Revelation
Views of
interpretation:
Preterist—a
historical record of the first
century.
Ignores
what is said in the book itself
in:
1:3, “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this
prophecy, . . . because the time is
near.”
22:7, “Behold, I am coming soon! Blessed is he who
keeps the words of the prophecy in this
book.”
22:10, “Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of
this book, because
the time is near.”
22:18-19, “I warn everyone who hears the words of the
prophecy of this book.”
Second coming becomes the coming of the Romans in 70 AD
destruction of Jerusalem.
Nothing matches the cataclysmic events of chapters
6-19
Historicist—Prophetic
record of History including:
* Fall of Rome to
Barbarians
* Rise of Roman Catholic
Church
* Coming of Islam
* French Revolution
Interpretation becomes subjective as events of the last
2,000 years are picked through to and assigned to
different parts of the book.
There is no consistency from commentator to
commentator. The
commentary is “every
man for himself” style.
Revelation is not kept in the confines of literal,
historical hermeneutics, and is instead destroyed as each
individual allegorizes and spiritualizes the book
Idealist—The
book is used to define the continuous battle of good and evil
that each generation
experiences.
The is not historical or prophetic.
It is a collection of thoughts, stories and examples to
communicate spiritual realities.
Futurist—this
view sees chapter 4-22 as predictions of the
future.
With this view the book can be understood with basic
hermeneutic principles.
The first three views produce many,
many interpretations.
Most of which are believed and accepted by a few people
or a small group.
Each event could have as many as fifty explanations
that conflict with each other.
1:1-3
The Nature of
the Book
“The Revelation. .
.
The Central
Theme of the Book
. . .of Jesus Christ, . .
.
The Divine
Source
. . .which God gave Him. .
.
The Human
Recipients
. . .to show to His bond-servants. .
.
The Prophetic
Character
. . .the things which must soon take
place.
Supernaturally
Communicated
He made it known by sending his angel. .
.
The Human
Author
. . .to His servant John, who testifies to
everything he saw—that is the word of God
and the testimony
of Jesus Christ.
Its Promised
Blessing
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
Its Compelling
Urgency
. . .because the time is
near.
1:1 “Revelation”
is the word
“apokalypsis” means “revelation, disclosure,
unveiling.”
This information is not figured out or known by human
understanding alone.
These
things where revealed by God to
men.
Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar that God is the one who
reveals mysteries and makes known what is going to happen
(Daniel 2:28, 29,45; and Amos 3:7)
“Soon”
is
“tachos” and means “in a brief time” or “quickly”. The emphasis here and
through out the book when “tachos” is used is the nearness of
Jesus’ coming.
2:16- “I will soon come to you and will fight
against them with the sword of my
mouth.”
3:11- “I am coming soon. Hold on to what you
have, so that no one takes your
crown.”
11:14- “The second woe has passed; the third woe is
coming soon.”
22:6- “The Lord, the God of the spirits of the
prophets, sent his angel to show his servants the things that
must soon take place.”
22:7- “Behold, I am coming
soon!
22:12-
“Behold, I am coming
soon!
22:20-
“Yes, I am coming
soon.”
The use of
“tachos” (and its word group) say these things are
close. This is a
source of motivation to read, hear and understand this book so
that you may be motivated to live holy and be
obedient.
1:3 “Blessed”
is the word
that means “fortunate, happy or
blessed”
This blessing is for two groups of
people:
1. “the
one who reads (out loud) the words of this
prophecy” as in the lector of the church who read epistles
to the congregation.
This is seen in 1 Thessalonians 5:27 and Colossians
4:16. The
word for “reads” can and should be translated “reads out loud.” John is not talking
about privately reading this book alone, but to reading it out loud
to people to listen to it.
1 Thess.. 5:27- “I charge you before the Lord to have
this letter read to
all the brothers.”
Col. 4:16- “After this letter has been read to you, see
that is also read in the
church of the Laodiceans and that you in turn read the
letter from
Laodicea.”
2.
“those who hear it and take to heart what is written
in it” as in the early church congregations who came weekly
to hear the reading of the scripture.
They must do two things:
a. Hear
what was read
b. Take it
into their souls to live right
Jesus said, “Everyone who hears these words of
mine and puts them into practice is like a wise
man who built his house on the rock.”
Matt.7:24
There are seven blessings or Beatitudes
in Revelation:
1:3
“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.”
14:13 “Blessed are the
dead who die in the Lord from now
on.”
