Let's Study Revelation (Chapter 1) by E. G. Cook

CHAPTER ONE     It is pathetic indeed to see the great number of our Lord's saints who deprive themselves of such wonderful blessings by ignoring the book of Revelation. If you wish to see the real picture of our Lord, look in this book rather than upon the walls of many homes and churches. If you desire to know just what man is, stand him up beside the one you see in this book. You will come to see very soon just how little and in significant we mortals be. Even the title which the King James translators gave to this marvelous book sets forth before our very eyes the frailty and fallibility of man. Had they considered carefully the first phrase in the book, they would have never called it "The Revelation of St. John the Divine." Certainly John was a saint just as you are a saint if you have been saved by the grace of God. To affix the title "saint" before his name, however, is a hang-over from Roman Catholicism just as it is in the titles of the four gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But when they attribute Divinity to John, or any other mortal man, they come awfully close to blasphemy.
    Different translators use different titles for the book. Some of them simply call it "The Revelation." Others call it "The Revelation to John." Still others call it "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." While still others who are afraid to get too far away from the King James translators call it "The Revelation of John." It is true that John is revealed in a sense in this book. When the fall of the year comes around and the major league ball teams are in their final games to determine what team will be the world champion, the ball fans appreciate the fact that the announcer, or sports commentator is there to tell them over their television or radio just what is going on down on the playing field, but their interest is in the game, not in the announcer. John, here in this book of Revelation, is revealed as the announcer of the coming events. And while we appreciate the beloved John very much, still here in this book our interest is in the events that John tells us will soon come to pass. Jesus Christ is also revealed in this book. He is the One who brings to pass the events that John announces. But still, the main object of this book is to reveal the things that must shortly come to pass. So if I were going to give this wonderful book a short, concise title, I would call it "A Revelation of the Things That Must Shortly Come to Pass." This, in essence, is the title the Lord, Jesus Christ gave to the book in the very first sentence in it. Why then should man show his ignorance by trying to improve on what God has done?
    The word "Revelation" comes from the Greek word APOKOLUPSIS which means to unveil, or uncover something. It means that the thing under consideration is being uncovered in order that it may be seen. If our Lord had used the word APOKRUPSIS which means to hide, to veil, or to cover, we could understand why so many of His people ignore this book. It is to be noted that this book, in revealing the One who brings the events to pass, is not just a revelation of Jesus. Neither is it just a revelation of Christ. It is a revelation of Jesus Christ. Jesus is His name as God who was made in the likeness of man, that is, it is His human name. This name Jesus means "Saviour," and it was given to Him even before He was born. "Thou shalt call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins," Matthew 1:21. The name "Christ" means 'anointed." So, Jesus Christ really means "The anointed Saviour." In Acts 10:38 we are told that "God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit." So when He was baptized by John in Jordan we see the Holy Spirit descending from heaven like a dove and lighting upon Him. So, Jesus is His name and Christ is His title.
    God gave this revelation to Jesus Christ. This may pose a question as to why God would need to give this revelation to our Lord since He is as much God as the Father is God. To guess on this subject, or any other subject in God's precious Word is not only a waste of time, it is dangerous as well. While the one who is doing the guessing may realize that he is guessing, others may be mislead by it. Let us all pray that we may not be guilty of misleading anyone by a wild guess. John 2:24-25 sets forth the fact that even while here in His earthly ministry, our Lord had full knowledge concerning man. However, Mark 13:32 makes it very clear that during that time when He had taken upon Himself a body like unto His brethren, there was some limitation to His knowledge concerning at least the time of His return to this earth. Now, that He has put off all human limitations forever and the Father has given Him this revelation, there is no more limitation. What one of them knows, the other knows. The teaching that He could know, but does not choose to know everything is certainly not befitting Him who is Alpha and Omega, and whose eyes John saw as a flame ot fire. He is omnipotent (all powerful) and omniscient (knows everything), else how could He command the worship and adoration of those who are not omnipotent and omniscient? To attribute anything less than full and complete knowledge to Him today is, in my opinion, very close to blasphemy. We may make plans to do a certain thing at a set time, and then find that some unforeseen thing has appeared on the scene which makes it utterly impossible for us to do that which we had planned to do. But who wants a God who could be thwarted in His plans by some unforeseen thing? The one true God knows the end from the beginning, not just in regard to one thing, but in regard to everything.
