Jesus Christ: High Priest; Judge; Review
of Rev. 1
A lot of folks study prophecy
to sort of titillate their curiosity, to find out what is going on today so
that they can properly exegete the newspaper reports and figure out what is happening,
where are we on the time scale of prophecy, what is happening in Israel? Etc.!
All of this focuses our attention of our modern world on a very ancient problem
that goes all the way back to Ishmael and Isaac. All of this lays a foundation
for what the Bible teaches about the future. Not to mention the fact that we
have uninformed folks in the mainstream press who throw around terms like
Armageddon, evangelical Christianity, and have no clue of what they are talking
about and just get everybody all confused. So we need to take some time to look
at what the Scripture says in the last book of the New Testament, the book of
Revelation.
In Revelation 1:3 there is a
blessing that is promised to those who study this last book. It is not written
for the purpose of satisfying our curiosity about the future. There are very
important reasons to study Revelation as well as to study prophecy in
Scripture. “Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and
blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because
the time is near.” There is this sense of urgency that the writer of Revelation
has, that Jesus Christ could come back at any moment. This is known as the
doctrine of the imminency of the Rapture. There are
no signs of the times related to the Rapture, the next thing that we are
looking for in God’s prophetic timetable is the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ
in the air for the church, and it could happen at any moment. So we have to be
ready, we have to prepare. So there is a blessing for those who read, and that
doesn’t simply mean sitting down and reading through the book of Revelation in
your devotional time. It has to do with the exposition, the explanation of what
the book of Revelation means. It refers more to the pastor and his exposition
of the Word than it does individuals who read the book. So blessed are those
who read, i.e. the pastors who teach the Word, and those who hears the words of
this prophecy, i.e. those who study it, but as James says, it is not just a matter
of hearing, it is also that we are to be doers or appliers of the Word. John
echoes that and by saying that it is the one who hears the words and heeds the
things that are written in it. That is, it is not just a matter of intellectual
curiosity or academic investigation, it is matter of
taking these things and applying them to our thinking and to our lives.
Why should we study prophecy?
Just for introduction, when we look at the Bible 28 per cent of the Bible was
prophetic when it was written. Some of it has already been revealed but most of
the Bible was prophetic, i.e. it foretold future events, at the time that it
was written. Fifteen per cent of the Bible is still unfulfilled prophecy. In
the New Testament eighteen per cent of the New Testament epistles—one out of
every five verses in the New Testament, is unfulfilled prophecy. This is
important. God has revealed these things to us for a reason. One in twelve
verses in the New Testament refers to the second coming of Christ. One in ten
verses in the epistles refer to the second coming of
Christ. Beyond that, sixty per cent of the verses in the New Testament are
affected by eschatology issues to be properly understood. If you don’t
understand God’s timetable for history and the future, and what is going to
take place in the future, then you can’t properly orient to the future in the
present time. Not only that but you are going to misunderstand and misapply
many of the passages in the New Testament. Furthermore, prophecy is given for
the purpose of encouraging believers through times of adversity that God is in
control. History is moving in a direction. There will be a day of
accountability and evaluation for believers and unbelievers alike,
and evil will be resolved and judged.
If we look at the Old
Testament, we have these large amounts of text that are related to future
events. We find them primarily in Jeremiah, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, the Minor
Prophets, and when these were written part of them were a warning that the
nation would go out under the fifth cycle of discipline if they didn’t return
to God. There would be judgment. But not only would God judge
Second, it was to inform
believers about a coming evaluation, that there is judgment coming, that there
is an evaluation for believers at the judgment seat of Christ in relation to
our destiny with the Lord Jesus Christ in the future Millennial
kingdom.
A third reason to study
prophecy is to provide details about the end times for the encouragement,
protection and direction of Tribulation saints. There will be those who are
saved during that future time, that seven-year period that the Bible calls the
time of Jacob’s trouble, and it is the most horrendous time in human history.
The fourth reason to study
Revelation is because it completes God’s revelation to mankind with reference
to the sufficiency of Scripture. Scripture wouldn’t be sufficient if it didn’t
give us an overview of God’s plan for the future. So because we understand
where history is going it gives us a perspective on what is happening today.
That doesn’t mean that we can go into current events and figure out where we
are in the prophetic timetable. We are in what is called the church age and the
church age is a time when there are trends that continue through history but
there are no prophecies that are fulfilled during the church age. If a prophecy
was necessary to occur before Jesus came back, then would you be looking for
the blessed hope of the appearance of the Lord, or would you be looking for the
sign of the times? You would be looking for that sign of then times. But the
Scripture says that what we look for today is the blessed hope of His return.
That is the next thing that happens on the prophetic timetable.
Prophecy, therefore, is
designed to motivate believers, to encourage believers, in terms of their
present spiritual life and spiritual growth. It is also being used by the Lord
for evangelism purposes. Many believers have come to know Christ as savior through the study of prophecy.
Several passages emphasize
this for believers: 1 Thessalonians 5:4-6, “But you, brothers, are not in
darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. You are all sons of
the light and sons of the day. We do not belong to the night or to the
darkness. So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be
alert and self-controlled.”
Hebrews
James 5:8, “You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is
near.”
1 Peter 4:7, “The end of all
things is near. Therefore be clear minded and
self-controlled so that you can pray.”