16:15 “Blessed is he
who stays awake and keeps his clothes with him, so that he may
not go naked
and be shamefully exposed.”
19:9
“Blessed are those who are invited to the wedding
supper of the Lamb!”
20:6
“Blessed and holy are those who have part in the
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.”
22:7
“Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy in
this book.”
22:14 “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.”
1:4 “To the seven churches in the
province of
Asia”
There where more than seven churches in Asia and in
this part of Asia.
(Troas, Colossae,
Hierapolis)
Seven is the number of
completion.
The seven churches form a circle, actually the ancient
mail route.
1:4 The
Salutation
1. Wishing
you well
a. Grace
wish from the Greek expression “charis” or
“grace”
b. Peace
wish from the Hebrew expression “shalom” or
“peace”
2. Source
of the well-wishes
a. From
God
i. The one
who is
ii. The one who was
iii. The one who is to
come
b. From the Seven Spirits before the
throne
c. From Jesus Christ
i. The
faithful witness
ii. The firstborn of the
dead
iii. The ruler of kings on
earth
Typical New Testament greetings include
the “grace and peace.”
They often follow with sometimes one mention of God,
more often with mention of God the Father and the Lord Jesus,
but never are all three of the trinity mentioned as
here.
“him who is,
and who was and is to come” is a paraphrase
of the divine name, YHWH, out of Exodus 3:14,15. This is a reminder to
the churches that the source (God) of this letter (book,
revelation) encompasses all time with his eternal
presence. John
attempts to capture the concept of the eternal presence of God. The Greek is difficult
and clumsy and often criticized by modern
scholars:
apo
o wn kai o hn kai o ercomenos
“from
the
being
and
the
was
and
the
coming”
It is the view of God in three
dominions at the same time: the present, the past, the
future. It is an
all encompassing description of the transcendent
God.
“from
the seven spirits” refers to the
Holy Spirit.
There is only one Spirit (“There is one
body and one Spirit . . .one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one
God and Father of all is over all and through all and in
all.” Ephesians
4:4)but seven areas
for completeness or fullness are identified here. It would appear
that Isaiah 11:1-3 is in the mind of the
writer:
“A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
From his roots a Branch will bear
fruit.
The Spirit of the Lord will rest on
him—
The Spirit of
wisdom
And of
understanding,
The Spirit of counsel
And of
power,
The Spirit of knowledge
And of the fear of the
Lord—
And he will delight in
the fear of the Lord.”
Spirit of the Lord
The presence of God
Spirit of Wisdom
Insight and ability to apply
facts
Spirit of Understanding Revelation,
insight to understand facts
Spirit of Counsel
Guidance and direction; ability to fulfill God’s
plan
Spirit of Power
Miracle power; gifts of the
Spirit;
Spirit of Knowledge
Exact knowledge; able to gain facts w.
senses/experience
Spirit of Fear of the Lord
Honor and Worship; Ability to live Holy and
Obedient
Jesus received this Spirit at his
baptism. We have
been baptized with this same Spirit.
Jesus Christ
is described
as:
1. The
faithful witness (witness is the word “martys” where we get
“martyr” or one who suffers death for
being a witness.
This book speaks often of those who
hold to
the truth in death as martyrs; 2:13; 11:3;
17:6)
a. This is his ministry as the second member of the
trinity.
b. He has always appeared to men and spoken for God as
the angel of the Lord in the OT and as
the Word in flesh (Jesus) in the
NT.
c. Jesus
said, “For this reason I have been born, and for this I
have come
into the world to testify to the truth.” (John
18:37)
2. The
firstborn from the dead
a.
Firstborn is not a reference to the order but to his
position in the family.
The
firstborn had the double portion.
b. God
promised in Psalms 8:27, “I also shall make him My firstborn,
the highest of the kings of the
earth.”
c. A
reference to “first fruits” is the discussion about the order
of the resurrections as in 1
Corinthians 15:20.
3. The
ruler of the kings of the earth
a. Christ
is the absolute authority over world events and world
leaders.
b. Jesus
holds in his hand the title deed to the earth. This he purchased
the
right to with his blood.
c. Jesus
is the Sovereign King of the earth in
scripture:
Psalm 2:6-8, “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy
hill. . .”
Jeremiah 23:5,
“I will raise up to David a righteous Branch, a King
who will reign wisely. .
.
Zechariah 9:9, “Shout, Daughter of Jerusalem! See, your king comes
to
you.”
Zechariah 14:9, “The LORD will be king over the whole
earth.”
