Thy Kingdom Come – the Book of Revelation
Many months ago, we began a lengthy series about God’s future kingdom upon the earth. We started in Genesis and saw that Adam was given dominion over the earth as God’s mediatorial [mediator] ruler, until he sinned. With the coming of the Lord to the earth centuries later, we saw that the Lord Jesus Christ was presented as the Last Adam, offering the kingdom to Israel. Upon Israel’s rejection of His rule as King, the nation was ended and the Jewish people were scattered around the world until the re-formation of Israel as a nation in 1948.
You may recall that when we started this series I said one of the major themes running through the Scriptures is that of Jesus Christ’s ultimate earthly kingdom ruled by Him. I stressed the importance of studying the kingdom, because in doing this, we bless and praise God, as David said in Psalm 145:10-13:
Psalm 145:
10 All thy works shall praise thee, O LORD; and thy saints shall bless thee.
11 They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power;
12 To make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious
majesty of his kingdom.
13 Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth
throughout all generations.
Notice, we actually bless God as we “speak of the glory of” His kingdom. We, as the future bride of Jesus Christ, need to glorify our God by learning about His kingdom as it is presented in the book of Revelation.
Therefore, we now have come to the capstone of the pyramid of God’s prophetic Scriptures, the book of Revelation.
John the Apostle recorded it on the isle of Patmos, known at the time as the Alcatraz [inescapable prison] of the Roman Empire, in approximately 90 ad, as the last written word from God to us.
The Capstone of Prophetic Scriptures
1 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to show unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and
he sent and signified it by his angel unto his servant John:
2 Who bare record of the word of God, and of the testimony of Jesus Christ,
and of all things that he saw.
The Book of Revelation is a record given by God the Father to all believers living during the Church age, Pentecost Acts 2 to the catching up of the Church, 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, in order to encourage us by giving us a preview and an understanding of the “things” that will lead us to our destiny as Christ’s Bride. The events displayed will bring “every eye” of history (v. 7) to see and recognize Jesus of Nazareth as Christ [the Messiah] and God the Son.
Notice carefully, it is God the Father Who gives this record to His Son, Jesus Christ, who then gives it to His servants.
God the Father → Jesus Christ → Bond-servants
God’s method is to use signs [signified] that help us to understand future actions that are beyond our full comprehension.
These “servants” (doulos) are all who belong to Him for they are bond-servants, who voluntarily chose to serve Him for eternity by accepting His substitutionary death on the Cross to pay for the debt penalty of our sins – v. 5b:
Unto him that loved [lit: loves – ongoing, unending] us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
Here, Christ’s love is in the durative or ongoing sense, and is the only time in Scripture it refers to His personal individual love of each of His servants. Yes, Scripture suggests His love by His actions in many passages, and in Ephesians 5:25 it says He loves the Church, His Bride, as a whole. Paul noted in Colossians 2:20 that He loved him. Further, we know that God loves all people, as stated in John 3:16, but again, Revelation 1:5b is the only place He is speaking individully to His servants about His personal love to each one of us.
John Penned the Record to Us
Significantly, God delivered this revelation to the apostle John as the last written message to Church-Age believers before the Lord took John to be with Him.
John wants to reassure us that once the Church-Age ends with the Rapture, this revelation will begin by moving rapidly [the meaning of “must shortly come to pass”] to the revealing of our Lord and Savior for all mankind to Him as the Son of God.
Notice the channel used by God indicates that this book is true Scripture:
God → His angels → apostle John → Church-Age believers.
We do not know the identity of this angel, but he was God’s messenger to John. God will use many signs and visions to covey this book to John. As we continue to study the book, we will see many examples of angels being used by God (Revelation 5:2, 7:2, 10:8 to 11:1, and 17:7 are some examples).
If you know the Lord as your Savior, you are privileged to read, hear, and keep these things that are written to you - vs. 3.
Blessed [happy, prosperous] is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time [of fulfillment] is at hand.
