father and the Son.
I AM – Yahweh, God’s personal covenant name
The Alpha and the Omega – the first and last, beginning and end (see Isaiah 41:4, 43:10, 44:6, 48:12). Clearly applied to Jesus in Revelation 2:8, 21:6, 22:13
8 To the angel of the church in Smyrna write: These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.
6 And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life.
13 I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End.”
The Lord God Who is and was and is to come – since John just talked about Jesus as the one who is coming on the clouds, it seems like this reference is probably to him.
The Almighty – this word was often used in the Greek OT to translate the expression “Lord of Hosts” – He is the all-powerful, sovereign God who rules the universe and commands heaven’s armies. His power is beyond our comprehension.
*Break for Questions or Comments*