Matthew 2:2, “Where is the one who has been born king
of the Jews?”
John 1:49, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the
King of Israel.”
Philippians 2:9-11, “God exalted him to the highest
place. . .that at the name
of Jesus every knee should bow. .
.”
Revelation 19:16, “On his robe and on his thigh he has
this name written: KING OF KINGS
AND LORD OF LORDS.”
1:5 “To him who loves us”
begins a
description of Jesus and his redemptive work towards
us:
1. “To
him who loves us”
a) His
love is still in action today. He loved
us on the cross, but he loves us
now today
from his exalted position.
2. “Has
freed us form our sins by his
blood”
a) The
focus here is not that our sins have been washed away, but
that we are free from the bondage and
misery of sin.
b) This is
to be understood in the Hebrews concept of a ransom to set
someone
free.
Jesus set us free by his
death.
3. “has
made us to be a kingdom”
a) The
early church that is receiving this letter saw themselves as
the true succession of the old
covenant Israel who where told they would be a
kingdom of priests and a holy nation in Exodus
19:5-6.
b) 1 Peter
2:5,9
c)
Believers are united in a kingdom, a nation, under the
King of all Kings.
d) We are
citizens of a greater nation with greater privileges than any
nation or
kingdom in the history of
man.
4. “has
made us to be. . .priest to serve his God and Father”
a) We have
been qualified to enter the highest office possible. That is the to
serve Jesus’ God and
Father.
b) It is a
high honor to serve in the presidents cabinet. They are not slaves,
but
dignitaries.
The average citizen does not walk off the street into a
presidential cabinet meeting.
c) We will
and are currently serving in the highest position
possible. We
have
qualified through Jesus to be dignitaries, ambassadors,
for the God who
sent Jesus to save us.
1:7 Look, he is
coming with the clouds” is from Daniel
7:13. The clouds
are his divine presence manifesting in the physical world.
(Ex. 13:21; 16:10;
Mat. 17:5; Acts 1:9)
“every eye will see him” reference to the sign
of the son of man being like lightning for the east to the
west.
“Even those who
pierce him” refers not
only to the Roman soldier who pierced his side, nor to the
Jews in Zechariah 12:10, but to people of all the ages who
“pierced” Jesus with rejection.
“All the peoples of the earth”
is a reference to anyone who is not a member of the “Kingdom”
just mentioned in verse 6. The Kingdom of Jesus
vs. the “peoples of the earth” or Believers vs.
non-believers.
“All the peoples . . .will
mourn” is taken from a verse from Zechariah 12:10-12 where
Israel mourns for their rejection of the Messiah with a
mourning of repentance, but here this portion of the verse is
used to refer to the mourning of the world for rejecting the
Messiah and realizing he has returned to bring the inevitable
final divine judgment.
“So shall it
be. Amen.” is the
combination of both the Hebrew and Greek expressions of
affirmation.
1:8 “I am the Alpha and
the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who was, and who is
to come, the Almighty.”
Three descriptions of the Revealer of
these mysteries that guarantee they will come to pass just
like God says because God knows.
1) Alpha and Omega are
the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet.
(The A and the Z or the
a
and the w
or the A
and the W)
All knowledge is assemble and
communicated through language.
God is all knowledge. He is
omniscient.
If it is knowable God knows it and can
communicate it through writing.
He is the beginning and the end (21:6;
22:13; 3:14)
He is the first and the last (1:17;
2:8; 22:13)
2) o
wn kai o hn kai o ercomenoV
who
is
and
who
was
and
who
is to come
All time is with in God. God is not with in
time.
God is outside the box of his
creation.
God is both Transcendent and
Immanent.
Transcendent means “beyond what is
given or presented in experience.” God is above and
beyond the universe and has his existence separate from
all.
Immanent means “remaining or operating
within the subject”.
God is also within creation. He is close and can be
found here.
In context here God character
(transcendence and immanence) are considered in the context of
time.
God is outside of time, he is in time
and he is ahead of time.
Almighty is a term describing God’s
omnipotence. He
is all powerful.
God will is satisfied and his plans are fulfilled every
time. There is no power greater that can stop him from
achieving his goal.
Jesus came the first time as a lamb, a
servant, to die.
Jesus will return the second time as
the lion, the king, to kill and
conquer.
Here begins John’s Vision and
Commission
1:9 I, John, your brother and companion
in the suffering and kingdom and patient
endurance that are ours in Jesus, . .