    When He had received this wonderful revelation, He in turn showed it to His servants (literally bond slaves). It is concerning things which must shortly come to pass, or better, things which must come to pass quickly when their time comes. And how quickly these things are coming to pass before our very eyes today. He sign-i-fied it to John. Usually this word is signified, but here it is sign-i-fied denoting that it was by signs that He showed it to John and through him to us. These signs, like the parables, Matthew 13:10-11, are not for the world, but for us. The book of Revelation was not written for the lost world to understand. He did all this by, or through His angel. There are those who spend a lot of time speculating as to who this angel was. But if our Lord had wanted us to know who this angel was, He would have told us. So let us do less speculating and more propagating.
    Both, Revelation and Daniel were given to us through men who were outstanding as to their faithfulness. Here John is set forth as one who bore "record of the Word of God; and of the testimony of Jesus Christ, and of things he saw." It is required of a steward, that a man be found faithful, and John was found faithful. Therefore he was blessed in that he was given to see the marvelous things found in this revelation. More over, we too, are promised a blessing if we read, or hear and keep (guard as a treasure) the words of this prophecy. It is pitiful indeed to see people trying to make of this book of prophecy a mere book of history. Once here in verse 3 and four times in chapter 22, verses 7, 10, 18. 19 our Lord calls it prophecy. That makes five times in all and five is the number of grace. It is only by grace that we have this precious book and all the blessings that go with it.
    Then He says "for the time is at hand." This is an expression that is peculiar to this dispensation. It would not be fitting in any other dispensation. In Daniel 12:9 Daniel was told that his book was closed up and sealed until the time of the end. But here we are to be blessed in the study of this book for, or because the time is at hand.
    In the 22nd chapter of this book and verse 10 John is told not to seal this book for the time is at hand. The phrase "at hand" is the same as "near, even at the door" in Matthew 24:33. Precious indeed is the promise of blessing here, but this blessing is not for the sluggard, or the slothful, but for the workman that needeth not to be ashamed.
    We are admonished in Philippians 2:12 to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling. Please note that it does not say "work for" your salvation. Our salvation is a free gift of God but if we would reap the fruit of it here in this life, we must cultivate it. If someone should give you a garden plot and say, Work it out, you might do as he said and thereby reap fresh, delicious vegetables for your labor. On the other hand, you might neglect it and reap cockleburs and jemson weeds to your shame. So it is with the book before us. We can receive the blessing for faithfully studying and guarding the rich contents of the book, or we can ignore it to our shame.
    Just why did our Lord write letters to only seven churches in Asia when we know there were at least ten? Colossians 1:12 speaks of one at Colosse which was some 15 miles southeast of Laodicea. Colossians 4:13 tells of one at Hierapolis some 5 miles north east of Laodicea. And Acts 20:6-7 speaks of a church at Troas some 100 miles north of Smyrna. There were probably many others. Then why were there letters to just seven of them? These churches were actual local bodies that existed at that time to be sure. And every one of them was a church of the Lord Jesus Christ. All seven of them were what we would call today Baptist Churches. But let us remember that the book of Revelation is emphatically a book of prophecy. Our Lord calls it that five times. That should convince the most critical of His saints. Then the number seven in Scripture is the number of completion, or perfection. God completed His creative work on the seventh day and rested. So the letters to the seven churches in Asia sets forth the complete prophecy concerning this entire church age. Else we make of Revelation 2 and 3 just plain history.
