Revelation 1:1-3 - Collection of Biblical Commentaries

Revelation 1:1-3
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Revelation 1:1-3
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.
Revelation 1:1-3
The Mystery of the Seven Stars and the Seven
Candlesticks.
The superscription:
v. 1. The revelation of Jesus Christ which God gave unto
Him to show unto His servants things which must shortly
come to pass; and he sent and signified it by His angel
unto His servant John;
v. 2. who bare record of the Word of God and of the
testimony of Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw.
v. 3. 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.
From the beginning the author claims for his book divine
authorship: The apocalypse of Jesus Christ, which God gave
Him, to show His servants what is bound to happen soon; and
He sent and signified it through His angel to His servant John.
Ordinarily the future is hidden from the eyes of men; the
knowledge of events that are yet to transpire is a matter of
God’s foreknowledge. But as He did in other cases, so He here
made a revelation, a disclosure; He drew aside the veil which
hides the mysteries of the future from the eyes of the believers.
It was a revelation on the part of Jesus Christ, which had been
communicated to the Son by the Father, the only-begotten Son
of God thus again acting as a messenger and prophet in making

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known to men the truth of God. This message was directed to
the servants of the Lord, to the Christians, and its contents
consisted in the relation of certain events which were bound to
happen soon according to the will and knowledge of God,
happenings of great importance in the history of the Church. In
thus uncovering the future, the Lord sent His message through
an angel, one of the spirits whose work consists in serving Him,
in carrying out His commands. He signified, or revealed, it to
John in visions, not in express words and exact language, but in
pictures, whose significance is, to some extent, explained.
In this manner the message was to be brought to men: Who
bore witness of the Word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus
Christ, what he saw. John was the instrument or means in
spreading the message which he had received. The content of
his testimony was the Word of God, the Word which came from
God and spoke of God, and the witness of Jesus Christ the
Savior. The entire apostolic doctrine is this message of God and
of His Son Jesus Christ, in whom He revealed Himself. But in
this book John embodied those special truths of the Gospel
which he saw in the visions which were vouchsafed to him in
such a miraculous manner.
Of the readers he says in a very general manner: Blessed he
that reads and they that hear the word of the prophecy and hold
firmly to that which is written in it; for the time is near. This is
the first of the seven beatitudes in the Book of Revelation, and
is purposely set at the head of the book as a whole. Not all the
Christians of those days were able to read, since many of them
were slaves. Therefore both he that read the words of this
message to others and they that listened to, and heeded, its
contents are called blessed. For it is not enough to read and
hear the prophecy, the Word of the Lord, in a mere mechanical
manner, for it is not mere prediction that we are concerned with
in these pages, but religious truth and instruction in the way of
salvation. It requires a careful and firm keeping, an observing of
its injunctions, a relying upon its comforting promises in
steadfast faith, Luk 11:28. This attitude is required all the more

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strongly since "the time" is near, we are living in God’s last hour
of the world. As Luther says, this is no time for being slothful
and sleeping. Prayerful vigilance must characterize The
Christians in these last days of sore distress.
Revelation 1:1-3
THE REVELATION OF THE LIVING CHRIST
CRITICAL AND EXEGETICAL NOTES
Rev 1:1. The revelation of Jesus Christ.—This may mean,
“belonging to, or proceeding from, Jesus Christ,” or it may be
the revelation concerning Jesus Christ; i.e., the partial unfolding
of what He, as the living one, is doing, and will do, with His
Church in the world. The mystery which has to be unfolded is
this: for what purpose is the redeemed Church left in the world,
and made subject to the varied influences of calamities, national
changes, persecutions, and temptations? The revelation of the
mystery is the present relation in which Jesus Christ is standing
to His Church, and the purpose concerning it which He is
outworking, and for which He is using these various, and
apparently strange, instrumentalities. God gave unto him.—
I.e., God permitted him to reveal so much as is in his book for
the comfort and encouragement of the Church. The full mystery
must ever be hid in God; but revelations may be made to men
within limitations which the Divine wisdom provides. Under the
Old-Testament economy, faithful souls were helped and cheered
by partial disclosures of the Divine plans and purposes, through
the agencies of the prophets; and in the New-Testament
economy the discourses concerning the last things given by our
Lord, the prophecies of St. Paul and St. Peter, and the
Apocalypse of St. John, are analogous to the work of the older
prophets. Shortly.—There can be no doubt that the apostle’s
mind was full of the coming events of his own time, but these
events are properly regarded as typical of the events which
recur in every age, and are used by the Living Christ for the
discipline of His Church. By His angel.—The visible agent in the
Divine communication (Rev 10:8, Rev 17:7, Rev 22:8, etc.).
John.—The reason for calling himself “servant” rather than
“apostle” does not appear; but that the author of the work is the

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beloved apostle seems to be beyond reasonable doubt. He is the
apostle of Christ’s higher nature and living relations.
Rev 1:2. Bare record.—Or had already borne record. The
expression seems to refer to St. John’s earlier work of teaching,
if not to the gospel and epistles he had written. (Some regard
the Apocalypse as his first work.) Prophecy.—A term used in
the sense of “disclosure,” as well as “foretelling.” A prophecy
may reveal a meaning; the time element is not essential to it.
“Any declaration of the principles of the Divine government, with
indications of their exemplification in coming history, is a
prophecy. The prophecy gives us the rule, with some typical
application illustrative of its method of working; after history
affords us the working out of various examples.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.—Rev 1:1-3
The Mission of Prophecy.—We are familiar with the fact that God
never brings judgments on either nations, families, or
individuals, without giving them previous warnings, and
opportunities of repentance. It is equally certain, though by no
means so fully recognised, that God does not give rewards and
blessings to His faithful servants without first cheering them
with promises and prophecies. Hope is a most inspiring and
ennobling grace, and in every age God has held before His
people something to hope for. The assurance and prophecies of
Old-Testament Scripture were the cheer of God’s saints through
long periods of depression and anxiety. For them the curtain of
the future was lifted, and they saw something of the good time
coming. As we apprehend the conditions of the Christian
Churches, and especially the Gentile Churches, in the days of
St. John, we can recognise the grace shown in thus sending
them this revelation of things that “must shortly come to pass.”
The commotions of that age might well seem overwhelming.
The persecutions imperilled the Church’s life. What could bring
cheer to fainting hearts like this assurance that the Living Lord
was working amid it all in behalf of His Church? and this
prophecy that, out of all the conflict, and the stress, the Church
would come purified and perfected, a bride fit for the Sinless

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One?
I. Prohpecy dispels all idea of chance as ruling the
world.—It does not matter whether by chance is meant a series
of accidents, or the outworking of fixed laws—prophecy, as a
forthtelling and foretelling of things to come, makes it
impossible to believe in chance, or mere law. There must be
intelligence—and an intelligent One—discerning the future, and
making it a moral power in the present. One verified prophecy
would witness for the being of God.
II. Prophecy delivers from all fear of the schemes of
men.—If we could only look down, we should only see what
men were doing. Those early Christians might easily become
hopelessly distressed as they watched the schemes of men in
their day. Prophecy delivered them, by making them look on,
and see how vain men’s schemes would prove, and how
certainly God was making the very wrath of men praise Him.
The future, unfolded before them, showed plainly that God knew
“how to deliver the godly out of (men’s) persecution.”
III. Prophecy occupies the thought and heart of men with
comforting considerations.—The best relief from the strain of
what is, may be found in meditating on what shall be. We must
live in our to-day for the doing of our duty. We may live in God’s
to-morrow for the comfort and good cheer of our souls. There
are lessons to be learned from the past. There are fears to be
felt in the present. But there are hopes to cheer us in the
pictures of the future God graciously gives. It is not healthy to
dwell on the future as a mere storehouse of good things which
we are going to enjoy; but it is healthy to dwell on the future as
the time of the full and manifested triumph of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And that is the prophecy of this book.
IV. Prophecy of what is to be acts as a persuasion to men
to seek what must be now, if they are to share the good
prophesied.—See Rev 1:3. All God’s good things are ours—
only on conditions; and those conditions are to be met now, in

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our present relations. There are endurances of present
tribulation; steadfastnesses under present strain, witnesses
amid present opposition; maintenances of loyalty, even at cost
of suffering; and personal purities to keep while surrounded with
defiling Paganism; and the prophecy of what is to be inspires to
persistent endeavour. The prophecy that says we shall walk with
Christ in white is a present incentive to getting white and
keeping white. The revelation given to the Church through St.
John is really a prophecy, and intended to have on the early
Christians the usual moral power belonging to all Divine
prophecies.
SUGGESTIVE NOTES AND SERMON SKETCHES
Rev 1:1. Revelation of Christ in the Church.—The action of
Christ is seen throughout the book. It is Christ who bids John
write to the Seven Churches; it is Christ who opens the Seven
Seals (Rev 6:1); who reveals the sufferings of the Church (Rev
6:9); who offers the prayers of the saints (Rev 8:3); and
delivers the little book to John (Rev 10:1-11). Thus it is seen
that, though the rise and fall of earth’s history is included in the
revelation, it is a revelation also of a living person. It is not the
dull, dead, onward flow of circumstances, but the lives of men
and nations seen in the light of Him who is the light of every
man, and the life of all history; and thus we learn that “only a
living person can be the Alpha and Omega, the starting point of
creation and its final rest.” The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of
this prophecy as of all others.—Bishop Boyd Carpenter.
The Christian Hope.—From the beginning of its history,
humanity has lived in a state of expectation, of disquieting
fears, and of glorious hopes. “The seed of the woman shall
bruise the serpent’s head”—this prophecy contains already an
indication of the formidable struggles which are impending, and
of the assured final victory. This expectation concentrated and
purified itself in the heart of the people of Israel, which was ever
attracted towards the future, and whose fervent aspirations
were met on their upward way towards heaven by the prophecy
which was descending from thence to meet it. Through Jesus