This is a personal letter from God to each one of us, but it also was to be read publicly, just as other books of the Scriptures were read in the early church.
Further, the Book of Revelation offers a particular and unique blessing to those who read and keep the message of this book. This is the first of seven beatitudes of Revelation (Revelation 1:3, 14:13, 16:15, 19:9, 20:6, 22:7, and 22:14).
Therefore, we are not to read it casually, but we are to study it and then “keep those things which are written” in order to be the Lord’s best bond-servant. This promise of blessing itself shows that John regarded this book as Holy Scripture. In the Jewish world, such a blessing could never be pronounced on a mere human book.
To “read” originally referred to someone, a church leader, reading it to the church. Remember that in the early days of the church manuscripts were rare. In our day, Bibles are readily available, so we can read it ourselves as well. Even so, the public reading of this book to the church is still applicable to us.
To “hear” speaks of showing a genuine interest to hear what God is writing to us. This is for those having a heart-felt desire to understand it. This book is much more than information to satisfy our prophetic speculation and curiosity. Significantly, it gives us things to keep in our lives, that understood, will change the way we live.
To “keep” means keeping the principles taught by desiring to conform our lives to the patterns and principles needed for our coming future position and role as Christ’s Bride and Queen -
2 Timothy 2:12 speaks of ruling with Him
Revelation 2:26, 27 indicates power to rule over nations in the kingdom
Revelation 3:21 promises the church to “sit with me in my throne”
Revelation 20:4 indicates that OT, NT, and Tribulation believers will sit upon
thrones to “live and reigned with Christ a thousand years.”
As I talk with believers, I notice there are two views of prophecy held by people. One has just a passing interest in prophecy and our future, only dreaming that they will loaf around in pleasure in eternity. The other has a genuine desire to understand God’s plan for our role in it and to serve Him.
The Author of the Book and the One Who will Assure its Fulfillment
4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
This book was originally written and delivered to seven early churches, but ultimately to all of Jesus Christ’s servants. Remember, John had pastored the church in Ephesus and therefore, the other six churches would have been in his “fellowship” of churches.
Remember, John was not the author, but rather a spectator to the great pictorial drama of the future. I believe this was a special blessing for the apostle who had to wait the longest to be reunited with his Lord, for these are the words given to “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” Peter noted this in John 21:20:
Then Peter, turning about, seeth the disciple whom Jesus loved following; which also leaned on his breast at supper...
John was always close to the Lord. He was at the transfiguration, at the Cross, and witness to the resurrection of the Lord, so that he truly knew our Lord. He was special to the Lord only because he longed to be with Jesus at every opportunity and now it had been 60 years since he last saw Him.
We need to note that God loves us without partiality, but the strength of love is a result of closeness to someone.
John only longed to be with His Lord and consequently, he longed for Jesus Christ’s coming. Since there is a crown for those loving His appearing, the Lord loved John in a special and all who love His appearing – 2 Timothy 4:8:
Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.
At this point John speaks to the seven churches in his “fellowship” – Revelation 1:4:
4 John to the seven churches which are in Asia: Grace be unto you, and peace, from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne; 5 And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, 6 And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
He is speaking of the grace and peace that only comes from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Grace and peace come when we received God’s gift of eternal life through the Lord Jesus Christ, our Savior – Ephesians 2:8, 9:
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Romans 5:1, 2
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
Consequently, John wants us to know our God, Who that brings us grace and peace, by reading, hearing, and heeding His words in this book.
The true Author is the Trinity – the Three in One God. Notice the three “from” in this verse:
1) from God the Father – which is, and which was, and which is to come; Typically, John’s writings were composed using very simple forms of Greek in contrast the to complex writings of Paul. Yet, at this point in the text we find him struggling to express his inner most feelings as he expresses the deep truth of the eternal nature and name of God the Father. For in the original text we find an intentionally awkward construction.
