1: The Revelation apokalypsis [1] [of]
Jesus Christ that THE GOD[2] is
causing to come forth He shows [to] his servants Amos 3:7, Isaiah 42:9 what
must come to pass in a speedy manner[3] and
he sent to make it known[4] by
his messenger[5]
to his bondsman John
Quick Take on Verse One:
The Revelation in an unveiling. It is things made clear. It is not a cryptic book, but rather the unsealing of things that were previously hidden from understanding
For detailed study of each verse, see end-notes
2: Who testified the Word of God and the testimony
of Jesus Christ and all things that he saw
Quick Take on Verse Two:
John saw these things. This is a vision, not a dream
3: Blessed are they
that read and they that hear the words of this prophecy and hold fast to
the things which are described in it For the [pre-appointed] Daniel 8:19, Acts
1:7 season is near[6]
4:
John to the Seven[7]
Called-Out [8]
who are in Asia Grace be to you and peace from HIM WHO IS [alive] and WHO WAS
[dead] and WHO IS TO COME [coming again] and from the Seven Spirits which are
before his throne[9]
5: Indeed from Jesus Christ [the] FAITHFUL WITNESS [the] FIRST BEGOTTEN FROM
THE DEAD and THE PRINCE OF THE KINGS OF THE EARTH Unto him who loved us and
washed us from our sins in his own blood[10] 6:
And has made us kings and priests [11]
unto God and his Father [12] To
him be glory and dominion eons of eons Amen
7: Behold he comes with clouds[13] and
every eye shall see him and they also which pierced him and all families of the
earth shall wail because of him[14] Even
so Amen 8: I am ALPHA AND
OMEGA THE BEGINNING AND THE ENDING [15]
saith the Lord WHO IS and WHO WAS and WHO IS TO COME THE ALMIGHTY[16] 9:
I John who also am your brother and companion in tribulation and in the kingdom
and patience of Jesus Christ was in the isle that is called Patmos for the Word
of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ 10: I was in THE DAY [of
the] LORD by the Spirit[17]
and heard behind me a great voice as of a trumpet 11: Saying I am ALPHA
AND OMEGA THE FIRST AND THE LAST and what you see write into scrolls and
send it unto the seven Called-Out which are in Asia[18] Acts
16:6, 19:10 & 27, 20:4 to Ephesus [located in Turkey close to
Selcuk] and to Smyrna [city of Izmir located in Turkey] and to
Pergamos [ruins located in Turkey] and unto Thyatira [city of Akhisar
in Turkey] and to Sardis [town of Sart in Turkey] and to
Philadelphia [was a city of Lydia located in Turkey] and to Laodicea
[city of Denizli in
Turkey] 12: And I
turned to see the voice that spake with me And being turned I saw seven golden lampstands
13: And in the midst of the seven lampstands one like unto the SON OF
MAN clothed with a garment down to the foot and fastened towards the chest was
a golden belt 14: His head and his hairs were white like wool as white
as snow and his eyes were as a blaze of fire 15: And his feet like brilliant
copper as in burner having been fired scrTR and his voice as the
sound of many waters 16: And he had in his right hand seven stars and
out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword and his countenance was as the
sun shines in its strength 17: And when I saw him I fell at his feet as
dead And he laid his right hand upon me saying to me Fear not I [Jesus] am THE
FIRST AND THE LAST 18: I am HE THAT LIVES AND WAS DEAD and behold I am
alive for evermore Amen and have the
keys of hadēs and of death 19: Write the things which you have seen
and the things which are and the things which shall come to pass
[and] follow after Revelation 4:1 20: [This is] the
mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven golden lampstands
The seven stars are the messengers[19]
of the seven Called-Out and the seven lampstands that you saw are the seven Called-Out
Matthew 5:13-16, All seven are located in what is now
modern-day Turkey
[1] The Greek word, apokalypsis [from which the
English word, apocalypse, is derived], carries a very different connotation
from that which most English speaking peoples connect with it. Apokalypsis, means the revealing,
the unveiling, things made clear, used of events by which things
[or states or persons] that were previously withdrawn from view are now made
visible to all. The actual definition of the word, apokalypsis, (as opposed to popular notions) should lay to
rest the idea that The Revelation is meant to be a cryptic book impossible to
understand. It is meant to be understood. And to underscore this, a
blessing is promised to those who take the time to read (and take to heart) the
words of the prophecy contained in Apokalypsis.
