Bible Study: Revelation"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John: Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand." - Rev 1:1-3

We begin a new series this week - moving from the Law in the OT to the last book of the Bible. The purpose here is twofold - firstly, because as it says in our text above, those that read/hear/keep the words of this prophecy will be blessed, and it is our desire to be a blessing to you - second - to further illustrate our point that the Word is meant to be understood by lay persons with the talents our Lord has given us, and by the enlightenment of the Holy Spirit.
It would seem that Gods design is for every age to look for His imminent coming and live their lives accordingly. Certainly we cannot ever know the exact day and hour of His coming, just as Israel did not know when their Messiah was to come. Yet there are given to us signs that will let us know the approximate time, because - as the text tells us - God does not intend for us to be in the dark, but to understand what is happening around us. Israel was similarly given signs for them to discern the Messiah - he would be born in Bethlehem, live in Galilee, make the deaf hear, the blind see, the lame walk etc. Let us look at the first three verses in the Apocalypse (revelation) of St. John.

Note first, that this is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which GOD GAVE UNTO HIM. This is not information that the Son had, this was given to Him by the Father. In His earthly ministry, our Lord hinted that there were things that were the exclusive purview and domain of the Father (e.g. "But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father" - Mark 13:32). It is that revelation which is being spoken of here. The first verse plainly states that this Revelation was given to our Lord by God the Father, for Him in turn to give to His servants. He in turn gave it to John, who bare record of the Word of God, and the testimony of our Lord - which is what we are going to read here.

It is important to note that this book is a revealing (Apocalypsis). It means that our Lord INTENDS for us to understand it. There are those who say that what has been written is in the style of literature that makes liberal use of symbology that is understandable only to a select few. But stop and think! If God intended to reveal what He was doing, and Christ was faithful to reveal it to John, and John was faithful to record exactly what He saw, and what God intended Him to write.... why would God choose to hide His meaning if it was to designed to be understood? We will see that the book of Revelation clearly explains its symbology where symbology is used, else, if, it does not indicate that what is being described is symbolic, we will see that even interpreting it literally makes perfect sense and aligns with other scripture.It is not sufficient merely to read the Word, it is the meditation, and reflection on it all that yields to us its marrow and fatness!

Second, please note the purpose of the revelation. It was given to show his servants things which must shortly come to pass. Does this mean that the events stated here have already occurred? There are certainly those that hold to this view, and are of the opinion that Christ appeared in the skies around 70 AD (jerusalem destroyed), and we are living in a post-second coming age. Their views are certainly given weight by the historical happenings around that time but it is important to realize that prophecy often has both an immediate and future fulfillment. The immediate fulfillment authenticates the speaking prophet - else he would be at risk of being stoned for being a false prophet - the future fulfillment is given for other generations and indicates the omniscience of our God. We believe that this book contains information both about the past, as well as the present and future, based on the fact that some things have not yet happened. Again, this just reinforces the fact that we are MEANT to understand it with the assistance of the Holy Spirit, as indeed is true of ALL scripture!

Lastly, please note - the blessing is conditional. It is conditional on reading, hearing (which does not just mean audibly hearing but understanding it from the heart, paying diligent attention to it), and KEEPING. How can we be KEEPing what is written in here? The greek word here is TEREO, from teros which means A WATCH. This is not the watch of a guard over a prisoner, or a watchman on the wall of a tower. It means to keep one eye on this prophecy and the other on the world. There is a real blessing in understanding this book as it helps to make sense of everything we see in the world around us. It keeps our faith from faltering, rather, it strengthens it, as we see the fulfilment of everything noted here coming to pass. We need to keep our eyes open, and walk, not in darkness, but in the light, seeing all things through HIS eyes, and confident, that what He has said, HE WILL PERFORM!

We hope that you you will join us as we prayerfully seek to understand His Word, through His Spirit, and this we will do, God willing, over the next few months. "Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets." - Amos 3:7

Hallelujah!