John recognized that the eternal nature of God, three in one, went so beyond simple words, that he emphasized it by this special sentence structure. Here John tells us the Father is One “which is” – eternally present, “which was” – continually involve with the world in the past, and “which is to come” – will be totally involved in the new Heaven and Earth – as the timeless eternal Creator God. This is a New Testament equivalent to the “I am” of the Old, but expands to involve the future coming to dwell and rule upon the New Earth along with God the Son, as described in Revelation 22:1-3.
2) from the Holy Spirit - the seven Spirits which are before his throne. Here John describes the second Source of grace and peace. To see why He is the Holy Spirit, God expects us to search the Scriptures to fully understand unfamiliar terms written in this book. Always remember it is the culmination of history and in particular the Old Testament. Many people find Revelation difficult primarily because they are not acquainted with the writings of the Old Testament.
Why is the Old Testament important to studying the Revelation? Well, there are more than 500 allusions to the Old Testament in it, and 278 out of the 404 verses in Revelation (that is almost 70%) make some reference to the Old Testament.
Recognizing this, we find that Isaiah the prophet defines the “seven Spirits” in chapter 11 verse 2 -
where he describes seven aspects or gifts of the Holy Spirit:
The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Him, [idea of the leading of the Spirit]
the Spirit of wisdom and
[the Spirit of] understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and
[the Spirit of] might,
the Spirit of knowledge and
[the Spirit of] fear of the Lord.
It isn’t that there are seven different spirits of God, rather the Holy Spirit is describe by these “seven characteristics that express His fullness and perfection.” Throughout the Bible, the number seven is used symbolically by God to express fullness: for example, 7 days in a week, 7 months of harvest in Israel, 7 years of the Tribulation of God’s wrath, 7 churches typical all Christian churches, etc.
John then describes the third Source of grace and peace as coming from the Lord Jesus Christ – John 1:5
who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
As God the Son now in flesh (incarnate), we are told that He loves us, grammatically, speaking of an ongoing love that has no end, for He is eternal. Further, it is He that cleansed us from our sins with His blood demonstrating His ongoing, durative, eternal love for those who are His Bride.
The Future Position of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Bride at the Revelation
Notice carefully the Lord’s position at the end of the events of Revelation, when He will be “prince” or chief ruler of all kings of the earth, verse 5.
Never forget, His kingdom will be the earth’s government for 1000 years. As a worldwide government, it will have a massive administration of sub-rulers or kings, for we must remember that as lowly bond-servants, we will have then a new position, based upon the certainty, indicated by the aorist tense of “hath made us.”
6 And hath made [aorist] us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen.
Also in 2 Timothy 2:12:
If we suffer, we shall also reign with him….
I never realized what this really meant until I focused upon this phrase.
Kingship is the position you will hold after you have been prepared for it, by the Spirit’s help – Revelation 19:7:
Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honor to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself ready.
The dual position of kings and priests is more than Adam ever held. We never read of Adam in Scripture as being among those designated both kings and priests of God. Our unique dual role is worth praising Jesus about.
As kings, we have special privilege, status, authority, and responsibility. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ paid the highest price for His Bride - 1 Corinthians 6:20:
For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.
This concept draws from Old Testament marriage customs where a man paid a bride price (mohar) for his wife, a picture of Christ's costly purchase of the Church upon the Cross. There He freed us from the penalty and punishment of sin we owed and freed us from the power of sin, by shedding His blood, – Hebrews 10:18
Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin.
As redeemed by Him, we become His servant if we receive His gift of eternal life:
John 1:12
But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:
John 3:16
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life.
John 3:36
He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth
on him.
Once we are Jesus Christ’s, we not only will be sub-rulers under Him in His Millennial Kingdom, but also, we will be priests unto God the Father – Romans 5:1, 2:
1 Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: 2 By whom also we have access by
faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
We need to realize what a unique privilege it is is given to us to be King-Priests. We can not assume these two positions upon ourself, for to do so would bring severe punishment as seen when King Uzziah assumed both positions without God giving them to him - 2 Chronicles 26:16-23.
