Revelation 1:1

THE APOCALYPSE

INTRODUCTION

(Revelation 1-3)

REV:1

The predominating thought in this chapter is that of the exalted and glorified Christ amidst the congregations of his church, his constant attendance with them and concern for them being represented in this chapter as a fact connected not merely with the salvation of people, but especially with the execution of judgment, not merely upon the church alone, but upon all people. The judgment is the theme of Revelation, and that subject is stated in the master-sentence of the whole book in Revelation 1:7. In the first paragraph (Revelation 1:1-3), the writer introduces himself, states the nature of what he is about to write, and pronounces a double beatitude upon those who read, and upon those who hear and keep the words of the prophecy. The second paragraph (Revelation 1:4-8) contains the salutation to the original recipients of Revelation and a noble doxology in which appears the grand thesis of the whole book. The third paragraph (Revelation 1:9-20) has the introductory vision of the Christ glorified, the details of which strongly emphasize his character and office as the Judge of all people.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show unto his servants, even the things which must shortly come to pass: and he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John. (Revelation 1:1)

The Revelation of Jesus Christ ... Although the primary meaning of this phrase regards the source of the prophecy as having come from God through Jesus Christ, it is also true in the extended sense of being a revelation of the Son of God in his capacity as the judge appointed by the Almighty God himself and divinely commissioned to "execute judgment" (John 5:27). The word "Revelation," capitalized in the text, was so rendered in order to indicate the word as the title of the prophecy. It is translated from a Greek word [@apokalupsis], from which also comes the similar English word given to the book and also applied to a whole field of similar writings. It means "an unveiling."

The things which must shortly come to pass ... Scholars generally assume that this means: (1) either that all of Revelation was fulfilled within a very short time after John wrote, or (2) that such events as "the thousand years" and the final judgment were mistakenly believed by the apostle to lie in the near future. We simply cannot believe that either proposition is true. Caird declared that all of the events John prophesied were "expected to be accomplished quickly in their entirety."[1] Even the respected Foy E. Wallace, Jr., wrote that, "The word "shortly" denotes immediacy; the events applied to them, not to centuries after their time, and even yet to come.[2] The objection to the view in (1) is twofold: first, many of the events foretold in Revelation, notably the final judgment, did not take place "shortly"; and secondly, it is incorrect to suppose that the holy apostles of Christ erroneously "taught" that the end of all things would occur soon. It may be freely admitted that they may indeed have been mistaken in thinking such a thing; but, in fairness, it must be admitted that none of them either implied or declared the Second Advent to be an event in the immediate future. The statement before us teaches no such thing. The meaning of it is the same as when Jesus said, "The kingdom of God is at hand," meaning that the "beginning of it" was near at hand. Furthermore, the declaration of John in 4:1 that some of the things he prophesied were to "come to pass hereafter" categorically refutes such views. Regarding the view in (2), we heartily agree with McGuiggan who said:

The claim is made that the early church believed that the second coming was near in time; but this is just not true. They may have lived aware of the possibility of his coming soon, but that they believed he was coming soon is not at all established by the New Testament.[3]

Furthermore, such a figure as reigning with Christ "a thousand years" could not possibly have been written by one who believed the end of the world would occur in a few weeks. No matter what view of the prophecy is taken, the extensive treatment of the Second Advent and accompanying judgment of all mankind absolutely forbids the notion that all of this great prophecy has already been fulfilled. There are some who delight in attributing ignorance and misunderstanding to the New Testament writers, using their false interpretation of this verse to bolster their opinions. For a more thorough refutation of the false view that the apostles all expected the speedy return of Jesus, see in my Commentary on 1Thessalonians, pp. 18-20.

Signified it by his angel ... The use of angel (singular) here is strange, especially in view of the fact that a number of angels are seen in the course of the Revelation. Lenski's explanation of this has the ring of truth:

Such singulars are at times generic. "His angel" does not necessarily mean only one and the same angel. Any angel, now one, now another, would be Christ's (and God's) angel ... that conferred the commission on John.[4]

Unto his servant John ... The only person who ever lived in the first century, speaking with the great authority evident in Revelation, who could possibly have identified himself in these words, was the holy apostle John, the son of Zebedee, and author of the fourth Gospel and the three Johannine epistles. As Hendriksen expressed it:

We are thoroughly convinced that there was only one John who did not need to add "the apostle", for the very reason that he was the apostle! Besides, he does not call himself "the apostle" because he (in this book) wrote in his capacity as a seer (or prophet).[5]

Further comment on the authorship of this book is in the introduction.

[1] G. B. Caird, The Revelation of St. John the Divine (New York: Harper and Row, 1966), p. 12.

[2] Foy E. Wallace, Jr., The Book of Revelation (Nashville: Foy E. Wallace, Jr., Publications, 1966), p. 63.

[3] Jim McGuiggan, The Book of Revelation (West Monroe, Louisiana: William C. Johnson, 1976), p. 32.

[4] R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John's Revelation (Minneapolis, Minnesota: Augsburg Publishing House, 1943), p. 31.

[5] William Hendriksen, More Than Conquerors (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1956).