Revelation 1:1-8 (NASB)
David Bruce Linn, Pastor-Teacher
17 October, 1999
All Rights Reserved
The new millennium is nearly upon us, and it seems that the whole world is wondering
what it will bring. Some are looking forward to it with great anticipation,
while others seem to be filled with anxiety. New Agers are predicting that the
year two-thousand will end the dominance of Christianity and will usher in the
Age of Aquarius, also called the Luciferic age. In this age, they predict the
rise of a spirit-empowered being who will work wonders--but not by the Holy
Spirit. This being will grant the initiated control over physical, spiritual,
and emotional "healing." He will empower people to visualize personal prosperity
and reconciliation between individuals and groups.
This is remarkably similar to what some Christians are promoting under various
names such as Kingdom Now Theology, Dominion Theology, Restorationism, and Adoptionism.
The basic idea is that there is a coming golden age of Christianity which will
be ushered in by a small elite group of Christians who will have the full mantle
of apostolic anointing. The return of Christ is said to be preceded by the restoration
of absolute power in the hands of human beings who will clean up the world by
the use of this power, and then he will come back. At the present time, those
who teach this theology are saying that the presence of God is now coming close,
with effects such as regular amalgam tooth fillings turning to gold and the
showering of the anointed with gold dust. There is a web site with photos of
people with their mouths open to display their golden teeth and thus lay claim
to being members of the elite group who will receive the total anointing of
divine power. One teacher is quoted as saying: "When I am under the anointing,
everything I say happens." This is cause for alarm!
If you are not alarmed enough already, some are saying that the computer problem
known as the Y2K bug will cause world civilization to grind to a halt. They
predict that shipping will fail, and so grocery stores will be emptied within
three days. They say that the entire power grid of North America will fail,
shutting down our furnaces in the dead of winter, causing the water to stop
flowing, and even stopping our sewers. This power failure is predicted by some
to erase the computer records of our savings and investments, demolishing all
banking and toppling every government of the world. The resulting chaos will
send us to our guns to defend against roving gangs who will rape and pillage.
All this inclines most people to anxiety as the new millennium begins. The uncertainty
of our time is similar to that of the church at the time the Apostle John was
given this revelation of Jesus Christ. John had been exiled to the island of
Patmos for his faith and ministry, thus separating him from the flock of God
for which he cared. The people were experiencing persecution from Rome, and
no one could tell how it would turn out. The world as they knew it was being
turned upside down. Furthermore, they were developing major problems within
the church after only fifty years. In light of this situation, what better thing
to do than to ask God: "Lord, what are we in for? What will happen to us?"
God gave them his dramatic answer in the Book of Revelation, but it is a devastatingly
huge answer compared to the question they were asking! They asked: "What will
happen to us?" and the question which God chose to answer was: "What will happen
to everyone?" This is what happened to Daniel, when he asked God one thing:
"When will Israel be returned to the Promised Land from our punishment of captivity
in this foul, pagan Babylon?" The answer God gave to this question was the unveiling
of a massive vision of the sweep of human history to come.
Does this frustrate you? The Book of Revelation has frustrated godly and scholarly
students of two millennia of church history. John Calvin skipped it when he
wrote his commentary on the whole Bible. Martin Luther did not want for it to
be in the Bible at all. Modern commentators are so divided as to its meaning
that they rarely agree. In some passages, there are almost as many interpretations
as commentators! Why would God give such an answer as the Book of Revelation
to the heart-cry of his children for comfort?
The first answer is that there is nothing more comforting than the loving rebuke,
guidance, and fatherly discipline of God. The Book of Revelation begins with
letters from Jesus to seven churches in Asia Minor, which is now western Turkey.
These churches were central to the history of the early church, with Ephesus
at the center and the smaller churches radiating out from it like spokes of
a wheel. These letters are full of the wonderful mixture of grace and truth
characteristic of the Lord Jesus Christ. The weak are encouraged, the confused
are guided, and the wayward are rebuked. Christ issued a threat to close one
of these churches, a threat to judge the wicked among them with physical disease
and death, and a threat of eternal judgment for those whose behavior was on
the verge of denying him. Jesus even speaks to those he calls "dead." In every
letter, the promise is made: "Just believe and you will find victory in this
life, and salvation and reward in the next." The discipline of such a loving
heavenly Father is great comfort.
The second reason that the Book of Revelation can quell our anxieties is that
it displays the foreknowledge of the God who is caring for us. Look at what
John the Apostle wrote as he began: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God
gave Him to show to His bondservants, the things which must shortly take place;
and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bondservant John, who bore
witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all
that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy,
and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near." (Rev. 1:1-3).
We are not in the hands of a limited Heavenly Manager who does not know what
either the humans or demons are going to do. You may find it hard to believe,
but this has been taught recently by a noted group of scholars under the title:
"Free Will Theism." It has been taught earlier in this century by a man called
Finis Jennings Dake, who produced an annotated Bible and a theology. Frankly,
I would have great trouble finding the peaceful rest of faith in a God who is
constantly being surprised by the finite beings he created. How could he help
me if we were both being surprised at the same time?
No, our God declares with authority "the things which must shortly take place."
It comes to us as a revelation or revealing through John the Apostle. The word
"revelation" is the Greek word apokalupsis, from which we get our English word
"apocalypse." Who or what is being revealed in this set of visions? It is the
revealing of Jesus Christ to the entire world in his role as Mediatorial King.
