Prologue: Revelation 1:1-3

NAS Revelation 1:1-3 The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show to His bond- servants, the things which must shortly take place; and He sent and communicated it by His angel to His bond-servant John, 2 who bore witness to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw. 3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of the prophecy, and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.

Prologue – A prologue is an introduction. Most scholars believe the prologue of Revelation to include vv. 1-8; others say vv. 1-20. Because there is so much to study in this opening section, I am only going to look at 3 verses. In studying chapter 1 closely, I believe the first three verses of Revelation are best seen as the preface to the book. A preface may be seen as synonymous to a prologue, but a distinction may also be made between the two words. I would define preface as an explanatory statement or essay introducing a book. It may be seen as set apart slightly from the prologue, just as in most books written today where the preface precedes the introduction or the introductory first chapter. All this to say I humbly believe a slight but notable difference, a perceptible shift, may be detected between verses 3 and 4. A preface is usually written by the author. Verses 1-3 may also be titled “The superscription.” A superscription is something written above or outside something else. Grammatical minutia, like this admittedly is, may lead to nothing earth-shaking, but I contend it is noteworthy and may shed light on the text. This is the word of God Almighty and as such deserves our scrutiny – amen?

“Revelation” – The prologue to Revelation presents in concise form the basic facts underlying the entire book. Its subject is “The Revelation of Jesus Christ.” Its purpose: to communicate this revelation to others. “Revelation” is the Greek word ἀποκάλυψις [a-pa-ka-loop-sis]. It means “unveiling” or “disclosure.” We get our English word “apocalypse” from this word. The two means used by God to voice this revelation are the angelic (probably Christ’s angel) and human channels (John).

The phrase in the Greek text, “the revelation of Jesus Christ,” legitimately permits more than one interpretation. While the following relative clause makes it clear that the revelation was given by God to Jesus, the phrase itself could be taken to mean “the revelation about Jesus” (objective genitive) or “the revelation from Jesus (subjective genitive), or it could mean both (plenary genitive [Wallace]). I favor Wallace’s view. (I realize this information is a little too technical for most, but I include it for those who welcome a technical level in these blogs.)

Bond-slave – “The communication was given by God to Jesus and relayed by John to His bond- servants (Gk., pl. of δοῦλος [doo-los]). A δοῦλος is a slave. It prophesies are ‘what must soon take place.’ This is in contrast to the essentially historic presentation of the four Gospels” {Walvoord/TAR}. “Whereas the Gospels reveal Jesus in His humiliation, Revelation reveals Him in His glory. John’s prologue here in Revelation is similar to the one in his Gospel (John 1:1-18)” {Constable}.

“The δοῦλος [doo-los] was a special type of slave: one who served out of love and devotion to his master. The Revelation of Jesus Christ was given by the Father to show (unveil, disclose) to those who willingly serve Him. Those who refuse to acknowledge Jesus Christ as Lord cannot expect to comprehend this book” {MacArthur}.

NAS Exodus 21:2-7 “If you buy a Hebrew slave, he shall serve for six years; but on the seventh he shall go out as a free man without payment. 3 “If he comes alone, he shall go out alone; if he is the husband of a wife, then his wife shall go out with him. 4 “If his master gives him a wife, and she bears him sons or daughters, the wife and her children shall belong to her master, and he shall go out alone. 5 “But if the slave plainly says, ‘I love my master, my wife and my children; I will not go out as a free man,’ 6 then his master shall bring him to God, then he shall bring him to the door or the doorpost. And his master shall pierce his ear with an awl; and he shall serve him permanently.

The precise details of this ceremony are not known. What is clear and astounding is the willing submission on the part of the slave. I think the understanding of δοῦλος is so important, I include the following fascinating note on Exodus 21:7 from the NET Bible, which highlights the hard-to-believe voluntary aspect of being a bondslave, so relevant to as slaves of Christ:

² tn Grk “slaves.” Although this translation frequently renders δοῦλος (doulos) as “slave,” the connotation is often of one who has sold himself into slavery; in a spiritual sense, the idea is that of becoming a slave of God or of Jesus Christ voluntarily. The voluntary notion is not conspicuous here; hence, the translation “servants.” In any case, the word does not bear the connotation of a free individual serving another. BDAG notes that “‘servant’ for ‘slave’ is largely confined to Biblical transl. and early American times…in normal usage at the present time the two words are carefully distinguished” (BDAG 260 s.v.). The most accurate translation is “bondservant” (sometimes found in the ASV for δοῦλος), in that it often indicates one who sells himself into slavery to another. But as this is archaic, few today understand its force.

