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 APOKALUPSIS 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 of 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 in
stewards, 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.
Moreover, 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 and 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 doors” 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 jimson 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 His 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 means 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
being turned,
I saw seven golden 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 seven 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 Greek
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, however, 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. |