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this Divine aspiration became that of the Church; and the book
of the Apocalypse is the precious vessel in which this treasure of
Christian hope has been deposited for all ages of the Church,
but especially for the Church under the Cross.—F. Godet, D.D.
For the life of St. John, see Introduction to his epistles.
ILLUSTRATIONS TO CHAPTER 1
Rev 1:1. A Legend about John.—The following is narrated by
John Cassian, a hermit of the fifth century, and it is also told by
St. Anthony and others. In his old age the apostle used to find
pleasure in the attachment of a bird which he had tamed—a
partridge. One day, as he held it in his bosom, and was gently
stroking it, a huntsman suddenly approached, and, wondering
that one so illustrious should take such a trivial amusement, he
asked, “Art thou that John whose singular renown has inspired
even me with a great desire to know thee? How, then, canst
thou occupy thyself with an employment so humble?” The
apostle replied, “What is that in thy hand?” He answered, “A
bow.” “And why dost thou not always carry it bent?” “Because,”
he answered, “it would in that case lose its strength; and when
it was necessary to shoot, it would fail, from the too continuous
strain.” “Then let not this slight and brief relaxation of mine, O
young man, perplex thee,” answered the apostle; “since without
it the spirit would flag from the unremitted strain, and fail when
the call of duty came.”—Biblical Things.
Revelation 1:1-3
(1) 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:
(2) Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of
Jesus Christ, and of all things that he saw. (3) 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.
This is most properly assigned to Jesus Christ, the revelation
herein given to John. For as none was found worthy to open the
book and to loose the seals, but Christ himself as Mediator, so

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all revelation, primarily and effectually, must be in him and from
him. And I beg the Reader by the way, not to overlook in this
relation given of Christ, how very fully it proclaims, his eternal
power and Godhead, since none but one that hath
foreknowledge, could foretell future events. And although in this
place, Christ is here spoken of, as the Christ of God, the
Mediator, yet such powers demonstrate, what all the scriptures,
with one voice declare, that Christ is both God and Man, in this
most blessed character. No sooner was Christ set as Jehovah’s
Ring in Zion, than he instantly acts in that high office, and saith,
I will declare the decree. Compare Rev 5:6 and Rev 5:8 with Psa
2:6-7.
By the phrase of things which must shortly come to pass, can
mean no more, than their beginning to be accomplished. For
very certain it is, that we are now arrived into the opening of
the nineteenth Century; and though much hath been fulfilled,
much remains yet to be accomplished. But the commencement
of the predictions and events then delivered to John, were
shortly to be accomplished in part, and thus go on from
generation to generation, until the whole were finished.
John was specially chosen, to have these sacred things brought
before him, and to deliver them to the Church, for he had
enjoyed a more than ordinary acquaintance with the Person of
his Lord, during his ministry upon earth. And under the Holy
Ghost, had borne a most decided testimony to the Lord Jesus
and his office - character, as the uncreated Word and the Christ
of God, Joh 1:14; 1Jn 1:1-3. Reader! do not overlook the
blessedness pronounced on reading, hearing, and keeping in
remembrance the glorious records, here given to the Person,
and Ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a great
encouragement to be diligent in our attention, to this most
precious book of God. Oh! may the Holy Ghost open its blessed
contents to my view, and write them in my heart; that God in all
things may be glorified through Jesus Christ.
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The Apocalypse, or Revelation. I rather prefer the word
Apocalypse, which the Latin interpreter did not think fit to
change. --- Of Jesus Christ....by his Angel, sent to his servant,
John. So that these things were immediately revealed to St.
John by an Angel, who represented and spoke in the person of
Christ.--- Which must shortly come; and as it is again said, (ver.
3.) the time is at hand. This cannot be meant of all things in the
Apocalypse, where mention is also made of the day of
judgment, and of the glory of heaven at the end of the world. It
can only mean, that some things were to happen shortly, i.e.
what is said of the seven churches. (Chap. ii. and iii.) Or the
persecutions foretold should begin shortly. Or else these
expressions are only to signify, that all time is short, and that
from the coming of the Messias, we are not in the last age, or
the last hour. See 1Jn 2:18 (Witham) --- St. John excites their
attention by the most pressing motives, the approach of the
events. Whatever explanation be given of this book, it is equally
true in all, that the time is at hand, when it will begin to be
accomplished. To find our consolation and happiness in this
sacred book, according to the promise of the Holy Spirit, we
must peruse it with faith and humility, receive the interpretation
of the Church with submission and docility, and practise the
truths contained with fidelity and promptitude. What is the life
of man, since ages are but moments that escape us? Eternity is
but a moment, but a moment that will never end.
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The Revelation. Apocalypse, or uncovering, so the Greek word
means. The curtain of the future is lifted.
Of Jesus Christ. The revelation is made by Jesus Christ. See
chapter 5.
God gave him to shew. See chapter 5. He who sits on the
throne gave to the Son the sealed book of the future to open it.
Shortly come to pass. The series of events began to unfold in
a few years after John wrote, and has rolled on through all the
centuries. Lange renders the Greek translated "shortly" by the
phrase "in quick succession," which is nearly its meaning. It
implies successive order.

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He sent and signified. The things "which must shortly come to
pass."
By his angel. Here, and throughout the Apocalypse the office
of unveiling the different scenes appears to be assigned to a
particular angel. See Rev 4:1; Rev 21:9; Rev 22:1; Rev 22:8,
etc.
To his servant John. A usual designation of the prophets. See
Isa 49:5; Amo 3:7; Rev 19:10.
Who bare record. John is meant, who made the record of all
he saw and heard.
Blessed is he that readeth. There is a reference to the
custom that had already grown up, at the close of the first
century, of reading the apostolic writings publicly in the
churches. The benediction is pronounced on the public reader;
on those that hear, and lastly upon those that keep the words
contained in this prophecy.
The time is at hand. The period to which the prophecy relates
is near.
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The Revelation of Jesus Christ.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ
I. The Revelation, or Apocalypse.
1. This sacred book is called the Revelation, or Apocalypse,
to express its origin. It is the Word of the living God, given
by Divine inspiration, and invested with Divine authority.
2. It is called the Apocalypse to express its nature. It gives a
blessed manifestation of the character, counsels, and
dealings of God.
3. It is called the Apocalypse, to express its object. There is
an objective revelation of the character and will of God which
is given in His Word; of the great plan of mercy which is
given in the gospel; of the great events of Providence which
are given in sacred prophecy.
4. It is called the Apocalypse, to express its subject. There is

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a subjective revelation experienced by the saint, consisting in
the saving illumination of the Spirit (Mat 11:25; Psa 119:18).
5. It is called the Apocalypse, to express its great design.
The word signifies to remove the veil that conceals an object
from view.
6. There is, notwithstanding this glorious manifestation,
considerable darkness resting on this book. It is denominated
“The mystery of God.” This obscurity arises from the depth of
the counsels of heaven, from the symbolical language in
which they are revealed, from the prophetical nature of the
sacred book. But amid all the mystery with which it is
enveloped, there is a light within the cloud to illuminate and
cheer.
II. The revelation of Jesus Christ.
1. It is a revelation from Him as the great Author, and the
great Medium, and the great Depositary, and the great
Dispenser of Divine revelation, and all its hopes, promises,
and blessings.
2. It is a revelation concerning Him as the great subject, the
sum and substance of the glorious gospel.
3. It is a revelation through Him, as the medium of Divine
communication, as the great Prophet and Teacher of the
Church.
4. It is a revelation to Him as the great object, the end, the
proprietor of the oracles of heaven. It is His—His own
peculiar charge, ant His own Divine prerogative. In Him all
the lines of Divine truth centre; from Him all the beams of its
glory irradiate; to Him all the prophets gave witness.
III. The great design of this sacred charge.
1. The nature of this design. It is “to show.” This partially
explains the word “revelation,” which is to make manifest

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what was before concealed. It also explains the word
“signified,” which is to show verbally, in plain language; or
symbolically, by signs or symbols.
2. The persons to whom this design is made known. They are
“servants”—the servants of God, by a devout and voluntary
surrender of themselves. They are not only servants, but
they are kings and priests. To these distinguished servants
God’s holy will is given. The secret of the Lord is with them
that fear Him; and He will show them His covenant.
3. The objects revealed.
4. The time of fulfilment—“Things that must shortly come to
pass.”
(1) This may be viewed personally, as referring to
ourselves as individuals. The time of our departure is at
hand. “Lord teach us to number our days, that we may
apply our hearts to wisdom.”
(2) It may be viewed generally. The time is at hand with
regard to the Church, and the end of the world, and the
day of judgment.
(3) It may be viewed comparatively. The time is short
when we view it in connection with eternity.
(4) It may be viewed progressively with respect to the
nature, the order, and arrangement of Divine operation—
the time is at hand.
5. As the message was important, so the messenger was
honourable: “He sent and signified it by His angel unto His
servant John.”
(1) The message, and how it was delivered. He signified
and testified, or showed it; He made it manifest by plain
words, direct testimony, and by signs or symbols (Hos
12:10).