16 But when he [King Uzziah] was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God,
and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense. 17 And Azariah the priest went in after him, and with
him fourscore priests of the LORD, that were valiant men: 18 And they withstood Uzziah the king, and said unto him, It appertaineth
not unto thee, Uzziah, to burn incense unto the LORD, but to the priests the sons of Aaron, that are consecrated to burn incense: go
out of the sanctuary; for thou hast trespassed; neither shall it be for thine honor from the LORD God. 19 Then Uzziah was wroth, and
had a censer in his hand to burn incense: and while he was wroth with the priests, the leprosy even rose up in his forehead before the
priests in the house of the LORD, from beside the incense altar. 20 And Azariah the chief priest, and all the priests, looked upon him,
and, behold, he was leprous in his forehead, and they thrust him out from thence; yea, himself hasted also to go out, because the
LORD had smitten him. 21 And Uzziah the king was a leper unto the day of his death, and dwelt in a several house, being a leper;
for he was cut off from the house of the LORD: and Jotham his son was over the king's house, judging the people of the land.
22 Now the rest of the acts of Uzziah, first and last, did Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, write. 23 So Uzziah slept with his fathers,
and they buried him with his fathers in the field of the burial which belonged to the kings; for they said, He is a leper: and Jotham his
son reigned in his stead.
Only through the shed blood and death of Jesus Christ [him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood] can we be given this special position. Remember that Christ is now our High Priest and will become King at His revelation at the Millennium (Luke 1:31-33; Hebrews 4:14, 15).
14 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession.
15 For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we
are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time
of need.
What a privilege we have through prayer directly to the Father through our High Priest, the Lord Jesus Christ. Perhaps, we as future priests will bring Millennial people to God’s throne of grace in a similar position.
I often wonder how will we ever be able to serve our Lord as a king-priest.
Then I remember, we are being made into Jesus Christ’s likeness in order to serve Him - 1 John 3:2
1 Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3 And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
Don’t lose sight of Who is claiming this future for us: “from him which is, and which was, and which is to come; [that is the Father, the Almighty] and from the seven Spirits which are before his throne;
And from the One who died for us.
The Prophetic Anticipation
We now move from praising each member of the Triune God to the future grandeur of the revelation of Jesus Christ to the world! Having written this, John reveals his excitement at what follows. For the word “behold,” for in the original the Greek form suggests a “shout” from John. He now previews the dreamed day of the coming of Jesus Christ back to the earth, in verse 7.
Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen.
John is merely reflecting the teaching of the Lord when He was ministering in Israel. In Matthew 24:42, at the conclusion of His Olivet Discourse, the Lord said:
Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
His meaning was clear for He desires us to be vigilant and expectant as contrasted with laxity and indifference (Matthew 24:36-41).
John himself wrote that Jesus promised, “I will come again and receive you to myself” (John 14:3) in the night before He was crucified.
Bible commentator Joseph Seiss observed: “Christ has not gone to heaven to stay there. He has gone for the church’s benefit; and for his church’s benefit he will return again.”
How will Christ come? - “he cometh with clouds” just as He left John and the other disciples so long before.
This is truly an appropriate accompaniment for deity – Daniel 7:13, 14
13 I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. 14 And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages, should serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom that which shall not be destroyed.
Throughout Greek literature of John’s day, the idea of “clouds” is a figure of speech suggesting a very large group. In Hebrews 12:1 it speaks of a great multitude of believers that went before us and should inspire us to live for the Lord.
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us,
The “clouds” or multitude spoken of in verse 7 will certainly include New and Old Testament saints coming down with Him.
Additionally, my first thought was of the Shekinah Glory or “cloud” of the Old Testament.
The Shekinah Glory, is the finite glow or glory which radiates from a location where the infinite God manifests Himself in a comprehensible way to finite man.
That “cloud” always surround God’s manifestations on earth throughout history. It certainly would be appropriate at this significant moment with all those “save” by the Lord Jesus Christ serving to testify to Him as God.
If we survey all the instances of the Shekinah, we find it is times when the invisible, infinite God makes His presence visible to men.
