Revelation Introduction: Unveiling the Theme

REVELATION Introduction The Theme

Revelation 1: 7 BEHOLD, HE IS COMING WITH THE CLOUDS, and every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him; and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over Him. Even so. Amen.

This is an attention grabber! LOOK! PAY ATTENTION Malachi 3:1 Behold, I am going to send My messenger, and he will clear the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple; and the messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight, behold, He is coming," says the LORD of hosts. However, it is not just an attention getter, it is a threat: more than that it is a promised threat. It is a fact even though it had not, at the time of the writing, as yet been carried out in actuality. BEHOLD!

In Revelation 1:7 we see the theme of the book introduced, HE IS COMING. HE is defined in the entire passage as Jesus Christ. HE is the antecedent of Jesus Christ from verse 5; HE then continues to be the object of the phrase that follows in verse 7, every eye will see Him, even those who pierced Him Without doubt, Jesus is the one coming and throughout the book we will see this continuously with the phrase I am coming. Remember, it is Jesus who is signifying the events from God through an angel, verse 1. From the Salutation we see ALL members of the Godhead are involved, all approved, and all participate in the coming. Introducing the Theme

Revelation 2:5 Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you and will remove your lampstand out of its place unless you repent. Revelation 2:16 Repent therefore; or else I am coming to you quickly, and I will make war against them with the sword of My mouth. Revelation 2:26 Nevertheless, what you have, hold fast until I come. The THEME of Revelation, 1

Revelation 3:3 Remember therefore what you have received and heard; and keep it, and repent. If therefore you will not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come upon you. Revelation 3:11 I am coming quickly; hold fast what you have, in order that no one take your crown. Revelation 3:20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with Me. The THEME of Revelation, 2

Revelation 16:15 Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who stays awake and keeps his garments, lest he walk about naked and men see his shame. Revelation 22:7 And behold, I am coming quickly. Blessed is he who heeds the words of the prophecy of this book. Revelation 22:12 Behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to render to every man according to what he has done. Revelation 22:20 He who testifies to these things says, Yes, I am coming quickly. Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The THEME of Revelation, 3

Various commentators have addressed and expressed their ideas concerning the theme of Revelation, but the overall theme is, HE IS COMING. In the book of Revelation, it is Jesus, specifically, who is coming and that coming is going to serve three purposes all of which align with the other portions of Scripture. 1. His coming will reinforce the fact that God is supreme, all powerful, and in complete and total control; 2. His coming will be in judgement; 3. His coming will be to avenge his people, particularly the Apostles and prophets. The Results of the Theme

Gods coming has ALWAYS been a means to prove that God is supreme, that He is all powerful, that He is in complete and total control. In verse 8 we are going to see that God confirms, certifies and seals this Revelation and therefore this coming by saying, I am the Alpha and the Omega who is who was who is to come the Almighty. God is Supreme

In the days of Noah God destroyed the world by water in the flood. Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). As a result, the LORD was sorry that He had made man and He was grieved in His heart. After the flood, the LORD instructed Noah, in Genesis 9, what He expected of man. The whole purpose of the flood was to impress on man s mind that the LORD was in control and for man to obey the LORD. Example in the Days of Noah

Exodus 7:5 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the LORD, when I stretch out My hand on Egypt and bring out the sons of Israel from their midst. Exodus 7:17 Thus says the LORD, "By this you shall know that I am the LORD: behold, I will strike the water that is in the Nile with the staff that is in my hand, and it shall be turned to blood. Exodus 14:4 Thus I will harden Pharaoh's heart, and he will chase after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, and the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD. Exodus 14:18 Then the Egyptians will know that I am the LORD, when I am honored through Pharaoh, through his chariots and his horsemen. The Example to the Egyptians

Ezekiel 25:17 And I will execute great vengeance on them with wrathful rebukes; and they will know that I am the LORD when I lay My vengeance on them. Ezekiel 28:22 Thus says the Lord GOD, "Behold, I am against you, O Sidon, And I shall be glorified in your midst. Then they will know that I am the LORD, when I execute judgments in her, And I shall manifest My holiness in her. Ezekiel 36:23 And I will vindicate the holiness of My great name which has been profaned among the nations, which you have profaned in their midst. Then the nations will know that I am the LORD," declares the Lord GOD, "when I prove Myself holy among you in their sight. The Example in Ezekiel 01

The Example in Ezekiel 02 Ezekiel 30:7 And My holy name I shall make known in the midst of My people Israel; and I shall not let My holy name be profaned anymore. And the nations will know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel. Ezekiel 39:21 & 22 And I shall set My glory among the nations; and all the nations will see My judgment which I have executed, and My hand which I have laid on them.And the house of Israel will know that I am the LORD their God from that day onward.

