So It Begins
The Book of Revelation • Sermon • Submitted
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Transcript
Recap:
Recap:
To clarify, we will not go over ever question that I give you as homework. The HW question are just to give you a good springboard into thinking about the passage of Scripture.
vv. 1-3) Introduces us to the Purpose of this prophetic letter.
vv. 4-6) Tell us who the letter is being written to.
vv. 7-8 The Person:
vv. 7-8 The Person:
From what we have gone over so far, how should this book affect our view of God and His relationship with this world?
This book should expand the infinitude of God. That despite revealing more of His character and plan for mankind, we can never fully understand or comprehend God. This is because God is infinite and we are not, we are finite. We could probably use this term incomprehensible in this sense, “unable to be fully understood.” That being said praise the Lord that we do not mean God is unable to be understood at all.
In light of God’s relationship with this world, He is the Creator of all things.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
11 “You are worthy, O Lord,
To receive glory and honor and power;
For You created all things,
And by Your will they exist and were created.”
13 And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying:
“Blessing and honor and glory and power
Be to Him who sits on the throne,
And to the Lamb, forever and ever!”
[7] This verse provides some difficulties when in determining what is happening and how does it take place. First we see that He, Jesus is coming with clouds and this is a call back to Matthew 24:29-30
29 “Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 30 Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory.
We should understand that this to is literal. When Jesus left this earth, He was taken up into a cloud and God said that He would return in the same manner:
9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
There is even an OT prophecy in Daniel that pertains to Christ’s second coming too:
13 “I was watching in the night visions,
And behold, One like the Son of Man,
Coming with the clouds of heaven!
He came to the Ancient of Days,
And they brought Him near before Him.
14 Then to Him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom,
That all peoples, nations, and languages should serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion,
Which shall not pass away,
And His kingdom the one
Which shall not be destroyed.
Clouds are commonly associated with God’s presence and glory: Exodus 13:21-22
21 And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of cloud to lead the way, and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so as to go by day and night. 22 He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day or the pillar of fire by night from before the people.
10 Now it came to pass, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud.
“Behold, He is coming” is a command to be alert and watch. John is moving from praising Jesus to describing His return. He wanting us to behold the coming of Jesus. Something we see Jesus explain in Matthew 24:42
42 Watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.
How and why is it important that every eye see Him?
His return will be missed by no one. How is that possible? in light of the physics of the earth. There are some many elaborate explanations of how this might unfold. The explanation belongs to the imponderables of God. We know one thing for certain and that is this is not a supernatural vision of Jesus’ return, this description is based on OT promises pertaining to the Messiah’s return. John is most like remember what Jesus told him and the other disciples: John 14:3
3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.
Family is it not encouraging to know that Christ hasn’t gone to heaven to stay there. He has gone for the church’s benefit; and for His church’s benefit He will return again.
The primary focus is that a majority of the inhabitants of the earth will be les than excited about his appearing.
Who are, “those that pierced him?”
[Opinion] These that pierced him will also see him introduces the interesting information that his coming will be known even to those long since died.
I do not personally hold to replacement theology. That the church as replaced Israel. When Jesus comes, it will be particularly meaningful revelation for the Jewish people. Of course, it was not the Jews alone that pierced Jesus the Romans did too. But what John had in man was: Zechariah 12:10-14
10 “And I will pour on the house of David and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem the Spirit of grace and supplication; then they will look on Me whom they pierced. Yes, they will mourn for Him as one mourns for his only son, and grieve for Him as one grieves for a firstborn. 11 In that day there shall be a great mourning in Jerusalem, like the mourning at Hadad Rimmon in the plain of Megiddo. 12 And the land shall mourn, every family by itself: the family of the house of David by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of the house of Nathan by itself, and their wives by themselves; 13 the family of the house of Levi by itself, and their wives by themselves; the family of Shimei by itself, and their wives by themselves; 14 all the families that remain, every family by itself, and their wives by themselves.