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(2) The person that sent—“He sent.” God the Father sent
His angel to His servant John. The Lord Jesus sent His
angel: I, Jesus, sent Mine angel to testify to you these
things in the Churches.
(3) The messenger sent was “His angel.” All the holy
angels are His by creation, providence, electing love,
confirming grace, and sacred office. But some He selects
for distinguished services. (James Young.)
The design of the book and reward for its study
There is an irresistible charm in lofty eminences. There is
exhilaration in ascending them, though attended, often, With
much fatigue. Similar should be the charm of this wondrous
book.
I. The title—“The Revelation of Jesus Christ.”
II. The design. “To show unto His servants,” dec.
III. The special promise. “Blessed is he that readeth,” etc. (D.
C. Hughes.)
The preface
I. Its original source is expressed in the title which the author
gives to his book: It is a revelation of Jesus Christ, and not the
revelation; as though it were the only one which He has given,
or the only one which He gave to His servant John. There may
be a reference in this term to the special design of this book to
reveal the time and manner of the Saviour’s coming. It was an
exciting topic then, as it is now; and many were the conflicting
sentiments that were entertained concerning the apocalypse, or
revelation of Jesus Christ. It is styled “a Revelation of Jesus
Christ,” because in His mediatorial person, as Immanuel, or
God-man, and in His official capacity as the great Prophet and
Teacher of His Church, He was the principal party in making it
known. Yet in this, as in every other part of His work, He acts by
delegated authority from the Father, and in subserviency to His
will. Not less in heaven than on earth, in His glorification than in

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the scenes of His humiliation, is He the medium of
communication between God and His redeemed. This revelation
was given to Jesus Christ “to show unto His servants.” It was
given to Christ to reveal to others. He knew them before. The
revelation was not made for Him, but for Him to make known.
The persons to whom He is empowered to reveal them are “His
servants.” The servants of Christ, or of God, are the redeemed.
This He is ready to do by His Word, and the teaching of His
Spirit.
II. Of the general character of these contents we are thus
informed: they are “things which must shortly come to pass.” It
is not a history of the past, nor a record of the present, but a
prophecy of the future. It is not a mass of conjecture, but of
certainties. Though pending upon the fickleness of human
passions, the whole future course of events is as unalterably
fixed as the past.
III. We are informed to whom this revelation, in the first
instance, was made known. “He sent and signified it … unto His
servant John.” He teaches one, that this one may teach many.
Ministers should look for their teaching immediately from Christ.
John had borne a faithful testimony of the things which had
been, and now he is to bear record of the things that should be
hereafter. Those who have evinced a sound judgment, and
given a faithful record of things which are, and have been, are
best qualified to treat of things to come.
IV. We are informed of the manner in which this revelation was
communicated by Jesus Christ to His servant John: “He sent and
signified it by His angel.” God gives the revelation to Jesus
Christ, and He to an angel, and the angel to John. The word
“angel,” which simply signifies a messenger, is not applied in
Scripture exclusively to that particular order of beings of which
it is the generic term. What more natural to conclude than that
saints carry with them their prevailing disposition to heaven;
and that the saint whose heart was most interested in the
events here recorded should have been selected by Christ as His

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messenger to John? We have Moses and Elias appearing in
angelic forms to our Lord upon the mount. Why not Isaiah or
Jeremiah, or Daniel, to John in the isle of Patmos?
V. We are informed of the purpose for which this revelation was
recorded. It was for our study and observance; “Blessed is he
that readeth,” etc. Whoever undertakes to read the Divine Word
to ethers, shall be blessed in his deed. While he is reading new
light will burst upon the sacred page, and his own mind will be
instructed. The hearers too will be blessed. Few, if any methods,
are better adapted to ascertain the meaning of Scripture, and to
impress it upon the mind, than its being read by one and
afterwards made the subject of mutual inquiry and observation.
The multiplication of copies ought not to have superseded this
wholesome practice. Let the reading and familiar discussion of
all parts of the sacred volume once become general, and a
blessing, as the dew of Hermon, will descend upon the
mountains of Zion. The particular reason for the blessedness
which would accompany the study of this book is given in the
concluding observation: “for the time is at hand.” This had a
special application to the Churches to which it is first addressed.
It was an intimation to them that the first events of the series in
which they were principally concerned would speedily occur. It
was needful, therefore, that they should take them at once into
serious consideration. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. Let
them avail themselves of these preadmonitions, and they would
experience the blessedness of those who are prepared for the
conflict and sure of final victory. Conclusion:
1. The Church is entrusted with the observation and
improvement of events as they rise.
2. It must adapt itself to external changes in the use of
appointed means.
3. Prophecy is intended to point out the direction in which its
energies should be employed. (G. Rogers.)

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Divine revelations
Christians are not confined to this world in their enjoyments of
life. They not merely behold the things of men, but also the
things of God; not merely the things of time, but also those of
eternity.
I. They proceed from the infinite source of knowledge and love.
1. God is the primal author of spiritual revelations. He is the
source of light, and alone can cause it to shine from heaven
into the heart of man.
2. Christ is the sympathetic medium of spiritual revelations.
St. John is here writing of Him as having ascended to heaven
with a Divine-human nature.
3. Varied messengers are the communicating agencies of
revelation. Angelic ministeries are interested in the
instruction of the good. Who was the messenger here
employed? It would seem that prophetic fires were kindled in
some ancient seer who had entered upon his heavenly rest,
and that he was employed to uncover to the imprisoned
apostle the sublime visions of this book.
II. They are given to those engaged in the moral service of the
universe. “To show unto His servants.”
1. They are not given to the nationally presumptuous. These
have other visions more welcome to their ambitious spirits—
visions of fame. They would rather dream of servile crowds
paying them transient homage, than be permitted the
grandest revelation of heaven that is possible to human soul.
2. They are not given to the socially great. They are not
given to kings by virtue of their kinghood. They are not given
to the warrior in acknowledgment of his victory. They are not
given to the wealthy in praise of their industry and thrift.
They are rather given to the humble, to the poor in spirit, to

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the pure in heart, to the loving servants of the Lord.
3. They are not given to the intellectually wise. To untutored
minds, but of heavenly thought, things Divine are made
known, far grander than are suspected by the students of
earthly things. They are given to the good—
(1) Because the good are in sympathy with God.
(2) Because the good will live under the influence of the
revelation.
(3) Because the good will be faithful to the revelation.
III. They are given at times of solitude and grief.
1. The good man’s solitude is never lonely. But when earth is
far removed, when the hurry of business and the excitement
of pleasure are behind, then come those heavenly visions
which so enrich the soul.
2. God does not forsake His faithful servants in their time of
need. In the furnace we get bright visions of the Son of Man.
IV. They are designed to interpret the eventful ages of
mankind.
1. Man is unable to interpret the spiritual meaning of the
ages.
2. The moral significance of the ages ought to engage our
most careful study.
Lessons:
1. Adore the condescension of God in revealing Himself to
man.
2. Praise the glory of God which He has manifested to your
soul in time of vision.
3. Live and write the spiritual revelations of the Eternal. (J.
S. Exell, M. A.)

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Aspects of human history
I. As a revelation. Christ reveals the future history of mankind—
1. By disclosing its essential principles.
2. By the dispensations of Providence.
II. As a record.
1. Here is a commission from heaven to record certain
things.
2. Here is a commission from heaven to reveal certain
things, addressed to a man.
3. Here is a commission from heaven to record certain
things, addressed to a man of the highest moral class.
III. As a study.
1. Historic events are of moral significance.
2. The moral significance involves a Divine law.
3. In practical obedience to this Divine law there is true
happiness. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
To show unto His servants things which must shortly
come to pass.
Christ’s cabinet council
For the behoof and benefit of the family of faith who are all of
Christ’s cabinet council. (J. Trapp.)
Timely warning
I. Timely revelation. “To show unto His servants things which
must shortly come to pass.” There was a time when we did not
see into the evil of sin as we were afterwards led to do. There
was a time when we did not see into the infallible certainty of
the judgment of God as we did when the Lord was pleased to
cause the weighty matters of judgment to sink down deep into
our souls. Then the question was, How are we to escape this
tremendous evil? What, then, is to be done? Some of us ran one
way, and some another; but ere long the Lord showed unto us
that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
II. confirmation. Now these are the servants of the Lord that

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are thus brought to serve Him in newness of spirit, and not in
the oldness of the letter; that are thus brought to serve Him,
not at Mount Gerizim, nor at Jerusalem, nor any other earthly
locality, but brought to serve Him in spirit and in truth, and
consequently to worship Him everywhere. And we need
confirming in these things, or else our unbelief, our many
infirmities, our many trials, would put an end to His religion.
And so we need confirming from time to time in God’s truth in
order to keep us pursuing. How does the Lord confirm us now?
Is it not by a fresh manifestation of the redeeming power of the
blood of the Lamb? Is it not by a fresh opening up unto us of
the excellency of the atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ?
III. direction. What a mercy this is! It is a great thing to be
guided by the Lord; there is not anything too hard for Him. I
have found it good in my time to watch the hand of the Lord in
all these things. So, then, “to show unto His servants,” to direct
them; and He does in many of His dealings say, “What! do thou
knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.”
IV. The things that were shortly to come to pass. How there are
two orders of things that were shortly to come to pass; one very
unpleasant, and the other exceedingly pleasant. Well, you and I
know not what troubles lie in our path yet, but there is not
anything too hard for the Lord. I am not going to look to coming
troubles—that is not my business, “Sufficient unto the day is the
evil thereof.” So, then, if tribulation shall abound, consolation
shall abound also. But now I must be careful in pointing out the
pleasant circumstances—“things which must shortly come to
pass.” To speak plainly, it means that these people should soon
be in heaven. You observe that every one of the promises is
founded upon victory. “To him that overcometh.” It is a legal
victory, or victory of right. In righteousness did He judge and
make war. He strove for the victory lawfully. Now the Lord
shows unto His servants the way of victory, and that way is by
faith in what the Saviour has done. (Jas. Wells.)
Advantage of revelation

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If there be no revelation, we have no hope, and can have no
comfort in our death, and no assurance of immortality after it. If
there be no revelation, we are in a perpetual maze, as if we
were at sea without star or compass, and knew not what course
to take to gain our harbour. (Bp. Williams.)
His servant John, who bare record.—
The Christianity of St. John
Of what sort was the Christianity of St. John between thirty and
forty years after Christ’s death, as we find it in the Book of the
Revelation?
(1) In chap. 4. we have a vision reminding us of Isaiah
and Ezekiel. There is a Throne, and One who sits on it. He
is Lord and God. He lives for ever and ever. He created all
things, and is worthy to receive glory and honour and
power. In the second chapter we read of One who is the
Son of God. He in whom St. John believes is therefore God
the Father, Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.
(2) This Son of God is Jesus Christ, who is also King of
kings and Lord of lords, and therefore Lord of all men, our
Lord. The Lamb, that is Christ, is worshipped by every
created thing, in one breath with Him that sitteth upon the
Throne.
(3) The Incarnation of Christ is implied in His crucifixion,
His blood, His death, and the title, or description, Son of
Man. All of these are expressly mentioned in the
Revelation. Besides we find Christ described by him as the
Lion of the Tribe of Judah, and the Root of David.
(4) That Christ suffered is implied in His overcoming, and
in His being a Lamb, as it had been slain; a phrase
recalling the fifty-third chapter of Isaiah, where the
suffering is described at length, and where it is foretold
that the Sufferer shall triumph after death.