Know That I Am the LORD In the Old Testament the phrase, they shall know that I am the LORD is found 77 times. 63 times is Ezekiel 9 times in Exodus 2 times in First Kings 1 time in Deuteronomy, Isaiah and Joel Interestingly, that specific phraseology is not found, in the New Testament although statements such as, ALL SHALL KNOW ME, FROM THE LEAST TO THE GREATEST OF THEM Hebrews 8:11 are found several times. The concern of the New Testament is KNOWING believing and acknowledging that Jesus is the Christ the Son of God, John 20:30 & 31.

John 14:1 to 11 Let not your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. Thomas said to Him, Lord, we do not know where You are going, how do we know the way? Jesus said to him, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; from now on you know Him and have seen Him. Philip said to Him, Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us. Jesus said to him, Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how do you say, Show us the Father ? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me; otherwise believe on account of the works themselves. Believe also in Me

Knowing knowledge should lead one to belief. Consider the story surrounding the Samaritan woman Jesus met at the well in John 4. Jesus, in John 4, was traveling from Jerusalem where He had celebrated Passover and was returning home to Galilee, a journey He chose to take through Galilee and He came to the city of Sychar. This was close to the location of Jacob s well from the Old Testament. Jesus, being wearied from His journey, sat by the well while His disciples went into the city to purchase food. Know should lead to Belief

Jesus encounters a Samaritan woman coming to the well to draw water and has a discussion with her concerning the living water. When the woman expresses a desire for the living water offered by Jesus, He tells her to, Go, call you husband, verse 16. The woman says she Has no husband, verse 17. Then Jesus reveals that He knows she has had five husbands and the man she is currently living with is not her husband, verses 17 & 18. The woman then perceives that Jesus is a prophet, verse 19. The Woman at the Well

Jesus then explains in verses 23 & 24, an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman then says, I know that Messiah is coming (He who is called Christ); when that One comes, He will declare all things to us. verse 25. Jesus then declares to her, using one of the great I AM statements in the New Testament, I AM, who am speaking you. verse 26. I AM HE

At that point His disciples returned and the woman, left her waterpot, and went into the city, and said to the men, Come, see a man who told me all the things that I have done; this is not the Christ, is it? verses 28 & 29. The men then went out to the well where they spoke with Jesus and convinced Him to stay with them for two days and in verse 41, we read, many more believed because of His word. Then, in verse 42 the men said to the woman, It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves and know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world. We believe and know

They had been led toward investigating and believing by what the woman had told them which had resulted from her exchange with Jesus. They came to KNOW who Jesus really was because of what they heard. Knowing IS NOT the same as believing. Acts 26:27 King Agrippa, do you believe the Prophets? I know that you do. James 2:19 You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. However, one cannot believe in Jesus without knowing Him having knowledge of Him. Know does not equal Belief

Know MUST preceed Belief Romans 10:14 How then shall they call upon Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher? This is illustrated perfectly in John 4 with the people of Sychar. They did not know Jesus. They did not believe in Him; they certainly did not know He was the Messiah. But once they encountered Him and were taught by Him, they came to know that this One is indeed the Savior of the world. They believed in HIM once they came to know Him and His word remember, NO signs are recorded except the one to the woman which the men did not witness.