.
“Brother” is “adelphos” was a common
term to identify fellow believers who were members of the same
body.
“companion” is “synkoinonos” is fellow
partaker, one who shares together. It says that John is a
participant in the suffering the churches find themselves
in.
“Suffering” (“qliyei”) means pressure, trouble, distress
tribulation.
Note the listing and the order of both
“the suffering” and “the kingdom”
John 16:33, “In this world you will
have trouble. . .”
2 Timothy 3:12,
“Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will
be persecuted.”
Acts 14:22, “. . .strengthening the
disciple s and encouraging them to remain true to the faith,
“We must go through many hardships
(“qliyewn”)to enter the
kingdom of God,” they
said.”
“Patient endurance” is what bridges the
time between the “hardships, suffering, affliction” and the
“kingdom, glory, ultimate
salvation.”
“Patient Endurance” is “hupomone” and
means “patience, patient endurance, bearing up under
pressure” It
means “to remain under” an incredible weight with out
falling.
1 Corinthians 10:12-13, “So, if you
think you are standing firm, be careful (“let him look”,
“let
him be watchful” includes looking at the previous
examples) that you don’t fall! No temptation
(“peirazw” -to test to
show good or evil, power or weakness in a person.
Here to prove you are worthy of judgment or
reward.) has seized
you except what is
common to man.
And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted
beyond what you
can bear.
But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way
out (“but will make
with the temptation also the way out”) so that you
can stand up under it.”
All three of these are ours because we
belong to Jesus:
1)
Afflictions from the world on the
outside
2)
Strength from the Holy Spirit on the
inside
3)
Membership and position in the future kingdom
forever
1 Timothy
2:11-13,
“Here is a trustworthy
saying:
‘If we died with him, we will also live with
him;
If we endure we sill also reign with
him;
If we disown (Gr. “deny”) him, he will also disown
(“deny”) us
If we are faithless (“unfaithful, untrustworthy”), he
will remain faithful,
for he cannot disown (“deny”)
himself.”
1:9 . . . was on the island of Patmos
because of the word of God and the
testimony of
Jesus.”
1 Peter 4:12-19 “Dear friends, do not
be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, . . .So
then, those who suffer according to God’s will should commit
themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do
good.”
By this time Christianity had separated
from
Judaism.
A Roman historian Tacitus says
Christians were “a class hated for their
abominations”
Suetonius called them “a set of men
adhering to a novel and mischievous
superstition”
Pliny, a Roman governor in Bithynia,
wrote the Emperor Trajan calling Christians “a depraved and
extravagant superstition” and said this superstition “has
spread not only in the cities, but in the villages and rural
districts as well.”
See page of
“Anti-Christian Logic”
Patmos was a small, rocky island about
5 x 10 miles about 40 miles off the coast.
The church historian Eusebius (around
350 AD) writes that John was released by emperor Nerva who
reigned from 96-98 AD and then John returned to
Ephesus.
John’s preaching was seen as seditious
and threatening to the Empire. He was sent to Patmos
to help mine the minerals.
1:10 On the Lord’s Day I was in the
Spirit, and I heard behind me a loud voice
like a trumpet, . .
.
“In the Spirit” indicates that God had
taken John’s person and his senses into the spiritual realm
where he could see, hear and perceive this spiritual dimension
as clearly as he could normally experience the natural
world. It was
something God did to John, not something John did to
himself.
See Paul’s account in 2 Corinthians
12
“Lord’s Day” could refer to a Sunday or
it could be an eschatological reference to the place he was
taken to in the spirit.
He was taken to “The Day of the Lord’s return”, the
millennium, the second coming,
etc.
The Greek phrase for the “Lord’s Day”
does not occur elsewhere in the NT. It does appear in
church writings around 100 AD and is widely used to refer to
Sunday. It would
appear that now the phrase has developed since the rest of the
NT was written almost an entire generation before. John is writing closer
to the second century church than he is to the other NT
letters.
A loud voice or sound in Revelation
indicates something serious and solemn is about to be
said
(5:2;5:12; 6:10;
7:2, 10; 8:13; 10:3; 11:12, 15; 12:10; 14:2, 15, 18; 16:1, 17;
19:1, 17; 21:3)
Also, the loud
voice on Mt. Sinai in Exodus 19:16
1:11 . . .which said: “Write on a
scroll what you see and send it to the seven
churches:
This is the first of twelve commands to
John for him to write in
Revelation
One time he is forbidden to write in
10:4
1:11 . . .to Ephesus,
Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia and
Laodicea.”