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(5) The Descent into Hades must be understood from the
words, “I was dead, and behold I am alive for evermore,”
etc. The Resurrection is not only stated in these and other
like words, but is a fundamental conception of the whole
book.
(6) We do not read of the Ascension; yet as the death
took place on earth, and Christ is described as in heaven
after His resurrection, an ascension is implied.
(7) The sitting on the Throne of God, and the coming
again to judgment are me prominent as to need no special
reference.
(8) Then we have the Spirit, symbolised in His abundant
powers by the seven lamps before the Throne, and again
by the seven eyes of the Lamb. From this last may we not
infer the double procession?
(9) The Communion of Saints is indicated in many ways.
The Angels of the Seven Churches are wreathed into a
garland of stars in the right hand of the Son of Man. The
souls of the martyrs, under the altar, are to wait for their
brethren. The great multitude who have come out of the
great tribulation stand before the Throne and before the
Lamb.
(10) The Remission of Sins meets us in the very first
chapter;
(11) the Resurrection of the Dead comes in the
twentieth; and
(12) the Life Everlasting is the one great gift variously
shadowed forth by the Tree of Life, the Crown of Life, the
Hidden Manna, the Morning Star, the Book of Life, the
Pillar in the Temple, the Sitting Down with Christ on His
Throne; the Seven Gifts to the Seven Churches. Here

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then, in this venerable monument of the apostolic age, are
all the Articles of the Christian faith, as we now have them
in our creed.
2. Until a man has made a careful study of the Revelation, he
might very possibly set it down as a tissue of harsh
allegories, thrown together without skill or method, and
betokening little in its author but a bewildered enthusiasm.
But indeed there is in it a wonderful order. The whole book
seems to have been all present to the writer’s mind at once,
like the universe to the mind of the Creator, before a word of
it was written. Vision follows vision, each complete in itself,
like a picture, yet all adding something new, like each of the
seven parables in the 13th of St. Matthew, to the manifold
lineaments of the kingdom of heaven. Then there is this
peculiarity: Almost every phrase of the Revelation has its
counterpart in the old Testament. The Revelation consists of
Old Testament ideas spiritually combined with New
Testament narratives.
3. St. John, after all, only translates the Old Testament
prophecies out of their local dialect into catholic speech.
Malachi’s pure offering in every place, Zechariah’s feast of
tabernacles, Daniel’s kingdom of the saints, Jeremiah’s
Jerusalem with the ark. What is all this but our Lord’s
teaching to the woman of Samaria, and the absence of a
sanctuary from the New Jerusalem—everywhere Immanuel?
Then we have Isaiah’s abounding prophecies of these things,
the Psalms with their trumpet-call to all lands, the seed of
Abraham blessing the nations, nay, the primal promise of
bruising the serpent’s head—the wonder is that there could
ever have been a mistake. These old prophets saw there was
something in their faith and worship, different in kind from
the local idolatries of other nations, something which had in it
the germ of catholicity. St. John had touched and handled
the stem which grew from that germ, and he knew that it
must grow till it filled the earth.

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4. St. John paints an ideal; and ideals are never realised
completely in this world. But what would the world have been
without them? Here in England, what has been, deep down
beneath the vulgar strife of parties, the ground of our
Constitution in Church and State? What but the walking of
our nation amidst the light of the holy city, and our kings
bringing their glory into it? (J. Foxley, M. A.)
Of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ,
and of all things that he saw.
Three aspects of revelation
Some apply these three expressions to the three portions of
Holy Writ, of which John was the inspired penman. The word of
God, they refer to the gospel; the testimony of Jesus, to the
epistles; and the things which he saw, to the Book of
Revelation. But they rather seem to refer to the subject of all
these sacred writings.
I. “The Word of God” is His personal, essential, and eternal
Word—His only-begotten Son. John bare record of Him in the
gospel, in the epistles, and in the Book of Revelation. Or the
Word of God is His written Word, the glorious doctrines of Divine
revelation. This is the meaning of the Word of God in verse 9;
Rev 6:9; Rev 12:11; Rev 20:4.
II. “the testimony of Jesus” is the glorious gospel of the blessed
God.
1. The gospel is called the testimony of Jesus, because He is
the author of it, equally with the Father. He is the faithful
witness, revealing the character, the counsels, and the will of
God.
2. Because He is the subject of it. The Spirit of Christ
testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory
that followed.
3. Because He is the object of it. To Him gave all the
prophets witness. The holy apostles were His inspired

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witnesses.
4. Because He was the recipient of this testimony (Joh 5:19-
20; Joh 7:16; Joh 8:28; Joh 12:49; Joh 14:10; Joh 17:7;
Mat 11:27).
III. Of all things that He saw. (James Young.)
Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear—
The seven “blesseds” in the Revelation
There are seven benedictions in the Book of Revelation. Seven
is said to be the number of completeness or perfection. The first
of these benedictions occurs in the opening lines of John’s
Apocalypse: “Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the
words of this prophecy, and keep,” etc. Just at the close of the
Apocalypse is another similar passage: “Blessed is he that
keepeth the sayings of the prophecy of this book.” These two
verses are like the golden clasps—one on either lid—that hold
together a dear old family Bible. The next benediction is
pronounced upon the gospel-guests: “Blessed are they who are
called unto the marriage-supper of the Lamb.” They who are
drawn by the attraction of the Cross, and yield to that drawing,
are renewed by the Holy Spirit. Theirs is a place at the celestial
banquet. How careful should every disciple be to walk unspotted
from the world, for every stain looks ugly upon a white ground.
There is a hint as to the method of keeping thus clean, which is
given in the third benediction: “Blessed is he that watcheth and
keepeth his garments, lest he walk naked and they see his
shame.” No believer can preserve the purity of his character
without prayerful vigilance. “Watch.” And one reason for this
watchfulness is that Christ’s coming is to be as unannounced as
the midnight visit of a burglar. Old Dr. Alexander used to say
with solemn tenderness, “I won’t answer for any Christian who
dies while in an awful state of backsliding.” Upon the gospel-
doers rests the sweet approval of the fourth benediction. It is
the blessing upon those “that do His commandments.” The
evidence and the joy of discipleship both lie in obedience to
Christ. This is what the world has a right to demand from us—a

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religion of fruits. God will judge every one of us according to our
works. The next blessing is that angelic voice that floats over
the resting-place of the pious dead. “Blessed are the dead which
die in the Lord.” To them the perils of the voyage are over. They
have cast anchor in the haven. They are safe. About the last
one of the benedictions in this sublime book there has been no
little controversy: “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection.” It is enough for me that, if I fall to sleep in
Jesus I shall awake with Him. There is not an unmarked grave in
all Christ’s household of the slumberers. Them which sleep in
Jesus will God bring together with Him. (T. L. Cuyler, D. D.)
Reading the Revelation
A scholar of singular simplicity and holiness of life was asked by
a friend at the University, why he so often read the Book of the
Revelation. The answer savoured of great humility and simple
faith. He turned to this verse, “Blessed is he that readeth,” etc.
Bengal, with his usual sagacity, in his commentary on these
words rebukes men for their neglect of this great book,
reversing the promise, as ii it were written, “Blessed is he that
readeth not!” The very title “Revelation” should, he says,
quicken our interest, and provoke our desire to look in and see
those things which are revealed; whereas too many pass by the
uplifted veil with eyes averted, and lips closed, as if silence were
wisdom, and indifference a sign of reverential fear. But let them
take heed, he says, lest, while they devise all manner of excuse
for refusing the heavenly gift, they weary God as did Ahaz,
when in pretended modesty he would ask no sign of Him; lest
also they be found ungrateful to Jesus Christ. (Canon Furse.)
The Apocalypse to be read
What if there be a veil laid over this Revelation, will it not be
rarified by reading, and by degrees wholly worn away? (J.
Trapp.)
The words of this prophecy.—
Prophecy, though difficult to understand, must yet be
studied

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When Professor Stuart, one of the greatest biblical authorities,
was asked one time by his scholars to explain this book to them,
he told them he wouldn’t till he understood it. Now, if you wait
till you understand every stone, rivulet, tree, bush, and blade of
grass in a picture it will be a long time before you admire it. And
so with our food. If you wait to analyse every kind of edible on
the table it will be a long while indeed before you enjoy it.
Because we can’t understand every thought, word, and picture
in the Book of Revelation is no reason why we should not give
our attention to what we can understand in it. (H. A. Buttz.)
And keep those things which are written therein.—
Keeping the Word of God
1. To keep those things is to believe them. Faith must be
mixed with the hearing of the gospel; we cannot keep those
things unless we believe them.
2. To keep those things is to remember, ponder, keep them
in mind (Luk 2:19; Luk 2:51). We are saved by the gospel, if
we keep it in memory. We must remember God’s name, His
wonderful works, His holy Word, and His precious promises.
3. To keep those things is to observe or obey them; to be
doers of the Word and not hearers only; to resemble,
embody, and exhibit the holy Word of God in living
characters in the life and conversation.
4. To keep those things is to hold them fast; to hold fast the
beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end; to take
heed lest at any time we should let them slip; lest there he in
us an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God;
lest we should draw back unto perdition.
5. To keep those things is to make progress in holiness, to go
on from strength to strength, from grace to grace, from glory
to glory, till every one appears in Zion before God. (James
Young.)