    Asia here is neither the continent of Asia nor Asia Minor, but rather it is the province of Asia which was an outlying district of the Roman Empire. On your map today it is the western portion of Turkey bordering on the Aegean Sea. "Grace be unto you and peace." Please note that everywhere you see these two wonderful things mentioned in Scripture, grace always comes before peace. There can be no peace in our hearts and minds until the grace of God has been shed abroad in our hearts and minds. This grace and peace comes "from Him which is, which was, and which is to come; and from the seven Spirits which are before the throne." The One who is to come can be none other than the blessed Son of God who is to return to this earth and reign for one thousand years. The expression "the seven Spirits" does not mean there are seven individual Holy Spirits. It is speaking concerning the seven-fold function, or work of the Holy Spirit. Some try to find all seven of these functions in Isaiah 11:2. But a close look at this verse will reveal only six of them here. Let us not forget, however, that all of God's Word makes one Bible. These seven functions of the Holy Spirit do not have to be grouped together. We are to search the Scriptures. We are to study to show ourselves approved unto God. So, if we search we shall find in John 16:8 that He (the Holy Spirit) is to reprove, or convict the world. So along with the six functions in Isaiah 11:2 we find here that He is the Spirit of reproof, or conviction. Thus, we see the seven-fold work of the Holy Spirit.
    Then we have the added explanation that this grace and peace comes from Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness. Certainly He was faithful in giving us all that the Father had given Him, not only the good things to usward, but also the terrible judgments that are to come upon the world of the ungodly. His faithfulness brought on the hatred of the world, John 7:7. If our testimony is popular with the religious world, we should re-evaluate it. "The first begotten of (from among) the dead." This may confuse the thinking of some since others had been raised from the dead. But we must remember that all the others died again. But our Lord was born from among the dead never to die again. When He comes for His saints who have died in the Lord they too shall be born from among the dead. And it will be as impossible for them to die again as it is for a man to re-enter his mother's womb from which he was born. Our translators fail us again when they call our Lord the prince of the kings of the earth. The word prince permits some people to classify our Lord as the most important, or the most outstanding ruler. But in the original and in other translations it is "sovereign", or "ruler". It means He is the sovereign ruler over the kings of the earth, Proverbs 21:1. Sometimes a wicked king, or ruler may seem to be running the show, but if God gives him rope enough to hang himself with, that is God's business. He tells us that "He doeth as He will in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, what doest thou?" Daniel 4:35. He is not a ruler among the rulers of the earth, but He is the ruler over the rulers of the earth.
    "And washed us from our sins in His own blood."
    The person who does a little painting around the house and gets paint all over himself, as most amateur painters will. and then tries to wash the paint off with ordinary soap soon finds that the more he washes, the brighter the paint shines. But if someone comes along and says, I have something here that will cut the paint in a hurry, he applies it, and the paint disappears. So it is with the lost person's sins. The more he tries to remove them by his own good works, the brighter they shine in the eyes of God. But, when our Lord applies His own blood to those sins, they disappear in a hurry. Absolutely nothing else will cut our sins loose from us save the blood of Jesus Christ. And He applies His blood to our sins for His own sake.
    "And hath made us kings and priests unto God."
    The word "kings" is singular in the original. It really means that God hath made us a kingdom of priests unto Himself. Every born again person is a priest. And each one of us is admonished to come boldly to the throne of grace. Please note that it is God Himself who makes of us a kingdom of priests just as it is He Himself who will set up His earthly kingdom when He comes back, Daniel 2:44. We Baptists ought to get out of the kingdom building business. We are just making a mess of it. Our job is to propagate the gospel, baptize the believers and teach them all things which our Lord has commanded us.
    In verse 7 John seems to be in a state of ecstasy. He is beside himself with joy as we hear him say:
"Behold [look] He comes with clouds; and every eye shall see Him."