These seven cities were in the order of
the mail route and were all distribution centers for the mail
into their surrounding areas. They were 30-50 miles
apart on a circular road that ran through them from Ephesus
through Laodicea and then back into
Ephesus.
There were
seven cities on this route but seven is also symbolic of
completeness.
HOW TO READ THESE SEVEN LETTERS:
1. These churches were
real churches.
2. These churches also
represent and speak to churches in every time
period.
3. There is also a
prophetic element with in these seven that lays out the
sequence and
attitude of all of church
history
1:12 I turned around
to see the voice that was speaking to me. And when I turned I saw
seven golden lampstands, . . .
There are seven separate
lampstands.
Similar to the ones in Solomons’s temple.
They would have been the common
portable oil lamp that was placed on a
lampstand to light a room.
They represent the seven churches
(1:20)
1) Gold
represents the presence of God.
2) Seven
represents completeness
The church is the light of the world
(Mt.5:14-16)
Philippians 2:15, “. . .that you may become blameless
and pure, children of God without
fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which
you shine like stars in the
universe as you hold out the word of life. .
.”
To fail at this means its removal (2:5)
1:13 . . .and among the
lampstands was someone “like a son of
man,”
Daniel 7:13 shows one like the “son of
man” being ushered into the ancient of days
(God)
Ezekiel 1
Here we complete Jesus as
being introduced as:
1) the Prophet (1:1),
2) the King (1:5) and
3) here as the Priest
(1:13)
Jesus presence is always with the
churches and in whatever condition they find
themselves.
Matthew 28:20, “I am with you always,
even to the end of the age.”
Jesus may seem to be gone, but his
presence is promised and seen in the churches through out the
church age.
Christ’s presence assures us of the
victory of completing his work in the
earth.
1:13 . . .dressed in a robe
reaching down to his feet and with a golden sash
around his chest.
The Greek phrase for “robe reaching
down to his feet” is used 6 of 7 times in the LXX to
refer to the High Priest.
The High Priest also wore a sash across
his robe. Exodus
28:4; Lev. 16:4
The High Priest
was a representative of two parties: God and man.
The same is true for Jesus.
He is our High Priest who
represents God to
us.
He also represents us to God.
We are not alone. Jesus does not stand
as our High Priest to judge us, but to assist us, to protect
us, to give us the best case before God that he
can.
See Hebrews 2:17-18; 3:1; 4:14,
15;
9:11-12
Romans
8:33-34
1:14 His head and
hair were white like wool, as white as snow and his
eyes
were like blazing
fire.
1. Christ is the Truth
of the church
“his head, that is his hair” is the
correct Greek matches Daniel 7:9 and Isaiah
1:18
Christ is the absolute pureness, light
and truth of God.
2. Christ is the
Evaluator of the church
Eyes blazing with fire is seen again in
letter to Thyatira (2:18) and in
19:12.
These eyes penetrate and see everything
including the purposes of men’s
hearts.
These eyes are the fire of evaluation
for the church (1 Corinthians
3:13)
Here the context is he is seeing the
seven churches.
1:15 His feet were
like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was
like the
sound of rushing waters.
3. Christ is the Judge
of the church and the one who dispenses
discipline
Bronze speaks of judgment
Kings in the ancient world always sat
high enough on their throne to have their feet at a
higher
level than those who stood before them. Their feet symbolized
their authority
and judgment.
This is still in the context of the
church. Jesus is
moving through his church as the judge to
chastise and deal out
punishment.
Hebrews
12:5-10
4. Christ is the
Commander of the Church
Loud voice is similar to Ezekiel 43:2
and Exodus 19:16-20
This is the voice that will command the
dead to live (Jn. 5:28-29)
In Matthew 17:5 God said, “This is my
beloved Son. . .listen to Him!”
In these last days God has spoken to us
in His Son (Heb. 1:1-2)
1:16 In his right hand he
held seven stars, and out of his mouth came a sharp double-edged
sword.
5. Christ is the Head
of the church
Ephesians 4:15 and
5:23
Colossians
1:18
The seven stars are “the angels of the
seven churches (1:20)
This indicates control and
protection.
John 10:28 “no one can snatch them out
of my hand”
The double edged sword from Christ’s
mouth is seen in
2:16
19:15
19:21
Consider Romans 13:4 “bear the sword”
where the sword is a symbol of executive and criminal
jurisdiction or the government. The sword in Romans 13
represents the power of judgment and punishment that rests
with the government.