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Revelation 1:1-3
Prologue
The prologue was composed by John after he experienced the
visions recorded in the book. He used this prologue to introduce
his readers to what the book was about and how they were to
respond to it. The book is first of all a revelation concerning
Jesus Christ. “Revelation” means “disclosure” or “unveiling.”
Jesus is both the source and the subject of the revelation. The
message is for his “servants.” The book begins and ends by
stressing Christ’s return for his servants (1:1, 3; 22:3, 6–7, 10,
12, 20). For the concept of “soon” (or “quickly”), see Luke 18:8
and Romans 16:20. Also, consider 2 Peter 3:8–13. This is a
letter to slaves encouraging them to obey their Master’s
commands in light of his expected return.
The message was presented largely in signs and symbols.
Signs and symbols teach truth by transference. What is known
about the sign in a known realm reveals something about the
unknown realm toward which the sign points. Most of the
symbols or signs in Revelation are explained in the context or in
some other place in Scripture. A blessing is promised for those
who read and heed the words of the prophecy.
What is there to “obey” (1:3) in the book of Revelation?
Revelation 1:3 is a beatitude promising blessing for those who
heed what is in the book. Revelation reveals other blessings in
14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6; 22:7, 14 (cf. Luke 11:28). These
blessings form a stark contrast with the curses at the end of the
book (22:18–19). The essence of taking the message of the
book into one’s life is maintaining love for Christ and one’s
family. This will result in overcoming, or “victory” (cf. 2:7, 11,
17, 26; 3:5, 12, 21; 5:5; 11:7; 13:7; 17:14; 21:7; Matt.
24:13). For seeing the letter as “prophecy” (1:3), see 22:7, 10,
18–19.1
1
Robert B. Hughes, J. Carl Laney and Robert B. Hughes, Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary, Rev. Ed. of: New Bible
Companion. 1990.; Includes Index., The Tyndale reference library (Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001),
734.

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Revelation 1:1-3
GOD’S REVELATION TO MEN
This is the revelation revealed by Jesus Christ, the revelation
which God gave to him to show to his servants, the revelation
which tells of the things which must soon happen. This
revelation Jesus Christ sent and explained through his angel to
his servant John, who testified to the word sent to him by God
and attested by the witness borne by Jesus Christ everything
which he saw.
THIS book is called sometimes the Revelation and sometimes the
Apocalypse. It begins with the words “The revelation of Jesus
Christ,” which mean not the revelation about Jesus Christ but
the revelation given by Jesus Christ. The Greek word for
revelation is apokalupsis which is a word with a history.
(i) Apokalupsis is composed of two parts. Apo means away
from and kalupsis a veiling. Apokalupsis, therefore, means an
unveiling, a revealing. It was not originally a specially religious
word; it meant simply the disclosure of any fact. There is an
interesting use of it in Plutarch (How to tell a Flatterer from a
Friend, 32). Plutarch tells how once Pythagoras severely
rebuked a devoted disciple of his in public and the young man
went out and hanged himself. “From that time on Pythagoras
never admonished anyone when anyone else was present. For
error should be treated as a foul disease, and all admonition and
disclosure (apokalupsis) should be in secret.” But apokalupsis
became specially a Christian word.
(ii) It is used for the revealing of God’s will to us for our
actions. Paul says that he went up to Jerusalem by apokalupsis.
He went because God told him he wanted him to go (Galatians
2:2).
(iii) It is used of the revelation of God’s truth to men. Paul
received his gospel, not from men, but by apokalupsis from
Jesus Christ (Galatians 1:12). In the Christian assembly the
message of the preacher is an apokalupsis (1 Corinthians 14:6).

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(iv) It is used of God’s revealing to men of his own mysteries,
especially in the incarnation of Jesus Christ (Romans
16:25; Ephesians 3:3).
(v) It is specially used of the revelation of the power and the
holiness of God which is to come at the last days. That will be
an unveiling of judgment (Romans 2:5); but for the Christian it
will be an unveiling of praise and glory (1 Peter 1:7); of grace
(1 Peter 1:13); of joy (1 Peter 4:13).
Before we remind ourselves of the more technical use of
apokalupsis, we may note two things.
(i) This revelation is connected specially with the work of the
Holy Spirit (Ephesians 1:17).
(ii) We are bound to see that here we have a picture of the
whole of the Christian life. There is no part of it which is not lit
by the revelation of God. God reveals to us what we must do
and say; in Jesus Christ he reveals himself to us, for he who has
seen Jesus has seen the Father (John 14:9); and life moves on
to the great and final revelation in which there is judgment for
those who have not submitted to God but grace and glory and
joy for those who are in Jesus Christ. Revelation is no technical
theological idea; it is what God is offering to all who will listen.
Now we look at the technical meaning of apokalupsis, for that
meaning is specially connected with this book.
The Jews had long since ceased to hope that they would be
vindicated as the chosen people by human means. They hoped
now for nothing less than the direct intervention of God. To that
end they divided all time into two ages—this present age, wholly
given over to evil; and the age to come, the age of God.
Between the two there was to be a time of terrible trial.
Between the Old and the New Testaments the Jews wrote many
books which were visions of the dreadful time before the end

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and of the blessedness to come. These books were called
Apokalypses; and that is what the Revelation is. Although there
is nothing like it in the New Testament, it belongs to a class of
literature which was common between the Testaments. All these
books are wild and unintelligible, for they are trying to describe
the indescribable. The very subject with which the Revelation
deals is the reason why it is so difficult to understand.
THE MEANS OF GOD’S REVELATION
THIS short section gives us a concise account of how revelation
comes to men.
(i) Revelation begins with God, the fountain of all truth. Every
truth which men discover is two things—a discovery of the
human mind and a gift of God. But it must always be
remembered that men never create the truth; they receive it
from God. We must also remember that that reception comes in
two ways. It comes from earnest seeking. God gave men minds
and it is often through our minds that he speaks to us. Certainly
he does not grant his truth to the man who is too lazy to think.
It comes from reverent waiting. God sends his truth to the man
who not only thinks strenuously, but waits quietly in prayer and
in devotion. But it must be remembered that prayer and
devotion are not simply passive things. They are the dedicated
listening for the voice of God.
(ii) God gives this revelation to Jesus Christ. The Bible never,
as it were, makes a second God of Jesus; rather it stresses his
utter dependence on God. “My teaching,” said Jesus, “is not
mine, but his who sent me” (John 7:16). “I do nothing on my
own authority but speak thus as the Father taught me” (John
8:28). “I have not spoken on my own authority; the Father who
sent me has himself given me commandment what to say and
what to speak” (John 12:49). It is God’s truth that Jesus brings
to men; and that is precisely why his teaching is unique and
final.

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(iii) Jesus sends that truth to John through his angel
(Revelation 1:1). Here the writer of the Revelation was a child
of his day. At this time in history men were specially conscious
of the transcendence of God. That is to say, they were
impressed above all things with the difference between God and
man. So much so that they felt direct communication between
God and man was impossible and that there must always be
some intermediary. In the Old Testament story Moses received
the Law directly from the hands of God (Exodus 19 and 20); but
twice in the New Testament it is said that the Law was given by
angels (Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19).
(iv) Finally, the revelation is given to John. It is most uplifting
to remember the part men play in the coming of God’s
revelation. God must find a man to whom he can entrust his
truth and whom he can use as his mouthpiece.
(v) Let us note the content of the revelation which comes to
John. It is the revelation of “the things which must quickly
happen” (1:1). There are two important words here. There is
must. History is not haphazard; it has purpose. There is quickly.
Here is the proof that it is quite wrong to use the Revelation as
a kind of mysterious timetable of what is going to happen
thousands of years from now. As John sees it, the things it deals
with are working themselves out immediately. The Revelation
must be interpreted against the background of its own time.
SERVANTS OF GOD
TWICE the word servant appears in this passage. God’s
revelation was sent to his servants and it was sent through his
servant John. In Greek the word is doulos and in Hebrew ebedh.
Both are difficult fully to translate. The normal translation of
doulos is slave. The real servant of God is, in fact, his slave. A
servant can leave his service when he likes; he has stated hours
of work and stated hours of freedom; he works for a wage; he
has a mind of his own and can bargain as to when and for what
he will give his labour. A slave can do none of these things; he
is the absolute possession of his owner, with neither time nor

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will of his own. Doulos and ebedh bring out how absolutely we
must surrender life to God.
It is of the greatest interest to note to whom these words are
applied in Scripture.
Abraham is the servant of God (Genesis 26:24; Psalm
105:26; Daniel 9:11). Jacob is the servant of God (Isaiah
44:1, 2; 45:4; Ezekiel 37:25). Caleb and Joshua are the
servants of God (Numbers 14:24; Joshua 24:29; Judges 2:8; 2
Chronicles 24:6; Nehemiah 1:7; 10:29; Psalm 105:26; Daniel
9:11). Jacob is the servant of God (Isaiah 44:1, 2; 45:4; Ezekiel
37:25). Caleb and Joshua are the servants of God (Numbers
14:24; Joshua 24:29; Judges 2:8). David is second only to
Moses as characteristically the servant of God (Psalm
132:10; 144:10; 1 Kings 8:66; 11:36; 2 Kings 19:34; 20:6; 1
Chronicles 17:4; in the titles of Psalms 18 and 36; Psalm
89:3; Ezekiel 34:24). Elijah is the servant of God (2 Kings
9:36; 10:10). Isaiah is the servant of God (Isaiah 20:3). Job is
the servant of God (Job 1:8; 42:7). The prophets are the
servants of God (2 Kings 21:10; Amos 3:7). The apostles are
the servants of God (Philippians 1:1; Titus 1:1; James 1:1; Jude
1; Romans 1:1; 2 Corinthians 4:5). A man like Epaphras is the
servant of God (Colossians 4:12). All Christians are the servants
of God (Ephesians 6:6).
Two things emerge from this.
(i) The greatest men regarded as their greatest honour the
fact that they were servants of God.
(ii) We must note the width of this service. Moses, the law-
giver; Abraham, the adventurous pilgrim; David, shepherd boy,
sweet singer of Israel, king of the nation; Caleb and Joshua,
soldiers and men of action; Elijah and Isaiah, prophets and men
of God; Job, faithful in misfortune; the apostles, who bore to
men the story of Jesus; every Christian—all are servants of God.