We know this by the context found in verse seven: "Behold, He is coming with
the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all
the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so. Amen." This word of authority
from God about our future gives us every reason to peacefully rest in him by
faith. As the hymn says, "Faith is the victory which overcomes the world."
It never ceases to amaze me how many commentators are willing boldly to state
views which are refuted by the context of the verses under consideration. Some
say that this is a revealing of things to come by Jesus--but he is the main
thing which is to come! Some translators have gone so far as to translate "the
revelation by Jesus." So within the first three words in the Greek we have a
translation problem in the Book of Revelation. Because there is so much disagreement
about the meaning and content of this wonderful book, the idea of a loose translation
or paraphrase becomes a major problem. Which of the many interpretations of
the text should the loose translators insert? If they are doing a "meaning for
meaning" translation rather than a word for word translation, which meaning
should they choose when there are so many possibilities?
This is why I urge every believer to do their primary study and reading in one
of the more accurate modern versions. The New American Standard Bible (from
which I study and preach), the New King James, the New International Version,
and the older King James Version are the ones which can be relied upon for accuracy.
I recommend the loose translations for general reading only if you can remember
that they are really commentaries rather than translations. Once the translator
inserts his idea of the meaning he has obscured the actual words God gave. Are
you really willing to stake your life for time and eternity upon the educated
guesses of the translators?
According to verse one the Apostle John received from the God of truth himself
a special delivery by the agency of holy angels of the specific words which
God wanted written down for the benefit of believers. It would have perplexed
John to know that these holy words were being changed and represented as "what
God really meant to say." The text says that our blessing depends on our grasp
of the words God gave: "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words
of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it..." It does not
say, "Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the general ideas of the prophecy."
No, we can have great peace in the knowledge that God knows what will happen
and that he has revealed it to us in his authoritative word.
A third reason the Book of Revelation can lead us into the peaceful rest of
faith in trying times is that it reveals to us the nature of the God is in control
of all things in time and eternity: "John to the seven churches that are in
Asia: Grace to you and peace, from Him who is and who was and who is to come;
and from the seven Spirits who are before His throne; and from Jesus Christ,
the faithful witness, the first-born of the dead, and the ruler of the kings
of the earth" (1:4-5a). We have here a description of the eternal Holy Trinity
ruling the kings of the earth with power. That's encouraging! The early church
had to contend with a horrendous string of Roman emperors who either persecuted
them directly or undermined them by virtue of state approval. Nero burned Rome
and blamed it on the Christians. We can take a mighty sense of peace that overruling
the capricious and sinful rulers of this earth is the God who loves us.
Recently I heard a message asking an important question. When do we live in
the peaceful rest of faith? Must we wait until the timely deliverance comes
to fix our present situation? Is our confidence supposed to fall and rise based
upon how we are doing at the moment? This was not the kind of faith and victory
displayed by King David in Psalm 27:1-3: "A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light
and my salvation; /Whom shall I fear? /The LORD is the defense of my life; /Whom
shall I dread? /When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, /My adversaries
and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. /Though a host encamp against me, /My
heart will not fear; /Though war arise against me, /In spite of this I shall
be confident." While David clearly saw the deliverance of God from earthly troubles,
his attitude was to live in the peaceful rest of faith even when the circumstances
did not warrant it. So should we. Why? Because "the ruler of the kings of the
earth" is on our side!"
A fourth reason to find comfort in trying times is who we are to God. If you
are genuinely trusting in Jesus Christ for your eternal salvation today, the
Apostle John wrote this of you under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit: "To
Him who loves us, and released us from our sins by His blood, and He has made
us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father; to Him be the glory and the
dominion forever and ever. Amen." (1:5b-6) We, who were at war with God, are
loved by God! We, who were in bondage to sin and under the sentence of death,
have been released from our sins by his blood. We, who were scattered and alienated
from God, are now citizens of his spiritual kingdom. We, who needed priests
to minister the endless sacrifices of the Old Covenant to us for our sins, are
now priests ministering the one sacrifice of Christ for all sins to others.
This is cause for rejoicing!
There is a hymn which begins with the line: "I cannot tell why He whom angels
worship should set His love upon the sons of men." We cannot tell why, but so
he has done! If times are trying, then let us live in the peaceful rest of faith
that our God cares for us: "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand
of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time, casting all your anxiety upon
Him, because He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:6-7)
And there is one more reason to rejoice peacefully instead of being crushed
by anxiety in these last days. The One Who Is Everything is coming back to earth:
"Behold, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even those
who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so.
Amen. 'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God, 'who is and who was
and who is to come, the Almighty.'" (1:7-8) Does your heart yearn for the vindication
of all the faithful? Are you eager for the evildoers to get their due? Are you
tired of being reckoned the "scum of the earth" by those who do not know God?
Be patient. Your day of deliverance is coming, as is their day of judgment.
For believers, the Y2K problem should be a mere blip on the radar screen. Be
wisely prepared, but never let anyone steal from you the peaceful rest of faith
in Christ. In fact, even if the worst scenario takes place, we have the right
to live in confidence and peace by virtue of our relationship with God. Even
if the church should be relegated to the catacombs of society once again, we
need not fear. Even when we see the rise of the Antichrist, the Beast, and the
False Prophet, we need not be thrust into the bottomless pit of mind-numbing
anxiety. "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of
love, and of a sound mind" (1 Tim. 1:7 -- KJV). Let us walk in what we have
been given by God, and not permit our birthright as children of God to be stolen
from us.