Revelation 22:10, “Then he
told me, ‘Do not seal up the words of the prophecy of this book, because the
time is near.’”
The basic
outline. Revelation
The picture we see in
Revelation is not simply telling us what these future events are going to be,
it is a focus on judgment, that there is a future judgment, and judgment is a
major theme in the book of Revelation. In chapter one John sees this vision of
the Lord Jesus Christ, and he appears in this bright, white light. He has hair
that is white like wool, legs that are shiny like burnished bronze. He comes
holding a sword used for power, for executing control, and it is a picture of
Jesus as a high priest coming to judge. The first element of judgment is in
Revelation chapters two and three where He is pictured as the judge, the
evaluator of the churches. Then there is the Rapture that takes place in
chapter four and from there to chapter nineteen there is the description of the
Tribulation which is God’s judgment on the earth dwellers. There is a judgment
of
Chapter one sets the stage.
It gives a framework for understanding what the book is all about. We have the
title of the book and the purpose of the book. There is a blessing for those
who study who study, read, hear and heed the words of the prophecy. We learn
about the occasion of the giving of the book, the vision John had on the island
of Patmos, how the vision was of Jesus Christ as high
priest and judge who commissions him to write down the “things which you have
seen, the things which are, and the things which are to come to pass after
these things,” and this sets the stage for understanding chapter two.
Revelation 1:1 gives us the
orientation to the book. The first three verses are one sentence,
the subject is that this is the revelation, unveiling, disclosure, of Jesus
Christ. This is an unveiling, a disclosure of facts, details, information that
has not been given before. What Revelation does is hold together details from
Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Zecharaiah: Old
Testament books that talk about what would happen in the future related to
What does “the revelation of
Jesus Christ” mean? Certainly it could be understood to mean revelation about
Jesus Christ because there is much in this book that focuses on Him. He is the
key to understanding the book. In chapter one He is the glorified, risen savior. In chapters two and three He is the Lord of the
church. In chapters four through five He is pictured as the Lamb of God, which
is one of the most often-used titles in the book of Revelation. In chapters six
through eleven He is the judge of all mankind. This is the first stage of the
Tribulation, the first seal judgments which are described as the wrath of the
Lamb poured out upon the earth. In chapters twelve through thirteen He is the
child of the woman who is attacked by the dragon who is Satan of old. In chapters
fourteen through nineteen we have the description of the coming of the King of
kings and the Lord of lords, that Jesus Christ is the one who will come back
and permanently defeat evil, defeat Satan, defeat the Antichrist and the false
prophet. Then in chapter twenty He is presented as the Messianic and Millennial
King. In chapters twenty-one and twenty-two He is the Lord of heaven and earth.
So the book is definitely about Jesus Christ but that is not how we should understand
this phrase. It is not simply the revelation about Jesus Christ but this
genitive phrase can also be understood as Christ’s revelation or the revelation
which Christ gave. That is how it should be understood because this is the
revelation from Jesus Christ which God gave Him. God gives or delegates to
Jesus Christ a body of information or data that is then in turn to be disclosed
to mankind for a particular purpose. He is to show His servants the things
which must quickly take place—they will take place in rapid succession. This is
the purpose of the book of Revelation.
The idea of things that must
soon take place is one of the key themes in the book of Revelation. Revelation
4:1, the Rapture is alluded to: “I will show you what must take place after
these things.” It is a reference to future events.
Revelation 1:2, this
revelation was given to His servant John, i.e. John the apostle who was the
legal witness to this book. He bore witness, or testified to the Word of God and
to the testimony of Jesus Christ. There is a legal dimension to this book. A legal
witness to this book, and this is terminology that was
used throughout the Gospel of John, that human history is part of an overall
trial that is taking place with relation to Satan and the fallen angels. In
this trial we play a role as we give testimony to the grace of God in our
lives.
In Revelation 1:4 we shift
from the prologue to the basic core greeting: “John to the seven churches which
are in
He gives a greeting: “Grace
and peace to you from him who is, and who was, and who is to come, and from the
seven spirits before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful
witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.
To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood, and has made
us to be a kingdom and priests to serve his God and Father—to him be glory and
power for ever and ever! Amen.” This is a reference to God the Father. He is
the one who is and was and is to come, a reference to His eternality. The seven
spirits before His throne is a reference to the Holy Spirit and the full dimension
of His ministry, based on references in Zechariah. What helps us to understand
this is the word “throne.” The only throne mentioned in Revelation is the
throne of God the Father. Jesus Christ is not on a throne yet, that doesn’t
happen until the end of the Tribulation. In Revelation 1:5, the second member
of the Trinity is now addressed. The firstborn from the dead references His
resurrection. Cf. Colossians 1:18. When He returns He will be the ruler of the
kings of the earth and He will set up His kingdom upon the earth. Psalm 89:27, “I
will also appoint him my firstborn, the most exalted of the kings of the earth.”
Revelation 1:7, “Look, 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 because of him. So shall it be!
Amen.” The imagery comes out of Zechariah 12:10 where God said that at the end
of time He would pour out on the house of David and on the inhabitants of
Jerusalem the spirit of grace—not the Holy Spirit, it is an attitude of grace
and supplication—“then they will look on me whom they pierced.” Notice it is
the Lord Jesus Christ speaking here, not God the Father. The point is that when
Jesus Christ returns