While there is no doubt Jesus came to seek and to save that which was lost, Luke 19:10, it is also true that He came to show man the way back to God by proving that He was, in fact, the Son of God. If we believe in the Son, we KNOW the Son: if we KNOW the Son, we Know the Father (John 14:7); if we KNOW the Father, we KNOW that He is LORD. John 1:18 No man has seen God at any time; the only begotten God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him. Colossians 1:15 And He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of all creation. Hebrews 1:3 And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature Know the Son, Know the Father

It is true that Jesus voluntarily took on humanity and submitted Himself to the Father. Philippians 2:5 to 11 says, Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond- servant, and being made in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Jesus Became Human

Philippians 1:9 to 11: Therefore also God highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus EVERY KNEE SHOULD BOW, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. When Jesus submitted Himself and obeyed the Father, all the way to submitting Himself to death, God then EXHAULTED Jesus to a position that is above all others, anywhere, anytime. God then Exhaulted Jesus

Therefore, when the announcement is made here in verse 7, HE IS COMING it is the same thing as saying, GOD is coming because it is being done not only with the Father s consent but by His authority. In John 3:17 Jesus told Nicodemus, For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He repeated this in John 12:47. Jesus mission while He was here on the earth was not to judge the world but to call the world to repentance. Full Cooperation

However, Jesus recognized and knew judgement was coming and that judgement would be made in accordance with what HE Jesus spoke. In the very next verse, John 12:48 Jesus said, He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. Jesus went about Judea, Samaria and Galilee preaching, Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. Matthew 3:2; 4:17; Mark 1:15. Jesus Words Are Judge

The Parable of the Tenants in Matthew 21:33 to 39. Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey. And when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine- growers to receive his produce. And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, 'They will respect my son.' But when the vine-growers saw the son, they said among themselves, 'This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and seize his inheritance.' And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Parable of the Tenants

Jesus told this parable sometime between Friday and Tuesday just prior to His betrayal and crucifixion. Jesus was sent to the Israelites because they were God s chosen people as God promised Abraham. God had worked to prepare them for the coming Messiah using the Old Testament prophets but when the Son came, just as in the Parable of the Tenants, those same people who should have been prepared not only rejected God s Son, they killed Him. Jesus Himself asked the question, What should happen to them? They answered that the Master, will bring those wretches to a wretched end Matthew 21:41. That wretched end was coming, and the coming was announced in Revelation 1:7. Preparation

God is the creator. God is in control. God is supreme. God had and has every right to expect man to be obedient and conform to the will of God. When man refuses to obey God, judgement follows: Genesis 3:13ff; 6:3ff; Exodus 7:5ff; the prophets, ad infinitum throughout Scripture. This was especially true of those who were God s chosen people, Israel. Control and Judgement

As the children of Israel were preparing to cross the Jordan into the Promised Land to conquer it, God through Moses delivered one last promise and waring to them: Deuteronomy 4:1 & 2 And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes and the judgments which I am teaching you to perform, in order that you may live and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you. You shall not add to the word which I am commanding you, nor take away from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you. God s Original Promise

Later Israel was warned: Deuteronomy 4:23 to 26 So watch yourselves, lest you forget the covenant of the LORD your God, which He made with you, and make for yourselves a graven image in the form of anything against which the LORD your God has commanded you. For the LORD your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God. When you become the father of children and children's children and have remained long in the land, and act corruptly, and make an idol in the form of anything, and do that which is evil in the sight of the LORD your God so as to provoke Him to anger, I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that you shall surely perish quickly from the land where you are going over the Jordan to possess it. You shall not live long on it but shall be utterly destroyed. God s Original Warning to Israel

Conditional Promise to Israel God s promise has ALWAYS been conditional and has always come with a warning. Exodus 19:5 & 6 Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mine; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the sons of Israel. Deuteronomy 6:14 to 15 You shall not follow other gods, any of the gods of the peoples who surround you, for the LORD your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; otherwise, the anger of the LORD your God will be kindled against you, and He will wipe you off the face of the earth.