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There is none whom God cannot use, if he will submit to his
service.
THE BLESSEDS OF GOD
THIS passage ends with a threefold blessing.
(i) The man who reads these words is blessed. The reader
here mentioned is not the private reader, but the man who
publicly reads the word in the presence of the congregation. The
reading of Scripture was the centre of any Jewish service (Luke
4:16; Acts 13:15). In the Jewish synagogue scripture was read
to the congregation by seven ordinary members of the
congregation, although if a priest or levite was present he took
precedence. The Christian Church took much of its service from
the synagogue order and the reading of scripture remained a
central part of the service. Justin Martyr gives the earliest
account of what a Christian service was like; and it includes the
reading of “the memoirs of the apostles (i.e. the Gospels), and
the writings of the prophets” (Justin Martyr 1:67). Reader
became in time an official office in the Church. One of
Tertullian’s complaints about the heretical sects was the way in
which a man could too speedily arrive at office without any
training for it. He writes: “And so it comes to pass that today
one man is their bishop, and tomorrow another; today he is a
deacon who tomorrow is a reader” (Tertullian, On Prescription
against Heretics, 41).
(ii) The man who hears these words is blessed. We do well to
remember how great a privilege it is to hear the word of God in
our own tongue, a privilege which was dearly bought. Men died
to give it to us; and the professional clergy sought for long to
keep it to themselves. To this day the task of giving men the
Scriptures in their own language goes on.
(iii) The man who keeps these words is blessed. To hear God’s
word is a privilege; to obey it is a duty. There is no real
Christianity in the man who hears and forgets or deliberately
disregards.

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That is all the more true because the time is short. The time
is near (verse 3). The early church lived in vivid expectation of
the coming of Jesus Christ and that expectation was “the ground
of hope in distress and constant heed to warning.” Apart
altogether from that, no man knows when the call will come to
take him from this earth, and in order to meet God with
confidence he must add the obedience of his life to the listening
of his ear.
We may note that there are seven blesseds in the Revelation.
(i) There is the blessed we have just studied. We may call it
the blessedness of reading, hearing and obeying the Word of
God.
(ii) Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord henceforth
(14:13). We may call it the blessedness in heaven of Christ’s
friends on earth.
(iii) Blessed is he who is awake, keeping his garments
(16:15). We may call it the blessedness of the watchful pilgrim.
(iv) Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper
of the Lamb (19:9). We may call it the blessedness of the
invited guests of God.
(v) Blessed is he who shares in the first resurrection (20:6).
We may call it the blessedness of the man whom death cannot
touch.
(vi) Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this
book (22:7). We may call it the blessedness of the wise reader
of God’s Word.
(vii) Blessed are those who do his commandments (22:14).
We may call it the blessedness of those who hear and obey.

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Such blessedness is open to every Christian.2
Revelation 1:1–3
Titular Summary
The title in our Bibles, “The Revelation to John,” and its
variations in the manuscripts, is not from John but was added
by church editors during the process of canonization. John’s
“title,” which is really a titular summary of the document, is
found in verses 1–3. John’s title is similar to the titles of Old
Testament prophetic books and thus identifies John’s letter in
the minds of the hearer-readers with the prophetic books of the
Scripture they were accustomed to hearing read in worship (cf.
Isa. 1:1; Jer. 1:1; Ezek. 1:2–3; Hos. 1:1; Joel 1:1; Amos 1:1;
Obad. 1:1; Micah 1:1; Nahum 1:1; Hab. 1:1; Zeph. 1:1; Hag.
1:1; Zech. 1:1; Mal. 1:1). John’s letter is by no means yet
“Bible” for his hearer-readers; their Scripture was the “Old
Testament.” Yet John places his writing in continuity with the
biblical revelation. The God who speaks here is not a different
God from the one heard in the words of the biblical prophets.
In his first words John indicates that the revelation is signified
(1:1; RSV “made known”). The word John uses as the main
verb for the revelatory act is esemanen, the verb form of the
noun semeion, usually translated “sign” elsewhere in the New
Testament (e.g., John 20:30) and meaning “symbol” in the
sense discussed above (“Interpreting Symbolic, Mythological
Language”). The revelation from heaven is not simply a
straightforward report, for heavenly things cannot be so simply
spoken about, but neither does it conceal the transcendent
realities; it points to them in a series of evocative images which
involve the hearer-reader in the interpretative process.
The title added later by the church identifies the book as the
“Revelation of John.” John himself identified it as the revelation
2
The Revelation of John : Volume 1, ed. William Barclay, lecturer in the University of Glasgow, The Daily study Bible
series, Rev. ed. (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 2000, c1976), 21.
RSV Revised Standard Version.

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of Jesus Christ (1:1). As is also the case in English, the “of” here
is ambiguous in John’s Greek text. It could be taken in the
objective genitive sense (a revelation about Jesus Christ) or the
subjective genitive sense (a revelation from Jesus Christ), or a
combination of the two. The grammar (the connection with the
relative clause) as well as the theology (the setting of Jesus
Christ within the revelatory chain) and the nature of Christian
prophecy (which comes directly to the prophet from the risen
Christ but is not necessarily about him) all indicate that John
intends the expression in the subjective genitive sense. What
the hearer-reader is about to receive is a revelation from Jesus,
the exalted Lord of the church who is present with his
congregations in worship and addresses them in the prophetic
word.
The revelation does not originate with Jesus, however. It is
the revelation he receives from God. Thus the content of
Revelation can be called, as a whole, “word of God” (1:2; 19:9).
Nor does it come directly from Jesus to the churches; it
proceeds through the angel and especially through the prophet
John, so that the book as a whole can also be called “all that he
[John] saw” (1:2). Designating the book in its totality as word of
God, revelation from Christ and Christ’s own testimony, and at
the same time word of the human being John is important for us
theologically. John conceived this simultaneity of the divine
word and the human word as one inseparable revelatory event.
God is the ultimate source of the revelation. The word that is
heard in Revelation is ultimately the Word of God (v. 2; cf.
19:9, 13). John’s theology is thoroughly theocentric. As in
Genesis 1:1, so also in Revelation 1:1, the first active verb in
the first sentence has God for its subject, the God who is the
hidden actor throughout. For John, Christ is not a competitor or
alternative to the one God. But who is God for John? How
should we think of this One with whom we ultimately have to
do?

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Christ is the definitive member of the revelatory “chain.”
John does not call his document “God’s revelation through
Jesus,” which would make Jesus only another member of the
chain. Jesus is not merely one member among several; he is
mentioned first as the constituting member of the revelatory
chain. For John, God is not someone we already know on some
other basis than his self-revelation in Jesus, about whom Jesus
then gives further increments of information. What God has to
say to the churches and through them to the world is mediated
through Christ. For John, as for Christian faith generally, “God”
is “the one definitively revealed through Jesus Christ.” The
christological affirmations of Revelation are not a response to
the question “Who is Jesus?” but “Who is God?” (cf. Ogden). As
“God” is defined by “Christ,” so “Christ” is defined by “Jesus.”
“Jesus” for John is not the teacher or miracle worker; primarily
he is the one who died at the hands of the Romans, not as a
tragic victim but as the act of God for our salvation. As “Christ”
is defined by “Jesus,” so “Jesus” is defined by “dying-for-us”
(1:5b; 5:9). In Jesus, God has defined himself as the one who
suffers for others, whose suffering love is the instrument of the
creation’s redemption.
The angel is a typical figure in apocalypses (cf. e.g., Dan.
9:20–23; II Esdr. 4:1), appearing frequently in the revelatory
and visionary scenes of early Christianity (cf. e.g., Luke 1:11–
23, 26–38; Acts 10:3; 27:23). Such revelatory angels play a
prominent role in the visions of John’s apocalypse as well
(chaps. 14–17; 20–22), but John is concerned that not too
much be made of them. Like Paul, John’s worldview includes the
reality of angelic beings (cf. Gal. 1:8–9; Rom. 8:38–39), but he
wants the hearer-readers to understand that angels are only
creatures of God like the Christians themselves and are not to
be accorded transcendent honors (19:9–10; 22:8–9; and
contrast Col. 2:18). The angel thus plays only a stereotypical
role in the revelatory event, in accord with the first-century
worldview.

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John is himself an indispensable link in the revelatory chain
which mediates God’s word to the world. Every word of the
prophecy is the prophet’s own word, bearing the impress of his
own personal history, written in his language and thought
patterns for his situation. This is not an alternative to seeing the
whole book as the “word of God and the testimony of Jesus
Christ” (v. 2). The way the revelatory event is thought of here is
analogous to (but not identical with) what happens in the act of
preaching, in which word of the preacher repeatedly becomes
word of God without ceasing to be the human word of the
preacher; this is analogous to the incarnation itself, in which
once for all Jesus became the presence and definitive revelation
of God without ceasing to be the truly human Jesus.
His (God’s/Jesus’) servants are the recipients of the
revelation, and not John alone. John’s revelatory experiences
were not intended as private religious experiences to be
treasured for his own personal benefit. Christian prophecy
generally had its setting and function in the worship life of the
community, not in the private life of the individual prophet. John
is a link in a chain, an agent of a mission.
The world is not explicitly mentioned in this chain. This
corresponds to the view that the prophetic message is directed
to the community of faith, that community with a tradition of
prophetic speech that is equipped to accept, understand, and
critique the revelatory word (I Cor. 14:29). But the prophetic
message is not restricted to insiders; it is also intended for
outsiders (I Cor. 14:23–25). “The world” is always implicitly
included in the prophetic message. This corresponds to the
“testimony” nature of prophecy twice mentioned here (John
“bore witness” to the “testimony” of Jesus Christ) and is
important throughout the book (1:9; 6:9; 12:17; 19:10; 22:16,
20). The revelatory message is directed to the church, but not
for its private enjoyment. On the basis of the prophetic
message, the church is to bear witness to the world, the
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this book. The revelatory chain is also a chain of command:
God, Christ, angel, prophet, church.
The titular summary closes with a beatitude (1:3), a
pronouncement of blessing on the lector who reads forth John’s
letter in the worship services of the Asian churches and on those
who hear and obey the prophetic message it contains. That John
has exactly seven beatitudes (1:3; 14:13; 16:15; 19:9; 20:6;
22:7, 14) is an indication that he considers the form itself
important. The beatitude was one of the powerful linguistic
forms used by the prophets of Israel (Isa. 19:25; 30:18; 56:2;
Jer. 17:7), adopted by Jesus (Matt. 5:3–12; Luke 6:20–23), and
continued in the apocalyptic tradition by Christian prophets. As
used by Jesus and the prophets, it was not an expression of
commonsense conventional wisdom (cf. e.g., Prov. 3:13; Sir.
25:8) but a declaration of the way things really are in the face
of empirical evidence. A beatitude is performative language, in
the indicative mood. As indicative language, it declares
something to be a fact, rather than exhorting. As performative
language (like “I do” in a wedding ceremony, or “I forgive you”
in personal relations), it does not merely describe something
that happens—it makes it happen. The saying of it makes it
happen; the pronouncement of blessing conveys the blessing. In
preaching and teaching such language should not be perverted
too quickly into the language of exhortation. In this text the
blessing pronounced on the lector and the hearers of this book
should not become a homily along the lines of “we really should
read the Bible.” Rather, this text assumes that there will be
Christian congregations that assemble to worship and that
within their worship services this book will be read forth as a
message from the risen Christ, and it therefore pronounces such
congregations blessed.
The blessing embraces those who hear in the full biblical
sense, those who respond in obedience to the prophetic word
mediated by the book. Again, this is not to be understood
Sir. Sirach.

