Revelation 1:4-8

Revelation 1:4-8

Thine is the Glory

May 15

THINE IS THE GLORY

Edmond L. Budry, 1854–1932

Translated by Richard B. Hoyle, 1875–1939

But thanks be to God! He gives the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

(1 Corinthians 15:57)

In the ancient world, no celebration was considered more glorious than the march of triumphant returning warriors through their capital city. Many visual depictions have been made of the victorious Roman soldiers in the early centuries marching proudly through the streets and arches of Rome, leading captive slaves and hearing the boisterous approval of cheering admirers.

Christ our Savior fought the greatest battle of all time against the prince of this world and all of his legions. Our Lord returned triumphant to His Father, having conquered not only sin, death, and the grave, but Satan and hell also. Now He sits on the Father’s right hand as the ruler of His kingdom and our personal advocate before God.

But the day of our celebration is just ahead. One can picture with imagination the procession that will occur in heaven when the Captain of Our Faith, Christ Himself, leads His Bride, the Church, through the heavenly portals amidst the shouts and songs of praise and glory to the “risen, conqu’ring Son.”

“Thine Is the Glory”

Refrain: Thine is the glory, risen, conqu’ring Son; endless is the vict’ry Thou o’er death hast won.

We will one day live in the triumphant promise of the joy that we will one day experience with all fullness when we share in the heavenly celebration with the saints of the ages. But for now, we raise our voice in praise to our victorious Lord.

Copyright (c) World Student Christian Federation. Used by permission.[1]

Revelation 1:4-8    “Thine is the Glory”

Purpose

The purpose of this section is to name the addressees of this epistle, and also to remind them of their privileged position in God, of the wonder of their Savior, of their function for God, and of their assured future.[2]

Let us look further into this message and we will see that it is…

I.             A message from on high. (4-5a)

Employees in a Midwestern company recently found this message printed on their pay envelopes: “If the amount in this envelope does not agree with the amount on your pay slip, please return the envelope unopened to the cashier.”

Some messages are worthless, but not God’s.

Message from on High

Each fall I look forward to the call of wild geese, marking the approach of autumn. When I heard the faint, eerie, unmistakable sound once again, I leapt up, shouting for my husband to come watch he wavering V in the sky.

We hurried out to the patio. He spotted the geese immediately. My dim eyesight could not see them. My husband has a hearing loss. He could not hear them. But together we enjoyed this beautiful message from God.

7 is a figure of completeness and perfection.

The seven churches are individually named in v.11 and in chapters 2–3; they are the churches in Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. [3]

This letter is a circuit letter with starting points from these churches.

Grace to persevere

Peace to face turmoil

Grace is the divine favor showed to the human race, and peace is that state of spiritual well-being that follows as a result.

Grace and peace always stand in order, “it is because of God’s grace that his people can enjoy peace.”

This is an impressive way of stressing the changelessness and the eternity of God.

This name expresses the character of God.

In the terrible days in which he was writing John stayed his heart on the changelessness of God.

This is God the Father: The comfort of knowing that He is changeless: Eternal. ‘To Be’ verb Ex 3:14-15

And God said to Moses, "I AM WHO I AM." And He said, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel, 'I AM has sent me to you.' " 15 Moreover God said to Moses, "Thus you shall say to the children of Israel: 'The LORD God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has sent me to you. This is My name forever, and this is My memorial to all generations.'

7 Spirits = Angels

Jesus says in Luke 9:26

"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father's, and of the holy angels.

1 Timothy 5:21

I charge you before God and the Lord Jesus Christ and the elect angels that you observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing with partiality.

Faithful witness

Jesus bore witness to the truth from God. (John 3:32-33; 18:37)

 "And what He has seen and heard, that He testifies; and no one receives His testimony. 33 "He who has received His testimony has certified that God is true.

Pilate therefore said to Him, "Are You a king then?" Jesus answered, "You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice."

To the Asian Christians about to enter into a time of persecution, Jesus is presented as the faithful witness (martyr).

Jesus is the model of how to stand firm and never compromise the truth of God.

(1 Timothy 6:13)

I urge you in the sight of God who gives life to all things, and before Christ Jesus who witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate

Firstborn from the dead

Ruler over the Kings of the earth

Psalm 89:27

Also I will make him My firstborn, The highest of the kings of the earth.

What the devil offered in return for worship (Matt. 4:8) Jesus achieved through faithful obedience that led to death. (Phil. 2:10-11)

It reminds them that Christ has gone before and opened the way through death to victory.

10 Commandments are from on high!

Psalm 19:1

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

II.         A message of His glory. (5b-6)

Moon

The glory of the sun sometimes is seen through the reflection of the sun.

We have seen the sun, thus we can appreciate it’s glory in the darkest of nights, if it wasn’t for the moon.