    Here we see the fulfillment of the promise made to the disciples in Acts 1:11. In verse 9 they had seen our Lord as He ascended back to heaven. And after the cloud (His royal carriage) had received Him out of their sight, they were still gazing into the heavens. They had seen Him go up into the heavens with His body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:39). In verse 11 they are told that He will come back the same way. This teaching concerning His bodily return is becoming more and more offensive to the religious world in these last days. But that is all the more reason why we should believe it. This is the second phase of His second coming. It is the time spoken of in Zechariah 14:4 when His feet shall stand upon the mount of Olives. But before His feet come to rest upon the mount, every eye must see Him coming. If you have trouble seeing how people in California can see Him coming down on the other side of the earth, just remember that His ways are past finding out, Romans 11:33. If you still have trouble, break loose and and sing "How Great Thou Art" for awhile. You just might come to believe what you are singing.
    There will be no wailing and mourning when our Lord comes into the air for His saints, I Thessalonians 4:16-17. But here we see Him coming down to the earth with His saints, I Thessalonians 3:13. This is the time spoken of in Zechariah 12:10, and it seems that the mourning is brought on by the Jews seeing the One whom they have pierced. "All kindreds of the earth" should read "All tribes of the earth". Many have taken the kindreds of the earth to mean everybody, Jews and Gentiles. But when our Lord speaks to the Gentiles, they are the nations. The Jews are the tribes. And the Greek word PHULE used here mans a people united by kindship. So, it should read, "All tribes of the earth meaning the Jews. When our Lord came the first time the Jews as a nation rejected Him, and through the Roman soldiers they crucified Him. Now they see their great error. They come to see that this is our God (Isaiah 25:9), and their hearts burst out in penitential grief and mourning. Matthew 24:29-30 says this takes place immediately after the tribulation. He tells us there will be a time of total darkness just before the Son of man comes with power and great glory. It is said the darkest hour of the night is just before the dawn. So it is in this case, but how bright that dawn will be. The moon will shine as brightly as the sun, and the sun will be seven times as bright as it normally is, Isaiah 30:2. What a wonderful time it will be when even the trees of the forest shall clap their hands for joy, Isaiah 55:12. "Even so, Amen." Even so is from the Greek word NAI which means yea, or yes. And amen means "be it done", or "let it be." Even so amen means yes, let it be. So, let us join in with the beloved John and say, Yes, let it be.
    In verse 8 our Lord says, "I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending"; Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet and Omega is the last. So that is like saying I am A and Z in our English language. He did not come into existence when He was born of the virgin Mary. But by this means He took on a different form, Hebrews 10:5. In the very beginning he was already here, and when the end of all things that He wants ended comes, He will still be here. And we must meet Him either at Calvary or at the great white throne judgment. He is not only the One which is and which was, but He is the One who is to come, the "Almighty". In the Old Testament we see the mighty God in creation and in the deliverance and sustenance of His people. But here in Revelation as He comes to judge His enemies He is the "Almighty" one, Revelation 16:13-14. Let us remember that this "Almighty" God who will become furious (Ezekiel 38:18) and send the blood of His enemies flowing to the horses bridles for 200 miles (Revelation 14:20) is the same Jesus of Nazareth who went about doing good. The modernist infidels who are setting Him forth today as the son of Joseph, or of some German soldier have a terrible shock coming their way when they meet this great God "Almighty".
    John identifies himself as a brother to the saints in tribulation, in the kingdom and in the patient endurance of Jesus. He also tells us that He was on the isle of Patmos because of his preaching the word of God and testifying of Jesus Christ. John had been banished from his place, probably as pastor of the church at Ephesus to the little island of Patmos some fifty miles Southwest of Ephesus. This was done because of his faithfulness to our Lord and to His Word.
    "I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day."
    There are many conflicting ideas as to the Lord's day here in this verse. Some wonderful Bible scholars feel that John could not have had time to see all that he saw in this marvelous vision in just one day. So they turn the expression around and have John seeing this vision in the day of the Lord (the seven years of tribulation). But as I see it at this present time John was in a highly meditative state of mind on the first day of the week as he thought of his precious little flock over in Ephesus some fifty miles across the blue waters of the Mediterranean as they were coming together for their worship service. How he did long to be there with those who were so dear to him in the Lord. It seems that I can just see him as he prays so fervently for his beloved people. And while he was in this state of fervent prayer and worship with his mind occupied with those dear saints who were so near, and yet so far away, his precious Lord drew so near to him that he heard His voice as a trumpet.