From other places too I believe that we can be certain of a revival of the Israeli nation:
39 for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!’ ”
25 For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in. 26 And so all Israel will be saved, as it is written:
“The Deliverer will come out of Zion,
And He will turn away ungodliness from Jacob;
Here’s the kicker, the mode of salvation will never be different from what it was and it currently is: Trusting in God’s promises. For us it is placing our hope and faith in Jesus Christ the Son of God.
[8] What is the significance of the title, “Alpha and Omega?”
The idea behind the title is that Jesus is before all things and will remain beyond all things. This is also a title of authority over everything in-between too.
We are going to see this term who is and was and who is to come frequently. as we did in verse 4.
What is it’s importance?
Jesus has this eternal nature just as much as God the Father does.
Micah 5:2 (NKJV)
2 “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,
Though you are little among the thousands of Judah,
Yet out of you shall come forth to Me
The One to be Ruler in Israel,
Whose goings forth are from of old,
From everlasting.”
8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.
Almighty speaks of the sovereign control of Jesus over everything—past, present, and future. The Greek work is used 10 times in the NT 9 times in Revelation and once in 2 Corinthians 6:18
18 “I will be a Father to you,
and you shall be My sons and daughters,
says the Lord Almighty.”
It is showing us that God the Son is in control and has his hand in everything.
vv 9-11) The Prophecy
vv 9-11) The Prophecy
[9]John is on the Island of Patmos and this is like an Alcatraz Island of the Roman Empire. It was used as a prison island and functioned as a jail without bars. the island was rich in marble and most of the prisoners were forced laborers in marble quarries. The island its self was 10 miles long and 6 miles wide.
[11-12] To be in the Spirit seems to have more meaning than simply saying John walked “in the Spirit” as opposed to being “in the flesh” in the sense Paul meant it in Galatians 5:16. It understood that he is receiving a unique revelation from the Holy Spirit.
There are 4 reference to John being in the Spirit in Revelation:
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day, and I heard behind me a loud voice, as of a trumpet,
2 Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne.
3 So he carried me away in the Spirit into the wilderness. And I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast which was full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns.
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
The Lord’s day could be referring to the day of the week that Jesus was resurrected, Sunday. Or it could be the pagan holiday know as the “Emperors Day” the first day of every month. And Christians would call the first day of every week the “Lord’s Day.”
“The First and the Last” is a title that belongs to the Lord and is seen in:
4 Who has performed and done it,
Calling the generations from the beginning?
‘I, the Lord, am the first;
And with the last I am He.’ ”
6 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,
And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
‘I am the First and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.
12 “Listen to Me, O Jacob,
And Israel, My called:
I am He, I am the First,
I am also the Last.
This title is carries the same idea as Alpha and Omega.
John was commanded to write what he saw. He would be commanded to write eleven more times in the book of Revelation. We get the sense the unless John was commanded to write, he would have just kept it to himself. It’s alway best to keep visions and revelations to one’s self unless commanded otherwise.
His charge was to write to the seven churches in the area of Asia Minor. No one knows for certain why these seven churches were chosen and others ignored.
Some though that it is a rough circular pattern. Others believe it was postal districts of Rome. Number seven in Scripture implies completeness. So a complete church perhaps?
Interestingly, Paul would also write to seven churches: Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Colosse, Philippi, and Thessalonica.
HW Questions:
HW Questions:
Discussion Questions
What did these seven golden lampstands represent (see also verse 20)?
What is significant about the title “Son of Man?”
Who is this Son of Man?
Why is it important that He is in the “midst of” the lampstands?
What can you learn about Jesus and His character from the description of Him here?
What might His white hair represent?
What is the significance of the fact that His eyes are like a flaming fire?
What was His voice like?
What does teach us about Him?
What are the seven stars in His right hand?
What is the two-edged sword mentioned?
Why was His face shining?
After reading this description of Jesus, how has your understanding of Him deepened?
24 “The Lord bless you and keep you;
25 The Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
26 The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.” ’