Deuteronomy 8:18 to 20 But you shall remember the LORD your God, for it is He who is giving you power to make wealth, that He may confirm His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day. And it shall come about if you ever forget the LORD your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I testify against you today that you shall surely perish. Like the nations that the LORD makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you would not listen to the voice of the LORD your God. The ULTIMATE Waring

I Samuel 12:14 & 15 If you will fear the LORD and serve Him and listen to His voice and not rebel against the command of the LORD, then both you and also the king who reigns over you will follow the LORD your God.And if you will not listen to the voice of the LORD, but rebel against the command of the LORD, then the hand of the LORD will be against you, as it was against your fathers. I Samuel 12:24 & 25 Only fear the LORD and serve Him in truth with all your heart; for consider what great things He has done for you. But if you still do wickedly, both you and your king shall be swept away. Conditional

I Samuel 13:13 & 14 And Samuel said to Saul, You have acted foolishly; you have not kept the commandment of the LORD your God, which He commanded you, for now the LORD would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. But now your kingdom shall not endure. The LORD has sought out for Himself a man after His own heart, and the LORD has appointed him as ruler over His people, because you have not kept what the LORD commanded you. Promise to Saul

2 Samuel 7:8-17 Now therefore, thus you shall say to My servant David, Thus says the LORD of hosts, I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep, that you should be ruler over My people Israel. (9) And I have been with you wherever you have gone and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make you a great name, like the names of the great men who are on the earth. (10) I will also appoint a place for My people Israel and will plant them, that they may live in their own place and not be disturbed again, nor will the wicked afflict them any more as formerly, (11) even from the day that I commanded judges to be over My people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. The LORD also declares to you that the LORD will make a house for you. (12) When your days are complete and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom. Promise to David

(13) He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. (14) I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to Me; when he commits iniquity, I will correct him with the rod of men and the strokes of the sons of men, (15) but My lovingkindness shall not depart from him, as I took it away from Saul, whom I removed from before you. (16) And your house and your kingdom shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever. (17) In accordance with all these words and all this vision, so Nathan spoke to David. Promise to David, cont d

Notice, Gods promise to David, while promising to correct David s descendent Solomon did not contain a warning that David or his house or his off-spring would ever be destroyed. WHY? Because the promise to David was unique: it was through David that the promised Messiah was to come. Psalms 132:11 The LORD has sworn to David, A truth from which He will not turn back; "Of the fruit of your body I will set upon your throne. Isaiah 11:1 Then a shoot will spring from the stem of Jesse, And a branch from his roots will bear fruit. Jeremiah 23:5 Behold, the days are coming," declares the LORD, "When I shall raise up for David a righteous Branch; And He will reign as king and act wisely And do justice and righteousness in the land. The Unique Promise

1 Kings 9:1-9 - (1) Now it came about when Solomon had finished building the house of the LORD, and the king's house, and all that Solomon desired to do, (2) that the LORD appeared to Solomon a second time, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. (3) And the LORD said to him, I have heard your prayer and your supplication, which you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built by putting My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually. (4) And as for you, if you will walk before Me as your father David walked, in integrity of heart and uprightness, doing according to all that I have commanded you and will keep My statutes and My ordinances, (5) then I will establish the throne of your kingdom over Israel forever, just as I promised to your father David, saying, You shall not lack a man on the throne of Israel. Conditional Promise to Solomon

(6) But if you or your sons shall indeed turn away from following Me and shall not keep My commandments and My statutes which I have set before you and shall go and serve other gods and worship them, (7) then I will cut off Israel from the land which I have given them, and the house which I have consecrated for My name, I will cast out of My sight. So, Israel will become a proverb and a byword among all peoples. (8) And this house will become a heap of ruins; everyone who passes by will be astonished and hiss and say, Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house? (9) And they will say, Because they forsook the LORD their God, who brought their fathers out of the land of Egypt, and adopted other gods and worshiped them and served them, therefore the LORD has brought all this adversity on them. Promise to Solomon, cont d

What followed over the next 500 or so years was the fulfillment of God s promises, both good and bad for the Israelites. First, Solomon began to worship foreign gods brought to Solomon s house by his foreign wives, I Kings 11:4. As a result, Israel was split in to two nations, Israel, the nine northern tribes and Judea, the southern two tribes of Benjamin and Judah with the tribe of Levi continuing, mainly in Judah to serve as priests in the temple at Jerusalem. Conditions Met

Jeroboam and Israel, the northern kingdom, quickly fell away from worshipping God, setting up their own alters and in 732 BC, a short 200 years later, fell to the Assyrians and the vast majority were carried away into captivity II Kings 17:7 to 23. Rehoboam and Judea, the southern kingdom, lasted a while longer but eventually it too began to forsake God and worship other gods and in 586 BC Judea fell to the Babylonians and was carried away into captivity, the temple torn down and burned along with the walls of the city of Jerusalem II Chronicles 36:15 to 21. Conditions Met, cont d