Loved us

loves us;2

Christ’s love for us is a continuing reality that in point of time expressed itself in the redemptive act of Calvary.

This release was purchased by the blood of Christ.

Washed us

John’s interest at this point is not in the washing away of “our sins,” but in Christ’s death freeing us from their bondage and misery.

The ransom paid to redeem the faithful was the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ.

Made us kings and priests

By means of his death Jesus constituted his followers a kingdom.

This was by the promise of God.

Exodus 19:5-6;

5 'Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. 6 'And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.' These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel."

Isaiah 61:6;

But you shall be named the priests of the LORD, They shall call you the servants of our God. You shall eat the riches of the Gentiles, And in their glory you shall boast.

Corporately we can see them as a kingdom.

(Stressing their royal standing in connection with the exaltation of Christ as ruler of all earthly kings)

Individually we can see them as a priest.

(Emphasizing their role in serving God as a result of Christ sacrificial death)

Glory is praise and honor.

Dominion connotes power and might.

This statement is both a confident assertion about the exalted Christ and an exhortation to regard him as such.

The focus of vv. 5b-6 on the redemptive work of Christ leads naturally to the expectation of the glorious day when he will return triumph and bring history to a close.

III.     A message of His coming. (7-8)

Await His Coming

As that great preacher of the Word, Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, said, “To me the second coming is the perpetual light on the path which makes the present bearable. I never lay my head on my pillow without thinking that maybe before morning breaks, the final morning may have dawned! I never begin my work without thinking that perhaps He may interrupt my work and begin His own. This is now His word to all believing souls, till He comes.”

How would you look for a lost dog?

A farmer had an old hound dog that he cherished. One day the dog disappeared, and several weeks passed without his return. In spite of this, the farmer continued to set out fresh food for the dog every day.

Finally, in curiosity, one of the farmer’s neighbors asked why he continued to set out food for the dog when he obviously was not returning.

“He will be back,” replied the farmer. “Because he knows I am here waiting for him. And when he gets here I want him to know he is welcome back.”

Today we wait for Christ’s return with great expectancy. We do not know the day nor the hour of His return, but we are confident that He is coming back.

As we wait for Christ’s return, we prepare ourselves each day to meet Him.

1:7 Here we have a sort of prophetic pronouncement in which the prophet John introduces the Lord who speaks through him. He borrows language from two Old Testament passages—namely, Daniel 7:13 and Zechariah 12:10. Jesus himself combines these two texts in Matthew 24:30.[4]

7 This verse is composed of two OT citations. The first is from Dan. 7:13, which in its OT context refers to the enthronement of the Son of man over all the nations (cf. Dan. 7:14) after God’s judgment of evil empires (Dan. 7:9–12). The application of this text to Jesus shows that he is its fulfillment and emphasizes his future kingship, a theme already introduced in v 5 (a messianic understanding of the Danielic Son of man also appears in Jewish writings — e.g., 4 Ezra 13; 1 En. 37–71). The second citation is from Zech. 12:10ff., which in Zechariah pertains to the end-time period when God will defeat the enemy nations around Israel and the Israelites will be redeemed after repenting of their sinful rejection of God and his messenger (i.e., “the one they have pierced”).[5]

The use of Daniel 7 and Zechariah 12 in Matt. 24:30 may have influenced John to use the same combination here (the texts appear together also in Midrash Wayoša’67 and Justin, Dialogue 14.8; Matt. 24:30 may also refer to repentance [in the light of 24:31]). Whether or not this was the case, John discerned that both passages concerned the common theme of God’s end-time defeat of Israel’s enemies, and, therefore, these were attractive texts to supplement those OT allusions he had already used to refer to the inaugurated end-time kingdom.68 That the mourning of Zech. 12:10 is “as for a firstborn son” (πρωτότοκος).[6]

The Zechariah text has been altered in two significant ways: the phrases πᾶς ὀφθαλμός (“every eye”) and τῆςγῆς (“of the earth”) have been added to universalize its original meaning. The rejection of God’s messenger and the consequent repentant mourning are not limited to Israelites but affirmed of all nations. Those who mourn are not those who literally crucified Jesus but those who are guilty of rejecting him.

Therefore, repentant Gentiles are viewed as fulfilling the Zechariah prophecy at the second coming of Christ.