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individualistically. In its context it means those who live as part
of the faithful community, participating in its confession of
Christ as Lord despite the cultural and political pressures to the
contrary, in solidarity with other Christian communities, with its
life oriented by the word of God spoken definitively in Christ.
However it may appear empirically, John pronounces this
community to be blessed. When the pronouncement is accepted
in faith, the indicative is heard to contain an imperative; the gift
becomes an assignment.
REFLECTION
Interpreting the “Near End” in Revelation
Twice in these opening words, before John gives us a glimpse
of the content of his message, he tells us that the book reveals
what must “soon” take place (v. 1) and that “the time is near”
(v. 3). These comments are more than incidental; they are
integral to his message: the first one is a word he has
intentionally added to the scriptural expression borrowed from
Daniel 2:28; the second instance comes as the emphatic
conclusion of this unit, giving the basis for the obedient
response to which it calls the hearer-readers.
Like John, we must face this issue of the expectation of the
nearness of the End squarely and early on, for it is fundamental
to interpreting not only the Apocalypse but much of the New
Testament. The interpreter who learns how to deal faithfully
with this issue here learns something that will be helpful in
understanding the New Testament as a whole.
We may first note that this motif of the nearness of the End is
woven throughout into the fabric of the Apocalypse. In addition
to 1:1 and 1:3 just noted, the following references in Revelation
affirm the nearness of the End:
2:16. The risen Jesus warns those in Pergamum to repent,
because he is coming soon.
2:25. The risen Jesus encourages the faithful at Thyatira to
hold fast what they have “until I come.” While no interval is

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specified before this “coming” is to occur, the word loses its
function of encouragement to steadfast endurance if a long
period is intended; and it becomes utterly meaningless if a span
of centuries is what is meant.
3:11. Similarly to the church at Philadelphia, “I am coming
soon” functions as encouragement to faithfulness.
3:20. “Behold, I stand at the door and knock” is not only a
spatial image for the church at Laodicea but a temporal image
often found in apocalyptic which reflects the shortness of time
before the coming of Christ: He is already at the door (cf. Mark
13:29; Luke 12:36; James 5:9).
6:11. The souls of the martyrs already in heaven who cry out
for God’s eschatological judgment of the world and ask “How
long?” receive the response that they must wait only “a little
longer.”
10:6. The “mighty angel” in the vision swears by the Creator
that there is to be “no more delay,” but that the “mystery of
God, as he announced to his servants the prophets,” the divine
plan for the establishment of God’s just rule at the end of
history, is about to be fulfilled.
11:2–3; 12:6. The longest period mentioned in Revelation is
this span of time described variously as forty-two months, or
1260 days, derived from the period of three and a half years
prophesied in Daniel 7:25; 8:14; 9:27; 12:7; 11, 12. This
period became a traditional apocalyptic time frame (cf. Luke
4:25 and James 5:17 vs. I Kings 17:1; 18:1). While there is no
reason to think John took the period as a literally exact
definition of how much time remained before the End, there is
also no reason to interpret it in terms of generations or
centuries, as the context in each instance makes clear.

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12:12. The evil that John’s churches are suffering will
intensify, in John’s view, because the devil “knows that his time
is short.”
17:10. There are to be seven “kings” altogether, and John
and his hearer-readers live in the time of the sixth. While this
passage is difficult to interpret precisely (see commentary
below), it is clear that in John’s view only one more “king”
(emperor) is to reign before the eschatological events begin.
22:6. The angel declares that the preceding visions reveal
“what must soon take place.”
22:7. The risen Christ declares “I am coming soon.”
22:10. In contrast to Daniel, which was composed in the
literary form of a document written centuries before the events
with which it deals were to take place and then “sealed” until
the appropriate time, Revelation is not to be sealed, “for the
time is near”; it deals with events of the time in which it is
written.
22:12. The risen Christ declares (again!) he is coming soon.
22:20. “Surely I am coming soon” are the last words from
heaven John hears, as “soon” was his own first word in 1:1.
This emphasis on the nearness of the End is not a peculiarity
of Revelation. That the end of history is near in the writer’s own
time is a constituent part of apocalyptic thought (see the
Introduction); thus it appears not only in Revelation but in other
apocalypses, in and out of the Bible.
Major elements of earliest Christianity understood and
expressed their new faith in apocalyptic terms, thus supposing
that they were the last generation. The resurrection of Jesus
was interpreted as the beginning of the eschatological event of
the resurrection of all. Jesus was the “first fruits” (I Cor. 15:20);

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the remainder of the eschatological harvest was soon to follow.
This apocalyptic stream of thought was incorporated into the
message of many New Testament documents. (See, e.g., Matt.
4:17; 10:23; 16:28; 24:34, 44; Mark 1:15; 9:1; 13:28–30;
Luke 9:27; 12:40; 18:8; 21:25–32; Rom. 13:11–12; 16:20; I
Cor. 7:25–31; 15:52; Phil. 3:20–21; 4:5; I Thess. 1:9–10;
4:13–18; James 5:7–9; I Peter 4:7; I John 2:18.)
During the first Christian generation, there were several crises
that convinced some early Christians that they were indeed
experiencing the final events of history and the End was now
upon them. There was widespread apocalyptic excitement
among both Jews and Christians when Caligula attempted to
place a statue of himself in the Jerusalem temple in 39, as there
was during the terrible Neronian persecution of Christians in
Rome in 64, during the catastrophic war in Palestine 66–70, and
in the wake of the famines, earthquakes, and eruption of
Vesuvius in the following decades. Yet these crises came and
went, and the End did not come. How could Christians respond
to this apparent disappointment of their eschatological hopes?
1. Rejection. Some decided that apocalyptic expectation as
such was an error and simply rejected it. Gnostic streams of
Christianity abandoned the hope that God would redeem the
horizontal line of history in a mighty eschatological act and
retreated to a verticalism in which individual souls are saved
into the transcendent world and/or already enjoy the
eschatological realities in their present religious experience.
Such views were apparently advocated by the opponents of
Second Peter (cf. chap. 3), and may have been shared by John’s
opponents among the Nicolaitans (Rev. 2:6, 15) and the
followers of “Jezebel” (2:20), who advocated the teaching of
“Balaam” (2:14).
Some contemporary interpreters have responded to
Revelation’s apocalyptic expectation of the near end of history
by simply rejecting apocalyptic as a viable mode of Christian
theology. This is often done without having an awareness of

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how deeply rooted apocalyptic ideas are in the New Testament
as a whole and in Christian faith as such.
2. Reinterpretation. Other Christians held on to the
apocalyptic language of the first generation but reinterpreted it
in the light of the failure of the End to appear. There were
basically two varieties of such interpretation:
On the one hand, “soon” did not mean “soon.” Some early
Christian theologians held on to the hope for the apocalyptic
victory of God at the end of history, but postponed it to an
indefinite future time. They reaffirmed the early Christian faith
that “the End is coming soon,” but reinterpreted the meaning of
“soon” in a non-literal manner. The author of Second Peter was
glad to find a text in his Bible, Psalm 90:4, declaring that a
thousand years in God’s sight is only a day, which helped him to
understand “soon” in a different way than had the first
generation of Christians (II Peter 3:3–13). Luke rewrites the
story of Jesus and the church to allow for a period of
generations of church history, the time of the Christian mission.
The Christ comes not at the end but in the midst of history; the
time of Christ is followed by the time of the church, a time of
mission, which will last indefinitely before the End finally comes.
There have always been interpreters of Revelation who have
sought to explain its expectation of the near End as only an
apparent expectation. In this view, since the End did not in fact
come soon, John must have known it, so that Revelation in fact
envisions a long future. The “church-historical” and “end-
historical” (dispensationalist) interpretations (see Introduction)
regularly assert this view, regarding John as consciously
intending to predict events centuries beyond his own future.
Other conservative contemporary interpreters, who understand
the doctrine of the “reliability of Scripture” in such a way that
John could not have been mistaken in his expectation of the
nearness of the End, interpret “soon” to mean that “the
imminence of the End is moral rather than chronological”
(Bruce, p. 665).

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On the other hand, “End” did not mean the “End.” There were
Christian theologians of the second and following generations
who reaffirmed the earlier faith that “the End is coming soon” by
redefining the meaning of “End”: the promised “End” did in fact
come “soon,” with the outpouring of the Spirit and the beginning
of the church. The eschatological realities were no longer
understood in a literal manner; they were spiritualized and
understood to be a part of the present experience of the
Christian life. This kind of “realized eschatology,” elements of
which had also been a dimension of the faith of the first
generation (Paul!), was developed especially by the authors of
the Gospel and Letters of John. These authors reinterpret all the
realities expected to come at the eschaton as already present:
The Antichrist is reinterpreted as the presence of false teachers
in the church (I John 2:18; 4:3); the second coming of Christ is
reinterpreted as Christ’s coming again as the Spirit, the
Paraclete (John 14–16); the defeat of Satan happened in Jesus’
ministry (John 12:31). Furthermore the resurrection happens in
the new life of the Christian (John 11:21–26; cf. 8:51); the
judgment happens in the present encounter with Christ the
judge (John 3:18–19; 12:31, 48), and eternal life is already the
present possession of the believer (John 3:36; 6:47; 17:3).
Some contemporary interpreters of Revelation deal with the
near expectation in this way (e.g., Caird, pp. 12, 32, 49, 90,
209, 236; Minear, New Testament Apocalyptic, pp. 48–63).
3. Reaffirmation. In times of threat and persecution,
Christians of the second and third generations revived the older
apocalyptic expectations with the conviction that even though
earlier predictions were wrong, now the End has indeed come
near. In their situation apocalyptic language once again made
sense and supplied an urgently needed means of holding on to
the faith, despite all the empirical evidence to the contrary (see
the Introduction). Thus in First Peter, written in a similar
situation to John’s, the author revives the expectation of the
nearness of the End as a motive for Christian steadfastness in
the face of persecution and trial (4:7; cf. 4:16–17; 5:9–10).