    "What thou seest, write in a book and send it unto the seven churches which are in Asia".
    These letters were not to be something private, only for the church to which it was addressed, but rather the seven letters were to be combined into a book and all the churches were to receive the benefit of all the letters. We shall discuss the names of the individual churches when we come to chapters 2 and 8. Suffice it to say that these churches were independent, local bodies. Our Lord used the word "church" some twenty two times in the gospels and in Revelation. Twenty one of those times no one can deny that He means a local church. Twenty one may be expressed as three times seven. Seven is the number of completion and three is the number of Deity. So here we have Deity times completion and that's enough for me. And in the light of all that, I would be foolish indeed to say that our Lord means something altogether different from a local body in Matthew 16:18. Some will say, "How many bodies do you think our Lord can have?" He can have bodies as the sand of the sea, or as the stars of the heavens if He chooses to do so. We have many bodies ourselves. We once had two legislative bodies in Washington. Now we have more than that. Then we have two legislative bodies in our state capital, one in the county and one in our city, or town. You see the word "body" like most other words has more than one meaning. So it behooves us to start asking our Lord what His words mean instead of telling Him. In I Corinthians 12:27 it should read, "Now ye are a body of Christ." The church at Corinth was not "the" body of Christ as if He had but the one body but rather it was a body of Christ. Every New Testament church is a body of Christ, or a body of people belonging to Christ.
    "And when John turned, he saw seven candlesticks [should be lamp stands]".
    In verse 20 we learn that these lamp stands represent the seven churches. And in the midst of these churches, John saw the One upon whose breast he had leaned, John 13:23. How we do need to see to it that our Lord has His rightful place, that is, right in the middle of everything we do and are, not only as churches but as individual saints. His garment down to the foot is the high priestly robe, but the girdle about the breast is the girdle of a judge, or magistrate. The servant's girdle is about the waist, but here it is about the breast. And it is high time for saint and sinner to beware when He puts His girdle about His breast. Even we (the saved) must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ, II Corinthians 5:10, I Corinthians 3:11-15 and they (the lost) must stand before Him at the great white throne judgment, Revelation 20:11-15. The gold here speaks of His divine glory. And the white head and hair is not the result of old age, for this one never grows old. It is rather the emblem of purity, holiness and wisdom and it ties the Son of man as we see Him here in with the Ancient of days in Daniel 7:9-13. They are one and the same. We see His eyes as, or like a flame of fire and this speaks of the eyes that see the hidden things. Nothing can hide from those eyes. His feet like brass glowing in a furnace speak of judgment. And how terrible is that judgment that His enemies must face. As the noise of many waters drowns out the voice of man so will it be when our Lord speaks. All men must be silent when the Lord of glory opens His mouth.
    "He had in His right hand seven stars."
    In verse 20 we are told that the seven stars are the angels of the churches. Our Lord gave us verse 20 as a commentary on verses 12-16, but it would seem that our translators have muddied the waters somewhat. What should be perfectly clear to the saints is made to sound mysterious by their use of the word "angels" here in this particular place. We think of angels as being heavenly creatures, and rightly so. But, while the Creek word "ANGELOS" is rightly translated "angels" in Hebrews 2:7, 1 Peter 1:12 and Revelation 20:1, it is also rightly translated "messenger" in Matthew 11:10, Mark 1:2, Luke 7:27 and also in Luke 7:24 speaking of John's messengers which he sent to Jesus. Please remember that in all of these Scriptures mentioned, the word "angel and the word "messenger" come from the same Greek word "ANGELOS." Had the translators used the word messenger here in Revelation 1:20 just as they did in Luke 7:27 you and I would have been able to see immediately that our Lord meant that the seven stars were the pastors of these seven churches.
