1:19. Hereafter: “Write…what is to take place hereafter.”
The word hereafter must have a reference point.
In this case, it meant “after the time of this vision to John.” The reference point was the time at which the words were spoken. It
therefore would mean the same as “Write the
things which must shortly come to pass” in verse 1:1.
Hereafter means “after this in sequence or in
time.” It does not refer to a continually moving point of time, but to the time
at which it is spoken. For example, the word does not refer to something that
will happen “after” some event of the twentieth century, since it was spoken in
the first century.
1:20. Mystery of the
Seven Stars: “The mystery of the seven stars
which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The
seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven candlesticks
are the seven churches.”
A mystery in the New Testament usage is a
veiled truth. The mysteries of the Book of Revelation are being unveiled, – that is the meaning of
the Greek word apocalypse,
unveiling, which is also translated “Revelation.”
This verse is
the first instance of many in the Book that gives a clear interpretation of the
symbols, that is, the mysteries. It
sets the tone of the rest of the Book wherein the voice of the Spirit
interprets the symbols, (4:5; 11:4; 19:8). When symbols are thus interpreted we
do not try to find another interpretation.
WARNINGS TO THE CHURCHES
Revelation
Chapters 2 and 3
The
purpose of the writing of the Book of Revelation is “to show unto His servants things which must shortly come to pass.”
This is often construed as meaning “to comfort them in the persecution they are
about to face.” It should rather be interpreted as meaning that they are to be warned
of the consequences of their obedience or disobedience in light of the fall of
Jerusalem, the nation of Israel, and the death and dispersion of the people. If God did not spare Jerusalem, Israel
of the flesh, and their people when they broke the Covenant, refused His grace,
and chose death instead of life, then God will not spare the Church who falls
into this same tragic condition. God is no respecter of person in judgment.
Romans
11:21: “For if God spared not the natural
branches, take heed lest He also spare not thee.” 2Peter 2:1 warns the
Church about false prophets, false teachers, and heretics. 2Peter chapter two
is a catalog of those whom God did not spare: the angels, the old world of
Noah, Sodom and Gomorrha. The kinds of people doomed for this destruction are
listed: “Them that walk after the flesh
in the lust of uncleanness and despise government,” presumptuous,
selfwilled, disrespectful, as natural brute beasts, rioters, deceivers,
adulterers, covetous, vainglorious, and hypocritical. Even so, “The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly
out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be
punished.”
The
danger is real for Christians:
For
if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of
the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and
overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. For it had been
better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they
have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. But it is
happened according to the true proverb, “The dog is turned to his own vomit
again, and the sow that is washed to her wallowing in the mire.” 2Peter
2:20-22.
The
Book of Revelation serves this same purpose of warning to the universal Church.
The Pharisees of the New Testament era were suffering the consequences of their
willful disobedience. In Revelation chapters two and three Jesus is calling the
Churches to account, commending them for their virtues and declaring to them
their sins and calling them to repentance.
This lesson is an edited excerpt from my book Revelation In Context.
My Book is available at the Living Word Bookstore in Shawnee, Oklahoma and is also available online at www.amazon.com or www.xulonpress.com. Free downloads are available at www.revelationincontext.sermon.net .
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