Old Testament Influence – “The book of Revelation contains truths that had been concealed but have now been revealed. Though it nowhere directly quotes the Old Testament, 278 of its 404 verses refer or allude to O.T. prophetic truth, the book of Revelation amplifies what was only initially suggested in the O.T.” {MacArthur}. That’s such an important fact to keep in mind in reading Revelation. Revelation concludes what is commonly called the “New Testament,” but it is in nature predominantly an Old Testament book, quite distinct from the books of Acts through Jude.

Futuristic – The book of Revelation is in great part a prophetic book. That is, it is mostly futuristic; most of it hasn’t happened yet. This is born out in the first verse: “the things which must shortly take place.” By contrast the Gospels and Acts focus mainly on the past, and the epistles of the N.T. focus mainly on the present. Although containing some information about the past (chapter 1) and the present (chapters 2-3 [even though the actual depiction of the historical seven churches may be seen reflecting the types of churches found throughout the entire church age]), Revelation focuses on the future. “The Greek word shortly or soon (εν ταχει [en ta-kei]; cf. 2:16; 22:7, 12, 20) means that the action will be sudden when it comes, not necessarily that it will occur immediately. Once the end-time events begin, they will occur in rapid succession (cf. Luke 18:8; Acts 12:7; 22:18; 25:4; Rom. 16:20)” {Walvoord}.

Historical Background –“As outside persecution against Christians increased, the first-century church also faced internal problems. They struggled with suffering, spiritual warfare, the teaching and practice of heresy, and spiritual apathy. Christ had promised to return – but when? And how? And what would He do about these problems facing the church when He did come back? Revelation answers these questions. Confronted with these dire circumstances, the original readers of Revelation needed to be both encouraged and exhorted” {House}.

Miscellaneous Facts – In v. 2, “the word of God” is the word given by God. In Revelation John wrote “I saw” 44 times {Constable}. “Verses 1 and 2 summarize the whole book of Revelation and present them as testimony that Jesus Christ bore. The ‘testimony of Jesus’ probably refers to the Lord Jesus’ faithful communication of God’s Word to John (mainly though angels [angels are messengers] who passed it on to his readers” {Constable}.

Beatitudes –“Verse 3 presents the first of seven beatitudes in Revelation (a beatitude is a blessing). These are linked to the ethical purpose of the book, with some of them exhorting the saints to persevere and live holy lives in light of the prophecies (1:3; 16:15; 22:7), and others promising them future rewards for doing so (14:13; 19:9; 20:6; 22:14). In Revelation μακάριος (ma-ka-ree-os, blessed, happy) is used in similar fashion to the beatitudes of Matthew 5 and Luke 6, detailing both exhortation (standards expected by God) and comfort (rewards promised for the faithful). God’s blessings will be experienced by those bond-servants who persevere. The beatitude of v. 3 is followed by both singular (the reader) and plural (the hearers) subjects. The emphasis on reading/hearing here and in 1:10 shows that John intended the book for oral reading in a ritual setting, namely Christian worship. The ‘reader’ is the official reader in the Christian service. In the second century the reader was an officer of the church, but in the first century the church probably followed Jewish practice. There were normally five readers on feast days, six on the Day of Atonement, and seven on the Sabbath (though in synagogues outside Palestine there tended to be only one). The first reader was a priest, the second a Levite, and the others members of the public; so according to the Mishnah” {Osbourne}.

Many Christians have an abiding fear of the book of Revelation. While this may be understandable, given the uncertainty of the future, we need to recognize it is in direct contradiction of Scripture.

ESV Revelation 1:3 Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.

Hearing = Obeying – In both the Old and New Testaments the two concepts of hearing and obeying are inseparably linked. “The time refers to the time when the things prophesied would happen” {Wallace}.

Practicality – “It is most important to observe that the book was primarily intended to give a practical lesson to those who read and heed its contents” {Walvoord}.

– Professor Thomas A. Rohm