Revelation
by Terry Wane Benton
When something has been unknown and mysterious in the past, and then God reveals a thing that was once unknown, you call that a “revelation”. The last book of the Bible was not intended to be too secretive and mysterious; else it would not “reveal” anything. While the literary style demands more work, it is designed to reveal things to God’s servants while being complicated to the enemies of God’s people. John was guided by the Spirit to reveal some things that were soon to take place. It was not concerning things 2,000 years distant from the original readers. It concerned something that the first readers were about to experience. Listen to the very first verse of the Book of Revelation:
"The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants — things which must shortly take place. And He sent and signified it by His angel to His servant John" (Revelation 1:1 NKJV).
Now, read each phrase slowly and carefully: The Revelation of Jesus Christ (it is not to be a secret concerning Jesus, but a "revelation." Something concerning Jesus Christ was being revealed.), which God gave Him to show His servants (those who were not servants of God would not likely get much out of this revelation. God gave it to John to share with servants of God at the time and it would “show” them something) — things which must shortly take place (This revelation was not about the distant future, but about things that would "shortly" take place). And He sent and signified (much of the book uses signs or symbols). It is signified through a style of literature that was apocalyptic in nature. That was a style we see in much of Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah, and other books of the Old Testament. It was signified not to conceal a truth, but to reveal it to certain people. Those people were God’s servants who had already been trained in God’s apocalyptic literature. Thus, the signs of this book are a means of imparting understanding to God’s servants. It was by His angel (messenger) to His servant John (John, the last of the surviving apostles of Jesus, was the servant God chose to share this important revelation with the rest of God’s servants who needed to know something that was “shortly” to take place.
Read the book with a view to seeing what a first-century Christian needed to know. Do not read it through a modern lens, as if it had no first-century applications. This book must first be read with an effort to understand what the first readers needed to know. The book will bless you in a secondary way, but it was designed first for the immediate benefit of the first readers. It concerned things "shortly" to be experienced by the first readers. Keep that in mind as you read this wonderful book.
