Sabbath: Jesus and the Book of Revelation
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Read for This Week’s Study: 1 Cor. 10:1-11, Rev. 12:1-17, Rev. 19:11-15, Eph. 1:20, Rev. 11:19, Rev. 1:10-18.
Memory Text: “To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne” (Revelation 3:21, NIV).
Even the quickest reading of the New Testament reveals an important truth: the New Testament is directly tied to the Old. Time and time again the Gospels and the Epistles either refer to events in the Old Testament or quote directly or indirectly from it. And when referring to Himself and His ministry, how often did Jesus talk about how the “Scriptures” need to be “fulfilled” (see Matt. 26:54, Matt. 26:56; Mark 14:49; John 13:18; John 17:12) ?
The same thing can be said for the book of Revelation. Indeed, it’s all but impossible to make sense of the book of Revelation apart from the Old Testament, especially the book of Daniel. This is one reason why we often study both books together.
A crucial aspect of those Old Testament references in Revelation is that, taken together with the rest of the book, they reveal Jesus. Revelation is all about Jesus, about who He is, about what He has done for His people, and about what He will do for us at the end of time. Of necessity, any focus on last-day events must keep Jesus front and center, exactly what the book of Revelation does. This week’s lesson looks at Jesus in the book of Revelation.
Study this week’s lesson to prepare for Sabbath, April 21.
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Who is the revelator in the book of Revelation?
The answer to your question is:
thank you all, God bless us
So according to Revelation 1:1-2: The Revelator is God the Father and Jesus is the recipient of that Revelation from his Father and then Jesus uses his angel who then "signifies," that revelation to the Apostle John. So where is the Holy Spirit in all this?
The Holy Spirit is intimately involved but not prominently signified - in keeping with the Holy Spirit's even more mysterious and less revealed nature. Explicit reference coming in Rev 2:7, 11, 17, 29, etc.
This description from the Meyer's NT Commentary on Rev 2:7 - "The revelation of Christ can therefore be designated also as an address of the Spirit, because the Spirit is the Spirit of Christ, and speaks in Christ’s name.'
And for that matter, Phil, In Revelation 1:10 the Apostle John says that "(He,) was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day," when this revelation was given to him.
Hi Pete
Yes, I looked at that verse. However there is a difference of opinion amongst commentators as to whether the Rev 1:10 reference is to Spirit or spirit - as the Greek text doesn't appear to have the word 'the' in it (ie, I was in spirit/pneumati on the Lord's day). Some commentators who suggest it is referring the state of John's spirit also suggest a possible parallel with Peter's state in Acts 10:10.
I suspect either view doesn't really change things much because at the end of the day, as we both seem to agree, the Holy Spirit was intimately involved in the Revelation.
The Three are ONE. (echad = alike, equal, united, etc) Wasn't John "in the Spirit on the Lord's day? The Spirit was/is there all the time if we don't drive it from our presence through wrong deliberate choices (not honest mistakes).
How can we focus on last day events and keep Christ front and center? Phill and Robert and many others talked about that in the Daniel lesson summary. This week will give the answer in the light revealed by focus on the last but not least book of the Bible and its main Character.
The issue about the presence of the Holy Spirit in verse 4 of chapter 1 is in the phrase "from the seven spirits which are before the throne". The Holy Spirit is designated as 7 spirits because of His perfect and complete ministry in the redemption of man. Seven is an apocalytic number: 7 seals, 7 churches,7 trumpets, 7 thunders, 7 plagues. So we can safely say the Holy Triune God is represented in verse 4
Yes, the "seven Spirits" at this time in scripture are the promise of God's Spirit to every age of the church, represented as 7 churches. The Spirit of God will never be failing unless in our lives we choose individually to live/work without it by cherishing sin in our heart.