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[2] Most references to “God” in the New
Testament are to Jehovah [YHWH]—the Godhead Acts 17:29,
Romans 1:20, Colossians 2:9.
Jesus is God.
[3] “But beloved be not ignorant of this
one thing that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years and a thousand
years as one day” 2 Peter 3:8. Another way to look at this verse, is
that when the events revealed to John begin to happen, It will be suddenly and
things will move very fast. This is confirmed by Jesus in Matthew 24:14-22.
[4] The Revelation contains four types of
language: 1.) Literal. John’s descriptions of what he sees in Heaven are to be
taken literally, as should some [if not all] of the spiritual phenomena he
describes 2.) Figurative. This language is defined within the context of passage 3.) Symbolic. All symbols in The Revelation are unlocked and defined
somewhere within the volume of scriptures) 4.)
First-Century Descriptive, which
should generally be taken as literal. John saw things not yet invented in the
first century and thus described these things as best he knew how, using only
the vocabulary and terms which were available to him in the first century
(e.g., how would someone in the 1960’s have described a cell phone or a
drone?).
[5] This was not an angel John conversed
with. Revelation 22:8-9, shows the messenger to be one of John’s brethren the
prophets. The messenger was a fellow human who must have already passed on,
perhaps even a martyr. It is not spiritism [which scripture forbids] when God
is the one who initiates the contact between mortals and those no longer in
mortal bodies. And we must remember, this was all seen in a vision.
[6] Some might relate this “brief space of
time” to the Young Earth/Old Earth controversy. But whether the time-span
leading up to the beginning of the Latter Days [which began 2000 years ago on
the Day of Pentecost Acts 2:16-17a] is only thousands of years as
opposed to billions of years, God’s infinite view of what is “near” is very
different from what our finite view of “near at hand” might be.
[7] Throughout the Bible, the number seven
is seen as the number of completion, perfection, the totality of something (we
see this regarding the seven spirits before the Throne of God in verse :4). In
the Revelation, we see messages addressed to seven specific assemblies in Asia,
even so, it has been understood by scholars of every age [and every
denominational persuasion or lack thereof] that the messages in Revelation
1-3, are two-fold: 1.) They are intended for those they are specifically addressed to
and 2.) also for the entire Body of
Christ throughout all ages.
[8] The English word “church” is translated
from the Greek compound word ek-klesia. Ek, is a root word meaning out or from and klesia
comes from the root word, kaleō meaning to call or invite. Every
individual who has been Born-Again, is called/invited out of
darkness/death and translated into light/life. The Children of
Light—collectively—compose the Called-Out [assembly] of The Redeemed, also
called the Body of Christ Ephesians 1:22-23
[9] Isaiah 11:2, “And the spirit of the LORD[1] shall
rest upon him the spirit of wisdom[2]
and understanding[3] the
spirit of counsel[4] and might[5] the spirit of knowledge[6] and of the fear of the LORD[7]”
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[10] Acts 20:28 [TR] confirms that the ALMIGHTY purchased HIS Church with HIS OWN BLOOD. Jesus is God
[11] Complementarianism claims husbands will
present wives to Christ at the Judgement and that husbands will answer for the
behavior of wives at the judgement, and that wives who were submissive to
husbands will not be held responsible to God for their sins if in the process
of sinning they were obeying their husbands (this doctrine turns husbands into
mediators when the Bible says there is only one
mediator between God and humanity). If complementarian theology is correct,
then the doctrine of the Priesthood of all believers is false and only male
believers will be priests and kings before God. The problem with this, is that
even complementarian theology [as a general rule] teaches that the priesthood
of believers includes all
believers regardless of sex. So which is it? Because we can not have it both
ways.
[12] Verses 6-8 reveal not only that Jesus
is Almighty God, but these verses also reveal the GODHEAD, which is
a tri-unity [as opposed to a tri-ad]. The one who is the ALMIGHTY is the same one WHO WAS DEAD AND IS ALIVE AND IS COMING
AGAIN. Jesus is God. Can we fully comprehend the Being that is our God, and
the fact that he reveals himself in three distinct persons—one of which (the
Holy Spirit) is always referred to in the Hebrew scriptures in the feminine form—RuWacH EloHYiM? In the Greek, the Holy Spirit is
never referred to as “He.” The neutral word “autos” is always used when referencing the Holy Spirit. The Godhead
is a triune being—not a human.