The word “tabernacle” shares its root with Shekinah and thus can easily be translated into “as the dwelling place of the Shekinah.” Recognizing this, we turn back to Ezekiel 11:22, 23:
22 Then did the cherubims lift up their wings, and the wheels beside them; and the glory of the God of Israel was over them above. 23 And the glory of the LORD went up from the midst of the city, and stood upon the mountain which is on the east side of the city.
This was the last time the Glory dwelt and appeared in the land of Israel at least until the Lord was born in Bethlehem (Matthew 2:1-12).
For there the Greek word for “star” simply means “radiance” or “brilliance.” This was Jesus’ unique star, perhaps being the Shekinah glory reflecting that God was announcing the birth of the Messiah, God Himself in flesh.
Now, at the end of the Tribulation the Lord Jesus Christ will return to dwell upon the earth with man - appropriately, the “clouds” have come.
John now quotes God’s certification of the certainty of what John has just described in verse 8.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.
Grammatically, the “I” is receives the emphasis of the verse.
The terminology is that of the Greek first and last letter of its alphabet.
Who is speaking is debated by many, saying it is either God the Father or it is God the Son.
Before we jump and say that only God the Father is the Alpha and Omega, we need to carefully note that Jesus Christ is unquestionably described in exactly the terms in the same chapter, verse 11:
Saying, I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last: and, What thou seest, write in a book, and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia; unto Ephesus, and unto Smyrna, and unto Pergamos, and unto Thyatira, and unto Sardis, and unto Philadelphia, and unto Laodicea.
And again in Revelation 21:6 and 22:13.
If verse 8 refers to Jesus Christ, that also links the term “Almighty” to Him, but if verse 8 refers to God the Father and the other three passages refer to the Lord Jesus Christ, then it makes Jesus Christ equal to the Father and part of the Trinity. I believe verse 8 brings even more glory to Jesus Christ through the other three references.
Here is why I favor God the Father in verse 8.
By comparing verse 1 with verse 8, I find that it is highly probable that the Father is here offering a certification that He will initiate the “things” to come (v. 1) by sending God the Son back to the earth.
I base this view on a parable of the Lord in Luke and Peter’s second sermon in Acts.
Luke tells us that when Jesus was asked by what authority He taught and preached (Acts 20:1-3), Jesus Christ offered a parable about a lord of a vineyard (v. 9).
In the parable, the lord of the vineyard, on three occasions, sends his servants to get his share of the crop from his tenants and each time they refused. In verse 13, the lord of the vineyard asks this question:
Then said the lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him.
The prime message of this parable is that God sent many to proclaim the Messiah and kingdom prior to our Lord, but the people rejected His servants and ultimately, His beloved son. After that the wrath of God would come upon them.
For us, we see the parallel of God the Father send His Son into the world, the first time (John 3:16).
Turning to Peter’s sermon in Acts 3, we find that God the Father again will send His Son a second time, from His presence, to bring the times of restitution to the world, the Millennial Kingdom (vv. 19-21).
19 Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20 And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you: 21 Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began.
Further reason to believe verse 8 is God the Father, who is called the Almighty, is that 43 times in the Old Testament, “Almighty” is used specifically of the Father.
Also, the early churches acknowledged this in their writings indicting that “Almighty” speaks of God the Father’s universal supremacy owing to His supreme power.
Finally, recognizing the parallels between the Jewish marriage customs of the Lord’s days, we find that when the father of the bridegroom tells his son to leave his father’s home to go get the son’s bride, the bridegroom goes to the brides home and then takes her back to the father’s house for the wedding and then takes her back to the bridegroom’s home, which he has prepared for her.
For us when this happens we cease to be a servant and become the wife of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with Him eternally and to serve Him on the earth.
For this we should join with John and say – Revelation 22:17:
And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.
Sources: David Guzik, Enduring Word Commentary
Herman Hoyt, Revelation
Arnold Fruchtenbalm, The Footsteps of the Messiah
David Guzik, Enduring Word commentary on Revelation
and others.