“Revelation 1:1-3”

Thursday, November 23, 2017

“The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond-servants, the things which must soon take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.”

---End of Scripture verses---

This letter about “Jesus Christ” was given by God the Father to “His angel” who “communicated it” to the Apostle John (verse 1). God entrusted His message to His “bond-servant” in order to “reveal” something that had been previously hidden from the mind of mankind. The Greek word translated “Revelation” (“apokalupsis”) literally means “an uncovering”. While much of the truth of this message was written so as to be hidden from the enemies of its original recipients, God’s main purpose was to encourage His faithful children to stay the course and remain strong in the faith in the face of strong opposition and persecution.

John was inspired to write about “things which must soon take place.” The very first verse of the letter poses a major problem for people today who look to the ultimate fulfillment of its promises taking place in their own, current lifetimes. When the Apostle wrote, “the time is near” for the “words of the prophecy” to be fulfilled (verse 3), it seems absurd to conclude that he was referring to the 21st century as the target date. It is equally as irrational to think that the original recipients would have taken any solace in the idea that Christ would deliver on His word nearly 2000 years removed from the original delivery date of the letter. The visions of the “The Apocalypse” were not fulfilled immediately but they began to unfold “soon” after the decrees made by the Lord.

“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear…and heed the things which are written” (verse 3). This is the first of seven “Beatitudes” pronounced in the book of Revelation (Revelation 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7; 22:14). To be “blessed” is to find the Lord’s joy and fulfillment that ensues upon learning, believing and obeying His perfect will. As we will see in the course of this study, numbers have great symbolic significance in the book of Revelation, and “seven,” the number of “perfection” is used the most often. The “he who reads” was probably the person selected from each congregation to publicly read the letter to “those” assembled to “hear the words” and “heed the things” written therein. God promises us His richest spiritual blessings when we “read” His word, and “hear” His will, and “heed” His blessed commandments. This is true of the last book of the Bible, and the first book of the Bible, and all of His inspired revelation that lies in between. We must read God’s will, but we must be doers of His word and not hearers only if we desire to be blessed by Him (James 1:22-25).

Please read Revelation 1:4-8 for tomorrow.

Have a blessed day!

-Louie Taylor

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