“Hear O Israel The Lord our God is ONE God.” Jesus
is God. Jesus is Jehovah. And since Jehovah [YHWH] is ONE, there is no
hierarchy within Godhead. It is interesting to note that those who teach
gender-based hierarchy, subordinate the one member of the Godhead who is a
physical male to another member of the Godhead who is portrayed as male, while
the one member of the Godhead who is consistently portrayed as female is not subordinated to the male member Jesus.
This is a contradiction that no one can explain. The reason that it is
unexplainable, is because there is no hierarchy within the Godhead and efforts
to produce one always result in unexplainable contradictions.
[13] Both Daniel and Jesus, establish that this
verse speaks to the 2nd Coming and not the Rapture Daniel 7:13, Matthew 24:30, 26:64, Mark 14:62.
[14] This is a reference to Zechariah
12:9-12, which gives details on Isaiah’s prophecy in 66:5-9 that in one day, a nation
(the Jewish nation) would be born [again].
[15] The word ELOHIYM,
in Genesis 1:1 is followed by the first and last letters of the Hebrew
alphabet, and remain untranslated in virtually every Bible. A possible
rendering of Genesis 1:1 is, “In the beginning ELOHIYM אֱלֹהִים
the FIRST LAST אֵת created…”
[16] Verses 4-5, 8-9, 12, and 17, leave no
question that Jesus is Jehovah. The Alpha and Omega--the Almighty—is the same
one who “was” (died), “is” (now lives again), and “is to come” (coming again).
[17] THE LORD’S DAY is not
the same as the Sabbath. The Sabbath is the 7th Day of the Week (and
includes Holy Days which may or may not fall on the 7th day).
However, Larkin suggests that John is not, here, referring to any set day of
the week but rather was projected into the time of end—into The Day of the Lord
Isaiah 2:10-21, 13:6-17, Joel 2:15-20. Notwithstanding, THE LORD’S
DAY is observed by Christians on the 1st Day of the Week. The Feast
of the LORD, First Fruits (which prophetically foretold the Resurrection of
Christ), always falls on the 1st Day of the week, which is the day
Jesus rose from the dead. The earliest Christians began immediately gathering
on the first day of the week because that, and because they likely recognized
what the very first FIRST FRUITS after the crucifixion represented. This does
not mean that they forsook the Sabbath, because most were Jews, but all were
not. Luke the Beloved Physician who gave us the Gospel of Luke and the Book of
Acts, was not a Jew. Paul’s addressed the matter of dietary laws and the
Sabbath to the believers in Rome in his letter to them: Romans 14 One esteems
one day above another another esteems every day alike Let every one be fully
persuaded in their own minds They that regard the day regard it to the Lord and
they that regard not the day to the Lord they do not regard it They that eat,
eat to the Lord for they give God thanks and they that eat not to the Lord they
eat not and give God thanks…whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
[18] All of the called-out [assemblies]
mentioned in Revelation chapter one were/are located in what is now, modern-day
Turkey.
[19] The messengers of the seven Called-out
[assemblies] are not Heavenly beings (angels). Jesus is not giving a vision and
instructing a man to write what he sees and send the message to angels. Indeed,
how could that even be possible for John? That leaves only one other option.
The stars that Jesus is holding in his hand—the seven messengers of the
Called-out [assemblies]—are human
messengers. It is interesting that Jesus did not specify what ministry gift or
church office these messengers might hold. The ministry gifts given to equip
the Body of Christ to grow in Christ, win souls, and make disciples include
apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. It is presumptuous to
assume that it is pastors who are the
messengers represented by the stars held in Jesus’ hand. They could be. But why
not the apostles, prophets, or evangelists? Not a single word of scripture
attests to the claims of some that these ministry gifts passed away with the
early Church, and these are all defined as messengers.
Whereas strictly defined, pastors are shepherds—not
messengers. We propose that it is the false perception of priest-craft and
mediatorship that has become so deeply rooted within
the Christian psyche, that God’s people are led astray in ascribing almost
supreme leadership privileges to pastors. This myopic error has the effect of
replacing the work, leading, and calling of the Holy Spirit in dictating—largely
through pastors—what God has or has not called his people to do. The ministry of the Holy Spirit through the
Gifts of the Spirit and the priesthood of believers is systematically being
choked out of many churches through a deliberate hierarchical bottle-neck where
everything is required to flow through the office of pastor, to the neglect and
dismissal of every other gift and calling within congregations.
Additional
commentary pending for this chapter
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