Consequently his “comings” in blessing and judgment throughout the course of time are but manifestations of his exercise of this latter-day authority. The Zechariah quotation perhaps connotes the climax of the historical process expressed in the Daniel 7 allusion. But John 19:37 quotes Zech. 12:10 in reference to the Gentile soldier near the cross who “pierced” Jesus and then apparently repented (cf. John 19:34–37; Mark 15:39).75 A strikingly similar application of Zech. 12:10 is found in Rev. 1:7.76 Consequently, the Zechariah 12 quotation could also include application to a period preceding the final parousia when Gentiles believe in the Messiah. If so, “see” would have to be taken more figuratively and perceived as future only from John’s standpoint. Some commentators have rightly suggested that 1:7 serves as the keynote of the book, but this keynote must be understood in the light of the discussion above of John’s already-and-not-yet view of the combined OT quotation.77

The purpose of v 8 is to emphasize God’s sovereignty over all history by repeating the threefold description of God found in v 4a and by explaining its meaning by the addition of two further phrases. This emphasis serves as a basis for what has been said in v 7, since it is only with the presupposition of an omnipotent God that such a confident assertion about the consummation of history can be made.78 This divine omnipotence is also the basis for the similar confident affirmation about the accomplishment of God’s glory in v 6b. τὸ Ἄλφα καὶ τὸ ῏Ω (“the Alpha and the Omega”) is a figure of speech called a merism (a merism states polar opposites in order to highlight everything between the opposites). Similar merisms are ἡ ἀρχὴκαὶ τὸ τέλος (“the Beginning and the End,” 21:6; 22:13) and πρῶτοςκαὶ ὁ ἔσχατος(“the First and the Last,” 22:13; cf. 1:17). These merisms express God’s control of all history, especially by bringing it to an end in salvation and judgment. The use of the first and last letters of the alphabet was typical of the ancients in expressing merisms. Jews could, for instance, refer thus, using the Hebrew alphabet, to the whole law, saying that it should be kept “from aleph to tau.”79

The God who transcends time guides the entire course of history because he stands as sovereign over its beginning and its end.[7]

[1]Osbeck, K. W. (1990). Amazing grace : 366 inspiring hymn stories for daily devotions. Includes indexes. (150). Grand Rapids, Mich.: Kregel Publications.

[2]Mills, M. (1997, c1987). Revelations : An exegetical study of the Revelation to John (Re 1:4). Dallas: 3E Ministries.

[3]Mills, M. (1997, c1987). Revelations : An exegetical study of the Revelation to John (Re 1:4). Dallas: 3E Ministries.

2 2. The King James text is incorrect in its rendering of the verb “love” in past tense in this verse. In the Greek, it is the present tense that is used by John.

[4]Davis, C. A. (2000). Revelation. The College Press NIV commentary (105). Joplin, Mo.: College Press Pub.

[5]Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation : A commentary on the Greek text (196). Grand Rapids, Mich.; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

67 So Casey, Son of Man, 143.

68 See Beale, Use of Daniel, 155–56, for other possible connections between these two texts that may have motivated John to combine them.

[6]Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation : A commentary on the Greek text (196). Grand Rapids, Mich.; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.

75 So Michaels, Interpreting, 102–9.

76 The MT of Zech. 12:10 (= Theod.) contains an ambiguity in that God is the one who is pierced, yet he apparently identifies himself with an associate (“they will look on me, whom they have pierced, and they will mourn for him”). John alludes to the text to identify Jesus with the pierced God of Zechariah (Hultberg, “Signicance of Zech 12:10,” whose discussion is more nuanced).

77 Consistent with the above analysis of 1:7, Porter does not see ἔρχεται (“he comes”) clearly as a futuristic present and paraphrases 1:7 accordingly as “behold, he is in progress coming with the clouds and every eye will see him” (Verbal Aspect, 231; cf. also 437). In contrast, S. Thompson sees ἔρχεται (“he comes”) as a futuristic present under Semitic influence (Apocalypse and Semitic Syntax, 34–35). Independent confirmation of the analysis I have given of the use of Zech. 12:10ff. can be found in Bauckham, Climax of Prophecy, 319–22, who helpfully notes that the use of this passage in the messianic Ps. 71(72):17 is an intentional development of Gen. 12:3 and 28:14, where the Abrahamic promise of blessing to the nations is affirmed; Bauckham concludes that the same development occurs in Rev. 1:7. For a survey of the various interpretations of Zech. 12:10ff., especially concerning the piercing, see Baldwin, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, 190–94; in b. Sukkah 52a, Zech. 12:10, 12 is applied to Israel’s mourning over the death of the Messiah ben Joseph. See A. Y. Collins, “ ‘Son of Man’ Tradition and Revelation,” 536–47, for further analysis of the wording of the references to Daniel 7 and Zechariah 12, especially in comparison to variant OT Greek versions, the Hebrew, and parallels in the Gospels.

78 Cf. I. T. Beckwith, Apocalypse, 432.

79 See Gill, Revelation, 696, for references in Jewish literature.

[7]Beale, G. K. (1999). The book of Revelation : A commentary on the Greek text (196). Grand Rapids, Mich.; Carlisle, Cumbria: W.B. Eerdmans; Paternoster Press.