    We see these pastors in our Lord's right hand. The right hand speaks of their being in His power and under His authority. And woe to the pastor who fits the Bible to his teaching rather than fitting his teaching to the Bible. "Out of His mouth went a sharp twoedged sword." There is nothing said here about our Lord using this sword. During this church age He is not the one who is wielding the sword. In John 16:13 Jesus said that when the Spirit of truth is come He shall speak whatsoever He has heard. And in Ephesians 6:17 we are told plainly that the sword of the Spirit is the Word of God. The Holy Spirit is the one who wields this sword today, but after the rapture of the saints, the Lord of glory will take up the sword that proceeds out of His mouth. This sword is powerful and full of majesty, Psalms 29:4. And with it He will smite the nations, Revelation 19:15 and will slay the remnant, Revelation 19:21. This teaching that the sword here in Revelation 1:16 is not the same as the sword of the Spirit is foreign to my conception of the Scriptures They are both the Word of God which is quick and powerful, Hebrews 4:12 and therefore they are one and the same.
    "I fell at his feet as dead."
    Neither Moses on Mt. Sinai, Daniel by the river Hiddekel, Peter, James and John on the mount of transfiguration, Paul on the road to Damascus nor John here at the feet of his Lord would ever make popular seminary professors today. They could never deny the deity of our Lord. And I am persuaded that these professors will never deny His deity again after they once meet Him, which may very well be at the great white throne judgment. "He laid His right hand upon me, saying fear not". The right hand speaks of strength. So strength was imparted to John in order that he might not fear. "I am He that liveth, and was dead." His being dead speaks of the time in which His Spirit and body were separated, that is, while His body lay in Joseph's new tomb. But now He says, "I am alive for evermore" which is definite proof of His resurrection. We are alive only when body and spirit are together whether that be before our death, or after our resurrection. "And have the keys of hell (Hades) and death." In Old Testament times Hades held the spirits of God's people who had died. The price of their redemption had not been paid. So, they had been purchased, shall we say, on the "lay-a-way plan". And just as the merchant has a certain place in which to keep the articles that are on lay-away until the price has been paid, so there was a compartment in Hades called Paradise where spirits were kept until the purchase price had been paid. In Luke 23:43 we hear our Lord as He tells the thief on the cross that he would be in Paradise with Him that day. But, when the price had been fully paid for their redemption we read, "When He ascended up on high, He led captivity captive," Ephesians 4:8. The spirits that were in Paradise were carried into heaven by our Lord when He ascended back to the Father. Now, when a saint dies, his, or her spirit goes immediately to be with the Lord, Philippians 1:23. Death, how ever, still holds the bodies of the saints, but in His own good time at the resurrection, death will give up the bodies just as Paradise has already given up the spirits.
    Many preachers and teachers spend a lot of valuable time trying to figure out an outline of the different books of the Bible, and, no doubt, much of this time thus spent is pure waste. But here in verse 19 we see the only outline our Lord has seen fit to give us of any of His books. He told John to "write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter". The things that John had seen are the things found in Chapter One of this book. He had seen the Lord of glory and His churches (not His church, but His churches). And though we see no more of the churches, as such, after chapter 3, if we do not see the Lord of glory in every chapter, we have just not looked very closely. "The things which are" can only be speaking of this church age which is represented by the letters to the seven churches in chapters 2 and 3. Then, "The things which shall be hereafter" begins with chapter 4 and ends with chapter 22. The word "hereafter" should read "after these things". Therefore hereafter is not a literal translation of the Greek phrase "meta tauta" which is used here. The people who will actually experience the terrible judgments found in chapters 6-19 are people who are living in the flesh just as you and I are today. The last part of our Lord's outline should read, "And the things which shall be after these things", that is, after what John saw in chapter 1, and after the church age in chapters 2 and 3.
    "The mystery of the seven stars".
    The English word "mystery" speaks of something mysterious. It speaks of knowledge withheld, but the Greek word "musterion" which is translated "mystery" here signifies truth revealed. It is something understood because it has been revealed. Verse 20 is a revelation of verses 12-16 and it needs no further illumination in order for our Lord's people to understand it.
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