Hello, I'm Dr. Cheryl Davis, and thank you for joining Truth Matters as we begin our journey through the book of Revelation beginning in chapter 1. In the past few episodes we did an overview of prophecy in general and then an overview of the book of Revelation, but we'll begin in chapter 1.
Let's begin by reading chapter 1 verses 1 through 3. The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants, things which much shortly take place, and he sent and signified it by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near. In verse 1, Revelation comes from the Greek word apokalypsis, or apocalypse. Apocalypse means an uncovering or an unveiling, setting forth or a manifestation of. Revelation is the uncovering of Jesus Christ. As we have said before, it is a messianic book.
Jesus is the Messiah. It is an uncovering of Jesus Christ. The primary focus of the book of Revelation is to unveil the Lord Jesus Christ and his role as coming king over all the earth.
I'm going to say that one more time as this is an important point. The primary focus of the book of Revelation is to unveil the Lord Jesus Christ and his role as coming king over all the earth. In verse 1, it says to show his servants things which must shortly take place.
Shortly comes from the word takos, which we get our word tachometer, something that will happen quickly as in a succession of events once they begin to unfold. Moving on to verse 2, who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things that he saw. This was sent from God to John via his angel. John, his beloved, bore witness to the word of God, the testimony of Jesus Christ, to all things he saw. So in verse 1, it tells us this is a prophetic book.
In verse 2, it tells us this is a pictorial book, because John is writing of all the things he saw, which reinforces that this is a pictorial book. Moving on to verse 3, blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep those things which are written in it for the time is near. Blessed is he who tells us that Revelation is a profitable book, meaning that those that read it or that hear it or that keep the things that are written in it or for the time is near that they will be blessed. So let's get into these blessings. So number 1, blessed is he who reads is the only book in all the Bible that has its own special blessings promised for reading and obeying the book of Revelation. Blessed is he who hears. Blessed is he who is hearing. A previous practice of reading the scriptures in the early church, that there may not have been the scriptures that were translated in other languages at that time, but they stood up and read the scriptures in the early church. So blessed is those who hear the word of God. Blessed is he who keeps those things which are written in it.
So this is a practical admonition. It is a book not only to be read or to be heard, but it is also to be obeyed for the time is near. This is the prophetic anticipation of Revelation. When John wrote this book, it was later than it ever had been.
And I want to spend just a minute here. It is later than it ever has been. The coming of Jesus Christ is closer than it ever has been. At the time that John wrote this book, he fully anticipated the return of Christ and John thought it was late. Here we are 2,000 plus years later. It is now later than it was even in John's time. And as each day goes by, it gets later and later. It is later now than it ever has been. The coming of Jesus Christ is closer than it ever has been. Truth Matters with Dr. Cheryl Davis is a ministry of The Truth Project.
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