The purpose of the Revelation

[nebula]

Revelation 1

1The revelation of 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, 2who testifies to everything he saw--that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. 3Blessed 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.

What does this mean?

How do you interpret it?

[Ovedya]

To me it simply means that the Revelation given to John is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

[nebula]

Thanks, God-MAn!

Anybody else?

[Dad Ernie]

Greetings Nebula,

Here are thoughts from a rambling mind:

Rev 1:1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, (The "history" of Jesus Christ from the inception of the church to the very end.)

which God gave unto him, (Remember the verse - No man knows the day or the hour - only the Father which is in heaven? Jesus is sitting at the right hand of the Father and yet, the Father STILL had to give Jesus this Revelation.)

to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; (Preterists and Amils like to take this that much if not most of Revelation took place in the first century, but this is not the case. Here is the Greek word for "come to pass":

1096 ginomai {ghin'-om-ahee}

a prolongation and middle voice form of a primary verb; TDNT - 1:681,117; v

AV - be 255, come to pass 82, be made 69, be done 63, come 52,

become 47, God forbid + 3361 15, arise 13, have 5, be fulfilled 3,

be married to 3, be preferred 3, not tr 14, misc 4, vr done 2; 678

1) to become, i.e. to come into existence, begin to be, receive being

2) to become, i.e. to come to pass, happen

2a) of events

3) to arise, appear in history, come upon the stage

3a) of men appearing in public

4) to be made, finished

4a) of miracles, to be performed, wrought

5) to become, be made

As you can see, this term does not mean that it will be completed, but that "it will come about and start soon, even probably had already begun.")

and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: (John attests to what Jesus had said with verification by sending an angel to attest to it.)

Rev 1:2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. (John simply is attesting to this Word of God which is the "testimony of Jesus Christ", verifying to the reader of all that John saw.)

Rev 1:3 Blessed is he that readeth, (Not only JUST to read but to acknowledge these things John saw was true and were accurately recorded:

314 anaginosko {an-ag-in-oce'-ko}

from 303 and 1097; TDNT - 1:343,55; v

AV - read 33; 33

1) to distinguish between, to recognise, to know accurately,

to acknowledge

2) to read

As you can see, it means more than just reading like a novel.)

and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: (The Greek for "hear" is:

191 akouo {ak-oo'-o}

a root; TDNT - 1:216,34; v

AV - hear 418, hearken 6, give audience 3, hearer 2, misc 8; 437

1) to be endowed with the faculty of hearing, not deaf

2) to hear

2b) to attend to, consider what is or has been said

2c) to understand, perceive the sense of what is said

3) to hear something

3a) to perceive by the ear what is announced in one's presence

3b) to get by hearing learn

3c) a thing comes to one's ears, to find out, learn

3e) to give ear to a teaching or a teacher

3f) to comprehend, to understand

We see that Revelation should be READ AND UNDERSTOOD. Remember Jesus saying "Be careful HOW ye hear"? He was talking about listening with the Spirit, and not just our physical ears.)

for the time is at hand. (Here John is saying that it is time this Revelation to come to pass (begin and continue).

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

[OneAccord]

I did a deep study of this very verse a few months ago and would like to respond to this thread when I have enough time to give it a decent reply.

This is a VERY important question, and key to a good study of Revelation.

Here's an excerpt:

The book of Revelation is THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. Revelation is a book that teaches who and what Jesus Christ is. It reveals Him in all of His glory, unveils Him in all of His fullness. You will find Jesus the Christ in every chapter of the book, for it is the revelation of Himself. When we read the message of the Revelation with a heart that seeks after Christ, we see in every page His face and hear from every line His voice. If we do not see Christ in the pages of the Revelation, then all we see is vanity. By drawing near to this book in the power of the Holy Spirit, we draw near to Christ. How beautiful that is! May the elect of God receive much grace to see more and more of Christ in the pages of this book.

Kingdom Bible Studies

[Guest hubertdorm]

The book of Revelation is THE REVELATION OF JESUS CHRIST. Revelation is a book that teaches who and what Jesus Christ is. It reveals Him in all of His glory, unveils Him in all of His fullness.

This is a very good observation, and it explains why it describes Christ's return three different times in one book. The entire center of the letter is focused on his second coming.

[Dad Ernie]

This is a very good observation, and it explains why it describes Christ's return three different times in one book. The entire center of the letter is focused on his second coming.

I hope you are not implying that Jesus is going to return 3 times? Most of the chapters/events of Revelation run "concurrently", NOT consequitively.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

[Guest hubertdorm]

Not at all Dad Ernie!

Actually, when I first typed my reply, I had this:

"This is a very good observation, and perfectly explains why Christ's return occurs three times. The entire center of the letter is focused on his second coming."

After typing this, I felt that it implied 3 comings! How silly. So I changed it to what is now posted. His second coming is described multiple times in the book.

I'm glad also that you have pointed out what pre-tribbers refuse to see, that the book of Revelation does not unfold in chronological order.

[Dad Ernie]

Thank you hubertdorm for your clarification.

Blessings,

Dad Ernie

[nebula]

Thanks for the replies!

So, here is my next question -

When the book opens by mentioning that these words are the revelation or witness or testimony of Jesus (whichever way you prefer to see it),

Why are we more interested in looking for the identity of the Beast than we are with understanding who Jesus is through the Revelation?