Here Jesus is said to have the sword
coming out of his mouth.
Judgment and punishment rests with the words of
Jesus. The judge
of the churches is Jesus. He is also the
ultimate judge over the governments of man who cause the
church trouble in the days of John and through out
time.
1:16 His face was like the
sun shining in all its
brilliance.
The word “face” is “opsis”
(oyis) means “appearance, outward
appearance, face.”
Here it is focused on the “face” of Jesus but it should
be understood that his whole appearance is like that of the
sun.
See Matthew
17:2
1:17 When I saw him, I fell
at his feet as though dead. Then he placed
his right hand on me and
said:
Joshua
5:14
Eaek. 1:28
Dan
8:17
Dan. 10:15
Matt. 17:6; Acts
26:14
Jesus places his right hand on John
1:17 “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the
Last.”
The command “Do not be afraid” is not
given without logical reasons:
1) I am
the First and the Last.
2) I am
the Living One.
3) I was
dead. (emphasis on
“was”)
4) I am
alive for ever and ever.
5) I hold
the keys of death.
6) I hold
the keys of Hades
The “first and the last” is similar to
“the alpha and omega”
(1:8).
In 22:13 these two titles are combined
along with a third “the beginning and the
end.”
See Isaiah 48:12 “I am the first and I
am the last; apart from me there is no
God.”
1:18 “I am the Living One; I was dead,
and behold I am alive for ever and ever!
And I
hold the keys of death and
Hades.”
The “Living One” conquered death and is
alive forever and ever.
He has sovereign power and control over both death on
the earth and the abode of the dead,
Hades.
In ancient mythology Hecate, an
underworld goddess, held the keys of
Hades.
1:19 “Write, therefore, what you have
seen, what is now and what will take place
later.”
“what you have seen” refers to so far
in chapter one.
John writes the things that had
happened so far in this vision.
(1:10-16)
“what is now” refers to the current
state of the churches referred to in the seven cities (2 and
3)
“what will take place later” refers to
future events recorded in the book of Revelation.
(4-22)
1:20 The mystery of the
seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden
lampstands is this:
1:20 The seven stars are
the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven
churches.
In Daniel 2:47 Nebuchadnezer says:
“Surely your God is the God of gods and the Lord of
kings
and a revealer of mysteries, for
you were able to reveal this
mystery.”
In this verse Jesus shows he is the
revealer of mysteries by stating plainly what the stars and
the lampstands mean.
It is simple and it is
plain:
The stars are the
angels of the seven churches
The lampstands are the seven
churches
The “angels” (aggeloi means “messenger, angel”) of the
church could be:
1) human beings (as in Matthew 11:10, “I will send my
messenger (aggelon)ahead
of you. . .” also luke 7:24; 9:52; James
2:25)
a)
pastor
b) prominent church
official
c) delegates sent from the churches to Patmos to confer
with John
2) heavenly beings known as angels (sixty times in
Revelation aggelos
b) heavenly representatives or counterparts (Peter’s
angel Acts 12:15)
3) a personification of the spirit, attitude or inward
state of the church
These are not heavenly angels
because:
a) They
are told to repent in Revelation 2:4-5, 14, 20; 3:1-3, 15, 17,
19
b) Angels
are never in leadership of the church
because
* The entire period of the cross and the church and the
rapture and the setting
aside of Israel were a mystery to everyone until it was
revealed by Jesus
to his disciples and his
apostles
The Mysteries:
Matthew 13:11
The church
1 Corinthians 15:51 The
rapture
Romans 11:25
The setting aside of
Israel
* The angels taught Daniel, (but skipped
the church age.)
* The angels are taught in the church age by the church
“. . .things that have now been told you by those who
have preached the
gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels
long to look into these
things.”
* The angels assist the church but never teach the
church
c) The
transfer of information for Jesus to the churches would not
make sense if it were:
From Jesus told to John. .
.
Written by John to be read by an angel. .
.
Taken by an angel to the church. .
.
Received in the church by . .
.?
a) an angel preaching on a
Sunday
b) an angel mystically causing the book of
Revelation to appear on the
pulpit
c) an angel sitting down with the pastor and
explaining things.
The transfer of information would have
gone:
Jesus to a man to an angel to a
group of men
There is nothing like this in all of
scripture.
We find:
Jesus to an angel to a man (or,
men)
Jesus to a man to a man (or, a
group)
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