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Revelation is best understood as fitting into this category.
When John said “the time is near” (1:3), he meant the time for
the happening of all the events his letter envisions, including the
return of Christ, the destruction of evil, and the everlasting
glory of the new world. He meant both “soon” and “End.”
Does this mean he was wrong? Yes. Christians who reverence
the Bible as Scripture, the vehicle of God’s word, ought not to
hesitate to acknowledge that its authors made errors. It is an
aspect of the humanity of the Bible, a part of the meaning of the
incarnation, that God uses human thought (with its errors) and
human beings (with their errors) to communicate his message.
Apocalyptic thought was one of the human ways of thinking
about God and the world prevalent in the first century. One of
the ingredients of apocalyptic thought was that the End was
near. When John adopted apocalyptic as the vehicle of his
message, he adopted its errors as well, just as would have been
the case with any other form of thought available to him (or us).
Just as John’s view of the earth’s extent in space was a first-
century worldview, so John’s view of the earth’s extent in time
was one of those available in the first century, namely a world
soon to pass away or to be transformed in the apocalyptic
climax of history. Just as John accepted a flat earth with corners
as the spatial framework within which he expressed his message
(cf. 7:1), so he accepted a world shortly to come to an end as
its temporal framework. As he was wrong in the one case, so
was he wrong in the other case. But in neither case does the
error of his worldview nullify the validity of the message
expressed. One must distinguish between gift and wrapper,
baby and bath-water.
The error should not continue. Just as Christians need not
promote flat earth societies on the basis of Revelation 7:1, so
they need not feel bound to believe in the nearness of the End
on the basis of 1:3. A reverent agnosticism concerning “times
and seasons” is the more abiding biblical view (Mark 13:32;
Acts 1:6–11). There is nonetheless something for the modern

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reader to receive from the early church’s expectation of the near
end of history: Without sharing their chronology, we can share
their sense of urgency, the sense that our generation is the only
generation we have in which to fulfill our calling. It was not
necessarily naiveté, egotism, or presumption for the early
apocalyptists to believe that God had led all history to its time of
fulfillment in their generation. Erroneous as their chronology
was, their apocalyptic expectation was, in its own way, an
expression of that faith taught by Jesus that not only every
generation but every individual life within it is of unique value in
the eyes of the Creator, without whose infinite care not a
sparrow falls (Matt. 10:29).3
Revelation 1:1-3
The Title
We expect books, stories, articles and poems to have titles. A
title is a kind of invitation to read, and publishers try to help
their authors think up catchy titles that will sell their books.
Bible readers take it for granted that the books of the Bible have
titles too—not catchy, but informative. The title is supposed to
tell us what the work is (for example, a Gospel, as the early
Christians called their accounts of Jesus’ life and teaching, or a
letter or sometimes just a book) and often who wrote it (for
example, the Gospel of Mark or the letter of Paul to the
Romans). The last book of the Bible is known simply as the book
of Revelation, or the Revelation of John, or sometimes the
Apocalypse, or the Apocalypse of John (apocalypsis being the
Greek word for “revelation”*). No one expects it to be called
“The Late Great Planet Earth” or “God’s Great Tomorrow”!
3
M. Eugene Boring, Revelation, Interpretation, a Bible commentary for teaching and preaching (Louisville: John Knox
Press, 1989), 64.
* 1:1 The Greek word for “revelation” is often transliterated into English as “Apocalypse.” As G. E. Ladd points out
(1972:20), “This word ‘apocalypse’ has been taken from John’s revelation by modern scholarship and applied to the
genre of Jewish-Christian literature called ‘apocalyptic.’ ” But there is no evidence that this author was consciously
attempting to write “apocalyptic literature” according to established models (his only real models seem to have
been the biblical prophecies of Daniel and Ezekiel). It is preferable not to carry the Greek word over into English as
“apocalypse,” but to translate it as “revelation” (see introduction).

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Few Bible readers are aware that most biblical books did not
originally have titles at all. They simply began, said what they
had to say, and ended. The titles were added in very early
manuscripts, but the authors themselves did not bother to
attach them. There are a few possible exceptions, depending on
how the opening words are interpreted. Some have argued, for
example, that “The beginning of the gospel about Jesus Christ”
in Mark 1:1, and “The book of the generation of Jesus Christ” in
Matthew 1:1 (KJV) are titles. Revelation is probably the clearest
New Testament example of a work that does give itself a title.
Its title is not “The Revelation of John,” for these words were
supplied by later scribes who copied the manuscript. The real
title is very long, like some obscure eighteenth-century religious
tract. It is emphatically not a catchy title. In fact, it comprises
all of the first three verses of chapter 1! If there is a short title,
it has to be the simple phrase with which the longer one begins,
“the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
This revelation has the form of a letter, the longest letter in
the New Testament (1:4–22:21). But the title, or heading
prefixed to the letter, makes it clear from the start that this is
no ordinary letter from a Christian leader to a group of
churches. It is a letter from heaven, a prophetic revelation from
Almighty God! While the voice that speaks in the letter is John’s
voice, the voice that speaks in the long title is anonymous. It
could be John. But if so, John is distancing himself from his own
persona by referring to himself in the third person as his servant
John. It could also be an individual Christian or a Christian
community that is “publishing” John’s long letter after the fact
for a wider audience. Quite simply, there is no way to be
certain. As far as we know, the voice that speaks in the
extended title is not heard again, for the rest of the book (1:4–
22:21) stands complete as a letter. It has the customary
beginning (1:4–6) and ending (22:21) of early Christian letters,
like Paul’s or Peter’s.
The Revelation of Jesus Christ (1:1) The word revelation
never occurs again in the book that has come to bear that

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name. Every other time the book refers to itself, it is as a
prophecy (v. 3; compare 22:7, 10, 18) or a “book of prophecy”
(22:19). Revelation should therefore be understood in much the
same sense as in 1 Corinthians 14:6, 26, where Paul lists “a
revelation” among the things prophets in early Christian
congregations received from God in the Spirit—along with
knowledge, prophecy, teaching (v. 6), a psalm, a teaching, a
tongue, an interpretation (v. 26).
Paul uses the phrase “revelation of Jesus Christ” in Galatians
1:12 (NRSV) to refer to the divine message he had received,
and by virtue of which he became apostle to the Gentiles. Both
in Galatians and here in Revelation the phrase “revelation of
Jesus Christ” tells us primarily where the revelation comes from,
not what it is about. It is a revelation given by Jesus Christ from
heaven, now that God has raised him from the dead. Much of it,
of course, will also be about Jesus, but above all the title is
saying that the book is from Jesus.
If Jesus is the immediate source of the revelation, God is its
ultimate source. God gave the revelation to Jesus Christ to show
it in turn to his servants. The point is much the same as in
John’s Gospel, where Jesus insists again and again that the
words he speaks are not his own words, but the words of “him
who sent me” (for example, Jn 7:16–17, 28; 8:28; 12:49–50).
The decisive fact that Jesus has been raised from the dead does
not mean that his role as God’s Agent or Revealer is over. Quite
the contrary! He has a great deal more to say to his followers
(compare Jn 16:12), but now he will say it through his servants,
and in particular through his servant John.
The Nearness of the End (1:1) If Jesus Christ is the giver
of the revelation, its content is summed up in the phrase what
must soon take place (compare 4:1; 22:6). It is a message
about the future, and everyone is curious about the future. This
is the fascination and the appeal of the book of Revelation. The
phrase, “what will happen,” or take place, is found in another
biblical book concerned with the future, the book of Daniel (see

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2:28–29), where it refers to the sovereign plan of God. But now
it is a matter of what must soon take place. One little word
makes a big difference! Soon anticipates the announcement to
follow that the time is near (v. 3; compare 22:10). In Daniel it
was a matter of what must happen “in days to come,” while
here the momentous events are soon (as in Christ’s repeated
promise that “I am coming soon” in Rev 2:16; 3:11; 22:7, 12,
20).
Much of the flavor and excitement of the book of Revelation is
traceable to this fervent conviction that the end of the world is
near. Many Christian readers and preachers today downplay
that conviction in light of the fact that nineteen hundred years
have passed, and the expected end has not come. Christians
tend to get nervous about any implication that the Bible might
be mistaken. Yet a great deal is lost when the striking words
soon and the time is near are not given their proper force. The
conviction that the end of the world is near is what makes the
book of Revelation larger than life.
Anyone who has faced the prospect of imminent death,
whether from illness or accident, and then recovered knows how
precious life then seems. The colors of the world are brighter
and its contrasts sharper. Everything around us is etched more
deeply than before in our senses and in our memories. When we
assume that life will go on forever, one day often blurs into
another, but when we are reminded that it has an end, every
moment and every perception can come alive. Samuel Johnson
once said that the prospect of one’s own imminent death
“wonderfully concentrates the mind,” while the verdict of one
character on the murdered grandmother in Flannery O’Connor’s
well-known story, “A Good Man Is Hard to Find,” is that “she
would of been a good woman … if it had been somebody there
to shoot her every minute of her life” (O’Connor 1988:153).
Such is the eschatological perspective of the book of
Revelation: living every moment as though it were our last. This
perspective pervades the entire New Testament, beginning with

Revelation 1:1-3 - Collection of Biblical Commentaries

Revelation 1:1-3 - Collection of Biblical Commentaries

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Revelation 1:1-3 - Collection of Biblical Commentaries