This destruction of Jerusalem was not the promised utter destruction (Deuteronmy 4:26) given through Moses on the plains prior to Israel crossing the Jordan and entering the Promised Land. Even as Jeremiah was warning Judea that the Lord was going to punish His people, He also promised that it would not be the utter destruction about which Moses had warned them. Jeremiah 4:27 For thus says the LORD, The whole land shall be a desolation, Yet I will not execute a complete destruction. So, the utter destruction promised by God was not the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC at the hands of the Babylonians. HOWEVER

After 70 years of captivity in Babylon many of the Israelites who had been deported by the Babylonians returned to Jerusalem, rebuilt the temple, and the walls of the city of Jerusalem. However, despite all the warnings, despite both the northern and southern kingdoms falling and being carried into captivity, what was left of the Israelites continued to disregard the prophesies of God as evidenced by God s last words closing out the Old Testament. Post Exiles

Malachi 4:1-6 For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace; and all the arrogant and every evildoer will be chaff; and the day that is coming will set them ablaze, says the LORD of hosts, so that it will leave them neither root nor branch. But for you who fear My name the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings; and you will go forth and skip about like calves from the stall. And you will tread down the wicked, for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day which I am preparing, says the LORD of hosts. Remember the law of Moses My servant, even the statutes and ordinances which I commanded him in Horeb for all Israel. Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse. Malachi s Warning

The Parable of the Vineyard Isaiah 5:1 to 7 Let me sing now for my well-beloved a song of my beloved concerning His vineyard. My well-beloved had a vineyard on a fertile hill. And He dug it all around, removed its stones, and planted it with the choicest vine. And He built a tower in the middle of it and hewed out a wine vat in it; then He expected it to produce good grapes, but it produced only worthless ones. And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem and men of Judah, Judge between Me and My vineyard. What more was there to do for My vineyard that I have not done in it? Why, when I expected it to produce good grapes did it produce worthless ones?

Parable of the Vineyard. Contd So now let Me tell you what I am going to do to My vineyard: I will remove its hedge and it will be consumed; I will break down its wall and it will become trampled ground. And I will lay it waste; It will not be pruned or hoed, But briars and thorns will come up. I will also charge the clouds to rain no rain on it. For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts is the house of Israel, And the men of Judah His delightful plant. Thus, He looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry of distress.

Matthew 21:33 to 44 Listen to another parable. There was a landowner who PLANTED A VINEYARD AND PUT A WALL AROUND IT AND DUG A WINE PRESS IN IT, AND BUILT A TOWER, and rented it out to vine-growers, and went on a journey. And when the harvest time approached, he sent his slaves to the vine-growers to receive his produce. And the vine-growers took his slaves and beat one, and killed another, and stoned a third. Again, he sent another group of slaves larger than the first; and they did the same thing to them. But afterward he sent his son to them, saying, They will respect my son. But when the vine- growers saw the son, they said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and seize his inheritance. And they took him, and threw him out of the vineyard, and killed him. Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those vine-growers? The Parable of the Tenants

They said to Him, He will bring those wretches to a wretched end and will rent out the vineyard to other vine-growers, who will pay him the proceeds at the proper seasons. Jesus said to them, Did you never read in the Scriptures, THE STONE WHICH THE BUILDERS REJECTED, THIS BECAME THE CHIEF CORNER stone; THIS CAME ABOUT FROM THE LORD, AND IT IS MARVELOUS IN OUR EYES? Therefore, I say to you, the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and be given to a nation producing the fruit of it. And he who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces; but on whomever it falls, it will scatter him like dust. Parable of the Tenants, cont d

The theme here in Revelation 1:7 is that Jesus is coming in judgement, in fulfillment of ALL those Old Testament prophesies, and we will see as we proceed in the book that coming, that judgement will result in the promised utter destruction of the nation of Israel. This then confirms that the date of the writing and presenting of the Revelation to the first century saints MUST have been prior to the utter destruction of Jerusalem, the Temple, and the nation of Israel by God at the hand of the Romans in 70 AD. The Utter Destruction